Chapter 2: Arrival in Dodge City

Doc Holliday coughed violently, his body shaking with the strain. He reached into his vest, pulling out a white cloth and putting it to his lips.

"Maybe we should rest awhile. What do you say, Doc?"

The younger man shook his head, taking the now blood stained cloth from his mouth. "Nonsense Wyatt. I'm right as rain."

Though Earp knew his friend was feeling terrible, he was not about to tarnish the gambling man's pride. He took notice of how pale Doc looked and of the sweat that constantly beaded his forehead. Kate however, seemed not to notice and rode her own horse on Holliday's other side. From Wyatt's knowledge of their relationship, he assumed that Kate had long ago decided not to take too much notice of Doc's coughing fits, which were frequent, unless they got too bad.

As the day wore on, the trio arrived in Dodge City. It was nearing dusk and, as they rode into town, Wyatt was greeted by numerous local people. The same citizens however, cast suspicious glances in the direction of Doc and Kate. Holliday wore a black cape over his shoulders to match his hat. His pants were of a greyish color and his white shirt did nothing to help his pasty complection. The two colt .35's were hardly visible beneath the cloak.

Wyatt began to head toward the jail house, but Doc, knowing that would be unwise for himself, spoke up.

"It appears that this is where we must part for a time, Wyatt." the gambler said, steering his horse in the direction of the hotel. "I am to retire for the evenin' so that I may better make my appearance at the poker table tomorrow." he smiled.

Wyatt shook his head, "Gamblin' as a trade. You'll never change Doc."

"I beg to differ. Poker is a trade, not gamblin'."

With that, Holliday and Kate rode on toward the nearest hotel.

The growing evening put Doc in a gambling mood. He was always a late riser in the afternoon and frequented the gambling halls until the wee hours of the morning. A common practice on his part. Recently however, numerous physicians had begun to warn Holliday of his night life. They wished, in his best interest, for him to shy away from his money making impulses. But the faro table as well as the poker table were his homes. Not only that, they were his livelihood and not even consumption would tear him from the game.

Kate sat quietly at his side, enjoying a rolled cigarette. They had acquired one of the most costly rooms in Dodge City and it was a palace compared to the lodgings in Fort Griffin. A large bed occupied much of the room, big enough to sleep three or four people. There was a large armoire in the corner across from a low dressing table and mirror. Night stands took up space on each side of the bed and the entire room was decked out in shades of red and gold. Doc was proud of himself, having acquired around $10,000 at Fort Griffin, he was now celebrating the sudden gain of money.

"Hey Doc." Kate began, leaning over the bed on her stomach.

The gambler had decided to retire for the evening a few moments before. His hat lay hooked on one of the headboard posts which he had jsut hung it on. Now he turned his head to reguard Kate.

"Yes darlin'?"

The woman smiled, "Are you not going to play poker tonight?"

He shook his head ever so slightly, "Not tonight."

Kate frowned, "Then I suppose I'll have to find myself something to do."

This immediately sent a warning flare up in the gambler's mind. He hated the idea of Kate flirtatiously tempting fellow gamblers within the saloons and inviting them to her bed, for a small fee of course. Over and over again, Holliday had promised her that he could provide anything and everything she might ever need. But it was slowly becoming apparent to Doc, that Kate enjoyed her business. This however, angered him more than he cared to admit.

Doc sighed, sitting up and leaning against the head board. "We must talk, darlin'." he started.

Seeing that he was serious, Kate watched his face intently from her position upon the bed.

"It appears that I may have the opportunity to restore my business to it's former glory." noticing that the woman was regarding him with the upmost attention, he decided to get to the point. "What I am tryin' to say is that I have been plainin' on going back into the dentistry business."

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Fanfiction.net Reviews:

Norah: Thanks and I try to write a new chapter every so often. I hope I did not keep you waiting.

kenderbender22: Yeah, I dislike Kate too. When I read everything I could get my hands on about Doc Holliday, I came to the conclusion that Kate really pissed him off a lot. But thank you for saying I write Doc well. After all, he is the star of the show and if I did a bad job writing his lines and actions, then I could not call myself a fanfic writer.

Fictionpress.net Reviews

Linda: See, I have continued so there is no need for you to die! Yay! I didn't cause someone's death! Yippie!

Lucy: I love writing historical fiction. I mean, it started with this thought about Joe Byrne getting shot and I was like, 'Hey! I want to write a short story about that!' So I did. Then, about a month or so later, I got really into "Tombstone" and thought, 'Hey! If I could write a good story about Joe dying, maybe I can do the same with Doc Holliday and write a chapter story about him!' So, that's kinda what I did. But anyway, I think writing historical fiction is more fun because you get to expand on the personality and character of an existing, or having existed, person. It is so much better than pulling characters out of the air. It is kind of like writing a fanficiton, but it's your own in a way.

Faery Tragedy: I promise to try and describe things more. But, I've found I'm just a dialog sort of girl I suppose. But thank you for the insight, I'll definitely take it to heart.