────────── [ 𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐋 𝐌𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐘 ] ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
────────────────────────────── ✦ the doctor ✦ doctor's office ✦ tagged: marshall, jolene, koda ✦ ─────────
────────────────────────────── ✦ the doctor ✦ doctor's office ✦ tagged: marshall, jolene, koda ✦ ─────────
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- text abigail had bandaged marshall's hand more often than she could care to remember. splints and gauze on all sorts of wounds, a stethoscope in her hand to listen to his breaths as they wheezed and rattled between broken ribs, quiet apologies as she set his fingers straight and made sure they couldn't move. it was tiresome, but he always paid, in one way or another. if it was bills in her palm or a drink in her hand, it didn't matter very much from a business point of view. it did matter, however, from a more personal standpoint: one of these days, the sheriff was going to be the death of himself or get himself killed, and she didn't really much like the thought of either prospect. they were neither very close nor very fond of one another, marshall a bit more of her than she of him, but the years were long without some type of company and the fool did well enough to help pass the hours. it was enough for her to overlook his transgressions of his code, but this time... no, not this time. abigail wasn't afraid to say it, either.
text "marsh, you must take me for a right fool to make empty promises like that," she hummed, her mouth set in a thin, straight frown and her light eyes flaming. she pulled the bandages a fraction too tight, intending not to go too easy on him. after all, how would he learn? "i do, in fact, have a business to run, and despite your frequent and appreciated payments i would much rather have you alive than dead. it's a miracle from arceus that you're even above snakes right now, and still i find you breaking your bones like i medicine grows on weeds."
text the doctor finished tying up her work, satisfied at the tightness of the fabric and the stiffness of his fingers. two more bodies were wandering their way into her office, and thank the powers that be neither of them were visibly injured. though, as her eyes caught the sight of koda, she started wondering if it would have been better if one of them had been. "mornin' jolene," she hummed, scooting back her chair and giving marshall a hefty slap on the knee, her expression less sour. she offered a deep, dangerous smile, her eyes crinkling and teeth flashing as she leaned back and crossed her arms, her jangmo-o skittering across the tabletop behind her to look at the newcomers, head half-cocked and tongue flicking out of its mouth once. "the sheriff should be right as rain in a week or two, but please do me a favor and make sure the only thing he's punching is one of these no good bandits galivanting through town. otherwise i'm going to have eleanor start a running bill for lost merchandise."
text though truly, it was difficult for her to be so hard on the poor man. she knew he had his fair share of problems, and so did she. if her dear husband rode into town the next day, a robber and a bandit, would she have the heart to put a bullet in him? maybe not, but her job was to save lives--not to end them. they all relied on marshall to do the right thing by them, and sometimes the right thing in his heart just seemed to not be the same as the right thing for the town. abigail's eyes trailed to koda as he opened his mouth and spoke, as if to prove her train of thought.
text "and if you don't shut up i'll pull out your gallbladder and turn it into a tambourine. who invited you here, anyway? git, troublemaker. if you had a broken knuckle i wouldn't fix it for all the money in the bank."
