A/N I apologize for the short opening chapter, it just seemed like a good stopping place. Don't worry; I won't make you wait too long for the next one.

These characters belong to someone else; I'm just providing a little closure to an episode that needed some.

The Best Medicine

Chapter One No News is Good News

Matt Dillon was ten miles away from Hayes when he realized he had forgotten to let anyone know he was on his way back. After attending to one last matter of business, he had retrieved his horse, already loaded and waiting for him, and in his hurry to get home, he hadn't even thought about stopping to send word that he was leaving, or to check for messages one last time. Although he knew any telegrams would be delivered to him, in the weeks he'd been there he'd gotten into the habit of stopping at the telegraph office every time he walked past it, his anxiety building as he stepped through the door, then breathing a sigh of relief when the operator shook his head and told him there were no wires waiting for him. The one message he'd gotten from Doc a week earlier, telling him that things were the same in Dodge, had done little to reassure him. While his head knew Doc would have let him know if Kitty took a turn for the worse, his heart needed more. Returning to Hayes would be a waste of time that would be better spent getting back to her. The only thing that would ease his worry at all would be to be at Kitty's side, seeing for himself that she was getting better, or at least, no worse. Until then, he would keep reminding himself that no news was good news.

It was one of Doc's rare slow days, and he was taking advantage of it by attending to work around the office. He spent all morning making up pills and powders for the patients who would need them in the week to come. At noon, he had examined the patient who had been in residence for over a month and seen that she had her lunch, though as usual, she didn't eat much of it. He had spent the afternoon writing in his journals, but it couldn't take his mind off his concern for the patient in the next room. It had been a long road for her, and he was confident, finally, that she would physically recover, but her progress had slowed down considerably as of late. The fact that they both knew why did nothing to help, for there was nothing they could do about it. Her reason for living had left town, and none of them were happy about the situation, but it was necessary for him to attend the trials of those responsible for her being in Doc's bed and not her own room at the Long Branch. In the first weeks, she'd been too sick to see anyone, and It had been Matt's presence that had given her the will hold on and start responding to Doc's treatment. Now that she was finally out of danger medically, it would do her good to have some visitors, but she had shown little interest in seeing anyone, or in anything at all, for that matter.

Doc took off his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes. He was going to have to think of something to do to try to help her. He couldn't let her health decline while Matt was away. There must be something that could lift her spirits. In the middle of that thought, his office door opened and he looked up.

"Well, come in! Come in!" he said to the man standing in the doorway.

"Hello, Doc," the man greeted him. "I brought something for Miss Kitty."

"Oh, for Heaven's sake. That might be exactly what she needs. Why in thunder didn't I think of that? You just go right on in and see her."

TBC