A loud thumping noise woke Doc Adams with a start. He had been a light sleeper for over twenty years now, since becoming a doctor who could be needed at any hour, day or night.
The nightshirt-clad man swung his legs around, sat up, slid his feet into his slippers, and shuffled towards his front door.
"Probably some drunk who fell down and hit his head," he grumbled, running his hand through his rumpled, curly hair.
Yawning, he unlocked the door, and was pushed back when it swung in towards him and a crumpled body lying on his doorstep fell partly in.
"Kitty? KITTY!"
Doc was now wide awake and knelt down by the unconscious young woman, quickly checking for a pulse.
As a long-time, experienced frontier doctor, the tough old man had seen every horror that could be done to a human body, but seeing his dear, beloved friend so hurt made him uncharacteristically freeze for a moment.
He loved her like a daughter, and now her face and neck were badly bruised, her mouth bleeding, her forehead cut, her left wrist deformed, and he could see numerous bruises through her almost-ripped-off clothing.
Taking in a deep breath, Doc reverted to physician mode, picked her up as gently as he could, and carried her to the nearby examination table.
Not even taking a moment to put his pants on, he quickly began cutting away her destroyed, dirt-smeared clothing, then covered her with a sheet and blanket.
After he stoked the stove and put on a pan of water to heat, Doc carefully began a head-to-toe examination of Kitty's battered body. Aside from the innumerable bruises and scrapes, she had a broken left wrist and at least three cracked ribs, but no evidence of internal injuries.
He was palpating her ribs when Kitty opened her eyes and took in a gasping breath.
"Doc? I wasn't sure I could make it all the way up those fourteen steps of yours. Is that your way of weeding out which patients you'll see?" she said in a soft voice, wincing after a small laugh.
"Honey, now you stay still until I get those ribs of your wrapped and your wrist stabilized. First let's get you cleaned up a little. THEN we'll talk!"
The young woman's blue eyes were moist as she looked into Doc's stern face, seeing his concern behind the frown. She nodded and closed her eyes as he began to gently bathe her with the warm water.
Forty-five minutes later, Kitty was resting in Doc's bed after he changed the sheets, wrapped her ribs, splinted her wrist, and put one of his clean nightshirts on her.
Glancing over at his apparently sleeping patient, Doc pulled on his pants, white shirt, string tie, vest, shoe-boots, and worn black hat. He walked over to check on Kitty before going to get Matt.
Opening her eyes slightly, the young woman grabbed Doc's wrist with her right hand.
"NO, Doc! I don't want you to tell him!" Her voice was firm and her eyes pleaded with him.
"Kitty, now don't get upset! You know I have to, and besides that, you know how he would feel if I didn't!"
Neither needed to verbalize that the two young people were in as deep of a committed, loving relationship as any married couple.
Still gripping his wrist, Kitty's wide-open sky-blue eyes continued to plead with her old friend.
"Doc, I've heard you talk about the oath you took to be a doctor. About the privacy between patient and doctor. I want you to promise to not tell ANYONE what happened to me." Her hand let loose and fell back to the bed, and she closed her eyes in exhaustion.
Swiping his hand over his mustache, deep in thought, Doc stared down at the badly injured young woman. He pulled a chair close to the bed, sat down, and took her uninjured hand in his.
"Kitty, Hippocratic Oath aside, I would never divulge anything without your permission, but I thought you'd want Matt to know. Honey, you need to at least tell me what happened and who hurt you."
Kitty opened her eyes, full of tearful sadness, and painfully turned her head to look at the older man she thought of as a father.
"Rex Sullivan tried to rape me. He was waiting in my office after closing, and when I went to lock up the cash, he hit me. The next thing I knew, we were out in the back alley and he was on top of me, tearing my clothes."
"Did he…was he…" Doc spoke in a barely audible voice, his sorrow overpowering his rage.
"No Doc. He was too busy pawing and hurting me, and I managed to knee him and claw his face with my nails. He was still on the ground moaning when I headed here."
Sighing in relief, the old man now glowered in rage and disbelief that one of Matt's oldest friends from Texas could do such a thing. Sullivan had been in town long enough to realize, as everyone else did, that Kitty was the Marshal's woman. Unless the repulsive cowboy had been too busy leering than listening.
"Kitty, please let me tell Matt! He needs to know what a cowardly brute that so-called good friend is! And I will take great pleasure in watching Matt beat him half to death, God forgive me!"
Kitty struggled to sit up, and Doc quickly put his arms around her and held her up.
"Please Doc! I'm holding you to your promise and oath! But I want you to keep a close eye on that man until he leaves town. Keep Matt safe Doc, and if that means warning him and telling him, then do so. But only then. I can't be the one to ruin Matt's good memories of his childhood hero."
Seeing the obvious question on his face, the young woman continued:
"I want you to take me out to Grant and Beth Waters' ranch tonight. They'll gladly take me in and let me recover there. Matt can't see me like this."
Kitty let out a soft, involuntary moan, and Doc eased her back down to a lying position. He hated to move her, but agreed with her plan, seeing no other way out without destroying her trust in him. And since Beth Waters was expecting, he could periodically make visits out there to check on both young women.
"All right Honey. I still think you are wrong, but I'll go get a wagon from Moss' and take you out there."
"I know Doc. Just give me a day to think about it, after my head stops pounding."
He bent over and kissed her lightly on the cheek. Sighing, the old doctor headed for the stables for a wagon to pad with straw and blankets for Kitty.
