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Doctor Kincaid started the day as he had started the last few days. He awoke early in the morning and went to check on Lou. Although she seemed to be regaining more color every day, she still showed him no signs of waking. He then had to inform her devoted friends that there was still no change. Kid always took the news the hardest of them all. Out of everyone who knew and loved Louise, Kid was by far the most devoted. He spent every moment either by her side or making sure that she was being taken care of. “I doubt he’s really slept since it happened”, the doctor thought to himself with a shake of his head. He made his way down the stairs and opened Lou’s room door as quietly as he possibly could to try not to startle Kid, but to his surprise Kid was actually sound asleep with Louise tucked securely by his side. The sight warmed the old man’s heart. He knew that many would frown on these sleeping arrangements, but it made no difference to him. He’d never seen a couple more suited for each other, and Louise was already pregnant. He just wished that Louise would wake up, but he was thrilled that the Kid was finally getting some rest. His thoughts were interrupted by rustling from the bed. Kid was slowly coming to and was doing his best not to disturb Lou. “Morning, Doc”, Kid said with a voice that was raspy from sleep. “Morning to you too, Son. I trust you slept well”, he said while smiling. “Oh I don’t know if I ever slept so good”, Kid said excitedly. Doctor Kincaid had already begun preparing to give Lou her morning check up when he caught the enthusiasm in Kid’s tone. He turned slowly to face him and asked, “Really?”. “Yeah. I had the most incredible dream. Me and Lou were married. We had a family and a ranch. It was perfect”, Kid explained. “But that’s not the best part”, Kid began. “Well what is the best part, Kid?”, the doctor asked with real interest. “Lou woke up”, Kid almost shouted. The shock of the Kid’s words left him reeling momentarily. “I think the exhaustion has finally taken its toll”, he thought to himself. He did walk over to see Lou for himself, and he had to admit that she did look a lot better, but he still saw no signs of her waking. “Are you sure she woke up, Kid. I mean you’ve been taking all this really hard, not sleeping or really eating”, he said gently as he moved to place a hand on Kid’s shoulder. “Maybe you just imagined it and it felt real because you wanted it to be real with all your heart”, he finished sympathetically. Kid couldn’t help but smile at the kind old man. He knew how crazy he must have seemed to be lately, so he couldn’t blame him for thinking that he’d finally lost his mind. But he knew what happened last night. He knew that she woke up for him and that was all that mattered.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
He gave the doctor a soft pat on the shoulder before moving to stand by Lou. Doctor Kincaid followed Kid and stood close beside him. Kid leaned over a still sleeping Lou and whispered softly in her ear, “Sweetie, I need you to open your eyes for me and show the nice doctor that I haven’t gone completely crazy”.To the doctor’s amazement, Lou’s eyes began to move and then they opened. “Well I’ll be…”, Doctor Kincaid gasped as he took a slight step back. Kid placed a kiss on Lou’s forehead before he went to fill up a cup with water for her. “See. I told ya”, Kid said with a grin. “You sure did”, Doctor Kincaid laughed. He watched as Kid held Lou tenderly in his arms as he helped her sip the water. “Kid, I’m going to need to examine her and make sure that everything is really alright”, Doctor Kincaid said gently after Kid got up to put the cup away. “Alright”, Kid said reluctantly. He went back to reassure Lou that he wouldn’t be far and would be back soon before he went to stand outside her room door.
*Chapter Nineteen*
The examination didn’t take long. Doctor Kincaid could only describe Lou’s recovery as a miracle. “Well it looks as if they both are going to be just fine”, Doctor Kincaid proclaimed as he went out to talk to the anxious Kid. “I’m still going to want her to stay here for at least another day, preferably two just to be on the safe side”, he added cautiously.“Oh that’s fine. Whatever and however long it takes for her to be alright is fine with me”, Kid said excitedly. For the rest of the morning Kid walked around like a man who had been given a new lease on life. Jimmy and Buck were ecstatic when they arrived at the doctor’s office and were greeted by the news of Lou’s recovery. It seemed to everyone that things were going to work out just fine after all. Kid still spent every minute by Lou’s side, making sure that she was comfortable and not trying to do too much too fast. Lou was determined not to let what happened slow her down, and it took a lot of patience and reasoning to keep her in bed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Kid, you can’t expect me to just lay in bed for the next two days!”, Lou whined.“Lou you been in this bed for the better part of a week already. What’s a few more days gonna hurt?”, he tried to reason. “Yeah, Kid. The only problem with that fine piece of logic is that I was UNCONSCIOUS at the time!”, Lou shot back. Although she was stiff and her head hurt, she was already starting to feel more like her old self and it was frustrating not to be able to act like herself. “Kid, I ain’t asking for much here. I just want to get out of this bed and walk around”, she complained. “Maybe you and me can take a stroll back to my place”, she added with the hope that she could bribe him into changing his mind. “You have no idea how much I’d love to, Lou, but you ain’t ready for that yet”, Kid said patiently. Lou gave a growl of frustration before turning her back to him. “Lou, I ain’t doin’ this to be mean or anything. I know your mind is tellin’ ya that you can do everything that you were doing a week ago, but you can’t, sweetie. You’ve been through too much to try and jump back into your regular routine. You and our baby need more time to recover. I know it’s gonna be hard but you gotta do it, Lou, for our baby’s sake if nothing else”, he said gently. Lou knew he was telling the truth. She just hated the idea of being totally dependent on everyone, but she realized that she didn’t have a choice. She had to do whatever was best for her baby and Kid. So, she slowly turned back over to face him and conceded the argument. She was rewarded with a kiss and heart-stopping smile. At that moment the door opened and Jimmy and Buck walked in. “A little soon for all that ain’t it, Kid?”, joked Buck. “Hey there, beautiful. It’s great to have you back with us”, Jimmy said from the foot of her bed. He was so relieved he could barely stand it. He still thought she looked pale and he could tell that she was still pretty weak and that was what kept him from running up and grabbing her into a bear hug. “I know you didn’t think you could get rid of me that easily, Hickok”, Lou said teasingly. Jimmy could only laugh. “Yeah, you’re gonna be just fine”, he said after the laughter subsided. “I see your injuries haven’t slowed down that mouth of yours, Lou”, Buck spoke up from the back. “Yeah, well I don’t think they could come up with a way to keep her from speaking her mind”, Kid stated with a grin. His remark earned him a weak but heart felt slap on the arm from Lou. “Awww, sweetie, you know I’m just kiddin’”, Kid said with a smile. Lou just rolled her eyes and continued to act upset until Kid began to get nervous and started apologizing. She then gave him her cutest face to let him know she wasn’t really upset. It was the Kid’s turn to feign hurt feelings. “You know one of these days that trick ain’t gonna work”, he said with a grin before leaning in for a kiss.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The day passed quicker than Lou thought. Jimmy and Buck stayed for a while longer before returning to the jail. Mrs. Lilian arrived soon after Jimmy and Buck left. She kept Lou company while Kid left on a mysterious errand. Lou enjoyed the older woman’s company and Mrs. Lilian was eager to chatter on about absolutely nothing at all. Lou tired more easily than she thought she would and she found herself dozing off during the conversation. After Lou dozed off for the third time, Mrs. Lilian decided it would be best to end the visit. Lou was apologetic and guilty over her lack of attention and tried to get the kind woman to stay a while longer, but Mrs. Lilian politely refused. She was just so glad that Louise was going to be alright that she had no hard feelings.As Mrs. Lilian was leaving, she ran into the Kid who was arriving. “You look like a young man who’s on a bit of mission”, Mrs. Lilian said curiously. Kid was definitely excited about the way things had gone that day. He’d put a lot of thought into his plans over the last few days and things appeared to be working out just right. He just hoped that Lou would be as excited as he was. “Why yes I am”, he said with a grin but didn’t allow the old woman the opportunity to delay him with the series of questions he knew were coming. He just leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek before saying, “Wish me luck”, and then he was off to see Louise. Louise heard the door open. She was trying her best to keep from falling asleep before Kid returned. He had been gone for the better part of the day and she had missed him. She turned her head to see who was coming to see her, hoping that it was Kid. Kid slowly peeked his head through the opening. He didn’t want to disturb her if she was sleeping, but to his joy she wasn’t. Wordlessly, Kid came on in, but made a point to shut the door without turning his back to her. Lou looked at him curiously as he made his way to her side. She held her hand out for him take, which he did while making sure that his other hand remained hidden behind his back. “He’s definitely up to something”, Lou thought to herself. “Whatcha up to, Kid?”, Lou asked quizzically. For a while her only answer was a shy smile and some fidgeting. “Well, Lou”, he started nervously. “Lou, ummm…you and me…well, we’ve been through a lot lately and I was thinking that….”, he dropped off. “Kid, what is it? Is something wrong?”, Lou began to worry. “What can’t you say to me?”, she asked unsure if she really wanted to know the answer. “No, sweetie, it’s nothing like that”, Kid hurried. “Don’t mess this up”, he whispered to himself under his breath. “Lou, well….ummm….here”, he stammered as he brought out a bouquet of lilies from behind his back. “Oh, Kid, they’re beautiful”, she gasped as she brought the bouquet up to her face and breathed deeply. She could feel tears coming to her eyes at this sweet gesture from the man she loved more than anything. Kid let out a relieved sigh at her obvious excitement at his gift. “Well let’s see if my luck holds”, he thought to himself as he took a deep breath to try and prepare himself for what he had to do next.
*Chapter Twenty*
Lou was thrilled at Kid’s surprise gift. Although staying in bed wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be, she still missed being a part of the things that happened on the other side of the door. She was so caught up in the flowers she didn’t notice that Kid wasn’t quite finished surprising her.“Ummm, Lou”, he started. Lou looked up and immediately knew that Kid wasn’t done yet. “Kid, I can’t think of anything that could top these flowers right now. You have no idea how happy you’ve made me”, Lou said sincerely. “Well, in that case, how about you returning the favor?”, Kid said with a grin. Lou had no idea what he was talking about. “Kid, you know I haven’t got anything to give you right now. I haven’t been out of this bed but twice all day, and I doubt I could bring you anything back from the outhouse that would make you smile”, Lou said sarcastically. Kid couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s my girl”, he thought to himself. “Oh, Lou, you have no idea what you’ve already given me”, he said seriously. He placed the flowers on the nightstand by her bed and took hold of both of her hands. He then gently turned her so that she sat facing him with her legs hanging off the side of the bed. Lou still had no clue as to where Kid was going with all this. “Alright, Lou. What I gotta say, ain’t easy, so don’t interrupt”, he began. Lou just nodded her head in agreement as she sat nervously on the edge of her bed. Kid released her hands long enough to pull the chair up so that he could sit in front of her. “Lou, like I told ya, this ain’t easy”, he repeated. Lou couldn’t hide the giggles that escaped. He gave her a dirty look before joining in on her laughter. After a few moments, he took her hands again and brought them to his lips for a gentle kiss and then started again. “I know I probably didn’t start this off well, but I can’t go on without setting something straight. You have given me everything I never thought I could have. You’ve given me loyalty, passion, honesty, devotion, and most importantly, love. I never knew that there was a love out there for me, not like yours. Before you, Lou, I was just existing. With you, I’m living. You make me feel alive in ways I never thought were possible. I didn’t know anything was missing in my life before I met you. Now I know that I need you to make me whole inside”, Kid said before emotions threatened to take over and choke him up. Lou couldn’t believe what he was saying. Never in her life had anyone ever said such wonderful things to her. And for them to come for the Kid left her astounded. When Kid stopped suddenly in the middle of his speech, Lou feared that this was a bad sign. Kid saw the look of worry on Lou’s face and hurried to put her at ease. “Even now you still surprise me, Lou”, Kid continued. “Just when I thought you couldn’t make me happier, you turn around and give me the biggest gift of all. You give me a child and the promise of a family. You have no idea what it means to have that with you, Lou”, he said as he reached to gently touch her face. “And even after all you’ve given me, I still have one more request to make”, he said with a sly smile. At this time, Lou would have given him the moon wrapped in paper made of stars. Instead she simply said, “Anything”. “Well, Lou. I’d wait and see what it is first. You never know. You might wanna slap me or something”, Kid said jokingly. Lou shook her head a little too vigorously in disagreement and the room began to spin. “Whoa, Lou”, Kid said worriedly. “Maybe now ain’t the best time for all this”, he continued. Lou just shook her head emphatically. “Alright, Lou, just make sure you’re up to this”, he said. “I’m sure”, she said quickly. “What is it you want, Kid?”, she asked patiently. “You”, he said simply. Lou laughed softly before saying, “You’ve had me for a while now, Kid”. Kid laughed softly too before continuing. “I want you legal and all. I want to have a ceremony with a preacher and I want us to come together in front of everyone who means anything to us and pledge our lives to each other. And I want to there to be a piece of paper out there for all the world to read and know that you and me are gonna be together forever”, Kid explained. Lou almost fainted dead away right then. She couldn’t believe he was asking her again, especially after the last two times ended in disaster. Kid could see the shock on her face and was tempted to quit while he was ahead, but he decided to test his luck one more time. “I know you’re probably thinking that this really isn’t the time or place for this right now, but if you ask me now is the best time. I’ve wanted for this so long, Lou, but I kept putting if off. I kept waiting for the right time, and then all this happened, and I realized that by waiting for the right time, I almost lost my chance. Nothing has ever scared me as much as the thought of losing you and the life we started together, and I don’t wanna wait any more”, he said passionately. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet bag. With trembling hands, he pulled out the ring he’d saved for months to buy, but never got to give to her. Lou gasped at the sight of it. Although it wasn’t huge and flashy, she thought it was the most beautiful thing she’d laid eyes on. “Lou, you and our new family are the most important things in the world to me, and I would love nothing more than to be able to promise you that you’ll never have to worry about anything ever again, but I can’t. However, I can promise you that I will spend every day I have left on this earth doing whatever I can to make sure that you and our family are well taken care of. I swear to you that I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe and happy. So if the promise of a simple life with me is enough for you, would you please give me the honor of being able to call myself your husband?”, he asked as he held the ring to her finger. “Will you marry me, Lou?”, he asked emotionally. There were several seconds of nervous silence that caused Kid to hold his breath. Then all of a sudden there was burst of excitement as Lou shouted. “Yes!!!” and flung herself off the bed and into his waiting arms. They talked and kissed and celebrated for hours afterwards. As the night drew closer, they lay in the bed making plans for the wedding and the future. They lay contentedly in each other’s arms, both on the verge of sleep when an explosion rocked through the quiet town.
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