"I can do it myself." Beth told the nurse who was trying to help her out of the bathroom as Rip and Katie walked in.
"You sound like Katie, sweetie." Beth turned to see Rip and Katie standing behind her.
"Get me out of here Rip."
Rip nodded to the nurse that they've got it under control. "How're you feeling?"
"I'm fine, Rip. How's my girl?" Beth asked after Katie.
"I have a cast Mama you can sign it?" Katie stuck it out.
"Of course." Beth grabbed the pen Katie now carried with her and wrote in the spot Katie had left for Beth 'the toughest little bear.' Beth read aloud what she had written and Katie smiled.
"Is your back sore Mama?" Katie asked. She had seen Beth's back in the hospital gown when she was coming out of the bathroom.
"It's ok baby. Don't worry about me." Beth told her.
The doctor came in the room. The same doctor as the day before who had held Katie down. He was looking at his clipboard but looked up when he heard Katie say 'stay away'.
Beth looked at Rip confused as to why Katie would say that. Rip narrowed his eyes at the doctor who recognised him straight away.
"Ah.. hello. I'm here to discuss your discharge." The doctor looked nervous, he looked at the surname on his clipboard realising that the little girl yesterday was not just a child of a Yellowstone wrangler but must be the daughter on Beth Dutton. He wished the floor would swallow him whole.
"So why does my kid not like you?" Beth asked.
"This guy thought pinning her down would be a good way to stitch her head. Without me there." Rip told Beth.
Beth looked at Rip and Katie before turning back to the doctor. "Did you. That was a very big mistake you made..." She approached him, touching the ID tag on his waist, "James."
James swallowed. "I'm just here to get your out of the hospital."
"So you tell me. You see James, you've made an enemy of my family. We are not someone you want to fuck with. Ever." Beth spat at him. "We are leaving." James kept himself close to the wall watching as the Dutton-Walkers left.
"I'm not happy about it Rip but we've got a bigger fish to fry." Beth told him. "Let's go home." Beth held Katie's hand as they walked to the truck.
"Monica left these clothes for you." Rip said passing Beth a pair of jeans, t-shirt and boots. Beth changed in the truck whilst Rip buckled Katie in. "We need to go into town to replace everything." Rip told her.
It was a quiet drive in to town. Rip carried Katie as they went in and out of different clothing shops picking up the essentials they needed.
"Did you stay at the lodge last night?" Beth asked.
Rip shook his head, "No we stayed in the barn. Didn't get much sleep though." Rip mouthed 'nightmares' to Beth tilting his head towards Katie. Beth rubbed her head frustrated that they were going through this again.
"How's Kayce?" Beth asked.
"Alright I think. Monica didn't say much." Rip told her.
Rip put the shopping away in Beth's bedroom at the lodge once they were home. He left Katie and Beth downstairs reading a book together. He stopped on the bottom step and listened to their conversation.
"I thought you were gonna die." Katie whispered.
"Not any time soon baby."
"What if you do?"
"Katie. I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me."
"Is the bad people gonna come again?"
Beth sighed, thinking about what to tell her. "Daddy and I are gonna make sure they don't. You don't need to think any more about it!" Beth distracted her with another book that they had picked up earlier.
Rip sat in the armchair opposite them with a whisky in hand.
Kayce and Monica came through the front door calling out for them.
"They got you too." Beth said staying where she was on the couch with Katie. Kayce nodded showing the scar from the bullet in his shoulder.
"Who was it?" Beth asked Kayce.
"I don't know Beth. I'm gonna find out." Kayce told her.
"Is she ok?" Monica asked nodding at Katie.
Beth shrugged. "As good as expected. Doesn't seem to mind the cast on her arm. Is Tate ok?"
Monica shook her head no. "He shot someone to protect me."
"Bloody hell." Rip said under his breath.
"Doctor called me and said Dad has improved a bit." Kayce told Beth.
The two families stayed in the Lodge together dealing with their own personal battles. Beth would take Katie with her when she would visit John, Kayce visiting on alternative days by himself. No one had heard anything from Jamie which wasn't surprising to Beth. Rip and Beth would take turns in getting up to Katie during the night when she would wake up screaming, often bringing her back to their bed. Tate was having similar nightmares and Monica had him sleeping in their bed all the time, which was starting to get on Kayce's nerves. He thought it was best for Tate to learn to handle it.
"I'm going to the hospital Rip. I want to go alone today." Rip nodded at Beth.
"I can take her with me to work today, we shouldn't be too busy." Beth kissed him before grabbing her keys.
"Also, I think we need to move out of here." Beth told Rip.
"Where we gonna go darlin'?"
"Foreman's house. Today if we can." Rip nodded.
"I'll start today with Katie."
Beth turned and left for the hospital.
Beth made a cup of coffee before heading to her Dad's room. She rounded the corner and saw him walking down the hall leaning heavily on his IV pole. She dropped her mug in shock causing John to look up.
"What happened to you?" John asked.
"Same thing that happened to you."
John approached her. "Who else did it happen to? Kayce? Tate? Rip? Katie? Tell me."
"All of us." Beth said not making eye contact.
"Sir you need to get back to bed." Nursing staff lead John back to his room. Beth ran down the hallway following them in to his room where they were putting him back in bed. A nurse was drawing a needle with something Beth didn't know before telling John to count backwards.
"What? No. Dad no! You tell us he won't wake up and now you're putting him back to fucking sleep." A male nurse was holding Beth back.
"Let me do my damn job. Get her out of here." A doctor yelled at her and a nurse. Beth left the hospital to go smoke a cigarette outside.
A week later Beth had managed to convince the hospital to let John return home on the proviso that they would have an in-house nurse. Beth met him at the hospital whilst they waited for the ambulance to arrive for transport.
"This seems a lot of fuss honey."
"I'll see you at the house." Beth turned to go to her car. She had something to do first.
She arrived at Jamie's office and waited for his receptionist to let her in to see him. She saw Jamie standing behind his desk waiting for her.
"Can we have a moment alone, please." Beth asked the receptionist. Jamie nodded for her to leave.
"You see, we had to clear out your room for Daddy's hospice bed. I found this." Beth pulled out a baseball, Jamie ducked as she threw it at him.
"Son of a bitch." Jamie yelled standing up. Beth rounded the desk.
"Look me in the fucking eyes –"
"I will have you arrested. You are crazy."
"No Jamie. I have waited for this moment. I have prayed that he would survive. And you know what Jamie. He did. I thought you would want to know considering you never bothered to visit once. Or call once."
"I did. I just didn't call you." Jamie pointed at her. Beth narrowed her eyes.
"It was you wasn't it? You did this."
"What?" Jamie asked.
Beth took a breath. "I'm gonna tell you something. It's for me, not for you." She looked up at Jamie. "I want you to know so you can think about it. So you cannot sleep, worry and dread…" Beth walked around the desk, Jamie took a few steps away from her. "… I'm going to kill you. Except me, I'm not going to farm it out like you, you fucking coward. I'm going to do it myself." Beth picked up her handbag.
"You honestly think that I would –"
"I'm gonna kill you Jamie. I am going to fucking kill you for what you did to my family."
"Think about what you're saying Beth. You're threatening a State official." Jamie raised his voice. Beth slapped her hands down on the desk.
"I am threatening the whole fucking State." Beth pulled the office door open, leaving Jamie standing there.
Beth arrived home to the new in home nurse doting on John.
"Lunch and then we will get you bathed, ok!" The nurse said in an overly cheery voice. Beth watched on from the doorway.
"Get rid of it all Beth."
"I can't Daddy. Just get some rest." Beth went downstairs pulling out a cigarette on her way. She leant against the pillar out the front of the lodge watching Katie walk barefoot on the grass in circles as she smoked a cigarette. She turned hearing the door open and close to find John standing there in his usual attire.
"I think you all should stay in the lodge until I figure this thing out."
"We've moved. In to the Foreman's house." Beth said.
"Good. Cabin is too remote." John said sitting down on the porch.
"Cabin's gone Daddy. They killed that too."
John looked at Beth saying nothing at first. "What else? What else did they try to kill?"
"Your home." John nodded, Both looked out to where Katie was running. She noticed John and ran over to them both.
"What happened to her arm Beth?"
"It was broken when the bomb went off." Beth told him.
"Hi Grandpa."
"Hi honey, how are you?"
"I'm good." Katie stayed at the bottom of the stairs.
"You gonna come up here Katie?" John asked. Katie shook her head.
"It's all right. He's not going anywhere." Beth told her. Katie looked between the two of them before deciding to stand between Beth legs.
"She's had some nightmares and thinks we are all going to die and leave her." Beth explained to John who nodded.
"I'm not goin' anywhere granddaughter." John noticed someone coming over the hill in a ghillie suit holding a gun. He stood holding his bullet wound. Kayce pulled off the head piece as he approached.
John went down the stairs to meet him. "What are you hunting?"
"Whatever is hunting us."
"Nobody will tell me what happened Kayce."
"I don't have the heart. They came after all of us. We beat them."
"Except the sender son."
"We don't know who it was."
"Yeah well, that's what we figure out next."
That night Rip barely slept between getting up for Katie and knowing what he was going to do the next day. He decided to get up earlier than usual, trying to pry himself out of Beth's grip and moving Katie too much who was sprawled across the two of them.
"Can't you just sleep in." Beth asked groggily. Neither had been getting much sleep for the past few weeks.
"Not today sweetie."
"Are you telling me no?" Beth asked waking up more.
"I've got something to take care of." Rip sighed. "Don't ask me Beth. It's something bad." He got out of bed and went downstairs before leaving.
Roarke was fly fishing in the river when he heard someone yell out to him.
"Can I help you?"
"Is this yours? I found it up on the bank." Rip asked holding a esky.
"No, not mine." Roarke told him, not recognising Rip. Rip kept walking down in to the water.
"Hey! What's your problem. I told you it's not mine."
"Are you sure?" Rip shook the esky.
"Don't I know you?" Roarke realised that this was Beth Dutton's fiancé.
"Not for long." Rip opened it and threw an angry rattlesnake at Roarke's face. It bit him on the cheek causing Roarke to yell out and splash towards the other side of the river. Rip followed him.
"That's for my family." Rip told him as Roarke struggled to breathe.
