Finding Kitty, Chapter 7 "House Call"

“Mr. Dillon?”

Matt stirred in his sleep at a noise, but only grunted and burrowed closer to the warm softness beside him.

“Mr. Dillon, you in there?”  A knock sounded at the door.  It was still the middle of the night. 

“Matt...?” an urgent feminine voice whispered near his ear.

“Hmmm?”

Kitty shook his shoulder.   “Matt, I think Chester is here.  Is the door bolted?” 

Matt’s eyes popped open and he rolled over, only to hit the hard wooden floor for the second time in one night.  “No bolt!” he whispered hoarsely, sitting straight upright, eyes now wide open.

“Oh!” Kitty cried.  “Are you alright?” she asked worriedly, peering over the edge of the bed at him in the semi-darkness of faded firelight. 

Matt jumped up as fast as his tired reflexes would allow.  He hissed to his bed companion, “I’m fine!”  then called loudly, “Coming!” all the while hastily combing his fingers through sleep-mussed hair and tucking his rumpled shirt back into his waistband.  He stopped and looked at Kitty questioningly.

“You look fine.  Answer the door!” she whispered impatiently.

Matt opened the door wide, smiling casually, “Chester!  Doc!  Am I glad to see you!”

Chester limp-hopped inside.  “Mr. Dillon, how is Miss Kitty a’doin’?  Is she any better?”

“Well, you can just see for yourself, Chester...  Doc!  Thanks for coming all this way.  Did you bring a wagon?”

“We sure did.  That’s what you asked for, isn’t it?  I wouldn’t have come out all this way just to...  Hey, where’s my patient?”  Doc questioned worriedly, peering into the dim room.

Propping herself on an elbow and rubbing sleepily at her eyes, Kitty smiled warmly at her old friend.  “I’m afraid you’ve come all this way for nothing, Doc.  I’m all better.  See?”

“Young lady, why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”  Doc came closer, perching beside her, surreptitiously eyeing the big empty hollow mashed down in the mattress next to where she lay. 

Chester exclaimed, “Miss Kitty, yer awake!  I’m so glad.  You gave us a purty bad fright, didn’t she, Mr. Dillon?”

Matt scratched at his head tiredly.  “You can say that again, Chester.  She fainted away, Doc.  A couple of times.  She’s got dried blood on her scalp, but she doesn’t recall what happened.”

“Is that so, Kitty?  You can’t remember what those men did to you?”

Kitty looked away, not able to meet his eyes.  She answered hesitantly, “It’s true, Doc.  I feel silly, but...I really can’t remember all of it.”

Chester muttered sympathetically, “Well, I swan...”

Matt quickly added, “Her side is hurting, too, Doc.”  He struck a match and lighted a couple of candles he’d discovered in the sideboard to give Doc some more light.  Then he stoked up the fire, adding wood until bright orange flames leapt and crackled comfortingly in the small room. 

Doc shook his head silently, peering closely at her wounded scalp through his spectacles.  “You have a headache, Kitty?”

“Yeah, Doc.”

“What about dizziness?”

“That, too.”

Matt complained, giving her the eye, “She didn’t tell me about that.”

She quipped dryly, “You didn’t ask.”

Looking directly at Kitty, Doc pointedly asked, “Who’s the president?” 

She returned his gaze strangely.  “The president?  What kinda’ question is that?”

“Tell me who the president is.”

“Ullyses S. Grant.  Doc, are you drunk or somethin’?”

“What year is it?”

“Eighteen seventy-six.  Why on earth are you asking me these silly questions?”

“Just checking your mental state.”  Doc scrubbed a hand over his mustache. 

“Doc, I’ve only got a headache.  I’m not crazy.  At least not yet.”

Doc chuckled and took her hand, patting it comfortingly.  “Honey, it sounds like you’ve got a concussion from some sort of blow to the head.  And you say you don’t remember any of it?”

“No, Doc...”

“Well, that’s not uncommon either--memory loss of the incident.  I need to do a thorough examination, to make sure nothing else is the matter with you, especially since you don’t remember what happened.  Matt, can we take her in the other room for some privacy?”

Kitty interrupted, “Ohhh, no...  I’m not goin’ in there.”

Chester asked, “Why not?”

Drolly, Matt replied, “It’s a long story, Chester.  Let’s you and me go outside while Doc takes care of Kitty.  Whattaya say?”

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Matt and Chester conversed out in front of the cabin in the moonlight, waiting for Doc to finish examining his patient.  Chester stared at Matt slack-jawed.  “Three snakes, you say?  Well, I’ll be...  That Miss Kitty is a wonder.  Why, if I’da been her, I don’t think I coulda laid still with that snake on top a’ me, a’starin’ me right straight in the eye.”

“She did it, Chester.  Faced him down.”

The door creaked open and Doc shuffled across the yard to join them.

Chester exclaimed, rubbing his forehead, “If that don’t beat all...  Doc, have you heard about the rattlers Mister Dillon and Miss Kitty tussled with today?”

Doc squinted at Matt.  “I sure did.  Kitty says you saved her life not once today, but twice.”

“Aw, Doc...”

Doc suddenly requested, “Say, Chester, would you mind going inside and sitting with Miss Kitty a spell while I talk to Matt here?  She really doesn’t need to be by herself with a concussion, and she’s a mite nervous since all those snakes tried to move in today.”

“Why, sure, Doc.  I’d be glad to.  Me and Miss Kitty’s got some catchin’ up to do anyways.”

“Now, Chester, don’t you wear her out with your gossiping.  She needs her rest.”

“I know, I know, Doc.  I’ll see if I cain’t get her to go back to sleep.  As soon as she tells me all about them snakes today...”  Chester muttered in astonishment to himself all the way back inside the cabin. 

Matt waited for Chester to close the door behind him before he turned to his friend.  “Doc?”

“Well, I was right.  She has a concussion.  Her reflexes aren’t the best and her balance is way off.  I’ll just have to keep an eye on her to make sure they don’t get worse.”

“What about her side?  Are her ribs broken?”

“I don’t think so, Matt.  But they’re bruised pretty badly.”  Doc stopped and rubbed a hand over his mouth before he could continue.  “Matt, the bruise was in the shape of a boot heel.  I think one of ‘em might’ve kicked her, maybe while she was down from the blow to her head.”

Matt couldn’t say anything.  He just stood, silently simmering.  Finally, he aimed a finger at the graves nearby.  “They’re buried over there, Doc.  They paid for what they did to her.  But I wish I could have just five minutes alone with whichever of those bastards hurt her like that.  Just five minutes.”  He scrubbed a hand over his two days’ beard growth.  “It might make me feel a lot better right now.”

Doc placed a hand on Matt’s arm comfortingly.  “I know what you mean, son.  But we’ve got to take care of her now.  Help her heal.”

“Doc, they didn’t...  I mean, they didn’t...hurt her...”  Matt fumbled, embarrassed, feeling his cheeks grow hot, and he was suddenly thankful it was dark where they were standing.

Doc realized what his friend was struggling to say.  “No, Matt, no...  I don’t think so.  And she doesn’t think so either.  Of course, we don’t know for sure, because of the memory loss due to the concussion, but she doesn’t have injuries I’ve found that would suggest that she was abused in that way.”

“What can you do for her, Doc?  How do you heal a concussion?”

“Well, that’s the problem.  A concussion is a bruise on the brain.  There’s no medicine for that.  Only rest and quiet.  I don’t want to put her in that wagon and take her home just yet.  Too bumpy.  She needs to lie still.  No excitement.  So that means no more snakes!”

“Doc, I’m real sorry about that.”

“Oh, Matt, I’m only joshin’.  Those snakes weren’t your fault, for heaven’s sake.”  He pointed an accusing finger at Matt.  “But Kitty did tell me you blame yourself for her being kidnapped to begin with.  What kinda nonsense is that?”

“Well, Doc, it was because she was with me that she got caught in the middle.  If it weren’t for me, she never would’ve been in that bank.”

Doc tugged at his ear and thought a moment, then explained, “Matt, there’s a lotta things you’ve done in your lifetime, especially in your youth, I dare say, that you could certainly take the blame for.  But you can’t go taking the blame for fate.  Kitty chose to be with you that day, didn’t she?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, is it her fault, too?  Do you blame her for getting herself captured?”

“Of course not, Doc.”

“And you can’t blame yourself either.  You’ll drive yourself plumb crazy taking the blame for everything bad that happens in this rowdy cowtown.”  Doc shook his head decisively.  “Plumb crazy.  Don’t you think I, of all people, should know?  I can’t take the blame for everything that goes wrong when people are sick or hurt.  Some things are just out of our hands.” 

“But, Doc, I worry about her.  I don’t want her getting hurt because of me.”

“Kitty knows the dangers.”  Doc looked him straight in the eye.  “Why don’t you let her decide?”

Matt shoved his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels as he thought. 

They stood, companionably quiet for a while, as they listened to the insects singing on the prairie and gazed up at the star-filled sky, each thinking their own private thoughts.  Finally, Doc urged, “Now why don’t we go back inside and rescue Kitty for the third time today?  I bet Chester is torturing the poor girl as we speak.”

Matt smiled and clapped Doc on the shoulder before they turned and ambled back to join their friends.

tbc

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