That evening, Dolly sang in the saloon again and Bart and Doc attended her performance. Just like the night before, she stayed with them afterwards until it was time to go to bed.

Dolly stroked Bart's face when they said goodnight. "Hang in there, Bart. It won't be long before you get your memory back, I just know it!"

Bart smiled and gave her a quick kiss as they parted in the hall. Not long after, he lay in bed thinking on her words, wishing that they would prove true. He fell asleep quickly, but it seemed that only minutes passed before he was suddenly being shaken awake…he could hear someone panicking, and belatedly realized that it was him.

"Bart!" Doc Holliday was saying, as he shook him. "Wake up, Bart!"

Bart was badly startled, and lay there breathing heavily, blinking up at Doc with confusion. "What happened?!" he exclaimed, his heart beating so hard that he could hear it in his ears.

"If I had to make a guess, it looks like you had a nightmare," said Doc. "And it was a real doozy!"

Bart raised a shaking hand to his head, which was painfully throbbing. He closed his eyes and tried to slow down his breathing. "What?" he said, trying to calm down.

"You had a nightmare," Doc repeated. "Did you get your memory back?"

Bart sighed. "No."

Doc sighed too. "What did you dream?"

"I have no idea," Bart said. "I don't remember a thing."

Doc frowned. "Figures." He shrugged. "Maybe that's good, since whatever it was obviously scared the daylights outta you."

Bart took a deep breath and opened his eyes. "What time is it?"

"Three o'clock in the morning," Doc said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Sorry," Bart said, closing his eyes again.

"Don't worry about it," Doc told him. "It's not like we have anyplace to be in the morning!"

Bart sighed, before suddenly realizing how thirsty he was. "Water?" he asked.

Doc grabbed the pitcher on the nightstand and poured some into a glass. He could see the pain in Bart's face, so he helped him sit up high enough to drink it, before gently laying him down again.

"Thanks," Bart said, closing his eyes. "Sorry."

"Forget it," Doc said, not sounding annoyed anymore. "Go back to sleep."

Bart sighed again and shifted his position slightly. He started to drift off immediately, and he noticed that he never heard Doc leave the chair beside his bed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Bart woke up the next day, he felt confused, but he didn't know why. He looked around the room and saw Doc standing at the window. For a second, he didn't know who the man was or where he was…for a second, he couldn't even recall his own name. He must've made some kind of sound, because the man at the window suddenly turned around and gave him a concerned look.

"Bart?"

And just like that, it all came back…rather, the past ten days all came back. "Huh?" was all he could manage.

Doc came over to the bed and leaned over him. "Are you all right? You suddenly turned white as a sheet."

Bart opened his mouth, but nothing came out for a moment. He blinked his eyes and raised a hand to his aching head. "I'm fine," he said.

Doc frowned. "You don't sound very sure. Another nightmare?"

Bart blinked. He'd had a nightmare? "I don't remember."

Doc nodded. "That's what you said last night. Well, at least it's daytime now, so you don't have to worry about having another one! Ready for breakfast?"

Bart nodded, wondering what he'd dreamed. Was his memory trying to return? He desperately hoped so.

Twenty minutes later, they descended the stairs, finding Dolly waiting at the bottom with a big smile, just like yesterday. "Mornin' honey!" she said.

Bart smiled at her, and they had another delicious breakfast before going outside and sitting on the bench at Bart's request.

"I need to stop at the shoemaker," Dolly said, taking out a short, lacy boot and holding it up. "I broke a heel!"

"That's not good," said Doc.

Bart chuckled.

"I'll just go drop it off now so he has all day to fix it," Dolly said. She bent down and gave Bart a kiss, before heading down the stairs and walking off.

Bart and Doc watched her walk away, before Doc suddenly said, "You're a lucky man, Bart, you know that, right?"

When Bart didn't answer, Doc looked at him, to see that Bart wasn't watching Dolly; he was staring straight ahead with a confused look on his face. Following his line of sight, Doc was shocked at what he saw.

Bret Maverick, of all people, had just ridden into town and was dismounting from his horse less than twenty feet away from them.

Doc looked back at Bart, about to open his mouth to say, 'That's your brother!' but Bret spoke first.

"Bart!" they both heard.

Doc looked to see Bret tying his horse's reins to the hitching rail. "I know I'm late," Bret was saying. "Part of the valley was flooded and I had to wait, then I had to take the long way!" He walked up the stairs and headed towards them.

Bart slowly stood up and took a few steps forward, staring, not saying a word.

Bret reached them, and when he saw his brother close up, he frowned. "Bart?"

As if a puppet's strings had been cut, Bart's legs buckled beneath him without warning.

Doc gasped and leapt up to grab him, but Bret had already caught his brother. Bart was a dead weight in his arms, so he lowered him to sit on the wooden deck. "Bart!" he exclaimed, in shock.

Bart gave no reply.

Doc knelt beside them, and Bret looked at him. "What happened?!" he nervously asked.

Doc sighed. "It's a long story," he said. Then he blinked. "Actually, it's not a long story…it's just been a long ten days."

Bret looked down at his brother to see if he was conscious. Bart's head was drooped forward against his brother's shoulder and he was breathing heavily, so it appeared that he was awake, at least to some degree.

"Bart was hit on the head by an unknown party and left with total amnesia," Doc told him. "I'm guessing that seeing you brought back his memory and it was a shock." He certainly hoped so.

"Bart," Bret said. "Are you all right?" He tipped his brother's head up to look into his face.

Bart was still breathing fast, eyes closed. His face had paled at least five shades, and he finally opened his eyes, shakily bringing up a hand to his head. "Bret?" he weakly said.

Doc smiled ear to ear. Finally!

Bret smiled, though he still looked worried. "I hear you had quite an adventure."

Bart sighed and closed his eyes again, before reopening them. "It was a nightmare, Bret."

"Hey!" said Doc. "Is that the thanks I get?"

Bart looked at his friend and smiled slightly at his indignance. He reached out a hand to squeeze his arm. "Thanks, Doc. I can never repay you for what you've done. You're a true friend."

Doc puffed out his chest with a grin. "That's better."

Bret rolled his eyes. "Let's get you up," he said to his brother. He and Doc each took an arm and pulled Bart to his feet, sitting him back on the bench.

Bart's lungs were gripped by something that felt like anxiety, and he put a shaky hand to his chest and took a deep breath, letting it out heavily as he tried to calm down.

Bret crouched in front of him and squeezed his shoulder. He could feel his brother shaking. "You all right?"

Bart made a noise in answer. "Three decades of memories just slammed into me."

Bret nodded, imagining how overwhelming it must be. "You should lie down."

Bart didn't protest, and both men pulled him off the bench and steered him inside the hotel.

The desk clerk looked up, and obvious relief was on his face. "Bret!" he said. "Thank goodness you're here!"

Bret nodded and sighed. "I wish I'd arrived on time."

Bart flopped one hand in a wave at the clerk, since neither of his arms were free. "Hi Jim," he said.

The clerk's mouth dropped open. "Bart! Your memory is back?"

Doc answered for him. "Yup! All he needed was his brother."

At those words, Bart felt Bret's grip on him tighten.

A minute later, they were in Bart's room, and they carefully laid him on his bed after pulling his jacket off.

Bart let out a sigh and closed his eyes.

Bret sat on the bed and looked his brother over; other than his pale skin and obvious headache, he looked all right, considering. Suddenly, something bumped against his shoulder and he looked to see Doc handing him a wet towel. He took it with a frown, unsure what Doc wanted him to do with it since Bart wasn't bleeding. He figured it out a second later and placed it over his brother's forehead.

Bart reached up a hand and laid it over the towel, relaxing.

Bret looked at Doc, amazed that he seemed to know exactly what Bart needed. "You took care of him all this time?"

Doc nodded and grabbed a chair, bringing it over and sitting down. "Yup; since day one. Since minute one!" With that, he told Bret everything that had happened in the last ten days.

Bret was shocked. If Doc hadn't arrived that first day, who knows what would've happened to Bart. He shook his head. "Bart's right, Doc, what you've done was something that we could never repay you for."

Doc puffed on a cigar. "You can try!"

Bart chuckled from the bed.

Doc shook his head. "I don't expect anything in return. Bart's my friend and he needed me." He shrugged, feeling awkward. "If I ever get amnesia, just do the same for me and we'll be even!"

"Done." Bret reached out to shake his hand. "Thanks," he said again.

Bart suddenly said, "I remember who did this to me."

Doc looked at him. He was so glad that his friend had regained his memory, that he hadn't even thought of asking him what had happened. "Who?"

"I don't know any names," said Bart, eyes still closed. "But I think I remember what they looked like. I witnessed a murder."

Doc sighed. "Everyone witnesses murders. Only you get your mind knocked loose and dropped out your ear! How do you get into these messes?"

"I wish I knew," said Bart.

Bret patted his brother's arm. "Take it easy, you just had quite a shock. Don't try to think too much, just rest."

Bart sighed. Suddenly he opened his eyes and reached for his brother's arm, clasping it tightly. "I'm glad you're here," he said. The relief to have his memory back was like nothing he'd ever felt before.

Bret patted his hand. "Me too," he said, but I wish I'd gotten here sooner is what he thought.

TBC