He pulled the pins from her hair and tossled it so it fell down her back. “This....” and he ran his fingers through her hair and pulled her close again. She ran her hands up his chest and around his neck
“I’ve missed you......... your soft hair”, he smiled at her, “your beautiful smile”, he ran his fingers over her lips, “and these beautiful, luscious lips”, and he kissed her. They became enmeshed with each other, their lips barely parting, their hands clasped to each other. Michaela ran her hands to the front of Sully’s shirt and she brushed her fingers over his chest hair and up around his neck. He lost control at that point, reaching his hands down her back to her waist and as his hands started coming up, he stopped himself.
“Sully?”, she asked, feeling him pull away.
He looked into her eyes, and rubbed his palms on his thighs, “I’m sorry......I’ve missed you.”
She cupped his face in her hands, “Sully, stay here tonight...”
“Stay? What do you mean?”, he was shocked.
“Stay here and hold me. It’s been so long..”, she snuggled into his chest and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He was bewildered, and he cautiously put his arms around her. Could he stay all night and hold her? Why would she ask him to do that?
Michaela stood up and pulled his hands. They walked into the bedroom.
“No, Michaela.....what are you doing?”, asked Sully, pulling her hands so they stopped walking.
She smiled up at him and rose on her tiptoes to kiss him. He pulled back, “What’s going on?”
“Sully, you said you wanted to be alone with me, to hug me, to kiss me. Isn’t this what you want?”, she asked.
He grinned slightly, “I don’t know what you’re thinking......well, actually I do..... but that’s not what I want!”
She ignored him and pulled him again, until she was against the bed and she sat down. He looked down at her and then looked away.
“Sully, what is it? Won’t you just lay down with me?”, she moved to the other side of the bed and lay down and patted the empty side, “Please?”
He frowned slightly and then crawled on the bed. She immediately snuggled into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. He looked down at her face, it’ll be fine if it stays like this, he thought.
They stayed like that for half an hour, silent, just clinging to each other. Sully’s mind was racing, he never thought when he woke this morning that he’d be laying in a bed with Michaela tonight! She stirred and he froze as she ran her hand down his chest, and he swallowed hard when she raised her leg onto his.
“Michaela..”, he whispered in a warning tone, “don’t do this......please.”
She looked up at him and then ran her hand up around his neck and kissed his lips, locked onto them by keeping her hand at the back of his neck. He responded by pulling her body up and closer to him. They kissed more passionately than ever, barely breathing with twisted lips and warm hands, unable to control any emotion. She had never kissed him like this and he couldn’t hold back his response.
Suddenly Sully pushed her on her back and resumed kissing her, his hands running down her side to her leg. He put one leg on her and shifted half his body onto her and slid his hands under her. She ran her hands up and down his back, feeling each muscle. She looked at his face, his eyes, his lips.
Sully kissed her neck and ear and laid his head to rest next to hers, on top of her hair. He sighed deeply into her ear and whispered, “Please.....I can’t stay here.......I know what you’re doing, and I don’t want you to.”
She slid out from under him and looked into his face, “Yes you do”, she said softly as she gazed over his body, “I can tell.”
He felt himself blush, “Michaela........”, he rolled off the bed and walked to the other room. She lay there for a moment, until she heard the door shut, then she ran into the other room. “Sully?”, she looked around, but he was gone. She quickly looked around for her shoes and as she put them on she was thinking of where she could go to look for Sully. Had he said where he was staying and she didn’t remember? Her panic was rising as she ran out of the hotel.
Michaela tried to remember where he was staying or what he was doing. Why couldn’t she remember? She looked up and down the street and sighed. She had no idea where to look, she wasn’t familiar with Denver, and knowing Sully, he hardly was staying at any of the hotels. She walked around the block looking at every building, seeing if there might be a place Sully could be. When she reached her hotel, she went into the lobby and sat in a chair. She sat for a while and watched the people come and go, but not Sully. She asked the desk clerk if she had any messages, there were none.
The next morning she attended the conference, but found it difficult to concentrate. At lunch time she left and again headed out to look for Sully. She inquired at several businesses to see if anyone knew him, but no one did. She was leaving the next day and she desperately wanted to find him.
Meanwhile, Sully continued his job with the mining company, but his mind constantly wandered to Michaela and their meeting in the hotel. Had she acted that way because of Katherine, or did she realize she loved him? It would have been so easy for him to lose control and be with her in ways he’d only dreamed about. Now he was the one uncomfortable, he knew if he had stayed he would have regretted it, they both would have. He didn’t want her to compromise her principles because of what he had said to her. He shook his head and tried to clear his mind of all these questions. He had to stay away from her, as difficult as it was, he knew he had to.
The next day, Michaela boarded the stage with a heavy heart. She had wanted to see Sully, but wasn’t able to locate him. She had to try all over again to keep her heart from breaking. Should she tell someone she had seen him? Who could she tell? The ride home was very, very long.
“You saw him!”, said Dorothy, “Is he coming back here?”
“No, I only saw him the one time”, said Michaela, as she motioned for Dorothy to sit in a clinic chair, “I don’t even know what he was doing, or where he was staying. Dorothy, I made the whole situation worse! I’ll never see him again now, I just know it!”
“What? Tell me what happened!”, Dorothy was astonished, “Sully loves you! He’ll come back. Did you tell him you love him?”
“Well, not exactly”, Michaeal leaned closer to Dorothy, “I tried to show him. You know that he’s complained that .....well...in his words, there isn’t enough snuggling and kissing”, Michaela looked to the floor, embarassed, but she knew she could confide intimate details to Dorothy, she was her best friend. Dorothy’s eyes were wide with wonder at what her friend was going to say next. “I kissed him....alot, and everything was very and I wasn’t afraid Dorothy!”, Michaela smiled brightly for a moment, “It was nice, and then I asked him to stay with me at the hotel. I didn’t exactly mean with me, but he thought I did and I guess I acted like I did...”
“Michaela, I’m confused....how can you ask him to stay with you, but not with you?”
“Oh Dorothy, I took him to the bed and asked him to ...you know...just lay down and hold me...well he did and things got a little passionate and he told me to stop!”, Michaela was blushing now, “Dorothy....I didn’t want to. I can’t believe I’m telling you this, but I have to tell someone. Sully got angry and he left. I never saw again”, she fought the sobs, “ I don’t know what to do!”, she said as she rolled the material from her apron in her fingers.
Dorothy’s mouth hung open, and she was blushing, “Michaela, that don’t sound like you at all!”
“I know, but Dorothy, when we discussed Katherine, he was angry with me. He said I was too busy for him and that I never wanted to kiss him. That’s true, but most of the time it’s because we are never alone, the children are here, or where in town. We were in a private hotel room, all alone. I wanted to kiss him and I thought that was what he wanted. I’m so confused, isn’t that what he wanted? What can I do now?”
“I’m not sure what you can do, you don’t even know where he is”, she looked away and then looked back into her friends eyes, “Did anything happen? I mean, was he embarassed about something he did?”
“No, we just kissed. He was upset that I wasn’t listening. He kept telling me to stop, but all I was doing was kissing him!”
Dorothy smiled slightly, “Michaela, you know how a man gets......aroused...don’t you?” Michaela nodded. Dorothy touched her friends hand, “Is that what happened? Was he concerned about that and controlling his feelings?”
Michaela looked at her friend, “Maybe......... but Sully wouldn’t let that happen.....”, she gazed off, “would he?”
“He loves you, maybe he was worried about that. Sully would never, ever intentionally hurt you or force you to do something you weren’t ready for.......so maybe that’s why he felt he had to leave”, she patted her arm, “You’ll hear from him again, don’t worry”, Dorothy was the one who gazed off now, she wasn’t sure she was speaking the truth to her friend.
There was a loud knock on the clinic door and Michaela and Dorothy both jumped, startled out of their private discussion. Michaela quickly got up, straightened her apron and opened the door. It was Horace with his usual worried expression.
“Dr.Mike, got a wire from Denver! Seems there’s been a fire and they’re looking for all the doctors they can find. Here’s the telegram, it ain’t addressed to no one, but town doctor”, he handed her the piece of paper he held tightly in his hand.
“Thank you Horace”, she said as she looked at the paper and then looked at Horace, who seemed to be waiting for an immediate reply, “I’ll be over later with my reply, I need to check with the children and check on a few things around here if I’m able to go”.
“Michaela, you aren’t thinking of going back to Denver are you?”, asked Dorothy.
“Well if I needed help and wired them I would want them to come here, so I may go, only for a day or so”, said Michaela as she put the telegram on her desk. She turned to Dorothy, remembering their discussion, “Besides, if I’m back in Denver, I may be able to find Sully. Dorothy, thank you for listening, I’m glad you’re here for me.”
“Oh Michaela, I’ll always be here, you know that. I just wish there was some way I could help you”, they smiled and Dorothy left.
The children agreed that Michaela should go to Denver, especially since she may find Sully. Michaela planned to leave the next morning.
The ride to Denver felt endless, although Michaela did make a list of possible places Sully could be. She wanted to check the livery, any government offices that handled Indian affairs, and maybe she’d ride out to local reservations to see if he was there. The thought of not finding him make her sad and almost sick to her stomach. Finally Denver was in sight.
After checking her luggage, she went immediately to the city hall as the telegram had requested. There the first aid office was managing the volunteers and someone asked her if she prefer a wagon, a horse or to go with a group. She requested a horse, knowing she may need it later to look for Sully.
“Some of the victims have been moved to the hospital, but there’s so many more out there and they’re rescuing even more everyday, so there’s lots to do out there. As you can imagine, it ain’t just doctoring that needs doing, we got supply wagons, cooks to feed the rescued and the volunteers, even got a ladies group washing bandages and sheets, anything they can use”, said a gentleman who walked with Michaela to the corral.
“I still don’t know where the fire was?”, she said to the man.
“Oh, didn’t they tell ya? It was more than a fire, several viens of the Patterson Mine caved in. There were several small fires, ignited by the fuel for the lamps, some of them fires spread and started more. The miners put some of ‘em out, but most of ‘em caused a lot of damage. Cave in seemed to be in several places too.”
“This sounds like a big mine..”
“It’s the largest one around, run good too. Get lots of workers from all over the territory.”
Michaela stopped, is that why Sully was here, was he doing mining work? She thanked the man and signed up for the use of a horse, she was given a map and told her assignment would be given to her at the site. She was also told she may work at the hospital at times too. She rode out to the mine.
She was shocked by the number of people. There were tents set up, some for eating, some for sleeping and some for caring for the injured. The smell of food came from different areas, there was a corral with horses, cows and chickens. It all looked like a small settlement, except for the look of desperation in some faces. A soldier came and asked her what she was doing, he then directed her to site B, which he pointed was to her left. As she dismounted, someone immediately took care of the horse. She went to medical tent and was immediately thanked by an older gentlemen, “Oh thank goodness, we need another nurse here”.
“I’m Dr Quinn, from Colorado Springs” she held out her hand.
“I beg your pardon, Dr Quinn”, he smiled and shook her hand, “I’m Dr Roy, and I’ve been up now almost 20 hours, I’ve been hoping a nurse or someone would come to help me out here.”
“I’m glad to help, Dr. Roy”, she looked around the tent, most of the cots were full, most of the patients were filthy with soot from the mine, she didn’t know how this man was managing.
“Most of these men need to be cleaned up and checked for any injuries. Men with open wounds were immediately sent to other tents, these hopefully aren’t as serious, but they still do need attention Dr. Quinn”.
“Yes I see that. If you’d like to rest or get something to eat, I’ll start. Are there any nurses or anyone to help wash?”
“Not at the moment, a few nurses must be eating, they’ll be here. I’ll wait til one of them gets here. We’ve had anywhere from 3 to 7 volunteers in this tent.”
“Good, the more the better”, she said as she took her bag and tended to a patient. This is a depressing place, she thought, she hoped Sully wasn’t here. “Dr Roy, what kind of records are kept on these patients?”
“Well, the patients we treat have a medical record, of course, and the company has furnished us with names and next of kin in case...... we have to notify families unfortunately if the results are not good...”
“Oh yes, of course”, she frowned, “Hopefully we’ll save more than we lose.”
After several hours working in the tent, she decided to go to one of the food tents for a cup of coffee. She went by a tent with desks and boxes of files. “Excuse me, what tent is this?”
“This is the administrative tent, ma’m, can I help you locate someone?”
“Yes.....”, she walked in, half curious, half frightened, “a man named Byron Sully?”
Two gentlemen picked up clip boards and looked through pages of names, then both shook their heads, “Not on this rescue list or the deceased list, I don’t currently have the list of employees, they are compiling that elsewhere from the files on the workers. You know, they need addresses or next of kin for some of the men.”
“I understand”, she smiled, “thank you for checking.” As she walked out, she felt slightly better that Sully’s name was not on these lists. She also hoped he wasn’t in the employee files. She continued on to find some coffee and sat to drink it. She felt sick in her stomach at all around her. Some men were covered in black soot so thick, you couldn’t tell what color clothing they were wearing. The people tending to them were weary, but doing a lot of hard work. She wanted to help, but knew she couldn’t stay very long.
“Dr Quinn?”, a voice from behind her.
“Yes”, she responded.
“Dr Roy says you’re a surgeon and we have an operating tent, could you help us in it?”, asked the young man.
“Yes.......certainly”, she got up handed the cup to a woman and left with the young man. They went about four tents down.
“I’m Timothy Bart, I was on my way to San Francisco where I go to medical school. I figured I’d get an education here so I decided to offer my help. This tent is for surgery, unfortunately a lot of it is amputations, have you done any?”
“Yes I have”, she looked around at the four cots in the room, the men were either under anesthesia or asleep on their own. “Are these patients waiting for surgery?”
“Yes, Mrs. Sharmat, she’s a nurse, she’ll give you the records and you can examine them, but upon initial exam the doctor at the mine entrance thought they needed to come here. Maybe you’ll decide they don’t need surgery, but that’s your call I guess”, he smiled. He seemed full of nervous energy and Michaela smiled at him slightly and walked to Mrs. Sharmat. Mrs. Sharmat rolled her eyes and handed Michaela a patient record, “Nice kid, but he’s driving me crazy”, she smiled at Michaela.
Michaela performed surgery on two of the patients, no amputations fortunately. She was making notations in a record when someone burst into the tent. “Who is in charge here?”, said a tall middle aged man.
“I’m the surgeon in this tent, can I help you?”, Michaela stood and walked to him.
“I am Dr. Donald Hopkins, and my dear woman you have to speed things up here! We have found a vein in the mine with at least a dozen survivors and they will need attention when they freed from the mine!”
“These men need attention also Dr Hopkins. You should understand that surgery is something that is better not rushed!”, Michaela said to this pompous doctor.
“Here then, allow me to help you”, he walked to were Mrs. Sharmat stood, her hands on her hip in disgust, and he picked up a bone saw and a record. He briefly looked over the record and headed to a cot. “I can amputate his arm and then you can move him to a recovery tent. We may need this space for others!”
“Just a minute! You can’t just cut someone’s arm off because you need their cot!”, Michaela rushed to his side. “Have you even examined this patient? How do you know he needs this surgery, two others here did not need amputation, just deep suturing! This is my tent and I’m to oversee what’s done here, Doctor!”, she pulled the saw from his hand.
“Very well, Miss. There are other tents that could use my expertise!”, and he stormed out.
Mrs. Sharmat threw her hands up, “I tell ya, these men are nothing but pests! Especially that one! All he does is walk around and act important. He’s a good at suturing though”, she whispered to Michaela, “wish he’d sew up his lips!”
Michaela tried not to laugh at the nurse’s comments. She headed back to the table to put the saw away when she heard the patient just saved from amputation mumble. She walked back and was startled to hear, “Michaela....”, come from the cot in a very soft voice. She moved the sheet that was up past the patient’s chin, and clasped her hands to her face. It was Sully! “Oh my God! Sully!”, she lowered her hands to his face, “Sully! Sully.......are you all right?”