Chapter 2: Healing

By sunrise the next day, Michaela was ready to head into town. She wanted to check on Charlotte and Emily, but she was very concerned about Hank. She wondered if she should have stayed at the clinic to watch over him the night before, but Myra promised to look in on him and come fetch the doctor if anything seemed off about him. Everything had been quiet, so Michaela figured that Hank had made it through the night.

When she arrived in town, everything was still and the stores were all closed. It was a bit eerie to be out this early and see the town completely still. But, Michaela knew that within an hour or so, the town would be alive again.

When she opened the door, she was surprised to find the Cooper children sitting around waiting inside.

"Children? Is everything alright?"

"We woke up early, so we came down here so we wouldn't wake ma," Brian pointed out.

"That was very thoughtful," Michaela noted with a smile. The door closing off the upstairs opened and Myra stepped out. "Good morning, Myra."

"Mornin', Dr. Mike. Can you come take a look at Hank? I went in to check on him this mornin', and he seems to be doin' better."
"That's good news!" Michaela said happily. "I'll come check on him." The doctor followed Myra upstairs and into Hank's room. When they arrived at their destination, Michaela sat down at Hank's bedside. She felt his forehead and was pleased that he had no fever. He was still unconscious, which worried her, but when she checked her stitch work on his wound, there seemed to be no signs of infection. "He appears to be healing nicely. I'm a little concerned that he hasn't woken yet, but I'm sure he'll wake within a couple of hours. If he doesn't I may need to re-examine him." Myra nodded and Michaela began to wonder why she was so concerned about a man who was going to have her work for him as a prostitute.

"Myra? Why don't you come downstairs?" Michaela suggested.

"Somebody should sit with him so he ain't alone," Myra replied. "I don't think he's got a family, and I know if I was sick, I'd want somebody sittin' with me. Nobody else seems to be jumpin' at the chance." Michaela nodded in understand and decided to change the subject.

"How did your dinner with Horace go last night?" A look of realization washed over Myra's face, and she covered her mouth with her hand in disbelief.

"Oh no! I must've forgot! Horace is gonna be so mad! I was just sittin' with Hank, and I must've lost track of the time." Michaela put a reassuring hand on Myra's shoulder.

"I'm sure Horace will understand." Michaela left the room and heard crying coming from Emily Donovan's room. She smiled and tapped on the door.

"Come in!" Emily called over her infant daughter's squalling. Michaela entered the room and smiled at the new mother as she tried to comfort the child. "Sorry if she's wakin' the other patients."
"It's alright. Hank needs woken up, and I'm sure Charlotte understands what you're going through. She has three children of her own." Emily smiled graciously. "How are you feeling, Emily?"

"I'm so tired. The baby kept wakin' me up last night, and it just ain't the same it was with my son. She cries more and it takes her longer to get back to sleep."

"All babies are different, Emily. It'll take some getting used to, but I'm sure that after awhile, she'll learn to sleep more in the daytime and let you sleep. I'm sure you'll be up plenty with her at night for a few months." The baby continued to cry, and Michaela noticed a bit of a cough. She furrowed her brows in concern. She knew better than to worry Emily while she was so weak after giving birth, but she needed to check the baby's temperature. "How long as she been coughing like that?"

"The mornin' after she was born. So about a day," Emily replied. "I thought it was nothin' serious. Is somethin' wrong with my baby, Dr. Mike?"

"I'm sure there's nothing seriously wrong. May I hold her?"

"Sure," Emily replied. She handed the newborn baby to the doctor. Michaela felt the baby's forehead, and she was burning up.

"Emily, your baby has a severe fever."

"How could that have happened?!" Emily asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"Maybe she got cold at night. I need to take her downstairs and treat her."

"Is she gonna be alright?!"

"I'm sure she'll be fine. It's just a fever, and if it starts to go down soon, I'm sure it's nothing serious."

"Please help her," Emily said, tears starting to fall.

"I'll do what I can. Just rest, Emily. I'll take good care of her."

"I trust you, Dr. Mike." Michaela hurried out of the room and went downstairs with Emily's child. The kids saw her come out with the baby, and she put her down on the exam table.

"What's wrong with Miss Emily's baby?" Matthew asked.

"She has a slight fever. Colleen, can you bring me some cold water? I need to bring her temperature down." Colleen nodded and did as Michaela asked. Michaela unwrapped the baby and went about doing what she could to bring the child's temperature down.

Colleen walked into Charlotte's room at the clinic. Charlotte was sitting up reading a book. She smiled when she saw her daughter's face.

"Hey ma," Colleen greeted her, shutting the door behind her.

"How good it is to see your face," Charlotte said with a grin, her eyes twinkling with delight. "How are you, dear?"

"I'm alright. I just helped Dr. Mike bring Miss Emily's baby's fever down."

"You did?"

"Yeah. Ma, can I talk to you about somethin'?"

"Of course, darlin'." Colleen slowly walked over to sit on the edge of Charlotte's bed. Charlotte took her middle child's hands into her own. "You can tell me anything."

"I know that," Colleen replied. She swallowed and took a deep breath. "I wanna be a doctor like Dr. Mike." Charlotte's eyes widened in surprise. "I hope you ain't mad."

"Mad? Why would I be mad?" Charlotte asked with a delighted chuckle.

"Well, I know you were so happy that I wanted to be an actress in plays, but I just realized it after seein' how good Dr. Mike is with people. I don't want to disappoint you."

"Child, you could never disappoint me," Charlotte replied. "I will always be proud of you. I've been proud of you since the day you were born." Charlotte brought Colleen in for a hug. When they pulled away, she brushed tears out of her daughter's eyes. "Darlin' don't cry."

"I don't want you to die, ma."

"Sweetheart, that could be months from now," Charlotte whispered. "But whenever it happens, you'll know that we'll be together again someday. Just remember that, alright?" Colleen bit her quivering bottom lip and nodded.

"Okay, ma," Colleen whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too, darlin'."

Now that everything was quiet again, Michaela could finally sit down and write out her long-awaited letter to her family. She dreaded her mother's reaction, but she also didn't care what her mother thought. She was happy and in love with Sully, and that's all that mattered.

Dear Mother and Father,

As you both know, I have taken on the adventure of traveling out west to extend our medicine to those on the frontier. It took awhile, but I am finally getting patients, and I have had much success! I'm slowly gaining their trust, although many of them aren't thrilled with the idea of having a woman doctor. I know that this is a bit sudden, and I regret that I haven't been able to write since I've arrived, but I want to let you both know that I am happy and engaged to be married this coming May.

Father, I want to thank you for giving me the advice to be happy. Sully and I are very happy and are looking forward to spending the rest of our lives together. We would like to invite you both, along with Rebecca, Marjorie, Maureen, and Claudette, to our wedding. We will send another letter with the confirmed date once it is settled.

I hope all is well at home, mother, and with the practice, father. Give my love to Harrison and Martha.

Your loving daughter,

Michaela Quinn, M.D.

Michaela sighed heavily as she put the letter into an envelope. She left the clinic and walked over to the telegraph office. Horace was sitting at the desk looking quite irritated.

"Horace?" He looked up and smiled as best he could at the doctor. That didn't mask the frustration in his eyes.

"What can I do for ya, Dr. Mike?"

"I would like to post this letter to Boston. The address is already written on there. I just need it sent."

"Sure thing, Dr. Mike."

"Is everything alright, Horace?"

"I s'pose," he replied quietly.

"Is this about Myra?"

"How'd ya guess?"

"Because I spoke with her earlier. She honestly forgot, Horace. She feels terrible."

"Well she was sittin' with Hank the whole time. I shoulda come over and got her, but I figured that if she really wanted to come to dinner with me, she wouldn't forget."

"Maybe you should talk to her, Horace," Michaela suggested. "Thanks for posting my letter." Michaela walked out of the telegraph office and ran into Grace.

"Mornin' Dr. Mike," Grace said with a smile.

"Good morning, Grace. How are you?"

"I've been better."

"What's the matter?" The two women began to walk toward the meadow.

"It's Robert E. Ever since I got to town, he's been smilin' at me and I know he's sweet on me."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Well he hasn't made one move! He hasn't asked me to dinner or anything. Maybe I'm readin' too much into it. Maybe he doesn't really care about me." Michaela grinned a little.

"Grace, I've seen the way Robert E. looks at you. Perhaps he's just trying to find the way to let you know he cares."

"What is it with men? At least you ain't got that problem. Sully practically swept you off your feet. The most Robert E. has done is sweep around my feet when I come to visit." She and Michaela laughed together, catching the attention of Robert E. He started walking over toward them and he smiled at both of them.

"Mornin' ladies."

"Good morning, Robert E."

"Mornin'," Grace said softly.

"Grace, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"What for?"

"I think you know."

"It's alright. I can take a hint," Michaela replied. She winked at Robert E. and walked off toward the clinic. As she was passing Jake's barbershop, she felt arms reach out to her and grab her from behind. At first, Michaela wanted to scream out, but when she felt the arms loosen around her, she turned and saw Sully standing against the side of the barbershop. He had a grin on his face and Michaela playfully slapped him on the arm. "You frightened me!"

"I just wanted to get ya alone for a minute."

"You did?" Michaela asked. She looked around to see if anyone was watching before she wrapped her arms around Sully's neck and kissed him passionately. Her heart began to pound, and she could feel Sully's pounding in sync with hers. She pulled away from him and stared into his eyes. She realized that such a display of affection in Boston would have been uncalled for because she wasn't married.

"You alright?" Sully asked as Michaela turned away, her feelings getting the better of her. She wanted to keep holding onto him; keep kissing him. She wanted to feel his breath against her skin, but her mind began to wander to other things that she wanted even more, and she knew that if she wasn't careful, she wouldn't be able to wait until her wedding night to have Sully completely and for him to have her. "Did I do somethin' I shouldn't have?"

"No," Michaela replied, turning back to face him. "But perhaps we shouldn't be kissing so much." Sully looked confused and put his hands on either side of Michaela's waist.

"If I did something, you can tell me."

"No. It isn't you. It's me." Sully took Michaela's hands and led her over to the clinic. They sat down on the bench on the porch. Michaela looked into Sully's eyes and smiled at him lovingly. "Sully, I love you so much, and I love when you hold me and kiss me. It's just that I think I love it too much." She felt her cheeks growing hot and Sully smiled knowingly.

"There's nothin' wrong with that."

"Sully, we aren't married yet," Michaela whispered. "Perhaps we should refrain from touching or kissing for awhile."

"I can't even hold your hand?"

"Well, as long as that's the extent of it." Sully sighed heavily and swallowed hard.

"Is it that important to ya?" Michaela saw the frustration in Sully's eyes, but she knew it was necessary to cool off a bit.

"Yes. Are you alright with it?"

"I can learn to be," he replied. "It's just gonna be hard not to kiss ya because you're so beautiful." Michael blushed and Sully kissed her hand. "I love you."

"I love you too." Michaela stood and swallowed hard, feeling her pulse starting to slow a bit. Sully stood and it was obvious that he was longing to kiss her, and she was longing to kiss him too. But Sully simply leaned in to give her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Can you take the afternoon off?"

"What?"

"I'd like to take you to the reservation to meet some of the Cheyenne. Some of the children have been feelin' bad. Maybe you could take a look at 'em."

"I'll check on Emily and the baby and Hank. Charlotte's doing fine, so as soon as I evaluate my other patients, I should be free for a couple of hours." Sully smiled.

"Good. I'll go tell them you're coming." Sully turned and walked away. Michaela wanted to follow him and have him carry her off into the mountains like she used to dream about.

"Dr. Mike!" came a voice, snapping her out of her thoughts. It was Myra running out of the clinic.

"Myra? What is it?" Michaela asked.

"Hank's wakin' up!" Michaela rushed into the clinic and up the stairs. When she reached the bartender's room, he was moaning and trying to sit up.

"Hank! You should rest."

"What happened?"

"You were shot and Jake and Loren brought you here."

"They let you cut on me?"

"The doctor saved your life," Myra pointed out.

"What the hell are you doin' here?" Hank asked. "You don't know me."

"I know I don't. But from the looks of it, you ain't got a family. I didn't want you to be alone."

"Myra's been sitting with you since you got out of surgery." Hank grumbled something under his breath directed at Dr. Mike. "Do you want me to get you something for the pain?" After a few minutes, Hank settled down and nodded. Michaela pulled out a syringe and gave him a small injection of morphine. After a moment, Hank closed his eyes.

"Thank you," he whispered. Michaela looked at Myra who looked very concerned for this man. Michaela still couldn't understand how Myra could be so concerned about a man who was going to hire her to be a prostitute. But then she remembered her father. Her father had always taught her to be compassionate to all, and that's what Michaela was going to be. She didn't like to judge people at all, and if she did, she was fair and honest.

"I'll come check on him in a few hours. I'm riding out to the Indian reservation later. You'll send word if he anything?"

"I will," Myra replied with a concerned smile.

"Oh. I spoke with Horace later. I think you two should talk." Michaela left and Myra sat back down at Hank's side.

"Don't you worry, Hank. I ain't leavin' till you're better. I know what it's like to be alone and sick. It ain't fun and I ain't gonna let it happen to you."

Later that day, after Michaela checked on her other patients, she headed out of the clinic with her medical bag, filled with supplies she figured she might need on the reservation. As she was starting over to the livery to get her wagon, Horace came rushing across the street.

"Dr. Mike!"

"Horace? What is it?" Michaela asked.

"It's a telegram from Boston." Sully, who had just gotten back from the reservation, was waiting in the doctor's wagon. He noticed Michaela standing in the middle of the street as Horace walked back to the telegraph office.

"Dr. Mike?" he asked as he walked over to her. From the look on Michaela's face, whatever she was reading was bad news. Tears were in her eyes.

"Oh Sully," she whispered.

"What is it?"

"It's my father. My sister Rebecca just wired from Boston. He had a massive coronary." Sully looked at her, trying to figure out what that was. "A heart attack."

"Is he alright?"

"She says he's alright but there's no telling in the next forty eight hours."

"Do you want to go back to Boston?"
"No. She said he doesn't want me to leave, and if I do, he'll disown me."

"That's harsh."

"He's just joking," Michaela replied with a smile. "He doesn't want me to worry, so he threatens things that he doesn't mean. He's just trying to tell me that he's going to be alright and that I should stay here. Oh, Sully, I want to go home and be with him, but so many people need me here." She began to cry and Sully pulled her close.

"Your pa's gonna be alright," he whispered. "But if you decide that you need to go to Boston, just let me know and I'll come with you." He kissed the top of her head and he felt her trembling. "C'mon. Let's get you to the clinic to lay down. We can go to the reservation another day."

"No," Michaela replied. "I think it's best if we go now. It'll keep my mind off of my father."

"You think that's best?"

"Yes. I do. If I keep busy, I won't worry as much."

"Whatever you say," Sully replied. "Come on." He led Michaela to the wagon, helped her up, and they started off toward the reservation. Sully was sure that Michaela's heart was breaking, and he wished there was something he could do to fix it. But, he knew from experience that she was going to have to get through her worry alone. If Josef did die, he knew all he could do was be there for the woman he loved. But until then, he was going to hope, for the sake of the Quinn family, that Josef pulled through and would be there to give his daughter away on her wedding day.