Yellowstone: Love and Cowboys

I Think We Need Popcorn

Beth was doing her best Beth. Instead of waiting and listening to the doctors, asking what was going on, Beth was doing what she did best, screaming at them and refusing to listen.

"I think we need popcorn," said Coralee, "She's giving one of her best performances. Do you think she's going to calm down?"

"She wouldn't be Beth if she did," answered Suzie, "If she'd calm down, she'd find out what's going on. How long do you think it will take them to throw her out of Uncle's room?"

At that moment the doctors and the orderlies managed to strongarm Beth out of her father's hospital room and shut the door. She looked up and saw the sisters and realized they'd been watching.

"What do you bitches think you're doing? Laughing at my expense? Do you think this is funny? He woke up and now they're putting him under again." The fury in her voice was unmistakable.

"Would you like to hear it from a nurse, or do you want to nurture your tantrum?" Suzie asked, she locked eyes with Beth, daring her to respond.

"Fuck you," said Beth and stormed out.

"It'll be a little bit more peaceful now," Coralee said, glad to see her cousin leave, "Was she right to be upset?"

"Hey," said Suzie, "Do you know how many years doctors spend in medical school? I went to nursing school for four years, plus I have to do all these continuing ed classes. He'll wake up tomorrow, maybe he won't feel too good, but he'll get better. Knowing Uncle John, he'll leave against medical advice, but that's what I'm for. I know all the bullshit the insurance company will require, and it'll be up to me to make it bearable for him. The best thing is he'll listen to me. The hardest part will be getting him to take it easy, we're Duttons, we don't know how to do that.

"Tell me about it," Coralee laughed, "I'm going to call my husband and tell him the good news." She walked out of the ward and went to the little courtyard to sit in the sun while she talked to Travis.

"That's good news," said Travis, "So when will you be coming home?"

"As soon as Uncle is out of the hospital. Suzie is going to take care of him, he won't have to put up with a pissy little agency nurse. I know my uncle, he'll try to get up and walk before he should, he'll be riding before he's supposed to, and he'll be lucky if he doesn't reopen his wounds. That's Uncle John, though."

"You Duttons are stubborn, and you do things your way whether you should or not," Travis laughed, "I've learned that being married to you. You know, I think I'm going to come up there, I've got some extra time and I miss you. I'll bring some horses to show John, that ought to cheer him up." For Travis, horses were a cure-all for everything.

"That's a good idea, I think you should. Suzie said he'll be awake tomorrow for sure, and he'll be out of the hospital as soon as he can get on his feet. I can leave knowing that Suzie will be taking care of him. I'm sorry I left the way I did, but I'd do it again, I think I did the right thing. What if no one had come until it was too late? That's what I keep asking myself, what if my being there set things in motion and I was able to help save his life?"

"Maybe you did, Coralee, but I wish you hadn't left the way you did. I know you did what you thought you had to do, but you did it the wrong way. Next time, and I hope there won't be one, you tell me what you're doing. I love you," he said and hung up.

She went back to her uncle's hospital room, knowing that he thought himself capable of a miraculous recovery. That wasn't happening but he was progressing enough that he was itching to get out of the hospital and go back to the ranch.

He hated the hospital, hated being confined to bed, hated the nurses, and bore a grudge against the doctors who insisted on his remaining. He also hated watching Coralee and Beth glare at each other across his bed all day. It only stopped when one or both left and began again early the next day when they arrived.