Cowboys in Her Heart

by Jan Springer

  “Hurts…like…a…bitch,” he muttered. For some insane reason, he wanted them to know it was bad.

  “Hang in there, my man. Hang in there,” Dan was speaking now.

  Pain rocketed through him as hands touched him. He cried out but they didn’t leave him alone. He was turned onto his back, then lifted and then down. Then lifted again. He could hear JJ sobbing.

  He felt bad for bringing this grief onto her. She didn’t need this shit. It wasn’t good for her or their baby.

  “Hold on, Brady. Hold on. We’ve got Paul, the vet waiting for us. He knows stuff about tetanus,” Rafe said.

  He kept talking but once again the words began to mingle and he couldn’t keep track. He kept his eyes closed tight. Felt the cold rain hit his face like painful blades as they left the cabin.

  Wind howled. Tree branches cracked ominously overhead. Or maybe it was his bones cracking? His entire body went into spasms again. Fuck! He was going to die! He just knew it.

  JJ didn’t know how in the world she managed to survive the half hour struggle through the dense forest back to the lake where they’d landed. Dan and Rafe had told her to stay put with the plane, but she couldn’t. She needed to be with Brady. Needed to stay with him. She had to be there…in case she had to say goodbye.

  Brady looked bad. Pale as a ghost. His body was stiff. His breathing raspy. He was having trouble breathing. She remembered stuff from a first-aid course she’d taken online. About doing a tracheostomy. She would do it if the time came.

  She was surprised she hadn’t gone into full panic mode and become utterly useless. God help her, but she wanted to, if only to distance herself from this horrible situation. But she needed to keep it together. Needed to stay sane for Brady.

  The storm had gotten worse as they made their way through the forest toward the cabin where Brady had been. The wind had shrieked through the treetops. Branches had fallen all around them. The rain was a downpour and the lightning and thunder so intense her teeth had involuntarily chattered.

  But they had made it to the old cabin tucked away at the edge of one of the endless meadows on Moose Ranch. She seriously was surprised they hadn’t been struck by lightning. Maybe they’d gotten lucky due to all of them wearing rubber boots and raincoats. Or maybe God was listening to her prayers to keep them all safe.

  On the way back to the plane, the storm had thankfully passed on.

  Now as they waded through the waist high cold lake water, with Rafe and Dan lifting the litter as high as possible to keep Brady dry, her mind once again drew to the possibility she might lose him. If she did, she would probably end up screaming until she went insane.

  After they reached the plane, they got a moaning Brady on board and settled him in the aisle on the litter. They’d hurriedly changed into dry clothing, which thankfully Rafe had had the forethought to pack for all of them.

  She managed to get the plane into the air without a problem and headed toward the lake to where Mitch would bring that medical responder.

  While she flew the plane, tears ran down her cheeks as she listened to Brady moan and cry out. She wanted to be there with him. To somehow soothe his pain, but she was stuck here in the cockpit. Helpless and sick with dread.

  When Rafe pointed out the lake where she was to land, she was grateful to see three men waiting along the south shore. As the plane hit the water, the three men were already paddling a canoe out to meet her.

  There were hurried introductions as two of the men climbed aboard. She barely noted that Mitch looked a lot like Brady and one of the men, whom she assumed was Paul, had brought along a large black leather bag. The other man remained in the canoe and quickly paddled away from the plane.

  She tried to read Paul’s face as he kneeled beside a very stiff Brady but Paul’s gaze was expressionless. He swiftly set about his examination and as he did so, he instructed her to get airborne.

  The trip to Thunder Bay was the longest and most torturous of her life. The skies had turned a bright blue, sunshine streamed upon the green forest below and white mist uncurled throughout the many lakes that dotted the area, but JJ couldn’t revel in the beauty. She was dead inside.

  Several times either Rafe or Dan prodded her to eat a sandwich or have some hot coffee that Dan had packed for them. Her tummy heaved at the thought of food or drink, but she knew she couldn’t get sick, so she’d forced herself to eat half a beef sandwich and drink a couple of cups of coffee.

  One good thing about Paul being on board, Brady wasn’t moaning as much. Rafe gave her frequent updates informing her that Paul had already given Brady the tetanus vaccine, had started him on a tetanus antitoxin, and given him a mild sedative to help lessen the muscle spasms. But he couldn’t give too much sedation or it would inhibit Brady’s breathing even more.

  He’d also started Brady on a strong antibiotic that Paul would normally have needed for the horses they were bringing onto their ranch later in the year.

  Paul had told Rafe and Dan he thought the prognosis was serious, but not yet critical. Brady wasn’t out of the woods.

  JJ prayed harder as the airport came into view. She spied the helicopter on the emergency helicopter pad. She knew the helicopter was there awaiting Brady’s arrival because she’d been on the radio with 911 as she’d flown closer to the city giving them her ETA.

  Red and blue lights blinked and the copter’s blades were rotating. Medical personnel dressed in white waited nearby with a gurney.

  Had the guys not purchased this plane last year, she wondered how they would have managed to get to Brady. Had Brady’s brother not decided to set up shop nearby with Paul the vet…She shuddered at what might have happened and tried to concentrate on the air traffic controller’s instructions on which runway she was to land.

  Once again, she prayed hard. Prayed that she wouldn’t lose Brady and that her baby could know his or her father. Angrily, she wiped away the tears that continued streaming down her cheeks. God couldn’t be so cruel as to take Brady from them. Please God, not now.

  Brady knew the news was bad. The phone call had come early in the morning a couple of days after Christmas. He’d planned on sleeping in really late because he and a couple of guys from the firm had gone out drinking at the local bar. They’d played some pool, chatted with some cute lawyer chicks from a nearby legal aid government firm. He’d even pondered on asking one of ladies, a cute blonde with the prettiest brown eyes, if she wanted to come home with him and spend the night, but he hadn’t gotten up the nerve to ask her. He wanted to get to know her a little better before proposing a sleep over with some hot and heavy sex.

  A good thing he hadn’t asked her because as he’d reached for the phone, he’d instinctively known the news was really bad and the last thing he would have needed to deal with was a woman in his bed that he barely knew.

  His sister, Jenna, was on the line. She was crying and muttering something about mom and dad and their youngest sister, Ginny, being in a serious accident. The trio had been on their way up to the family cottage near Huntsville. Dad had been driving, their car had hit some ice on the highway and his dad had lost control.

  After a few donuts, the car had stalled. A transport truck loaded with metal rods hadn’t been able to stop in time and hit them head-on.

  Brady didn’t even remember getting dressed. Didn’t remember how he got to the hospital.

  All he remembered was his brother, Mitch meeting him somewhere inside the front entrance of the hospital, his face ashen, saying Mom and Dad were dead and their sister was in critical condition with a crushed pelvis, a broken hip, head injuries and other broken bones and she wasn’t expected to survive.

  Mom and Dad were dead. How could this be? How? Or had it all been a dream? Maybe they were all okay?

  Brady forced himself to open his eyes. A room he didn’t recognize burst into view. The walls were pale green. Hospital room. There was a window beside his bed. Sunshine streamed inside and landed
on the lower half of his body. His legs were hot. He tried to move them, but it hurt bad.

  Beside him a couple of weird machines whirred softly. He was hooked up to an IV with several bags hanging off the metal hooks.

  He tried to swallow. Found it hard to do it, but he managed. Maybe he was the one who’d been in the accident and not his mom and dad and sister? Maybe he’d been in a coma for several months and not his sister?

  A burst of panic swept over him. How long had he been here? And where was here?

  Something warm was curled over his hand and he noticed it was someone else’s hand. There was an arm that led to a dark-haired woman. A familiar woman. His heart clenched.

  Suddenly things began to fall back into place.

  “JJ,” he managed to croak.

  She was instantly awake. Dark circles hung beneath her eyes. For a moment worry and panic snapped through her brown eyes and then she smiled at him.

  Her smile was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life. She squeezed his hand and for some crazy reason his fingers hurt.

  “Brady, you are a sight for sore eyes,” she whispered.

  “Why…you…here?” he rattled. He was surprised she understood because he could barely understand himself. He sounded like a croaking frog.

  “Where else would I be, Brady?” she said with a shake to her head. He loved the way her hair bounced. Loved the cute dimples in her cheeks as she smiled some more.

  Damn but he’d snagged one gorgeous looking woman.

  “The…baby?” he asked. He hoped all this shit hadn’t put too much stress on JJ and the baby. His baby. What the hell had he been thinking not checking out that cow bite?

  “The baby is safe. And yes I have been eating and sleeping and taking care of myself.”

  He tried to grin, but hell, the muscles in his face hurt. But not at all as painful as when he’d been in the cabin.

  “Prognosis?” he muttered. The muscles in his jaw were a bit stiff. May as well know how bad this tetanus shit was going to get.

  “Well, the doctors said you probably will have some nerve damage. If so, you’ll have some pain in the areas of damage up to a few months until new nerves regenerate. Until then you can take drugs to alleviate symptoms. It was a good thing Paul was there and knew what to do, he saved your life.”

  Paul.

  Yes, he remembered Paul leaning over him telling him he was going to be okay. Getting a couple needles injected into his arm. Things had improved after that.

  Things continued to improve as he stared at JJ. Man, she was pretty, despite the dark circles under her eyes. She smelled nice too. Of lavender.

  “Does it hurt anywhere?” she suddenly asked.

  He nodded and pursed his lips.

  She frowned.

  He pursed his lips some more and then she smiled. She understood what he wanted.

  “Your lips hurt?” she asked softly. Tenderly.

  “Big…time,” he lied.

  His insides went into happy mode as she bent closer. When her warm mouth melted over his, his brain short-circuited and sore muscles in various parts of his body sparkled with pain. But he knew he was going to be all right. And he knew she was all the medicine he would need to recuperate.

  Suddenly he couldn’t wait to get the hell out of here.

  Brady was back on the ranch within a week, but confined mostly to the bed or to the couch with limited strolls to the bathroom or to the front porch. On the porch, he sat with JJ while they both folded laundry on the picnic table or prepared vegetables. She loved having him around and they chatted about things he wanted to do with the ranch. He helped her bake and to get food ready for meals and he even made dessert several times.

  The muscles in his legs had been affected more than anywhere else on his body. The doctors said he’d been very lucky that he’d gotten prompt attention and JJ thanked God almost hourly for letting her keep Brady. The affected nerves would regenerate and he should be as good as new within months. But Brady insisted it would be sooner.

  While Brady had been in the hospital, she’d gotten to know Brady’s brother, Mitch and his friend, Paul. Paul had a friend who also worked at the hospital as a nurse. The elderly lady had been kind to let JJ, Mitch and Paul stay at her small apartment that was near the hospital. They’d stayed there for several nights while the nurse worked the night shift.

  Word had come quickly from the doctors that Brady would be okay thanks to Paul’s quick thinking of administering the medication he’d had on hand. The strong antibiotics had put a stop to the tetanus causing further damage. So, she’d been able to relax and eat nutritious foods that Mitch and Paul brought to her while she stayed all day with Brady in his hospital room.

  Rafe and Dan had returned almost immediately to the ranch via North Country Air along with several months’ worth of fuel for the bush plane so they wouldn’t have to worry about fuel for awhile. Just because of a serious injury, ranch chores, haying and checking on the cattle still had to be done.

  An exciting proposal had been brought up last night at dinner too. Something that made JJ so excited, she hoped it would happen. Brady had suggested they put in a call to Jenna to see if they could send some temporary help thru Cowboys Online. Although Brady was wobbly where his walking was concerned, he told them he was confident that he would be able to help out in building that cabin out near the roundup camp. He suggested they should have someone stay here at the main ranch to tend to the garden, do some haying and keep an eye on the place for a week or so.

  At first Rafe and Dan had protested, figuring it was best for Brady that they set aside their cabin plans until next summer, but Brady was adamant. He wanted that cabin built on schedule and he wanted JJ to come along with them.

  JJ had suggested they ask Jenna to send Milena, her old cell-mate in prison. She hadn’t told them yet about her brief earlier contact with Jenna regarding Milena, and now was a good as time as any. After she’d explained that Milena was in the Cowboys Online program and that Jenna was working on getting her a job, Brady put in the call to his sister. Jenna promised she would call back as soon as possible with an answer.

  After dinner, the four of them headed down to the lake, as they had been doing every evening since Brady had come home. Rafe and Dan helped Brady into the water and they walked in until the water hit Brady’s waist. Then they walked him back and forth near the shoreline. Brady said the cold water helped to ease the pain he felt when he walked.

  JJ plopped down on one of the Adirondack chairs and watched her three cowboys. They wore swimsuits and were bare chested. Muscles rippled in their arms as Rafe and Dan flanked Brady and assisted him in walking.

  They were such strong and caring men. And they were hers. Gently, she cradled her growing baby bump. She loved her unborn baby so much that the emotion brought tears to her eyes. She loved the idea that her children would know three very loving fathers and their mother flew airplanes!

  Her gaze swept to their float plane moored to the other side of the dock. That plane was a life-saver and she was so glad that the guys had listened to her when she’d suggested to get one for emergencies and for easier transportation on the wilderness ranch. She was thrilled too that they had flown in the drums of fuel through a more experienced pilot earlier this week.

  It had been Kelly from North Country Air who’d landed her plane on the nearby landing strip, which was actually just a cleared meadow. From the plane, the drums had been transported via atv and trailer and stored far from the ranch house inside a makeshift wood shed that was equipped with lightning rods.

  “Hey, sunshine! Take a look at the sunset,” Dan called out. He pointed to the western horizon. Her breath backed up at the array of pinks and blues lacing the billowing white clouds that hung in the baby-blue colored sky. The sun was quickly disappearing behind the forest and dark shadows doused the nearby trees and the gently wavy lake.

  She stiffened as from somewher
e nearby, an owl hooted. The foreboding sound shot a dark chill through her. The ugly feeling of anxiety burst out of nowhere. It happened so fast that JJ was helpless to stop it from taking hold.

  Icy tingles slithered through her scalp and fear crept through her. The inner peacefulness she’d been experiencing since finding out Brady was going to be okay, suddenly disintegrated.

  Tenseness swept over her like a suffocating cloak as she remembered rushing through the downpour and the forest full of fallen and rotting trees to get to Brady. She’d managed to stuff all her worry deep inside of her over the past couple of weeks and now it was all coming out in one horrible flurry of emotions.

  No, not now.

  “It looks really nice, doesn’t it?” Rafe called out to her.

  She nodded jerkily. Her surroundings suddenly felt out of proportion and she just didn’t feel right.

  Okay you need to calm your breathing. You don’t want them to pick up on anything.

  Too late. The guys were already staring at her. Assessing her. Knowing she was suddenly different.

  Her heart began to pound. Her hands began to shake.

  Oh no! This is going to be a bad one.

  Calm your breathing.

  She couldn’t. Her lips began to tingle. Then her hands. She was starting to hyperventilate. She stood. She had to get out of here. Had to run somewhere. But where?

  “Easy, JJ,” Dan was already beside her.

  “Where’s Brady?” Panic for his safety snapped through her.

  “He’s fine. Rafe is helping him. See?” He moved out of the way so she could watch Rafe assist Brady into shallower water. He should be staying in there. He hadn’t been in there long enough. He said that the cold water eased the nerve pain and he slept better at night after being in the water.

  Tears bubbled up. She’d almost lost him.

  She started to cry. Everything was so overwhelming.

  “You’ve been through so much, baby. Have a good cry. Come on, let’s go up to the ranch and we’ll tuck you into bed,” Dan said.