Chapter 6: Reunited
Sully held onto Michaela, not wanting to let her go. She was crying on his shoulder, worn out from the past few days. Sully wanted nothing more than to tell her to sleep it off, but he also wanted to spend every waking moment of her, cherishing their reunion; cherishing her. He was rocking her back and forth, and felt the urge to pinch himself to make sure he really was awake. When Michaela pulled away from Sully, she looked up into his eyes. Her fingers traced over his lips and he leaned in to kiss her lovingly.
"Sully, you came to me in a dream last night," she whispered. "I meant to stay at the cabin. You told me to in the dream."
"I know," he replied. "I had the same dream. You were sleeping in that bed and I knelt at your side."
"Yes," Michaela whispered softly. "Oh Sully, I can't believe you're really here. I can't believe I'm in your arms."
"Tell me what happened," he whispered. "I need to know." Michaela nodded.
"His name is David Luther. He killed the stagecoach drivers and took me away from you, because he thought you had kidnapped me. He was grief-stricken, Sully. He thought I was his late wife."
"Millicent."
"Yes," Michaela replied gently. "She apparently died in a horrible fire, and he didn't want to believe it."
"He didn't hurt you?"
"No," she replied. "He wouldn't have. He really believed I was his wife."
"He's in town now," Sully replied.
"Did he shoot you?" Michaela asked, her fingers lightly touching Sully's bandages.
"Yeah," he replied. "I broke his leg when I knocked him off his horse. He shot me in return."
"Sully, thank God you're alright." She dried the tears from her eyes. "If I'd have lost you, I couldn't have lived."
"You could have."
"No Sully. I know now that we're soul mates; kindred spirits. This locket kept me going these past few days. We came to one another in a dream. Sully, I've felt your pain."
"What?"
"The places you've been hurt, I was hurting there too while you were away. Now that you're here, it's like we're complete. I don't feel it anymore." Sully noticed the sling on Michaela's arm.
"You broke your arm."
"Yes," Michaela replied with a slight nod.
"My arm's been hurtin' me lately too. Now that ya mention it, it ain't hurtin' anymore." Sully kissed her hand. "You're right though. We are meant to walk the same path." He hugged her again, and felt pain in his back. He winced although he was trying to be strong for Michaela.
"Sully, let me take a look at your wound."
"No, no. It's alright. I'm here for you right now. What do you need?"
"I need you to let me look at that wound. Please? I have my medical bag with me." Sully chuckled a little at the fact that even though Michaela had been lost in the woods and injured for days, she had managed to hold onto her medical bag. Sully nodded and let Michaela unwrap his bandage enough to look at the entrance and exit wounds. She pulled a small bottle out of her bag and dabbed some antiseptic onto it. When she was done, she tied the bandages back in place.
"Who sewed you up?"
"Well, Cloud Dancin' did that. Jake had to perform a blood transfusion."
"What?!" Michaela asked in shock, her eyes growing wide.
"Yeah. Cloud Dancin' told him he'd seen ya do a few at the reservation, and he talked Jake through it."
"My God," Michaela whispered. "Remind me to thank Jake later. He helped save your life."
"Yeah, I feel like I owe him." Sully replied.
"So do I." Michaela sighed heavily and Sully put his hand on her cheek. "How are the children?"
"They're fine."
"The boys. They must be hungry."
"Don't you worry. They're bein' taken care of. You must be starvin' though. The fellas are back at the shack. They should be cookin' dinner about right now."
"Dinner sounds nice," Michaela whispered.
"I'll go make sure the path's cleared before I bring ya down, alright?"
"I can walk," Michaela replied.
"Ya sure? That ankle looks pretty swollen."
"Well, I suppose I can't really walk much on it right now. I should rest it. But you can't carry me down. Sully, perhaps we should stay up here until the morning."
"I'll have to go tell the fellas." He winced in pain and Michaela put her hand on his arm.
"Please don't leave me," she whispered. He looked into her pleading eyes and leaned in to kiss her trembling lips. "I'll be back in a minute. I just need to . . ." She broke down into tears again, obviously exhausted and emotionally strained from the events of the last few days. "It's alright. I won't leave if ya don't want me to. But there's water just below us, and I thought I'd go down and get some for us. I'm feelin' pretty thirsty. I don't know 'bout you." Michaela nodded.
"Okay." Sully gave her a reassuring kiss, not wanting to leave. He never wanted to be apart from her again, but he knew now that she was safe and that their forced separation was over.
"Did ya get the food set out there like we told ya?" Jake asked as Horace walked into the shack. The men were sitting down with their food for the evening. Cloud Dancing had managed to scrounge up a little something with his limited hunting equipment. With what he had managed to catch, Robert E. had prepared, because Jake, Loren, Hank, and Horace couldn't cook for beans.
"Yep," Horace replied with a smile. The men had had Horace track Sully, and he had soon found him with Michaela up on a cliff. He had silently gone back to the shack to report that Sully had indeed reunited with his wife. Cloud Dancing had prepared some pheasant for the newly reunited couple, and he had wrapped it in a handkerchief from one of the saddlebags. He had packed enough to feed them until the morning, and they had sent Horace to place it under the ledge for them to find. "Did ya save me anything to eat?"
"Nope. Hank ate your helpin'," Loren replied with a smirk.
"Hank!"
"Did not," Hank lied.
"You can share mine," Cloud Dancing offered, handing Horace a portion of his food.
"Thanks," Horace mumbled, accepting the food and scowling at Hank.
"What? It was getting cold," Hank replied, defending himself.
"Sure it was," Horace grumbled.
"Ah, come on, let's just finish eatin' and try to get some sleep."
"Who the hell can sleep when ya got them damn coyotes howlin' out there?" Jake asked. "They don't bother me much in town, but out here, they're liable to keep me up all night." He looked at Cloud Dancing. "Guess you're right at home." Cloud Dancing ignored Jake and put his food aside.
"Jake, why don't ya get some sleep?" Loren asked. "You're getting awful grumpy."
"Grumpy? Look who's talkin'," Jake snapped.
"Fellas, why don't ya both knock it off?" Robert E. suggested.
"Oh, and who's gonna make me?"
"I'll shut all of ya up if ya don't quit yappin'," Hank threatened. All of the men were tired from the last two days, and they were all going to be sure spend at least a day away from one another once they got back to town.
"First thing tomorrow, we'll pack up and head to town," Jake replied, taking control of the group.
"What makes you the leader?" Horace asked curiously.
"Nobody else is steppin' in to lead us." The other men exchanged glances and shook their heads. They hated when Jake volunteered himself to lead the group. He always ended up being completely irrational and getting them lost. Even though it was still fairly early in the afternoon, they all decided to get some sleep, because they were in for a long trip back in the morning.
Sully reappeared a few minutes later with a full canteen of water. Michaela was surprised to see the canteen, a few blankets, and a full handkerchief in his hands. He sat down next to her and handed her the canteen. She held it in her lap and unscrewed the cap using the strength of her good arm. She took a drink, and the cold water felt wonderful against her hoarse and scratch throat. She pulled the canteen away from her lips and glanced at Sully.
"What's all of this?"
"Apparently the fellas tracked me here. They left us a canteen, some food, and some blankets from the saddlebags.
"They probably figured we wouldn't be in much of a hurry to move around too much," Michaela replied quietly, looking at Sully's bandages with worry in her eyes.
"What?"
"As soon as we get home, I want to make sure those stitches are holding well."
"They ain't broken yet."
"I know. I'm just worried about you."
"Well, don't worry. I'm fine." He kissed her softly and watched as she took a drink of the water. She handed him a canteen and he took a sip while she opened up the handkerchief and began to nibble at the food in front of her. She wanted to shove it all in her mouth and eat it hungrily, but she knew that if she did that, she'd only make herself sick.
"Well, I think your petticoat is about shot. I'll buy ya a new one once we get home." He tore off a piece of it and soaked it in water. He began to gently dab at the healing cuts on her face. Michaela smiled and closed her eyes as Sully took care of her. He was so gentle, and she knew that they were going to have to look after one another and take care of each other while they were both healing.
After he had wiped the dirt and dried blood from her face, he moved to wash off her arms. Michaela smiled at Sully as he did so. She knew that she would get to do the same for him next. She was so happy to be back in his presence that she was willing to do anything to keep herself and her husband healthy and safe. She was going to take care of him, even if he didn't want her to strain herself. He had been through a lot too.
"Thank you for taking care of me," Michaela whispered once Sully finished. She tore another piece off of her petticoat and soaked it in water. She spread a blanket out with her good arm. "Lay down."
"What?"
"Just lay down. I want to take care of you," she whispered. Sully laid down on his side as to not put any strain on his wounds. Michaela began to tenderly wash his face, neck, and arms. She opened his shirt a little and wiped at his chest. She bit her lip and couldn't believe the feelings she was having at this particular time. It didn't seen like it was the appropriate time to be teasing her husband like this. After all, they had both just suffered through terrible ordeals. But, in the end, what it came down to was that they'd do anything to be together, and here they were, reunited. "Feel better?"
"Yeah," he replied, his hand caressing her cheek. His finger touched a bruise gently. "Does it still hurt?"
"No," she whispered. "It looks more painful than it really is." Sully sat up slowly and Michaela handed him some of the food from the handkerchief. They ate in complete silence, not being able to keep their eyes off of one another. Once they were finished, Sully sat out another blanket for Michaela to lie upon. Although they were both tired, neither of them wanted to fall asleep. They wanted to spend every waking moment with one another.
Sully lay down on the blanket again and Michaela scooted her blanket up beside his. She lay down on her left side as to keep her right arm comfortable. She rested her head on Sully's chest, and his arm massaged her back through her now-ratty dress.
"I still can't believe you're here in my arms."
"I had faith that you'd find me."
"To tell ya the truth, I was startin' to lose hope after awhile."
"Well, we're together now."
"I ain't ever gonna lose you again," Sully replied, squeezing Michaela's shoulder and then rubbing it softly.
In town, the sun was setting, and the Sully children were running about Sully's room upstairs, trying to calm down the crying twins. They had woke shortly after Sully left, and they were very worried about their pa. But after finding his note, they understood that he felt he had to go after Michaela.
Once the children had calmed to the fact that their pa had gone back out into the wilderness, despite his obvious wounds, they focused on taking care of one another, which was proving to be a little more difficult. Myra wasn't available because she had gone home. Grace was staying at Myra's house with her so neither one of them would be alone while the men were out searching for Michaela. Dorothy wasn't available, because she was working on improving her skills as a writer, trying to print out a gazette for the townsfolk. Holly was caring for Mary, who had had a nightmare, so the children were pretty much on their own with the twins. Matthew was sitting on the bed with Daniel in his arms, trying to feed him with a make-shift bottle. Colleen was rocking Connor back and forth as she paced the room, trying to get him to go to sleep after his bottle. Brian was sitting in a chair with his hands over his ears, trying to block out the sounds of his brothers' very loud cries.
"Colleen, he ain't hungry!"
"Yeah he is, he just ain't takin' the bottle from you."
"Well, what's wrong with Connor? Did ya burp him?"
"Yes. I already burped him. He just misses ma and pa!"
"Let me try!" Brian offered with a sigh of exasperation.
"You're not old enough, Brian."
"Sure I am. I'm nine," he replied.
"It's worth a shot," Colleen said with a shrug. Matthew groaned and walked over to place Daniel in Brian's arms. Brian took the bottle and put it to Daniel's lips.
"Shh. Stop cryin', Daniel. It's alright." He bounced the baby in his arms a little bit, and Daniel finally gave up and accepted the bottle into his mouth. "See. It ain't that hard." Daniel began to eat and Brian looked up proudly at his brother and sister. Connor was still screaming at the top of his lungs.
"I'm gonna go downstairs and get some more diapers. They should be dry by now. Take Connor." Colleen placed Connor into Matthew's arms and hurried downstairs to get some temporarily relief for her ears and her nerves.
"I sure hope ma and pa get home soon," Matthew mumbled as he rocked the seemingly inconsolable Connor.
"Ya think he found her yet?" Matthew swallowed hard at Brian's question. He didn't want to put false hopes in to his head, but he also knew that Brian would be devastated if he knew his brother was even more worried than him.
"I bet they're on their way home right now."
"What if they aren't?"
"Then they're probably resting until mornin'. Don't worry, little brother. They'll be home soon."
"Promise?" Brian asked. Matthew swallowed hard, tears forming in his own eyes.
"Promise," he whispered. The Sully children continued to care for their little brothers for the rest of the evening, hoping that things wouldn't be like this for long. They wanted their mother and father back as soon as possible. They missed them, and they knew things would get back to normal as soon as they returned. Or so they thought.
Michaela woke screaming in Sully's arms at around ten at night. Sully jolted awake and sat up quickly, causing his stitches to rip a little. He yelled out and tenderly reached down to touch Michaela's shoulder. She sat up quickly as tears began to flow from her eyes.
"Sully!" she called out.
"Shh. It's alright. I'm here. I'm here!" Michaela focused her eyes on her husband, and she realized that she was in fact safe.
"Oh God. Sully," she panted. "I had a dream that I was still in that stagecoach, and I was trying to claw my way out."
"It was just a dream, Michaela. Don't worry. Nothin' like that is ever gonna happen to you again. I won't let it." Michaela sucked in a deep breath and dried her tears. "C'mere." Sully pulled her close and kissed her lips, kissing away her fears. Michaela sighed into his mouth, and he pulled away to stare into her eyes.
"I love you," Michaela whispered.
"I love you too." Sully winced in pain a little, and Michaela looked down in the pale moonlight to see red seeping through his bandages.
"Oh, Sully, you're bleeding," she whispered. Sully groaned and leaned back. Michaela slowly removed the bandages and pulled her medical bag around. "I have to re-stitch this. I'm sorry I don't have anything to give you for the pain."
"It's alright. As long as you're here, I can take the pain."