CHAPTER 11
Although Brian and Colleen had returned to school and Matthew was back working at the ranch, life was far from normal. Dr. Bernard, with the assistance of Colleen, had operated on Dr. Mike's hip to remove the bone fragments. Even though the surgery had gone well, the damage to her hip was more extensive than originally thought. The good doctor feared his patient would be left with a permanent limp and ongoing pain and discomfort. She still tired easily and had lost far too much weight for Dr. Bernard's liking. He knew his fellow physicians often made the worst patients.
"Dr. Quinn. You have got to start eating. How do you expect to help your patients if you aren't willing to take care of yourself?"
"I am eating, Dr. Bernard. Please don't tell me how to treat myself. After all, I have been known to say the same things to my own patients." It was the first time he had seen a hint of fire in her eyes.
"Well, Dr. Quinn, I am sure you get just as frustrated when your patients ignore your advice as I do."
Dr. Mike looked up at her physician and smiled. "Point taken, Doctor."
He grinned at his younger colleague whom he had come to think of as a daughter. Peering down at her over his wire-rimmed glasses, he again cautioned her to rest, eat three meals a day, and avoid standing on her injured hip as much as possible.
"I will be back in Colorado Springs in another month. I will expect you to have put on at least ten pounds and be able to walk across the room without gasping for breath and having to hold onto the furniture. Do you understand, young lady?"
Dr. Mike just grinned and smartly saluted as he picked up his medical bag and turned to leave the clinic. Seeing her impertinent salute, Dr. Bernard smiled back and playfully wagged his finger at her.
The doctor had no more closed the door to the clinic recovery room than Michaela slid back down into the bed, turned her head, and closed her eyes. Tears trickled down her wan face and splashed onto the linen of the pillowcase. There were so few times that she was ever alone, and that made it more difficult to hide her melancholia from the children and her friends. She profoundly missed Sully. Her heart ached for him, and she longed to feel his arms around her and to have him hold her small hand in his own larger callused one. No one had even mentioned him by name. It was as if he had just disappeared into the night. However, she knew that his absence was partly the result of her words…of her jealousy toward Catherine…of her knowing he had kissed another woman. She couldn't help but feel that Sully had broken his promise…his promise to love her.
Several weeks earlier, Dr. Mike had overheard Dorothy and Grace talking as they sat by her bedside. Cloud Dancing had brought Catherine to town so that she could catch the stage to St. Louis. They had thought she was asleep, but when Catherine's name was mentioned, she surreptitiously listened in on the conversation. The beautiful Indian captive had finally gone to Baltimore to live with her grandmother. Had Sully traveled to Baltimore to be with her? No one in town seemed to know anything of his whereabouts. If they had seen him, they surely weren't telling. The question seemed to resonate through her mind, and no easy answer was forthcoming. She was reluctant to even voice her fears though she suspected Matthew might be able to provide some of the answers her heart so desperately sought. Where was Sully?
Dr. Bernard returned to Colorado Springs on two separate occasions to check on his patient. Finally, he was satisfied enough with her recovery to let her return to work part-time. Dr. Mike, though not a model patient, had gained a little weight, and her breathing was much improved. The hip surgery, unfortunately, had not relieved the pain, and she still had a decided limp. Only time would tell if there were to be any further improvement in his patient's halting gait.
Sully, still reeling from the loss of his beloved heartsong, slipped into Colorado Springs as dusk gave way to the darkest of night. He had been gone for over five months.
As he stood in the shadows of the alleyway between the clinic and the telegraph office, he could see the flickering light from oil lamps through the examining room windows. The white ruffled curtains blocked his view of the room's occupants. All was quiet except for an occasional loud voice from the doorway of the saloon and the constant bark of Robert E.'s old hound dog.
He had to see Michaela. He had to make sure that she was all right. She was alive, of that he was sure. His heart would have stopped beating had hers done the same.
Suddenly, a buckboard wagon came rolling down the dusty street from the direction of Loren's store. As it pulled to a stop in front of the clinic, Sully realized Matthew was the driver. As he set the brake against the wagon wheels and jumped from the seat, the door to the clinic was thrust open. Brian came rushing through the entryway and plowed straight into Matthew's larger frame.
"Hey, careful, little brother! Where's Dr. Mike and Colleen?"
"They're inside, and Colleen is helpin' Ma get her coat on."
"Okay then. I'll jus' see if they need any help."
As Matthew and Brian turned to go up the single wooden step onto the clinic porch, the light from the oil lamps were suddenly snuffed, and Michaela and Colleen exited the clinic. Sully could still see the two women by the light emanating from the saloon. What he saw left him breathless.
Michaela, with her hand clasped firmly on a cane for support, shuffled slowly toward the wagon. Colleen, who carried the black leather medical bag, supported her ma by holding her under her upper arm. Matthew, who stood to the side, held out his arms to grasp her waist and lift her up and into the buckboard's seat. After she was settled, Colleen draped a blanket over Michaela's legs. She and Brian then turned and climbed into the back of the wagon as Matthew took his seat and picked up the horse's reins. The family slowly disappeared from sight but not before Sully saw Michaela flinch in pain and rub her hip.
He continued to secretly watch the family from afar for almost a week. Robert E. had nearly caught him as he crouched by the water trough that was next to the clinic. At night, he slept on a rocky outcrop behind the homestead. Only once had he seen Michaela come outside other than when she made her twice-weekly trips to the clinic. Matthew had brought Flash from the barn and tied him to the horseshoe at the hitching post. She had carefully hobbled her away across the wooden deck planks to rub his nose and whisper into his ears.
Michaela was very thin and pale, and Sully was dismayed that the suffering that had ravaged her body and was mirrored by the distress in her eyes. No matter, she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. At some point in his journey though, she had stopped being Dr. Mike, and now in his heart and mind, he called her Michaela.
It would not be long, he decided, before he would stand next to her and call her by name. Michaela.
