His Ranch

Chapter 9 A Loss and A Gain

Coult held his gun pointed at the man's chest. He saw the frantic and fearful look in Flannery's eyes and wished to god that he could just shoot him in cold blood. 

The man looked like a crazed animal. He had beady eyes and looked as if he belonged in an asylum. Coult supposed that in the daylight and a fresh shave he wouldn't be a bad looking man, but that was neither here no there. What Coult needed to do was get him away from Flannery as soon as possible.

"Who the fuck are you?" the man asked, still keeping his hand across Flannery's throat. 

"Let go of her" Coult said, as calmly as possible.

Beau turned to look at Flannery, lust and alcohol keeping him from realizing a gun was trained on him.

"Are you fuckin' him?!" he roared, squeezing her throat. Flannery began to thrash about attempting to get away.

"You fuckin slut!" Beau screamed. Coult bolted forward when he saw what the man's intentions were, but he was too late. He watched in slow motion as the man's fist drew back and pummelled right into Flannery's abdomen.

Without thinking Coult pointed and fired his gun, watching the bullet slam into his shoulder and push him to the other side of the bed. He ran to Flannery's side and realized that something was wrong. Her face was distorted in pain and agony while silent tears streamed down her face.

"Flannery? Flannery!" Coult called to her. 

He heard footsteps running up towards the room. He quickly grabbed the sheet and wrapped her up.

"Coult!" He heard his father yell. Jacob ran into the room and took in the scene. He rushed forward and grabbed the man with the bullet wound. 

"Take him downstairs, call the sheriff" Coult said. 

Jacobs face suddenly went pale and Coult followed his gaze to Flannery. The white sheet that covered her was quickly turning red between her legs.

"Robbie! Get up here!" Jacob called. He quickly instructed Robbie to watch over the strange man while he called the hospital.

"Get her to the truck, Coult!" Jacob said. He knew that his son was in shock. Jacob knew enough to know that she was most likely having a miscarriage and prayed to God that Coult loved her enough to look past this.

~~~

Flannery woke up to a consistent beeping that made her want to tear her hair out. She sighed and tried to roll over onto her stomach when a sharp pain pierced through her drowsiness. 

"Careful, honey," came a familiar voice. Flannery's eyes fluttered open to reveal a smiling Alice. 

"Drink this," she said moving a glass of water to Flannery's lips. 

"What happened?" Flannery asked. Alice was told by the doctor that is was very likely that Flannery would suppress all memory of what happened so she sat by the bed and informed her all about Beau and Coult and finally had to deliver the sad news.

"You lost the baby. Now the doctor said that since you're young and healthy that there shouldn't be problem getting pregnant again. You are going to be tender for a little while though. You can go home tonight."

Flannery felt the tears run down her face as she thought about the life that was so savagely ripped from her. How could this happen? Why did this happen?

"You've been asleep for three days. Coult didn't leave your bedside until i convinced him that you didn't want to wake up to a smelly cowboy." Alice looked at Flannery's tear streaked face and felt her heart ache for the poor girl. 

"He has deep feelings for you, honey. I hope you know that."

Flannery looked up at Alice and realized in that moment that she too had extremely deep feelings for Coult; feelings that felt like they were carved on the inside of her heart. Even though she had only known him for a short period of time, she felt like she had known him her whole life. All she wanted was him right now. She wanted him to hold her and tell her everything is oing to be alright. 

"I'll let you rest and later tonight if you're feeling up to it we'll move ya back to the ranch. You need to be in your own bed darlin'."

Flannery closed her eyes and let sleep take over.

~~~

Flannery awoke and knew that she needed to get out of that hospital bed. She looked up at the door to her room and saw her cowboy standing there watching her with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Hi" she said in a soft voice. Flannery wasn't even sure if he heard her. Coult stepped into the room and walked right up to the edge of her bed. He leaned forward and placed the tenderest of kisses upon her forehead. Flannery felt her heart beat faster. Without saying another word, he walked over to one of the leather chairs in the room and handed her a change of clothes. He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

As Flannery was getting changed, she realized that Coult had no idea she was pregnant. Her mind began to race. Was he going to kick her off the ranch? Was he ever going to speak to her again? But he had kissed her, surely that meant that he forgave her?

Flannery began to worry herself sick over the possibilities. 

He probably thinks I'm a slut, she thought. Great, just great.

~~~

Coult opened the door to his truck and helped Flannery inside. He walked around and climbed into the drivers side. 

While driving to the ranch, he continued to stay mute. He didn't know what else to do. He wasn't mad at Flannery at all. If anything, he was mad at himself. He obviously wasn't a good enough man if she hadn't been able to tell him that she was pregnant. When he had walked into her room and saw that guy- Beau- on top of her all he knew was that he would never be able to stand seeing another man with her. He knew that he would do whatever he could to make her happy and have her choose to be with him for the rest of her life. 

He thought that he had lost her when he saw the blood pooling out of her body. He was so scared; more scared than he had ever been in his entire life. He knew that she was going to need time to heal and that if they started a relationship he would need to be patient, but he knew he would do anything for that woman.

When they reached the ranch, all the hands had piled into the kitchen to give her hugs and sit down to dinner with her. Alice had prepared chicken noodle soup. Flannery sat at the table barely saying a word, instead listening to Robbie who's mouth ran a mile a minute about a new girl he met in town named Annabelle.

Coult didn't know how to act aruond her. He didn't wanted to pander to her because he knew she didn't want that, but he wanted to reassure her that everything was oging to be okay. 

After dinner, he walked her up to her room and set her bag down on her bed. Before he closed the door on the way out, he heard her soft voice calling him back.

"Please stay with me" she said in a soft voice. Coult watched as she silently sobbed will clutching at her stomach. Coult walked over to her bed, pulled the covers back and laid her down. After making sure she was situated, he removed his shoes and climbed in next to her. He rubbed her stomach and kissed her head until she fell into a deep sleep. Once she was resting peacefully, he let sleep take over him.

~~~

OKAY! so first of all, sorry it took me so long to update. My grandma was admitted to the hospital this weekend and things have been crazy, also my ten month old son has decided he's too old for naps....second of all i want to hear your feedback about the miscarriage. I honestly had no idea where this chapter was going to go until i sat down and it just flowed out of my fingertips. Don't worry, the story is far from over. There's a lot more to come. i will update again tomorrow :) thanks for reading!!