Chester stood by silently, as Doc gently examined Cassie. After checking her heartbeat and pulse again, Doc stood, and tucked the covers tighter around the sleeping girl. He looked into her drawn face, and felt his stomach lurch with guilt. He tenderly brushed the hair from her brow, and then turning to the bedside table, he pulled his stethoscope off his neck, and angrily tossed it into his bag.

Chester's voice was soft, "She gonna be okay now, Doc?"

Without so much as acknowledging Chester's presence in the room, much less answering his question, Doc stalked past Goode and out into his office. Chester followed him, quietly closing the door to the back room behind him. When he turned to look at Doc, he was horrified to see the man holding a .36 Colt in his hand.

"Doc? Now Doc...what do you think you're doing with that thing?"

Adams said not a word to Chester as he began ripping his desk apart looking for ammunition.

"Doc! You just stop this right now, do you hear me? Doc...you ...you can't..." Chester's eyes bulged out when Adams pulled a box of shells out of a drawer, tossed them onto his desk, and began loading the old gun. "Oh my goodness..."

And Chester Goode knew he wouldn't be able to handle Doc Adams on his own. He ran for the Marshal's Office.

"Mr. Dillon! Mr. Dillon!"

Chester barreled into the office, almost colliding with Dillon who was heading toward the door.

"Mr. Dillon! Mr. Dillon!"

"Chester, stop yelling...I'm right here."

"You gotta come quick, Mr. Dillon..."

Matt couldn't remember ever seeing his assistant so agitated. "Chester, what's the matter?"

"It's Doc..."

Matt's voice exploded with alarm, "What about him?"

"He's pulled out that old .36 of his, Mr. Dillon, and he's up there loadin' it right now. He means to kill him Mr. Dillon. He's gonna kill Dell Stevenson..."

With Chester on his heels, Matt quickly left the office, and headed up to Doc's, taking the steps three at a time. He burst into the room to find Doc standing by his desk, one hand thrust behind his back.

Matt looked hard at his friend. "Doc...Doc, you give me that gun."

Adams' voice was colored with rage, "No!"

Dillon took a threatening step closer, holding out his hand. "Doc, give me the gun."

Doc pulled the gun from behind his back, pointing it at Matt. "You'd better get outta my way, Matt."

"You're not gonna shoot me, Doc, and we both know it, so just give me that thing before ya hurt somebody with it."

Chester pleaded with Adams, "Listen to him, Doc, you know Mr. Dillon's right. Now just put that gun down..."

Dillon took another step toward the doctor, and Adams cocked the pistol, stopping the marshal cold. The two dear friends stared into each other's eyes, and Matt found himself suddenly unsure of the man he'd known so well and so long. He took neither a step in advance nor retreat, but continued to hold Doc's eyes with his own.

Dillon licked his lips, which had suddenly gone dry. "Is Cassie all right, Doc?"

"All right? No," he spat in response, "she's terrified that Dell Stevenson's gonna hurt her. And she no longer trusts me or anything I say; and why should she?"

"She's going to be all right though, isn't she?"

"Physically, yes...I don't know about how this will damage her emotionally..."

"She needs you, Doc, so why don't you just put the gun down and help her in the way that only you can?"

Adams' knuckles began turning white from gripping the gun so hard. "Matt, please don't make me do this...step aside."

Dillon's voice was soft, "I can't Doc. I can't let you go out there and kill a man."

"He's an animal, not a man! And I'm gonna kill him!" He looked into Dillon's saddened blue eyes, and said, "You can draw on me if you need to, Matt, but you're not gonna stop me any other way."

Matt held his arms up slightly, away from his gun, and he began moving slowly toward Doc. "I'm not going to draw on you, Doc. I couldn't shoot you, and you know it." He stared deeply into the grieving pale eyes. "I can't shoot you anymore than you can shoot me."

"Matt, please don't come any closer," Doc pleaded desperately.

But Dillon kept coming, never letting go of Doc's eyes. "I'm willing to bet my life on how well I know you, Doc; on how well I know you, and how much I trust you."

Adams' hand started to shake, as Dillon closed in. When he was near enough to touch the old doctor, he reached out and grasped the barrel of the gun, gently pulling it from Doc's hand.

"I should have been able to protect her," Adams whispered.

Dillon handed the weapon back to Chester, and then took Adams gently by the shoulders, and guided him to his desk chair, sitting him down. He knelt in front of the chair, gently laying a hand on Doc's arm.

"This wasn't your fault, Doc. You've done the best by her that you could."

Adams looked into Dillon's shimmering eyes then. "It wasn't enough, Matt." He looked away. "It wasn't nearly enough."

Not wanting to break the physical contact with Doc, Dillon turned to Goode. "Chester, over there in that wooden cupboard, there's some whiskey..."

"Yes sir, Mr. Dillon."

Chester went to the cupboard, pulled out a glass and the bottle, and poured a generous shot. He handed it to Dillon, who placed it in one of Doc's hands.

"Drink some of that, Doc. It'll help calm you down."

For a moment, Adams just stared into the glass, and then in one shot, he tossed the whiskey back, setting the glass on the desk.

"You need another one?" Doc shook his head, and Dillon pat his arm. "I want you to stay here and take care of Cassie, all right?" The physician simply nodded, and Dillon continued, "I'm going to make sure that Dell has left town, and that Mary was still in one piece when he did."

Dillon stood up, and turned to Chester, nodding toward the door. The two men walked out, but Doc called to the marshal.

"Matt?"

Dillon stuck his head back in the door. "Yeah, Doc?"

"That was a stupid thing you did; I was so full of rage, anything could have happened."

Matt smiled sweetly at Adams. "Doc, I was never in any danger from you; I just knew that before you did." Emotion filled the old man's eyes, and Matt nodded to him. "I'll see ya later, Doc."

"Okay, Matt," Adams answered after the door had already closed.