*All the characters expect DAVID SIMON are property of the Dr. Quinn show I merely borrowed them for a short time. David Simon is a character which I delevoped, and for to be playing the role (if it was ever to be on TV) would be Tom Wopat.*

     Daniel Simon stood out front of the Sheriff's station. He watched the people passing by on the dirt roads of Colorado Springs. He smiled thinking that he had finally found a place that he could call home. It had been so many years since he had a place that actually felt like home. A sad look filled his deep blue eyes as he thought of the last time he had actually had a place to live that felt so much like a home. He sighed and ran his fingers through his blonde hair.
     The sound of a train whistle broke through the silence of the morning, as the train pulled into the station. The passengers began to disembark from the train. The last passenger to get off the train was a ruggedly handsome man. He stood six feet tall, with short dark hair, that had slightly started to grey, he had crystal ice blue eyes that reflected a deep inner sadness, brought on by a long harsh life. The man rubbed his temples, he was once again starting to feel ill, he had taken the last of his medication a couple days ago and hadn't had time to go to a doctor to get more. He decided to go to the doctor here in Colorado Springs to get more.
     He walked down the main street of the small town, thinking to himself it appeared to be just like every other small town that he had ever been in. Though this town seemed to make him feel more alone then anywhere else. He walked up to the doctor's office and knocked on the door.
 Dr. Michaela Quinn answered the door. "Can I help you?" she asked.
     "Is the doctor in?" the stranger asked.
     "I am the doctor."  She replied, her voice was not at all agitated by the question, because she was so use to people asking that.
     "Oh. I am sorry, no disrespect meant." he said, his voice sincere.
He walked into the office shutting the door behind himself.
     "My name is David Simon." he said and shook her hand.
Michaela wonder for a moment if he was related to Daniel, but dismissed it as a coincidence that he had the same last name. After Daniel had never said nothing about his family, though she still wondered something about David reminder her a lot of Daniel.
He told her about his problem. She then took his vitals. As she walked around the office she became aware that the stranger was watching her very closely, she turned and faced him.
     "Is something wrong?" she asked.
     "No. It is just that you remind me a lot of my late sister in law." David said.
     "Oh." Michaela said, not really knowing what else to say.
     "You look a lot like her, and almost even sound like her.  You are just so much a like even in the way you act. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were twin, but Amberlynne didn't have any sisters." David said, his voice seemed sad as he though about his dead sister in law. "She died about five years ago from consumption. I've been trying to find my brother and reconcile our differences before . . . I die."
Michaela gave him more medication.
     "Thank you doctor." David said, and left the office.
     After he left, Michaela decided to go talk to Daniel, she had a suspicion that David was Daniel's brother. She thought to herself that since David had said she looked so much like his sister in law, Amberlynne, that it would explain, the feelings Daniel had for her the first time he was in Colorado Springs. She thought it would be because she reminded him of his dead wife. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered why Daniel would keep something like this a secret.
     Daniel was at the cafe in town, sitting at one of the tables drinking a coffee. He smiled at Dr. Mike as she approached. She sat down at the table across from him.
     "Daniel I want to talk to you about something." Michaela said.
     "About what?" Daniel asked.
     "I met someone today by the name of David Simon." she said. "Is he your brother?"
Daniel nodded. "Yes, unfortunately he is my older brother."
     "He also said about Amberlynne . . ." she started to say, but Daniel cut her sentence off.
     "I don't want to talk about it." Daniel said standing up.
     "Daniel." she said.
Daniel just turned and started to walk away. Michaela sighed and watched him walk away.
     That afternoon, Michaela went to the homestead, Sully was leaving on a trip, to do with making a state park. She told him about David being in town.
     "I didn't know that Daniel had an older brother." Michaela said.
     "David is about six years older then Daniel. Daniel had something about having a fight with him and never wanting to see him again, which really surprised me." Sully said.
     "Why's that?" she asked.
     "Because they were best friends." Sully asked.
     "I thought you and Daniel were best friends. Michaela said.
     "We are. It's rather was different though. Daniel always kind of looked up to David, they were really close. Daniel was eleven when their parents died, David was seventeen and he finished raising Daniel." Sully said.
     "Did Daniel say anything about why he is mad at David?"
Sully shook his head. "No. I never asked I figured it had to have been something quite bad considering how close the two of them were."
     "What about Amberlynne?" Michaela asked.
     "Who?" Sully asked, looking confused.
     "Daniel's wife." Michaela responded.
     "I never knew that Daniel was married." Sully said.
Michaela told him what she knew. "I tried to talk to Daniel about it, but he refused and left."
Sully just shook his head, he seemed sad for his friend's loss. "I never knew that he was married and that his wife died of consumption."
They were silent for a couple moments. Sully spoke up breaking the silence. "I have to go now. I wish I didn't not with all this going on about Daniel, but I have to go."
They said their goodbyes. She stood on the porch watching until he rode out of sight.
     Daniel stood in front of the Sheriff's office. He was surprised that David was in Colorado Springs, and was a little bit angry as well. He couldn't believe that David had the nerve to keep trying to interfere with his life. He started to think of where David was staying in Colorado Springs, he thought about finding him and kicking him out of Colorado Springs. He figured since he was sheriff he had the right to kick his big brother out of town. He sighed and took another sip of whiskey, out of his small silver flask. He started to think about his wife, Amberlynne, and the circumstances that surrounded her death. Daniel didn't even hear Michaela ride up.
     "Daniel." she said to get his attention.
He turned and looked at her, though said nothing. Daniel's deep blue eyes, looked sad, and were watered with fresh tears. Michaela tried to think of what to say, but found she wasn't really sure. She had never seen Daniel look so sad. She put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
     "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.
Daniel shook his head. "No. Not really."
     "It might help if you talk about it." Michaela said.
Daniel was silent for a moment then he sighed and nodded. "Okay. But let's go inside first. I don't want to discuss it out here."
Michaela nodded in understanding. She knew there was a lot of people outside passing by and that he didn't want strangers to over hear the conversation.
     They went inside the sheriff's office. Michaela sat down at the small table that was in the office. Daniel poured them both a cup of coffee, then sat down at the table across from her. Daniel took a deep breath and slowly released it. The memories of what had happened still pained him, and as he thought about the past, all the pain burned into his mind as though it was fresh. He couldn't even think of where to begin.
     "What all did David tell you?" Daniel asked.
     "Not much. Just that Amberlynne died of consumption." Michaela said.
     "Amberlynne contracted consumption about a year after we were married. She was also eight months pregnant." Daniel said, tears watered in his eyes but he refused to cry. "She had got very sick and the doctors couldn't do anything. David was staying at the house to help. It was May tenth and she had gotten very sick, it was just before midnight when she . . . died." Daniel stopped for a moment to collect his thoughts, and to stop himself from crying.
     "I am sorry." Michaela said, quietly, putting her hand on his to comfort him. She could tell that the memories were almost to much for Daniel to bare.
     "The doctor's had said that the baby might be fine if it was born before she died. So David thought there might still be a chance. He tried to get the baby . . . but it was no use really. She lived for only about a minute before she to died." Daniel said, tears started to slowly streak his cheeks.
Michaela wondered why Daniel hated his brother now, she wondered if he blamed his brother for killing his child, but she doubted it, she had the feeling there was a lot more to the story.
     "How long ago was this?" Michaela asked.
     "Almost five years ago." Daniel answered, as he wiped the tears from his eyes.
 Daniel took out his wallet and pulled out a picture of Amberlynne, to show Michaela. Michaela looked at the picture and saw that Amberlynne did look a lot like her, just as David had said. Except her hair was just past her shoulders in soft flowing curls. She handed the picture back to Daniel. Daniel looked at the picture for a moment and sighed as he slid the picture back into his wallet.
     "That picture was taken in Atlanta, two months after we were married. It is the only picture of Amberlynne that I have." Daniel said, his voice was filled with deep sadness.
 They were silent for a couple minutes. Michaela finally spoke up breaking the silence that had fell across the room.
     "What happened between you and David, that makes you hate him so much?" Michaela asked.
     "I don't want to talk about him." Daniel said, in an angry tone.
     "Why . . ." Michaela started to ask but her sentence was cut short by Daniel.
     "I said I don't want to talk about it. I have to get back to work." Daniel said flatly and left the sheriff's office.
The door caught the breeze and slammed shut behind him. Michaela sighed, she wondered what had happened that caused Daniel to have such anger towards his brother. She thought that David seemed to be nice what little she had talked to him, and that he seemed to care a lot about his brother. Michaela sighed and walked out of the sheriff's office. She could see Daniel riding out of town on his dark brown horse.
     Daniel stopped out by the lake. He looked across the water. The sun shone down brightly, causing the water to sparkle, though Daniel didn't notice the beauty in it. His thoughts were about the past and everything that had happened five years ago. He realized that no matter how far he tried to run from the past it would always return to haunt him. Colorado Springs had been the first place in five years that he had actually stayed more then a couple months in. He had thought that he had at last run long, and far enough to escape the painful memories, but knew now he hadn't and never could. Tears brimmed his eyes and slowly started to streak his cheeks. He knew that the memories would always remained burned his mind, and always be there to haunt them. The pain and the memories had started to fade, until he learned his older brother was in town, which had him thinking about Amberlynne's death once again.
     Daniel took out the picture of Amberlynne again and sat looking at it, with tears softly streaking his cheeks. His deep blue eyes, shone with both sadness and love. He ran his fingers softly over the picture and spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.
     "I am so sorry Amberlynne. So sorry that I couldn't have saved you. I would give anything for you to still be alive today. I would've given my own life to save yours if I could've."
Daniel then took his golden wedding band out of the bottom of his wallet. He hadn't worn it since the day that Amberlynne died. He rolled the ring around in his fingers, watching the sunlight sparkling on it. Daniel then closed his hand tightly around the ring. He took a deep breath and bit back the tears. He wiped the drying tears from his face with his clenched fist.
     "I still love you with all my heart Amberlynne." Daniel said softly.
He slid the picture and his ring back into his wallet. He took a deep breath and slowly released it, as he looked out across the lake. Daniel sighed then took off through the woods again on his horse, to see if he could find his older brother.
     About an hour later Daniel saw smoke from a campfire, he rode towards where the smoke trailed from.  He came upon a small little clearing, and saw who had set up camp, his brother, David. He stopped his horse at the edge of the trees, and looked at his brother for several moments. He could still feel all the old anger towards his brother. All the old anger was roiling to the surface. His horse started to stamp his hoof impatiently, stepping on a small twig, which snapped like a firecracker.
     David looked around, and his eyes feel upon a figure on a horse, he tried to see who was there but couldn't make out the person's face through the shadows of the trees.
     "Who's there?" David asked.
Daniel didn't reply he just slid off his horse and tied the reins to a nearby tree.
     "Who is there?" David asked again, his voice demanding and answer.
Daniel stepped into the clearing, still not responding to his older brother's question.
     "Daniel?" David said, his voice shocked, he couldn't believe that his baby brother was standing there before him.
     "What are you doing in Colorado Springs, David?" Daniel asked.
     "I've been looking for you." David answered.
Daniel rolled his eyes. "Why so you can tell me what to do just like you did five years ago?"
     "I was worried about you. The way you were acting you were going to end up getting hurt." David said, his words not unkind.
     "I can take care of myself." Daniel said.
     "I know that, I was just worried about you. I know how hard it was on you that Amberlynne died." David said.
     "I don't you to be worrying about me, I can take care of myself, and I sure as heck don't need your pity." Daniel said angrily.
David walked over and put a hand on Daniel's shoulder. Daniel shrugged off his hand.
     "I am sorry Daniel. You are my brother, I was just worried about you." David said.
David noticed the sheriff's badge on Daniel's vest, which was partial hidden by his jacket.
     "You're the sheriff?" David asked, in a disbelieved tone.
     "Yeah." Daniel responded, a small smile glimmered in his eyes.
David started to feel sick again, and the pain this time was far worse then it had ever been before.  He rubbed his temple, and closed his tightly hoping the pain would soon pass.
     "Are you okay?" Daniel asked concernedly.
David went to respond, however before he could darkness consumed his mind and he slumped forward unconsciousness. Daniel got his older brother in his arms before he hit the ground. Daniel gently laid him down on the ground.
     "C'mon wake up." Daniel said, but still David remained unconscious. Daniel sighed deeply. As angry as he was at his brother he didn't want anything to happen to him. Daniel had already lost some many in his life and couldn't stand the thought of his brother dying as well. "C'mon you have to wake up, brother." Daniel pleaded softly. "You can't leave me too."
Daniel thoughts all seemed to blur together as he tried to think of what to do. He decided to take his brother into town, to Dr. Mike. He carefully picked up David and carried him over to where he had tied his horse. He gently laid David's unconscious body across the back of the horse. Then carefully slid on himself. He rode as quickly and carefully as he could back into town.
     Michaela was just closing the clinic up for the night when Daniel rode up. "What . . . she started to ask then noticed David, laying unconscious across the back of the horse.
     "It's my brother, he just passed out." Daniel said, as he carefully, slid David off the horse.
     "Bring him inside." Michaela said.
Daniel nodded and followed her into the clinic carefully carrying his brother. Once inside Daniel gently laid David down on the examining table. Daniel stood back and watched as she examined him. After a couple moments she stepped away and sighed.
     "What's wrong with him?" Daniel asked, his voice was edged with worry.
     "David has what is known as Tryclephios." Michaela said.
     "What's that?" Daniel asked.
     "It is a very rare disease. It effects the hearts mostly. It can cause weakness, extreme fatigue, at first, then it slowly worsens and acts the immune system. Your brother has been suffering from this condition for the past three years." Michaela said.
     "He's going to get better though, right?" Daniel asked, his voice growing even more concerned for his brother.
     "It is hard to say really, Daniel. It has already begun to attack his immune system. In ninety percent of the recorded cases of Tryclephios, it ends with death." Michaela said.
Daniel paled slightly, and sallowed audibly. Daniel was silent for a moment. "He can't die. He is the only family I got left. Even though . . ." Daniel started to say, then found he didn't have any idea as to what to say.
     "There is a slight chance that even though his condition as deuterated so much, that he can still be helped. There is an herbal plant Otertin that some claim will cure the illness. Half of the people it was used on were cured, though I am not sure how far progressed the illness was." Michaela said.
     "But it is worth trying, right?" Daniel asked, eyes sparkled with a glimmer of hope that there was still a chance to keep his brother from dying."
Michaela nodded. "It is too late now to go out looking for the plant. Tomorrow after dawn, we can look for the plant."
Daniel nodded in agreement, his worried eyes never leaving his brother's unconscious form.
     "Do you think that you could carry him to the room upstairs?" Michaela asked.
     "Yeah." Daniel said.
 Daniel gently picked up David, and carried him to the room upstairs, and laid him down on the bed. He stepped back from the bed and looked down at his brother. Michaela could see worry and sadness reflecting in his dark blue eyes.
     "Daniel . . ." Michaela said softly.
Daniel looked at her, trying to hard to stop the tears that he could feel burning his eyes.
     "Don't worry I am sure that your brother is going to be fine." Michaela said, trying to ease his worry.
Daniel forced a small smile. "I sure hope so."
     "Why don't you just go and get some rest, there is nothing more you can do tonight. You can just come back in the morning and we can go find the plant." Michaela said.
Daniel sceptical for a moment, then finally he nodded. "Yeah okay."
Michaela smiled. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of him."
Daniel returned the smile. "I know."
Daniel turned and started to walk out of the room. He stopped in the door and turned to look at his brother. He ran his fingers through his thick blonde hair and sighed silently, then turned and left the room.
     It was around two a.m. when David started to wake up. His head was throbbing and he groaned slightly as he opened his eyes. Michaela had drifted into a light sleep on a nearby chair, and woke up when she heard David wake up.
     "How are you feeling?" Michaela asked.
     "Like I've been run over by a horse." David said. "How'd I get here?" he asked as he sat up slightly, and looked around the small room.
     "Daniel brought you here after you passed out." Michaela said.
David remembered talking to his brother then nothing else. "Is he here?"
Michaela shook her head. "No he went to get some rest." Michaela said. Then she told him all about the plant.
     "Surprised he's willing to help." David mumbled more to himself then to Michaela.
     "He might be mad at you, but he also doesn't want to lose anymore of his family, he said." Michaela said.
They were silent for a few minutes. David tried to go back to sleep but the pain wouldn't subside enough to allow him to rest.
     "What did you and Daniel have a fight about, anyway?" Michaela asked.
David sighed as he thought back about the fight he had with Daniel. "I told you about Amberlynne, did Daniel tell you about her more about her death?"
Michaela nodded. "Yes he told me how her and the baby both died."
David's eyes watered with tears as he thought about that tragic day, but he held them back. "I wish I could've saved the baby. I knew I couldn't save Amberlynne, I so wanted to save their baby . . . but I couldn't. I hated to see Daniel hurting so much, I know that it broke his heart to lose both of them. I tried to help him through it but he refused my help, and grew more angry over time."
     "Why? Did he blame you for not saving the baby?" Michaela asked.
David shook his head. "No he didn't blame me for that. He knew that I did all I could."
David was silent for a moment he took a deep breath and slowly released it before continuing. "He not grew more angry but he also grew a lot more reckless. He started taking a lot of risks that endangered his life. He went out drinking a lot and just stopped caring about anything. I tried to talking to him about it, but it seemed the more I talked the more angry he became. Our parents died when Daniel was eleven and I finished raising him. I know he was old enough to take care of him however I still felt responsible to keep him save. Especially since he was hurting so much and was having so much trouble dealing with Amberlynne's death. The more I tried to help him the more he seemed to hate me. Then finally he just snapped and told me that he was sick of me always telling him what to do. He took off and that was the last I ever saw him, until today."
     "I am sure if you two just sit and talk you can work everything out. Daniel has calmed down and I think is more able to deal with Amberlynne's death. He is very responsible and is highly respected here in Colorado Springs.  As I am sure you know he is Sheriff." Michaela said.
     "Yeah." David said with a small smile. "I just hope that he is willing to talk about what happened back then, and that he is not as angry at me anymore."
     "I am sure things will work out for the best." Michaela said.
They both drifted back into a light sleep.
     Daniel woke up shortly after dawn. The sunlight shining brightly through the window, reflecting on the wall. Daniel sat up and stretched the knicks out of his back. He yawned, he hadn't got a very goodnights sleep he was too worried about his brother.  He knew that he could lose his brother to a disease the same way he had lost Amberlynne. He walked around the small room of the boarding house, at which he was staying until he built his home on the land he bought. He poured himself a cup of coffee, and walked around the room,  which was on the second story of the building. He stood in front of the window the sun shining brightly, and glimmering on his bare chest. He finished the end of his coffee and put the cup into the sink then went and got dressed.
     Minutes later Daniel arrived at the clinic. Michaela and David had just got up and were sitting waiting for Daniel. Daniel glanced momentarily at his brother, avoiding eye contact.
     "Are you ready to go?" Michaela asked.
Daniel nodded. The three of them went outside. They borrowed a horse for David to come along as well. Michaela thought it would be best in case he got sick again. But she also thought it might give him and Daniel a chance to talk thing out.
     Michaela rode a few feet ahead of the two of them, searching the ground carefully for any signs of the plant.
     "Why did you decide to come to Colorado Springs?" David asked.
     "Because Sully lives here." Daniel said.
David just smiled, he knew how good of friends the two of them were, every since they were children. "That's nice."
     "Michaela's married to him." Daniel said, still not even looking over at his brother.
The two of them started to talk quietly, as they too looked around for the plant. Michaela smiled as she heard the silent whispers of the two of them talking. It was about an hour later when Michaela spotted the  Otertin growing in the shade of a large old oak tree.
     "There it is yes." Michaela said joyful as she pointed to it.
Both David and Daniel smiled widely as the stopped their horses nest to Michaela's. They tied the horse to a tree then dug up all of the plant, and slid it into the saddle bag on Daniel's horse.
     "We have to get back so I can turn it into the medicine." Michaela said.
They got back on the horses and rode to the clinic.
     Michaela worked on turning the plant into the medicine form. David and Daniel sat quietly talking and watched as she worked. Neither of them brought up anything about the past. It was about two hours later when Michaela finished making the medicine. She handed David, the bottle of thick reddish black liquid.
     "You have to take a teaspoon of that everyday for the next month." Michaela said.
David took a teaspoon and made a face of disgust. "It taste awful."
Michaela just smiled and shrugged. "Sorry. I hid the bitter taste of the Otertin as much as I could. Why don't the two of you come to the homestead for dinner?"
     "Okay." Daniel said.
David just nodded in agreement.
     There was still a couple hours until it would be time for dinner, so Daniel decided to show David around Colorado Springs, and the land he bought. They had tied the horse and were walking.
     "Nice land you bought." David commented as they looked around the land.
Daniel just smiled. They were silent for a couple minutes. Finally Daniel spoke up breaking the silence.
     "Are you going to stay around for a while?" Daniel asked.
     "I don't really have anywhere else to go. I was just looking for . . ." David said, not sure if he should finish the sentence.
Daniel just smiled, he knew exactly what his brother was going to say. "Guess you just have to stay here then. If you need a job I could always use a deputy."
     "And take orders from my baby brother?" David questioned jokingly.
Daniel smiled at him. "Cute."
     "I'll take the job." David said.
     "Good." Daniel said, then tried to find the words to say the next thing he wanted to say next. He sighed deeply and looked at his brother. "Look David, about before . . .  I am sorry I was acting like such a jerk."
     "It's okay. I understand that you were just going through a rough time." David said.
     "Still, I had no right to snap at you. I should've listened to you. You were right." Daniel said.
     "It don't matter. All of that is in the past." David said, he didn't care if Daniel apologised because he knew that he was sorry and that was good enough.
     "Yeah, but . . ." Daniel started to argue.
     "Everything turned out fine anyway. You made a good life for yourself, and I am really proud of you, Daniel." David said.
Daniel smiled, David's praise meant a lot to Daniel. "Thanks."
They walked back towards the horses.
     "I am sorry though. I mean all these years . . " Daniel said.
David just shook his head. "Don't worry about it. It ‘s in the past all is forgiven." David said and then gave Daniel a brotherly hug.
They got back on their horse, it was nearing dinner time. They took a finally look around the land.
     "You know I want to build a big home on this land." Daniel said.
     "That sound like a good idea." David said.
     "Though I think it would be too big for just one person." Daniel said.
David gave Daniel a questioning look.
     "Yeah, so if you help me build the house . . . I mean we both need a place to live." Daniel said. "Don't we?"
David just laughed. "Yeah we do."
     "There is enough land here to so if another house is ever needed there's plenty of room." Daniel said. "Until then there is room at the boarding house where I have been staying.
     They started to ride towards the homestead, both of them felt as though some heavy weight had been lifted from their heart. They had both refound peace, a peace that they have been searching to refined for nearly five years. A peace that comes from a close bonded friendship of two brothers.