Pt. 8

"What are you doing up?" Doc scowled at Kitty when he walked into the back room to find her once again, sitting in a hard chair beside Matt, anxiously watching over him. He'd only stepped out for a couple of minutes to attend to personal business but that had been all it took for her to get out of bed, once again, and find her way to Matt.

"You need to go right back in there and lay down, young lady, before you pull those stitches out. I told you he'd be alright. The fever's broke now and he's just sleeping." He grumped at her.

Worried azure eyes looked up at Doc and then back at Matt. "It's been four days, Doc, three of them with a fever. I'm worried about him. He… he… I… I just am."

Doc sighed deeply, knowingly. The cowboy marshal and the saloon girl. Just the kind of story, books were written about, only this wasn't a story and Matt and Kitty weren't fictional characters in a book. They were real, and to him, almost family.

In one short year they had gone from friendly acquaintances to casual friends to best friends, to now something much deeper. Doc didn't believe they were lovers, but he had his suspicions that wouldn't be long in coming. It was already to the point that neither one was willing to take care of themselves, if it meant that the other would go unattended, even for a moment. Doc realized that would have to be his role to take care of the both of them.

"I know you are, honey and I understand. But you're recovering from a bullet wound too and you need every bit as much rest as he does or you'll be sick in that bed beside him."

Doc hadn't given his words much thought, until he saw the look on Kitty's face when he'd said them. He blanched and shook his head. "Oh, no. You… you…" he stuttered. "Kitty, I…"

"What?" Kitty asked innocently. "It's not like I've never been in bed with a man before, Doc."

Doc blushed and loudly cleared his throat but looking at her he saw the determination in her blue eyed gaze. "It's not proper, Kitty." He protested even though he knew, he'd already lost the battle.

"The only thing that's not proper about it, is that we're both too hurt to do anything more than lie side by side." She wickedly arched a brow at him. "Besides, Doc, think about how much easier it'll be for you to have both of us in one place and following your orders."

Turning away in consternation, Doc sighed again, this time even deeper, before heading towards the door, unwilling to look at her, afraid she'd see his feelings on the matter in his watery blue eyes. "Do what you want, you will anyway. But you'd better not do anything besides just lie there, you hear me."

"I hear ya, Doc." Kitty smiled as the old man left the room and she carefully made her way around to the other side of the bed and even more carefully settled herself in beside the still sleeping giant, laying her head close to his on the pillow.

She knew how it would look to anyone, should they see the spectacle of the saloon girl in bed with the Marshal, but she wasn't concerned with that.

And she knew Doc's concerns, besides how it looked. He didn't want either one of them to do anything that might jeopardize their health or their friendship. But she wasn't worried about that either. It was way too soon for anything of that nature to happen between them.

She wasn't even worried about her own health and recovery because she now knew, without Matt in her life, little else would matter. From the moment she'd first laid eyes on him, he had captured her heart and soul and willing captive though she was, she was still a captive to his blue eyes and crooked smile and big heart.

She now realized completely, just how much she loved Matt and though he'd made no mention of having the same feelings towards her, she hadn't missed the way he would look at her sometimes and the fierce protectiveness he often displayed towards her. Matt might not ever say it, might not even know it himself, but she knew, he loved her too.

Unable to do little else, due to the injuries she was still recovering from, Kitty reached down and took Matt's hand and held it tightly in hers, nestling her head against his and went to sleep with a gentle smile on her lips.

Several hours later, Matt awoke to a warmth on his right side and a strong grip of his right hand. Looking over, he saw Kitty beside him, fast asleep, her hand holding his. Looking towards the window, he could tell it was dark out. He didn't know how long he'd been there, or how long Kitty had lain beside him, but he didn't care.

In normal circumstances, Matt would've been appalled at the brazenness of a saloon girl climbing into bed with him while he lay unconscious. But this wasn't just some saloon girl. This was Kitty and her presence was more than welcome. In fact, her presence was needed and just felt right.

Although they had never shared more than just a chaste kiss on a few occasions, he suddenly realized, Kitty was where she was supposed to be, right next to him. Somehow she had wormed her way into his heart and whether he wanted it or not, she was there to stay.

He still wasn't planning on marrying her. He didn't feel he had the right to do that to any girl, especially not her. He fully expected to be dead before he reached the ripe old age of 30, and he had no intentions of leaving behind a widow or family to grieve for him and try to fend for themselves, as his father had.

But as long as he was alive, he would love her. He would protect her, defend her and do anything to be with her, when his job would allow. Because Matt Dillon had finally found the other half of his soul. The half he hadn't even realized was missing, until a little girl with red hair, blue eyes and the temerity to love him, without strings, had attached herself to him with a tie so strong that he doubted even death would break it.

Shifting himself just slightly in the bed, Matt managed to bring his right arm up and place it around the sleeping woman beside him, pulling her into his arms, where she stayed as he slipped back off to sleep, unconsciously echoing the smile she still wore.

Later that night, when Doc came in to check on them, he found a sight that warmed him more than any fire ever could. One ruggedly handsome young marshal and one beautiful young girl, fast asleep in each other's arms. Making a quick check of their well-being, Doc smiled happily as he tiptoed out of the room, and softly closed the door behind him.

His patients were going to be just fine from now on, no matter what life threw at them, because they finally had their other half.

The End