CHAPTER SIX

The next morning, after having fallen asleep while reliving the evening after the shooting, there were still questions that needed answers. Kitty awoke with the feeling of not having resolved anything.

Throwing back her covers and moving her feet to the floor, she quickly became aware that her body still hurt all over. Yet, she was determined to get up and start moving. When Doc came in, she told him her plan and he might have objected if he hadn't realized how stubborn she could be.

Kitty dressed slowly but did not put on all her undergarments, as the corset would hurt her tender ribs. After a short rest, she began trying to brush the snarls out of her hair. That much activity did her in and her head was throbbing by the time she had done the best she could. Getting up from her dressing table, she went to her closet for some feverfew tea to alleviate the pain.

She was exhausted by dinner time and didn't argue with the doctor when he suggested she lie down and rest. "Doc," she whispered as he listened to her heart. "I need to ask you some questions. Will you tell me the truth?"

Sitting down in the chair next to her, the physician crossed his legs and ran his finger over his moustache. "If I can, honey."

"I have been having some kind of half-dreams. I want to make sure I am not confused. What happened in your office the day after Matt got shot by Elser?"

Doc scrunched up his face a little as he thought back. "Well, as I recall, Matt was still feverish the next day but I assured you he was getting better." He hesitated. "Now, I'm telling you this in confidence. During that night, as you know, he fought some battles and he called your name over and over as his fever raged throughout the early morning hours. It was mid-morning when it finally broke and he fell into an exhausted sleep."

"I remember I brought you some breakfast and insisted you get some sleep," Kitty added.

He reached over and touched her face. "And I told you that you had a heart of gold."

A little flustered, he went on. "I resisted your advice at first but soon I was nodding off. I remember you brought some broth for Matt and put it on my stove to keep it warm."

Kitty nodded her head slowly. "I remember now, going to the back room where Matt was sleeping more soundly. All I wanted to do was push his damp hair back from his forehead and lie down beside him and put my arms around him. He looked so battered. Sadly, I didn't have the right to do that."

"I was just waking up," Doc explained, "and you must have dozed off because I heard Matt calling your name. It must have startled you because you exclaimed, 'Matt, you're better!' "

"Now I remember - he was asking me what I was doing there," Kitty added. "You told him I had stopped by to see how you were. I saw how exhausted you were so I said I'd sit here until Chester came by."

"Then you asked him, 'How do you feel?" Doc remembered.

Kitty grinned. "I had to laugh when he said, "Like I got run over by a wagon."

"I remember you offered him some broth," Doc continued, "and told him that he needed to keep up his strength. Then, taking a couple of towels and a basin of water, and after that, a bowl of soup, you went back into the room. As I walked in, you were covering him with a towel, spooning the broth, and encouraging him to drink it. He managed about ten spoonsful and then sank farther into the bed."

The doctor went on and told Kitty, "You praised him and then I believe you said, 'Now let's get you cleaned up a little.' Before he could protest, you had a washcloth and towel and were cleaning his face. When you loosened his shirt to clean his neck and chest, he seemed to become uncomfortable. You tried to soothe him and pushed back his hair and began to say something like, 'Just a….' "

"I remembered just now that his voice sounded shaky as he jerked away and interrupted me. 'That's enough, Kitty,' he said. I told him I was just trying to…."

Doc touched her arm and nodded. "When Matt exclaimed, 'I said, that's enough,' you jerked your hand back and rushed out of the room. You almost knocked Chester over as he was coming through the door."

"Oh no, not again! Did I hurt him, Doc?" she asked with concern in her voice. She seemed to always be taking her moods out on Chester.

The healer had to grin, "No, but he did exclaim, 'Well, I swan!' "

Shaking her head slowly, Kitty mumbled, "Oh, I feel terrible. I wasn't mad at him."

"Don't worry about him, you know how indignant he gets. He told me you almost knocked him over again. When I went back into the room, I noticed the washcloth and towel on the floor, the spilled water, and a half-undressed lawman. I asked rather angrily, 'Just what did you say to her?' "

Kitty tried to inquire calmly, "What did he say?"

"He tried to appear innocent as he explained, 'I didn't do anything.' He claimed you had been so irritable lately. I looked at him skeptically and told him in no uncertain terms, 'You listen to me, young fella, that girl stayed with me for hours last night and came back today to help both of us. You have no right making her feel as if she is not wanted or needed.' "

"Of course, Chester had to add his two cents. He told his boss he thought you had been skittery lately and not nice to him."

Blinking her eyes so she wouldn't cry, Kitty replied, "I sure have been a lot of bother to everyone and have just made things worse."

He patted her hand. "Don't you worry about anything. I told them they were both hopeless."

She squeezed his hand, "You are so good to me. I'm surprised they aren't still mad at me."

The doctor harrumphed a little as he told her, "You have been through quite an ordeal. Chester has gotten over his hurt feelings. Matt is a hard one to figure. I've never seen two men who can't see the truth when it is right in front of their eyes."

"I don't know what to think or what to plan. I'm so confused," Kitty confessed.

Doc hadn't told her - and didn't plan to tell her - that Matt had told him to mind his own business and to keep his opinions to himself. He felt she shouldn't know that he had said to the lawman, "So it is okay for you to come up here when you are shot or stabbed or beat up, but you don't want to hear any advice that would make your life better!"

Looking at her face still healing from her brutal attack, he asked, "Does this help you at all, Kitty?"

"It does make some sense of some of the flashes I was having. It doesn't make anything easier with Matt, though," she answered.

"Try to get some rest and know that Matt has softened toward you since your accident." He avoided using the word 'attack'. "Let the memories come slowly and don't try to force things," he advised.

Yawning and leaning her head back on the pillow, she said sleepily, "I'll try Doc, I'll try.