The Paralyzed Dream (COMPLETED)

Chapter Twenty One

              "Slade, where are we goin'?" Lacey asked as she followed a very excited Slade out into the yard. "Slow down, my wheelchair can't go that fast." She let out a chuckle as she attempted to keep up with Slade. 

             "Sorry, love. I'm just excited." Slade grinned, slowing down so he was walking beside Lacey, instead of in front of her. 

             "Where are we goin'?" She asked again as he began walking to the side of the barn. 

             "I wanna do somethin' for you." He stopped walking to turn and look at Lacey. Reaching into his back pocket, Slade pulled out a red bandana, folding it, and reaching out to put it over Lacey's eyes. "Do you trust me?" He asked. When Lacey gave him a confused look followed by a nod, he carefully tied the bandana over her eyes, manning himself behind her wheelchair. 

          Lacey folded her hands in her lap as she allowed Slade to take her to an unknown place. She heard the squeaking of hinges and gates opening. Beneath the wheels of her chair, Lacey could hear sand crunching. 

           Stopping her chair, Slade leaned forward, placing a kiss softly on Lacey's cheek. "Open your eyes." He said, untying the bandana. 

              When Lacey opened her eyes, she saw that her and Slade were in the center of the round pen. Against the far side of the round pen stood a beautiful roan gelding. He was attempting to eat some grass that was underneath the fence.

          Lacey let out a chuckle. "Slade, what is this?"

         Slade, walking over the the gate of the round pen smiled. "It's a horse." Grabbing some brushes and walking back to Lacey, he added, "His name is Bud and you're going to ride him." Slade handed Lacey the brushes, grinning when he saw the smile on her face. "And before you say anything, I have been working with him every single day since you told me that you wanted to ride again. He's completely bomb proof."

          "Slade, I...I don't know if I can..." Lacey stammered. This was so unexpected for her and it was the last thing she thought would happen when Slade said he had a surprise for her. Looking at her lap, she stared at the brushes.

       Slade bent down in front of her, placing his hands on either side of her. "I told you I wanted to do something special for you, and you told me you wanted to ride again, so I'm doing what I can to make that happen. But, I'm not sayin' you have to ride him today. You can just start with brushing him and see how that feels, and we can go from there."

         Lacey closed her eyes momentarily and saw the memories of her riding accident playing over in her head. Opening her eyes, she looked straight into Slade's bright blue ones, staring lovingly back at her. Those eyes held so much concealed excitement that Lacey knew she couldn't let him down. Swallowing before taking a deep breath, hoping to find some courage, Lacey looked away from Slade to look at Bud, still being calm, cool and collected as he patiently stood in the round pen. Looking back to Slade, Lacey nodded her head. "Okay."

         When Slade smiled a huge grin, making his whole face light up, Lacey knew she was making the right decision. "Okay, you'll ride him?" Slade stood up, stretching out his arms.

         "Okay, I will start small. I'll run a curry over him and see how it feels." Lacey could already feel the nerves swelling up in her. Throughout these past couple of months, Lacey had come to realize that she wasn't so much as scared of horses, but she was scared of their unpredictability and what they could do to her since she is in a wheelchair, unable to run or jump a fence if necessary. 

         As Slade pushed Lacey's chair forward, she remembered how against she was even going outside to the barn before they started dating, but now, she thoroughly enjoyed helping around the ranch again. It was something she had realized that she truly missed. Remembering that, Lacey knew Slade would be patient with her now, not pushing her to do anything that she doesn't want to do. 

         "Do you want to try brushing him?" Slade asked when they were about ten feet from Bud's shoulder. 

        Lacey nodded, grabbing the curry comb in her hand. Slade smiled, walking over to hook a lead rope to Bud's breakaway. Slowly leading him over to stand in front of Lacey, Slade watched his girlfriend, and every nervous move she took as she quietly mumbled "good boy" to him, reaching up the brush with a shaky hand. 

          "You got this, Lace." Slade encouraged, standing beside Lacey, still holding the lead rope. 

          Lacey let out an airy chuckle as she reached up high to run the curry over Bud's side. She smiled hugely, forgetting how much she missed brushing horses. Glancing to her left, she grinned up at Slade, seeing his expression match hers. 

          Switching brushes, Lacey grabbed the stiff, dandy brush off her lap. As she reached up to run it over Bud's side, he stomped his foot hard to get rid of a fly that was on his butt. The motion completely surprised Lacey, and she dropped the brush, trying hard to back away from the horse. When she blinked, memories of hooves hitting her came back, and Lacey desperately wanted to get out of the round pen, and away from Bud. 

          "Lace, take a deep breath. It's okay. It was only a fly." Slade's voice knocked Lacey out of her flashback. 

       She hadn't realized that she was hyperventilating until Slade had told her to breathe. Looking into his beautiful blue eyes, Lacey took a deep breath, grabbing the hard brush from the hands of her boyfriend, convincing herself it was okay. Nodding again, Lacey wiped the memory of her accident out of her head, focusing on the present. 

        Only about five minutes later, Lacey had brushed down Bud as much as she possibly could. Slade had brushed his withers, and other high spots that Lacey couldn't reach. Next, it was time to work on the hooves. Slade picked up and held each of Bud's hooves as Lacey took the pick to them. Bud was such a good sport with everything. 

          "What kind of home did he come from before you got him?" Lacey asked, smiling as she ran a hand over Bud's shoulder. 

          "Actually, he is a retired police horse. He was living at my friend's ranch, but I had him shipped here when you told me you wanted to ride again." 

           Lacey stopped to look at Slade. "You shipped him here from a whole other state, just for me?" 

           Slade shifted his stance to better look at Lacey. "Yeah, anything for you." He let out a chuckle. "Why are you so surprised?" 

          "Come here." Lacey smiled, holding out her arms to her boyfriend. 

         With a smile, Slade obliged, leaning down in front of Lacey. Slowly, he bent forward, into Lacey's arms as she wrapped her hands around his cheeks, pulling him into a kiss. It was a perfect kiss, and the only way that Lacey knew how to thank him for rekindling her love for horses.