Her Cowboy

Chapter 12

Apparently my body wouldn't let me be unconscious for long. When I woke up, I still saw the blue cloudless sky above me.

My vision was blurry, but I could see something big standing by me solemnly, and it leaned down and bumped me. Wet slobber covered my arm, and I tried to move away, but as I did so, a stab of pain shot fiercely through my head. It felt like my brain was being electrocuted.

Two seconds later, I heard a pounding on the ground. I could feel the vibrations of it on the hard dirt underneath me. Something hard was poking into my shoulder, probably a rock, but I didn't want to move for fear of that pain again.

Another big thing appeared in my vision, which was slowly clearing. The thing was black, and it tossed its head as something on it dismounted. It was a person.

Percy. Relief seeped into me. I'll be okay. I just hit my head hard.

My senses started to clear. I could feel the crumbly dirt between my finger tips, the dusty earth smell invading my nose. Percy's features became sharper as he practically flew off Blackjack while the horse was still running.

The boy's green eyes were wide and worried, and as he reached me, he fell to his knees beside me.

"Annabeth, oh gods, are you okay?" he asked frantically, his words almost too fast to make out. "Oh, gods, I should've made you wear that helmet. Can I touch you? Aren't you, like, not supposed to touch someone who's been hurt? Oh, gods. What do I do, what do I do."

His hands were shaking as he reached tentatively out for my shoulders.

I forced myself to a sitting position, carefully so I didn't generate too much pain. As I tried to speak, I found my throat choked up with dust. Coughing to clear it, I said to him with a croaky voice, "I'm fine, just hit my head. And yes, Seaweed Brain, you can touch me. It's not that bad."

A breath released from him in a whoosh as he reached forward and slid a hand around my shoulders protectively, though I didn't know what he was protecting me from. Not like the ground was going to rage up and hit my head again. He pulled with his arm slowly, helping me sit up straighter. His other hand tentatively touched my cheek in a soft caress. He looked down at me with furrowed eyebrows. His hair glinted in the sunlight. "I'm so sorry, Annabeth."

I took a deep breath, my head still hurting. "It's not your fault." I winced as another bolt of pain went through me. The back of my head felt wet, and I frowned, reaching a hand up to it. When I took it away from my blonde curls, I saw my fingers were scarlet. Percy saw this, too.

"You're bleeding!" he told me, panicking, his hand going to the back of my neck.

"It's not gushing out blood, we just need to get back and wipe it off," I said. His hand was gentle, his fingers entangled in my curls.

At that moment, I realized there was another person next to us. Rachel stood beside her horse, watching me and Percy. When Percy saw her, anger grew in his eyes.

"What was that for?" he demanded. I could see his body tense up, and his hand on the back of my skull tightened. "You hurt her!"

Rachel's lower lip trembled under his fierce gaze. "I—I'm sorry! I didn't know... she—"

"You didn't know?" he repeated incredulously, his voice laced with fury. "Come on, Rachel, are you kidding me? I've told you she can't gallop yet, what were you thinking?" His words were spitting acid at her, and she cringed, her eyes shifting from me to Percy. When they landed on me, they looked guilty.

Percy's hand on my head got tighter, and it started to throb.

"Percy, I'm sorry!" she said again desperately. She brushed a hand up by her ear to shove away the frizzy red strand that fell in her face. Her green eyes glittered.