Gideon's Troubles

by Donna and ABs

After the other doctors left, the rest of the night passed quietly for Sarah Jo and Doc Adams as they kept watch over Gideon. He was weak, but the IV fluids seemed to help keep him stable at least. But when morning came, and the modern doctors saw that there was no change in his condition, they decided to see if a blood transfusion would help. Helm went out and grabbed Gideon's nearest available look-a-like, the quiet businessman by the name of Paul Racine.

Paul was more than willing of course, and immediately went to the clinic to act as a donor while Helm went in search of Dani and some of the others.

Giles and Alex, the modern doctors, were in charge of the transfusion, while Doc Adams watched curiously. "If you give him some of Connor MacLeod's blood, would it make him Immortal?" he asked.

Giles shrugged.  "Good question.  Sure would make things easier."

"Has a mortal ever had a blood transfusion from an Immortal before?" Adams asked. No one knew, which led to a lively discussion as to whether or not it would be safe for Gideon to receive it in the first place. Alex settled it by volunteering to be a guinea pig if Doc Adams was willing to be a donor.

"That's fine," said Giles tiredly, “but Alex is in fine health to begin with.  I want to save this poor guy's life!  I guess we'll have to go one step at a time.  If nothing else, the transfusions will stabilize him."

***

Terrance Shepherd sighed, kicking a rock in the deserted playground.  They were gone - all gone!  And any minute the people who had taken them would be back for him.  He had thought of everything - or thought he had - but this.  How could they have found his children? 

A sound in the distance made him turn his head.  It was time to run.  And hopefully he'd be able to start over somewhere else.  

Shepherd got into his car and drove.  He had no idea where he was going, he just had to get away.

***

Alex had no ill effects from the Immortal blood. His vitals were monitored closely, and when all looked good, Doc Adams preformed a simple test. Making a small cut across Alex's arm, they all watched to see what would happen. The bleeding stopped fairly quickly, and the wound seemed to close before their eyes. Not as quickly as it would have for Adams, but a lot faster than it would normally. "I'll get MacLeod," Giles said. He had seen enough.

***

The sound of sirens in the distance caused Shepherd to look for a way off the road he was on. Seeing what looked to be a gravel road leading off into a wooded area, he made a hard right and sped down it, hoping the cops had not seen him turn. His car bounced along the road as it got rougher and rougher, and then disappeared altogether. He stopped the car and got out, looking around. He could hear nothing but the sound of birds. Maybe he had eluded capture after all.

However, when he went back to the car, it was gone!

"What the hell?"  But no matter how hard he tried, he could not find the car.  Instead, all he found was a sign saying, "Edan" and pointing through the forest.

With nowhere else to go, Shepherd started down the path.

***

As Shepherd made his way through the woods, things were busy in the clinic. A roll away bed had been brought into Gideon's room, and the elder Highlander was stretched out on it. A stream of red blood flowed through plastic tubing from his arm directly into the IV inserted into Gideon's. Already the patient's color was better, and he seemed to be more alert.

"I feel better," Gideon announced. "Can I go take care of the horses now? They will need to be fed and watered. I always do that before I eat my lunch at one. They come first."

"It's all right," Doc Adams said reassuringly, "they were already fed and watered.  We wanted you to rest today.  Tell Sarah Jo what you want for lunch, and one of the women will get it for you."

Gideon smiled and nodded as they stopped the transfusion for the time being. The plan was for a series of blood tests to be taken, checking to see if the infusion of the Immortal's blood had been enough to eradicate the cancer. If not, they would have to see if they could figure out a way to safely do a bone marrow transplant.

Sarah Jo had managed to find out what Gideon wanted for lunch, and then ran down stairs where Katherine was waiting so she could ask her to fetch it for Gideon. Kat was more than happy of course, and was delighted to hear that Gideon was feeling better. As she stepped out into the street though she stopped, looking up in surprise at the man walking towards her.

It was another Methos look-alike.  He had on a long black trench coat, so for the minute Katherine thought it was yet another version of the Old Man, but she sensed no Presence from him, so he was a mortal.  The expression on his face was one of utter shock, but that was not unreasonable, given the situation!

Putting on her friendliest smile, the petite blonde made her way towards him. "Hello," she said in a calm and reassuring tone. "I'm Katherine. Welcome to Edan. And you are?"

He looked her over, smiled his most charming, and said, "Did you say Edan, or Eden?"  It was pronounced the same way.  She noted he did not give his name freely.

"Edan. With an *A*. And to answer your unspoken questions, no, you are not in Kansas anymore. Or where ever it was you came from. You are on an entirely new world. A world of new beginnings and second chances." Being the empath she was, Katherine was well aware of the wide range of emotions that were washing over the newcomer at that announcement. The strongest of them was relief!

"I am Terrance Shepherd," he said, offering his hand. "Doctor Terrance Shepherd."

Why was she not surprised!

She raised an eyebrow, but readily shook his hand. "Dr. Shepherd. Pleased to meet you. Would you happen to have any experience with cancer, by the way? There is a patient in the clinic right now with leukemia."

"I'm more of a geneticist," he admitted, “but I doubt there is much call for my specialty here.  I assume it is very primitive?"

To his surprise, she threw back her head and laughed. "Yes and no. Trust me, Dr. Shepherd, this world is full of surprises. I can't wait to see you meet the other doctors that are here. But right now, I have to go get lunch for the patient. Care to accompany me? Or if you like, the clinic is right here," she said, pointing at the old-fashioned building. "You can pop in and offer your assistance if you like. I'm sure they will be delighted to have you here."

"Of course," he said, smiling graciously.  "I should like to get settled in.  I'm afraid all I own is on my back!"

"Most of us come that way," Katherine said with a shake of her head as she remembered the flight for her life that had brought her there. "We have a mercantile here with clothing and shoes, and there is plenty of food to be had." She continued to explain their system as they walked toward the hotel. "All the doctors have rooms up on the top floor of the clinic. I have no idea if there is an extra one or not."

As they walked into the hotel, the buzz of another Immortal washed over her. Sure enough, in the dining room eating his lunch, was the old man himself.

"Methos!" she called out merrily. "This is Dr. Shepherd. He just walked into town."

"Oh, bloody hell.  Not another one.  And another doctor as well?"  Methos stood and faced Shepherd, who was gaping at him.  "No bother, I'm used to it.  And in good time, so will you be.”

"Sit down, Doctor," Katherine suggested. "Methos is the mayor of this town, so to speak. I'll have Lupe fix you up a plate of lunch, and after you eat, I'll take you to the clinic to meet the others. A word of warning. They all look like you."  Humming to herself, she popped into the kitchen to talk to Lupe.