Wild Horses

Do You Forgive Her?

"Rusty, c'mon, boy!" I urge my horse up the trail even though he wants nothing to do with headed this way having sensed that something was up ahead. Mike and Danny have arrived at the fallen tree before me as Rusty is being stubborn. When I pull back on the reigns, he snorts and stops suddenly catching me off guard pushing me forward. "Woahhh, boy," I jump down rubbing his neck to calm him before grabbing the giant flashlight in my saddle bag.

As I near the tree, I shine the light to guide my steps and see the back of the woman. She looks drenched as we all are, and I realize I left the blanket on my saddle. "Dang it!" I sputter as I turn back to retrieve it and hurry back.

"Why did you ride out here alone?" I hear Mike questioning the woman, and she replies, her voice sounding pained.

"I thought I'd be ok. I've ridd....." she stops as I shine the flashlight on her and inhales sharply.

It takes me a minute to figure out why she does, and my heart nearly comes to a grinding hault as I realize who it is, "Lena?" I hear my voice sound distant and small as our eyes lock.

"You know this woman?" Mike inquires curiously as he stands.

"We've met...." I don't elaborate as my jaw clenches, and I unroll the blanket to wrap around her shoulders. As I kneel to do so, I whisper in her ear, "You are alive! Fancy seeing you out here..."

I stand, my anger boiling inside of me, and I become all business as we spend the next two hours hacking and sawing at the tree enough to pull her out from underneath. We manage to get her up on Rusty before I hoist myself up behind her.

"Thank you," she whispers barely audible as I nudge Rusty to head back to camp.

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*LENA*

Stef helps me to a sleeping bag that was an extra, one of the many that didn't get wet in the storm, and she kneels down to take a look at my leg. I watch her as she pulls out a pair of scissors. "I'm going to try to be gentle, but I need to cut away your jeans, ok?"

My heart thuds in my chest as I nod and brush back my drying hair out of my face. She has set up a battery lit lantern and has the first aid kit opened with the necessary things needed. I grimace as she grabs the hem and begins to cut, sucking air through my teeth as I realize the skin must be broken underneath. "Are you ok?" She stops as she looks up at me."

"Uh-huh...." I manage as tears spring to my eyes, and I quickly wipe them away with the back of my hand.

She cuts all the way past my knee before setting the scissors down and ripping open the jean material as she inspects my swollen leg. "It may be broken; so, I'm going to clean it the very best I can and splint it." She swallows as she looks up at me, and for a moment, we lock eyes again, and I can't tell if what I'm seeing is anger, pain or sympathy. I feel as if what I'm reading from her is cloudy. Her fingers move deftly as she cuts cloth and uses antiseptic to clean the cuts and dried blood. I squeeze my eyes shut trying hard not to moan or groan or be a big baby, but my leg is throbbing so badly, I feel like I'm going to be sick. It doesn't help that I know me and Stef need to talk, and it's killing me that I have put us in this very predicament.

After she wraps and splinters my leg, she hands me ibuprofen and some water for the pain, "Lie back. I'll bring you a pillow." Her voice has softened some which makes me want to burst into tears, and I do as she says as I wait for her to return. I love this woman. I knew it as soon as I saw her face tonight. I have been fighting it, and we are now at odds because of my foolishness and because of my cowardly ways. I have no earthly clue how I am going to make this right. Will she ask me to leave as soon as I am all fixed and better? Callie had said that she was over me, but even if that's true, I do know Callie well enough to know she didn't ever really care for me anyway and could be just saying that.

"Here you go, my love," she returns and says this softly as she again is kneeling, this time by my head. I lift my head as she lays it beneath it, and as I lay my head back down, I feel her fingers brush down my cheek as she says hoarsely, "What the hell made you ride a trail you've never ridden not knowing what to expect as well as riding it alone? Hmmm? That was about the dumbest thing you could ever have done, Lena..." Her voice catches some as her nose twitches.

Now the tears begin to fall sideways down my cheeks as I sniffle, "I needed to get to you! I needed to apologize and make everything right again!"

I move my hands to cover my eyes as she says nothing, and I have no idea what she is feeling in this moment. All I know is that I want it to be over so we can continue where we left off, but she doesn't feel that way as she clears her throat, moving to get back up. "Well, if you need anything, I'll be right over there. Just call my name. We'll be leaving in a couple of hours after we are able to get some sleep." She sounds all business-like, and I can't say that I blame her. My eyes soon grow heavy as I drift off to sleep, and the last face and voice in my mind is that of Stefanie Marie Foster.

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Do you think Stef is being too hard on Lena?