Love Under the Western Skies

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ ᴛᴡᴏ

ᴍᴀᴅɪꜱᴏɴ/ꜱᴛᴇᴠᴇ

➵➵➵➵➵➵➵❂➵➵➵➵➵➵➵

ᴍᴀᴅɪꜱᴏɴ

Steve: We have a situation, I need you and Nash in the staging area

Nash: Son how the hell have you fucked up already, you've been there for an hour

Me: Dad! Steve, can you give us an idea of the situation we're walking into

Steve: Baby, it's Craig, I didn't do shit

Nash: I'm gonna ignore the pet name, we're on our way

I don't think Dad and I had run in years, but here we were running through the arena and flashing our badges. Rae noticed us running and assuming it was a Sawyer Management emergency, left Nathan and sprinted to us.

"Steve!" I called when we reached his trailer, Rae and Dad pulling me back when the two doors swung open, Steve stepping aside so we could see Craig, who was currently laying on his back, gripping his ribs and groaning. "Get Kristina here," I told Dad, taking Steve's hand to lift myself into the trailer, immediately kneeling down next to the man, "And his wife, what the hell happened?"

"Horse freaked out," Craig wheezed, and I crawled around him, propping his head up on my legs to ease some of the pressure in his chest, "Spun and kicked, it was an accident but I think two are broken, at least, I can't rope today."

"I'm here!" Kristina handed Rhett over to Rae, climbing into the trailer, she dropped down to his right when his wife rushed in, instantly taking his hand as she kneeled to his left. His wife unbuttoned the shirt, exposing Craig's upper body to us and it was hard not to recoil, black and blue blossomed up his side, and he yelled out when Kristina gently touched his ribs. "I'm worried about a punctured lung," Kristina explained to all of us, "the ribs are too sensitive for me to touch and I don't have an X-Ray machine, he needs to be transported to the local hospital," Kristina reached into her pocket, pulling out her phone and dialing a number. "Hi yes, this is Doctor Kristina Ramos, I'm at the Sweetwater Rodeo, we've had a severe injury, is there any way you can send an ambulance over, no lights and sirens, we don't need to cause any worry. Okay, thank you. We'll see you soon."

I wiped a rag over Craig's forehead when sweat beads formed, with all the bodies in the trailer it was getting warm, and once I knew I could move him without creating too much pain, I lifted his head up so his wife could replace my position. Standing up and letting Steve guide me to his side. My head rested on Steve's clavicle while we watched as Kristina tried to relieve the pressure building on Craig's chest, holding his side gently as he shifted. "Nash, pull me out of the team roping," Steve told my Dad, Craig shooting an apologetic look at Steve, "I have no partner and his safety is more important."

My stomach knotted, this was the placement rodeo, it was the first judged rodeo of the season, and determined how the season was going to proceed for the teams. "Wait," My eyes slid over to my father and his shoulders tensed, Rae instantly shook her head, they saw my accident years ago, they didn't want to relive the pain. It was months of bed rest and constant pain before I could get in for surgery, years of physical therapy, and I'm just now at the point where I can use my leg comfortably. And I would throw it all away to make sure Steve's career was staying on the right path. "Craig, where's your horse?"

"Tied up right outside," I knew it pained him to talk, but before anyone could object, I was climbing down the side of the trailer, swinging myself around to where Craig's horse stood, solemn because she knew she had hurt her person.