Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
BELLE COULDN'T FEEL ANYTHING. She didn't feel Billy's arms wrapping around her waist to pull her back into the cabin. She didn't feel the aching pain souring through her brain. She didn't feel the streams of salty tears slipping down her rosy cheeks that fell into her open mouth. She didn't feel her raw and sore throat. She didn't feel the fracture splitting through her chest.
She could only focus on the sight in front of her. She didn't want to look at it, but she also couldn't take her eyes away from him. She struggled against her restraints to scramble towards it, but she couldn't. Part of her didn't want to - knowing if she got any closer than she already was, it would only shatter her heart more.
She didn't know what she was going to do. Seeing a scene like the one she had just witnessed made my mind spin. As if, reality hit her with a train, she screamed, her voice cracking at the intense pressure of rawness and vomit rising in her throat.
"DOC!" Belle screamed, tears cascading harder down her face, as she managed to shove Billy away from her. "Baby, stay with me, please!" Belle begged, clutching the sides of his head, forcing him to keep his eyes open and to look up at her. Dave yanked the sobbing blonde away from her injured husband as Chevez and Hendry dragged him back into the cabin and away from the exposed doorway. "Get off me!"
Belle fell by Chevez' side, placing her hand tenderly on Doc's head. "It'll be ok, baby, I'm here for you, okay? We're gonna get out of here, just like you said, okay?" Belle weakly smiled, running her shaking hands through his blonde locks.
"I'm sorry, Belle," Josiah coughed out, looking up at his wife.
"You shut up, got it?" Belle sobbed, leaning down slightly to rest her forehead against his. "There's no need to apologise -"
"When there - there was n-no offence," Josiah choked out, grinning as he did.
"That's right, sweetheart, there was no offence," Belle whispered, her voice finally giving out.
"Give me a kiss, doll," Josiah said, his own voice low and croaky. "Please."
Belle nodded, leaning down to press a tender yet passionate kiss to her husband's lips. "I love you, Mr Josiah 'Doc' Scurlock, forever, 'til the end," Belle whispered against his lips.
"'Til death do us part," Josiah smiled painfully. "You're the love fo my life, Mrs Belle Scurlock," Josiah winced as he tried to sit up. "Chevez, get me up."
As Chevez propped Doc up, supporting him with an arm around his shoulders, Belle protested. "Josiah, please don't do what I think you're gonna do, please, Doc."
"I'm sorry, Belle," Josiah apologised, giving her one last kiss before he called for Billy. "Billy, let's finish the game!" Hendry tried to hold the blonde woman back as she watched Billy hand Josiah his gun.
Belle wailed as she watched Josiah stumble to the doorway, cocking the pistol in his hand. He sent Belle one last wink and nod, before rushing out the door, holding his gun in front of him.
He didn't stand a chance. He was dead within seconds.
Belle's knee gave up her, as she slumped in Hendry's hold who had lost his grip on prompting her to fall to the ground, grieving with a broken heart. Belle watched as Hendry and Dave ran out of the doorway, using Josiah's punctured body as a shield. Chevez glanced at Belle quickly before Billy ordered him to run out.
Billy stayed behind, ushering Belle to stand up and follow after them. "No."
"No?" Billy questioned as if she was insane.
"I'm not going, Billy. Without Doc, I have nothing," Belle silently cried, glancing at her husband's feet that poked behind the doorframe.
"What about your two boys back in New York, Belle?"
"They're better off without me. I'd rather be with Doc than go back to New York for something that I might not have anymore," Belle begged with Billy. "Please, get out of here."
Billy contemplated her offer, before shaking his head. "I can't -"
"Billy, if you ever loved me, you'd let me die here with my husband. When you get out of here, I want you to go to New York for me, and find my boys. Make sure they have a good life for me, please?"
Billy stared at her. With a sigh, the brunet nodded. "I promise, Belle," Belle smiled achingly, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek before ushering him out of the window to follow the three other men. "See you in another life, Miss Belle,"
"Hey! That's Belle to you," Belle croaked out a laugh as she watched Billy runoff.
Belle sniffed, grabbing her semi-white hankie from her sleeve, sticking it out of the doorframe, wafting it frantically, like a surrender. The gunshots halted and Belle stepped out, trying her hardest not to look down at Josiah's dead body.
"Sheriff Garrett, I'd like to speak to you please," Belle weakly spoke up from the side of the cabin. "I have no weapons, and I'm gonna step away from the cabin, ok? Just tell your men to stand down for me, please?"
Pat nodded, gesturing for his men to lower their guns. Pat rushed over the blonde girl who held her arms up in the air. "Miss Belle, are you surrendering?"
"You could say that," Belle began, pausing to sniff. "Before I offer my proposition, I need to ask one question that you know the answer to, alright?" Pat nodded stiffly. "Tell me what happened to my Charley and Richie, please?"
Pat sighed, knowing how difficult it has been for her to be away from her sons. "They are safe. They are still in New York with a foster family who happily took them in. I believe the foster family is your neighbours, Mr and Mrs Forman - the couple with the redheaded children. They miss their mother and father and wonder where you two went, but they are happy."
Belle smiled. "Thank you, Pat. Now, I want you to shot me, right through the heart, please."
"What?"
"I can assure you it won't hurt as much as the heartbreak I felt watching you shot down my husband," Belle accused with a deathly glare. "So, the least you can do is shot me down with him, and bury us together."
Pat grimaced at the idea, clearly not liking the thought of killing a woman, especially a mother and a close friend. But she was a criminal and he did partly kill her husband so he hesitantly nodded, raising his pistol to Belle's chest. Belle simply closed her eyes and held her head high as she heard his gun cock.
