His Cure

Urban Pleasures

The next morning I awoke, Arthur was gone. I assumed he was needed for a job or something.
I sat up in his bed and stared at the wall for a minute before putting my face in my hands. Kieran... it just didn't seem real. I sniffled as I tried to pull myself together and swung myself out of Arthur's bed. I fell asleep here yesterday but I didn't care. I really needed the comfort last night and I could trust Arthur to keep his mouth shut.
I quickly fixed my hair before leaving his room and making my way downstairs.
"Hey, you okay?" I asked Mary-Beth as I walked over to the campfire. "I don't know... I just can't believe he's gone..." she replied with a sad look. "Me neither..." I was never any good at comforting people but I was trying my best as I knew how hard it was to lose someone you care that much about. "I came to find you this morning but you weren't in your tent..." she added after a moment. "I... uh... went for a walk as the sun rose." I lied. "The sun rose at 4am?" She asked sarcastically as she gave me an unimpressed look. "Oh... you came that early huh?" I replied as I knew the lie was over. Oops. "You were with Arthur weren't you? Ew were you...?" "What? No no! We just slept together." I said but quickly realised what that sounded like. "Ew, Liz! I didn't need to know that!" "No! Like in the same bed! We didn't... Christ..." "Ohhh, okay." She chuckled and I was happy to see that she was doing a lot better. "So you slept in the same bed huh?" "Yeah." "I heard screaming last night and just assumed you were having a fight." She replied as we sat down together. "No... we're okay." "Then what was the screaming about?" She questioned. I really didn't want to tell anyone about my breakdown last night because although I wasn't embarrassed I just didn't want everyone to know... okay maybe I was a little embarrassed. "Well, you see... I..." I trailed off as I really wasn't sure what to say next. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me." "Thank you." I replied, relieved.
"What are we talking about?" Robin asked as she interrupted our conversation but before I could reply, Mary-Beth chirped in, "Liz and Arthur shared a bed last night." "MARY!" I exclaimed as I jabbed her in the ribs. "Oops..." she giggled but I could see by the look on Robins face, this was not good news to her. "You what?! You do know that me and Arthur are basically a thing right? I can't believe you!" Robin exclaimed in her usual over dramatic tone. "Relax Robin. Neither of us wanted to be alone last night so we gave each other company is all." I replied, trying to defuse the situation. "I don't care! Stay away from him!" She yelled again which caused me to roll my eyes. I was so sick of her shit and, even though I knew I couldn't, I began to think about all the different ways I could punch her.
"What are you girls fighting about?" Arthur asked as he walked over to us. I was so distracted by our conversation that I didn't even notice him, Dutch and Lenny getting back to camp. "I can't believe you slept with her!" Robin barked before storming off in a huff. I rolled my eyes at her dramatics. "You told them we're havin' sex?" Arthur asked, sounding very concerned which caused Mary-Beth's eyes to widen to twice their usual size and my jaw to drop. He's such an idiot! "I didn't... you just did." I replied as I stared at him. "Oh... fuck." He muttered as his eyes got just as wide as mine. "You two had...?!" Mary-Beth exclaimed in shock which caused me to facepalm. "Good job Morgan..."
"Wait... you said 'having'... are you still having sex?!" She asked with pure shock across her face. "Well not this second, no." I grunted sarcastically which caused her to roll her eyes at me. "How long?! When?! Why?! Are you in love?!" She started spouting questions at us but we were interrupted by Lenny. "Arthur, you're supposed to be fetching Liz, not having a casual conversation!" He exclaimed as he jogged toward us. "Is everything okay?" I asked, slightly concerned at his panic. "Dutch needs you." He replied. "Alright, I'm coming." I said as I went to walk away but quickly turned back to Mary-Beth, "Not a damn word to anyone!" I exclaimed before following Lenny towards Dutch's tent. "Dutch?" I asked as I gently pulled back the flap of his tent. "Come in..." he groaned as I slid in. "What's up?" I asked as I saw him holding his head. "It was a god damn set up!" "What?" I questioned, slightly confused. "The robbery at the trolly station! Bronte set us up!" He exclaimed, clearly distressed. "Shit..." I muttered, "What happened?" "There was barely any money there and the law were on us faster than a pack of rabid wolves. We barely escaped. Got on a damn trolly but the thing wouldn't slow down and we crashed." "I knew there was something about him I didn't like." I replied but I noticed that Dutch had his hand on the back of his head. "Are you okay?" I asked as I took a step forward. "That's actually why I wanted to see you. I hit my head when we crashed and I've been seeing double ever since." "Oh, let me see." I said as I removed his hand from the back of his head and began feeling around. He definitely had a lump and I was worried about the possibility of a concussion.
"Alright, wait here." I instructed before walking out the tent and wetting a rag in the cool wash troth and making my way back to him.
"Here, put this on your head. You might have a concussion. Lay down and get some rest and you should be okay, but try to stay awake for at least 3 hours so you don't fall into a coma." I said honestly as I passed him the rag. "Thank you, Miss Cheban." He replied before laying down. "Get some rest." I finished before I walked out of his tent.
Bronte had set them up? I can't say I'm surprised. Saint Denis was his city. Why would he help a bunch of outlaws rob from it? My father always believed that 'revenge was an idiots game.' but something told me that Dutch wasn't just going to let this go.