His Cure

The Bridge to Nowhere

Arthur POV:
"Morgan." John shook my shoulder as he woke me up. "What?" I groaned as I sat up. "Dutch wants us to blow the bridge." "Now?" "Yes, now. Get moving." He replied before walking away.
Dutch wanted us to blow up Bacchus Bridge. There was no real reason to his madness but I've learnt not to question it. He says it's because we need 'noise' and it may distract the Pinkertons or something but, if anything, surely it was just drawing more attention to us which is the last thing we needed right now.
As I walked out of my tent, my eyes glanced over to Liz's tent. I felt as if I should go and talk to her before we left but I had an awful habit of making the situation worse.
"Liz?" I said from outside her tent but there was no reply. "Elizabeth?" I repeated, still nothing. Maybe she was still sleeping?
I pulled back the flap of her tent and peered in only to see that she wasn't in there.
"Hey, Sadie, you seen Liz?" I asked her as I looked around. "No, she didn't come back last night." Sadie replied and a horrible feeling flooded my heart. "She spent all night out there?" "I guess so."
There wasn't any problem with Liz spending some time away from camp but if she had spent the night in the area, there was always the chance that she may have bumped into the Murfree Brood. Shit.
"Arthur," John began as he walked towards me. "Alright, pipe down Marston. I'm coming." I replied as I rolled my eyes. "Arthur." He repeated so I turned to look at him. "Oh, hello?" I said as I spotted one of the men from Liz's tribe, Paytah, was it?
"Hello sir." Paytah greeted. "Liz ain't here." I quickly replied. "I know. She's with us." "She is?" I asked as relief took over my body. Thank god. "Yes. Our Chief wishes to speak with you." "He does? Why?" "Do you always ask so many questions? I don't know why." Paytah replied. "Alright, let's go." I said as we began walking to our horses.
"Arthur?" John asked, clearly unimpressed that I was abandoning him. "Sorry, we'll do it tomorrow, this is important." I replied as I mounted up. "Sure, whatever." John said, he didn't seem all that bothered.
"Let's go." Paytah added as we turned our horses and rode down the path.

Liz POV:
"Morning, you okay?" Eagle Flies asked me as I walked over to the campfire. "Yeah." I replied with a half smile.
I barely got any sleep last night but it did give me a lot of time to think.
I was going to have to go back to camp today anyway, whether I wanted to or not. I needed to give Arthur his next dose, plus, I had obligations. I couldn't just pack up and leave whenever I felt like it.
I was up all night thinking about what I was going to say to him but I eventually came to the conclusion that us going on a date, like I said, was a terrible idea. We were great friends and all but dating him? That definitely wasn't a good idea. I guess we just weren't compatible.
I wasn't mad at him for what he said, despite my actions last night. He was right. It was embarrassing, everyone's eyes on us like that.
I was just gonna tell him that it was a stupid idea and that we should just carry on as friends.
As I was sat around the campfire, I noticed Paytah riding towards us. I gave him a smile but it was instantly replaced with confusion as I saw Arthur riding with him. I had assumed that he had come to talk with me but to my surprise, he walked into the tribe and towards Rains Fall's tent. It was actually quite a relief. At least now I had some time to wake up before dealing with it.
I watched from a distance as he and Rains Fall exchanged a slight conversation before walking back towards their horses.
"Morgan." I called out as I walked over to them, pulling the needle out of my bag as I did so. I grabbed his arm and injected him as I asked Rains Fall, "Where you going?" "I apologise, but I need Mr Morgan to help me with the military." He replied. "I don't know why you're apologising, makes no difference to me." I responded, nonchalantly, before putting the needle back in my satchel and walking away. Last night I must have looked so weak and I couldn't allow that to happen again.

Arthur POV:
As I watched Liz walk away after injecting me, I felt awful. After every time she would do something that she considered as 'weak' she had a habit of distancing herself from others. Forcing herself to seem emotionless and as if nothing bothers her so that she can be perceived as 'strong' again. It broke my heart to be the reason she was currently in one of those places.
"Come on, Mr Morgan." Rains Fall instructed so we both rode away.
"So," I began after a moment of silence. "What you need help with?" "Nothing." He replied which surprised me. "But... you said—" He cut me off. "I know what I said. Would you have rather me told Beth the truth?" "What is the truth?" I asked as we turned a corner and began riding up a path leading to the top of a mountain.
"I need to speak with you." "What about?" I asked but I already knew. "Don't play dumb with me, Mr Morgan." He replied calmly which I understood. He was a wise man and you couldn't pull the wool over his eyes.
"I apologise." I replied. "It's fine. I'm going to cut right to the chase. Beth told me what happened. I understand that you are both adults and may do as you please but what YOU have to understand is that I have raised that girl since she was young. She's still my little girl to me. Are you understanding me, Mr Morgan?" "Yes, of course sir." I replied. "Good. Now, I don't know how much you know about her but she has been through a lot. I don't mind telling you that there was a point in her life when someone had to keep watch of her at all times as we were worried she would try and take her own life." Rains Fall explained which hurt. She had told me about the self harm thing on our date but I had no idea she was once suicidal. Jesus, I'm such a douchebag.
"I had no idea." I replied as we continued up the path. "It's okay, I don't expect you to know. She isn't exactly the most open about it as she has a rather large fear of being perceived as weak." He continued. "Oh, trust me, that much I know." I added. "Good. So you know that she pretends to be okay so that she seems unfazed and unbothered?" I nodded in reply. "So, when you speak with her later today, you should know that she will probably tell you that everything is fine and that she doesn't care. Trust me, I've been taking care of her for a long time, I know her tactics all too well. Just keep that in mind?" He asked which caught me slightly off guard. "You ain't gonna tell me off?" I questioned as I looked at him. "No. That doesn't get anyone anywhere. I'm basing this on the assumption that you didn't mean what you said and just said it because you assumed that she was ashamed and wanted to relate to her, correct?"
I was slightly taken aback by his words. That's exactly what happened. He was incredibly wise and I could suddenly see where Liz got it from.
"Exactly." I replied in slight shock. "I thought as much. Beth doesn't cry over anyone or anything. I remember when her boyfriend passed away, no one ever even saw her shed a single tear. I'm not saying that she doesn't have strong emotions, she just keeps them bottled up. But, for some reason, she cries over you. I've never seen her this way with anyone. You have the power to make her very happy but you also have the ability to break her. Do you understand me, Mr Morgan?"
"Yeah, I do." I replied. "The last thing I want to do is hurt her." I added. "Then don't." Rains Fall responded as we reached the top of the mountain, only to see a small tent that had clearly been burnt to the ground.