Pip joined up with Clarke and Chuck who were rejoicing their success back at the Bull's Head. Pip lowered himself into the chair and looked at his friends who both looked like they swallowed the canary.
"Who did it?" Pip smiled wickedly.
Chuck burst into laughter. "Ol' Clarke here saw an opening and squeezed off a shot while you was firing at them bottles...no-one even saw that ol' pill-pusher go down!" He whispered to Pip. Clarke cuffed his friend.
"That's good. Real good. Now, we have to make ourselves visible like we done nothing wrong and like we have been around Dodge before. But don't neither of you breath a word of this. Not even to the fellas back at the camp. Ya hear!" Pip insisted that they agreed. Both men nodded and somehow the seriousness of their actions became very clear.
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Newly, Kitty, Festus and Sam helped to remove Doc's coat, vest and shirt. Kitty cringed at the sight of the blood stained white shirt, which was normally immaculate. Her eyes drifted back to Doc who lay on the examination table. Newly tore open the doctor's henley undershirt, rather than remove it, as it seem hard enough to remove his other clothing that could slip off his shoulders, rather than over his head.
Doc groaned as Newly pushed lightly on the wounds. "Doc?" The young gunsmith's voice was filled with trepidation. "Doc? You have to tell me where it hurts..." Newly leaned closer to his old friend.
Doc's eyes opened slightly and slowly shifted to Newly. "Newly...remember when Festus was shot in the side...and you and I operated on him?"
Newly nodded yes.
"It's the same thing...I am bleeding inside...my chest cavity is filling with blood...you have to relieve it and find the blood vessel and fix it..."
Newly sighed - his brown eyes bore deeply into the doctor's crystal blue eyes as they fluttered trying to stay alert. "Oh, Doc...I'm scared..."
"So am I, Newly...so am I." Doc's gravely voice said before he passed out.
Newly looked up to Kitty, Sam and Festus. Matt stayed at the door and watched. "Miss Kitty, if you could soak some of Doc's surgical instruments in that basin over there, that would be great. Sam, I'll call on you to relieve Festus later, so if you could go and take it easy, please do..."
Sam nodded. "I'll be here for you, Newly. Just call." Newly smiled at the barkeep as he left the doctor's office.
Newly's eyes then rested on the hazel eyes of the deputy who hung over Doc like a protective cover. "Festus, I'll need your help to hold Doc still. I don't know anything about his ways of using ether, so I'm not going to try...I have to do this quickly..."
Newly could hear Festus swallow at the thought. "I'll do my best fer ya Newly. Just you do yer best fer ol' Doc." With that comment from Festus, Matt left the office on a mission to find who shot his friend. Festus and Kitty looked at each other and fear for Doc's life filled their eyes, yet some how each of them knew that only teamwork was the way to pull him through. Kitty smiled weakly and finished washing the instruments Newly had asked for earlier. She then busied herself making a small fire in the little iron stove to heat water which she knew they would need.
Newly drew a deep breath and began to help his doctor friend. Time was not on his side.