scurlock | oom: room 25

"Shh," she hushes, as she leads his trembling body into the bathroom, full-on nurse-mode taking over a little. "Not a bother. Y'just stand right here while I draw you a bath."

She abandons his side and quickly kneels at the tub, fiddling with the knobs until she gets the temperature right. It doesn't take too long for her to figure out how to stop up the drain with the pull-lever, and, glancing over her arm, she notices a bottle of Epsom salts on the edge of the tub.

Bless Bar's heart.

She pours some into the flow of running water, and then stands again to face Doc. She takes a moment to roll up her sleeves, and calm her racing heart.

She sets to unbuttoning his long-sleeved shirt, since his hands are shaking too much to do it himself. She keeps her eyes on the task, afraid to meet his and feel the color rush into her cheeks. She helps him pull off his suspenders and peel out of the shirt when she's done, hooking the hem of his long-sleeved undershirt with her fingers and encouraging it over his head.

"I'll go git you some hot food and some more towels, so's you can have some privacy while y'git in," she murmurs softly.

Edited 2008-12-10 06:18 (UTC)

"Thanks," he says, as he moves to sit against the edge of the tub, trying to use his toes to catch the heel on the other boot, spurs clinking gently against the tile.

Doc can't quite coordinate the effort between his foot and his leg and his brain, so after a few seconds of trying he sighs (frustrated) and then looks up at her.

"Can you help me yank 'em off? I can't...can't fargin' think clearly 'nough to know what I should be doin'."

Looking up at her, he looks quite the part of the cold, wet, lost stray puppy in need of a warm bed and a hot meal.

She clearly can't say no to that face.

She moves close to him, one hand going to his waist while the other reaches around his body and turns the faucet off, now that the tub is full. While she is close, she leans in and gives him a gentle peck on the lips. It's innocent, and full of affection.

"'Course."

She kneels in front of him, carefully easing his feet from the boots one by one. She sets them off to the side, and gently removes his sopping wet woolen socks, careful not to disturb his, no doubt, aching feet too awful bad as she does so.

He curls his toes (they all move, albeit slowly) against the floor and sighs gratefully, knowing that they'll warm up once he gets into the bath behind him.

"Thanks, darlin'."

For the kiss, too.

Doc smiles a little despite the cold sinking into his legs from his wet pants and underthings, but he won't be taking those off until she's out of the bathroom and out of his room.

It just wouldn't be proper.

She sighs gratefully, too, when his toes work just fine. They're red, of course, but not frostbitten at all.

"All right," she nods, getting back to her feet. "You're welcome, sweetheart. I'll be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail, you just take it easy until then."

And she leaves him to get undressed.

Once he hears the door close, he leans his body forward and runs his hands through his hair, before he pushes himself back up to standing on both those cold feet to strip out of his pants and his longjohns, fighting with them a little since they're sticking to his skin.

He tests the water, debates the temperature, and then glances at the door before quickly draining off a few inches and cranking it on completely hot.

More Epsom salts go into the water, but he grabs a bottle of bubbles out of the cabinet over the sink and then throws those in too. Once the tub is full again, he slips into the water (slowly and with several choice swear words at just how hot it is against his cold skin) and then dunks himself completely under.

When she returns, he's up to his neck, head tipped back, eyes closed, relaxing.

The occasional shiver still runs over him, but they're getting fewer and farther between.

While downstairs, Katherine approaches Bar with a veritable list of items to bring to Doc. She orders another hot toddy and a big bowlful of hot chicken and dumplings in a light gravy, with hearty vegetables and warm, crusty bread.

She also asks for some spare blankets, and more warm towels. The towels appear immediately on the bartop, along with a pair of flannel pajama bottoms, thick socks, and a long-sleeved thermal.

'The food, drink, and blankets will be brought up shortly.
Anything else?'

Katherine smiles warmly, gathering up everything, and shakes her head. "No ma'am, that's fine for now. Thank you kindly."

Even with nurse-mode on, she has the forethought and manners to knock on the bathroom door before reentering.

"S'open."

Doc hadn't even bothered to close it all the way, but she'll find his clothes in a wet pile near the tub, boots kicked over and the heels leaving mud and snow melting on the floors, and him sinking lower into the water to put his chin into the heat.

He glances over at her when she enters, cracking one eye open to look at her.

(Wondering if she'll say anything about the bubbles.)

She notices, of course. Her eyes skitter up to meet his, the barest hint of a smirk pulling at one corner of her mouth.

If anything, she's gotta be grateful, the bubbles aiding the Epsom salts to make the water murky. No peep shows here.

"You sound better," she comments, setting the towels down by the tub (the clothes she left on the dresser outside), as she moves to collect his discarded things and clean up a bit of his mess.

"Feel a little better already," he says. "Though might be the company."

Always the charmer, he is. He shifts a little to sit up, the tops of his shoulders breaking the water as he watches her, and he waves a hand at his clothes. "All those need t'go straight in the hamper, damn near filthy at this point," he mutters, not wanting her to deal with his dirty laundry for longer than she has to.

She smirks, gathering the 'filthy' items into her arms, before turning back to the tub.

"Just gettin' them outta your way," she says, leaning down to give him another peck before she moves out of the bathroom. She deposits the dirty clothes in the hamper, and then sets the boots on the lid (after having wiped the soles off on a towel so they wouldn't drip too badly).

"Dinner's on it's way," she calls, reentering the bathroom and moving back to his side. "'Long with another hot tea."

She settles on the floor, elbows on the edge of the tub as her eyes watch his face. She reaches a hand into the hot water, before running it through his weather-dampened hair.

"You gonna tell me 'bout Kansas, Outlaw?" she murmurs.

"S'not really much t'say about it," he tells her. "S'flat."

Doc's got that amused little 'I'm being a brat and you know it and I know that you know it' look on his features, but he grins at the mention of dinner and another hot tea.

"You'll never guess who I met this evenin', though," he comments, as he stretches slightly and settles in the tub, down to his neck again in the heat. From his tone, the meeting didn't go badly at all. In fact, he might be a bit prideful.

She sighs, resting her chin on one folded arm. Her eyes stay on his, meeting his look with one of her own.

(Hers says something more along the lines of, 'You know what I was getting at you little brat, don't make me get out the ruler and thwap you upside the head.')

But, out loud, she simply says:

"Oh? Who was that?"

She's still moving small handfuls of hot water up to his hair, running her fingers through the damp locks, letting little rivulets curl through his sideburns and off his beard.

(From the looks of that beard, he hasn't trimmed it in about a week.)

"One'a the Mastersons," he replies.

A beat.

"Not Bat, though."

To further explain, after a few more seconds of silence. "I left Larned this mornin' 'fore the sun came up, made it down to Dodge City just after nightfall. Got caught outside town in the weather."

She straightens when he utters the name, eyes going wide and mouth slightly open.

"Was it Jim or Ed?" she asks, before he can even get into the rest of his explanation.

Dodge City.

Holy cow.

"Jim. Ed's been gone since what, '78?"

Doc feels a twinge in his back and winces slightly before he pushes himself up a bit, to rest his arms on the edge of the tub and flex his hands in the warm air of the bathroom.

"He's the Deputy Marshal. Walked right by me. Actually told me t'get inside 'fore I froze to death."

"Yeah, seventy-eight. Forgot the year you'd be wanderin' about in."

Milliways does that.

She doesn't like the wince on his face as he shifts his body, moving back from the edge to let him rest his arms there instead. She reaches for the hand closest her body, fingertips gently massaging the tendons and delicate little bones, encouraging the blood-flow back into his own fingertips.

"How's your joints feelin'? Got any stiffness or loss of motion?" she asks softly.

Assessing the damage the cold has done to his body is greater than her interest in his Masterson story.

...For now.

"Ain't all that bad, jus'a bit sore from bein' a week out in the saddle an' the cold."

His left hand (the one she has) is a different story altogether. Everything works just fine, but as she works over his bones she'll be able to feel the damage that is under the skin, bones healed not-quite-right and the scar tissue that covers.

He normally doesn't let anyone get a good look at that scar, let alone touch and feel like he's letting her do right now.

"Jus'cold," he murmurs.

She nods weakly, eyes lowered to their hands as she tenderly massages each finger, moving from the base to the tip and back down again.

There are strange, tough malformations in his palm, beneath that slick scar, that she is concentrating on. She knows what they're from. She knows, too, the tightness she feels has nothing to do with his week in the saddle, or the cold.

Her eyes flick up to his, piercing blue on cold gray-green.

Doc's eyes are on hers, with an even, calm gaze.

(Anyone else, he might tell them to not even dare to ask.)

"Bullet did a lot of damage goin' straight through like it did," he murmurs. "By the time I got 'round to settin' the bones back in place, keepin' it wrapped the best I could...damn thing bled for days. Damage was done, they healed back the best they could."

Her return gaze is just as even, just as calm.

She nods, the action somewhat stronger this time, and slowly lifts his hand to her face.

She doesn't break eye contact as her lips fall to the scar. She kisses it tenderly once, twice, three times, fingers still exploring the mis-set bones and tight bits of muscle.

"Jim Masterson didn't give you any trouble?" she asks, voice muffled behind his palm.

"No ma'am," he replies, his eyes on her as she kisses his hand and her fingers trail over his skin. "Not a lick."

Doc pulls in a quiet breath and then exhales, slow and easy.

"Fingers work just fine. Can't quite make a fist, some days, but ain't like I'm a pugilist like Charlie is," he says, before he closes his eyes. "Was."

"Good," she says in reply to his first statement, slowly lowering his hand and reaching for his other.

She would have asked more about his encounter with Deputy Marshal Masterson, had not his final words made her flinch.

"You do a lot of fightin' with Charlie?" she asks softly, lightly, hoping to draw the conversation around to some good memories.

Or, at least some funny ones.

"Yeah. Well...he did most'a the fightin', really. I was never much of a fighter, usually jus'kept an eye on things when John was in town. I'd go into town with him, while the other boys stayed back, ran the ranch."

Doc smiles slightly and rests his head against the edge of the tub, eyes still closed.

"They'd always be gettin' into scuffles an' scraps, while we was gone," he says.

She chuckles softly, repeating the slow, gentle action of her fingers on his right hand, taking her time to massage and warm each finger, each muscle.

"Y'only do your fightin' in bars, with men of Sherwood?" she teases gently.

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