Amber Miller - Dr. Quinn Fan Fiction

For personal use and select distribution only © December 2000 by "Tiff" Amber Miller

The Unexpected Storm

by Tiffany Miller

The sun had begun its upward ascent into the sky several hours prior and two lone riders made their way back towards home. Michaela stifled a yawn and stretched her aching back, immediately stopping to pull her coat more tightly around her to ward off the chill of the sudden wind. Sully noticed how tired she looked and reigned his horse in next to hers.

"No." She yawned again. "No, we need to get home. The children will be worried. I'll be fine. I promise." She gave him her best encouraging smile.

Sully reached over and clasped her hand in his and gave it a loving squeeze. "Let's go, then!" They both encouraged their horses into a gallop and raced across the open land surrounded by the majestic, snow-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains.

"It's nice comin' home with the problems at East Fork improving," Sully remarked.

Michaela turned to him and said, "Yes, and without any serious implications on your side. That is quite a relief. When I came upon you being held by the army, I'll admit I feared the worst."

"Michaela, how many times do I gotta tell ya. I put all that behind me. I don't have any desire to repeat last year, or get in any more trouble with the army again."

"She looked away and back at the town. "I know that, Sully, but it isn't so easy to forget." Her voice dropped to the point that Sully had to strain to hear her.

Michaela didn't respond. She just urged Flash forward, and Sully was forced to follow. They decided not to stop in town on their way, but chose to head straight to the homestead and their children.

"Brian looked up from the book he was reading and saw Katie standing on tiptoe, trying to look out the window. She wasn't quite tall enough to see over the ledge, though. "Soon, Katie. They sent a telegram sayin' they'd be here today."

"Brian placed a marker in his book and closed it, setting it on the table before rising from his chair to walk to the window. "Do ya wanna watch for Ma and Pa?"

"Yes! Yes!" she bent her short legs and straightened them, creating the appearance of bouncing.

Brian couldn't help but laugh at the picture she presented. "All right. Here, I'll move this chair over and you can stand on it to look out the window." He helped her into the chair and made sure she was able to stand steadily returning to the table and his book. "Now, you be sure and tell me when you see ‘em!"

"Brian shook his head at the little girl's enthusiasm. He remembered when he did the same thing waiting for Dr. Mike to come home from a medical emergency. Then, it was Matthew or Colleen who were there to reassure him. He hoped Colleen and Andrew would be able to make it home in time for Christmas. He remembered his Ma reading the letter Colleen sent a couple of weeks ago telling when they would be leaving Philadelphia to come home, and he couldn't wait to

see them again. This Christmas was going to be even more special, since he had invited Sarah to spend it with them. Her mother, of course, would be joining them, too.

His thoughts were interrupted by the squeal of his little sister. "Mama! Papa!" Katie turned to get down, but in her excitement and on her unsteady legs, she tripped and fell against the back of the chair. Brian immediately ran to her to prevent her from falling off the chair.

"Katie, are ya all right?" He picked her up and held her against him, patting her back to soothe her sobs from the little scare.

"All right, let's go see ‘em." He heard their horses out in the corral and knew they were home. He wrapped Katie's coat around her and put on his own coat, then opened the door just as Michaela and Sully were walking up the steps to the front of the homestead.

"Mama! Papa!" Katie exclaimed, bouncing in Brian's arms in excitement. He had no choice but to set her down and watched as she ran towards the steps. He almost cried out, but Michaela was there in time to catch her before she reached the edge.

"Hello, sweetheart!" Michaela hugged her daughter to her and kissed the top of her head. "We've missed you! Did you miss us?"

"Kates, we always come back. You know that," Sully joined the family reunion. He reached out and tossled Brian's hair. "Hey, Brian."

"Hello, Brian." Michaela moved forward to embrace her son. "Come, let's get inside out of the cold," she beckoned to her family.

Sully closed the door behind them, and they took off their coats, hanging them on the hooks behind the door. Michaela made her way to one of the wingback chairs and sat with Katie in her lap. Sully took the other chair and Brian sat on the rug in front of the fireplace.

"Well, I didn't actually teach her how to play, but I did show her how the game works, and we played a little together. We also read some books, didn't we, Katie?"

"It sounds as if the two of you had a very nice time together," Michaela remarked.

Michaela hugged the little girl to her. "Oh, Papa was just teasing, Katie. We won't leave you for a long time unless we have to, and we will always make sure someone is here with you," she promised.

"Aside from that food poisoning thing, it's been fine. Nothin' big happenin' around here, and nothin' in town that I heard," Brian replied.

"I know, but I promised John I'd have the rest of the patient files done from the recent treatments. I need to finish them and have them ready for the next time he comes to the clinic." She stood up from the chair and placed Katie in Sully's lap, walking over to put on her coat and scarf.

"I promise not to be long. I'll certainly be home in time to cook supper," she promised.

"I want to get it finished while it's on my mind. I don't know what may happen tomorrow, and I may not have time to complete them. I said it wouldn't be long." Her eyes pleaded with him to understand and to not say anything further with the children present.

He conceded, although still not happy with the situation. "We'll be here." He leaned in to place a quick kiss on her lips, then returned to the chair in front of the fireplace.

Michaela sighed and left, casting one last glance at her family before closing the door behind her.

"Katie, don't play with your food!" Michaela admonished her daughter, who was pushing her scrambled eggs around on her plate.

"Katie, they're just like I always make them for you. You've eaten them before. Now, stop being stubborn."

"Don't like," she repeated, this time a little less forcefully, knowing her mother was not happy with her.

"Kates, listen to your Ma. Ya gotta eat. It's real good for ya," Sully tried to encourage.

"Yeah, Katie. Look at me. I'm eatin' my eggs." Brian made a much larger show of placing the eggs on his fork and putting them in his mouth.

Katie mimicked Brian's actions. "Mmmm," she copied, also with eggs in her mouth. This made everyone laugh at the little girl's antics.

"All right, now that she's eatin', Michaela, are ya free today for lunch?" Sully asked, directing his gaze to his wife.

Michaela looked off into the distance, slightly, mentally running through her schedule for the day. "I believe I am. From what I can remember, I don't have too many patients. I should have no problem getting away for a meal with my husband." She smiled, lovingly.

"Yes, the enclosure was completed last week. I'm actually anticipating seeing what the interior is like. I feel certain Grace and Anna Marie will have done something to decorate for Christmas."

"Yeah, they have," Brian joined the conversation. "I saw it yesterday, when I was with Sarah and Katie after school on a walk. It looks real nice."

"That settles it," Sully said with finality. "We'd better get movin' or we'll all be late."

"I'll go hitch up the wagon," Sully stated, then rose and put on his coat before going outside.

"It sure has been gettin' cold, hasn't it?" Loren remarked when Michaela came in to purchase some more material for her bandages.

"Yes, it has," she agreed, rubbing her hands together to ward off the chill. "How have things been here?"

"Oh, they've been goin' just fine. Jared's workin' out good. Fact is, don't know how I ever got along without him." Loren praised his new assistant. "He's in the back right now."

"That's wonderful to hear. I will admit, you certainly are looking much better. You don't appear to be as tired as you were recently."

"Thank you, Loren. Have a nice day," she called, collecting her purchase and exiting the store.

Michaela walked across the street to the clinic, quickly opened the door and just as quickly closed it. The cold blast of air wouldn't be a welcome addition to the already chilly room. The stove needed to be stoked. Sully had come in this morning with her and got it started, but that certainly wasn't enough wood to last the entire morning, let alone the entire day.

Once that chore was completed, she sat down at her desk, contemplating her appointments. Aside from the one visit by Mrs. Flannery, she didn't have anyone scheduled today. "Good," she thought. "It will give me time to complete my patient records."

The next hour disappeared, finding Michaela lost in her task. Spent and tired from looking down at the files for so long, she lifted her head and rubbed her sore neck. She glanced at the clock and noticed it was only eleven o'clock. She closed the file with the most recent records from the food poisoning incident finally complete.

"If I make it quick, I can get these out to John and be back in time to meet Sully for lunch," she thought, mentally calculating the time it would take to complete the task.

She decided to do just that, so she secured the file, wrapping herself warmly in her coat, scarf and gloves before exiting the clinic and locking the door behind her.

"No, Hank," she replied. "In fact, if you must know, I'm going to see Dr. Fulton at the Chateau."

"Don't make no difference to me, either way. Just be careful goin' out there. Roads ain't lookin' too good," he warned, showing an uncharacteristic concern.

"Thank you for your consideration, Hank," she called in farewell, nudging Flash into a gallop as she headed out of town.

"Michaela, what a pleasant surprise!" John greeted her warmly, having opened the door before she had a chance to knock.

"I had a slow morning, so I thought I would bring over the files from the food poisoning patients," she explained.

"Oh, yes. You mentioned you would get these to me this week," he stated, taking the folder from her and walking towards his desk.

Michaela cast an appreciative glance around the office. "I really like what you have done with the office. You have it organized very nicely."

"Thank you. I had to remove all of the exercise contraptions Preston had, and I've properly disposed his ‘health tonic'." He gave her a teasing grin.

"You gather, correctly. In fact, he was quite upset when I told him I didn't want the equipment cluttering my office. He actually opened up another room across the main room and labeled it as an exercise room. I'm surprised he hasn't opened up his own little ‘chateau store' for the tonics, too. Then again, I didn't exactly give him the option of keeping them."

"Yes, I can certainly see Preston becoming quite annoyed with these changes. I can remember when he tried to run Andrew's practice. However, Andrew didn't have as much experience as you, and he also wouldn't stand up to Preston, something which caused some tension between us."

"So, he allowed Preston to tell him what to do?" John asked, completely surprised at this prospect.

"Yes, but Preston was also completely in charge of the chateau at that point. This was before the problems which occurred earlier this year which caused him to sell to Senator Dinston."

"This may be true, but when I met Andrew, he certainly didn't give me the impression of being someone who would allow a man like Preston to dictate what he was to do and not do or how to run his practice."

"I am inclined to agree with you, but Andrew grew a lot in his time here. I was proud to call him my colleague, and I will admit to enjoying having another doctor around to discuss cases or treatments."

"I will certainly agree. I enjoy the convenience of having another doctor within a close enough range to offer a second opinion quite easily."

"Did you not have that in your practice in Philadelphia?" Michaela inquired, surprised at the possibility that he didn't.

"No, but I also didn't work in a local hospital. I actually worked with most of patients in their homes, something almost all of the area doctors would never do," John explained.

"I see." Michaela happened to look at the clock on John's wall and notice the time had passed more quickly than she realized. "Oh my! I am supposed to meet Sully for lunch at Grace's. I only came here to bring the files, and I was going to return in time to meet him."

"You might be a couple of minutes late, but you can make it if you hurry," John assured her.

"Yes, but with the snow on the ground and the ice patches, I want to be careful with Flash. I certainly don't want to injure her."

"That is a very wise decision." He stepped out from behind his desk and walked with her to the door. "I will let you go, then. Thank you for bringing the files."

Michaela opened the door and stepped out just as she saw one of the chefs running down the wooden veranda towards the clinic.

Michaela followed Dr. Fulton and the chef into the office and immediately went to work locating the chloroform and helping the man onto the examination table. As John assessed the severity of the burn, Michaela held the cloth over the chef's nose. She watched with admiration as John quickly tended to the injury and bandaged the wound. He glanced up, and they shared a smile across the table.

"Welcome. Now, I best be getting' to the clinic. I'm meeting Michaela for lunch."

Sully came around the front side of the clinic from the street. Since the café was enclosed, he could no longer come around the back way from Robert E's. He stepped up onto the sidewalk and walked towards the clinic door, trying the doorknob and finding it locked. He knocked once, but didn't hear anything, so he turned around and tried the other door. It, too, was locked.

"Yeah, said she had to go out and see that Fulton fella at the chateau," Hank answered. He noted Sully's look of slight annoyance. "What's the matter. She get a better offer for lunch?"

Sully didn't even bother to reply to the jab. He simply turned and walked back in the direction from which he came.

Michaela stepped out from the chateau clinic and bid goodbye to the chef. John admonished the man to keep his wound dry and be more careful with pots of boiling water. He was lucky it hadn't been a more severe burn.

Both John and Michaela turned when they heard the sound of hoofbeats fast approaching the chateau. When Sully came into view, Michaela gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. She waited until he rode up to the edge of the veranda before stepped forward to greet him.

"Oh, Sully, I'm so sorry. I was on my way back to town when one of the chefs came with a severe burn on his arm, and I just couldn't walk away and leave him."

Sully looked from Michaela to John, inwardly wondering why John couldn't have handled the patient alone. After all, he was an accomplished doctor. Michaela had done much more than that by herself. "Well, are ya ready for some lunch, now?" he asked. He tried to hide his disappointment that she had been with John instead of him.

"Yes. In fact, I was just leaving to come back to town," she replied, turning to face John. "You did a wonderful job back there."

"You're quite welcome." She smiled, dipping her head slightly, then turning and walking to where Sully stood by their horses. He helped her mount Flash, then he mounted his own horse. With a final wave to John, Michaela turned Flash and rode with Sully back to town. They rode slowly, mindful of any ice patches, but not a word was spoken between them.

A lone buggy was seen meandering slowly down the snow-covered road, the two inhabitants wrapped in coats, with blankets wrapped around their legs. A horse was tied to the back and following blithely behind. It hadn't snowed in several days, but the threat was there, nonetheless.

"I wanted to thank you for coming out with me to see Mr. Withers," Michaela began. "It's not often that I've had the benefit of a second opinion in a lot of my cases."

"It was my pleasure," John replied. "I welcome the opportunity to venture out from the Chateau and visit with the other inhabitants of this town, whether they're in town or dwell several miles on the outskirts."

"I agree. It is nice to pay visits to my patients who can't get into town. I must admit to not looking forward to making this journey alone, especially considering the weather."

"He has gone with me a few times, but he also has his own work which keeps him busy. I certainly can't expect him to drop what he's doing and come with me at every visit I make." She defended him slightly.

"Oh, no. I certainly wasn't implying that. I only wondered if you ever took anyone with you on these visits."

"Yes, in fact, before Colleen completed school, she used to go with me when she was able. It was all part of her experience in learning to be a doctor."

"Yes. I thought it was more important for her to see medicine in practice rather than read about it; although I did encourage her to read my medical texts at every opportunity."

"I'm glad to be of service. It has been wonderful working with you since I arrived. It's also quite refreshing to find another doctor who's viewpoints parallel my own. That is something I never had back in Philadelphia. I was quite unique, I'm afraid, and my beliefs were not held by the majority of doctors with whom I worked."

"How well I know that!" Michaela remarked, thinking back to her own struggle with being accepted in Boston.

They had arrived in town, and John guided the horse around to the front of the clinic before reigning him to a stop. He quickly stepped out of the buggy and walked around to assist Michaela from the seat.

She stepped down, holding lightly to his hand, and smiled her thanks for his assistance as they both moved towards the clinic door. "Thank you for bringing me into town. I don't know what could have kept Sully from meeting me at the Chateau." She tried to conceal her disappointment at Sully not being there.

John noticed the look on her face, though, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, giving her a quick squeeze. "I'm certain it wasn't anything serious. Perhaps we arrived a little earlier than he thought we would, and he was on his way." He tried to offer some amount of reassurance.

Michaela turned a smiled up at him. "Yes, you're probably right. Thank you, again." She paused for a moment before inserting the key into the lock on the door. "Oh, I remember there was a patient file I wanted to show you. Do you have a moment to take a look at it?"

"Yes, I don't have any patients scheduled to come until a little later. Any of Preston's ‘emergencies' can wait until I return." He grinned.

Michaela smiled, and the two of them entered the clinic, closing the door behind them.

Sully paid for his purchases, then happened to look out the door towards the clinic in time to see John pull up in front of the clinic with Michaela. He knew he was late, and he was just about to head out there to meet her, but it looked like that wouldn't be necessary.

Loren looked out the window to see what was holding Sully's attention, and he saw Dr. Mike with Dr. Fulton. "Them two sure have been getting' pretty chummy lately!"

"Yes, in fact, I've seen them quite often together out at the Chateau. They certainly do spend a substantial amount of time together," Preston remarked. He turned to face Sully. "They must have quite a lot in common."

Sully pulled his gaze away from his wife after the door to the clinic closed and turned to face the two men. "They're both doctors. Why wouldn't they have something in common?" He tried to sound nonchalant.

"Yes, but I have seen them together without any patients, and the door is always closed when Michaela is inside," Preston said, unable to resist driving the point home.

"Preston, when are ya gonna start payin' attention to what concerns ya, instead of gettin' involved in everyone else's business?" He collected his purchase and looked to Loren. "Thanks, Loren. I'll be back later for those nails when they arrive." He turned and left the clinic, deciding to wait until John was gone before going to the clinic.

"Thank you, Beth. That was very good reading," Teresa Slicker complimented the young girl. "Class, before we end today, I want to give you your Christmas assignment. It is due next week, and each student will have the opportunity to read your essay to the class, if you would like to do this." She began walking down the center aisle of the desks, making sure to look at every one of her students, before continuing.

"I am certain all of you are aware of Christmas, and that it is only a few days from now. I would like all of you to think about Christmas and what makes it special for you. I do not want only to see why you like Christmas, but I want you to write what you do for Christmas to make it unique. I want to read about your traditions." Sarah raised her hand. "Yes, Sarah?"

"So, you want us to write about we do for Christmas to celebrate? You want us to say the things our family does?"

"Yes, that is precisely what I want. Think about the things you do, things that may be something you do without thinking, but something that others might not do for Christmas. I want to hear about individual celebrations."

Stephen raised his hand, next. When he was recognized, he spoke. "How long's it gotta be?"

"Stephen, you need to only make it as long as you feel it needs to be to tell about your family celebrations. I will not tell you I want it to be a certain length. I do not wish to limit or pressure you in any way." She looked across the room of students. "Are there any other questions?" When no students raised their hands, she continued. "That is good. All of you have your assignment. Do not forget the history quiz on Friday. Please be certain to fasten your coats and wear your gloves. It is very cold outside. Class dismissed."

The students all quickly gathered their belongings, making sure to heed Mrs. Slicker's instructions. Sarah waited for Brian to come to the door before walking out with him.

"Yeah, I'm gonna write about how we decorate with the red bows and greens around the windows and on the tables. Ma even puts red bows going up the stairs. We also string popcorn and make paper rings for the tree. Ma has some real pretty ornaments from Boston she uses, and the star for the top of the tree is hand-made."

"That sounds really nice, Brian. I remember decorating with Papa in Georgia. He would lift me to place the star on the tree, and I remember when he would hold mistletoe over Mama's head to get her to kiss him."

Brian laughed a little at this. "Yeah, I remember when Sully did that with Ma. It was when she was carryin' Katie, and we were all at that pageant the town did. He touched where Katie was inside Ma, then held mistletoe over her head and they kissed."

"Aww, that's so sweet. It's times like these when I miss Papa the most," Sarah said, wistfully.

Brian put his arm around her shoulders. "I know. I miss my first Ma a lot, too."

Sully leaned against the examination table and crossed his arms. "Sorry I wasn't there to pick ya up earlier."

"Oh, that's all right, Sully. John had to come into town anyway, and he offered me a ride," Michaela quickly assured him.

"Well, I was gonna come as soon as I finished this job with Robert E. I didn't expect to see ya comin' into town so soon after you had headed out to see your patient."

Michaela turned away from her medicine shelves and faced Sully. "Actually, it didn't take us as long as I thought it would. We did return to the Chateau, and when I saw that you weren't there, John offered to bring me back to town. Sully, I'm really not upset."

"It was good, as usual," he replied. "We got a new assignment for next week. But, I gotta get over to Miss Dorothy's."

"Hello there, Miss Katie," Sarah greeted happily. The little girl ran to Sarah and took her hand. Sarah turned to Michaela and Sully. "I'll take her in the other room."

"Bye, Brian," Sully returned. He watched Michaela busy herself again, so he stood to his feet away from the table. "Well, I think I'd better be gettin' back to work with Robert E." He shifted, uncomfortably. "I'll see ya in an hour or so to head home?"

"All right. See ya then," he said and walked out of the clinic, closing the door behind him.

"So, what was it that Miss Teresa assigned today?" Michaela asked that evening after supper. The dishes had been cleared a little while ago, and the family all sat around the fireplace, enjoying each other's company. Katie sat in Michaela's lap, fighting hard to keep her eyes open.

"Oh, she wants us to write about Christmas and our holiday traditions," Brian answered, absently stroking Wolf's fur. "She said she wants to know what we do that's special for us, somethin' others might not do."

"That is certainly an excellent assignment. In fact, we could get you started tonight. I wanted us to talk about Christmas and what everyone wants to do this year," Michaela stated.

"We gotta get a tree, and can we put those red bows on it and make popcorn strings?" Brian was beginning to get excited.

"Yeah, we'll get a tree," Sully assured him. "You and I can go out this weekend and pick a real big one!"

"Yes, it does," Michaela agreed, looking at Sully with a smile. She looked down at Katie, fast asleep in her lap. "And, I think we will have to continue this conversation a little later. I know a little girl who needs to go to bed."

"Yeah, I'm tired, too. I think I'll head up to my room," Brian announced, leaning over and placing a kiss on Michaela's cheek. "Night, Pa."

Michaela stood slowly to her feet, making sure not to jostle Katie too much. Brian walked ahead of her up the stairs. "I'll be back down in a few minutes," she told Sully.

"I made ya some coffee," Sully said as soon as Michaela came back down the stairs a little bit later.

"Thank you, Sully." Michaela took the proferred cup from him and sat in her wingback chair. She cast a glance over at him, but his eyes were focused on the crackling fire. "Sully?"

"Is everything all right? You've been very quiet lately. Do you have something on your mind?"

He sighed and took a sip of coffee. Michaela waited for him to reply, but he didn't. "You can tell me what's wrong. I know something is bothering you."

Sully placed his cup on the table between them and stood to his feet. He picked up a piece of paper Michaela hadn't noticed before and walked to the fireplace. "I got a telegram from Welland Smith," he said without preamble.

Michaela closed her eyes briefly, then opened them and looked directly at him. "When do you leave?" she said softly.

"Wednesday," he replied. "He says it will only take a couple of days, and I'll be back by the weekend."

"Oh, it's not that, Sully. It's Colleen and Andrew. They're coming on Thursday. I had hoped you would be here to greet them. We haven't seen them in almost six months, and I was hoping we could all be here when they arrived."

Sully stared back into the fire and looked again at the telegram in his hand. "Well, I'll be back on Friday, so it'll only be a day later."

"I had also hoped for all of us to decorate as a family this year. It will be the first Christmas Katie will be able to help, and it's the first time we'll have Andrew with us as part of our family. It's just special, and I wanted us all together. After all, we only have a little over a week before Christmas is here."

"Michaela, I know how much it means to ya, and I'll be back by Friday. I'll go with Brian on Saturday to get the tree, and we'll decorate it together, then." He turned and walked to kneel in front of her, taking her hands in his and looking into her eyes. "Ya know I'd much rather stay here with you, but it's my job," he said softly.

"Yes, I know, and I'm not really angry. After all, what's one day? We can make sure everything is ready for decorating when you return." She forced a smile.

Sully leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Sounds like a plan." He smiled, then glanced towards the stairs. "Now, how about we follow our children and get to bed, ourselves?" he suggested with a teasing look in his eyes.

She smiled, one corner of her mouth turning up. "I think that sounds like a wonderful idea."

Sully stood and drew Michaela up with him. He took her hand in his and led her to the stairs, ascending them with her.