After the breakfast debate, the Heartland family dispersed, almost to the wind. Concerned about the downed fence post reported by a neighboring rancher, Jack headed out on Paint to survey the breach and check on loose cattle. Lou, anxious to start nesting, dragged Peter to the hardware store to peruse paint colors. Lisa headed back to Fairfield to do paperwork. And, with no one to pester, Mallory just went home. So the house was empty, silent when Amy and Ty walked in and shed their boots. "Hmm. Seems the coast is clear." He said optimistically, clearly relieved.
"Good. I'm not up for another inquisition."
"No kidding." He snickered. Turning serious, "Okay, Amy. Let me see the damage."
She nodded, sat at the kitchen table. He gently lifted the back of her shirt. He gasped inaudibly. Several bruises and abrasions lined up horizontally across her back. The largest bruise, the size of his fist, now a deep eggplant hue, was pronounced in middle part of her right rib cage. He couldn't be sure, but it seemed to have grown since this morning.
Worried. "Oh Amy. It looks a bit worse. How you feel?"
"It hurts. But not too bad." She said appearing unfazed.
"Hmm." He tenderly touched the large mark, it didn't seem swollen or puffy.
She grimaced then groaned. "Don't Ty." She put her head in her arms on the kitchen table.
"Hope you didn't crack a rib or two."
"Hope not too. I have too much to do to be laid up." She lamented.
"Remember when I cracked my ribs during my first cattle round-up?"
"Didn't you fall off your horse?" Needling him.
"You make it sound so bad. Like I never rode a horse before. I saved a stray calf." He laughed.
"Sure. Whatever."
"Um. Does it hurt to breath deeply?"
She nodded.
"Okay. Did you take anything for the pain?"
She nodded.
"Good. Come on. Let's go in the living room. You can lie down on the couch. It will be easier to ice it." She nodded, followed him.
As she got settled into the couch, he went into her room to get a pillow and blanket. On her dresser was the picture of them after their Fall Finale win, their huge smiles. She was so young, so innocent, so beautiful, only fifteen. He smiled as he thought back to that day, that kiss later in the barn. At just barely eighteen, he was young too, not so innocent, but cocky, stupid. He clenched his eyes, sighed. Running his hands through his hair, he muttered to no one, "I am still stupid."
She was asleep when he returned, or so he thought. He gently covered her with an old faded, patchwork quilt, probably a family heirloom.
"Thought you took a nap in there, you were gone so long." She deadpanned, eyes still closed. He chuckled.
"Here. Put this under your head." She lifted her head, so he could arrange the pillow. "How's that?"
"Good. Thanks."
He went into the kitchen, made a cold compress with ice, zip lock bag and a kitchen towel.
"Hey, can I have some water? Please? I'm thirsty." She asked.
Returning to the living room, he knelt beside her. "Here." She raised up slightly, drained the glass, handed it back, laid down again.
"Guess you were thirsty." Putting the glass in the coffee table, he cautioned, "Okay, this is going to be cold, so brace yourself." He gently lifted the quilt, put the ice pack on her back.
"Oh. That is cold." She gazed at him, closing her eyes as he stroked her hair, long and soft.
"It's chilly in here," he said. He rose, put another log on the fire, stoked it until flames flared again.
"Amy. You rest today. And, no kidding, no ridding." She murmured something. "Look. I am going to exercise Spartan and Harley, then turn them out." He kissed her cheek. She nodded.
He started to leave, but turned back. "Amy. I'll be back. I'll study here today with you. I'll call Scott and cancel."
"Mmm." She whispered softly.
"And, Matt too." She gave no argument.
On his way to the barn, he made the two calls, explained the situation. Matt was understanding, Scott was less so. Matt asked if he could still bring Rebecca by to see Star and Silk, Ty agreed. Matt even offered to do night check, which Ty appreciated but declined.
He tacked Harley, rope haltered Spartan with a twelve foot lead, ponied him on the right, headed out. The sky was a solid grey, with little light penetrating the day. The wind blew cold, inconsistent, long strands of black mane danced in the air. He gave no notice. Ty guided Harley and Spartan up a winding trail, into the dense woods, oblivious to anything but his own thoughts.
They came down the rocky hill to the river. The water reflected the sky's grey mood, ran loud, low and cold. As Harley and Spartan drank, their ears rotated to catch sounds, familiar and unknown, on guard for friends and foe. All at once, together their heads lifted, eyes and ears focused across the river. "What is it, boys?" Ty asked quietly, on alert now as well. He scanned in the same direction, but saw nothing, heard nothing. The river bank was deserted, the river's flow masked any other sound.
Spartan whinnied, nodded his head excitedly, not in distress but in greeting. A distant whinny was returned. As light brown horse with blonde mane with its rider came into view, Ty stiffened, feeling the urge to run, again. But he didn't.
"Ty." Tim yelled from the opposite bank.
Ty raised his hand, his only acknowledgment.
"Funny running into you out here." Tim yelled as he started to cross the river. "You alone?"
Ty swallowed. "Yeah."
"Good. I want to talk." Tim said, then commanded. "Whoa there." His nameless gelding stopped directly in front of Harley, greeted him with a low nicker. The horses touched noses, then their heads lowered to take a drink from the river.
Ty said nothing.
"Is that Amy's horse?" Tim asked searching for some opening. Ty nodded. "Fine looking horse." Tim added.
"Spartan is that."
"Um. How's Amy?" His clear mission.
"She's good, busy." He purposely left out any details.
"You?"
"The same...You?" Required by etiquette, nothing more, nothing less, Ty asked, but not caring about the answer.
"Okay. Been better." Tim sighed. "Will you tell Amy to return my texts and calls?"
Ty half-grunted, half-laughed. "You know Amy. I can tell her but she has a mind of her own."
"Yeah. She does." Tim chuckled. "Um. Ty. Tell her..." He paused, rubbed the back of his neck. "Tell her, I'm sorry. Okay?"
He shook his head. A tiny chuckle escaped his lips. "Come on, Tim. What are you, two? You just need to tell her yourself." Ty braced himself, knowing he had likely crossed some imaginary line.
Tim didn't move. Instead, he deeply inhaled and exhaled, a stream of cloudy hot breath escaped his nose into cold air then dissipated. He considered, then nodded. "Yeah. You're might be right."
Ty didn't respond, but smiled inwardly about the "might be" crack. Tim never admits that someone else, especially Ty, could be right. And, he certainly does not concede that he could be wrong.
"Ty. Hey. I shouldn't have, you know,.. swung at you." Tim stumbled on his words, barely above a mumble.
"Okay..." Ty couldn't believe his ears. Deciding he needed to go while the going was good, he simply said. "Tim. I got to go. See you." He nodded to Tim, clucked his tongue, pulled slightly left on Harley's reins to head up the hill.
"Hey Ty." Ty stopped, then turned in his saddle toward him, "Take care of her, okay?" Tim asked.
"I will Tim. I promise." He urged Harley up the embankment with Spartan following, headed back to the ranch. He heart was beating fast, his mind racing from the encounter. Tim's words echoed in his head. He urged Harley and Spartan into a gallop. By the time he reached home, he was mostly calm, but determined.
Horses turned out, he went into the ranch house. It was still, quiet. He expected to see Amy asleep on the couch. But she wasn't there, in her room or in the house. He called her cell phone. The call went straight to voicemail.
"Hey. It's Amy Fleming, owner of HEaRT of Heartland. Please leave me a message. I'll get back to you just as soon as I can. Bye!" A new message, for her new business. Professional, yet her voice was sweet, light, full of enthusiasm. His heart swelled. "BEEP." Then worry set in.
"Hey Amy. Call me."
For some reason, he started to panick. He ran to the barn, then the Quonset hut looking for her, calling her name, no answer.
He looked at his phone, a missed call from Jack. Ty called him back. No answer. Then Lou, Peter. Still no answered. Then he called Lisa.
"Hello? Ty?"
"Lisa. Do you know where Amy is? I can't find her, or anyone." He asked, concerned.
"Ty. They took her to the emergency room." He grabbed his keys, headed for his truck.
"Is she okay?"
"We don't know yet. They just arrived. I'm headed there myself."
"Which hospital? I'm on my way."
He was already in the truck before he hung up the phone. Driving as fast as old blue would allow, he arrived at the hospital in record time.
Racing into the emergency room, he was stopped at the front desk by a burly man, who obviously knew his way around a weigh room. Ty asked about Amy. "Your name." Not a question, but a demand.
"Ty Borden."
"Relationship." Another demand.
Good question, Ty hesitated. "Um. Boyfriend."
The man looked him, shook his head. "Sorry man. We can only give that information to the next of kin."
"Please?" Ty pleaded. "I promised her dad I'd take care of her."
"No. I strictly follow patient privacy rules." He just shook his head, clearly dismissed him.
"Okay. Understand. Is there a gift shop?" Tried another tact.
"Yeah. Down the hall and to the right."
"Thanks."
In the shop, Ty found an older woman, with "Sally VOLUNTEER" printed on her badge. He asked her politely if they delivered flowers to patients. "Yes, of course. Patient's name?"
"Amy Fleming. She was brought into the Emergency Room."
Focusing on her computer screen. "Hmm. Let's see. Oh, here she is." She looked up at him, seeing his worried expression, she smiled. "Girlfriend?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Leroy, the front desk bouncer, shut you down, huh?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Grab a stem or two. Go to room 408a." She smiled, pointed to a black bucket of full of flowers.
"Oh, thank you so much. You have no idea.." he smile wide, his eyes glistened. Grabbing a stem of delicate yellow flowers, he asked, "How much do I owe you?"
"Nothing." She smiled. "Go on, dear. She'll be happy to see you."
The elevator was slow to come to the call button, so he ran the three flights, two steps at a time, to her floor. He quickly found the room. It wasn't a patient room, but a small waiting room with a handful of chairs. Jack was sitting, leaning back in the wooden chair, with his eyes closed.
"Jack. How's Amy? Where is she?"
He opened his eyes, sat up, and said. "Ty. Where have you been? I tried to call you, son."
"I got here as soon as heard. What happened?"
Jack breathed deeply. He rubbed his eyes, then started. "When I came in from the field, she was asleep on couch. Lou said her breathing sounded strange. When we tried to wake her, we saw ice compress, her bruises. Amy was confused, she couldn't tell us anything. So we don't know what happened, how she got those bruises." Jack was upset, his usual calm demeanor nonexistent.
"Jack. This morning, before breakfast, Amy got pinned against the rail by Grace. She said that she was okay. She didn't want to tell any one." He told him, angst ridden.
"But, you knew? Why didn't you bother to tell me?" Jack demanded.
Ty exhaled, "I wish I had. But, at breakfast, I didn't have a chance to tell you anything."
Jack frowned, then nodded.
Ty pleaded. "Please tell me, how is she?"
"I don't know." He shook his head. "It happened so fast. At soon as we got to the ER, they wheeled her away in a gurney."
"Where? Did they say?"
"No. They sent us here, to this waiting room. Lou and Peter went to find some answers."
Ty slumped in a chair, elbows on knees, his head buried in his hands. Flowers forgotten, dropped on the floor.
A slight rap on the door frame, "Hello. I'm Dr. Michael Glenn. Ms. Amy Fleming's attending physician." A smallish man, with bright gray eyes, a genuine smile, dressed formally in a suit and tie, topped with a white lab coat, stepped into the room. He walked up to Jack, held out his hand, "And, you must be?"
"Jack Bartlett, Amy's grandfather." They shook hands.
Already standing, shook his hand, "Dr. Glenn. Ty Borden. Amy's boyfriend."
"I see. So, who can tell me what happened?"
Ty started. "Um. This morning early, Amy told me that one of the horses, Grace, pinned her to the rail in the pen. She showed me the bruise on her back. She said it hurt, but that she was okay. I wanted to ice it then, but she wanted to do morning chores first, then eat breakfast. After breakfast, I told her that she needed to ice it. I checked the bruises on her back, the largest one looked worse. She said again that it hurt but she was okay. She told me she took a pain reliever earlier, but I don't know what. I made her lay down on the couch, got a blanket, pillow and water, put an ice compress on her bruises. I told her shouldn't ride today, I would exercise the horses. She was sleepy, actually fell asleep. I thought she'd be okay." A tear rolled down his cheek.
"Ty, you left her alone?" Jack asked in anguish. Ty dropped his head, nodded, a small sob escaped.
"Thank you Mr. Borden. Your explanation helps a lot." He patted him in the shoulder. "Mr Bartlett, Mr. Borden. Please know Mr. Borden did everything right given the circumstances." Then he looked at Ty directly, "As a matter of fact, it was very good that you made her rest, got her an ice compress, made her drink water. Riding a horse would have exacerbated her injury, maybe irreparably. You took good care of her." He paused. "Anything else?"
Ty shook his head.
"Mr. Bartlett, anything you want to add?"
Jack explained to Dr. Glenn what he had just told Ty.
"Mr. Bartlett. It's very good that you got her here quickly. You prevented her from a more serious outcome." He paused. "You both supplied important facts to my understanding of her condition, treatment and recovery. Thank you. You both did exactly what you supposed to do. Please take solace in that."
Both men nodded. "How is she?"
"Due to the blunt force trauma to her chest, apparently from the horse, she has some internal bleeding which resulted in a Hemothorax."
"What's that?"
"Basically, that is blood collecting between her chest wall and her lungs in the pleural cavity."
"Oh Amy." Ty whispered.
"We performed several scans to confirm the diagnosis. The bleeding has slowed. We have placed a tube in her chest to drain the blood from chest cavity. The tube will likely stay in place for three or four days."
"Her lungs, thankfully, have not collapsed. But we are assist her breathing with noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation or NPPV. This provides a needed boost of pressurized oxygen to keep her lungs healthy, working properly. Two ribs were cracked, but those will heal mostly unaided."
"Does she have a concussion too? She was so confused, sleepy." Jack asked.
"No concussion. Just symptoms of the hemothorax." He paused. "She is sedated right now, on IV fluids and other meds."
Jack wiped his eyes. "Okay. What happens now?"
"We keep her here in the ICU, monitor her closely. She is in excellent health, strong. Good factors in her favor for recovery."
"Will she be okay?"
"Yes. She should recover fully. Once the chest tube comes out, she can go home. We want her to rest at home, but we also want her to move, walk especially. She should be pain free in two weeks, give or take. But, she can not do vigorous exercise including riding until I clear her."
"Okay. Can we see her?"
"Normally in the ICU, no. But I will allow one person at a time to visit with her. When she wakes from the sedative, it will be good to have a familiar face there."
Both men nodded. "Thank you."
"Mr. Borden. You are not next of kin." He paused. "But, we find that romantic partners often aid in a faster recovery. Especially in young patients." He paused again. "Mr. Bartlett, do I have your permission to add Mr. Borden to Ms. Fleming's visitor roster?"
"Yes, of course. Ty is family." Jack said decisively.
"If there are others, Mr. Bartlett, please tell Ms. Fleming's nurse. Please keep it to a minimum, aged 21 and older."
Jack nodded.
"Good. I will take you in first, Mr. Bartlett."
Jack walked over, grab Ty's arm, pull him toward for a bear hug. "Amy's strong. She'll get through this."
"She will. She's strong, she's a Bartlett."
"Okay. Follow me Mr. Bartlett. The ICU is on this floor, down the hall. Mr. Borden, you and the rest of the family can wait in here."
As they were leaving the room, Jack turned. "Ty, please find Lou, Peter, and Lisa, let them know what's going on." Jack instructed Ty, he paused, frowned. "Guess someone should let Tim know too."
Ty called Lisa. In a few minutes, Lou, Peter, and Lisa mobbed him with questions as soon as they walked into the room. Restraining his emotions the best he could, he filled them in, starting with the accident with Grace. "I am sorry that I didn't tell you." he said quietly.
Lou shook her head. "Amy should have told us about the accident herself. I mean we were in the kitchen talking right after it happened." Lou bemoaned.
"Hon, you know Amy. She doesn't want to worry anyone." Peter reminded her, rubbing her shoulder.
"Its not like her to complain." Lisa added.
"Yeah. She's a lot like Grandpa, in that respect." Lou conceded.
"Yes she is." Lisa agreed. "You know. She looked perfectly fine at breakfast. Who would have guessed?" Lisa shaking her head.
"Oh, I wish we could do something. I feel helpless." Lou sighed heavily.
"Come on. Lou. She's in good hands now." Peter kissed her head. "She'll get better. She is a strong woman. She has the Bartlett-Fleming family genes."
"I think we need a schedule for hospital visits and HEaRT work." Ty suggested. "Lou, can you be in charge of the visit schedule?"
"Of course. We need one person there at all times, right?"
"Yes. Everyone has to be in the visitor roster with her nurse."
"Okay."
"Put me on for the all-night shift and every hour when there's a hole." Ty added.
"Will do."
"I'll work out the HEaRT work schedule with Matt when I get to the ranch. He can do most of it himself but he'll need some help. I'll let you know where we have holes." Ty said.
"I can help," Peter offered.
"I'll pitch in." Lou said.
"Lou. No horse or barn work for you. You have a baby to think about." Peter reminded her.
"I can send a Fairfield ranch hand, probably Andy, to help out." Lisa suggested.
"Thanks. I'll keep you all posted." Ty said. "Um, Lou, could you call Tim?"
"I can do that." Lou said.
"Thanks. I need to go to the ranch, check on things, talk with Matt. I need to swing by Scott's as well. So I better get going, so I can get back." He turned to leave.
"Wait Ty." Lou rose, hugged him. "She is going to be okay. With all of us by her side, she gonna get through this."
He fought back the tears as he hugged her back.
She patted his back. "She's lucky to have you." She kissed his forehead.
"I'm the lucky one." He took a deep breath. "Better go."
Matt and Rebecca were at the ranch when he arrived. He shook Matt's hand. "Matt, thanks for meeting me here. Hello Rebecca."
"How is Amy?" Rebecca fired off a string of questions, Mallory-style. "Why is she in the hospital? Is she sick? Can I visit her? When will she be back?"
"Whoa Becca. Give Ty a chance." Matt said.
Ty smiled at her. "It's okay, Rebecca. I know you are worried. Amy had an accident when she was working with Grace. She was admitted to the hospital so her doctor can take care of her, make her well again." He tried his best to not worry her.
"Can I visit her?"
"Not right now. But if you want to send her a message, I'll give it to her."
"Okay. When will she be home?"
"In a few days. So not too long."
"Okay. I want to make her a card. Do you have paper and markers?"
"Becca! Honestly!" Matt said getting frustrated.
"Maybe we can find something in the office." Ty offered.
After rooting around in the desk drawers, Ty found some crayons. With a few sheets of paper from the printer, Rebecca was set.
"When will you see her?" Rebecca asked.
"After I talk with your brother, I'm gonna go back."
"Okay." She left, settled on the loft steps, and focused on making a card.
"Thanks Ty. You are more patient than me." he smirked. "Okay. How is she really?"
Ty let down his guard, worry blanketed his face. "Getting pinned by Grace caused internal bleeding. So she's in ICU with a chest tube to drain the blood. She's on a ventilator and sedated. Oh, a couple of cracked ribs to boot."
"Oh no, poor Amy. Sounds just awful."
Ty just nodded. "Thankfully, her doctor said she'll be home in a few days and will fully recover. But.."
"Know you're worried." Ty nodded again. "Look. Gotta let the doctors do their jobs. What do you need me to do?"
"Thanks. Well, you got the horse chores down. Tuesday is supply run day. You know about the whiteboard, ordering and stuff, right?" Ty asked.
"Um. We don't use the whiteboard anymore."
"Huh?"
"Amy already converted the standing supply order to that new Ranch software on Friday. We loaded the application on the laptop. Let me show you."
Matt logged onto laptop, opened the Ranch app, selected the Supplies option from the menu. He showed Ty the standing order with all the details, product, brand, size, quantity. "Its ready to send the order to Maggie's system Tuesday morning."
"Well, I shouldn't be surprised. Good for her. Good for you both." He smiled, Amy never ceased to amaze him.
"Look here's the inventory list as well. Eventually, as we use stuff or stock up, we will enter it. It feeds the supply list."
"How about that."
"Let me show you something else." He selected the Animal option. "She's added each horse so we can start tracking feed, water, exercise, herbs, even immunizations. Whatever."
"Okay. So if I select Harley, I can add his exercise for today?"
"You have a login, right?" He nodded. "You exercised him, so you should enter the information under your login. You can even add a note if you notice something unusual or good." Matt explained.
"Okay. What else?"
"Well, other than the supply and horse lists, nothing else is really set up. Amy's new iPAD is linked to the laptop."
"So, if she has her iPAD, she can monitor things from anywhere?"
"Exactly. Well, as long as she connects to the internet."
"Okay." Ty paused. "Could my iPAD be linked to the laptop too?" Matt nodded, then showed Ty how to link to the laptop.
"Thanks. I'll enter today's exercise info for Harley and Spartan." He smiled. "Will you do the same for all the other horses?"
"No problem."
"Technology. You gotta love it."
"Yeah." Matt smiled. "No kidding."
Ty remembered, "Oh one more thing. The Dude Ranch is booked this weekend so Lou might ask you to help with the grounds. Amy was going to lead the trail rides."
"Okay. I'll handle it. I'll do night check too. So don't worry."
"I'll do those."
"Ty. For what it's worth, you have bigger fish to fry. Okay?" Matt said.
"Thanks man. And for what's its worth, Amy did good when she hired you. We all did." As he shook his hand, Matt grinned.
Matt and Ty were finishing up when Rebecca came in with her card. "Do you have a big envelope?"
"Becca, what on earth for?" Matt was exacerbated.
"Will this work, Rebecca?" Pulling a Manila envelope from the middle desk drawer.
"Yes. See Matt! Ty knows." She taunted her brother.
"Rebecca just wants to protect her artwork. I get it." He smiled at her. "May I see?"
Rebecca happily nodded.
"Its beautiful. Amy will love it. Thank you." The drawing was of two girls holding hands, one tall with yellow hair, the other shorter with brown hair. Both were smiling. The message was simple. "Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, I am Happy, When I am with You. Amy get well soon. Love Rebecca.
She gave him a hug. "Hug Amy for me." He nodded.
Leaving Heartland with backpack full, Ty headed straight to the Hudson Vet Clinic. When Scott saw him, he barely looked up from his paperwork. "Hey Ty. I didn't expect to see you today." He was clearly annoyed.
"Scott, I am really sorry that I bailed on you. But this important. Amy is in the ICU with a hemothorax." Ty said.
Scott immediately looked up. "Hemothorax? From that feral horse? How bad?" He motioned to Ty to sit down so they could talk.
He shook his head, and proceeded to tell him everything. Scott could see the worry on Ty's face. "I won't lie to you. Hemothorax can be very bad. But, sounds like Amy's was caught early, before it got too serious, collapsed her lungs, or worse."
"Scott. I left her there, by herself. I wasn't there when she needed me. What if Jack hadn't found her when he did?" Ty was upset.
"But, he did. You couldn't have known. No one could have." He tried to reassure him, his hand on Ty's shoulder.
Ty sighed. "I don't know what I would do without her."
Scott looked intently at him. "You would be lost and lonely. Take it from me, from one loft guy to another...so don't blow it."
Ty nodded.
"Look. Take off a few days, take care of her." He paused. "Then I expect you back here, working."
"You got it." He shook his hand. "I probably need to go."
"Oh. Almost forgot. Some guy named Bob Granger called looking for you." Scott handed him a piece of paper with Bob's number. "Anything you want to tell me?"
"Nah. He's just the guy who took the coyotes."
"Oh? He mentioned a job."
"Yeah. At his Wildlife Rehab Center. But I'm not interested. I already have a good job and good boss. You can throw that number away."
"Good to hear."
In the ICU waiting room, Ty tried to concentrate on his school work without much success. Jack was still with Amy, so there wasn't any new news. Lou, Lisa and Peter were in the room, of course, none of them were in a talkative mood, each retreated into their own world. Lou was leaning on Peter's shoulder, eyes closed. Peter was working his cell phone. Lisa was doing the same.
He sent a group text to Soraya, Mallory, Steve, James, Maddie and Andy to let them know the situation. The texts started flying. "Oh my gosh, Ty. Oh poor Amy." "Ty let me know what I can do." "Thoughts and prayers are coming Amy's and your way." "I will bring food to the ranch." "I'll tell mom, Ben and Jen." "I'll email you my class notes and assignments so you don't get behind." "I'll let the professors know." "I'll let Drs. Young and Jackson know." "Keep me posted." "Tell Amy we're thinking about her." "Ty take care of yourself." "We love you both." Ty felt comforted and overwhelmed by their outpouring, like they were his extended family.
As he was rereading their texts, Jack walked in, exhausted, ashen, older somehow. "Jack. How is she?" Ty asked.
He sat down wearily in a chair, next to Lisa. She reached out, held his hand. "She's still sedated. She just looks so small, so fragile. All that equipment, all those tubes." His eyes rimmed with tears. "Wish there was something I could do."
"Jack. She's in good hands. Amy is strong. She will come through this." Squeezing his hand, Lisa suggested. "Let me take you home. You need your rest."
He shook his head, then quietly. "No. I'm staying."
Lou knelt down in front of him, putting her hand on his knee. "Listen to Lisa. Grandpa go home. Get some rest. We'll stay with her. We'll let you know if anything changes." Lou kissed his forehead. "I love you Grandpa."
He nodded. After everyone said their goodbyes, Lisa and Jack left.
"Lou, you should go in and see her. It's getting late." She nodded, Peter escorted to into the ICU area.
Ty was alone, so he pulled out his iPAD, linked to the laptop, opened the Ranch app and entered the information on Harley and Spartan. Then he updated it with this morning's check.
Lou and Peter reappeared. Lou was shaken, she had been crying. "Ty, I'm going take Lou home. Seeing Amy was hard on her."
The nurse led Ty into Amy's room. Jack was right, Amy looked so small, so fragile. Like a child almost. Eyes closed, her skin was pale, dull, her hair pinned behind her back. Her lips and nose covered with the ventilator mask. Plastic tubbing and wires tethered Amy to medical equipment that hummed, clicked, beeped, sighed.
Leaning over, he gently kissed her forehead, stroked her cheek. "Hey Horsey Girl. Fine mess you got yourself into. You are going to get well. You will be home very soon." He breathed her in, somehow she smelled faintly of lavender. "You are beautiful. You are."
Dragging the visitor chair next to her bed, he held her hand, his thumb slowly rubbing her soft skin. He began to tell her every detail, of the day starting with his ride with Harley and Spartan. Just like night check.