The Pale Horse

Tenth

Lana thought it would have been like fireworks finally going off as you waited in the damp of the night on the Fourth of July. But it was like coming home from a long trip as a child. You would run straight to the comfort of your bed. There was no anxiety with the antidote he had given her. It was the same for Doc, though he was surprised at the absence of the yearning to ravish Lana. He didn't mind just kissing her.

The wetness of the tears that had streaked down her face was lukewarm against where Doc's face had touched hers. Neither had moved their lips against the other's, let alone breathed. It was the sweetest and most gentle touch Doc had ever shared with a woman. He'd never kissed a woman the way he had Lana, and he never would. He never experienced the world standing still until that day. His hand that was on her cheek shifted slowly as if he might break her, into her hair near the temple of her head. It dropped slightly, Doc tucking strands of hair behind her ear as he pulled away. He opened his eyes and she followed suit. The pair were caught in time, just staring at the other briefly as if they couldn't believe what was in front of them.

***

Doc could hear the coward, Sheriff Behan bickering with Marshal White about who would go outside to disarm the ever-wild, Curly Bill. The roll of his eyes was automatic as he stopped pressing the ivory keys in front of him to look over his shoulder. Beyond the peripheral sight of Kate's shoulder against his back, even further beyond the two lawmen, and a world away from the lettering on the glass, he could see Lana leaving the saloon through one of the windows. He was too far to see how puffy her face was, but he could tell she had been crying by the shaking of her frame, and the wiping she was performing at her eyes with the sleeve of her blouse.

Another figure came into his field of view, blurring his vision. Wyatt Earp, moving in order to avoid being put into the situation outside, Doc thought. The look on Wyatt's face said differently. His piercing eyes were on Doc, not having to utter a word. Wyatt cocked his head toward the window as Lana was scurrying away.

"Damn you, Wyatt," Doc sighed as he turned away from his good friend, closing the fall board of the piano before looking back at Wyatt again. His eyes trailed to the Sheriff and Marshal behind Wyatt. Doc playfully cocked his head as he grinned, and it was Wyatt's turn to sigh.

If Doc was to go after Lana, Wyatt should try and help out with Curly Bill. Doc knew that he would. The oak just couldn't help it.

Doc got up from the bench to Kate's surprise. She reached out and grabbed at his arm loosely, urging him to turn around where he stood, and so he did.

"Are you alright?" she asked with waned concern. Asking about how he was feeling, or even his condition seemed like a protocol now, second nature, done without much of a caring thought. There was no depth in those blue eyes of hers.

"Right as the mail," he answered her with a smile as he gathered his tailcoat onto his person. Now seemed a good time as any to tell her what he had to. After putting his arms through the holes of his coat, he put his hand to Kate's chin, his thumb right on the edge just as he had done so many times and for so many years. She blinked back up at him from where she sat, the look in her eyes, as previously said, not the same as it once had been. He and her both knew it. For a brief moment, he merely looked at her, bittersweet memories scattering across his mind like pages lost in the wind.

"Though. We must talk darlin'. It appears we must redefine the nature of our association," he told her while withdrawing his hand.

By the look on Kate's face, he knew it wasn't what she wanted to hear. Her head tilted as if she was talking to a madman.

"I'm a good woman to you, Doc. Don't I always take care of you?"

Doc nodded his head, although that predicament was up for debate.