𝙳𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝙳𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛

Two

"Isla, it's Dagger," Anna said.

"What's wrong with him?" Isla asked worriedly, springing out of bed, her tiredness a moment ago long gone.

"I don't know, but he just collapsed," Anna said.

Isla was running around her room looking for warm clothes to change into, "ok, Anna, hang up with me, and call Sam! He was supposed to come later today, but he'll come out for this." Isla told her trainer as calmly as she could, still rushing around her room.

"Ok. I'll see you soon," Anna said, then hung up.

Isla quickly changed into her warmer clothes. She was about to put on her ugg boots when her father came rushing into her room, curious as to what all the commotion was he was hearing from his daughter's room.

"What's wrong?" Jay asked his daughter, immediately noticing the panic on her face.

"Anna just called. Dagger collapsed. I don't know much else, but she's calling Sam. I have to be there, daddy, I have to." Isla said frantically to her father, trying to prevent the tears from rolling down her face.

Jay's heart ached at the pain in his daughter's voice. "Ok, take a deep breath, I'll wake up your mom, and we'll get changed, and then we'll head out. We'll use the lights and sirens to get there fast, ok?" Jay told his daughter, trying to calm her down, knowing it wouldn't do much.

Isla nodded. Jay then hugged the girl before rushing back to his room to wake up his wife and change.

A few moments later, the three rushed out to Jay's truck. Jay flashed the lights and sirens on the empty roads but did anything that could allow him to get out to the barn faster.

~~~~~~

"Remind me to tell her not to do that ever again," Jay told Hailey after Isla jumped out of the backseat while the truck was still moving.

"Jay, she's worried right now; just drop it," She told him as they parked, got out of the truck, and made their way into the barn.

Isla was already standing outside Dagger's stall with Anna while Sam was checking Dagger out. Jay and Hailey made it over to them, Isla immediately letting go of Anna to hug her mom.

"Sam find anything yet? "Hailey whispered to Anna. Anna nodded.

"What is it?" Hailey mouthed quietly, still hugging her sobbing daughter, trying her hardest to calm her down.

"Laminitis," Anna mouthed back. Jay's eyes widened in surprise before looking at Hailey with a 'this could be bad' look.

They both knew this could go one of two ways, treatment or having to put Dagger down. Jay knew putting Dagger down was probably going to be the option given. A few moments later, Sam walked out of the stall.

"Sam, please tell me everything's going to be ok," Isla begged, pulling away from her mother's embrace.

Sam's heart broke at the desperation he heard in Isla's voice, wishing he could tell her everything was going to be ok. Isla looked at Sam, pleading for good news.

Sam looked down at the ground for a few seconds before raising his head again to look at Isla. "I'm so sorry, Isla, he's got advanced laminitis. You only have...."

"No! No! No! No!" Isla sobbed, legs collapsing underneath her, caught by her father just in time.

Everyone's eyes filled with tears at the sight of the girl about to face one of the most difficult decisions in her life, and she doesn't even have a choice.

"I'm so so so sorry, Isla. You can do only one thing, put him to sleep." Sam told her truthfully, knowing that that was the best option for Dagger.

"I need a minute," Isla whispered; Jay was the only one to hear her.

"Hey, I'm going to take Isla for a quick walk; give her a minute to process this," Jay told the group. Everyone nodded at the two, watching the father-daughter pair walk away from them.

~~~~~~

"He never showed signs of laminitis, though. How could this happen?!" Anna asked, feeling guilty that she couldn't even recognize the signs.

"Laminitis can spring out of nowhere; him being lame this past week probably turned to laminitis at some point," Sam said, trying to reassure Anna that this wasn't her fault.

"This wasn't your fault, Anna," Hailey told her daughter's trainer, seeing her pain and beating herself up internally.

"I should have noticed, though," Anna said tearfully.

"There's nothing you can do for him?" Hailey asked, her heart breaking at the state her daughter was in and the thought of having to put Dagger down.

"Unfortunately, no," Sam told them truthfully. "The most humane thing you can do is put him to sleep."

~~~~~~

Twenty minutes later, Isla and Jay returned to the group, Isla seeming slightly calmer than she was before.

"You're sure there's nothing you can do. Correct?" Isla asked Sam as calmly as she could at that moment.

"His laminitis is too far gone, Isla." Sam told her, "There's nothing I can do for him. I understand if you want another vet's..."

"No, I don't want another vet's opinion," Isla interrupted him, "I - I t-trust y-you, sam." She takes a few deep breaths, "If you think putting h-him d-down is the b-best ch-choice, then that's w-what we'll d-do."

Sam looked at the family, wiping the tears away before nodding and walking to his van to get the supplies.

~~~~~~

Sam walks into Dagger's stall and sees the family and Anna gathered around Dagger, giving him a bunch of love before he is put down.

"Are you ready, Isla," Sam asked quietly, laying out all the supplies.

"No, but it's the best thing for him. Just get it over with, please." She sobbed. Jay moved closer to his daughter and gave her the biggest hug.

Sam got started, and Isla gave Dagger as much love as possible.

"You're going to get to run as fast as you want, as long as you want, and eat as much as you want. Thank you for always taking care of me. I'm going to miss you so much." She said tearfully, lowering her head onto Dagger's neck.

A few moments later, Dagger was gone, and Isla sobbed louder than she had done all night.

"Sam, can I see those scissors?" Anna asked quietly, motioning towards the scissors in Sam's bag.

Sam nodded and handed her the scissors. Anna then took the scissors and cut a piece of daggers mane off before rubber-banding it and handing it to Jay, knowing he'd give it to Isla when she was calmer.

Anna, Hailey, and Jay waited until Isla was ready to leave, silently discussing what to do with Dagger.

Around 3:30 in the morning, Isla fell asleep from all the crying she had done. Jay scooped her up and carried her back to the truck. Hailey followed closely behind, holding Dagger's halter and lock of mane in her hand.