Matt sat down with Kitty while Sam poured them some coffee, "Seems like thinks are all right here," he mused.
"I haven't heard of any trouble," Kitty stated as eh picked up her cup and sipped on it. "How's Doc?" she then asked.
Matt ticked his head, "It's a good thing he's as ornery as he is," he frowned slightly. "He's in rough shape. Newly 's done everything he can for him while they are out at the cabin. I hope they can bring Doc into town later today," he then sighed.
"Oh, poor Doc. Poor Newly," Kitty said sitting forward. "Would it be better to have Doc stay here so I can keep an eye on him?" she asked with grave concern for he dearest friend.
"It might not be a bad idea, Kitty. Newly's going to have to take over for Doc until he gets back on his feet, if he can," he looked up from his coffee into the blue eyes of the saloon owner. Kitty studied Matt's words, "You don't think he's going to be crippled, do you?"
Matt shook his head as he didn't know, "Doc hasn't been conscious long enough to hold any kind of conversation. Just moving slightly makes him pass out," he stated. "Newly still can't figure out if any real damage has been done by the bullet. So until Doc can talk about all this, we're all at a loss," Matt noted.
Kitty sat back, "This is just terrible. You have to find the person responsible," she said firmly.
"Believe me I will. The thing is as I said, until I can really talk to Doc, I don't even know if the man he was trying to save shot him before he died," Matt lamented. "And I haven't been over to the office to see if there's word about those bank robbers," he added.
"I haven't heard anything, marshal," Sam stated as he set the chairs down on the floor to prepare for the day's business.
"According to the posse that Festus and I ran into the other day, they were headed to Oklahoma, and I hope they were right," Matt said as he looked around the empty saloon.
"Me too," Kitty agreed as he sipped on her coffee. "Please let me know how I can help," she stated.
Matt nodded and stood up, "I'll check around and then head out to the cabin to see how things are there. Hopefully we'll be back with Doc. Maybe if you could get a room ready for him," he tried to smiled. Kitty blinked trying to hold back her tears of sorrow; she felt helpless over the whole situation. Slowly Kitty nodded.
Matt stepped out onto the veranda before he unhitched his horse and took the other one's reins. He walked down the street toward the livery stable.
Across the street, Sloane nudged Winslow, "Ain't that the marshal?" he asked.
Winslow squinted, "He's wearing a badge," he declared.
"I want a closer look at that horse," Sloane spoke as he puffed his cigar. "If that's Jeb's then we know that the law knows where we've been at," he hissed. "I just hope they haven't found the money yet," he looked over to his partner. Winslow's stomach churned; he'd almost had his fill of the whole situation.
Doc was finally awake and lucid, "I don't know Newly. They just came from nowhere and one of them held a gun on me until I helped that fellow," Doc made a face as he wanted change positions on the table; he didn't feel comfortable slight sitting as they had managed to prop the doctor up.
"Fair enough, Doc," Newly stated. "You know that Matt's going to ask more questions," he eluded.
"Well, I don't know what else to say," Doc huffed and placed his head back on to the blankets.
"How about telling me how you feel," Newly leaned over the doctor, looking his in the eyes. He glanced over his shoulder and noted that both Festus and Jonas were involved in some sort of conversation; likely what the bank robbers did and how they will pay for what they did when they are caught. Newly looked back at Doc who wore a look of distress, "My legs are numb," he said in a hushed voice. Doc swallowed, "If is likely because of the swelling and bruising," he stated as he tried to analyzed his own condition.
A lump formed in Newly's throat, "Doc, I..." he tried to explain what he had done.
Doc lifted his right hand and placed it on the young deputy's shoulder; squeezing it gently, "You did exactly what I would have done, Newly," his crystal blue eyes held sadness as he didn't know how this would end. "We're going to have to wait to see if there's any permanent damage," he blinked.
"How long?" Newly asked.
Doc was again getting tired and blinked hard to focus as another spasm of pain hit, "Could be days, weeks, or ever months," he swallowed, "Is there any whiskey left?"
Newly held up the bottle, "We were saving this for when we brought yo back to Dodge," O'Brien said as his eyebrows arched in concern.
Doc nodded and closed his eyes, "Keep it for that then," he sighed and fought the pain; before long he again passed out.
Matt had left the stable with a fresh horse and walked it over to the jailhouse where he wanted to check mail. He tied the horse to the post and went into the little red brick building, and was delighted that no-one was left in the cells, but of course Sam and Kitty told him all has been quite in Dodge for a change.
Matt pushed his hat back on his head as he walked to his desk and scooped up the mail that had been delivered. He quickly thumbed through envelopes and nothing of great importance leapt out at him. Matt dropped the mail on the desk and turned his attention to the wanted posters, and in particular the one that came out of Spearville. The more he thought about it, the more convinced that was who Doc got tangled up with. Obviously the trio were callous and didn't care who or what they hurt. Matt's lips tightened into a straight line as his eyes narrowed; he had sudden contempt for the men in that robbery. He looked at the poster again and studied the faces, perhaps the dead man was the one at the cabin. Matt folded the poster and stuffed it in his shirt pocket. He left the jailhouse and closed the door behind him – his eyes scanned the street as he took the reins and mounted the horse.
Sloane and Winslow casually walked along the boardwalk past Jonas' general store they pretended to chat, but Sloane's main objective was to check the horse in the stable and then, beat the marshal back to the cabin. That was until he turned and saw the red-headed saloon lady biding the marshal a safe ride. Sloane stopped and licked his lips, "She's prettier that that Rita," he smiled to himself.