Dark Reflection
Chapter 28
"The Chillest Land"
by Lilyjack
A.N. This is the middle chapter, folks! We're halfway there!
ljljljljlj
Matt anxiously called through the door, "Doc, hurry!" The old physician hurried down the stairs as fast as his arthritic legs would carry him, then opened his heavy leather bag to search among the clinking bottles. He held one up to the dim light of the lamp, squinting at the label. But Matt's gaze was riveted to Kitty, looking small and frail in her bed. She lay perspiring profusely, her muscles spasming. Matt did his best to hold her, to keep her from harm.
"How long has she been like this?" Doc questioned gravely, hastily spooning a little measure of white powder into a drinking glass.
"A few minutes. I asked Ocie to…run get you as soon as it started. Can you…help her, Doc?"
"I certainly hope so." Adams grabbed a pitcher of water from the small table, stirred some into the powder and perched quickly on the edge of the cot next to Kitty. "Lift her head. We'll try to get some of this down her."
Matt struggled to cradle Kitty's head and shoulders while Doc calmly spoke, "Miss Russell, I need you to drink some of this."
Eyes closed, her expression still managed to turn fierce. She defiantly gritted out, "No!"
Doc held the glass steady and soothed, "Honey, this isn't gonna hurt you. It's not the same stuff Blackthorne forced you to take. Look at me—See? It's Doctor Adams. I'm just giving you a bromide solution to stop these muscle contractions."
Kitty opened pained blue eyes and stared at Doc—Matt sat behind her, holding her arms still as gently as he could. The exertion sliced a white-hot flame through his side, but he ignored it.
She hoarsely whispered, "I don't want… any more…of that poison."
"It's not poison, Miss Russell, I promise. You hafta trust me."
Just then a spasm arched her back and made her cry out.
"Doc…" Matt pleaded.
"Hold her head. Easy… Drink this down and you'll feel better. Trust me, honey. There we go… That's a girl… Swallow now. Matt lay her back down. With a little luck, it should only take a few minutes to take effect. Has she eaten lately?"
"Not since breakfast. But she…hardly ate anything."
"That's to be expected. Did she manage to keep it down?" Doc deftly examined his patient even as her muscles continued to spasm and jerk, managing to lift her eyelids to check dilated pupils, to touch her wrist, detecting a rapid pulse.
"Yeah, she kept it down, but it did…make her feel sick. She didn't say so…but…I could…tell just by lookin' at her."
Doc nodded and patted Kitty's pale hand. "She's not a complainer, that's for sure. She's suffered through this bravely."
"I wish there was…more we could do for her, Doc."
"I know, son. I brought some more chloral hydrate which will help. When was the last time she took some?"
Matt took out a pocket watch that Charlie had brought for him to use. "About two hours ago."
Doc nodded at Matt. "Still a few hours before she needs more. It'll help relieve the abdominal cramps. It'll help her to rest."
They sat quietly beside her, waiting for the bromide solution to take effect. Kitty's violent muscle contractions appeared to be slowly easing, and she lay perspiring, breathing shallowly.
Straightening his patient's bedsheets, Doc observed ruefully, "I'm not too happy that I wasn't here earlier to help when this thing started."
"It's not…your fault, Doc. You had to go. They…would have suspected you…if you'd been missing any longer." Matt pulled up a chair, wrung out a cool washcloth in the chipped porcelain basin and bathed Kitty's face as she lay nearly motionless now, eyes closed. Thankfully, she seemed to be falling into an exhausted sleep.
"I know…" The physician shook his head and peered across the bed at Matt. "And Hank really did need me. Seems he suffered a broken hand and several lacerations when he got into a disagreement with Blackthorne's men, a couple a' fellas named Grundy and Dante? Moss says Hank's lucky it wasn't worse. Moss smoothed them over with a promise to stable their horses at no cost for a week."
"So it's good…that you went, Doc. If you stay here, out-of-sight…all the time, they might… get suspicious. Hank's gonna be alright?"
"Oh yeah, he's fine. Hank's a tough old buzzard." Doc felt for Kitty's pulse again, smoothed her damp hair off her forehead. "She's sleeping." Doc pierced Matt with a steady gaze. "And you need your rest, too."
"But Doc…"
Doc reached over, lifted the eyepatch and held Matt's lid open with a thumb, peering closely. "Yeah, still not looking quite normal, young man. I hope your double vision will clear up eventually. How're the ribs feeling now?"
"Fine, Doc."
"Oh, I'm sure they're fine. It didn't do them any good wrestling with Miss Russell a minute ago, I'm sure."
"But, Doc, I had to…"
"Yes, I know, son. You, uh…you haven't coughed up any more blood today?"
"No, Doc, I…"
"Would you tell me if you had?"
Doc squinted up at him as they both stood, Matt pushing up with a hand gripping the chair back.
"Well, I…"
"That's what I thought." The old man pressed his lips together and shook his head.
"Well, Doc, I'm…resting as much as I…can. Chester had to show up at work. All the boys…have to work to throw off suspicion, and…Charlie has to tend to Mr. Botkin. I want to…help take care of Kitty."
Doc wiggled a thoughtful finger in his ear and murmured, "I know, son. You're doing a fine job of taking care of her." Doc took a few steps and pulled back the white sheet which served as a curtain between the two cots in the small underground wine cellar, which in turn had been pressed into emergency service as their makeshift hospital. He gestured expansively to Matt's cot.
Matt frowned and gazed at the sleeping form of Kitty. "But I wanna…"
"I'm sure you do wanna… But I'm staying to keep an eye on things for a while. And as your physician, I order you to lie down in that bed right over there before you fall down. You look peaked. Besides, you'll be no good to anyone, including her, if you kill yourself."
Matt opened his mouth for a retort, but he was bone-tired, his side ached, his eye throbbed, his ear was ringing, and he knew Kitty was in good hands. "Okay, Doc." He shuffled to the cot and folded his lanky form down awkwardly, sighed as his head hit the pillow. "I guess I am a little tired."
"Course you are. An injured man like yourself can't be responsible for everything," Doc grumped. "She'll be asleep for quite a while now, I imagine. I'll give her another small dose in eight hours or so, just to relax her and keep her comfortable. She needs this sleep."
"She hasn't…been sleeping well at all, Doc."
"That's one of the symptoms. Chester told me she woke up cryin', callin' for him." Adams carefully gauged the younger man's reaction.
A muscle in Matt's jaw twitched. "Yeah, she was pretty upset. A bad dream."
"Chester settled her down?"
"Yep."
"Chester's a handy fella to have around."
"Uh-huh."
Doc clicked his tongue and advised, "You get some rest now." He pulled the sheet back between his patients and began rifling through his bag in search of some pills he'd rolled for Kitty in his office right before Ocie had rushed in to fetch him.
Doc heard Matt's soft reply from the other side of the curtain, "Alright, Doc."
ljljljljlj
Matt lay still as a statue listening to the quiet activity on the other side of the makeshift curtain, hung with wooden clothespins on a rope stretched across the room. At Doc's request, Charlie Fitz had obtained a second cot for Matt's use, rigging up the curtain between for privacy. Matt would've slept on the hard dirt floor until Kitty was well if he'd had to, but even he had to admit the cramped cot was more comfortable on his battered hide than the cold, unyielding earth.
He watched golden lamplight and shadows cast on the opposite side of the thin cotton divide as Doc moved around the room tending to Kitty. It set Matt to thinking about all the hours he'd lain here the past few days, pretending to rest but watching Chester's silhouette slanting against the thin sheet. The young man was sitting with Kitty as she lay in her sickbed. Matt could tell Chester was perched close to her on the side of the cot, talking so softly Matt could only make out some of their words. Matt could hear Chester reading to her, or perhaps reciting something to her from memory, something about storms and feathers and hope. Matt felt his own hope slowly bleeding from his body as Chester promised to hold Kitty's hand until she fell asleep.
And last night when she'd woken from a nightmare, Kitty had cried out for Chester, not Matt. Matt had reached her bedside first, but she'd flinched and drawn back when she'd caught sight of his bruised face, just like the night of her rescue when he'd held her in his arms in the alley below her window. It hurt him to see the fear in her eyes as she stared in horror at the black eyepatch.
And then Chester had come hurrying up behind Matt from out in the hall where he'd been sleeping nights on a pallet after working his shift at the Long Branch. Matt heard Chester's voice saying, "I'm right here. It's all just a dream. 'S'cuse me, Mr. Dillon." And Matt had moved out of the way and let Chester hold Kitty and comfort her.
Matt had withdrawn to his side of the curtain and watched the shadowy figures play on—Chester wiping her fevered brow with his handkerchief, holding her hand again until she managed to fall asleep for a few hours more.
Matt had rolled over in his own bed, unable to watch any longer. He could shut out the images by closing his eyes, but he was powerless to stop the new ache that was fast growing in his chest, accompanying the old pain in his side. His mind drifted to all the times in the past when he'd let Kitty down, forgetting to tell her how he felt about her or neglecting to take her to a party. He ruminated regretfully on all the times he hadn't been there for her when she needed him. Matt felt lost like he hadn't felt since first his Pa and then his Ma had up and died, and he'd been left an orphan. Just like then, he felt utterly alone in the world.
tbc
A.N. Here's some more theme song music for you. Go listen to it o e:
How do you give yourself to me? And I know
I send you my words silently
I have been tongue-tied for a while
'Cause I can't go that extra mile
That I can't, I won't
I'll tell you that I don't
But I need you on my side
And I'll stay, I'll go
I'll tell you I may not
But I need you on my side
"On My Side" sung by Gordi; lyrics by Payton Sophie Louise
ljljljljlj
