The Dress

I don't own these characters. I just like spending time with them. No other profit to be had.

AN: This is in response to a challenge issued by MissLizzyJ to me. Hope it works.

M&K&M&K&M&K&M&K

Kitty stood in front of the mirror, turning this way and that, gazing lovingly at the new corset style dress she had on. She'd ordered it from St. Louis and it had taken a whole month to get to her. Although she'd had to lose some weight to fit into it she'd felt it worth it, just to be able to wear this beautiful creation.

Rust colored with black embroidered detailing along the bodice and front drape, it suited her coloring perfectly. The matching choker highlighted her long graceful neck. Fingering the delicate buttons that ran up the bodice, she smiled, knowing a certain lawman whose fingers might have trouble with said buttons. But as she gazed at herself in the mirror, she had an idea he'd feel it was worth it.

"Miss Kitty!" Sam's voice called from the other side of her door.

Kitty tucked a ringlet of hair back in place, took one more look at her dress and then went to the door. "Yes?" She inquired when she opened it.

"Miss Kitty, the…" Sam stopped when he took her in. "Uh…" He wanted to remark on how beautiful she looked but wasn't sure how appropriate that would be for him to say that to his boss.

"Something wrong?" Kitty hid a smile.

"Oh, uh… no, Ma'am. Uh, the Marshal is downstairs wanting to talk to you." He couldn't hide the blush that graced his craggy face.

"Oh, alright." Kitty smiled at him. "Tell, Matt, I'll be right down."

"Yes, Ma'am." He nodded and turned to go.

"Oh, and Sam?" Sam looked back at her. "Thank you for the compliment." She winked and then chuckled as his blush deepened and he hurried away.

Checking her makeup in the mirror one more time, Kitty dabbed a touch of perfume behind her ears and on her cleavage and then left her room, closing the door behind her.

Matt stood near the bottom of the stairs, hat in one hand and other hand busy running a finger back and forth over the brim. While his eyes stayed mainly on the stairs, he kept his mind on the men around him, alert at all times for any sign of trouble. He was a man in love with a beautiful woman who was now a half owner in the goinest saloon in Dodge. But he was also a lawman and that usually had to come first.

But as he listened to the chitchat around him, he saw no cause for concern anywhere until he saw Kitty at the top of the stairs. The sight of her in a dress he'd never seen before came close to causing him heart problems. As he watched her glide down towards him, he was sure his heart was going to beat itself out of his chest.

"Good evening, Matt." Kitty smiled beautifully up at him. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"Uh, uh…" He swallowed hard before trying again. "Uh, yeah, Kitty. I… uh was going to see if…" He stopped and shook his head. "You sure look pretty tonight, Kitty." He grinned. "Tell me you didn't buy that dress months ago and I'm just now noticing."

Kitty broke into laughter. "You're off the hook tonight, Cowboy." She grinned. "I ordered it a month ago, but it just came in recently. This is the first time I've worn it. You like it?"

"Oh, yeah." Matt nodded enthusiastically. "I like it and the lady in it."

Kitty laughed again with glee. "Is that why you came over here? To tell me you like me and my new dress?"

Suddenly, Matt sobered and pulled back with a sorrowful shake of his head. "Uh, no, Kitty. Actually, that's not why I came. I was going to ask if you'd seen someone. A stranger."

"Oh?" She questioned. "What's he look like?"

"Well, he's not real tall but he's broad in the shoulders and has black hair and an eye patch. His name is Hodges. Jeff Hodges. I've heard he's coming to Dodge and I figured he'd most likely come in here at some point." Matt took a quick look around the saloon but quickly returned his gaze to her.

Kitty shook her head. "Sorry, Matt, but I haven't seen him. If he's come in here, it was when I was gone."

Matt sighed. "Then he's most likely not been in yet. I asked Sam about him first and he's not seen him either. And you two are never gone from the saloon at the same time."

Kitty nodded. "Yeah, true. So, maybe he's not here or not coming here." She couldn't keep the hopefulness of that statement out of her voice.

"Guess so." Matt shrugged as he once again took in her form. "Well, Kitty, guess I'd better head on back over to the jail. I've got some paperwork to do and then I need to get my rounds done."

"That'd be kinda early for your rounds, wouldn't it, Matt?" She questioned with a tilt to her head.

"Well, maybe." Matt answered as he leaned in close. "But then again, if I do get them done early, I might have a little extra time to spend with a certain lady and her new dress." He wiggled a brow and Kitty burst into laughter.

"See ya later, Matt." She gave him a slight wave as he turned and left.

The next evening proved to be a much busier time in Dodge and especially the Long Branch. The saloon was hopping. It was payday out at the fort and soldiers had come into town to spend their wages on whiskey and girls and gambling. Kitty had been running since about noon and she doubted she was going to be able to take a break anytime soon.

Matt had tried a few times to get over to the saloon to see her but something or someone had so far managed to waylay him. But finally, about eight that evening, Matt found himself with a few moments and was wasting no time in heading that way.

When he got to the entrance, he paused as he always did, looking over the batwing doors to not only look for any signs of trouble but to also look for Kitty. He found both in the same instance.

Kitty was in the middle of the room, being hustled around the saloon in a fast dance with the very man he'd been looking for the day before. Matt froze. He knew Jeff Hodges and Hodges knew him. It was Matt that had caused him his sight. Matt was afraid if he came into the saloon at the wrong time and in the wrong way, he could put Kitty into danger.

Waiting until Hodges had whirled around and had his back to the doors, Matt quickly slipped in and over to the bar. "Sam," he whispered urgently to the bar man. "Get your shotgun and keep me covered."

Without questioning why, Sam did as Matt wanted and watched as the Marshal moved over closer to where Kitty and the black haired cowboy were dancing.

Matt watched Kitty and Hodges as he whirled her around and around and he could tell she wasn't happy with the situation. But Hodges had a tight grip of Kitty's arm and never let her go no matter how fast the pace.

Matt waited another split second until Hodges swung Kitty close before he reached out, grabbing Kitty's other arm and jerking her from Hodges grasp. Quickly, pushing her behind him, Matt challenged the bandit, ordering him to give up.

But as most bad men did, Hodges ignored Matt's order and went hurriedly for his gun. But he'd barely cleared leather and fired before Matt pulled his own gun, killing the outlaw. Dutifully, Matt stepped over to Hodges, kicked his gun aside and checked him for a pulse. Finding none, he straightened up just as Sam yelled out.

"Miss Kitty!"

Matt turned and saw Kitty sprawled on the floor behind him. Instantly, he moved over to where she was and knelt at her side. "Kitty? Kitty?"

Kitty didn't respond and Matt was certain Hodge's shot had found her before his had found Hodges. Quickly, he picked her up and hurried to the door, heading to Doc's. Doc was just headed down his stairs, a result of hearing the gunshots, when he saw Matt coming his way. "Matt…"

"Doc, it's Kitty." Matt yelled as he hurried towards the physician. "I think she was shot."

"Bring her on up, Matt." Doc ordered as he turned and climbed back up to his office, Matt, with Kitty, hot on his heels.

Once inside Doc's office, Matt laid her gently on the examining table and then moved back to let Doc tend to her. Over and over in his mind, he replayed the gunfight, wondering what he could've done differently that wouldn't have gotten her shot and praying she wouldn't die.

As soon as Matt laid her down, Doc instantly began checking Kitty out. But he couldn't find the wound Matt had stated she'd suffered. There was no blood and no sign at all of her being shot. He checked her body front and back. Her pulse was quick but her temperature normal and breathing fine. Puzzled, he looked back over at Matt. "You said she was shot?"

"Well, yeah." Matt shrugged. "I mean, well, I guess she was. I didn't exactly check her over before bringing her up here, ya know. That's your job."

"Um hum." Doc hid a smile. "Yeah, well, it's a good thing the doctoring in this town is left to me. Because you'd have em buried with a hang nail."

"What are you talking about?" Matt frowned. "And why aren't you trying to save her life?"

"Because her life isn't in danger." Doc finally chuckled. "Matt, she wasn't shot. It appears to me she just fainted."

"Fainted!?" Matt moved back closer to Kitty and looked up and down her form seeing no blood or any other sign of a wound. "But… but how?"

"I don't know." Doc answered, stepping over to his medicine cabinet. Opening it up, he removed a small bottle of liquid and a piece of cloth. Pouring a small amount of the contents on the rag, he moved it close to her nose. In a moment, Kitty began to turn her head then a slight moan followed by a cough and her eyes flew open.

"Um…" She widened her eyes, trying to focus on the two faces looking down at her. "Wha… what happened?"

"Well, I don't know, exactly." Matt shrugged. "Maybe you can tell us. I brought you over here thinking you'd been shot."

"Shot?" She frowned as she looked over at Doc. "No, I… I… I wasn't, was I, Doc?"

"No," Doc shook his head with a grin. "No, you weren't. Can you tell me what did happen though?"

Kitty closed her eyes for a moment and thought back to the last she could remember. "Well, I remember I was dancing with some galoot that wouldn't let go of me. I'd told him I didn't want to dance. Sam told him to leave me alone but he ignored us. I kicked him and I tried to get away from him but he wouldn't let go of me and he kept spinning me around and…" She stopped for a second to focus on what happened next.

"Well, I remember him whirling me around hard a couple of times and then suddenly Matt was there." She looked over at Matt. "I remember you pulling me away from him and pushing me back and then that's it. I have no idea what happened after that. It's like the lights just went out."

"That's because they did." Doc smirked. "You fainted, young lady."

"Fainted?" Kitty shook her head. "No, no, I am not a fainter, Doc. You know that. I…"

"Kitty, let me ask you something." Doc took a swipe of his mustache. "Have you eaten anything today?"

Kitty gave him a puzzled look but finally shook her head. "I… well, no, I guess I haven't. I wasn't hungry for breakfast and I didn't have time after that. But what does that have to do with anything?"

But Doc wasn't ready to answer her question. "What about yesterday or the day before? Did you eat anything then?"

"I don't know." Kitty was getting a little irritated. "Doc, what's all these questions about?"

"Honey," Doc's smiled turned gentle. "I think the reason you fainted is a combination of going without food, exhaustion from all that dancing and then being jostled the way you were when Matt pushed you behind him."

"Now, wait a minute." Matt spoke up. "You saying this is my fault?"

"No." Doc answered. "At least not directly. I think it was just a small part of it. I suspect Kitty going without food for more than three days was the real culprit."

"Oh, now, Doc, come on." Kitty protested as she pushed herself up to a seated position. "I hardly think missing a couple of meals was…"

"Kitty, you missed more than a couple of meals." Doc's voice took on a stern note. "I can tell by just looking at you that you've lost quite a bit of weight, not that you needed to. Why weren't you eating?"

Kitty dropped her eyes as a bit of color rose to her cheeks. "Oh, well… I… It was… well, I…"

"You what?" Matt joined in the questioning. "Kitty, if you're worried about something or you think…"

"Oh, no, it's not that, Matt." Kitty quickly reassured him. "Honest. I'm not worried about anything. It's just… well…" She finally met Matt's worried gaze. "You remember that dress I had on yesterday?"

Matt had to stop himself from grinning as he thought of the beautiful corset dress she'd worn the day before and how it had looked on her. "Yeah." He managed without a smile.

"Well, when I ordered that dress, I thought it would fit me. But… well, it was smaller than I thought it would be and I had to lose a few pounds in order to fit into it."

Doc and Matt looked at each other and then back at Kitty. "You mean you starved yourself and almost caused yourself some serious health problems because of a dress?" Doc asked with a disapproving arc of the brows.

Before Kitty could answer, Doc's front door opened and a young man rushed in. "Doc? Doc, you'd better come. It's my pa. He's hurt."

Instantly, Doc turned his attention from Kitty to the youngster who'd come in and automatically reached for his bag. "Okay, Tommy." He sighed. "You go on and I'll be right behind you." Hurrying over to his coat rack, he grabbed his jacket and hat and began to put them on.

"Young lady." He turned back just before leaving his office. "I expect you to get yourself a full meal and then some rest. I'll check on you tomorrow. Matt, see to it that she does."

"I will, Doc." Matt said as he watched the physician leave and then looked back over at Kitty. "You hear that?"

"I heard." Kitty sighed.

Matt shook his head at her. "Kitty, I can't believe you came close to killing yourself over a dress." Matt complained. "Honestly, honey. What were you thinking? Was that dress all that important?"

Kitty dropped her head again. "No." She mumbled. "And it wasn't really the dress anyway, Matt."

"Then what was it?" Matt was perplexed as to why she would risk so much to lose weight if not for the dress and that alone was silly enough.

"It was you." She finally looked at his surprised expression. "Matt, I knew, I just knew that you would love me in that dress when I ordered it. I wanted you to anyway. And I… well, I was sure it would fit me. But when it came in, it was too small. I guess I could have had the dressmaker alter it, but I was afraid she might mess it up. So… well, I figured I could stand to lose a few pounds anyway so I just skipped a few meals. I wanted to look good in it for you."

When Matt didn't immediately speak, she moved to get off the table. "I wasn't trying to hurt myself, Matt." She felt a little hurt that he wasn't saying anything. "I guess that dress wasn't that important after all."

Just as her feet touched the floor, though, Matt reached out and pulled her into his arms. "Honey, that dress on you was beautiful and I loved seeing you in it. But it wasn't worth your health. Don't you see? Nothing in this world is worth that. I don't care what you're wearing as long as you're healthy and mine. You understand?"

Kitty blinked back a tear. "Uh huh. I think so." She understood that she was more important to him than how she looked in that dress or anything else. "You love me?"

Matt grinned. "Exactly. I love you and I don't care how much you weigh or what you wear or how your hair looks or anything else as long as you're alright."

Kitty managed a grin. "You might say different if I gained so much weight we'd have to widen the door."

Matt shook his head with a chuckle. "No, I wouldn't. That'd just be more of you to love."

Kitty burst out into laughter then and shook her head. "Come on, Marshal. Get me something to eat before I faint again."

"My pleasure, Ma'am." Matt said as he took her arm and escorted her from the office.

END