I need to sleep. Who is saying that the dog is good? He’s not good. He tried to give my position away. Maybe he’s like Lassie… can he get Quinn?
“Cheyenne, reach your hand out to me, piscín.”
“Sleep, Cheyenne, sleep baby, I’m here, just sleep, piscín.”
Ah, sleep, yes, I’ll just rest for a bit while I wait for Quinn. He’ll be here soon.
Cheyenne woke up for just long enough to see she was in an emergency room and to feel the panic rise. This was one of those times she wished she had Master Carter here to be her doctor. She knew someone had spoken to him because someone said his name. He didn’t have hospital privileges here yet. He was on his way to check on her that nurse said, but being in this hospital was causing her to panic again. She could feel it crawling up.
After she had become truly aware of her surroundings, she felt horrible. Now she was nauseous, and her head hurt. Carter showed up, and Quinn seemed to appear out of nowhere. He grabbed her hand, but her eyes just wouldn’t open again. She was too afraid.
“Cheyenne, sweetie, can you open your eyes?”
“No,” she whispered.
“Are you scared?” Carter asked. Cheyenne nodded slightly.
“Do you need the medicine to calm down?”
She nodded again. Tears squeezed passed her closed eyes.
“Okay, sweetie, hold on. Do you need your daddy?” Carter whispered in her ear.
“I can’t,” she whispered.
“Oh, sweetheart, you most certainly can if you want him he’s here.” She sniffled. Her hand was picked up by someone, and there was a cold rush in her arm causing more tears.
It was all too much. Too much noise, too much light, too much fear, too much pain.
Quinn stood closer and leaned down to kiss her. “Do you need your daddy?” he whispered in her ear, and she turned to him and tried to open her eyes. They overflowed with more tears as she nodded.
“But we can’t,” she whispered back.
“Oh, yes we can, baby, just let Daddy take care of you. Okay?”
She simply nodded and moaned. She hissed, as the pain in her head was made worse with the movement.
She whispered, “I’m scared.”
“I know. I’ll sit here with you, and it’ll be all right.”
“I don’t want to die,” she said as tears streamed down her face. She was sleepy. She fell asleep.
It was day two and Cheyenne had not woken up for more than a few moments at a time, and she hurt when she did.
Doc came in to check on her and speak to Quinn. “Her vitals are better now we rehydrated her. She’s worn out, but when she has had enough rest, she will wake up for longer periods. It is rather a blessing to be sleeping. Less pain.”
Quinlan filled in more of the blanks. “She has been under a lot of stress this last month, and she was so tied up over this last craziness that ended with us being here.”
Carter nodded. “She hadn’t been missing for more than seven hours, but it appeared as though she hadn’t eaten much or taken in water since the day before that. The stress on her body was more that it should be, and it looked like a good case of dehydration. She showed signs of exhaustion.”
Carter, being a dominant and doctor knew it wasn’t Quinn who had gotten her to this point but Cheyenne herself. Doc, however, didn’t know doms or that their primary focus was their submissives and in this case, Quinlan’s wife. After the examination and checking her lab results, Doc turned to the group of O’Connors standing vigil.
“We found some benzodiazepines in her system to make her drowsy, sleepy. Most likely to keep her sleeping through the whole ordeal. It will take another day before they are all out of her system, I imagine, especially since she has never had that class of drug before. She’s also exhausted, though.” He looked hard at Quinn. “Why is your wife exhausted? I’ve checked, and she’s not pregnant. There are no medical reasons that she should be so physically tapped out so it makes me look elsewhere. Have you been letting her rest enough? Sleep? Has she been sleeping?”
The implication was loud and clear to everyone. Up went the hand to rifle through his hair for the umpteenth time.
“What? No. God no. I mean yes. I’m the mean, unreasonable husband who has pushed her to stop working, lower her stress load and threatened to take things into my own hands. It is what forced this issue, what got us here, Doc, her last day at that job.”
Doc stared for a moment, trying to put things into order in his mind, and then he responded with a short nod.
“Good. Okay then. I’m giving my medical opinion here, but you would do well to heed it. Keep this woman home. Keep her resting and recuperating for a while, several weeks if possible. Her stores are empty, and it takes a while to deplete them so it will take a while to rebuild. No baby making until I have cleared her, young man.” Doc looked Carter who was nodding his head. “I concur wholeheartedly.” Doc glanced around at the room full of O’Connor men and women as he continued. “I know that you all are in that stage of your life, but some of you take raising children to a whole new level,” now looking directly at Liam and Jocelyn.
The room laughed, and Liam put up his hand in non-disputed defeat while Jocelyn sported an affronted look putting her hands on her hips for effect.
“Don’t get me wrong, Liam. You’re doing a bang-up job. But I think you have supplied your parents enough grandchildren for now. They should allow for Cheyenne to beg off a while longer.” Turning back to Quinlan, he concluded, “So, condoms for a while young man.” Also, as he was walking out the door, he added, “You might invest in a multi-family pack and share them amongst your kin, because I need a vacation.”
Relief at the good news made the laughter more boisterous, consuming the room as he waved good-naturedly and walked out.
“You know, that does bring up the situation I wanted to discuss with you all. Cheyenne has been doing too much lately. I’ll take care of that from now on, but can we get someone to do the books for a month or so for the ranch?”
“No.”
A raspy whispered reply from behind him took his attention. Looking around he didn’t find anyone who might have said it, and Cheyenne had not moved, so he ignored it. He wanted her to wake up so much that he was hearing things.
“She needs a break and to get level again. If I could just get her to hang out at home, it would be so much better. Besides, the weather should be changing soon, getting cooler. We’re getting ready for the Labor Day round up which is plenty of work for everyone. Then the holidays hit. I mean we have so much going on all the time, I just want her to ease back into things.”
Ciarán spoke up, having just returned from the National Wild Horses Conference he’d put on once again this year. By the time he heard the story, gotten things covered for the last couple of scheduled events at the conference, and pulled into town, they had found Cheyenne and were bringing her to the hospital. He hadn’t even been home.
“I think you’re right. I believe we all need to cut back this winter and draw in a bit. Things have gotten so far spread out we have begun to lose that comfort and control we should have.”
“What?” squealed Katie, who had flown home immediately against her father-in-law’s wishes after only one day. “You just said I could go back to work part time.”
“Maybe we should talk about it again.” Ciarán’s hand rested on the back of Katie’s neck, thumb rubbing the side of her slender throat. Quinn knew that to be Ciarán’s universal sign to his wife to let it go and let him direct.
“Fine, but we will be talking about this, right? I mean real talk, with words and everything.”
“Real talk, mo chroí, I promise.”
Satisfied, Katie leaned into her husband’s muscular chest and listened.
“Good point, Ciarán. Glad we don’t have to deal with meeting the school's schedules and we can set our own schedule,” said Jocelyn always trying to get in a vote for homeschooling.
“Says the woman w
ho has a thirty-hour schedule on a twenty-four-hour day,” stated Liam dryly, “And don’t think I missed the added plug for one of your favorite soapbox subjects.”
“I do not.”
The room laughed and replied in unison, “You do!”
Quinn brought it back to Cheyenne. “Well, I would just like to get a backup bookkeeper, accountant, or something so that Cheyenne isn’t doing too much.”
“No.”
This time, the raspy ‘no’ was accompanied by a little moan. Quinn reached for Cheyenne’s hand and called her name nearly crying when she tried to answer.
“Water,” she croaked out, and three people reached to grab her some.
Ciarán held onto the cup while Liam helped Quinn rearrange her so she could have a few sips and Katie reached for her pulse while stepping aside for Carter to check her pulse and eye responsiveness. He then touched her goose egg bump.
She moaned. “Ow, sir,” she complained. Katie sent Jocelyn for the nurse and Carter to speak to Doc. All but Quinn cleared away so the nurse could come and talk to her. The nurse clearly expected him to make way for her, but Quinlan responded with a look of his own that was clearly interpreted as there would be no extracting him from his wife’s hand anytime soon.
After a bit of work, the nurse was able to do what she needed to do, asking for pain levels, thirst, and warmth. She performed reflex and vitals checking before deciding that she would leave them alone and wait for the doctor’s orders since Carter did not have hospital privileges. Once she left, the room filled back up with family so they could express their gratitude and joy at seeing her awake and better if not well.
Liam said, “So I’ll get someone to do the books for this month and then maybe take some of the load off for a bit so Cheyenne can get back on her feet.”
Simultaneously Quinlan said, “Thanks” and Cheyenne said, “No.”
“It is just for a little bit, Cheyenne. We have this all figured out,” responded Quinn moving to reassure her with his eyes, tone, and soothing touches.
“Quinn, whose name is on the business license?” Cheyenne whispered and moaned in the same movement. “And who was it that said they would not interfere with my business?” Her eyes remained closed, but her accusatory tone was apparent.
“Okay, but who said they would stay safe?”
There was a silent standoff as both contemplated their next words giving Katie the perfect opening to say they all needed to leave.
“Glad you feel better, honey, but we need to go and feed the children,” said Katie.
Taking the cue, Liam added, “And pin up the stock, bed the ranch down for the night. Get some rest tonight, mhuirnín. I bet if you have a good showing, you will get to go home in the next day or so.”
Cheyenne smiled. Leave it to Liam to equate her with a 4-H competition. Hugs, kisses, and well wishes were completed, and all but Quinn left Cheyenne’s room.
He steered clear of the earlier conversation and began filling in the blanks for Cheyenne. Her head was cleaned up and healing now, but she had looked a mess by the time Gent found her. Blood had matted Cheyenne’s hair. There was dried blood on her face, and it had saturated her clothes when he had first laid eyes on her.
“We were looking for you nearly eight hours before we found you, beag amhain.” He reached over and engulfed her hand in his big one. “It was the longest eight hours of my life.” He reached down to kiss her temple on the side that was unharmed.
“I love you,” was all she could croak out but they both shed a few tears of joy and thanksgiving.
Cheyenne had asked about what happened after she went into Shelby’s house.
“We figure you spent most of the time in the crawl space Gent found you in. You were floating in and out of consciousness and experiencing some delirium. It seemed to be due to dehydration and that crack on your head.” He kissed her again, not being able to get enough of her. “Your blood should be replenished once your fluids have been back up for a few days.” His tone changed to chastising but not heavily. “You have not been eating right or taking in enough fluids. You have not been sleeping well, and your stress has been too high for too long. I need to put you on notice, mhuirnín, it stops here and now.”
“Yes, sir.”
Quinn was glad that she did not remember most of the time due to her unconscious state, but he did wonder what she thought when she was conscious. He worried most about nightmares and flashbacks that people often had right after a terrible event. He had no doubt they would go away, but he wanted to know what she might be remembering.
“If you crawl in the bed with me and cuddle, I’ll tell you,” said Cheyenne patting the spot next to her.
It took no other invitation for Quinn to toe off his boots and climb in, finally able to gather her in his arms after what seemed like a lifetime of waiting.
“So, I had lots of strange thoughts but mostly I tried to stop my panic and willed you in the room with me or where ever I was. Someone was moaning, and I guess that was me. I heard a dog that was trying to give away my position and someone said he was good.”
“I thought I heard Liam’s boys. I was so nauseous and needed to go throw up, but then I had a pounding head. I knew somehow I was in a small space so didn’t know what would mess up my area or head if I did puke again so I tried to control it. I remember hearing your voice. You said you would help me regulate my breathing. I listened to you and then knew it wasn’t really you. I begged you to take control of everything, but I knew you couldn’t. You weren’t there.”
Cheyenne was so very tired. She never asked about the Rocklands. Quinn said he would fill in the blanks as he could later. She needed to sleep and for once, he got no argument.
“Sleep now, baby.”
“Will you stay with me?”
“Yes, beag amhain, sleep.
They both slept.
***
Two days later, four days after she was admitted, Doc said, “Go home and stay home.” He sent a telling look Quinn’s way.
Quinn responded by lifting his hands in surrender and said, “I know, but it is Cheyenne you need to convince because I’m going to be out of the house at times. I’m trying to get her coverage throughout the day, but she’s going to scream about it.”
Quinn looked over at his wife. Doc gave her a hard look and began his scolding.
“You are better Cheyenne, but you had blood loss, a concussion, and were low in nutrients and dehydrated. I want you to drink about a gallon of water a day and anything else you wish to drink. Then eat three to five small but well-rounded meals per day until I see you again in two weeks. Gentle exercise like walking is good, typical work at home is fine, no gardening or riding, or late nights. Am I coming through loud and clear?”
She had the grace to look sheepishly at both Doc and Carter while avoiding her husband’s eye.
“I will,” she told the doctor. “But,” looking at her lover, “I don’t need a babysitter.”
“We’ll discuss this later,” answered Quinn.
She wanted the doctor to say she should not have any punishment either, but then she would have to explain that Quinn did that, and she allowed it. TMI, as the kids would say, definitely too much information. No, she would have to hope that Quinn would continue to read her like a book. Unfortunately, her book had pages that were wearing in spots with repeated use.
Did she understand him correctly? Was he referring to “late nights” as sex? No sex? Could he tell her that? Wait, she was going to have a baby discussion with Quinn. It was one thing to decide you were waiting, but when you thought you were ready, no one should tell you that you can’t. For Cheyenne, that was like sic 'em to a dog.
Home was a relief after the time in the hospital. Her anxiety was less because she had Quinn and because she had been sleeping more than half the time. She had been home for three days, and it was family dinner night. Quinn informed everyone they would have to have it without him and Cheyenne this week. The response was a
n uproar of disagreement. They brought the dinner to Cheyenne.
Time for dessert and the family was dying to hear Cheyenne’s side of the story. She looked over at Quinn, and he agreed she could oblige them.
“So that afternoon, after I left the house I went to tell Martin that I had proof they were skimming off the accounts but who ‘they’ were I had no idea. I suspected Chuck and Jason, but they were just the patsies.”
Later the next day, she gave her story to the sheriff’s department. “I went back to Spencer’s Spread and Shelby was in the office. I told her it was my last day. I told her that I had found out what had gone on with his accounts and was ready to show him the proof. She didn’t seem like it was a big deal.”
Cheyenne leaned further into her husband’s firm hold before continuing. He squeezed and kissed her temple for encouragement. “I had just started my meeting with Martin and was settling in to show him the proof when Shelby called me. She said she had discovered something that made all the difference in what I was telling Martin. She said I had left a vital piece of information unsolved and that she had solved it. But she didn’t want to talk on the phone. After some insistence, I agreed to hold off my meeting with Martin long enough to come get that vital piece of information.” Cheyenne took a deep breath.
“Are you still okay, beag amhain?” She had been his little one since she had needed her daddy in the hospital. Cheyenne herself drifted in and out of that need since the hospital. She was more confident now and didn’t need him.
“No, I’m fine, honey.” He smiled back, receiving the message.
She continued. “I decided to go ahead and keep the meeting on track, but if I had gone to see her first, I would have been missed earlier.” She shrugged. “Doesn’t matter now. Anyway, after I finished my meeting, I didn’t want to stop at the office again and I called to tell Shelby that I didn’t care about the additional information. She could give it to Martin herself.”
Her Balancing Act: Quinlan O'Connor Book 3 Page 21