Chapter 5
Sully couldn't believe what he had seen. His heart was pounding and tears were slowly falling down his cheeks. He had walked into town earlier that day hoping to catch Michaela at the clinic, but as he neared the building he had seen Michaela standing with a man, a man who had addressed her by her first name and whose hand was on her shoulder. Sully had quickly ducked behind a passing wagon and made his way to the porch of the saloon. Michaela was so involved in her conversation that she failed to notice him as he watched the exchange with pain in his eyes.
He had seen the gentleman put his hand on her shoulder, caressing it ever so gently, and he had seen how intently she had spoken to the man, but even then he refused to believe that anything was amiss, that was until he took in the sight of his wife fully and completely. As she turned to more directly face the man during their conversation, he saw that she was pregnant and very near her time. The sight of his wife in this condition crushed him beyond belief. In his absence she had quickly replaced him just as he thought she might once he was gone. Her pregnancy proved that he was wise to have said that he didn't love her first; it was obvious now that she didn't love him, and never would again. Feeling gripped by a despair stronger than even that which held him after Abigail and Hannah died, he ran as quickly as he could out of town not caring who saw him.
"Dr. Mike, Dr. Mike!" Grace was hurrying from the café as fast as she could, forgetting for a moment her busy restaurant filled to the brim with customers.
Michaela rubbed her red-rimmed eyes just in time to see Grace scurrying towards her. "Grace, what is it?" she exclaimed, rising as quickly as she could from the bench.
"I just saw Sully running out of town and I figured you'd want to know. Dr. Mike you have to catch him. Dorothy and I knew he'd come back despite what we told you; and we both have seen how miserable you've been. This sadness isn't good for you or the baby. Go find him, please, for me."
Michaela stood in shock a moment, unsure of what to say. "Sully," she murmured, unable to fathom that he was once again back in town and back in her life. She had lain night after night stroking her belly, feeling the baby kick, and wishing he could be there to feel it with her to rub her tired muscles and stretching skin, just as he had done when she had been pregnant with Katie. She had felt unimaginable despair, anger, and fear over the past eight months and in one sense, those feelings had been amplified twofold. "He's here?" she asked Grace, still unable to understand what her close friend was telling her.
"He is, and it ain't right for him to leave you, or the children. Go find him, Dr. Mike, and tell him that we all think he doesn't know what he's missin'. " With that Grace stepped forward to warmly embrace her friend for a moment. Wrapped tightly in Grace's hug, Michaela began to shake, first slightly, then more violently. Sobs made their way from Michaela's mouth and echoed loud enough for the town to know that their doctor was in pain, a pain only a miracle could cure.
After several moments Grace began to wonder whether her friend was truly strong enough to make the journey to search for Sully. Grace pulled back from the tight embrace and asked, "Dr. Mike, are you sure you're fit to do this alone? I could have Robert E. go out to the homestead and fetch Brian, and he could go with ya. Maybe that would be for the best."
At this suggestion Michaela shook her head emphatically. "No…no, I have to find Sully myself. I have to tell him about the baby and find out why it is that he no longer loves me," she said, another tear escaping her eyes.
"Alright Dr. Mike, but you be careful. I know the baby isn't due to come for another few weeks, but if you can't find him close to home, come back. You ain't in any condition to be traveling far, unless you want another baby born under a tree that is." Grace chuckled at her own joke, but Michaela just nodded and stepped off the clinic porch. She slowly heaved herself into the wagon seat and clicked the reigns; assuming Sully was near town, they would be back before she had to pick up Katie or Brian from town.
Sully sat amid the remnants of the campsite that he used before he and Michaela were married. His lean-to was now gone, even the poles that had formed the support of the structure were nowhere to be found. He thought to himself that if he desired to sleep here, he probably should build another one to protect himself from the wind on this January afternoon. He just couldn't bring himself to do it though. Doing this would mean erasing a piece of the site where he proposed to Michaela, and in a sense, erasing a part of his connection to her. He couldn't let go of that now, not when he knew for sure and for certain that he would never again be with her, hold her, comfort her, or even be allowed to love her in any sense. She was carrying another man's child. The thought of it made him want to die. As it was, his head was splitting with a migraine, similar to the one he'd had the night before he had proposed to his now estranged wife, and he could barely move. Overwhelmed by his pain, Sully simply lay down and slipped into unconsciousness.
Sully was startled awake by a noise that at first seemed to him to be something out of a dream. It sounded primal and yet vulnerable and lost. He couldn't place the sound, but somehow instinctively knew that he had heard it before. It tugged at his soul with an urgency that forced him fully from sleep. He was surprised to find that his migraine had dissipated and now remained only as a slight throbbing in the back of his head. He could see that the day was still bright and was relieved further to discover that his sensitivity to light had disappeared. All thoughts of his good fortune vanished though, when he heard the scream again. He quickly brushed the leaves and dirt as best he could from his clothing and stood, all the while trying to pinpoint from which direction the sound was coming.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Michaela couldn't believe this was happening. "Not again, " she muttered under her breath as the contraction continued. Katie had been born in the wilderness, and one baby born far from town was quite enough, especially without Sully there to offer comfort, support, and help.
As the contraction abated, Michaela took in her surroundings. She knew that she was too far from town to make it back on her own and that she probably wouldn't be able to make it back, even with help, before her water broke and intense labor set in. She realized too that she was near Sully's old campsite and hoped that the space between contractions would be enough for her to make her way there without the pain overwhelming her. As she contemplated laboring and delivering on her own, she whispered almost too low for even she to know that she'd spoken, "Oh Sully, where are you?"
Sully continued to follow the scream as best he could, although the actual sound of it had long since faded away. The pain behind it was too intense for him to ignore. Something in his heart told him that he had to find the cause of the noise and perhaps bring whatever had made it some assistance. Just then, he heard it again, louder this time and closer. His heart jumped when he realized that it was a human scream, a scream which signaled that someone was in great pain. As he cautiously approached the sound, he wished again that Michaela were with him. She would know what to do. She was a skilled physician and a great healer, of both body and soul. In fact, her healing abilities were one of the things that had made him fall in love with her in the first place. As he neared the sound, he whispered her name, "Michaela…"
Michaela struggled against the pain of another biting contraction, her body completely tense, and her head dizzy from lack of air. She chided herself for forgetting to breathe, but she couldn't help it. Her first instinct when she was in pain was to tighten herself into a tiny ball, and to stop her own intake of air—two things which made laboring on her own that much more difficult. As the pain subsided, and she gasped for air, she realized that someone had called her name. Looking around, she again registered that there was no one to be seen, and shook her head at the force of her own desires; she was hearing things now. As she thought back on the voice she had heard, she realized with even more pain that the voice was Sully's, and that it hadn't come from around her, but from within her instead. This intensified her fear and loneliness, and as the next contraction began, she sobbed rather than screamed.
Sully carefully neared the noise and discovered that the screams had turned into sobs—a change which frightened him all the more for the person in pain. As he made his way around the last corner and out from behind the brush separating him from the person, his breath caught in his throat.
Please review and let me know if the storyline and characters are behaving in interesting and yet valid ways consistant with the character and development of the story and show.
Thanks, Corinna
