Set Fire to the Rain 2, Ch. 7 "Rx"

This fanfiction is intended for mature readers due to the vivid depiction of a consensual adult relationship.  The setting is First Season, post-The Preacher.  I am not a doctor, and I don’t play one on TV.  Don’t try any of this stuff at home, kids. 

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“Right here, Marshall,” Sheriff Ware said as they approached a narrow building with darkened windows.  Ware knocked on the door.  They waited.

“Matt,” a weak voice came from within the confines of the blanket.  “I think…I can walk.”  He held her tightly while she coughed again.

“Honey, you don’t need to even be talking right now.  You breathed in an awful lot of smoke.”

Virgil Ware’s eyes shot to Matt at his familiar address of Kitty.  He cleared his throat and beat on the door harder.  A crash sounded from within.  Sheriff Ware called out, “Doctor Crandall, we’ve got an injured patient for you.”  More scrabbling noise from inside the room and then a lamp was lit.  The door finally opened a crack.  A tall, wiry man with gaunt features opened the door unsteadily.

 Matt’s eyes widened at the sight of him.  He wasn’t too sure about this.  The man looked…drunk.

When Crandall spotted the sheriff, he gave a sigh and opened the door wider. “Come in.”

He gestured to an examining table and scrubbed a hand over his drawn features.  “Just lay the patient there, please.”  The doctor’s trembling hand reached for his stethoscope on the desk, then he walked slowly and deliberately to where Kitty laid, violent coughs wracking her body.  Matt held her hand while the doctor listened to her lungs and heart.  He placed a steadying hand on the examining table and pronounced wearily, “Smoke inhalation, pure and simple.  Take her home.”

Ware and Matt looked at him expectantly.  Crandall waved an arm over Kitty and said, “She needs plenty of rest.  Keep her quiet...”

“That’s it?” Matt asked incredulously.  “Can’t you do something for her?”

“I could…” Doctor Crandall sighed.  “I could… give her a little laudanum…to quiet that cough, but other than that, there’s not much to do.”

Ware gripped his arm as Matt continued, “Doctor, you gotta help us.  Kitty needs a doctor’s care until she’s feeling better.”

Doctor Crandall began, “But, I assure you, there’s very little…”

Interrupting quietly, Ware insisted, “Come on, Doc, you’ve got the room…”

Taking a step closer to the doctor, Matt continued, “I’ll stay right here by her side.”

Ware added, “Doc, I’d consider it a personal favor if you’d keep an eye on her for just tonight.  I’m sure the young lady will be better in the morning, and we’ll be on our way.”

The doctor’s arms hung limply at his sides, and he sighed resignedly, “Very well.  I’ll start by giving her a dose of laudanum.  Then she’ll be able to rest more easily.”

As Crandall medicated his patient, Ware turned to Matt and said quietly, “I’ve got to go back and take a look at that fire.  Do you know how it started?”

Matt raked his fingers through his hair.  “No, I just smelled smoke and saw the fire under her door.  It was coming from inside her room.”

“Lamp knocked over?”

“I didn’t notice.  I was too busy trying to get her out of there.”

“Well, you tend to Miss Russell.  I’ll go look over her room.  See if I can figure out what happened.  And I’ll be back to check on how she’s doing later, alright?”

Matt stuck out his hand.  “Thanks, Ware.  I appreciate all you’ve done.”

Crandall announced with bleary eyes, “There now.  She should be able to sleep.  And that’s where I’m going, too.  Back to bed.”  He scribbled something on a piece of paper.  “Here’s her prescribed dosage for the next few hours.  I’ll check on her in the morning.  Good night, sir.”

Matt accepted the paper and watched in amazement as Doctor Crandall closed his bedroom door behind him.  Doc would have a conniption fit.  Pulling a chair closer to Kitty’s bedside, he murmured, “How do you feel, Kitty?”  He took her hand in his.

“Sleepy,” she whispered, and then her eyes closed.

Matt panicked at first, but then he laid a hand on her chest and felt her steady, even breathing.  She was just sleeping, an effect of the laudanum Crandall had given her. 

He settled in the chair beside Kitty and waited.

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Matt woke with a start when someone knocked on the door.  His neck ached from being bent at an angle for far too long.  The gray light of dawn was coming through the front windows.  Matt hobbled stiffly out of his seat and opened the front door.  “Come on in, Sheriff Ware.  I fell asleep for a while.”  He scrubbed a hand over his eyes.  “What did you find out?”

“Well, Marshal, I don’t think that fire was an accident.”

“What do you mean?” Matt asked as he rubbed his neck.

“There was a strong smell of kerosene not only on the door, but on the window as well.  Like someone had poured a large amount in those areas.  Somebody didn’t want Miss Russell to get out of that room alive.”

“Why would someone wanna’ do that?  We’re strangers in town.”

“I don’t know, Marshal.  You tell me.”

Matt stared at Virgil Ware, but he didn’t know the answer to that question.  Could someone who had a grudge against him have spotted him here in Cimarron and tried to take his spite out on Kitty? 

Matt scratched his head and turned to check on her.  It was nearly time for her dose of laudanum.  “Kitty…”  He touched her shoulder.  She was sweating.  He put a hand on her forehead and tried to wake her, but she didn’t respond.  Matt looked in alarm at Ware.  “She’s burning up with fever.  We need the doctor.”

Ware hurried to Crandall’s door and knocked loudly.  No answer.  Matt opened the door and strode to the bed.  Crandall lay passed out with an empty bottle of laudanum in his hand. 

tbc

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