Chapter Thirteen

~ Jos ~

I groaned when I opened my eyes, a sharp pain shooting through pretty much every part of my body. I felt as if I had been run over by a truck...or a herd of cattle.

"Miko!" I shouted when I remembered the stampede.

I groaned for a second time when I shot up, my aching muscles resisting any type of fast movement.

Yeah, that would be a cattle stampede.

I took a moment to breath before glancing around the room. This did not look like the guestroom. I frowned when I realized I was in Miko's room.

How the hell did I get in here? And where was Miko?

I needed to find him.

I staggered to my feet and raced out the door. I checked the room I'd been sleeping in just in case mine and Miko's rooms had gotten mixed up. When I didn't find him there, I hurried downstairs.

I paused at the bottom, my eyebrows drawing together when I realized how absolutely silent it was in the house. There was always a bit of noise coming from somewhere.

It was kind of eerie.

I could see clearly into the dining room and the living room and they were both empty. I checked Monty's office before heading to the kitchen. Except for Miko's puppy, it was empty, too.

Where the hell was everyone?

I walked through the kitchen to the backdoor and stepped out onto the porch. My eyes narrowed when I saw the vehicles parked outside the barn. One of the trucks I recognized as a ranch vehicle. The other truck belonged to the local vet.

I had no idea why the front loader was parked outside the barn until I remembered that Bucky had been injured during the stampede. As soon as that thought came to me, everything else flooded my mind.

I jumped off the porch and then took off running toward the barn as fast as my aching body would allow. I wasn't sure what had happened once I passed out after the stampede, but I was damn sure going to find out.

When I reached the barn, I just stood there listening to the low murmur of voices and watching a small crowd of people staring into one of the stalls as if fascinated by what they were seeing.

What were they seeing?

I walked over until I reached the small crowd and then pushed my way through to the edge of the stall. What I saw inside shocked my speechless.

Miko and the vet were hovering over Bucky, who seemed to be very much alive. His eyes were open and his chest rose up and down as he breathed, but he wasn't moving.

The vet was slowly sewing up the wound on Bucky's backend. He was talking to Miko about what he was doing and Miko was explaining about some...medicinal herbs?

I anxiously scanned Miko from head to toe. He looked okay. His clothes were a little dirty and there was some blood smeared on them, but I couldn't find any signs of injury.

At least not on him. Bucky was another story.

"Miko, you're okay?" I asked as I stepped into the stall, aching to touch him and reassure myself that he was really okay.

Miko gave me a scathing look. "I fine."

Oh, we'd already reached broken English stage and we were just at the first question. This was going to be fun.

"Bucky fine, too." Miko stood up and walked over to Wade, holding his hand out. My eyebrows shot to the top of my head when Wade handed him my gun. Miko carried it back over to me and handed me the gun. "You shoot now or when he heal. You choice."

Pretty sure my jaw dropped to the floor when Miko turned and stormed out of the stall, his anger sucking the air out of the room like a vacuum.

What had just happened?

Wade whistled low under his breath before stating, "Guess you're sleeping on the couch tonight."

Wouldn't matter if I did. I wasn't sleeping in Miko's bed anyway.

"Okay," the vet said, "keep the wound clean, change the bandages twice a day, and make sure he stays off that leg for at least a week."

What?

I swung around to stare at the vet. "Bucky is going to be okay?"

He didn't need to be put down?

"Yeah, surprised the shit out of me, too, when I saw the wound." The vet chuckled as he shook his head. "I still don't understand half the stuff your husband did, but Bucky should make a full recovery."

My legs went weak and I sank to the straw covered floor. "He's going to make it?"

The vet nodded.

"Will he be lame?" That was the worst thing I could think for a horse to go through. It sucked the life out of them.

The vet put his stuff away and then stood. "No, like I said, he should make a full recovery."

How?

"Doc, I saw the wound after the stampede," I stated. "There's no way he could have walked away from that."

"Well." The doc pushed his glasses up his face. "My understanding is that he didn't walk away from it. He was carried here in your front loader."

Huh?

I glanced at Wade when he chuckled.

"You should have seen Miko, Boss." Wade's laughter grew louder. "He was like a little general barking out orders and refusing to allow anyone to put Bucky down. Swore up and down he could fix him, and by golly, he did."

"I thought he was going to hand Axel his head when he argued with Wade about not putting Bucky down," Beau said. "To be honest, none of us thought Bucky would make it."

I was right there with them on that one. After seeing the wound on Bucky's hind end, I had been positive the only thing to do was to put him out of his misery.

How could I have been so wrong?

Had I been wrong?

"Doc, how is this possible?" I asked. "I've lived on a ranch most of my life. I know what it looks like when a horse gets a wound like that. The humane thing to do is put them down. How could Bucky make a full recovery?"

"I only understood about half of what your husband explained to me, but it apparently was a combination of acupuncture, pressure points, and herbal medicine." The vet shook his head as if amused by something. "I've been in this business a lot of years, but it turns out I could still learn a thing or two about saving animals."

Apparently, I could, too.

"Your husband said he would sit down with me one of these days and discuss some of his techniques with me, maybe teach me some of it. I'm going to buy some of the books he recommended and see if I can integrate some of that in my own work. If it can save a few more impossible cases, it'd be worth the cost of the books."

Okay, now I was curious.

I scooted over to Bucky and started stroking my hand down his neck. "Hey, boy. How are you doing?"

Bucky let out a little snort.

His eyes were a good color and he wasn't breathing heavy, but considering what had happened to him, I was still kind of concerned. "Doc, did you give Bucky something for the pain?"

"No, your husband did that."

"Huh?" I turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"He was performing acupuncture on Bucky when I arrived. Not only had it slowed the bleeding, but it was keeping Bucky calm enough for me to work on him. Then he made some herb mixture that I've never heard of, spread it on the wound, and Bucky calmed right down. Dangest thing I ever did see."

I only understood about half of what the vet said, but I did know I had Miko to thank for my horse still being alive. That was clear enough. I needed to thank him, assuming I could get him to talk to me.

I had the distinct impression that I had pissed Miko off in some manner. I just wasn't quite sure how. It was obvious I needed to go talk to him and work this out.

"Wade, can you keep an eye on Bucky for me?" I asked as I stood. "I need to go talk to Miko."

"Yeah, sure, but I doubt it'll do you any good. He's pretty pissed."

I was afraid of that.

"I still need to try." Having Miko pissed because of something I'd said or done didn't sit well with me. "Do you have any clue what he's upset about?"

I certainly didn't.

"Pretty sure it has to do with Bucky," Wade replied. "When I arrived in the field, you were passed out cold. Miko told me not to wake you until after he dealt with Bucky. He said if we had to put him down, you didn't need that image in your head."

I frowned as I glanced back at my horse. "Miko didn't want me to be the one to put Bucky down?"

"That's the impression I got."

Huh.

"Bucky's my horse," I stated. "It's my responsibility."

"I'm just telling you what he said, but what you need to remember is that Miko wasn't raised here. He might not understand."

That was true.

"I'll go talk with him."

"Yeah." Wade snorted. "Good luck with that."

Pretty sure I was going to need it.

I admit, I walked out of the barn with uncertain steps. We'd known each other less than a week. I had no idea how to deal with Miko. He wasn't a rancher or a ranch hand. He wasn't a businessman from town or a customer here to buy cattle. He was a beautiful little man that had my guts in a twist.

I was pretty much doomed.

I could see the light on in the second floor window and knew Miko was probably still awake. I hurried up the steps to the back porch and then walked into the kitchen.

Mrs. Gibbons was at the stove, stirring something in a pot that smelled mouthwatering. "Is that dinner?" I asked hopefully.

She turned and smiled at me. "I know it's a little late, but people still need to eat."

I certainly did.

"I need to go up and talk with Miko. Just call us when dinner is ready."

"It's got about an hour to go."

I nodded my understanding and then walked out of the kitchen. My steps were a little slower when I approached the stairs and then walked up to the second floor. I still had no idea what I was going to say to Miko.

A marriage license, while making things legal, didn't help one bit when it came to communicating with the person you married. Having never been married before, I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew I didn't like Miko being mad at me.

That was a weird feeling for me. I usually didn't give a damn what people thought. Having known I was gay for most of life, I'd had insults thrown at me and a few fists. I'd grown hard against that type of thing.

This was different. The scathing look Miko had given me out in the barn had twisted my guts and made me feel like the scum on the bottom of his shoe. I didn't like feeling that way.

When I reached Miko's room, I took a calming breath and then knocked on his door. As pissed as he had seemed, I wasn't positive he'd answer, but I could hope.