The Last Love Of Arthur Morgan

A Fork in the Road

Despite their injuries, they didn't have any time to waste. It was Thursday and John was to swing on Monday. Their situation was grave.

Sadie told Arthur she was going into Saint Denis for some business and for him to meet her there. Arthur agreed, wanting nothing more than to get this over with.

As he pulled on his suspenders that morning, he felt a slight pull in his chest, right under his breastbone. He ignored it, figuring that it was a sore muscle from his outing with Sadie yesterday. It did, however, cause a mild coughing fit, which ended shortly after it began.

Afterward he quickly wiped his mouth, which didn't go unnoticed by Lorna.

"Is that blood?"

"Uh, what?"

She quickly moved over to him."Was that blood you just wiped from your mouth? Don't lie to me."

Arthur sighed, quickly wiping his hand off on his pant leg."No, it weren't nothin' of the kind. Wish you'd quit worrying about me, I'm a grown man."

"You're also my husband."

He grabbed his brown hunting coat with fringe off the bed, grabbed his hat and turned around to face Lorna.

"I gotta go, I won't be long. Stay away from Micah an' Skinny, they bother you, shoot 'em."

She snagged his arm as he walked away."For the record, I'll never stop worrying about you."

He nodded and leaned in, hesitating for a mere second, before pressing a gentle kiss to the side of her mouth. He quietly left the tent.

Lorna frowned and took a seat on their bed, a knot forming in her stomach.

There was blood on his hand, she saw it and he lied about it, which meant it happened before. Was he sick? Was it from his injury - did he puncture a lung?

Once her mind stopped screaming at her, she felt sick. Truly, completely and utterly sick. How could he lie to her? They made a pact about that very thing early on in their relationship, yet he seemed to constantly break his end of the deal.

Lily whining from her crib, suddenly pulled Lorna from her intrusive thoughts. She smiled at the welcoming distraction and dropped down to her level.

"Are you hungry? Shall we try some peaches today?" She cooed.

Lily laughed and reached for Lorna. The brunette smiled and happily took the babe into her arms, carrying her from the tent over to the food wagon.

...

Arthur rode away from camp feeling incredibly guilty. He knew he shouldn't of lied to Lorna, but he didn't want her to get upset. It was bad enough she spent the entire last year that way.

He stopped a few times on the side of the rode to puke and it was mostly bile. But his mouth was left with a sour, metallic after taste, which he quickly washed away with some brandy that was stored in his saddlebag.

He rode to Saint Denis in a fog - he didn't even greet the folks who passed him on the road. He was scared and really truly felt it today. Where did he go wrong? What the hell did he do?

Well if he was being honest, he'd done a lot of bad things in his life, so this really didn't surprise him. What bothered him the most however, was finding a woman that he really loved and accepted him and his insane lifestyle, starting a family, only for it to sour with him getting sick. It just didn't seem fair.

And as the dark and dreary city came into view, he began to really feel poorly. His chest tightened, making it harder to breathe. He thought for a moment that it was the haze that hung over Saint Denis, but remembered that it had never happened before.