Hi all!

My profound apologies for the delay in uploading. I always upload using my phone and I was having difficulty getting it to work but Im back now!

Since I last uploaded I have been to see a new health practitioner who has given me different medication (herbal remedies) and it seems to be working so far. I feel a bit better in a week then I did with 6 months on the other medication I was on.

Training my service dog is going well too, I ordered our first set of working gear a couple weeks back, hopefully it'll arrive soon. Im hoping in March (trying to not get too ahead of myself) to start an Instagram page for my girl and I as we start to train in public. Would you guys be interested in something like that?

Anyway, enjoy the update! Till next time

Chapter 25.1

'Jessie, time to get up honey. We need to be moving.'

Jessie blinked, looking up to see Jack beside her. 'What time is it?'

'It's getting late, we've got everything else packed up except this tent so we could let you sleep as long we could.' He helped the girl sit up, looking at her as she held her shoulder. 'How's it feeling?'

'Sore. I didn't get much sleep last night. That ice pack did help though, thanks.' She slid out of her sleeping bag, still wearing the clothes she had worn the day before since she hadn't been able to change. She winced as she tried to grab her jacket but Jack stopped her.

'You can wear my one, I've got my spare.'

'Thanks.' She sighed in relief, letting him help her get into the jacket. 'I feel so stupid, you having to look after me like I'm a baby or something.'

'Don't worry about it honey, I don't mind taking care of you.' He smiled, kneeling down so he could do the buttons up on the jacket for her. 'I remember when Marion was about your age, she came off her horse and broke her leg. Lyndy was away at the time, doing a small singing tour and Marion insisted that she finished it before she came back. It drove her crazy, being unable to do anything for herself. I swear those two weeks before Lyndy returned home were probably the most trying two weeks I remember. I caught her hobbling out of the house on her crutches, she'd been intending to take a horse ride before I stopped her.'

Jessie chuckled. 'Sounds like she was very stubborn.'

'Oh, she was high spirited all right at your age.' He smiled, falling silent as he thought about his daughter for a moment then returned to the present. He grabbed the triangular bandage from his pocket he'd taken from the first aid kit as he stood back up. 'We're going to put your arm in a sling for the ride back so it minimizes you being able to move your shoulder, okay?'

'Alright.' She ducked her head so that Jack could put the sling on her, biting her lip as Jack gently as possible lifted her arm into the sling. 'Thanks.'

'It's not pretty but it'll do for the trip home and as soon as we get back your heading to the doctor.'

'Yes sir.' She teased. 'Can we go for a milkshake after? Lisa always takes me for a milkshake.'

'We'll see. Right now this tent needs to be packed up and we need to be on our way.'

Jessie went to start packing up her bed but Jack stopped her. 'I can manage.'

'I know you can but you need to go eat before we go. There's some breakfast Lou has kept warm for you and some coffee too. Go on, I'll take care of this and Amy is going to help.'

'I'm going.' She glanced around for her boots, finding them beside the door. 'Can you pass me my boots?'

He got up and grabbed them, handing them to the girl. 'How's your ankle?'

'It's a little sore but I'll manage.' The girl put the boots on then got to her feet with his help. She tested her ankle to see if it could carry her weight. It felt a little sore but there wasn't anything she could do about it. 'Its okay.'

'Alright. Go have your breakfast then.'

'Hopefully I'll find my appetite on the way.' She heard him chuckle as she grabbed her saddlebags and limped out of the tent, heading for the campfire that still had a few coals burning brightly. 'Morning Lou.'

'Morning Jessie.' She looked up from packing the cutlery up. 'How are you feeling?'

'I'm alright but Jack seems to think I'm going to break or something. He's treating me like I'm a china doll.'

Lou laughed. 'You'll get used to that. Anyway, here's your breakfast.'

'Thanks.' She sat down at the picnic table to eat, careful not to move her injured shoulder as Lou headed to Tim with the last couple of bags for the packhorse. She looked around, the camp was almost completely dismantled. Jack had been right. They'd waited till the last minute to get her up. She felt kind of bad that she hadn't been much of a help on the ride, all she had been was a huge hindrance. She sighed deeply.

'What's wrong Jessie?' Nicole asked, hearing the girl sigh.

'I just feel kinda useless. I shouldn't have even bothered coming. All I've done is caused more work then helping.'

'Ah I don't know about that. I mean, you kept us entertained with Warrior last night.'

'I guess.'

'Don't feel bad you couldn't do more, you were doing as best you could with being hurt. I'm glad you joined us. Watching you and Warrior last night was something that I'll remember fondly from this trip.'

'It was him that got me into this mess in the first place.' The girl sighed again, looking over at Warrior tied up next to Paint, saddled and ready to go. 'I don't know why he did what he did. Maybe I just pushed him too far. Maybe he's not cut out to do barrel racing.'

'I wouldn't give up on him just yet Jessie. I saw him with you last night, that horse adores you, just like that big pussy cat of yours. I'm sure you'll figure it out.'

'Thanks Nicole.'

'Hey, no problem. Us girls gotta stick together.' The girl chuckled and she smiled as she got up. 'I better go see if they need help getting the last of the things packed.'

Jessie shook her head in amazement as the woman left, utterly surprised. Three days ago the woman probably would have had a fit if you asked her to pull down a tent and now she was willingly offering to go help? Wonders would never cease.

By the time she'd finished her breakfast the camp had finished being packed up and they were ready to head back to the ranch. She cleaned her bowl, placing it in her saddlebag since everything was packed up.

'You ready to go?'

'Yep.' She replied as Jack came over to her, leading Warrior so she didn't have to walk far. 'Hey boy.' She patted his neck as the man stopped her horse beside her. 'Jack looked after you well?'

'In between him trying to eat my pockets, yes.' He chuckled, helping the girl stand up then picked her up and placed her on the horse. 'There you go.'

'Thanks.' She picked up his reins, finding the stirrups with her feet. 'Mallory is going to have a good tease at me when I get back. 'The walking wounded' is what she'll call me.'

'Probably.' He chuckled, placing the saddlebags on the back of the horse's saddle. 'But I think you should be more worried about Lisa.'

'I am. I hate people getting worried about me.' She sighed. 'You better ring her as soon as there is a signal, give her time to get herself together.'

'Alright, I'll do that.' He replied, heading over to Paint as Tim prepared to lead the group back to the ranch.

'Right folks, let's move out.'

'I thought I told you I didn't want to see you back in here.' Barbra teased as she looked at the girl in one of the rooms at the ED. 'What did you manage to do this time?'

'She came off her horse a couple days ago, busted her shoulder up a bit.'

'You make it sound like it's worse than it is.' Jessie rolled her eyes, sitting on the examination bed with her legs hanging over the side. 'Yes, I did come off Warrior but it was that stupid root I tripped over last night that really did it.'

Barbra chuckled. Jessie certainly was a character. 'Let's have a look, shall we?' She glanced over at Jack. 'Do you want Jack to go?'

'It's alright, he can stay.' She nodded, letting the doctor help her out of the shirt she was wearing but able to keep her singlet on. 'Jack looked at my shoulder last night. We put an icepack on it once I admitted that it was sore.'

'I'd say.' She raised her eyebrows as she looked at the girl's shoulder. 'You've got quite the shiner there.'

'Tell me about it. I've had to put up with it for the last two and a half days.'

'I would have brought her in to see you earlier but she insisted that she was fine.' Jack added, much to the girls slight annoyance. 'What's the verdict? Is her arm going to fall off?'

'Jack.' Jessie laughed, rolling her eyes. 'Stop the teasing.'

'I can say without a doubt you won't lose your arm.' Barbra replied as she continued her examination of the girl, checking to make sure she hadn't dislocated her shoulder into the bargain. The girl flinched as she brought her arm up, trying to rule out any actual damage to the joint. 'But as for being fine, maybe next time leave the diagnosis up to me?'

'Alright.' The girl agreed, sighing in relief once the doctor had finished checking her over. 'So, how long am I going to be out of action for?'

'A couple weeks before it completely heals, at least. There isn't any damage to the muscles or the joints as far as I can tell. However, the swelling and the bruising is going to cause some pain for a little while at least, till it goes down. I want you to keep your arm in a sling and not ride until you can move your shoulder properly again. Okay?'

'How long will that take?'

'About a week.'

'No riding for a week.' She grumbled, looking at Jack with sad puppy eyes.

'If the doc says no riding for a week then no riding for a week Jessie.'

'Jack's right. You need to let it heal.'

'Ugh. Fine. What about doing groundwork?'

'I'm not going to be able to keep you resting for long am I?'

'Nope.'

Barbra sighed, shaking her head as she wrote down on the girls ever growing medical file. 'I guess that would be fine but don't over do it. You need to keep that shoulder still as much as possible.'

'Alright, alright.' She agreed as Jack helped her get her shirt and his jacket back on again. 'I'll take it easy.'

'Good girl.'

'Lisa said that you did some tests on Jessie when you saw her the other day.' He remarked as he helped the girl down off the bed. 'Have the results come in for those yet?'

'Let me just check, it'll save you a trip if they have.' She went over to her computer, typing in a few things then waited for the page to come up. 'Yes, they have.' She glanced over the bloodwork, looking for anything out of the ordinary. 'Her iron is extremely low, down further then her last test actually. It's way below the normal for a girl her age.' She glanced up from the computer at him. 'What is her diet like?'

'When I can get her to eat she has plenty of fruit and veggies and red meat. She doesn't like eating much at the moment.'

'Well you need to eat Jessie.' She turned to her. 'Why haven't you been wanting to eat?'

The girl shrugged. 'I just don't feel like it.'

'I'm going to give you some iron supplements Jessie. I'm not going to lie, you're severely anemic and it can be dangerous if your iron gets any lower. If it doesn't go up in a month or so you might need a iron transfusion.'

'Anemia is that bad?'

'Yes Jessie. It's not something to be taken lightly. You need to eat at least two good meals a day, even if you don't feel like it.'

'I'll try and make sure I eat.' She sighed. More things to worry about. 'Can I go wait outside?'

She nodded. 'If you want.'

'Brilliant.'

Babra turned back to the computer after the girl had made a hasty exit. 'How has she been Jack, other than coming off her horse?'

'Tired, but she just keeps trying to hide how she feels so it makes it really hard to tell if something is going on.'

'That would be from the anaemia, her tiredness that is. I'm just speculating now but because of her past maybe her trying to hide how she's feeling is because if she was sick she got in trouble or something.' She shrugged. 'It could be possible.'

'I've thought of that too, Jessie's slowly been revealing more of her past over time. What else can we do about her anaemia?'

'I'll give you a script for some supplements that should help her but the best thing is her fruit, vegetables and red meat. Get as much of that into her as possible. We'll test her again in a month and if it hasn't gone up or it's gotten worse we'll give her a transfusion to help boost her levels.'

'I'll try and get her to eat more but you know how stubborn she is.'

'Yeah.' She chuckled as they walked to the door. 'Good luck.'

'Thanks for checking her over.'

'No problem.'

'We can go now?' Jessie asked hopefully as Jack walked out of the room. 'Can we go get a milkshake?'

'I suppose you've earned a milkshake.' He smiled, placing his arm around her as they walked out of the ED. 'But then it's back to making sure you're eating a decent diet.'

'Can't a girl have a treat everyone once in a while?'

'I guess she can, occasionally.'

'Good.' She nodded as Jack opened the passenger side door for her. 'Is having a treat once a day occasionally?'

'Look at you.' Lisa exclaimed as the girl hopped out of Jack's truck, the girls arm in a sling as Jessie walked to meet her. 'You look like you've been in a war.'

'Hardly.' She replied with a cheeky grin, hugging Lisa with her good arm. 'I'm so glad to see you.'

'Me too honey.' The woman replied, careful not to hurt the girl's shoulder. She pulled back after a moment, looking down at her. 'How are you feeling?'

'Okay now. Barbra gave me some stuff for the pain and it's helping.'

'What did the doc say?' She looked up at Jack as he joined them and they headed towards the house.

'She hasn't done herself any serious damage but she's not to be riding for a week, not until the swelling and bruising going down.' He replied, opening the front door to let them go in ahead of him. 'But she's on orders to go rest so Missy.' He looked at her as Lisa helped her get the coat off as gently as she could. 'You go sit down on the couch and rest. Lisa and I will take care of dinner.'

Jessie rolled her eyes. 'I'm not a china doll Jack, I'm not going to break. Let me help do dinner.'

'Jessie, go sit down. Besides-' He added as Cougar padded over to them. 'I think she wants attention.'

'Ugh fine.' She sighed, giving in even though she didn't want to. 'Come on girl.'

Lisa chuckled as Jessie headed off to the living room and she followed Jack into the kitchen. 'No wonder she insisted on going on that trail ride, she gets more headstrong by the day.'

'I know. She's got a stubborn streak, that's for certain.' He agreed as he washed his hands then went to the fridge to sort out what they were going to have to eat. He grabbed a few things out, sitting down at the table to peel the potatoes while Lisa sat down on the other side to cut up the pumpkin. He lowered his voice so if Jessie was trying to listen in she wouldn't hear what he was saying. 'We had a talk last night, Jessie let me see her shoulder after she hurt it again falling over.'

'She did?' Lisa raised her eyebrows. She certainly hadn't expected the girl to feel comfortable enough with Jack to let him see her scars so soon.

He nodded. 'Poor girl, no wonder she's so ashamed of them. She made me promise though that I didn't tell anyone but she told me you knew. I didn't let her know you'd already told me.'

'How do you think she's doing then, now that she's opened up to you about that?'

'She was trying to be strong last night but I can see she has a lot to deal with. There's a lot that goes on in her mind that we have no idea about.'

'Yeah.' Lisa sighed, placing the cut pumpkin aside. 'There's a lot more to her then just what we see on the outside.'

'I think she's doing okay though, I mean, she's coping as well as can be expected.'

'That's good. Did Barbra have her test results come through yet?'

'She did. Jessie's severely anemic, she said her iron has gone down since they last tested her. She's got her on supplements and said to take her back in a month to see if she's improving. If she hasn't, she wants her to have a transfusion.'

'No wonder she's so tired then.'

'She tries to hide it too, I've been noticing a lot more things she does inconspicuously but she really doesn't like people fussing over her when she's hurt or not feeling well.'

'I guess it's all part of her past, of how she's learned to survive.'

'Doesn't make it any easier for us though.' The woman chuckled at his remark and he glanced over at the living room. 'I've got it here Lis, go spend some time with her. You and I can catch up further later.'

'You sure?'

'I'm sure.'

'Thanks cowboy.' She smiled, giving him a kiss on the cheek as she walked past him. 'I'll hold you to it.'

'No doubt you will.'

'How's your girl going?' Lisa asked as she walked over to Jessie and Cougar, taking a seat on the couch next to her.

'She's good. Wondering what on earth this is though.' She motioned to the sling her arm was in. 'I can't believe I've got a week of this.'

'Have you figured out what's going on with Warrior yet?'

'No.' Jessie sighed, patting the cat who was sleeping with her head on her lap. 'He was perfectly fine on the trail ride, I even showed off a couple of his tricks for Lou's guests but I'm no closer to finding out the reason for his behaviour the other day. It's really got me baffled. Amy's offered to give me a hand with him, I think tomorrow we'll try and get him to go in the arena again.'

She nodded. 'Sounds like a good plan.'

'When are you leaving for France?'

'Tomorrow.' She sighed. 'I'm sorry I have to go-'

'Lisa, there's nothing to be sorry about. I know you have a business that needs to be run.' She interrupted, trying to get comfortable on the couch again. 'I'll be fine with Jack. You don't need to worry about me.'

'Worrying is what I do.' The woman chuckled, placing her arm around her. 'Come here.'

Jessie grinned widely, scooching over closer to her and laid her head down on her shoulder. She closed her eyes, relaxing against her as she breathed deeply in contentment. 'You'll ring me though?'

'All the time. And we'll do video calls too.'

'Good. Make sure you do or I might forget what you look like.' She teased then turned serious. 'As much as I shouldn't have gone for that trail ride, I'm glad I did. It helped me a lot with some things I've been struggling with, even with hurting my shoulder again it was worth it. I feel so much better now after sharing a couple things with Jack. It was good to get it off my chest.'

'I'm glad honey. Sounds like you had a good time.'

'I did. I needed it. Now, if I could just figure out what was going on with Warrior-' She yawned, an overwhelming desire to sleep flooding over her. 'Right now, I need a nap.'

'Okay honey.' Lisa chuckled, looking down at the girl with a smile on her face. She kissed her forehead gently, stroking her hair softly. Even though she knew she had to go to France leaving her wasn't going to be easy. She wished she didn't have to go, but there wasn't much she could do about it. She sighed, letting the girl nap. Had she done the right thing?