The Other Sister

6

Lucy found her brother and nephew in the waiting room with 2 security officers, a nurse, and Monica's doctor. Tate saw Lucy and broke free from his father's grip. "Aunt Lucy!" Tate cried. Lucy lifted him up and held him close. "It's okay," she soothed. Lucy knew all of the people in the room. "What happened?" She asked her brother. Kayce ran a hand through his hair. She could see the exhaustion and stress in his eyes. "Tate was upset and a nurse ran over and grabbed him so he started freaking out. Security came and I got mad at them for touching my son." Lucy listened to her brother. Her eyes landed on the nurse. She couldn't stand her. "Amy, if you lay another hand on my nephew, I will make your life at this hospital a living hell. Do you understand?" Lucy was well respected at the hospital and because of her name, could do no wrong. Amy just nodded and quickly walked away. Lucy looked at the guards. "I can take it from here. Thank you guys." The two men nodded and wished Lucy a good night before leaving as well. Lucy sat Tate down. "I want you to sit here. I'm going to go talk to your mom's doctor and see what's going on." Tate knew better than to try to fight his aunt so he just solemnly nodded. As Lucy passed her brother she squeezed his arm comfortingly. Lucy went to the hallway and looked at the doctor. "Monica underwent brain surgery. We aren't sure what recovery is going to look like. I tried explaining that to your brother but he didn't like that answer. You're more than welcome to look at her charts and work with me since she is family, but you need to keep them two in check. I understand this is scary, but when they act like that, it makes our jobs harder." Lucy just nodded. "I know. I appreciate you being understanding and I will be here now to help out with them and Monica." Lucy followed him to the nurses station to look over the files on Monica's case. Once she gathered enough information, she went back to Monica's room. Her vitals looked good and her bandages looked clean. Lucy walked back out into the waiting room. "I just went back to check on her. She's asleep but everything looks good. Her bandages are clean. I looked over her files and the surgery was successful. It is unknown on what her recovery is going to look like. When patients undergo brain surgery you always have to say that because you never know what they will be like when they come out of it. She may have some confusion, hard to move some limbs. The brain went through serious trauma and we must give them grace to recover back to as normal as possible. I'll come back in the morning and see how she is doing. For right now, let's go home. Tate needs to sleep and you need a break from here. I promise you that her nurses and doctor have my number. If they need us, they'll call." Lucy tried to make her sentences make sense for Kayce to understand and that she was being gentle with the situation. Kayce just hugged his little sister something fierce. "Thank you," he whispered. Lucy hugged him back. "You don't have to thank me." Kayce picked up Tate and Lucy drove them home despite Kayce's disapproval.
***
Lucy was exhausted. Between helping out at the ranch, working, checking on Monica, and helping Kayce with Tate she was beat. All she wanted to do was take a bath and relax but she knew she had to go to her father's livestock dinner. Lucy knew for the last several years her father had been attending them alone due to his children never being home. This year Lucy didn't have an excuse. She started getting herself ready. Even if she was upset with her father, she wasn't going to let him be humiliated. Especially as she began to realize the people he thought were in his corner were now turning on him. Lucy heard the front door open then close. "You have 30 minutes!" She called out from the bathroom. Lucy had pulled Rip and Ryan aside that morning to tell them about the dinner and she expected them both to go. Ryan was able to get Emmet, another livestock agent, to attend as well. That made Lucy happy because then their whole table would be filled. "That's all I need, darlin." He leaned against the bathroom doorframe watching as Lucy did her hair. She smiled at him.
***
Lucy walked in with Rip, several people stopping to say hello to the youngest Dutton. Lucy and Rip finally made it over to her father's table to see him standing and talking to someone. She smiled gently at her father, who quickly excused himself to greet his daughter. He kissed her cheek and hugged her tightly. "You look beautiful, honey," he whispered in her ear. Lucy smiled at her father. "Thank you." John turned to look at Rip. He shook his hand. "Thank you for coming," John told Rip sincerely. Lucy knew John viewed Rip as a son. Rip nodded. "No thanks needed, sir," he said. They sat down and Ryan and Emmet approached the table. John looked at Lucy and she gave him a gentle smile. He swallowed hard and looked down, slightly overcome with emotion, but he reeled it in. What Lucy did meant a lot to her father and that's what made her so special to him. She was always thinking of others. No matter if she had good reason to be upset with them, she still went out of her way for them. John gave his speech, they ate dinner, and then the dancing started. Lucy was excited to dance. She looked over at Rip. "Take me to the dancefloor," she smiled. Lucy danced with Rip and a few times with her father. It was a good carefree night and boy did she need one.
***
"What's going on?" Lucy asked as she stood in the doorway of Monica's room. A nurse was trying to kick Felix out for setting the smoke detectors off by sageing the room. Lucy noticed Monica awake. "Go get her doctor," Lucy ordered the nurse. Felix looked at Lucy. "Make sure I'm here when you want to do that or else you're going to get kicked out," Lucy told him. He smiled gently at her and nodded his thanks. Kayce watched Monica and his sister anxiously. Lucy walked over to her sister in law's bed. "Hey, how are you feeling?" Lucy asked. Before she could answer Tate and her father entered the room. "Mama!" Tate ran over. Lucy smiled and looked at her father slightly confused why he was here. She brushed it off as the doctor came in to check on Monica. Lucy moved to lean against the wall by her father. The doctor glanced over at Lucy when he performed the pen test on Monica's foot and there was no movement. Kayce picked up on it and his eyes darted to his sister. Lucy pushed herself off the wall and walked out of the room. John, Kayce, and the doctor following. "I'm worried about her motor skills. As you saw she had no movement in her right foot. However, I feel very good about her recovery as of now. She is in a good place. She just needs to keep healing." He walked off and Kayce looked at Lucy. "He's right. Everything looks really good right now. She's awake, she doesn't seem too confused. Don't get too caught up on her motor skills. She may need to relearn a few things. She will go through physical therapy and everything will be good." She assured her brother. "Why don't I take Tate back to the ranch with me? That way you can focus on being there for Monica." John suggested. Kayce glanced between John and Lucy. "Are you going to be there?" He asked Lucy who nodded. "Alright," he agreed.
***
After Lucy left the hospital, she decided to go into town for a bit for some alone time. She grabbed a coffee and walked around the shops to kill time. She ended up buying herself a few new clothing items. Lucy picked her and Rip up something to eat and drove back home. She got a little concerned when he wasn't home. She called and it just went to voicemail. She walked down to the bunkhouse and saw Beth and Tate hanging out. She asked if anyone had seen Rip but they all answered no. She took a seat at the table as worry consumed her. "I'm sure everything is fine," Beth tried to reassure her little sister. Lucy just nodded and let Tate climb onto her lap. After about an hour she turned to see Rip walk into the bunkhouse. As he made eye contact with Lucy he walked back outside. Lucy got confused and followed after him. "Hey! What's going on?" He stopped and faced her. "I messed up," he said and she could see the stress wearing on his facial expressions. "What happened?" She prodded. "I was trying to scare off a bear like your dad asked me to. I found some tourists hiking on our land and they were stuck on a cliff. I tried to save the girl first but her boyfriend was too scared. They both fell. Then the bear found me and I had to kill it. I tried calling Jamie but he didn't answer so I called the police. I tried to do the right thing." Lucy took in the information with wide eyes. She sighed and pulled him into her arms. "Hey, everything is going to be okay." She took him back up to the house and warmed up their food. They ate in silence then went to bed. She cuddled into Rip's tense frame. He held Lucy close, worried about what was going to happen to him regarding this mess he found himself in.