Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Ashley

My life had always beena series of ups and downs. Usually, there were more downs than ups. However, since arriving at the Coleman Ranch, it had been the opposite. Here I had so many good moments.

I should’ve known it wouldn’t last.

On a random day, a day like any other, things changed. I was sent to check in with Bobby Allen. I barely remember the reason, but I knew that reaching Bobby Allen was the goal.

As I made my way through the stables and rounded the corner to speak with him, I found myself in a tricky position. One of the broncos he had brought back to the ranch several weeks ago to rehabilitate was loose and facing off with Bobby Allen.

The beast did not appear to want to give an inch to the trainer. I knew Bobby Allen could handle it, so I waited and watched. Besides, there wasn’t anywhere for me to go. I knew from the way the horse’s body perked up that he understood I was to his rear.

Bobby Allen saw me, and his head shook one time very slowly, as if to tell me not to advance. I wanted to laugh because there was no way in hell I was going to try to step into his place. I had seen the work he did with these animals. He had a gift for rehabilitation, but it was also brutal at times.

Helping someone who has only known pain realize that pain isn’t coming any longer isn’t an easy task. Bobby Allen had a gift for it. He could do it with horses, and he apparently did it with Elton.

This horse didn’t seem to want to get on board. It had been stubborn from the start.

As I thought about the horse’s ornery nature, it moved with a speed that shouldn’t have been possible for an animal that size. It bucked and backed up. Then it fell back to the ground and its back leg kicked out.

It should have been fine. And it would have been fine had it not somehow shifted into just the right position to hit on me. The damn animal wasn’t even facing me and nailed me right below the knee.

I knew better than to fall to the ground. If I succumbed to the pain, then he would likely take my head next. I had to shift out of his path and let Bobby Allen get him wrangled.

Using my good leg, I stumbled back inside the barn. At least there, the horse would have to navigate around the stalls to get to me.

I collapsed against the stall door and to the ground. The pain in my leg was blooming and white hot. I had broken bones before. I knew right away that this was a pretty bad hit.

The horse threw a fuss outside. I could hear Bobby Allen shouting for someone else, though I wasn’t sure who. The pain had taken over all my thoughts. I couldn’t see or feel or hear anything else.

When a figure rushed in and kneeled before me, I almost flinched. I wasn’t prepared or paying attention.

“Baby! Fuck! How bad does it hurt? We’re gonna get you taken care of. They’re bringing the truck around now.” Corey took my face in his hands and rubbed my cheeks. It was only as his fingers drew away wet that I realized I was crying.

The sound of squealing tires hit my ears. I turned my head to see the glow of red taillights backing up towards the stables. Then Harlan and Atticus were rushing over and reaching down to help me up. As I put weight down on the bad leg unconsciously, I screamed in agony. Each man went to take some of my weight so they could put me in the truck.

This was the hardest part about being a big guy. Everyone wanted to be big and have muscles. They wanted to intimidate others with their size, but what they never realized was that being the big guy had its disadvantages too. No one can easily lift me up and throw me over their shoulder to haul me off if I were in distress. I wasn’t some lightweight feather that could be tossed in the back of a truck and driven to the emergency room.

It took all three to help me. Once the door was shut, and I was secured inside, Corey ran around to the driver’s side. He and Atticus shared a few words, then we were peeling out of the stables and off the ranch.

“Hold tight for me, baby. We’re gonna get you taken care of.” He kept talking, his voice a nonstop cycle of praise for doing so well and promises that I would feel good as new as soon as we get to a doctor.

At some point along the way, I must’ve dozed off because next thing I knew, my door was opening, and I was being eased onto a stretcher. It seemed they were foregoing the wheelchair altogether and just get me in.

They shuffled me around quickly. Corey went to move the truck as I was raced down the hall. Someone was cutting my pants off as another person began to check my blood pressure. Questions were thrown my way about what happened. I only managed to say that a horse was involved when another flash of white-hot pain tore through me.

I glanced down to see a man’s hand on my leg. I almost yelled at him for it, but then I saw what he was touching. He had pulled my jeans apart and bumped into my bone.

Yeah, my bone.

“We need to get him into surgery.” One of the doctors above me said tersely. There was no sugarcoating it. The bone was sticking out. My body was broken.

I was wheeled into a room and dropped into the middle of a hurricane. People raced around the space grabbing tools and shouting orders. It was like the hallway magnified.

They moved me from the gurney onto an operating table, and then a mask was placed over my face. I was told to count backwards from one hundred. I had just said ninety-six when darkness enveloped me.

When I woke againhours later, I was in a bed and my leg was propped up in a contraption. My body felt blessedly numb, and I knew right away that there was a host of drugs moving through my system. The IV in my hand was a dead giveaway.

Turning my head, I saw Daddy asleep in the chair beside me. I admired his relaxed form. Although it wasn’t as relaxed as it usually was. I could see tension in the furrow of his brow and the way his jaw was clenched tight.

I hoped it wasn’t because of me.

His eyes popped open while I was watching him. He leaned forward quickly, his hand taking mine. Careful of the IV, he squeezed, as if to see if I would do it back. Of course, I did.

“What time is it?” I only knew that hours had passed because it was daylight out when they rushed me inside the hospital. The pitch black greeting me from the window told me a lot of time had passed. The question was just how much time.

Daddy stared at me long and hard. “It’s late. The doctor said you would sleep the anesthesia off for a while. Surgery took a bit given all they had to do to your leg.”

“I’ll be able to walk again though?”

“After it heals, and you go through some serious physical therapy, yes. In the meantime, you’re going to be in a bed, and then in a wheelchair. I don’t want you attempting to do anything around the ranch once I get you home. Not until your doctor clears you.”

I huffed at how forceful his tone was. “I’ve broken enough bones to know how to handle it. I’ll be ok.”

His eyes turned dark. His jaw grew even tighter. I worried he’d crack a molar at this rate.

“You do not get to diminish what you went through today. When I heard Bobby Allen shouting that you had been kicked, I came running. I could not get to you fast enough, and there was a moment of pure panic that I was going to find you lying on the ground clutching your chest. Do you know that a horse kick can kill a person? The power those animals have in their legs is enough to destroy a life. It’s enough to destroy multiple lives because without you I…”

The way his voice trailed off made me sick to my stomach. I wanted to climb from this bed and wrap myself around him so that he knew I was still here. That I was still alive. Death had not claimed me, and it wouldn’t for some time.

“Daddy,” I said softly. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. It was a freak accident. There really wasn’t anything I could do that wouldn’t hurt either me or Bobby Allen. That horse was dead set on claiming a victim today.”

As I said the words, I knew them to be true. It was part of the reason I hadn’t moved away when I first walked up on them. There was something in the air that spoke of the horse’s chaos. It wanted blood, though I didn’t know that at the time. I just thought it wanted to rile us up.

“Bobby Allen is blaming himself. He has supposedly been a mess since we left. They’re talking about what to do with that horse now. He hasn’t taken to any of the training, and well, to be honest, there’s only so much Bobby Allen can do before even his patience is gone. I think you getting hurt used up the last that he had.”

I shook my head. “He doesn’t need to blame himself. This isn’t his fault.”

“You can tell him that when we get you home. It’ll be like talking to a brick wall though. Bobby Allen takes things to heart hard.”

“I’ll convince him one way or another. And hopefully someone else knows what to do about the bronco. He’s beautiful.”

“Beautifully volatile. I’m sure Bobby Allen already has plans in place. He’s been doing this long enough. And not every horse that comes to him is one he can save.”

We sat in silence after that, neither of us wanting to speak. The doctor came in to check on me. He explained the surgery, and what all was done. Then he outlined what the next couple of months of my life were going to look like. No surprise that it was going to involve a lot of sitting.

“If you take care of yourself and allow your body to heal, I expect a full recovery. You’re in excellent shape. Let’s keep you that way. There will be plenty of time to rebuild muscle and do whatever else you need to later." He had given us a wave along with a stack of papers breaking down the treatment plan.

I was going to have to stay another couple of nights just so they could ensure I had the proper equipment to go home with. Apparently, crutches and wheelchairs were in short supply.

Two days later,when I was blissfully released from my stay, I found myself loaded into the cab of the ranch truck with Daddy. A wheelchair and crutches were in the truck bed along with the duffel bag of clothes he brought for me.

Our drive was filled with the sounds of country music from the radio. We had spent all our time in the hospital together talking incessantly. Now that we were headed home, there wasn’t much to say.

I worried how Bobby Allen would handle seeing me and my cast. Daddy had taken some pictures to send to the guys ’cause they want updates. Even so, seeing a picture versus seeing someone in real life were two different things.

When we pulled up to the ranch, I burst into laughter at what I found. There were signs everywhere. Some said get well and others promised to help me through this difficult time. The funny parts were all the drawings that had gone with it. The signs were made to look as if the animals had written them instead of humans. Each were signed with a different animal’s name.

I noticed they left the bronco that kicked me out of the mix. I couldn’t say that I minded. It would be a nice thing to not be near him, or any other horse really, for a while.

Daddy drove straight up to the bunkhouse. The guys were all waiting outside, their faces a mix of excitement and trepidation. After getting settled in my wheelchair, I turned to greet them all with a smile. I was still on some pretty heavy pain meds, so I’m sure it looked dopey to them.

“Hey guys,” I said with a wave.

They replied as a group, shouting various forms of greeting. Bobby Allen was the first to step up.

“I’m really sorry, Ashley. If I’d known he’d be a mean son-of-a-bitch, then I wouldn’t have had him loose like that.” His frown deepened with each word.

I shook my head. “No need for all that. It was an accident. I’m here and alive. That’s what counts. I’ve just got to do some recovery work now. I’ll be good as new in no time.”

“That’s right,” Daddy said from beside me. “He’s going to be in recovery mode from here on out.”

Why did it sound so ominous when he said it like that?