American Pyramid

A Fork in the Road

Zak 

It had been three days since Tori's accident, and we were still unsure of what exactly happened. All I knew was that she had a severe case of a TBI or a traumatic brain injury with two fractures to her skull and two broken ribs. As far as recovery goes, well, that will have to be determined when she was fully conscious. I wanted to hate that damn horse, but I knew better because even though Tori is fighting for her life, she would die before she would put the blame on him. According to her, every horse girl always says that it's never the horse's fault for almost killing their rider, and I guess that's right, but still, I wanted to be angry at something other than her because I had no reason to. 

Hollie and Brett have been great people with helping me out in this desperate time, because I didn't have the first clue on how to take care of a horse the way Tori does. Sure, I've learned a lot from her and know the basic feeding routine she does, but not once will I know how to spot a serious issue aside from a horse being hungry.

Worming? Have no idea. 

Colic? I only know that newborns can get it because my sister was talking about it when she had my nephew. 

Bute? What the fuck is that? 

Thrown a shoe and needs a farrier? Not the first clue. 

But hey, I've grown to be quite confident on how to tie a rope halter and fill a hay net, so I think I'm off to a good start. 

I had now migrated from making the waiting room my home for the first couple of nights to being able to sit in the same room with her, hopeful that she would wake up and be just fine, but in a perfect world, this wouldn't have happened in the first place. Throughout this day alone, she had only woken up once, but she had no idea who she was or even what had happened, and I was worried that she wouldn't remember anything at all, but only time will tell, and I had all of the time in the world. 

I didn't care what plans I had been making when it came to my career - all of that came to a screeching halt when I know that Tori is in need of serious help. I didn't care about the show, I didn't care about the plans for a future museum, and I didn't care if I lost potential in anything else until I knew she was going to be okay. 

While I sat alongside her bed until visiting hours were over, I scrolled through my laptop to reply to emails from the network asking me for an updated filming schedule when I could as well as checking my Twitter in hopes that someone who lived in the area would message me a potential tip on Arson's whereabouts, and a glimmer of hope shot through me when a person sent me a photo of what looked like to be Arson, but this horse wasn't completely black, he had four white socks and a white star between his eyes and no BLM brand on his neck, and this horse was seen in Reno. 

I'm not an expert, but I don't think a loose horse would travel all the way from Vegas to Reno in a short few days... 

Replying a quick 'thank u for the info, but unfortunately its not him' to the helpful user who had been following my account for a few years now, I then shoved my phone back into my pocket as I stood up from my chair, leaning over to press a kiss to her cold forehead as I knew the nurses would soon kick me out now that the time was almost six p.m. "I'll be back tomorrow. Wake up for me, okay? I love you, sweetie." I whispered into her hair, letting my fingers linger under her hand as I fought the urge to just stay with her and put up a fight when visiting hours were over, but I knew being banned from this hospital wouldn't be such a smart idea. 

As I got into my car, it didn't feel right that I was going out to dinner with the guys to talk about how we were going to finalize my decision to halt production until she got better. I didn't even want to talk about work right now, but I know it would have to be brought up sooner or later because the network was starting to breathe down my neck about a filming schedule since we were renewed for our twelfth season. Originally, we had planned to have it out the second week of January, but that is out the window until I know for sure about Tori's condition, because in no way am I just going to leave her at home or at the hands of someone else while I'm away working. 

Not going to happen. 

Meeting the guys at the Americana Restaurant in Summerlin, I sat down at the table with a horrible pit in my stomach and an immense loss of appetite. It didn't feel right to be talking about work right now, and we all knew that, but we needed to give the network something so that I can keep them from breathing down my neck and risk losing the opportunity for a thirteenth season. 

"Hey, Zak," Billy acknowledged first. "How's she doing?" 

"Still unconscious, but I think she's going to be awake soon," I sighed, taking a seat across from him while Aaron and Jay sat across from each other at the square table. "Doctor determined it to be a severe brain injury, but he said her vitals are still good, so I'm hopeful." 

"Do you know what happened exactly?" 

"Aside from her skull getting caved in by her own horse's hoof, no. Hollie guessed that she fell off and he came down too fast for her to get out of the way."

"Who's Hollie?" 

"That barrel racer that Tori met last year at her first rodeo. Small world, but the house I bought ended up being their house, so her and her husband have been helping me since Tori got hurt." 

"Oh, okay. I think you mentioned her taking Tori's other two horses when we saw you last," Jay commented. "Any word on the one she was riding when she fell off?" 

I shook my head, "No. I've been getting messages on Twitter about possible tips, but none of them match and they're all too far away from Vegas." 

"Shit. I haven't gotten anything on my end since I've retweeted your post." 

"Me either." Both Aaron and Billy sighed. 

"Hopefully, someone found him and just doesn't have Twitter to see that there's a missing horse anywhere," Jay suggested. "I don't think he could've gone far." 

"Even though I'm pissed at him right now, I wish he'll turn up soon."