It was Wednesday morning and Michaela had Sully scheduled for her first appointment of the day. She was nervous. After what happened at Ice Cream Social the other night, she didn't know what to say to him.
Before that strange woman came in, and assuming that he wasn't married to the mother of his children, her plan would have been to check his wrist, like she was doing today, refer him to another doctor, and ask him if he wanted to go to Ice Cream Social again, but on a different night. The kids would be occupied, and they could talk as adults.
Now, she was second guessing everything. She didn't know if she wanted to get to know him better now or not.
That woman left shortly after she got up and went to check on her kids. Two minutes after that, he said a quick goodbye to her, and then left with his kids.
Why did he leave so quickly after her? Did he drop his kids off somewhere and then go to spend time with that woman?
The woman thought Michaela was his wife. Did he have a wife? Was he cheating on her?
If anything like that was true, he was not the type of man she wanted to spend time with.
As she was thinking about it, her nurse came to her office, "Dr. Mike, your 8:00 am is checked in and his vitals are in the computer."
"Thank you, Erika," Michaela said.
Michaela took a deep breath and walked down the hallway and then entered Sully's room.
"Good Morning," she greeted him.
"Good Mornin'," he said back, sounding a little nervous. He was nervous. He was still embarrassed about what happened the other night and didn't know what she thought about him after Carol's stunt.
"How's your wrist?" she asked, avoiding direct eye contact.
"Fine," he answered, also avoiding her eyes, "The pain's gone, the swelling's gone. I've been keepin' it wrapped up anyway."
"Good," Michaela approached him and said, "I need to remove your bandage."
Sully held out his arm, and she gently unwrapped his wrist. Once the bandage was gone, she touched and felt his wrist, including all pressure points, to see if he had any sharp pains. As she was touching him, she made herself focus on keeping her breathing even. Though she was unsure of him at this moment, she was still very much attracted to him, and found his skin to be very stimulating. She couldn't help but wonder what the rest of him felt like.
Sully had to keep himself focused as well. Their skin to skin contact was sending little bolts of electricity through his body and he was unsure of whether he was going to have to march himself straight into a cold shower when he got home, or was he going to have to handle this in a hot shower like he did the other evening.
"I think your wrist is healed," Michaela said, removing her hands. She already felt a little cooler as a result of the loss of skin to skin contact, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"Healthwise, no," Sully said as he made direct eye contact with her for the first time during this visit, "I need to talk to ya 'bout somethin' else."
"Okay," Michaela said, willing herself to breathe while looking into his eyes.
"I'm sorry that I left so…" he started to say, but paused to search for the right word,"... abruptly the other night. I really don't know Carol at all-"
"You don't owe me an explanation," Michaela interjected. She didn't feel that she had the right to an explanation. Her attraction to him didn't make her his wife, girlfriend, or even his friend. She was his doctor and an acquaintance.
"I wanna explain it," he said. He really did want to explain it. He still wanted to become friends; he liked talking to her the other night. The attraction he felt to her didn't hurt either, "Please."
"Very well," Michaela said, allowing him to continue.
"She had car trouble. I helped her move her car out of the road the other day. I was just tryin' to be nice. I was also tryin' to clear the road so I could take my kid to school. I didn't think of it as bein' anything more than that. I guess she wanted to make it more than that," Sully said.
Michaela nodded. She believed she understood what happened, but still needed to get something straight, "Why did she think I was your wife?"
"I really don't know," Sully answered, "because we were sittin' together, I guess. She knew the day when I pulled her car out of the street that I had at least one child. She probably just assumed… I know we don't know each other very well. Um... I really did like talkin' to ya before she interrupted. I'd like to get to know ya better. You just moved here, it can't hurt to make a new friend."
He was right, it can't hurt. She still had an important question to ask, "Are you married?" she asked him straight forward.
"No," Sully said, "I was married, but I'm not married anymore. I am a full time dad though."
Michaela took that to mean that like her, he was divorced and was also a single parent with full custody of the children.
"Well," Michaela said, "If you want to become friends, then I have to get you a new doctor. It's not appropriate for me to develop… friendships… with patients."
"I have a general practitioner that I try to avoid as much as possible," Sully said light heartedly, "My kids see a pediatrician."
Pleased with his answer, she asked, "Would you like to take the children to Ice Cream Social again? They will be engaged and we can finish our conversation from the other night."
"Sounds good to me," Sully said, "First, can I get your cell phone number?"
"Certainly," Michaela said. This interaction with Sully made her feel much better.
"One more question," Sully said.
"Yes?" she inquired.
"Are you married?" he asked.
"No," Michaela said, "Like you, I was married, but I'm not married anymore, and I'm also a full time parent."
Sully wondered, how like him was she? Was she widowed or divorced? He thought that was conversation best saved for another time. He had to get to work, and he was sure that she had patients to see. He pulled out his cell phone and added a new contact, "I'm ready," he said, waiting for her to give him her number.
Later that afternoon, Sully was in his office at the ranch. It was almost one and he hadn't eaten lunch yet. He also hadn't brought lunch to his office like he usually did. He decided to leave his office and go to his bungalow to eat, then he was going to get on a horse and move cattle with Olive and the workers.
"Sully!" He heard Snowbird call his name.
"In my office, Ma," Sully shouted back.
"Hello," Snowbird said as she came into his office with a take-out bag from their favorite Chinese restaurant.
"What's goin' on?" Sully asked.
"Knowing you, you made yourself one of those peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that you feed Hanna for lunch. I thought you could use a real meal." Snowbird said, placing the bag on his desk.
"Perfect timin'," Sully told her. He unpacked the contents of the take out bag and set the table that was in the middle of his office.
As he placed the paper napkins and plastic silverware on the table, Snowbird retrieved a Diet Pepsi for herself and then asked, "You want Pepsi or Sprite?"
"Sprite," he answered. There were two Styrofoam to-go boxes left in the bag and Sully asked, "Which one is mine?"
"Then one that says orange chicken on it," Snowbird answered, "You know I don't eat that orange stuff that you like so much."
"I know," said Sully, "I shouldn't have asked." He placed his meal in front of him and hers in front of her.
After they were both seated, Sully opened the box, picked up his fork and was about to dig in when Snowbird slapped his hand, "Prayers first! You know that! The Lord will think I didn't teach you any manners."
"Forgive me," Sully said and waited for his mother to say grace. Like going to church, after his wife died, Sully didn't see the need to say prayers before meals. He made his children do it at dinner, because he knew that's what Abagail would have wanted, but he didn't do it for himself.
After they started eating, Snowbird noticed that Sully's wrist was not wrapped in a bandage anymore.
"How's your wrist?" she inquired.
"It's back to normal," Sully replied, "Dr. Mike checked it today."
"Dr. Mike?" Snowbird inquired. She thought the lady doctor that helped them the other day was named Dr. Quinn.
"Dr. Quinn," Sully said, "She prefers to go by Dr. Mike. It's a nickname."
"Are you going to see Dr. Mike again?" Snowbird asked, "She's a good doctor."
Sully contemplated his words carefully. He didn't want his mother jumping to conclusions, "I'm gonna see her again, but not as a patient."
"Not as a patient?" Snowbird repeated. Then she got excited, "Did you ask her out?"
"Yes," Sully answered, "Well, I think officially, she asked me out, but I got the ball rollin'."
"Is it a date?" Snowbird wanted to make sure that she understood him perfectly before she got too excited.
"It's a playdate," Sully said.
"A playdate," a disappointed Snowbird scoffed and shook her head.
"She has three kids," Sully said, "Two of them are the same ages as Hanna and Zachary. In fact, her son Brian is in Hanna's class at school, and her son Matthew is in Zac's class. A playdate is… logical."
"Logical? Thank you, Mr. Spock," Snowbird said, shaking her head, and earning a laugh from her son, "I was hoping for something other than logical for you. Something more along the lines of romantic."
"Ma, I ain't ready," he said. He wasn't ready. His body seemed to be very ready for romance, but his heart wasn't ready yet.
"I guess logical will have to do for now," Snowbird said, "but please, if it feels like it's moving past logical, let it."
"I'll try," he promised.
She guessed that Sully promising to try was all she could ask for, "I have something else to talk to you about. Your brother called."
"Daniel? Somethin' wrong?" Sully inquired. His brother was a natural drifter and sometimes a gambler.
"No something right," Snowbird said, "You remember when he won $10,000 at a poker game in Vegas?"
"Yeah," Sully answered, "He saved some of it?"
"He turned it into $100,000," she said.
"How'd he do that?" Sully asked skeptically. He was surprised that his brother had been allowed to walk away from the poker table with $10,000. There was no way they would let him walk away with $100,000.
"By not gambling and not drifting from place to place," she explained, "He did something smart for a change. He still has his job as a shift manager at Costco and he still has his truck to get to and from work."
"Does he still play in the band?" Sully inquired.
"He didn't say, and I didn't ask," said Snowbird. She couldn't stand the seedy bars that Daniel played music in, "He told me that he took the $10,000 and used it as a down payment on a brand-new convertible Corvette. It's a hot car. He rents it out to people in Vegas for $500 a night. $800 on Friday and Saturday night. He's made enough money to pay off the car and have $100,000 as profit."
"People pay that kinda money to rent his car?" Sully asked in disbelief. He surely would not pay that kind of money to rent a car for a night. He didn't care how "hot" the car was.
"Apparently," Snowbird said, "He just bought a second car. This time, a Porsche, and he's renting it out too."
"Is he payin' for insurance? Taxes?" Sully asked, hoping that Daniel wasn't getting in over his head. What Daniel was doing sounded smart on the surface, but it could also turn into a big problem if he didn't have insurance. It could turn into an even bigger problem if he wasn't paying taxes on his earnings.
"I don't know," Snowbird admitted, "He seems happy and he's making a lot of money."
Michaela sat at the dinner table with her children. She was wondering how to explain to them that there was someone new in her life that she wanted to spend time with and get to know.
As they were eating, she asked, "How would you like to go to Ice Cream Social on Saturday?"
"Oh yes, Mommy! I liked that place!" Colleen cheered happily.
"Ice Cweam!" Brian happily sang.
She was happy that they were glad to go. Going to Ice Cream Social wasn't just about her spending time with Sully. It was a playdate. Brian had a chance to become better friends with Hanna, and Matthew could become better friends with Zachary.
"Would you like to play with Hanna again?" Michaela asked Brian.
"Hanna," Brian parroted, "Hanna go skwool. Wit Miss Lindsay."
"Yes!" Michaela said enthusiastically, "Hanna goes to your school. You're both in Miss Lindsay's class. Colleen, you can invite a friend too," Michaela didn't want Colleen to be the only one without a friend her own age to talk to.
"Becky is going to the lake this weekend. She told me in class," Colleen said.
"What about your friend, Alice?" Michaela suggested.
"I don't like Alice anymore," Colleen informed her, "She calls me goody-two-shoes and teacher's pet."
Michaela shook her head. She didn't realize that those kinds of insults were used among first graders.
"Then you can just have fun in the play place like last time," Michaela told her daughter.
She looked to her left and noticed Matthew with an elbow on the table. He was holding his head up with his hand and had a scowl on his face. He looked deep in thought.
"What's wrong, Matthew?" his mother asked.
"I hate my teacher," Matthew complained.
Michaela sighed, thinking, "Not this again," to herself. "Why?" she asked aloud.
"She took away all of Zac's baseball cards for no reason," Matthew reported, "We were just looking at them. She said that he wasn't getting them back until his dad comes to school to get them."
"Were you looking at them during class?" Michaela asked. She could understand the teacher taking the cards if they were distracting the boys from their school work.
"No," Matthew promised, "We were looking at them during recess."
"Are there rules that prohibit baseball cards from being on school property?" Michaela asked, still wanting to give the teacher the benefit of the doubt.
"I don't know," Matthew said, "Sophelia had her Superhero Girls trading cards out at recess too. Miss Chambers didn't take them away. She even told Sophelia her cards were cool."
"Is Sophelia another girl in your class?" Michaela asked, wanting to get a full picture.
"Yes. She's really shy and quiet," Matthew said, "Zac said that Miss Chambers didn't take away her cards because she's Mr. Bing's cousin."
"Did you get in trouble for having the cards?" Michaela asked, "I don't mean Zac, I mean you."
"No, I didn't get in trouble," Matthew said.
Michaela was happy that Matthew wasn't in trouble, but did not like what she was hearing. It seemed like Matthew had a new complaint about Miss Chambers every day since he was put into her class. Matthew had never been one that complained about school or his teachers. Michaela understood that children will be children and sometimes they react without fully understanding a situation. Heck, adults were not immune from jumping to conclusions either. She also understood that Matthew could be, not lying exactly, but perhaps leaving out a few details which explained Miss Chambers' actions. In any event, she didn't understand why superhero cards would be allowed at school and baseball cards wouldn't be.
She did call the school and spoke with Principal Bing when Matthew was first moved to Miss Chambers' class. She explained to him how she didn't appreciate him moving Matthew to a new class without informing her first. Since Principal Bing apologized profusely and Matthew said that he was happy to have met Zac, she never set up a conference with Miss Chambers. Now she believed she needed to. At the very least, she needed a phone conference with the woman.
Michaela also made a call to the Evangelical Christian Academy when Matthew was first moved to Miss Chambers' class and found the headmaster there to be very polite and informative. He also offered to give her a tour of the school. She said she would follow up with him at a later date. She never did follow up with him because she didn't want to move Matthew just as he started making friends. Now she decided that she would follow up with him and schedule that tour.
In the meantime, she had another idea for Matthew, "Sweetheart, Zac's father will be at Ice Cream Social this Saturday. Would you like me to ask him about Little League?"
Matthew's face lit up when he heard his mother's question, which earned a happy and gleeful smile from Michaela, "Yes, Mom. Please ask him."
"I will," Michaela promised.
As they were talking, Michaela heard the doorbell ring.
"Who could that be?" She asked aloud. She wasn't expecting anyone, "Keep eating supper. Mommy is just going to go and see who that is."
Michaela walked from the kitchen eating nook, where they'd been eating, through the family room and foyer and to the front door. She looked through the peephole and saw Dorothy standing on her front porch with her arms crossed, looking down.
Michaela quickly unlocked and opened the door, "Did you forget something?" she asked.
"No," Dorothy said, and looked up.
Michaela gasped loudly and covered her mouth with her hand when she saw Dorothy's face. She had a black eye and busted lip.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Michaela, but…" Dorothy paused as she choked down a few tears, "would you mind if I stayed here for the night?"
"Of course you can stay! What happened?" Michaela asked, and stepped out of the way to let Dorothy in, closing the door behind her.
"Please… don't call anyone," Dorothy pleaded.
"O…kay?" Michaela said apprehensively, wondering who she would call, "Would you like some supper?"
"Miss Dorothy?" they heard Colleen yell.
"Please… I, I, I didn't bring any make-up," Dorothy said, "Please just tell the kids that I fell."
"Of course," Michaela said. Dorothy was obviously hurt and likely frightened. She wanted her privacy and she didn't want to frighten the children. Michaela put an arm around Dorothy's waist and gently guided her to the kitchen.
To be continued. Please review. =)