The hat fell exposing a load of light golden hair, which was pulled back messily. Her expression was full of shock, which quickly changed to annoyance. Her skin was very pale, almost like china, except for the angry flush of red that was building in her cheeks. Even though he suspected she was usually very fair skinned, she was pale to the point where it seemed like the colour was drained from her face. Then he saw it. The grip on her arm had caused the dark brown jacket to slide down from her shoulder slightly, revealing a bloodstain on her right shoulder, still seeping through her white shirt. Then the blue eyes had looked at him. Looking through him.

Chris woke up with a fine layer of sweat covering his body. He wiped his brow and grabbed his watch from the bedside table. Four A.M. He heaved a sigh, knowing this was all the sleep he would get tonight, and swung his legs out of bed. Buck hadn't come to the ranch yet. He couldn't tell whether his was a good sign or not, but considering the warning tone he had heard in Buck's voice it was probably the later, considering there was a woman involved. Chris groaned and cradled his head in his hands. If things hadn't been tense already between him and folks in the town, now it surely would be. It was bad enough that it had turned out to be a woman he was starting a fight with, but the fact she was already injured made it much worse. The more he replayed the situation in his head, the more he knew he should have recognised these factors. Her size should have been a giveaway to her being female, but also the clumsy dismount, the slightly lopsided walk. Any other time, the skills he had acquired being a hired gun would have alerted him to her injury, but not this time. Chris stood up and made him way outside into the morning air. He scowled at the sun as it was beginning to rise. What was happening to him? He'd never been the calmest of men, but last night had been irrational even for him. As he got dressed and went to mount his horse, he thought about how his life has changed. Since Ella, he hadn't felt at home in Four Corners. How easy it would be to ride off alone now, to just slip away without anyone knowing. He shook the thought away, at least for now he couldn't leave. He could still see the eyes of that girl, and he knew he had to make things right. Spurring his horse, he rode the familiar dirt track to Four Corners.

It was still dawn when Chris drew his horse to a stop, though the journey had felt like one of the longest in his life. He was relieved by the quietness of the town. Less questions to answers and glares to tolerate. The girl's horse was still in the same spot, but he noticed that the luggage the horse had been carrying had been unloaded. Running a hand thoughtlessly through his blonde hair, a figure in the corner of his eyes caught his attention.

"Chris!"

Nathan Jackson stood in the livery doorway. His eyes looked slightly bloodshot, and he was wiping his hands with a ragged piece of cotton. As Chris walked over towards his companion, he noticed that Nathan flashed him a slight smile, and he was grateful for the small friendly gesture. It was more than he felt he deserved, and certainly more kindness than he would have shown to himself.

"Nathan. I don't suppose there's any chance you didn't hear about yesterday?"

"I'm afraid not. Buck filled me in on the details. And 'course the lady herself mentioned it a little"

Chris swallowed the lump in his throat as he looked his friend in the eye,

"She gonna be okay Nathan?"

"She should be fine. Not many folks will admit it, but it's quite lucky that you did have that…erm…encounter, shall we say, last night."

Chris stared at Nathan will a look of disbelief, and opened his mouth to speak but Nathan held up his hand to silence him.

"Hear me out Chris. Now I'm not saying it was a good thing what happened, but if you hadn't of found her injury, she wouldn't have come to be treated. She has a gunshot wound in her right shoulder. Looks close range to me. And she weren't all too happy about Buck dragging her here to be healed. He and JD had to hold her down while I got the bullet outta her arm, and I was up most of the night trying to make sure she doesn't sneak out before I bandage up the wound. Might be a small consolation, but you could have saved her life. That wound was pretty bad, and untreated it would have only gotten worse."

"Can I see her?"

Nathan looked hesitant, "Ah Chris, I dunno if that's such a good idea…"

"Please Nathan. I won't be long."

Nathan looked hard at the gunslinger. For once he could see a flicker of guilt in Chris' eyes, and with everything that had happened to his friend over the last month or so, someone had to cut him a break.

"Well, I could do with a little sleep before I bandage her up. Buck will be coming back later though, so you might wanna make it quick. He was pretty mad last night…"

Nathan shot his friend a brief warning look, before walking away. Chris made his way over to the infirmary, climbing the stairs at a snails pace. As he reached the door to Nathan's small medical centre, he paused, unsure of how to act. He lifted his fist and rapped his knuckles slowly and steadily.

"Hello?"

Chris breathed in a deep lungful of the cold morning air before stepping into the room. She was sat propped up in the bed. Her hair was loose and sprawled out across the top of the pillow behind her. Upon his entry a confused look crossed her face; she had clearly been expecting Nathan or Buck. As she began to recognise who he was, her eyes flashed him with an angry look.

"You? What are you doing here?"

This had been the reaction he had been expecting. He removed his hat, and stared at it.

"I…I came to apologise to you miss. I'm sorry for how I acted yesterday"

"You already apologised last night… is that it?"

Chris looked up in shock at the young woman. The apology had come out in such a mutter yesterday that he had assumed no one had heard him.

"Uh, no…I wanted to say that… I'm sorry that I hurt you, I didn't mean to…"

"Don't go round grabbin' people for no darn good reason then!"

She practically spat the words at him, and in her frustration, lent forwards slightly. She stifled a gasp of pain. Instinctively he edged closer to check that she was okay.

"No!" she yelled through gritted teeth, "that's close enough!"

Chris stopped in his tracks. He was close enough now to see that her right arm was propped up in a makeshift sling, no doubt Nathan had created in an attempt to try and stop her moving her injured arm too much. He held up his hands in a calming gesture. She stared at him, before leaning back against the headboard. He could see the pain leave her face, but her eyes still didn't move from glaring at him. He could detect a hint of sadness in them, and for a moment, he knew how it must be for the others to look into his eyes.

"I promise I'm not here to cause you any more trouble, Miss….?"

Contemplating for a moment, she eventually replied, "Duke. My name is Amy Duke." She fidgeted uncomfortably as she told him, as though it pained her to give away this precious information.

"Pleasure ta' meet you Amy. I'm Chris Larabee. Wish we could have met on better terms but as that's not possible, is there any way I can help you?"

Amy looked at him with a bewildered look, "And just what exactly makes you think that I need help from you Mr. Larabee?"

"Well just the fact that you're traveling alone, I just..."

"I can handle myself just fine thank you very much, I do not need any protection from you," she interrupted.

"Is that how you managed to get yourself shot?" he replied through gritted teeth. He felt bad about hurting this girl's arm but she was really beginning to annoy him now.

Shock filled up her face for a moment, and then the anger was back, "You have no idea what goes on in my life. I didn't ask for you to draw all that attention to me last night, an' I sure as hell didn't ask to be brought to this doctor man!"

Amy threw back the covers with her good arm and went to get up from the bed. Chris was stood in front of her before she could swing both legs of the mattress.

"Don't be ridiculous. You need to have your wound bandaged. I can't let you go anywhere without that at least."

Looking down at the woman in front of him he felt a twinge of blame. Regardless of whether she needed to be treated for the gun shot, it was his fault that this girl was here against her will now. She didn't move for a while, just staring at him, and he wasn't sure if she was going to try and run for the door. Eventually she rolled her eyes, accepting defeat, and dragged herself back into her seating position. Again Chris moved to help to help her seeing the pain in her face as she moved, and again she waved him away. Once she was settled back against the headboard, she closed her eyes.

"Fine, I'll stay til' my arm gets bandaged."

Chris waited to see if she would see anything else, but Amy's eyes stayed closed. Pulling his hat back on, striding over to the door, he tried to leave as quietly as he could. He had just reached the top of the staircase when he heard a yell coming from below.

"Chris!"

Buck was storming towards him, taking the steps two at a time. Before he knew it, Buck was stood directly in front of Chris's face, so close, that Chris could see Buck's nostrils flaring in rage.