Chapter 4
Kitty was pale, awfully pale, but Doc had assured him several times that she would be alright, with time and rest. "She's most likely got a concussion, Matt. I won't really be able to tell too much till she wakes up, but I don't think it's severe. I believe she'll be just fine."
Matt was hanging on to that promise as he sat beside her and held her hand. He realized just how much she meant to him and he couldn't bear the thought of losing her.
As the hours passed, the long and strange dream, he'd had, kept playing over and over in his head. He'd heard it said once that, dreams were wishes unfulfilled. He wondered about that. Was that it? Did he, deep down somewhere, want marriage and children? He'd always thought the answer to that was an unequivocal, NO.
But that dream had seemed so wonderfully real in some places. And he'd liked the feeling. He could still feel the warmth of his children's small bodies as he held them in his arms. Still smell them even. He could still remember how good it felt to hold his wife close. Still remember how happy he'd been, with them in his life. As the hours passed, the dream replayed itself in his mind, time and again. And each time, it seemed more real and so much better than his reality.
xyz
Kitty awoke Christmas morning to a headache and the worried countenance of Matt Dillon sitting close by her side, holding tightly to her hand. "Matt?" She tried to sit up but that brought on a wave of pain so strong that she aborted the attempt.
"Kitty?" He was instantly on his feet, moving even closer to her. "Doc! Doc!" He called. "She's awake!"
As Doc shuffled from the other room, Kitty looked at the unshaven appearance of the man she loved. It was obvious he hadn't had much rest, but there was something else about him that seemed different somehow.
Before she could ask him about it, however, Doc made it to her side.
"Well, young lady. Good to see you awake. How are you feeling?"
"My head hurts." She answered honestly. Then it dawned on her. Matt was home. She looked back over him with widened eyes. "When did you get back?"
"Yesterday evening. I rode straight through. Decided Garden City and Spearville could wait. I wanted to be with on Christmas."
"It's a good thing too," Doc joined in. "If he hadn't found you when he did…" He took a scrub of his mustache, not wanting to continue that thought.
Kitty looked at both men, seeing the worry in the way they looked at another and then back at her. "What happened?
"You were attacked." Matt told her. "I came over to see you and Sam told me you were back in your office. When I walked in, I found a man rifling through the safe and you on the floor, unconscious. Do you remember anything about what happened?"
"No. Nothing like that." She said thinking about the strange dream she'd had. "Did you get the man?" She asked Matt.
Matt nodded. "Got him locked up in the jail. He's just a saddle tramp looking for some quick money. He's going to get a jail sentence instead. That is, if I don't kill him first."
He muttered that last under his breath, but Kitty heard him. "Matt," she pleaded. "Let it go. Let the law take care of him."
"That's right, Mr. Lawman." Doc piped up with a grin. "You've got more important things to take care of." He nodded towards Kitty.
"That's true." Matt said with a soft smile towards Kitty. "And I guess, I haven't been doing nearly as much of that, as I should."
"Well, I'm glad to hear you admit that." Doc said. "I was beginning to think, you'd never see the truth of things. Now when you are going to do something about it?"
"Oh, Doc." Kitty sighed. She knew how uncomfortable Matt got with that kind of discussion. "Leave him alone. He's here now and I'm alright."
"He's right, Kitty." Matt agreed with the older physician, much to her surprise. "It is about time I did something."
Kitty looked at him in surprise. "Did what? Matt Dillon, what are you talking about?"
Matt got his feet under him, before bending down to place a tender kiss on her lips. Straightening up, he hooked his coat with one hand and his hat with the other. "I'll see ya later, Kitty." He told her. "I've got a couple of things to take care of. Doc, take care of her, don't let her give you any arguments."
Doc shook his head and thumbed his ear lobe. "Don't worry. She'll be right here when you get back, if I have to turn her over my knee."
"Hey!" Kitty protested. "Matt? Where are you going?"
"I'll be back in a little bit." Was his only reply as he quickly exited the office.
"Well, what the…?" Kitty looked up at Doc. "What was that about?"
"I don't know." Doc shrugged. "But I know what I hope it is."
After giving her a quick once over, Doc ordered her to rest, while he went into his front office and got some paperwork done.
Knowing she'd most likely not get past him, and not really feeling up to the challenge, Kitty laid back and thought about the dream she'd had.
That baby had seemed so real. She could still feel the one she carried, as it kicked inside of her. But how could that be? She'd never had a child before. She'd never carried one long enough to feel it kick. But it still felt so genuine. Smiling to herself, she remembered the look on Matt's face as he had held the tiny little girl in his huge hands. It was the smile of a truly happy man.
"If only dreams could come true." She muttered to herself.
Xyz
Matt walked briskly down the boardwalk. Having made up his mind as to what he wanted to do.
Returning to the jail, he grabbed a change of clothes and the bottle of cologne Kitty had given him for his last birthday. He didn't much like, what he considered to be, perfume, but Kitty did. And that was all that mattered. After leaving the jail, he high-tailed it over to the Long Branch and up the back stairs. He needed a bath. Kitty's big claw foot tub was available and being Christmas morning, the saloon was closed. Besides, he wouldn't have to get Mr. Teeters out in this weather to open up the barber shop like he was going to have to do with Mr. Lathrop.
It took him a while to heat the water and carry it up, but before too long he emerged from her rooms, bathed, shaved and dressed to the nines in his black pants, white shirt and courting jacket, including his black string tie. He wanted to look his best for what he planned to do.
After leaving the saloon via the back stairs, Matt hurried down to Mr. Lathrop's house, pounding on the door, until the store owner responded. Although Lathrop was, at first, none too happy to be pulled out into the cold on Christmas Day, he soon changed his tune, when Matt told him what he wanted to purchase.
Three hours after leaving Doc's office, Matt returned, looking like he'd stepped out of a hat box. Doc couldn't ever recall seeing Matt this dressed up. Not even for the very few dances he'd attended. Even Matt's boots were polished, Doc thought, until he took a second glance and realized they weren't only polished, they were new. Grinning like a fool, Doc said nothing as Matt crossed the bedroom door and went in to see Kitty.
"I thought it'd never happen." He said to himself.
TBC
