| Chapter 8: Unexpected
“I don’t understand it,” Loren said. “You said it should be just fine.” “I thought I told you to take it easy,” Michaela replied. “Loren, as long as you rest that leg, it should be fine. You just popped out a stitch, that’s all.” Michaela finished re-stitching Loren’s leg. “Told ya you should have come to me,” Jake said as he walked into the mercantile. “Mr. Slicker?” “Women ain’t got no business bein’ doctors.” “Neither do barbers,” came a voice from behind. Sully was standing in the doorway. Loren heard Sully’s voice and his glance snapped over to him. “What do you want?” he asked bitterly. “I came to make sure everything was alright,” Sully replied. “Oh, what do you care?” Loren asked. “There’s no need to be rude, Loren,” Michaela replied. “He’s just being friendly.” “It’s alright. I’ll wait outside,” Sully replied. He turned and left while Michaela finished up with Loren. Matthew came running down the stairs. “Dr. Mike!” “What is it, Matthew?” Michaela asked, standing quickly. “It’s ma! She’s askin’ for ya! She wants me to go get the reverend,” Matthew said with tears in his eyes. “Go do that,” Michaela said quickly. “Where are you brother and sister?” “They’re upstairs with her.” Michaela grabbed her medical bag and headed upstairs. Loren hobbled up after her. Michaela rushed into Charlotte’s room. She was lying on the bed, her face a pale shade of gray. Colleen was resting her head on her mother’s stomach, crying uncontrollably. Brian was holding his mother’s hand. “Dr. Mike,” Charlotte whispered. “Dr. Mike! You gotta help her!” Brian called. “Please help her!” Michaela sat down at Charlotte’s side and started preparing a few concoctions. “What’s wrong with her?” Loren asked. Michaela looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “Cancer.” “Dr. Mike,” Charlotte repeated. “Yes, Charlotte?” “Take care of my children,” she answered gently. “Don’t talk like that, Charlotte! You’re going to be alright.” Matthew and the Reverend Johnson entered the room as Michaela had Charlotte drink something. Charlotte’s color started to come back to her face. “Loren can you take the children outside.” “We’re stayin’!” Matthew demanded. “Do as the doc says,” Charlotte said faintly. “Come on kids,” Loren urged. He picked Brian up and led the other two outside, hobbling a bit on his sore leg. They headed downstairs, and Colleen was crying in her older brother’s arms. Sully had seen Matthew and the reverend running into the mercantile. “What’s goin’ on?” he asked. Loren stared at him for a moment. Brian’s head popped up at Sully’s voice, and the tears in his eyes told Sully everything. He reached out for Sully, and Loren slowly walked over to the man he had swore to himself to hate for the rest of his life. Sully swallowed hard as Loren handed the inconsolable boy to Sully. “Ma’s dyin’,” Brian cried. “Don’t talk like that!” Matthew scolded as Colleen began to cry harder. Brian wrapped his little arms around Sully’s neck. “What happened?” Sully asked. “Charlotte collapsed. Dr. Mike says she’s got cancer.” Sully sat down on the steps of the stairs with Brian in his arms. “It’s gonna be alright, son. Don’t you worry. Dr. Mike is takin’ good care of your ma.” Sully looked up at Matthew who was holding onto his little sister. She was sobbing into his chest, and he didn’t know what to do to help her. The children hadn’t known their mother was sick, let alone with cancer, something that surely took everyone who had it. Sully looked up at Loren, and they were both undoubtedly thinking about Abagail at that moment. Loren was feeling guilt for not being there, and Sully was feeling even more guilt for ever having married Abagail, though he never would have taken back the time he spent with her. He often wondered what would have happen if he and Abagail hadn’t married. Perhaps she would still be alive today. Sully was sure that had crossed Loren’s mind every waking moment of his life since the night Abagail passed. Grace walked into the mercantile with a basket in her arms. She realized something was wrong when she saw the small group crowded around the stairs. “What’s goin on?” she asked. “The Widow Cooper is sick,” Loren replied. “Oh Lord,” Grace whispered. “I hope she’ll be alright.” At that moment, Michaela started down the stairs. Everyone looked up at her. Colleen pulled away from Matthew and dried her teary eyes. “Charlotte is resting,” Michaela whispered, tears trickling from her eyes. “You mean . . . she’s alive?!” Brian asked, the tears now becoming replaced by hope and a beaming smile. The other two children were old enough to know that just because Charlotte had survived, something was still very wrong. “Go on. She’s asking for you children,” Michaela whispered. The children hurried up the stairs, and Loren swallowed the lump in his throat. He went back to his business, not wanting to think about what would have happened if Charlotte had died. Sully saw Michaela’s knees shaking as she stepped off of the stairs. He quickly rushed over to her and pulled her into his arms. She fought back her tears for a few moments until she finally collapsed in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Sully fell to his knees with Michaela in his arms, and he rocked her back and forth as Loren watched on, the lump rising in his throat again. Michaela had never had to deal with someone she was close to coming so close to death. Sure, she hadn’t known Charlotte for very long, but Charlotte was a wonderful person who had so much generosity in her soul. She had helped Michaela tremendously in the past few days, and it didn’t seem right to lose her. “Shh, it’s alright,” Sully whispered, smoothing her hair and rubbing her back, not sure of what else to do. He continued to rock her back and forth. Grace looked at Loren, and she motioned for him to join her on the porch. Loren nodded and slowly walked out to join her. “I can’t lose her, Sully! She was my first friend out here,” she cried. “She’s too good of a woman to deserve this.” “Nobody knows why this happens, Dr. Mike. You of all people should know that.” Michaela pulled away and Sully dried her tears away with his fingers. “Sully, she wants me to take care of the children,” Michaela whispered. “Before I came down here, I promised her that I would take care of them if anything happens. Sully, what am I going to do? Those children need their mother.” Sully swallowed hard and kissed Michaela’s cheek. “If the worst happens, you’ll be alright. Those children love you, and if you end up takin’ care of ‘em, I know you’ll do a good job.” “Sully, I can’t lose Charlotte! What happened was so unexpected. If only she would have let me examine her, I could have known how far advanced the cancer was.” “How much time has she got left?” “It could be anywhere from a few days to a year. It depends on how strong she is. She’s growing weaker.” “She’s got a strong spirit.” Michaela nodded. “Yes she does.” Sully stood and pulled Michaela up. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. Loren came walking back in with a cup of water. “I figured you could use this, Dr. Mike,” he said softly. Michaela blinked the tears away and accepted the cup from Loren. She took a couple of sips before she handed it back to him. Sully nodded his thanks to Loren for being so thoughtful to Dr. Mike. Loren nodded back, not sure of what he was feeling at the moment. “Come on, let’s take a walk,” Sully whispered. Michaela nodded and let Sully lead her out of the mercantile. *~* Charlotte was sitting up in her bed as Brian sat beside her. Colleen and Matthew were sitting at her bedside, holding her hands. “Ma,” Brian whispered. “Yes, Brian?” “You’re okay now, ain’t ya?” “Brian, we need to talk, sweetheart,” Colleen spoke up as questions about this terrible disease raced through her mind. “Ma, Dr. Mike says you have cancer.” Charlotte nodded. “It’s true,” Charlotte replied. “Why didn’t ya tell us?” Matthew asked, brushing a tear out of his eye. “I didn’t want to worry you. I didn’t know how much time I had left, but I didn’t want you frightened while I was still here.” “You ain’t gonna leave us, are ya, ma?” Brian asked, his sweet young eyes wide with wonder. Matthew pulled Brian into his lap. “Children, I want you to listen closely. I don’t know how much time I have left, but when I do go, I’ve asked Dr. Mike to take care of you.” “She doesn’t know how to take care of kids,” Colleen replied, drying her eyes. “Besides, you’re gonna be fine.” “She loves you and you love her, right?” Charlotte asked. The children nodded. “Ma, don’t talk like this,” Matthew urged. “You ain’t gonna die.” “Matthew, I can feel it. It might not be soon, but then again, it could be. I just want you to know that I ain’t leavin’ ya alone when I go. Dr. Mike is gonna be a good ma to the three of you.” “Ma, don’t leave!” Brian cried. Charlotte smiled at her precious son. “Brian, I love you so much. I promised you a long time ago that I was gonna get to see you grow up, get married, and have babies of your own. That ain’t gonna happen, sweetheart, but I want you to know that I’ll be watchin’ over ya.” Matthew stood up and he ran his fingers through his hair. “Matthew, I don’t want to upset ya.” “Don’t talk like that then! You’re gonna be fine!” Charlotte took a deep breath. Colleen took Matthew’s hand. “Matthew, let ma talk to us.” The young girl sniffled. “Thanks baby,” Charlotte said to her young daughter. “Colleen, you’re turnin’ into a young woman, and you’re gonna need somebody to be there when you go through the changes you’re about to have. Dr. Mike will be there. Matthew, you’re turnin’ into a man, and I want you to know that you’re the man of the house. You’ll continue to be that. I want you to keep your brother and sister safe and help Dr. Mike out. Brian, you’re my little boy, and you just need to be there for your brother and sister.” The children were all crying now, and Charlotte’s tears began to fall. “I love you all so much.” “I love you too, ma,” Matthew replied. “We love you too,” Colleen and Brian responded. “Promise me that when I do pass on, you won’t give Dr. Mike any trouble. You’ll be good for her, and you’ll let her help you. Help her out too.” The children were quiet for a few moments. “Please promise me. I want to know that you’ll all be happy.” “We ain’t gonna be happy without you,” Matthew replied, swallowing the lump that had been forming in his throat over the past few minutes. Charlotte smiled a little. “I know it seems like it ain’t gonna happen, but you’ll all make peace with my passin’ someday. Dr. Mike is gonna need you, and you’ll need her. Please just let me know you’ll try to help each other and Dr. Mike.” “We’ll try, ma,” Brian replied. Charlotte looked at Colleen who nodded. She looked at Matthew. “We’ll try,” he replied. All of the children hugged their mother, not wanting to let her go. *~* “You feelin’ better?” Sully asked as he put a cold compress on Michaela’s forehead. She was lying in her bed at the homestead and Sully was taking care of her. She hadn’t wanted to leave town, but Sully insisted she get some rest. She was so upset that she had tired herself out. So, Sully was sitting on the edge of the bed with a cool cloth and a sponge. He took the sponge and wrung it out into a bowl and gently ran it over her arms. “A little,” she replied. The tears were still heavily filling her eyes, and they escaped every few minutes, but Sully would wipe them away. “This is too hard to deal with.” “I know,” he replied. “But it’ll get better over time. You never know, Charlotte might still have several years left in her.” “I hope so,” Michaela whispered. “But her cancer is in a very advanced state. She isn’t going to be around to see Matthew become a man; Colleen a woman. She’s not going to see Brian when he’s Matthew’s age. I’m going to be there for that, and it doesn’t seem fair! She deserves to be with those children.” “And she cares enough about you and those kids to know that you’re gonna be a good ma to them when she’s gone.” “What do you think about it, Sully? Will you still want to be with me when I have the children here?” “How could you think any different? Michaela, I love you, and I ain’t goin’ anywhere. I want to marry you, start a family with you, and raise the children with you when that time comes. I love you, and those children are wonderful. I would love to help you raise them, even though I don’t like the circumstances. I don’t want Charlotte to die, but the children will be in safe hands with you; with us. If anything, what happened today has made me realize just how much I want and need to be with you.” “Oh Sully,” Michaela whispered, brushing a falling tear from his eye. “I don’t want to lose her. I wish I could do something.” “You can be there for her later. But right now, I want you to rest. You’ve been through a lot today, and I don’t want you to wear yourself out any more than ya already have. You’ll get sick if that happens, and I want you to take care of yourself.” Sully kissed Michaela’s forehead and dried her tears. “I love you.” “I love you too,” she responded as Sully took her hand and held it as she lay there, trying unsuccessfully to sleep, all the while thinking about Charlotte and those poor children. She wasn’t ready for taking on the responsibility of three children, but most of all, she wasn’t ready to lose the one person who had accepted her right off from the moment she arrived in Colorado Springs. But with Sully so close, she felt like she wasn’t alone. She felt like she could do anything. They were soul mates in every sense of the word, and she knew Sully would be there for her no matter what hardships were lying ahead. Somehow she’d make it through, and in the end, she would be a stronger person. |