Red River Valley: A Tennessee "Kid" Cooper x reader fanfic (on Hiatus)

5: Burning pain

(six weeks later)

(Y/n) was finally starting to get used to this place. If she never regained her memory at least Applewood was a nice place to start up a new life. In the six weeks since Tennessee had dropped off (Y/n) here she had managed to find herself a new home towards the edge of town. She had also managed to get a job as a waitress at a local restaurant. All things considered, (Y/n) was doing pretty well for herself.

Speaking of home, that's where she was off to now. She lived a small, cozy place that was a little cut off from the rest of the town. That was fine with (Y/n) though, she liked having her privacy. The house looked like it might have at one point been a small farm. There was even a small barn included in the property.

(Y/n) sighed tiredly and pushed open the front door. It had been a long, busy day at the restaurant. She headed to her room, ready to go to sleep. She pulled oped the doors of her wardrobe and glanced at the poster she had attached to the inside of one such door.

Tennessee, (Y/n) wasn't quite sure how to feel about the outlaw. He was a dangerous criminal who, according to George, would shoot you dead without a second thought. The only person he cared about was himself and he would crush anyone who stood in his way. If that was the case, why had he saved (Y/n) from those bandits? It didn't make any sense.

When (Y/n) had met him he had seemed kind and gentle, nothing like how George had described him. Maybe he was actually that bad, maybe (Y/n) caught him in a good mood. (Y/n) shook her head and sighed, there would be plenty of time to figure out what was going on tomorrow.

(Y/n) grabbed her nightgown and closed the wardrobe doors. She quickly got changed into the silky garment before walking over to the window. Carefully she pulls back the curtains and watches as the sun vanishes behind the horizon.

Regardless of what Tennessee was like, (Y/n) couldn't help but hope to see him again someday. Wherever he was right now, she hoped he was safe.

~~~

Tennessee was not having a good night. Apparently the coyote, whose name turned out to be Wiley Ramsey, was still holding a grudge over the shoulder incident six weeks ago. Now Tennessee was riding as fast as he could in an attempt to save his sorry hide.

He had been hoping to out maneuver or out run them but no dice. Tennessee made a hard right and tried to quickly come up with a plan B. He noticed the distant silhouette of Applewood on the horizon when an idea struck him. He might not be welcome in Applewood but neither were Wiley and his flea-bitten companions. All he had to do was make it over the next ridge.

He quickly steered his horse in that direction and speed off. Tennessee had just reached the crest of the ridge when two gunshots pierced the air. His horse reared up, spooked by the noise, causing Tennessee to fall to the ground. He rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding getting trampled in the process. Quickly, he leapt to his feet and, gun in hand, jumped over the ridge.

He would come back for his horse and the rest of his things once he was out of dodge. Up ahead Tennessee noticed a little farmhouse just outside of town, he could hide there. Once he was close enough Tennessee ducked around the corner and dropped to one knee, gun drawn.

After a while Tennessee realized that Wiley and the rest of his posse had stopped pursuing him. Tennessee figured that they most likely didn't want to attract the attention of whoever lived here. He waited a few more minutes just to be sure that they were really gone before he shakily rose to his feet.

"That was a might bit too close for comfort." Tennessee thought as he pressed a hand against the side of the building to steady himself.

Now that he was starting to calm down a bit Tennessee noticed an odd sort of numb feeling in his left hip. Confused, he glanced down only to immediately freeze up. He felt his grip on his gun loosen causing it to clatter to the ground.

"Oh....oh no...." he whispered.

Tennessee stared in shock at the spreading red stain above his hip. It was only when he realized that he'd been shot that he noticed the intense, burning pain. Shakily, he clutched his hand over the wound and stared down in disbelief. The next thing he knew he was laying on the ground, helplessly watching as everything faded to black.

***************************
Ouch....

Well this was "fun" to write.

Thanks for reading this. I might post the next part soon.

Love you guys 💛