🂱 • 𝚍𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚢 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘 • 🂱 ~ 𝒹ℴ𝒸 𝒽ℴ𝓁𝓁𝒾𝒹𝒶𝓎

chapter eight - breaking and entering

"You just let me know if you need anything, honey!" Allie Earp called from the next room over.

   "I will." Cheyenne replied, staring at the warm bath in front of her. Sitting in an old wicker chair, she glanced down at the bandages around her torso.

   It had been two days since Cheyenne had been shot. The doctor had said the stitches hadn't healed yet, but Cheyenne didn't care. She needed to bathe for her own sanity. 

   Doc didn't visit often. She had become worried about him, but she assumed he was fine. He could take care of himself. She needed her alone time, anyway. But Doc's health seemed to be declining. He needed to see a doctor himself.

But Cheyenne couldn't get attached to the man. She barely knew him.

   Cheyenne slowly unwrapped her bandages cautiously. Eventually she reached her bare stomach. Thick, harsh stitching spread across her side. She touched it, wincing in pain.

   "What the hell did that doctor do to me..." she mumbled to herself, removing the blood stained shift covering the rest of her. She grabbed the sides of the bath for support and slowly lowered herself into the warm water. Every part of her hurt. From her searing bullet wound, her sore bones from laying in bed all day, to her pounding head from lack of pain medicine. Cheyenne gritted her teeth and laid back in the bath. The dried blood on her torso would be a pain to scrub out. She had to regain her stamina first.

   Cheyenne tipped her head back and closed her eyes. Images of the gun fight and that subtle feeling of being shot filled her mind. She opened her eyes suddenly, grabbing a sponge. She slowly scrubbed her blood from her body, her mind somewhere else.

  She was riding the range on Spade as the sun set. They were galloping as fast as they could go. That feeling of absolute bliss and freedom filled her heart. Eagles soared overhead. The train horn blew beside Cheyenne as the locomotive chugged down the tracks. She grinned ear to ear, chasing it. They could almost keep up.

   Children in the train pressed their small hands up against the glass, watching the horse and rider in delight. Cheyenne laughed, waving at them. As the train turned east, she and Spade broke west and loped off toward the mountains.

  "Well look at you, darling! Free as a bird." A voice yelled behind Cheyenne and her horse. She turned over her shoulder, to see Doc Holliday and his gray thoroughbred. She smiled gleefully, spurring Spade forward.

   "Race you back to Tombstone!" Cheyenne laughed, looking back ahead, leaning forward and squeezing her horse on.

   "Miss Earp!" Doc laughed, yelling after her.

   "Cheyenne." a voice broke her daydream. Cheyenne blinked, looking down. She was still in the bath, bloody sponge in hand. Her body was clean.

  "Y-yes?" Cheyenne asked.

  "Are you alright dear?" Allie asked from in front of the privacy blind.

  "Yeah. I'm all done." She replied. Allie hummed, throwing a robe over the blind and walking out of the bath chamber.  Cheyenne rose, groaning in pain as she used primarily her arm strength to get out of the bath. She grabbed the robe and slipped it on, tying the silk string. The robe was lush and soft, unlike anything she'd ever worn before.

    Damn, my brothers live pretty highly. Cheyenne thought to herself.

    She slowly walked over to the nearby vanity, gazing at herself in the mirror. She was a mess. Her curly blonde hair twisted in every which way and her eyes were puffy from sleep.