Chapter 2
Matt reached the batwing doors and saw Kitty lying near the landing. Doc seemed to be assessing her condition. While he was doing so, a shadow cast over him. He looked up and saw Matt standing there. His face was as white as freshly fallen snow. Doc knew how much Kitty meant to Matt, how much he loved her. He wanted to comfort the big lawman, but now wasn't the time. Kitty needed him.
"Matt," said Doc, getting Matt out of his daze. "She's alive. I need to get her to my office. Can you get her there for me?"
Matt heard that she was alive and that seemed to get him out of the trance he was in. "Of course, Doc."
Matt entered the saloon and effortlessly took Kitty in his arms. He picked her up, left the saloon, and carried her over to Doc's office. Doc and Chester went ahead of him to open the door to Doc's office. Doc quickly prepared the examining table and told Matt to put Kitty down on her stomach. Matt did just that. After Matt laid Kitty on the examining table, Doc continued to examine her injury. Doc seemed to be more calm now. Matt took that as a good sign. He went over to ask Chester what happened.
Chester told Matt the entire story. Matt suddenly remembered seeing a man lying on the floor to the left of Kitty. That must've been the partner that this Bayloe had shot and killed. Matt knew that the body would have to be taken care of, but right now his focus was solely on Kitty.
"Golly, I sure wish Doc would hurry up and do something," said Chester after he told Matt the story.
"You never saw either one of those two men?" Matt questioned Chester.
"No, sir," Chester answered. "They said they were miners from Colorado."
Matt looked over at Kitty and saw Doc walking away from her. Both he and Chester walked over to Doc. "Well, Doc?" asked Matt
"I don't like this 't all," responded Doc.
Hearing those words caused Matt's heart to skip a few beats. "What do you mean?" he asked?
"Well, there's some injury to her lungs and I just don't know how bad it is," Doc answered.
Matt didn't know what to say. A lung injury was serious. You needed your lungs to breathe. Matt was about to say something, but Chester spoke first.
"Doc, you're not saying that," Chester couldn't finish. He didn't want to ask if Kitty was going to die.
Doc understood what Chester was trying to ask. "The bullet is stuck between the layers of," he started to explain, but then thought it would be better to continue in layman's terms. "I mean it's lodged in the inside layer of the ribs."
He went over to Kitty and looked at her injury again. Matt followed him, while Chester stayed back a few steps. "Are you going to need some help, Doc?" Matt asked.
"I sure am, all I can get," Doc replied, totally engrossed in checking Kitty's wound.
"Well, I guess I better stick around here too," said Matt.
It was then that Doc realized that it might not be a good idea for Matt to stick around. He was going to have to perform surgery on Kitty, cutting into her delicate body. Doc knew Matt wouldn't be disgusted by the cutting or the blood. Matt had seen enough blood in his line of work. What concerned Doc was whether or not Matt would be able to handle the blood coming from Kitty. Doc decided it would be best if Matt wasn't there.
"Oh no. I didn't mean that you….You go and do what you gotta do," said Doc.
Chester continued looking at Kitty. It was Matt's voice that got his attention. "Chester, you do everything you can here."
"Mr. Dillon, are you going to go after him?" Chester asked.
"You bet I am," said Matt as he put on his Stetson and left Doc's office.
As Matt was walking back to the jail to get Buck, he stopped at the Long Branch. He peered over the batwing doors and could see the other man's body was no longer there. Bill was standing behind the bar and saw Matt. Bill walked over to the doors.
"Some of the men took the body over to Boot Hill to bury him. We all figured he was dead and there was point in keeping him here," said Bill. He knew the last thing the Marshal should have to worry about was getting rid of the body. Bill knew the first and foremost thing on the Marshal's mind was KItty. "How is Kitty?"
"She's alive. Doc said there's some injury to her lung, and that the bullet is lodged in the inside surface of the rib," Matt replied. "It sounds like she's going to need some major surgery."
After hearing that, Bill was surprised that Matt was standing there and not at Doc's office. He knew how close Matt and Kitty were. Matt's next words were all the explanation Bill needed.
"I really want to be with Kitty right now, but I have a feeling that Doc thinks it's better if I'm out of the office. I would have argued with him, but I can't because I know he's right. I don't think I could handle seeing Kitty undergoing major surgery. I'm going after the guy who shot Kitty. Chester said he's never seen the man before. How about you, Bill? Has he and his partner ever been in the Long Branch?"
"Today was the first day that I ever saw him," Bill answered.
"Thank you, Bill. I better get going," Matt said as he turned to leave.
Bill's voice turned him back around. "Marshal, how do you know where to go? How do you know which direction he took?"
"When I was coming over here, after the shooting, I saw a man rush out of the Long Branch and quickly mount a horse. I saw him riding eastward. It wasn't any concern for me at the time. My focus was getting to Kitty. But now that I think ot what I saw, I'm confident that was the man that shot Kitty," Matt responded.
"Good luck, Marshal. I hope you catch the guy, so Kitty receives justice," said Bill.
"Thanks, Bill," said Matt as he turned to leave for the second time.
While Matt set out eastward to go after Bayloe, Doc was in his office trying to extract the bullet from deep within Kitty's ribs. Chester was assisting. Doc could see that Chester was having a difficult time assisting. He could only imagine the difficulty Matt would have. After two hours of working on the bullet, Doc was able to safely remove the bullet, without causing more damage to Kitty's lungs.
Doc didn't want to move Kitty off the examination table too soon after surgery, so he kept her there. After a couple of hours, after Doc felt it was safe, Doc had Chester help him move Kitty to the leather settee in his front office. Doc thought of moving Kitty to the bed in the back room, but thought it was better if she didn't fully lie down.
Kitty was recovering quite nicely, and Doc was pleased with her progress. By the next day she was able to talk with Doc.
"Doc, how long do you think I'll be here?" she asked.
"You better plan on being here for a while. You were shot and had major surgery," Doc replied.
"Don't you think I would be better off in my own bed. I can recover just as easily there," protested Kitty.
"There's only one problem with that. I'm not there. I want you where I can keep an eye on you," said Doc.
Kitty knew there was no point in arguing for the time being, so she changed subjects. "Doc, do you know where Matt is? I thought he'd be here." Kitty was disappointed Matt wasn't there. She knew Matt loved her, so she couldn't understand why he wasn't there.
Doc saw the disappointment on Kitty's face and knew he had to explain Matt's absence. "He was here. He's the one who brought you here. He was going to stay and help with the surgery, but I pretty much sent him away to find the man who shot you."
"Why?" asked Kitty. "I mean if he wanted to be here, why would you send him away?"
"Because I honestly felt it would be better if he wasn't here. I know how much you mean to each other, and I really didn't think he would be able to handle watching me doing major surgery on you. It was hard enough for him knowing you were shot. Watching me cut into you probably would've sent him over the edge," Doc answered.
"You've never sent me away when Matt's been shot," Kitty said.
"I know I haven't, but for some reason I know you can handle it. I can't explain it, but that's just what I feel," said Doc. "Anyway, enough talk. I want you to get some rest. I'm going to the back room to do some work." Kitty just nodded in agreement.
Kitty tried to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. She had the newspaper next to her, so she decided to read that. Kitty was reading the paper, when she heard the familiar heavy footsteps of Matt's on the steps. She put the paper down and waited for Matt to enter. Just as she expected, when the door opened, Matt stood there. She could tell he was surprised to see her on the settee.
TBC
