Cold State Line

Snap pawed the ground, ready to take on his final barrel race before we traveled Vegas. He was ready; I was ready and we were going to totally kick ass. I held him back and waited for the signal Tina was going to give us.

The signal came and we took off, chasing those barrels like our lives depended on it. Snap turned the first barrel perfectly and took off for the next. He took the second barrel tightly, almost knocking it over, but we made it through. Then we passed to the third and were about to make it around it when something strange happened.

Snap reared back like something had frightened him. We were moving so fast that I was able to stay on and I went sailing off his back. It was like every thing was happening in slow motion. I could see every piece of grass and every detail on the barrels. And then it was impact. I hit the ground, hard. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't wearing a helmet. We didn't wear helmets when we raced.

When my body hit, I could hear the bones crunching and then my head hit the crowd and my vision went black. Now that wasn't a good sign.
**********************************************************************************************************
I woke to to an all too familiar scent of disinfectant only hospitals could have. Groaning, I slowly opened my eyes. The room was an off-white that only hospitals could produce and there was mismatched furniture to make me certain I was in a hospital room.

"Oh, good you're awake," someone said.

I turned to see a redheaded nurse. She was a nurse I recognized. Her name was Emma and normally she was in ICU which is where I normally was. The last time I had been here is when the police had found me after the unforgivable thing Clay had done.

"What happened, Emma?"

She sent me a sad look. "Doctor will explain, honey. You know I hate seeing you back in here."

The doctor came in shortly after Emma left. At least he was efficient. He was also a doctor I was used to seeing. I didn't even have to call him Doctor anymore. We were on first name basis, and he had been the first guy who ever wanted to kill Clay. There was a long list, but Clay was untouchable.

"Haylee, this isn't what I meant when I said I wanted to see you again."

I looked down at my bed covers. It wasn't exactly the way I wanted to see Thomas either. "Yeah, me either. What happened?"

"What do you remember?" Tom sat down on my bed, checking my vitals carefully and gently.

"Snap and I were doing a final barrel race and then I got tossed. I think my head hit the ground," I said, lifting my arm so he could take my blood pressure. These tests always sucked, and I knew how to do them myself since I used to be in the hospital every week for a few years.

"Yeah, it's worse than just hitting your head, Haylee." Tom set my arm down and looked me in the eyes. "You have a pretty bad concussion, and I told you if you got one more, horseback riding had to go. Haylee, this concussion is bad. We did an MRI on you, and I don't even want you out of the hospital until the swelling is gone, then we can reassess if you can ride again. You also broke your arm and leg. Your arm is a clean break, but the leg is not. There are bone fragments that we need to go in and get out. Haylee, the therapy is going to be rough and Vegas is out."

Notes

Oh boy.