Rescued [[Nicola Philippaerts]] #wattys2017

Recovering

As soon as the operator picked up, I let out a sigh of relief.

"Hello 911 what's your emergency?" She spoke in an american accent.

"Hi. My girlfriend has been thrown off of her horse and can't move." I spoke calmly.

"Okay and what is the address?"

"Philippaerts Stables. It's at the end of Ridgemoor Bridleway." I said.

"Alright. What's your girlfriend's name, age and date of birth."

"Her name is Chelsea Acer and she's 17 years old. Her birthday is September 5th 1999.

"And your name please sir?"

"I'm Nicola Philippaerts."

"Alright and is she awake or unconscious?"

"Awake. She's also talking to me as well." I said, holding Chelsea's hand.

"Okay and has she been moved at all?"

"No. I only took off her riding hat but there was no movement as I did so." I said.

"Alright, an ambulance is on it's way, can you tell me how long ago this happened?"

"About two or three minutes ago now."

"Okay and how tall is the horse?" The woman asked.

"About 17 or 18 hands high." I replied.

"Okay so a fairly big animal then. Was she trampled or kicked afterwards?"

"No. The horse bucked after a jump and she just fell straight off of his shoulder and landed flat on her back. The horse stood still afterwards." I said, remembering everything that happened.

"Okay. I've passed that information onto the ambulance, they're about two minutes away, I want you to keep talking to me until they arrive is that alright?" She asked.

"Yeah that's fine." I said, still worried about my beautiful girlfriend.

"Can you ask your girlfriend if she has had any dizzy feelings or feels sick at all." The operator asked me.

"One second." I turned to Chelsea.

"Babe. Do you feel sick or dizzy at all?" I asked her.

"No. My back really hurts though." She said in tears.

"She said she doesn't feel sick or dizzy." I replied. Olivier came into the arena.

"Bro. The medics are here." He said.

"The ambulance is here now." I told the woman.

"Okay I'll hand over to them. I hope your girlfriend gets well soon. Bye."

"Thanks. Bye." I said and hung up."

When Olivier showed the paramedics over to where we were, I relaxed, knowing they were male and female. I couldn't handle both of the same gender.

"What's her name?" The male asked.

"Chelsea."

"Ok and she's your friend?" He asked.

"Girlfriend." I replied.

"Oh okay. Sorry. Hi Chelsea. Can you hear me?" He asked.

"Yeah." She said, gritting her teeth.

"Alright. I'm Jean, one of the parameics at the Royal Belgium Infirmary. Do you remember what happened?"

"Yeah. I was riding my horse Pepper and he bucked after the jump behind us." She said.

"Okay. We're going to take you to the hospital now, your boyfriend can come as well. This may hurt when we slide the backboard under you but please keep as still as possible. We're also oing to pop this neck brace onto your neck." The woman said.

[ C H E L S E A ' S   P O V ]

When I heard the woman say she was going to put the neck brace on me, I began to panic and tried to stop her.

"No. Don't put that thing on me. I will not wear it." I shouted through my tears and went to move my head away but Nicola held the sides of my neck and looked me in the eyes.

"Chelsea look at me. I'm still here. I'm still with you. Can you let the lady put the neck brace on?" He spoke softly, rubbig my cheek.

"No." I said firmly.

"What about if I put it on you. Then would you wear it. It's not permanent, it's to stop you hurting your back even more than it already is." Nicola spoke. I nodded. I saw the woman hand the neck brace to Nicola with a silent 'thanks' and he slipped it on my neck, strapping it up how the woman showed him.

Once we arrived at the hospital, I was taken into rhesus and Nicola was made to wait outside. I was moved onto a very uncomfortable bed and the backboard removed. I had blood tests done and a drip inserted into the back of my hand. Then I was asked absolutely ridiculous questions such as 'What date was it' 'what year is it' 'what's you're boyfriend's name' 'who is Justin Bieber' and 'Tell me four horses in your stables'. Once they had finished playing 100 questions with me, I was taken to X-Ray and had several X-Ray's done on my back before being taken to a private room (on Nicola and Ludo's request). All of this took three hours.

Whilst waiting for the results of my X-Ray's, me, Nicola, Olivier and Ludo all shared a conversation.

"I did everything you told me to babe" I said to Nicola.

"Yeah. But Pepper was being a typical Appaloosa stallion." He replied.

"At least Chelsea can still move her legs and arms. It means she's not paralysed." Ludo said.

"True. But she'll bee off riding for a few days to a few weeks depending on how serious her injury was." Olivier said. Just then, the doctor walked in.

"Hi guys. I have the results of the X-Ray back and you are one very lucky young lady." He started. "The X-Ray showed swollen tissue but no broken bones, no chips or fractures in any bones an no spinal cord damage. Give it two days and you'll be riding that crazy Appaloosa of yours again. You're allowed to walk today but with someone's help and you're allowed to do light chores around the yard but no lifting or bending and you don't have to wear a neck brace either." He smiled. Nicola hugged me.

"Thank you Doctor." He said and kissed my forehead.

"No problem." The doctor said and walked out.

"Here." Olivier said, handing me my Nike bag. "Change of clothes and trainers."

"Thanks Olivier." I said and took them. Nicola took my neck brace off and I rubbed my neck, moving it slowly.

Once I was dressed, Nicola held my waist and I held his whilst we walked out to Ludo's car. Ludo and Olivier jumped in the front whilst me and Nicola jumped in the back.

"We still didn't get to town today." I said making everyone laugh.

"We can do town tomorrow if you're up to it." Nicola replied, pulling me in for a kiss.

"Ha. Got it on camera!" Olivier laughed as he took the picture of us kissing on his phone. Me and Nicola broke away laughing and I laid my head on his shoulder.

"Today has been one hell of a day guys!" Ludo said, yawning but focusing on the road.

"I'll agree with that." Nicola said. I didn't reply because I was already half asleep.

When I felt the car stop, I heard Olivier let out a silent laugh and Ludo chuckle to himself. I heard a camera shutter on a phone go off and then felt Nicola stir beside me.

"Awe." He whispered and unbuckled our seatbelts. I presumed that he'd climbed out on the other side because I felt myself being lifted out of the car bridal style and carried into the house. I was laid on something soft and another warm and cosy thing was laid over me and the light turned out. I was tired and nobody was going to disturb me. The last thing I felt was the bed dipping down and a toned arm wrapping around my waist.

"Goodnight my little champion." I heard Nicola's voice before I was out like a light.