•Tombstone• Brothers Under The Sun

Chapter 32

𝓕𝓸𝓻 𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝔂𝓮𝓭 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽.

A clock kept time in the room. The sound the clock moving and turning was all that could be heard.

Tik Tok.

Tik Tok.

Time was everything, in this very moment it was. Every second that passed, he worried. Every minute that passed, he prayed. Every hour, he begged God to keep her alive.

Doc wasn't a religious man, he never was. His parents raised him as Catholic but he never feel into that when he was a kid. He hating going to church and doing all those holy things.

But here he was, leaning back in a chair in the corner, in front of her bed. Praying in his mind for her to be okay.

Doc Holliday was brought make to when he was a teenager, his mother, laying in bed, dying of tuberculosis. He prayed then too, he loved his mother, and seeing her so sick made him pray for her safety. That was probably the last time he prayed before that in that room.

He found it kind of ironic, the amount of times he's been knocking on deaths door, he had never prayed once for his own safety.

But here he was, praying for the girl he met in Tombstone.

The door creaked open and the wood squeaked as she walked along its wood. She stood there with a candle in hand, her face only visible with an orange hue.

"I can bandage up your wound now." She had just returned from washing her hands.

Doc didn't look away from Ellanora's unconscious body. "I'll be fine." He coughed.

The woman stepped closer and grabbed a cloth and water from the bed side. She lay the candle down next to Doc which lit up his facial expression. Exposing to the girl that he was sweating.

"It'll only be a moment." She said watching his eyes flicker like a candle flame.

Doc Holliday looked up at the girl and stood there with pleading eyes. He nodded and sat forward in the chair, pulling his sleeve up to expose his wound.

The girl dipped the cloth in water and started to clean the wound. "She'll be alright." She whispered to him.

Doc said nothing, he instead looked at the nurse cleaning his arm, his gaze then lifted back to Elle.

The nurse wrapped the wound up and walked to the cabinet, she pulled out a new white button up and lay it next to Doc. "You should change." She whispered.

The woman then looked to Elle who was pale as the cloth around her, her brow covered in sweat. Her lips were cracked and soon would bleed. The nurse walked over and grabbed a wet cloth. She sat on the floor, dress flowing behind her. Gently, she lay the cool cloth over her head and wiped the sweat off her brow. She brushed the hair back and lay her hand on her forehead.

Standing up again, she turned to Doc whose eyes didn't leave Elle. She took the cloth and walked next to Holliday and took the candle from the table next to him. She silently walked to the door and stopped.

"I've done everything I can." She said, Doc turned to her, "It's up to her now."

The nurse looked at Doc whose eyes were emotionless. She gave him a weak smiled and slipped out of the room.

Doc turned back to Elle. He was tired. Tired of praying and hoping Elle would be alright. His arm was pulsing, the pain shaking his body. A cough escaped his lips, taking the air in his lungs with it. With one final glance at Elle, Doc Holliday slipped into his own mind. Sleep had finally consumed the man.

A noise from outside shook the unconscious Doc awake. The sound of horses and men from outside. Standing his from the chair, he walked out into the hall and down the stairs. Upon stepping onto the deck, he was greeted by Wyatt and the others.

The nurse stood there talking with Wyatt. Once the two men saw each other, they felt a wave of safety and relaxation fall on them like a sheet.

"How is she?" Wyatt asked Doc.

Doc didn't have the words, because he didn't know the answer.

"She's hanging on." The nurse said once she saw Doc wasn't going to answer.

She then walked the men into the house and out of the sun. Doc didn't even realize the sun had come out. The two walked up the stairs and into the spare room on the second floor.

Doc entered the room with Wyatt close behind. With the sun in the sky, the room was finally seen in full. The window was open next to the bed, the white sheer curtain flowed gracefully in the wind. A dresser stood near the corner where Doc was sitting, the chair being an old fabric red. The clock still kept time on the nightstand next to the bed. The bed was covered in white sheets that stained red from the events of last night.

The frantic pressure on the wounds and the needle and thread came into Doc's mind. He had raced through the valley and found the house Eliza was talking about. He had jumped off the horse with Elle still unconscious in his arms. He yelled and knocked on the door until a man opened it with a candle in hand. Doc told him about Eliza and the nurse she knew was here. The husband got his wife and once she saw Elle, she rushed Doc inside and lay Elle on the spare bed where she lay now.

Looking down at himself, he saw he still wore the bloody shirt and her blood dried to his skin.

But she was still there. The room was white like her, her pale complexion haunted the two men. Stepping forward, Wyatt looked at Ellanora and felt apart of him break.

"Has she woken up?" Wyatt asked not looking at his friend.

"No." Doc whispered.

Wyatt looked at Doc and then back at the girl. He stood a step forward and moved closer to her body. Sitting on the chair that the nurse was on white she cleaned the cut in her cheek, he leaned forward and grabbed her hand. Her hand was ice, cold and lifeless. Putting the hand closer to his mouth he kissed it, as Doc looked on.

"I can't lose you Ellanora. Not this way." Wyatt whispered just enough for Doc to hear it. "I can't lose my brother again."