Captive Hearts 7
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Kitty woke late that evening, groggy and confused. It was several minutes before she remembered she was in Doc's office, in his bed. The baby, she hadn't wanted and yet grieved for, gone.
Looking about, her heart skipped a beat as she saw Matt sitting in a chair by her bedside. Though the lighting in the room was dim, she could tell he was awake and watching her. "Hi," she said uncertainly.
A smile lit his face and he sat up, swiftly crossing over to sit beside her on the bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
Kitty took a moment before answering. "Tired," she conceded. "What time is it?"
"Late," Matt answered. "About midnight, I think."
Kitty nodded, glanced around the room and resolutely began to push the bedcovers from her body, attempting to get up. "I've got to go back to the fort." She said, trying not to show just how much pain she was in right then.
Matt pushed her back down into the bed. "You can't go anywhere, Kitty. You're too weak. Besides, there's nothing out there for you. Your home and our baby are right here in Dodge."
Kitty froze at his words and looked up at him, shocked at what he'd said. "You…what? You know about…about Emma?" She asked. "Where is she?"
Matt broke out into a grin. "She's at Ma Smalley's. She's safe and she's perfectly fine." He told her. "And yes, I know. Sgt. Clark told me she was seven months old and your friend Carolyn Horton said you told her that Emma was mine."
Kitty looked away unable to any longer meet his gaze. "She was the reason I left." She whispered. "I knew you didn't want children. I knew you didn't want to be tied down. When I realized I was pregnant, I couldn't think of what else to do."
She finally raised her eyes to his. "I was going to tell you but then you got shot and it didn't seem the right time and then you took off and well..." She sighed, clearly distressed at the memory.
"Kitty," Matt tried. "You don't have…"
"When you came back, I decided I would tell you then." She continued. "But you put that badge back on and I realized that not much had changed other than you would then be in even more danger with your arm the way it was. I was so confused, worried, hurt. That's another reason I left. I thought if I could just get away for a while… I didn't intend to stay gone, Matt. I just… I was going to come back."
Tears began to pool in her eyes and she turned away from him. "I'm sorry, Matt." She sobbed quietly. "I ruined…."
"Kitty, no!" Matt all but gasped. "You didn't ruin anything. Good God, honey. You were the one hurt in all this. The guilt is mine. I'm the one that pushed you into leaving." Matt reached down and pulled her gently into his arms, hugging her to him as he had his daughter earlier. "Sshh. It's alright." He tried to soothe her. "It's alright, Kitty. You're home now. We'll figure it all out."
Kitty stiffened though and pulled away from him. "I can't, Matt." Fresh tears replaced the ones already shed. "If he finds me here… I…. I can't."
"He? What are you talking about?" Matt asked, seeing stark terror replace the sadness in her eyes as she spoke of whoever this 'he' was.
"It doesn't matter." She turned away, sorry she had said anything.
"It does too, Kitty." Matt gently cupped her chin and turned her face back to look at him. "Who is 'he'?"
"Wade Dawson." She finally whispered, irrationally afraid that by saying his name aloud it would summon him out of the darkness. "He…. he's the man that…. that….." she couldn't bring herself to tell Matt all the things he had done to her over the past year. All the things she had let him do, in order to protect her daughter, hers and Matt's. "He got away in the raid."
For several seconds, Matt sat stiffly beside her before pulling her back to him. He knew the name Wade Dawson. Every lawman within every state, in and around Kansas, knew the name and most of them feared it. The dastardly villain of every living soul on the prairie.
He and his band of cutthroats had wreaked havoc in five different states. Though several penny dreadful's had drawn him as a dashing handsome man with fair hair and clear blue eyes, Matt had no real idea what he really looked like.
Holding Kitty, feeling her tremble in his embrace, he realized she knew more about the man than just how he looked.
"I don't want you to worry about Wade Dawson." He kissed the top of her head as he gently rubbed her back. "He's never going to touch you or even come near you again. Understand?"
Kitty didn't reply. She wanted so badly to believe him but a year's worth of experience had taught her differently. She was afraid when Dawson learned where she was, he would come for her. And no one, not even Matt, would be able to stop him from killing her or worse, Matt and her baby.
Matt sensed she didn't quite believe him and he gently pushed her back making certain she met his gaze. "I mean it, Kitty." He said sharply. "You are home now and you are safe. I promise you."
Slowly, Kitty nodded. She knew Matt meant what he said. But she knew the man who had raped and tortured her for the last year and for the first time, she was afraid, that Matt just might be the weaker of the two.
TBC