Re: Say the Words - ch.52 -- The Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman Fan Exchange

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Date Posted: 08:55:14 03/26/03 Wed
Author: dqfan
Subject: Re: Say the Words - ch.52
In reply to: dqfan 's message, "Re: Say the Words - ch.51" on 08:51:20 03/26/03 Wed

CHAPTER FIFTY TWO

"'Chaela, he'll be here�"

Michaela's constant pacing back and forth across the Oakhaven grounds was beginning to drive Sully to distraction, especially on such a beautiful, sunny morning.

"But, Sully, he's always here by breakfast�" she continued fretting.

Michaela's hands were planted firmly on her hips. Frustrated, she looked down at her husband, who, in her opinion, was taking her concerns far too lightly, as he sat comfortably on the bench beneath the large tree.

"I was hoping he might have seen Peter�" Michaela just couldn't relax until Ezra arrived with the morning news.

After all their years together, Sully knew his wife much too well. She was going to fuss and fume until she made sure that Peter was okay and there was not a thing he could do about it.

But, because he loved her, he still tried�

"He'll be here, Michaela," Sully repeated with cocky confidence and a very indulgent smile. "E.Z.'s real prompt�"

"His name is Ezra, Sully," Michaela snapped in exasperation. She was in no mood for reassurances and Sully's cavalier attitude was grating strongly on her nerves.

Sully took a single, very deep, breath - in and out - and said a prayer to the Spirits. It was going to be a long morning�

"Ezra� It's a perfectly fine name," she continued in a huff, badgering him mercilessly, "and I simply don't see why you are unable to forego any negative feelings you might have and�"

"Goood morning!" a familiar voice interrupted Michaela's tirade.

Sully jumped up from his bench enthusiastically. "E.Z., It's good t'see ya!" he grinned, his prayers answered more quickly than he'd expected.

"Come 'n sit down�"

With Ezra's timely arrival, Michaela's ranting quickly abated and she began to relax slightly, even finding the tiniest speck of amusement in Sully's overly effervescent greeting. Sometimes she wondered how her amazing husband managed to put up with her all these years?

"How are you, today, Ezra?" Michaela gave Sully an apologetic look as she asked, one which he returned with a forgiving gleam of love in his eyes.

"I'm fine, thanks," Ezra replied, a little uneasily. Everything about this old couple made him uneasy and today was no exception.

"I'm glad to hear it," Michaela sat down on the bench at last. "We were a little worried. It's not like you to be late�"

"Oh, Daise and I stopped by to see Peter," Ezra began to explain. "They're both around here somewhere�"

"Really?" Michaela ignored Sully's "I-told-you-so" grin and delved for details.

"How is he feeling after that terrible ordeal yesterday?" she probed, with barely concealed interest.

"He seems fine," Ezra shrugged, not really giving it any serious thought.

Sully tapped Michaela gently on the shoulder. "See fer yerself," he pointed across the landscape with a smile.

Peter and Daisy appeared together on the veranda, then split up, taking separate winding staircases down to the rolling lawn. Peter headed over to speak with Ted McFadden and Daisy spotted Ezra and his companions almost immediately.

"Hello, there�" she greeted them.

"Daisy�" Sully nodded with a smile, waiting for Michaela to welcome their latest guest.

But Michaela was preoccupied elsewhere. She just couldn't take her eyes off Peter� In his carefree attire, he looked remarkably youthful, like a little boy playing hooky from school. It was such a wonderful relief to see him, so obviously happy and in love. And, he looked healthy enough, too, in spite of a few visible bruises here and there. Michaela watched him lovingly as he spoke with Ted.

He was facing directly into the bright, early morning sun, but Peter endured it willingly to keep from disturbing the older gentleman. Michaela smiled at her grandson's thoughtfulness and commiserated when Peter was forced to remove his sunglasses and, casually, rub his eyes from the glare.

"Real excitin', wasn't it?" Sully urged Michaela to take part in the conversation he was having with Daisy and Ezra.

"What? Hmmm? Oh, I'm sorry�" Michaela turned her attention to her husband.

"We been talkin' 'bout the air show yesterday," Sully recapped their chat.

"Oh, that!" she rolled her eyes in disapproval. Now, that she'd seen for herself that Peter was fine, Michaela would prefer to forget the entire horrendous episode ever took place.

"E.Z. says he might even try skydivin' himself some day." Sully gave Daisy a wink as he teased poor Ezra, who had agreed to nothing of the sort.

Daisy smiled broadly but Michaela refused to encourage Sully's playful jest. "Flying about in airplanes, and then jumping out of them," she criticized sharply, "is fool-hearty and dangerous, if you ask my opinion."

This wasn't the first time Michaela had expressed such strong objections. Curious, Daisy decided to plunge ahead and ask the obvious.

"Have you always been afraid to fly?" she probed, intrigued by the notion that a supposed ghost might be afraid of anything, especially flying!

Daisy's question drifted past Michaela unanswered; for, Michaela just couldn't waste the opportunity to watch Peter for a few precious moments longer. Distracted, she momentarily lost track of the conversation once again.

Seeing Michaela's attention shift back to Peter, Sully replied smoothly in her place.

"She can't help herself," he chuckled lightly. "See our son used t'wanna fly and he'd try all sorts o' contraptions and�"

Hauntingly, Sully's words mingled with the image before her and Michaela stopped listening altogether. Generations of children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren went whirling past her in the blink of an eye, and time suddenly stood still.

Sully's reminiscence had instigated a chain reaction so great that it exploded like a thunderbolt in Michaela's soul as she observed Peter's next gesture.

Harmlessly, he removed his baseball cap and loosened its buckle before replacing it atop his head.

The surge of panic Michaela felt was a horrifying substitute for the thrill she usually experienced when diagnosing a patient. She would have given the world to be wrong, but, one by one, Peter's symptoms revealed themselves with shocking clarity.

His cap is too tight�

His eyes are bothering him�

If there'd been any dizziness at all�

"Oh, my God, Brian!" Michaela blurted, startling Daisy, Ezra, and especially Sully. He could tell by the look on his wife's face, something was terribly wrong.

"Who's Brian?" Daisy wondered, lost.

"Ezra�" Michaela grasped Ezra's hand tightly and looked deeply into his very nervous eyes. "Has Peter experienced any dizziness this morning?" she demanded sharply.

"What?" Totally confused, Ezra looked to Daisy for help.

"Dizziness!" Michaela snapped, holding his wrist to keep him firmly by her side. "Has he been dizzy?"

Ezra gulped, wondering if the sweet old woman had gone completely mad. And yet, there was something about her questions�something about her tone of voice�that made him want to answer�made him certain it was the right thing to do.

In a flash, Sully realized what was happening, but the ramifications were too numerous to explore. They were treading a very fine line now, between the future and the past, and even he wasn't sure how it would all turn out.

"Careful, Mich�Mrs. S." Sully was so intent on warning his wife that he barely caught himself in time. His split second choice of "Mrs. S." was a hasty compromise.

Daisy's eyebrows raised - her curiosity piqued at the couple's private exchange.

"It hasn't happened yet," Michaela urged, in a hushed, desperate whisper.

And she was right. Sully had to agree. No conscious decision had been made�no free will was being violated�just an opportunity for a life to be saved - a very cherished life.

Sully nodded his consent and, with his eyes, encouraged Ezra to answer Michaela's question.

"Once�this morning�that I know of," Ezra replied, his shaky voice gaining confidence as he saw Daisy nod approvingly, as well.

For Daisy, too, was sensing the same strange vibrations in the air. Even without her tarot cards, she could feel the hand of fate at work around them and it was the most exhilarating force Daisy had ever encountered.

"He said he was just hungry," Daisy recalled Peter's words with newfound suspicion.

Michaela was running out of time. If she was correct, then there wasn't a moment to spare. She knew what she had to do - or, more precisely, what Ezra had to do�

"Perhaps�" she agreed, trying to control her fright. "But after such a trauma, wouldn't dizziness be a cause for concern?" she pressed Ezra to reconsider.

"I'm sure a doctor could make a definitive diagnosis," Michaela continued as Sully followed her every word.

"What was that device you mentioned - the one that examines the brain?" Michaela kept her eyes squarely on Peter as she spoke. "A dog? Or a cat�"

Sully could scarcely hide his admiration for his wife's cleverness. She knew perfectly well what it was called and he listened on the edge of his seat as Michaela led Ezra slowly but carefully to the conclusion she desired. Bit by bit, she coaxed him like a moth to a flame, using every ounce of her medical knowledge, past and present.

"A CAT scan�" Ezra mumbled, amazed the old woman had been listening to him. Hardly anyone ever did�

"You want me to ask Dr. Burke to give Peter a CAT scan?" Ezra's voice raised an octave as he sought Daisy's advice.

"Don't look at me�" she dispensed with premonitions. "You're the mad scientist."

Then, considering the possible severity of the situation, Daisy heaved a heartfelt sigh and contributed a poignant afterthought, "But, it IS Peter�"

Ezra looked from Daisy, to Sully, to Michaela, overwhelmed by the depth of concern he saw in their eyes. Still unsure, Ezra turned to look at Peter.

"What do you see?" Michaela encouraged Ezra to make his first diagnosis.

"Me?" Ezra stuffed his hands in his pockets and shifted his weight uncomfortably from hip to hip. He was just a lowly student after all.

"I know the excellent care you take with the patients here�" Michaela placed her faith in Ezra and prayed.

"Yeah, but Peter's not a patient�" Ezra equivocated dangerously. Then he paused for a moment, to do as Michaela had asked.

Ezra took a really good look at Peter. Even from a distance, he could see how unsteady Peter looked on his feet, how he kept rubbing his eyes and massaging his forehead�

"He's my friend..." Decisively, Ezra made up his mind.

"Be right back," he begged them, taking heart in their supportive smiles.

"You look a little tired, Peter," Ted cautioned protectively. "Maybe you should take it easy today? You know, the first dive is the hardest�"

Peter smiled at the old man's warning. Maybe he had rushed things a little. The dizziness he felt this morning seemed to be coming in waves now; and, even with the aspirin he'd taken, his headache persisted so strongly that he could barely keep his baseball cap on comfortably. Peter supposed Ted was right - the first dive was always the hardest. But did it have to be this hard?

"I'm fine, Ted, thanks�" Peter chose the power of positive thinking as his best course of action.

Daisy, Michaela, and Sully watched intently as Ezra drew Dr. Burke aside. Chart in hand, with patients to see, she seemed distracted at first, paying only partial attention to his words. But the more Ezra talked, the more Stephanie listened, and, slowly, her demeanor changed. Studiously, she observed Peter, finally approaching him with a blood pressure cuff and her stethoscope.

Ezra followed discreetly, trying to anticipate the extent of Peter's anger. Apprehensively, he pondered his two possible futures - Ezra Friedkin, M.D. or Ezra Friedkin, Oldest Living Detainee in the History of Horizon.

"Hello, Peter�Ted�" Stephanie interrupted with a smile.

Maddeningly, Peter's vision blurred again and he blinked twice, trying to focus his eyes in the direction of her words.

Daisy held her breath and Michaela clutched Sully's hand tightly, as they stood by, silent witnesses to the unfolding drama.

"Hi, Stephanie," Peter guessed, able to recognize her by her voice.

Unwisely, he rose from his squatting position in front of Ted's wheelchair, hoping the dizziness would pass, but it only grew worse.

Consequently, before Stephanie could ask, "How are you," before Ezra could grab his arm, and before Ted could yell for help, Peter's affliction enveloped him and he wobbled unceremoniously to the ground.

"Gurney, stat!" Stephanie shouted, "and we need an ambulance!"

"Stephanie, I just stood up too fast," Peter objected strenuously, wishing he'd just stayed in bed this morning.

"Hurry�" Michaela beseeched in a whisper as Sully's arms consoled her.

"I should go�" Daisy mumbled, stunned. Shocked by all she had seen and heard, Daisy knew only that Ezra and Peter needed her now. There would be time for questions later.

"Get that i.v. in him and tell the hospital to be ready for a CAT scan as soon as we arrive," Stephanie ordered the emergency technicians, as she took Peter's vital signs before the ambulance departed.

"I'm fine�" Peter repeated weakly, though the dizziness persisted. He wasn't even convinced himself any more.

"I'm going with him," Ezra jumped into the ambulance before either Stephanie or Peter could object.

"Me, too," Daisy scrambled in beside the stretcher.

"I don't have time to argue with either of you," Stephanie groaned as slammed the doors shut with the palm of her hand and shouted to the driver.

"Go!"

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Replies:

Re: Say the Words - ch.53 -- dqfan, 09:00:07 03/26/03 Wed
- Re: Say the Words - ch.54 -- dqfan, 09:04:41 03/26/03 Wed
  - Re: Say the Words - ch.55 -- dqfan, 09:07:41 03/26/03 Wed