Road To Victory

Selfless Actions

heeeey. so i'm back. anybody remember me? xD hope so. i've been really busy lately, but boo yaaah. time to update.

btwwww, that girl over there. that's kat. she's so pretty, isn't she? ♥

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I knew we were there when I jogged up to a huge circle of people and dozens of frantic voices overlapping. I furiously pushed through the crowd, desperate to reach Rebecca and Remmey. I stumbled out of the wall and saw Lauren and Steve, the CPR-certified instructor. We never went to any show without him, but this was going to be the first time we were going to use him from anything else besides tips before we went into the ring, or help with preparing.

“How is she?” I asked, crouching down besides Lauren.

“Her pulse is slowing; paramedics better be getting here soon,” Steve growled, looking up to the sky. I guessed that she was getting air-lifted.

A frantic neigh sounded from outside the ring of people and I recognized it immediately. I bit my lip, not wanting to leave my friend, yet so desperate to tell my gelding that everything was going to be fine.

“You can go check on him,” Lauren whispered, touching my shoulder comfortingly. “Rebecca’s stabilized; we’ll take care of her.”

I sighed and looked down at Rebecca, gently touching her cheek. ”Hang in there,” I whispered, pushing my way back into the crowd.

My horse was standing with his hind left foot lifted as he tried not to but weight on it. “How is he?” I asked the vet who was checking him over.

The vet shook his head in response, feeling Rembrandt’s leg up and down. “He’s hot, that’s all I can tell you. And hurt.”

Wiping tears away, I looked at my frantic gelding and reached my hand out to him. “It’s okay Rems. Everything’s going to be just fine,” I assured him soothingly, pressing my cheek against his silken muzzle.

“We’re going to have to take him to the equine hospital. It’s not too far from here – about 45 minutes but the sooner we leave the sooner we’ll get there,” the vet finally stated, after a long moment of contemplation. I sighed, looking at the trailer that the vet was looking at. “You can lead him in; he won’t get to stressed that way.”

Sniffling again, I took the bridle and clutched it in my quivering hands. “Let’s go Remmey. The doctors just have to check you, and you’ll be back home before you even realize you’ve been gone,” I told him as he limped up into the trailer which was unusually dark.

“Don’t worry, he’s in good hands,” one of the assistants told me, coming up beside me. “He just looks a little sore. I wouldn’t worry about it sweetheart.”

I nodded, praying that I wouldn’t burst out crying in front of the stranger.

“Now, Katherine Collens, I hear you have a big class coming up,” the lady went on, her voice more assertive however. “I don’t want you to worry about Rembrandt because I swear to you he’ll be fine. And I’m sure Rebecca doesn’t want you to pull out either. You, my dear, are going to find a horse and get your butt into that ring. You hear?”

I nodded, my emotions subsiding slightly. The show had totally escaped my mind, and I was still skeptical about going on with the show.

“Thank you,” I murmured, smiling up at her with an authentic grin.

She shrugged like it was no big deal and then hopped into the truck, pulling the trailer with Remmey away. I sighed and looked to the slightly smaller crowd around Rebecca, pushing my way back into the center. To my relief, her heart rate was close to normal, and the emergency copter was only minutes away.

“Katherine,” someone whispered in my ear, tugging at my hand. Three guesses as to who I saw when I turned. David. I mean, who else could it be?

“I’m not in the mood,” I groaned, shaking him off gently.

“Please. A minute.” He looked at me with his olive puppy-dog eyes that should’ve made any girl melt. But too bad they didn’t work on me. Or maybe they did, because a few shoves and pushes later, I was standing under an empty tent with him.

“I’m sorry about everything that happened between us, Katherine,” he started, “but you don’t really look like you’re in the mood for apologies. I know you have that Medal class coming up. I could let you ri-“

“I’m pulling out,” I said, cutting him off.

“What?” Was his surprised reaction. His eyebrows were arched as he stared me down, pretty much speechless. “But this is going to be a big one for you. You can’t let an accident bring you down.”

“An accident? That wasn’t an accident, David. That’s a tragedy! My friend’s dying down there, and Remmey might be just as bad.”

David sighed, already knowing that it was probably going to be no use arguing with me.

“Well, if you change your mind, Fancy will be tacked up in the trailer. I pulled us out of our class. For you. He’s a nice gelding, so treat him right if you decide to go.”

I watched him leave, stunned. He pulled himself out of a class for me knowing I probably wasn’t even going to ride. Knowing how stubborn I actually was. That was so selfless. So touching. And it was, without a doubt, the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for me. I watched as Rebecca’s helicopter landed, sending poles rings across flying from the strong gusts of wind.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” I told myself, closing my eyes as the copter rose back into the air before propelling it’s self back towards the direction of the hospital.

I watched it until it was just a small black dot in the cloudless sky.  My gaze shifted to the side and down and stopped at the barns where all the horses were settled down. “Fancy,” I murmured, barely being able to recall the dark bay gelding. I wasn’t go to win this class, but at least it was going to be one good thing despite the horrible events.