Doc was pacing back and forth beside the horse and wagon he had arrived in twenty minutes earlier. His battered old medical bag was on the ground near him.
"These darn two are gonna turn my hair completely GRAY!" he muttered. Swiping at his mustache for the tenth time since his arrival in the clearing Chester had backtracked Matt's and Kitty's horses to, he hated this feeling of helplessness.
"Hey Doc! Nice day for a ride, huh?!" Matt called out as he emerged from the nearby thicket carrying Kitty. Chester was holding the branches apart for his friends.
Looking up from his large silver watch he had been needlessly consulting, the old doctor squinted in disbelief at the barely clothed young couple and shirtless Chester.
"Looks to me more like a good day for a SWIM!" he snorted as he hurried over to inspect Kitty's swollen foot and ankle and blood-caked hair.
"I'm fine Doc! Let Matt put me down. He's been carrying me for a quarter of an hour now!" She had never enjoyed a sprained ankle before, but being pressed close against her man's warm, muscled chest and held in her strong arms was definitely a pain reliever.
"Harrumph! That big bull is more muscles than BRAINS! Don't you worry about HIM!" Doc grumbled as he carefully palpated Kitty's swollen ankle and inspected the bump on her head.
"Careful Kitty. You may be the first human patient he's had in a while!" Matt grinned down at the mostly gray haired head as Doc wrapped her ankle with a bandage from his medical bag and dabbed antiseptic on her head.
Hiding his own relieved grin with his hand, Doc pretended to grumble as he and Chester, and Matt holding Kitty, walked towards the wagon. The ever-prepared doctor had already padded the wagon bed with blankets and a few pillows, just in case.
"Put Kitty in the back, Matt, and for heaven's sake, cover her up before Chester walks into something with his head down like that!"
Both Kitty and Matt laughed as he laid her on the blankets, put a pillow under her swollen ankle, and spread out a blanket over her legs and lap. Then he climbed in, put a pillow against the side of the wagon, pulled Kitty up against him and put his arms around her.
Shaking his head, Doc grabbed another blanket and threw it over Matt's bare shoulders. He would hear their story in due time.
"It's a good thing it'll be dark by the time we get back to town. I don't know how you'd even begin to explain this to anyone there! It's bad enough showing up with a shirtless Chester!"
"Wal, I caint help it Doc! I was jest tryin' to be a gentleman, but I don't 'spect ya could understand that!" the young man complained indignantly.
"You leave him be, Doc! I surely appreciate you, Chester, and you ARE a gentleman!" Kitty said, smiling over at Chester, whose shoulders were starting to turn as red as his face from the sun.
The ride back to town was slow and peaceful as the hot summer day faded into dusk. The sun set in a glorious blaze of red, pink, and orange, and the sweet coolness of night seeped in. Night birds called and a brilliantly white owl startled them when it flapped by on huge wings.
Matt and Kitty looked up at the velvety black dome of sky lit by swaths of twinkly stars. Their eyes met and spoke of their deep gratitude for life and for each other. The exhausted young woman laid her head against his warm chest and was soon lulled to sleep by the beats of his strong heart.
When Doc looked back a few minutes later to check on his precious passengers, he smiled at the sight of the sleeping pair, Matt's arms holding Kitty close, the moonlight painting them with a silvery glow.
End.