Chapter 2

When the stagecoach came barreling into town, everyone gathered at its normal stopping point to catch a glimpse of the woman who might just become the first doctor—even more than that, first woman doctor—Colorado Springs had seen in years.

Inside the vehicle, Michaela grew nervous at the sight of all of these people. Little children standing on tiptoes behind taller adults to try to see her. They were here to see her. It was a bit daunting, to say the least, but she realized that if she could survive years worth of being presented at annual balls held by the wealthy families on Beacon Hill, where everyone stared at her as she came out. She was always told she was the most beautiful and most suitable daughter for marrying, but the moment she spoke of her dreams to go to medical school, none of the men were brave enough to ask for her hand. She hadn't minded. She hadn't wanted any of them anyway.

"You ready for this?" Sully asked, taking her hand.

"I have to be," she admitted with a nervous smile and a nod. The door opened, and Sully stepped out first. Everyone grew quiet, speculating over the appearance of the man. He wore his hair much longer than most men, and he wasn't dressed in the finest of clothes. So what could they expect of this woman? All eyes were on the stage coach, as he reached in for her hand and helped her out.

Many of the men gazed at her beauty, and a lot of the women whispered to one another, wondering how someone so beautiful and proper-looking could be a woman doctor too.

"Dr. Quinn?" A taller man wearing black with a white collar stepped up.

"You must be Reverend Johnson," Michaela said with a smile and a nod. Her smile seemed to have charmed him, as he smiled back in return. Sully could see the faint hint of a blush on his cheeks.

"Yes," he said with a nod. Sully tucked his arm around his wife, and she smiled up at him.

"This is my husband, Byron Sully." Sully extended his hand.

"Nice to meet ya."

"You too," the Reverend said in return.

"Is there a place we might take our luggage?"

"You can keep 'em at the at the telegraph office," Horace said eagerly, "just in case ya decide ya don't want…"

"Shut up, Horace!" Loren hissed. "Uh, Miss…uh, Dr….um…" Michaela just smiled at the older gentleman, "you can keep your things at the mercantile and come back for it when ya get settled. We have a storage room, and I think it'd all fit."

"That would be lovely. Thank you," Michaela said.

"Oh, and anything ya might need, um, fancy soaps or…or things like that, we got 'em."

"Thank you, Mr…"

"Bray. Loren Bray."

"That's real kind of ya, Mr. Bray," Sully said with a nod.

"You folks look like you could use a bite to eat. My name's Grace, and I run the café here." Michaela turned to the kind-spoken woman.

"Thank you," she said, feeling overwhelmed by how welcome she felt. Still, she wondered if Sully could feel how tightly she was holding onto his arm. "But right now, we'd like to settle in. Where will we be staying?"

"My ma runs the boardin' house," a sweet little boy with light blonde hair said with a grin that showed his two front teeth missing.

"Sounds good," Sully said with a nod, taking his wife's hand in his. The crowd began to disperse, and a few of the men helped the coach drivers take the luggage over to the mercantile. Michaela wondered for a moment if it would be alright to trust their luggage with strangers, but she knew they'd be back for it shortly anyway.

"Where is your mother?" Michaela wondered. The boy couldn't have been much older than five.

"She's cookin' lunch. My sister's probably helpin' her."

"Oh, that's nice," Michaela said with a hint of a smile as she and Sully hurried to keep up with the little boy. They arrived a two-story house that was painted all white with blue shutters. Flowerboxes sat in the windows, and Michaela found it quite charming.

Brian rushed into the house, holding the door wide open.

"Ma! Maaaaaa!" he called.

"Lands sakes, Brian!" the dark-haired woman exclaimed, coming out of the back of the house, her apron covered in flour and her hands full with a newly killed chicken. "What're you hollerin' about?" She spotted the handsome couple standing before her and halted. "Oh! Oh, you must be the lady doctor!"

"How did you know?" Michaela asked. The woman glanced toward the medical bag in Michaela's hand. "Oh." She blushed, feeling foolish. "Your son tells me that you run the boarding house."

"The busiest one in the territory," she laughed. "Except for this week. You two lucked out! We have six rooms to choose from. The nicest, though, is at the end of the hall upstairs, just to give you a heads up." She winked. "I charge a dollar a week." Michaela glanced at Sully.

"We'd appreciate it, Ma'am." The woman held her hand out to Michaela.

"Name's Charlotte Cooper. This is my youngest boy, Brian. Got a daughter inside. Her name's Colleen, and she helps me get meals prepared for the folks livin' here. There's here, and there's Grace's. Don't worry. I won't be offended if ya eat over there, 'cause Grace's got the best meatloaf this side of the country." Charlotte laughed. "You got luggage?"

"Over at the mercantile," Sully pointed out.

"My boy Matthew'll help ya get all that brought over, so don't worry." She smiled. "Come on in, and I'll show ya around." Michaela felt as if something had been lifted off of her chest. So far, everyone was friendly, and she was looking forward to finding out what this town had to offer.

Michaela and Sully's things had been brought to the boarding house, and after they'd gotten some rest, they were ready to see the town. More importantly, they were ready to find out about Michaela's becoming the doctor in Colorado Springs.

After having had lunch with the Cooper family, who were a very nice bunch, Michaela and Sully set out to find the Reverend. They didn't have to look far, as he was standing in front of an old building. Charlotte Cooper had mentioned that the building she had owned before was just perfect for a doctor's office, and Michaela could already tell from the outside that with some cleaning and fixing up, it would make a fine office.

"Ah, Dr. Quinn," the Reverend said, waving toward Michaela and Sully. "I thought we might have this meeting here. If you wouldn't mind joining me inside?" Michaela nodded, clutching Sully's arm. The two followed him in. Mr. Bray and another fellow that had been in the crowd, Jake Slicker, were standing inside the empty front room.

"Gentlemen," Reverend Johnson said quietly, "Dr. Quinn is ready to hear our proposal." Michaela and Sully shared a sideways glance before turning their attention to the men.

"Well, as ya know, we ain't had any luck findin' a doctor," Jake spoke up. "Fact is, nobody wants to practice here, 'cause folks 'round here don't have a lot of money. So the council got together, and we figured we got enough money to pay ya for your first month here. It'll give ya time to maybe get some patients and get some payment comin' in. After that, either ya stay or ya leave." Michaela glanced at Sully.

"We don't have a lot, but we need a doctor," Loren said quietly. "It ain't been an easy few years 'round here, and we just need somebody to be here in case anything bad happens."

"I'm usually the one that tends to the stitchin'," Jake said, clearing his throat. "But I can't do much more'n that when it comes to doctorin'."

"How much is this place?" Sully wondered.

"Bank in Denver wants five hundred for it," Loren pointed out.

"Gentlemen, if you'll excuse me," Michaela said slowly, "I'd like to talk to my husband."

"Of course," Reverend Johnson said with a nod. Sully followed Michaela outside onto the porch. Chewing her lip nervously, Michaela began to pace.

"What're you thinkin' about?"

"I'm trying to…I think this is what I need to do," Michaela said with a nod. "I need a place to practice, and they need a doctor. With the money father gave us, we'll have plenty enough to cover buying this as the clinic, and we'll have plenty left over to get supplies, instruments, and…" She smiled at him. "And enough to start building our own home."

"I wanna do that with my own money. You use your Pa's money to get yourself settled in at the clinic."

"But, Sully," Michaela protested, "there's plenty of money here. I'm certain father would want us to use it toward our new home." Sully sighed, and he nodded.

"I'm sure he would. I'd just feel better about buildin' it with my own money."

"I do understand that, Sully," Michaela said quietly. She eyed him. "You do want to stay, don't you? I should have asked you, I'm sorry."

"No, no, of course I wanna stay," he said quickly. "It's beautiful out here. Perfect place to start a family." He smiled down at her, and she gave him a short smile.

"Alright," she said. "I'm not dropping this money issue though. I think it would be a wise investment for the rest of the money. It would certainly speed things along." Sully sighed. "Promise me you'll think about it." Sully nodded.

"Alright. I promise." He placed his hand on her shoulder, giving it a little rub. "Go on. Tell 'em they got themselves a doctor."

Abagail rocked her infant daughter Hanna in her arms as she entered Grace's café that evening. She noticed Grace and her husband Robert E. standing around Michaela and Sully's table with a few other citizens, and she decided to go over and join them.

"So what's Boston like?" Grace asked. "Furthest I've been east is New Orleans. I'm sure it ain't nothin' like that."

"Oh no," Michaela said with a shake of her head. It's far different than here. It's…well, it's a lot noisier, I suppose. Horses galloping around on cobblestone streets all day. It's beautiful, yes, but the view isn't nearly as enticing as yours." Michaela and Sully both looked over toward the mountains, as the sun slowly began to sink behind them.

"Oh, that's Pike's Peak. It's one of our main attractions. 'Course most folks don't get out here, 'cause there ain't no railroad. Some folks like it that way, others don't."

"Oh?" Michaela asked.

"Well, the Cheyenne, for one."

"Cheyenne? You mean Indians?" Michaela wondered in awe.

"Yep," Robert E. said with a nod. The government's been tryin' to get a railroad out this way for years, but Black Kettle, he don't want no part of it. He keeps fightin' the government, 'cause the buffalo are gonna be killed off dozens at a time when the railroad comes through. Buffalo is mainly what the Cheyenne hunt."

"I never thought of that," Michaela said quietly. "It must be awful to live a life where food is scarce and might even become more scarce because the rest of the world's changing."

"'Course, it'd bring more business to this town," Abagail spoke up. "My pa's all for the railroad. Says we won't have to live in fear of Indian attacks, 'cause the railroad'll drive 'em off."

"Oh Abagail," Grace said with a shake of her head, "there ain't been an attack 'round here since you were little Brian Cooper's age." Abagail shrugged.

"Still, it'd bring more folks to this town. More business." Abagail moved to her own table and sat down with her daughter in her arms, glancing sideways at Michaela and Sully, trying not to let them see her staring.

"Loren Bray's daughter," Grace whispered. "She's been a widow for all of a few months. She ain't takin' it well."

"That's terrible. She's awfully young."

"Her husband Henry was takin' real good care of her, but now that he's gone, she's livin' back above her pa's store. She used to be a real sweet girl. Now she's a little reclusive. Don't join in much with things. In fact, today's the most I heard her speech in a good while," Grace recalled. She shook her head. "Poor thing." Sighing, she headed over to Abagail's table to take her order. The crowd around the table dispersed, and Michaela and Sully sat together in silence.

"Know what I wanna do tomorrow?"

"Hmm?" Michaela asked, glancing up curiously.

"I wanna go explorin' with ya. Maybe find a creek to fish in, somethin' like that. Go swimmin'?" He eyed her. "'Course if it's alright for ya to do that."

"Of course it is," Michaela assured him. She gave his hand a squeeze. "I'd love to go." Grinning at her, Sully leaned over, kissing her cheek. She blushed, but it felt good to have this closeness, and now, the only thing on her mind was getting back home and turning in for the night to lay in her husband's loving embrace until the sun came up.

Dear Father,

Sully and I have arrived safely in Colorado Springs, and it's pretty definite that we'll be staying here. The land is just beautiful. I wish you could see it! The mountains are gorgeous against the bright blue sky! One of these days, I might have Sully hike with me to the top of Pike's Peak! What an experience that would be. No, of course I won't be exerting myself while I'm pregnant. Yes, I know better than that, so don't worry!

I never dreamed I could be so happy. Sully truly is making me happy, and I'm so thankful to have him. Don't worry, he's taking wonderful care of me, and I of him. I've found a place that I'm going to purchase as my clinic, and that leaves plenty for me to purchase medicines and equipment with still some money left. I want to put it toward building a house of our own, but Sully wants to make that money himself. I haven't given up on him yet though. I told him this was to help us get started, and that's what this would be doing.

We're staying in Charlotte Cooper's boarding house. She says it's normally very busy, but right now, Sully and I are her only tenants. As soon as we find another place to live until we have our house built, we'll be moving out of town, I'm certain. I'd like to live relatively close to town in case of an emergency, but Sully and I both love the peacefulness out here and think that raising a family would be a lot better in out of town.

They did hire me. The town council, I mean. However, my employment with them will only last about a month, because that's all they can afford, so I have a month to get patients and start making a living. I hope the citizens will come to me and trust that I can help them if they need it.

It's growing late, and I'm retiring to bed. I hope you and mother are well!

Love,

Mike

Michaela placed her pen down as soon as she felt his arms encircle her and his lips graze over her neck. She moaned softly, closing her eyes, as he suckled her. His hands explored down her body, gently caressing the side of her breast through her gown.

"You comin' to bed?"

"Mmm, in a minute," she whispered. "Just finishing this letter…"

"Looks like it's finished," Sully whispered against the pulse at her neck. Michaela's body trembled all over, and she bit her bottom lip.

"Very observant, Mr. Sully." She stood, turning in his arms with a smile upon her face.

"How ya feelin'?" he asked, drawing her close, her body pressed against his.

"Mmm…wonderful," she whispered. "It's amazing how you can make everything else just disappear." She blushed a little, and he kissed her cheek.

"I'm glad ya told me," he breathed. "I don't want ya to ever be scared of tellin' me anything, alright?" Michaela nodded slowly, and she embraced him. "Feels good to hold ya."

"Yes," she whispered. She closed her eyes, as he raised her up into his arms. She smiled against his lips, feeling the warmth of his breath against her skin. Sighing softly, she melted in his arms, thankful for having a husband as loving and gentle as Sully. He carried her to the bed, and they spent the rest of the night in each other's arms, absorbed completely with one another.

Thank you all for your generous feedback so far! Please let me know what you thought of Chapter 2!