Disclaimer- Stephenie still owns the usual suspects.
I own my original characters and original story.

Unbeta-ed and Drabble-ish. No heavy angst.

Enjoy!

*****************************************WYiMA*************************************

When the doctor arrived, he conferred with the Sheriff afore examinin' Forrest's body. "Well, the cause of death is the bullet wound to the chest, but his arm and shoulder got mauled pretty good by the dog." I heared him say.

So it was for certain that I'd killed a man. It warn't the first time, but it was the first time I actually took joy in the killin'. God forgive me, but it was the truth.

The doctor approached us then. "Mister, I'm thinkin' it may be better if you take your Missus outside," he telled me in a quiet tone.

Of course he was right. Here I was, holdin' my wife while the man who tried to kill her lay in a pool of his own blood not ten feet away.

I kissed her hair afore standin' with her in my arms. Soon as I had Izzy outside, the doctor started askin' her questions. "Missus….?" he give me a questionin' look.

"Cullen," I said in answer.

"Missus Cullen if you're agreeable, I'd like you to come back to my office for a proper examination." Even though the doctor had a soothin' voice, I felt Izzy tense in my arms. "The cuts on your face need attention, and maybe we can talk a little bit about what happened to you."

Izzy turned her face into my shirt and shook her head.

"Darlin' let the doctor make sure you're alright," I asked in a pleadin' tone.

"I'm fine," she lied afore snifflin' loudly into my shirt.

In the end, she agreed to visit the doctor's office as long as I promised to stay with her every minute.

One of the Sheriff's men tagged along, 'cause I was due for questionin' as soon as Izzy got through with the doctor.

That doc had a way of convincin' folks to talk 'cause afore I knowed it, Izzy was spillin' the details of her ordeal.

"He come up to the wagon unexpected," she said, snifflin' again as she spoke. "Jack liked to have strangled himself on that rope tryin' to get to him. Forrest," the hatred she felt showin' on her face, "had a gun pointed at Jack's head and telled me that if I didn't go with him and be quiet about it, he'd shoot Jack dead." The tears started flowin' again, so I rubbed her back in a soothin' fashion.

She give me a sad look. "I'm sorry Ed, but I just couldn't let him do it."

I didn't know what to say. I surely didn't want to lose Jack but today, we'd come close to all of us dyin'.

Izzy turned back to the doc. "He kept the gun against my side, hidden under his coat, and grabbed my arm so hard while we walked that it went kinda numb after a spell." Her hand was tremblin' as she gripped mine. "He telled me that if I runned away or fought against him, he'd go back to the wagon and after killin' Jack, he'd make sure to kill ya as well, Ed."

I stopped rubbin' her back and wrapped my arm around her shoulders afore kissin' the top of her head. "It's alright darlin'. I've got ya now. He ain't never gonna hurt no one else ever again."

Izzy took a deep breath. "He didn't get real violent 'til he had me inside that freight car. He was shoutin' things I didn't rightly understand about my Pap," Izzy shook her head in bewilderment and I knowed I was gonna have to tell her 'bout Jake's letter.

But not tonight.

"And 'bout gettin' his vengeance. He punched and kicked me, and when I fought back, that's when he started hittin' my face. My strugglin' is what got my dress ripped…"

The doctor nodded, and I wanted to kill James Forrest all over again, only this time I wanted to do it slow, and I wanted to watch his face as he knowed his end was comin' by my hands…

***************************************A/N*************************************
A/N Thank you to everyone who reads and reviews. I will slowly but surely respond to them all.

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