by Nancy M Bell
“Hey! Anybody here? Do you need help?” A man’s face appeared in the open trailer door.
“Man, am I glad to see you. Do you have a CB or a phone? I lost mine somewhere.” Michelle wriggled backward and out the door. “I need a tow truck and I need to call…”
“I already called the RCMP and you’re in luck ‘cause I’m the tow truck. I was on my way home from a call when I saw you. Is the horse okay? How many are in there?” He peered into the trailer.
“Just one, and he seems to be okay, but we have to get him out of there.” Tears froze on her lashes.
He handed her his cell. “Here, do you want to call someone?”
She took it in trembling fingers. “Thanks.” It took two tries to hit the right numbers. Michelle held the phone to her ear and prayed. “Cale? Cale, I’m…” Emotion clogged her throat and she couldn’t squeeze the words out.
“Michelle? Where are you? What’s wrong?” His voice steadied her nerves and she managed to speak.
“I’m not too far south of Longview on 22. I’m in the ditch and Spud’s still on the trailer.” Her voice broke.
“Is he hurt? Calm down, Chelly and think. I’m on my way but I need to know what to bring. Does anything look broken? Is there blood?”
“No, no. Nothing looks broken and I can’t see any blood.”
“Okay, I’ll call the RCMP and a tow truck—”
“No, wait.” She handed the phone to the tow truck driver. “Can you tell him exactly where we are and that you’ve already called the RCMP, and you have a tow truck.”
She shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket and shivered. Spud must be getting cold by now. I should crawl back in and check on him. Michelle moved toward the trailer. A hand on her shoulder stopped her.
“Michelle, it’s Michelle, right? Why don’t you get up in my truck and keep warm. You’re in shock and standing out here in the snow isn’t going to help. You’ve got a big bump on your head.”
“No, I need to stay with him. I can’t leave him.” She rubbed her forehead, a headache blurred her vision. She sat down involuntarily in a drift. “I’ll just sit here and keep him company.”
Flashing lights and the wail of a siren caught her attention. Her head was leaning on the truck window and a blanket was wrapped around her. “What the hell?” Michelle tried to sit up but the pain in her head blinded her. “Son of a bitch.”
The opposite door opened and let in a blast of cold air. “Michelle. It’s me. Just sit still. There’s an ambulance on the way.” Cale leaned over the driver’s seat and pulled the blanket further up her shoulders. He kissed her cheek. She squinted at his blurred features.
“Cale? Spud!” She struggled to push the restricting cover away and fumbled for the door handle. “Spud, I have to get him out of the trailer. He’s been in there way too long…”
“Michelle.” Cale’s hands restrained her. “Michelle, he’s fine. We got him out. Doc’s here with Pat’s rig and we’ve got him loaded up already. Doc’s gonna take him to the clinic and give him a thorough exam.”
“I need to go with him. He’ll be scared.”
“You need to sit still and wait for the EMS guys to get here.”
“I don’t need an ambulance. I’m fine.”
“Don’t be stubborn. You need to get your head checked out.”
“I’m fine. Let me out.” She pushed at him, cursing herself for her weakness.
“Thank God.” Cale disappeared and a strange man opened her door.
“Who are you?” Michelle was annoyed the words came out slurred. Shit, they’ll think I’ve been drinking.
“Hi, Michelle. I’m John. We’re just gonna get you out of here and into the ambulance to check you out. Can you help me a bit? Just put your arms around my shoulders and I’ll lift you down.”
“I’m fine. Don’t need to be checked out.” Her head fell forward against the man’s shoulder.
“Of course you are. But humour me, okay. It’s my job and I don’t want to get fired.”
“Sure, okay.” Michelle let herself be eased down out of the high cab of the tow truck.
When she opened her eyes she was flat on her back. Her stomach wasn’t thrilled with the swaying of the vehicle and she gagged.
“Awake are we?” The man beside her laid a hand on her arm. “Just lie still.”
“I’m gonna be sick,” she managed to get out before her body rebelled entirely. To her embarrassment she choked and vomit came out her nose. Gross!
The man, what was his name? Joe, no, John. John raised the head of the bed a bit but kept her spine straight and told to try not to move too much. He wiped her face and did something to clear her breathing passages. She must have drifted off because the next thing she knew the stretcher was being wheeled down a long corridor. The lights flashing by overhead increased the pain in her head and she closed her eyes.
“My horse, where’s my horse?” Michelle fought her way out of the fog clouding her thoughts.
“Your horse is fine, dear. Your husband said you’d be worried about him and to tell you that Doc took him home. Once we get you settled and the doctor has a look at you your husband can come and see you.” A white coated woman with a clipboard leaned over her briefly and then hurried off.
The ambulance attendants parked her in a curtained alcove and dimmed the lights. She remembered to thank them before they left. After answering what seemed like a hundred stupid questions, the doctor let Cale in to see her. Her head was feeling much better and her vision was no longer producing double images of everything.
“When can I get out of here?”
“After the doctors take a look at the test results and the x-rays.” Cale took her hand and leaned over to kiss her forehead. “You gave me quite a scare. Why didn’t you wait until the snow stopped before driving home?”
“It wasn’t snowing when I left and the stupid road report said it was clear all the way to Calgary. How’s Spud? Did he get hurt? How did you get him out of the trailer? If he’s hurt it’s all my fault.”
One question at a time. He seems fine. Nothing broken for sure. The tow truck winched the trailer upright enough that Spud could walk off. Doc followed me with Pat’s rig so we loaded him straight away and Doc took him to the clinic. Don’t worry, you know he’s in good hands.” He paused and ran his hand through his hair. “Christ Michelle, you scared the crap out of me. Do you know how lucky it was that tow truck just happened to come along when he did?”
“I couldn’t find my cell. It must have dropped out of my pocket or something…I knew you’d come if I could just get a hold of you.” She scrubbed at the tears that sprang to her eyes. “Damn it, I don’t know why I’m crying. I hate crying.”
“I’ll always be there, Michelle. Come hell or high water, woman, all you have to do is holler and I’ll be there.”
“I know…” She dissolved in tears. “I don’t know why I’m crying,” she repeated.
“Close your eyes and try to rest. I’ll be right here.” Cale smoothed the hair back from her face.
A short time later the doctor reappeared. “Well, the good news is you haven’t broken anything. You’ve got a slight concussion, but as long as you’ve got someone to stay with you I’m inclined to let you go home.” He raised a hand when she tried to get up. “On the condition you take it easy and rest. If there’s any change, any sudden increase in pain, or change in vision, you get yourself back here on the double. Deal?”
“Deal.”
“I’ll go do the paperwork. The nurse will come and remove the IV and then you can get dressed. Your clothes are under the stretcher.”
“Thanks,” Cale said and shook the man’s hand.
“You’re very welcome.”
Michelle fidgeted until the nurse arrived and removed the catheter in her arm. It was more than annoying that Cale had to help her get dressed. She couldn’t seem to quit crying, which irritated her even more.
“It’s just the shock, Chelly. Quit worry
ing about it.”
“I feel like an idiot,” she complained.
The nurse returned with the discharge papers. “All set. You just need to sign here and you’re free to go.”
She scribbled her name and against her better judgement let Cale push her in a wheelchair as far as the door. “I’m not an invalid for heaven’s sake.”
“Enjoy the pampering while you can,” Cale teased her. “Wait here while I go bring the truck around.” He loped off in the direction of the parking garage.
The wind was cold so she pulled up the collar of her jacket and huddled deeper into it. Her knees knocked together with the shivers that rolled over her. It seemed to take forever before Cale stopped the truck beside her and hurried around to open the passenger door.
“Sorry, there was a line up to pay. You must be frozen.” He scooped her up and deposited her on the truck seat. “I put the seat warmer on so you should be toasty soon.”
Michelle leaned her head against the back of the seat. At least they’d only taken her to the hospital in Black Diamond. She didn’t think she could have handled the drive from Calgary. If she never saw the inside of Foothills again it would be too soon.
Cale closed her door and went around and got behind the wheel. “Close your eyes if you want. I’ll have you home in no time.”
“Can we stop and see Spud? I need to see him, make sure he’s okay.” Her jaw clenched as fresh shivers shook her.
“Spud is fine. I’m taking you straight home. If you want you can call Doc and let him reassure you. That old man could never lie to you.” Cale handed her his phone.
She speed dialed Doc and waited for him to pick up. “Doc, it’s me.”
“Chelly, are you okay. Where are you?”
“I’m with Cale. We’re just leaving Black Diamond. How’s Spud? Is he okay? Cale won’t take me to the clinic, he says we’re going right home.”
“The horse is fine, he’s resting. That boy’s right, you need to go home and rest. Come and see your horse in the morning if you’re feeling up to it. I’m taking good care of him, you know that.”
“But he’s okay, right? You’re not hiding anything?”
“He’s fine. Any bumps he’s got are a long way from his heart,” Doc assured.
“Okay, thanks. Give him a carrot for me and tell him I’ll see him in the morning. Oh, can you let Pat know we’re all okay and thank her for loaning her rig?”
“All ready done. Pat’s here fussing over that horse of yours. See you tomorrow. Love you Chelly Belly.”
“I love you too, Doc.” She broke the connection and handed the phone back to Cale.
“Feel better?” He reached over and squeezed her hand.
“Yeah. Let’s go home.”
Chapter Eleven
It was actually three days later before Michelle felt well enough to drive in to the clinic. She felt like a fraud sitting in the passenger seat and letting Cale chauffer her. He parked behind the building and helped her out of the truck.
“I won’t break, you know,” Michelle tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice.
“Humour me,” Cale replied and caught her elbow when she stumbled.
“Fine,” she hissed under her breath. “Shit, I hate being useless.”
“You’re not useless. Quit bitching.”
Doc met her in the meds room. “Here sit down for a minute. I need to talk to you.” He looked over her head at Cale.
Warning flags went off in her head. “What’s wrong? What didn’t you tell me?” She tried to stand up but Cale’s hand on her shoulder held her still.
“Sit still and let the man talk,” he warned.
“Where’s Spud? He’s not…” She couldn’t bring herself to say the word.
“Lord no, Chelly. The horse isn’t dead. Do you honestly think I’d keep something like that from you?”
“I guess not.” She quit struggling to get up. “So, what’s wrong?”
“Considering what he went through the horse is in pretty good shape. But,” he held up a hand, “there is a problem. There’s an injury to the left hock. I’ve taken plates and nothing seems broken, but there is considerable soft tissue injury. When he came off the trailer in the ditch the snow was pretty deep and it was getting dark. He seemed to be moving okay and not in any danger. It wasn’t until we got back to the clinic and unloaded him that the lameness became apparent.”
“You should have told me!”
“What good would that have done? You couldn’t do anything we weren’t already taking care of. You needed to rest and not be hovering over my shoulder making yourself sick. Be mad at me all you want, Chelly. I’d make the same decision again.”
“Okay, okay. How bad is it? How long will he be laid up?”
Cale’s hand tightened on her shoulder and Doc refused to meet her gaze. She swallowed hard and waited for the worst.
“The good news is it will heal. With time.”
“How long?”
“It’s hard to predict with a soft tissue injury. There’s still a lot of swelling and it makes it hard to determine what might be underlying problems. Once the edema goes down I’ll take more plates.”
“How much is all this going to cost? Don’t get me wrong, give him whatever he needs, but I need to figure out how to pay for it.”
“Don’t worry about that right now. I’m going to do shock wave therapy on him and laser his tendons and ligaments starting in a few days. Right now we’ve got him on some anti-inflammatory drugs, something for pain, and stall rest. We’re icing the leg and we’ve deep bedded him. So quit worrying.”
“Can I see him?”
“Of course. You know the way, he’s in the stall at the end where it’s quieter.”
* * *
Michelle was quiet on the way back to the ranch. How am I going to pay for everything? I know Cale will insist on helping but he’s not rolling in dough either. Shit, I haven’t even asked about my truck and the trailer yet. “Cale, how much damage was there to the truck and trailer? I can’t believe I forgot about that until right this minute.”
“The trailer took the worst of it. The hitch coupling got twisted and there’s some good dings in the sides. The truck got off easier, just needs a new tailgate and some body work. I had them towed to Harry’s, I figured that’s what you’d want.”
“Shit, shit. I guess I need to call the insurance company.”
“I already talked to Mel. He started the paperwork for you, just needs you to drop in and sign them. Do you want to stop on the way out of town?”
“No, not really. But I guess I should. Do you mind?”
“Of course not.” Cale turned the truck around and headed to the insurance broker’s office.
It only took a minute to go in, take care of the paperwork and assure Mel she was fine. Hurrying back out to the truck she just wanted to get home and away from town where it seemed everyone on the street wanted to stop and talk, asking how she was, how the horse was. Tension stiffened her neck and increased the pounding in her temples.
“How come you’re not at work?” The thought suddenly occurred to Michelle.
“Doc and Carrie are taking care of it until you’re back on your feet. Don’t worry about it.”
“Carrie’s here? I didn’t know she’d started yet.”
“Got here last weekend. By the way, congrats on winning at Coleman. Your cheque’s in the mail.”
“Really? I knew I won day money. You mean we won the whole deal?”
“Emma called on Sunday night. Your time stood up, so yeah, you’ve got day money coming as well as the jackpot. Sorry, I clean forgot to tell you.”
“Not like you haven’t had other things on your mind. At least that’ll help with some of the bills.”
“Don’t worry about the money, Michelle. Doc isn’t charging for his services, neither am I, no hospital fees for Spud. But some of the meds are expensive even at cost, and the shock wave is pricey too. If things don’t clear up the way they
should Doc has talked to Moore’s up by Calgary about getting him in for an MRI. We’ll manage, Chelly. The important thing is you’re okay and Spud is doing good.”
“I know. I just can’t help worrying. Cattle prices suck right now, I can’t even sell some of the heifers to generate some quick cash.”
Cale cleared his throat. “George was pretty upset over you getting hurt. He’s been calling every day, the first day he called just about every hour on the hour. Stacey convinced him not to come to the hospital or over to the house in case it just upset you. You should give him a call when you feel up to it.”
“Yeah, you’re right. He makes me mad enough to spit nails but if something happened to him I’d be devastated. I’ll call him when I get home. Maybe after I lay down for a bit. My head is about to split open.”
Storm and Crazy Puppy met her at the door. She bent down carefully and ruffled their heads. The dogs left with Cale when he went out to do chores. Michelle shuffled down the hall and gratefully sank onto the bed. Go away headache. It was hard to think when her hair hurt. She’d had hangovers that hurt less. She would call her brother once she got up. Having decided that, she pushed it to the back of her mind and mulled over how to pay for Spud’s medical bills. Rain was still over at Pat’s too. She might as well bring her home. The doctor at the hospital insisted she shouldn’t exert herself for a week at least. Cale had already made an appointment with Doctor Lewen for her and the hospital was forwarding her reports.