"I can't believe Matt would hurt your feelings like that Kitty," Abelia said surprise. "I just don't know what he was thinking."
"And then to propose marriage after pulling such a stunt," Kitty said absently. "After all these years together...did he think I was just going to fall into his arms."
"A woman has to play hard to get...sometimes but this is what you always wanted," Abelia said with a smile. "I wouldn't be that hard to get."
"You think I made a mistake," Kitty said slowly. "What if I ruined it!"
"No," Abelia said shaking her head. "Matt's going to come to your door any minute apologizing and ask for your hand again."
But Matt never had the opportunity to go to see Kitty.
"What was that?" Kitty said going to the door as she and Abelia heard a ruckus going on down stairs.
Kitty stepped out of her room with Abelia following, both woman looked down at the scene below from the landing near Kitty's room.
Two drunken cowboy's were throwing punches at each other as first Festus then Matt ran in to break up the fight.
Kitty seethed with anger when the larger of the two cowboys threw the other onto a table and destroyed it.
"Here now!" Festus yelled grabbing the smaller one while Matt jockeyed for a position to take the larger one.
But before the Marshal could get to him, the man drew his pistol from its holster and fired toward the man that Festus was struggling to subdue.
The bullet went wild as Matt pulled his own revolver at the same time he yelled at Festus to get out of the line of fire.
The hill man thew the struggling cowboy out the doors of the Long Branch as the larger one fired at Matt, the lawman returned fire, just before he went to his knees.
"Matt!" Kitty screamed lifting her skirts, she flew down the stairs to his side.
Newly ran though the doors just as Kitty reached Matt's side. "Matt," she said rolling the lawman onto his back.
Newly put a finger on the side of the unconscious Marshal's neck and nodded at the red head. "He's alive," Newly said looking up. "Someone get Doc in here!"
Sam scrambled out the door to retrieve the physician as Newly turned his attention to the fallen cowboy.
"He's dead," Newly said returning to the Marshal's side.
Doc pushed open the double doors and forced his way though the crowd of people as Festus followed.
"Now, all of you just get on up outa here!" the hill man ordered disbursing the crowd as Doc slid to his knees beside Matt's prone form.
Opening the Marshal's shirt to examine the wound, the doctor looked up at Kitty. "It's bad, Kitty," Doc said meeting her eyes. "Newly, you and Festus get Matt up to my office and hurry."
As the two deputies scrambled to move Matt up to Doc's office, the physician took Kitty's arm. "I want you to stay here with Abelia!"
Abelia nodded as Kitty adamantly shook her head no. "I want to stay with him, Doc," Kitty said worriedly. "How bad is it?"
"It's near his heart, Kitty," Doc said gently. "I'm not going to lie to you, it's as bad as I've ever seen."
Kitty didn't hold back her tears as Doc patted her hand. "I'm going to do everything thing I can," he said softly.
"I know you will," Kitty said absently. "He asked me to marry him, Doc. I didn't give him an answer yet."
The physician nodded slowly and then smiled. "When he wakes up, you will."