He heard the moaning from somewhere nearby and knew he had to rouse himself to check on her. But opening his eyes was more than just a chore. After a fight with his eyelids, slowly Adams focused his vision; but he wasn't in the Longbranch, he was in his own bed, and the moaning he had heard had been his own. The worried faces of his dearest friends quickly appeared in his view.

His voice sounded groggy even to his own ears, "Kitty?"

She sat down on the bed, smiling. "You bet, Doc."

He looked at Matt next. "You're lookin' a lot better'n the last time I saw ya."

Dillon grinned. "So are you."

Finally Adams looked at Haggen, whose eyes had flooded with moisture. "Well now Festus, what the hell's the matter with you?"

"Ain't nothin' wrong now, Doc. Nuthin' a'tall."

He looked back at Kitty. "How'd I get here?"

"You passed out in the Longbranch and Festus brought you over. As soon as Matt and I felt well enough, we've been with you."

He scowled. "How long've I been here?"

Festus pat the old man's arm. "Fer about four days now, Doc."

"Four days?"

Kitty soothingly stroked his cheek. "You just settle down. You were so exhausted Doc, you slept the entire time." She looked at his face for any sign of pain. "How does your tummy feel?"

"It's all right."

Matt looked at Adams. "No pain, Doc?"

"Nope. Just feel a little tired still, nothing more."

"You hungry?"

"A little."

She turned to Haggen. "Festus, can you get him a tray?"

"Sure can, Miss Kitty." He looked at Doc on his way past. "Anything ya want special, Doc?"

"Just keep it simple, Festus. Don't need to rile up the acid in my stomach again."

Matt pat the old man's leg. "Now that I know you're okay, Doc, I'm gonna try and catch up with some work."

"Fine idea, Matt, I'd rather look at Kitty's face than yours anyway..."

Dillon laughed as he put on his hat and walked out of the room.

They held each other's eyes for a long moment, then uncomfortable with the unspoken emotions, Adams rubbed his hands on her arms. "You're lookin' a lot better."

She took his hands in hers. "You almost did yourself in takin' care of all of us."

His eyes took on a serious color. "That's my job, honey."

She looked away. "You and Matt..." She turned her eyes back to him. "The law or medicine, I guess it doesn't matter which if you're dedicated to it, does it?"

"Nope, not all that much."

Kitty looked down, fighting away her tears. Doc brushed the moisture from her cheeks with a soft hand.

"What's all this?"

After a few moments, she looked directly at him. "I owe you an apology, Doc."

He smiled and allowed his hand to continue brushing her cheek. "Whatever for?"

"If I hadn't gone into the Longbranch and gotten sick, you would have been able to get some rest a lot sooner, and you wouldn't have collapsed. This was all my fault because I wouldn't listen to you, and stubbornly went ahead and did what you asked me not to do."

He took her face in his hands. "That's just pure nonsense." The steely blue eyes twinkled as they intensely stared into hers. "Don't you know that I never would have made it without you? I couldn't have handled it alone, Kitty. I was the one who was wrong in trying to stop you from helpin' for the good of everyone. And I did it for a damned selfish reason." Her eyes filled, and his voice continued like a soft caress. "Trouble is, I'd do it again for the same reason."

Kitty buried her face into his chest, clinging to him tightly, and Doc wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. He had always known that letting the three of them into his heart was a dangerous business, opening the door of possibilities to a kind of personal pain and sorrow that he thought he had left behind when he left the East. But now it was far too late. He could lie to himself and say that their love had come uninvited into his life; that each of them in his or her own way had made him love them. Yet in the depths of his soul, he knew differently. Maybe it was the air in Dodge, or maybe it was the years of dedication and passion he had invested in the town, or maybe it was his own loneliness reaching out to kindred spirits that had invited them in. Whatever it had been in the beginning, no longer mattered to a man who had vowed not to give anyone the key to his heart: for with each passing year, Dr. Galen Adams loved them more.