| Chapter 4: A New Patient
After several hours of trying to ride the horse, Michaela was about to give up. She had never given up on anything in her life, but this was the closest she had come. Charlotte had taken the children home, and Sully had promised the Widow Cooper he would take care of teaching Michaela how to ride, though he didn’t care to ride horses either. Well, two hours later, the horse was grumpy and not cooperating, and so was Michaela. “Maybe we should try this tomorrow,” Sully suggested as Michaela dusted off her skirt for the thirtieth time. “You’re gonna end up breakin’ somethin’.” “I’m fine. I’m not going to give up. I can’t give up.” Her face was flushed with determination, and her muscles were sore and tense. Sully sighed and shook his head. “You’ve gotta be the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met.” “Well, that’s one thing I know I got from my mother,” Michaela replied. “But my father’s stubborn too.” Sully took Michaela’s hand. “Besides, I don’t see you trying this either.” Sully folded his arms across his chest. “Alright, we’re tryin’ this one more time today, and if you don’t get it, we’ll try again tomorrow. Deal?” “You’re bargaining with me?” “Yep. Got a problem with it?” “I suppose not,” Michaela replied. “Alright.” Michaela grabbed onto the saddle horn with one hand, took Sully’s hand with her other, and put her left foot into the stirrup. Sully hoisted her up, and she settled into the saddle. “Whoa . . .” The horse snorted, but stood still. “Alright, now tug on the reigns gently.” “This coming from a man who doesn’t ride horses,” Michaela replied. “I don’t know how,” he replied. “You’re right. I’m afraid of ‘em.” “What?!” Michaela asked, nearly falling off of her horse. “Yep.” “Then what on earth are you doing trying to teach me how to ride?” “I wanted to spend some time alone with ya. We ain’t had much of a chance since we got here.” “I’m sorry. I’ve been terribly preoccupied.” “I know,” Sully replied. He took the horse’s reigns and started to lead the horse as Michaela managed to get him into a steady walk. “Hey, you’re doin’ it!” “And I’m not falling off,” Michaela said with amazement in her eyes. Sully let go of the horse’s reigns, and Michaela managed to get the horse to turn and walk in a circle. She circled around and around Sully with a big, proud smile plastered on her face. “I did it!” “You sure did. That’s what you get for not givin’ up,” Sully replied. “Now you have to try.” “No.” “Come on. For me?” Sully sighed and shook his head. “Please? We can go horseback riding sometime. Just the two of us.” “Just watchin’ you today has tired me out. I’ll try some other time.” Michaela sighed and shook her head. “I’ll settle for that then.” “You want down?” “I can do it myself,” she replied. She tugged back on the reigns, and the horse halted. She started to dismount but lost her footing. Sully caught Michaela and held onto her tightly. “I gotcha.” Michaela looked up into Sully’s eyes and smiled gratefully, nearly melting into a puddle onto the ground. “Yes you do,” she whispered. Sully leaned in and kissed Michaela, and she returned the favor. Sully’s hand caressed her cheek, while his other arm pulled her close to him. Her arms snaked around his neck, and they pulled one another as close as they could, kissing and caressing one another, not wanting to let go. Michaela finally came to her senses and broke away from the kiss reluctantly. Her heart and head quarrelling with one another all the while. “What’s the matter?” “I just think that . . . well, you said you wanted to take it slow,” Michaela said with a blushing smile. Sully sighed. “Yeah, but I didn’t say anything about kissin’, did I?” He started to kiss her again, but she pulled away with a giggle. “Sully!” “Alright,” he grumbled. He kissed her cheek. “Come on, I’ll take ya back into town.” “Will you join us for dinner?” “You think Charlotte will mind?” “She told me to invite you,” Michaela replied. “Well, then I’d be honored to have you on my arm,” Sully replied. He held his arm out to her and Michaela linked hers with his. As they walked in silence, Michaela became consumed with thoughts of Charlotte. She was worried about her, and she needed to talk to someone about it. Charlotte wasn’t her patient, but Michaela still felt like what was said between her and Charlotte earlier that afternoon had been in confidence. Though she wouldn’t exactly be breaking the oath she’d taken when she had become a doctor, she would be speaking about something that Charlotte was trusting her with. “Sully? I’m worried about someone. They’re sick, but they don’t want my help. They just want to die.” “Who are ya talkin’ about?” “I can’t say,” Michaela replied. “But I really want to help them.” “Would it help if you did?” Michaela shrugged her shoulders. “Probably not. But I would feel better if I tried something.” “Have you talked to this person?” “I’ve tried, Sully. They just don’t want to hear it.” “Sounds like you gotta respect their wishes. If they’re ready to accept dyin’, you can’t change their minds.” “Why not?” she asked, turning to look at him. “Because you can’t change people.” “I don’t believe that,” Michaela replied, folding her arms. “I believe that you can do anything if you put your mind to it.” “Yeah, but some people won’t change if they ain’t willin’ to.” “I can at least try, can’t I?” “I s’pose,” Sully replied. “Just don’t be too surprised when you don’t get anywhere with ‘em.” They continued on, but Michaela seemed a bit agitated. “Look, I didn’t mean to upset ya, but you gotta realize that these people out here aren’t exactly like they are in Boston.” Michaela nodded slowly. People didn’t exactly like to change in Boston either, but had thought that those on the frontier who desperately needed help would accept it. “I suppose you’re right. I just don’t like standing by knowing I might be able to do something for this person, maybe to help them live a little longer.” Sully put his arm around Michaela’s shoulders and pulled her close as they walked. “I still don’t agree with you. I think you can change some people if they want to be changed.” “Well, that’s just it. They gotta want to be changed.” “What about you? Is there anything about you that you want changed?” “Why? Do you want to try to change me?” “No,” Michaela replied quickly. “I fell in love with you just the way you are. But I still don’t know you completely.” “Well, we can’t know each other completely. I don’t think it’s possible.” Michaela shrugged and she and Sully continued on in silence. *~* The next afternoon, Michaela walked into Mr. Bray’s mercantile to buy some flour for Charlotte. Charlotte had run out, and she was in the middle of making lunch, so Michaela offered to take a trip to the store down the street. “Good morning, Mr. Bray.” “Dr. Mike,” he grumbled. “I need to buy a sack of flour for Charlotte,” Michaela replied. Loren nodded and put a sack of flour down on the counter. “That’s two pounds, so you owe me eight cents.” Michaela handed him the coins and took the sack of flour. She noticed Loren limping. “Mr. Bray? Is everything alright?” “I’m fine,” he snapped. He leg buckled under him and he fell. Michaela rushed to his side, putting down the sack of flour. She tried to examine Mr. Bray’s leg, but he pushed her away. “I’m fine! Besides, even if I wasn’t, I’d go to Jake before seein’ a woman doctor.” “Well, that nasty cut on your leg looks rather infected. I suppose you could go without treatment, but pretty soon that’s going to develop gangrene and that leg will have to come off.” Loren’s eyes went wide. “You mean you’d have to cut it off?!” he asked. “You ain’t touchin’ my leg!” “Alright. Suit yourself,” Michaela replied quickly, standing up and taking her sack of flour into her arms. “If you notice it starting to change colors or do anything unusual, you might want to come find me. I doubt Mr. Slicker has the right kind of medication to take care of that.” Michaela left, and Loren stood up slowly. Grace walked into the mercantile and saw Mr. Bray on the floor. “Loren, what on earth are you doin’?” “Oh, I’m fine,” he replied. “That leg still botherin’ ya?” “It’s fine.” “Let me have a look,” Grace replied. “Leave it alone!” Loren hollered. Grace knelt down and looked at Loren’s leg, lifting up his pant leg. She gasped when she saw the gash on his leg. “Loren! That’s infected! You need to get that looked at!” “It’s fine. I’ll go over to Jake’s.” “I ain’t so sure that’s a good idea, but I am sure that if you don’t get that fixed, that leg’s gonna have to come off. I’ve seen somethin’ like this on Miss Olive’s cowboys plenty of times. Jake ain’t gonna be able to help ya. He’ll only make it worse. Believe me. Remember Ed?” “Yeah. He was that fella that got his leg caught in that fence.” “Yeah. He went to Jake for some fixin’ and ended up losin’ that leg.” Loren swallowed hard. “Do you want me to take you over to see the lady doctor?” “I s’pose,” Loren grumbled. “But if that leg has to come off, you’ll see what I mean about how women shouldn’t be allowed to practice medicine. It just ain’t natural!” After a few moments pause, he grumbled again. “Oh just get me over to the boardin’ house.” Loren stood and leaned on Grace as she helped him hobble over to Widow Cooper’s. Grace knocked on the door and Brian answered. “Hey Mr. Bray! Miss Grace!” “What’s goin’ on?” Charlotte asked. “Oh, Charlotte, Loren’s bein’ stubborn. Can we see Dr. Mike?” “She’s upstairs, Brian go fetch her.” “Yes ma’am,” he replied. He hurried upstairs, and Grace helped Loren to sit down. A few minutes later, Michaela appeared downstairs and walked over to Loren with her medical bag in hand. She rolled up Loren’s pant leg and started to work on the wound. Loren winced in pain right from the start. “What are you doin’ to me?” “I’m putting something on it to kill the infection and stop it from spreading.” All the while Michaela was treating Loren, he was hollering in pain. Sully heard the commotion from outside as he was heading over to Robert E’s. He quickly turned and hurried over to the boarding house to find out what was going on. He saw that the door was partway open, and when he stepped inside, he saw Michaela kneeling on the floor treating Loren’s leg. “What’s goin’ on?” he asked. Loren looked up quickly. “Get outta here! It ain’t your business!” “I could hear ya screamin’ all the way outside. I had to come see what was goin’ on.” “Well you seen it ain’t ya? Now leave!” Loren yelled. Michaela looked up at Sully sympathetically. “Perhaps it’s best if you wait outside.” Sully nodded and walked out to wait on the porch. Grace left the boarding house and went to join Sully. “You know, he’s just hurtin’ right now. I ain’t been here too long, but I’ve heard about Abagail and your baby,” Grace said gently. “Sully, we don’t know each other too well, but over the past week or so, I’ve gotten to know that Loren doesn’t really hate you. He’s upset with himself ‘cause he turned his back on Abagail when she married you. He’s upset ‘cause you got to spend the last couple years of Abagail’s life with he, while he was busy ignorin’ her.” “If that’s the reason, why doesn’t he just say it?” “Sully, you know men. You’re one of ‘em, ain’t ya? He’s too proud to admit that he was wrong. He’s embarrassed.” “Well, he shouldn’t have turned his back on Abagail. She was never the same after he shut her out of his life.” Sully walked off, and Grace sighed heavily. Michaela walked out but only saw Grace on the porch. “Well, I can save his leg,” she said, breathing a sigh of relief. She looked around. “Where did Sully go?” “He walked off toward the graveyard,” Grace said, gesturing in that general direction. “I’m gonna go help Loren hobble over toward the mercantile.” Grace disappeared inside of the boarding house, while Michaela walked off toward the graveyard. She figured she wouldn’t disturb Sully, but she wanted to be there for him when he was finished. She quietly sat down on the steps of the church and watched as Sully knelt at his wife and daughter’s graves. He was so silent; so still as he stared at the grave markers. Michaela didn’t think Sully was a praying man, but she knew he believed Abagail and the baby were somewhere where they could hear his thoughts. Michaela waited for about ten minutes before she saw Sully get up. As soon as he was past the fence of the graveyard, she stood and he saw her. He didn’t seem angry for her being there. He looked a bit relieved. She walked over to him, and he held his arms out, collecting her into an embrace. “You alright?” he asked. “Me? I’m more worried about you,” Michaela replied, gently caressing his cheek with the back of her hands. “You just looked like you needed some holdin’,” Sully explained. “Funny. I was thinking the same thing about you,” Michaela replied with a smile. Sully leaned down and pressed a kiss to Michaela’s soft lips. His lingered over hers for a moment before they pulled away. Michaela and Sully locked each other in another hug. After a few moments pause, Michaela spoke again. “Loren doesn’t mean what he says, Sully.” “I know that,” Sully replied. “But sometimes I can’t help but agree with him.” “You know I don’t think Abagail’s death was your fault. I think it was just her time.” Sully shrugged. “Maybe it was. But there ain’t no talkin’ to Loren. Believe me. I tried a million times to get him to talk to me. If his wife Maude were still alive, she woulda made him listen. But she ain’t here, and she wasn’t even here to defend Abagail to Loren.” “If you need someone to talk to, I’m always here to listen,” Michaela promised. Sully nodded and he kissed her cheek, trusting that she would be his rock when he needed someone to lean on. He would be the same for her. He took her hand and led her back into town, knowing that Michaela was the one person he could count on. She was his life now, and he was thankful to have her. |