Modern Day Dr. Quinn Story

Chapter I

An introduction

A 2007 Lexus sports vehicle pulled up and stopped in front of a large, new, modern house built like a log cabin. The house looked so comforting and welcoming with the inside lights glowing through the windows and the smoke curling out of a couple of its chimneys. The car's occupant sighed and then started to move her tired body out of her beautiful car in the dark. She picked up her bag as she left her car and started into her home. She never thought she would live in such a beautiful home or would even want to. Her life had been her career and sports activities allowing her some recreation, but now it also included a wonderful family life separate from her work where she could be herself and feel loved for who she is something she has never felt before.

As she climbed the stairs and approached the front door it opened to frame her very handsome new husband with a big smile on his face standing there offering her a glass of red wine in a beautiful new crystal goblet. That infectious smile of his crossed over to her face eliminating her expression of exhaustion.

"Rough day?" he asked.

"Being the first one after our return from our two week honeymoon in Hawaii there was a lot to catch up on so yes."

With a look of sorrow he asked, " Are you sorry we went?"

"Not one bit!" she laughingly replied.

After she put her bag down on the side table in the foyer he guided her over to the loveseat in front of the fire. "One thing about living in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies is it is always cool enough in the evening to have a fire. And a fire is always romantic don't you think?"

She chuckled her response, "Yes and your arm around me and a glass of wine in my hand helps too." As she started to relax from her busy work day sipping wine and snuggling down into her husband's arms resting her tired body on his strong chest and laying her head on his shoulder she looked around her new house that her husband had designed for them. The downstairs was like one great room. They were in the part with a great big stone fireplace, the loveseat and other comfortable chairs. This area flowed into a dining room, which in turn flowed into the kitchen. When it gets colder the forced air heating, which Sully included in his design, would work with their romantic fire to keep them warm in their beautiful home. "You have made me so happy, Sully!"

"Well that is my aim since you have made me happier that I could have ever imagined. Are you getting hungry? We have sushi so we could start on them as an appetizer or you could go get our salads and the sushi while I barbeque the chicken breasts for our dinner. We have fresh strawberries from our patch for desert."

"I am in no rush I am just feeling so lucky. I come home from a hard day to a loving husband in a beautiful clean home with dinner practically ready. I feel so loved it makes me want to cry; I never thought I would find someone to love me as I am. Finding Mrs. Tanaka to do our light housecleaning and leaving us fresh sushi everyday for dinner was a godsend." Sully loved to grow things so they always had fresh produce for their dinner. He usually had some type of lettuce growing for a salad and some fruit ripe in his orchard for desert. Sully also knew his way around a barbeque so he would grill them chicken breasts or salmon fillets to round out their dinner. "All we then have to do is to make a salad and a desert from the wonderful fresh produce you grow in our garden and our orchard. Luckily besides being a wonderful gardener you know how to grill on the barbeque so we both dine on the healthy light meals. As you know cooking isn't an area for which I have any talent. We would order in every night if it had been left to me and this is so much better."

"Dr. Quinn-Sully, Mrs. Tanaka would do anything for you after you operated on her daughter for free and saved her life. It works out great for both of us. She uses our new state of the art kitchen to make her sushi that she sells to all the Japanese restaurants around this area and leaves us some for every night's dinner. She cleans our home as payment for your services, in her mind it makes her feel better and we all benefit."

"I know she feels better doing something for payment, but when I used my inheritance from my father to build this state of the art clinic it was to provide good medical care to all no matter the cost. We take the insurance payment if the patient has insurance, but we don't charge co-pays and we do everything for the uninsured for free. That was always my dream to provide good medical care to all in need no matter how much money they have. Since I was so young when my father died I don't really remember him, but everything I heard about him made me admire him even as a child. That is why I named the clinic in his honor.

" I am sure that your father is pleased with how you used your share of his money building the Joseph Quinn Memorial Clinic which is open to all people poor or rich, and any race or creed. You are an amazingly caring person and I can't picture anyone not being proud of what you have done."

Tearing up Michaela whispered, "My mother and sisters aren't."

"I know but you can't please everyone, you know that" I am proud enough of you to erase anyone else's opinion and your eldest sister, Rebecca loves and understands you. She is and has always been proud of you."

"I know Rebecca is the only person I had until you. That is why I have so much trouble understanding why you love me so, but I have learned you do and I love you for that more than you could know."

With a half teasing half serious grin Sully playfully said, "Well we have made progress if you believe I love you now lets eat! I am getting hungry and we both need another glass of wine."

These two, Dr. Michael Quinn-Sully, called Mike by all except her husband who preferred to call her by her proper name, Michaela and Mr. Byron Sully, who preferred to be called by his last name, could not have started their married life together as a couple more in tune with one another.

While Rebecca Dickinson drove along the streets of Boston to her mother's house she kept thinking back to the conversation she had with her husband last night. She had discussed the reason behind her mother's invitation to tea and what she should do. It had been two weeks since Michaela's wedding that she, her husband and their children had attended as the only members of the bride's Boston family. On one hand Rebecca was ashamed of her Mother and her other sisters for not attending. On the other hand she was surprised her Mother hadn't tried to learn about the man her youngest married and her life in Colorado Springs from her earlier than this upon her return. Michaela had been a bridesmaid in each of her sisters' weddings and they couldn't bother to even go to hers. She couldn't fathom a mother not attending their child's wedding, but her mother chose not to.

There was one thing Rebecca wanted to show her mother. Elizabeth never thought of Michaela as attractive. With all of her physical activities her mother thought that Michaela was too thin and muscular. Instead of wearing her hair up in curls Michaela wore it down straight and tied back in a ponytail most of the time. Elizabeth never saw her beauty. Rebecca had a snapshot of Michaela in her wedding gown. She was stunning. She wore flowers in her hair and her faced glowed with the obvious love she had for Sully. If her mother couldn't see her beauty in this picture she would have to give up on her. Michaela was by far the most beautiful bride ever in the Quinn family.

Michaela had always been an outsider in her own family. From birth the youngest daughter was different. She never played with dolls or had tea parties as her older sisters always did. Michaela would prefer to play outside with the boys in the neighborhood. The boys didn't mind since Michaela was as good as most of them in all of the games. Her mother never approved and even as a very young child Michaela felt that her family never loved her. Elizabeth Quinn never gave up trying to change this daughter of hers into the mold of her other girls. Every birthday and Christmas she would only give dolls and pink dresses with ribbons to Michaela. Michaela would try and be polite smile and say thank you, but not one of her gifts were ever touched. The only happy parts of any holiday or birthday for Michaela were gifts from Rebecca. Being the oldest Rebecca was buying her own gifts. She would spend much more money on Michaela than anyone else in the family since she knew it was the only thing that would truly make her smile. It was Rebecca that gave Michaela the best tennis racquet ever invented and an outfit to wear when she used it, for example. Later it was that sport, tennis, that earned her a scholarship to the University with the best pre-medical studies. He mother would never have paid for her to attend there. Each of her other daughters went to an Ivy League school not for an education, but to find a rich husband. Rebecca was the only one that graduated as well as finding a wonderful man. Michaela was by far the smartest person Rebecca had ever known and she wanted to become a doctor as far back as anyone could remember. Rebecca was sure she could do anything she wanted to but Elizabeth definitely didn't approve. She felt a woman shouldn't work outside the home unless their husband couldn't afford to support the family on his own. Luckily Michaela earned an athletic scholarship in tennis and cross-country as well as an academic scholarship so she was able to fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor without any help from her family. The family had plenty of money, but Elizabeth controlled it until each daughter turned twenty-five when they received a generous inheritance from their father's estate. Elizabeth had paid for all of her other daughters' education, but would not give a penny to Michaela since she didn't approve of her choices. This broke Rebecca's heart, but it seemed Michaela was used to disapproval so she just did everything for herself by herself. As Michaela got older and didn't get married Elizabeth felt she was proved correct in her effort to make Michaela change even though she had failed. What her mother didn't understand is that Michaela never looked for a husband. She assumed that she was unlovable and was destined to remain alone finding her happiness doing for others as a doctor. It didn't surprise Rebecca that Michaela would look for a practice somewhere other than Boston.

After she finished all of her training. Michaela had come to talk to Rebecca and her husband who both respected her for what she was more than anyone in this world to discuss what she was going to do next. She had found a job opportunity. The National Park Service was looking for a doctor to open up a clinic near the Rocky Mountain National Park to service the locals that lived around the area in cabins scattered about because there were no cities with hospitals near by. The area was also filled with tourists that flocked to the park in the winter for skiing and the summer for hiking and other outdoor activities, and there was also a community of local Indians living on a nearby reservation, who had no access to medical facilities. They needed a doctor who could treat all kind of illnesses and injuries as well as to run the clinic, hire staff and all sorts of other ventures. Michaela was seriously considering this post. Her specialty was emergency medicine, but she also had experience in surgery, obstetrics, and internal medicine. She could never make up her mind because she wanted to learn everything. This seemed to fit what they needed. Michaela was the most organized person Rebecca knew so she was confident she could handle the administrative duties too. Besides the description of the work, which sounded just what Michaela would like, she would be working near a national park. She would love to hike, and learn to ski. It seemed to offer her all that she would enjoy. She would miss her sister and Rebecca knew she would miss her too, but this did seem to be a perfect solution for her. Rebecca knew that to Michaela it must feel like a great opportunity to get away from our disapproving mother and other sisters. They truly felt that Michaela brought shame on our family where she felt Michaela brought honor. There was also the opportunity, which was quickly decided upon, that once she got settled Rebecca's family should come out for vacation to see the national park and Michaela.

As Rebecca pulled into her Mother's driveway she still didn't know if she should bring up the wedding or make her mother squirm some and force her ask.

After dinner Michaela and Sully rinsed their dishes and loaded them all into the dishwasher together. With their bowls of fresh strawberries in hand they returned to the fire and started feeding each other lovingly. The glow of the fire shined on Michaela's long silky hair and on her face making Sully sigh at the beauty of his wife. He said with a dreamy voice, "You are so beautiful."

"I might have learned to believe that you actually love me in spite of all my faults, but to think of myself as beautiful is beyond me," remarked Michaela.

"It breaks my heart that no one has ever told you just how beautiful, sexy and caring you are. I am the luckiest man in the world to have you as my wife."

Playfully slapping Sully on the arm Michaela just couldn't take a compliment like that as truth. "All of my life I have found my enjoyment in life in my studies or my sports and now I have to learn to relax and find it with a husband. This change is hard for me, but I so want to do it. I want to be a good wife for you and do what ever you expect of me."

"Oh, Michaela, don't you see I love you the way you are, I don't want you to change in the least. All those traits most of your family has always wanted to eliminate from you are what I love most about you. If you hadn't always enjoyed the outdoors and all the activities you participated in you might not have signed up for my mountain climbing course to learn how to repel down a mountain and we might never have met. Can you picture your sisters signing up for such a class?"

Laughing at the thought of one of her oh so perfect sisters doing such a thing she replied, " I see your point. So all my choices in life that have so irritated my family have been designed to make me the perfect wife for you, the head ranger of the largest national park in the United States."

I believe my good friend Cloud Dancing would say that the sprits have been preparing both of us to meet and come together as one all of our lives. I am not sure I would go that far, but I do believe we belong together and that now that we are married we are one mind body and soul."

A big smile crossed Michaela's face as she agreed with him. She then snuggled closer to him on the couch and whispered into his ear, "Why don't we go upstairs and do some uniting of our bodies as the spirits have prepared us to do." Sully laughed and took his blushing wife at her own words into his arms to carry her up to their bed. As they went he securely locked the door and with a smile at what was to be ahead turned off the lights.

Rebecca got out of her car went to the door and rang the bell. Her Mother's maid Martha answered and said her Mother was waiting for her in the living room. Martha, who had always loved Michaela, whispered, "Did all go well with Miss Michaela's wedding?"

"Yes, it was wonderful! She was a beautiful bride and so happy with a very handsome and kind husband."

A big smile crossed Martha's face. "I always hoped Miss Michaela would find the happiness she never truly found here I am afraid and she was such a kind child."

"She always loved you Martha. I know you tried to help her when she lived here which is much appreciated by both of us. I brought you a snapshot of Michaela and her new husband for you to keep."

"What a beautiful couple they make and you can see that they are so much in love. Thank you Miss Rebecca, this pleases me so much."

Rebecca had made it to the living room and entered to meet with her Mother.

"Hello dear, come in it has been almost a month since we have visited with each other."

"Hello mother it's good to see you."

"So what have you been up to, Rebecca?"

Rebecca smiled to herself and started to discuss the activities in her normal life. "I have been preparing to take my Girl Scout Troop camping next weekend."

"Camping, oh Rebecca what do you know about camping and girls don't need to learn that."

"It is part of the Girl Scout Program and I have taken a training course so I can lead the girls properly on this trip. I took my co-leader with me so we can do it together."

"What has the world come to with girls going camping?"

"Oh Mother, The girls scouts have been around for years and camping has always been part of their program. Remember when Michaela wanted to join the local troop, but you forbade it?"

"Yes, I remember and that surprises me that you encourage your own daughter to join even becoming a leader of her troop. I tried to raise Michaela right but sadly I failed"

"Oh Mother, you failed at changing Michaela into the girl you wanted her to be, but you raised a wonderful caring daughter in spite of yourself."

"OK, let's stop skirting around the issue, you attended your sister's wedding against my wishes, so I wanted to hear how disappointing it was compared to all of your other girls. I mean she was past the age of thirty so who could she have gotten to marry her."

"I was her matron of honor and was honored to participate in such a beautiful occasion. The only thing different from the rest of our marriage ceremonies was that it was small. I mean her own mother and other sisters didn't bother to attend.

If this bothered her mother you couldn't tell.

"I know that you never thought Michaela was beautiful. You felt she was too thin with all these sports she played and you didn't approve of her hairstyle or clothing choices. She however made a beautiful bride. She wore an elegant simple but gorgeous dress. You could see in her face how much in love she is and how happy to have found Sully. He is a wonderful man. He and my husband got along famously and I am thrilled for Michaela. I was afraid she would never find happiness in her life, but she did in a wonderful way. After growing up here Michaela never even considered getting married because she assumed everyone would feel the same as you and her other sisters that she didn't deserve to be loved because of the choices she made in life. I am so pleased she found Sully and he was able to convince her she deserved to be loved for who she was and that he was the one that did. He is a wonderful man not just a desperation husband. Since I figured you wouldn't believe me about how beautiful Michaela was in her wedding dress I brought a snap shot we took."

Rebecca handed her Mother the picture of Michaela. For a fleeting second some shock registered on Elizabeth's face at her daughter's beauty but then she said, "The dress is awful plain, couldn't she afford lace and a train?"

In spite of what she said Elizabeth was still staring at the picture as Rebecca angrily snatched it back because of what her mother had said. "Mother she wore the dress she wanted and I think she look absolutely wonderful in it."

"This man is just a park ranger, right and his name is Sully? Sully what?"

" He works for the National Park Service and is in charge of the largest park in our country. Actually his formal name is Byron Sully, but he prefers to be called just Sully."

"He will never make much money just working for our government," complained Elizabeth Quinn.

"Well money isn't everything, he is very good at what he does and he loves his job. You should see the gorgeous house he designed and had built for them to live in after their Hawaiian honeymoon. I have no idea about their finances all I know is they appear very happy and I wish them all the best. I wish you could realize what a wonderful woman Michaela has become. She is so loving and giving."

With a frown on her face Elizabeth replied, " Yes I know she gave away all of your father's money to build that clinic of hers."

"Yes, and the whole community benefits from her generosity. I am sorry you can't share in her joy, but I am glad that my family and I had the opportunity to go and share in their happiness. I pray that someday you can see what a wonderful daughter you have. I cannot believe that you have never attended any of Michaela's most joyous events in her life. You have never attended any of her sporting competitions, or her graduations or now even her wedding. I feel so sorry for you never being part of any of your daughter's important events. I will never do that to any of my children.

As Rebecca's voice cracked with emotion as she stood up to her mother for Michaela she excused herself quickly. Looking straight at her mother Rebecca said, "Now I have to go home to be there when my children come home from school. I hope you have a nice afternoon and I hope you will give what I said some thought.

As she turned around to leave she placed the photograph of Michaela on the table next to her Mother. "You can keep her picture maybe it will help you realize what a beautiful daughter you have." Tuning on her heels Rebecca left without saying goodbye.

After Rebecca left Elizabeth picked the snapshot up off the table and stared at her daughter wearing her wedding dress. She realized for the first time her youngest daughter was quite a beauty. The thought occurred to her that maybe she had been wrong not to attend her daughter's wedding. Maybe she had been wrong trying to change Michaela for all the years of her youth. Elisabeth wasn't sure about this park ranger she married, but she did hope her daughter had finally found happiness even if she couldn't understand her and the choices she had made.

As the sun rose over the Rockies and streamed in the window Michaela woke first. Outside she could hear the birds singing and she liked to wake up to these sounds so much better than those of the city. What she liked the most was waking up in her husband's arms. Once she could move out of her house her life was so empty that she just rented a small apartment near the hospital to store her things. She usually slept at the hospital where she was training in the on call room. She would never have allowed herself to dream of having a home like this with a loving husband. She looked down and realized that she was completely naked again having fallen asleep like that and so was Sully. Michaela laughed at the thought of what her mother would think if she saw her daughter lying in the arms of a man naked. When she was little her mother had told her being with her husband would be her wifely duty. That made it seem unpleasant but necessary. She had definitely learned it was quite enjoyable and certainly not unpleasant! About that point Sully's hands started moving caressing her body with morning love. What a wonderful way to wake up in the morning. After they cooled down again they got up, took a shower, and dressed for the day. Sully put on his uniform and headed out to the park while Michaela headed off to her clinic.

Sully drove around the park he loved checking that all was well with the animals and plants that were protected here and that the tourists were respecting the environment. He started thinking back on his honeymoon. Michaela might be a brilliant doctor, but she was so naive in the ways of men and woman. She was thirty years old and was a virgin when they met. It was amazing to him how such a beautiful and accomplished woman could have such a low opinion of herself. He had learned that her family had never accepted the type of person she was. She loved sports and school. She was independent and strong. She was just the kind of woman Sully loved. He could share his love of the land with such a woman. He could never do that with a woman that only cared about how she looked, her hair, clothes and makeup. Michaela was a natural beauty. It took a while for Sully to get Michaela to trust him because she had never met anyone that loved her for who she was. When she finally started to relax with him she was amazing. For a woman that had never been with a man she learned quickly. She took to it like she did to everything she tried. She even had the nerve to do things most women wouldn't. Sully took her to his favorite waterfall high up in an isolated part of the park and Michaela was willing to make love in the water as it flowed over them. Neither of them had ever been to Hawaii when they traveled there for their honeymoon. They had a ball. They learned to snorkel to observe the colorful tropical fish swimming around the coral reefs. The rode bicycles down the side of the volcano on Maui. They tried surfing and both enjoyed it greatly. Michaela tried anything with him and learned physical skills quickly. When they played tennis she usually won. He was faster and stronger but she was experienced in strategy so she often had him running around the court. Many men would have been embarrassed being beaten by a woman, but not Sully, he was proud of her.

This amazed her and made her love him even more. They enjoyed each other in their luxury hotels in the evenings. Their honeymoon couldn't have been better. Most people thought that Michaela, the doctor was supporting him Sully the Park Ranger but, that was so untrue. Michaela had spent all of her money equipping her clinic with all the modern equipment like a MRI machine. What was left she had used to set up a fund to pay for free services for those that could not afford medical care. Sully on the other hand had come from a family with money as Michaela had and was an only child. He had money in the bank, which he gave to many environmental causes. He used that to build their beautiful home and to take them on this wonderful trip. They both had the best of all worlds. They were able to do for others and to enjoy their life too. It is funny if Elizabeth Quinn knew about Sully's family money she would probably be happy with Michaela's marriage. Michaela and Sully didn't care what she or anyone else thought. Their finances was their business and no one else's.

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