*Trigger warning for cancer*

Maddie stared blankly out the window of the truck, a few stray tears trickling down her cheeks as she waited for Cordell to return. Her appointment with the neurologist and neurosurgeon had gone as well as could be expected; they had explained everything in thorough detail about what was going on with her and what they could do. She was lucky to remember half of what they had said though, her mind still unable to comprehend the fact she had cancer.

That a little gray matter the size of a golf ball inside her head was going to kill her.

That she was going to die.

Oh, they hadn't said that. Not directly to her during the appointment but she knew. No one needed to tell her she'd been handed a death sentence. She could read between the lines. And yes, they had spoken about the statistics. Only six percent of patients survived past five years after their diagnosis, the three percent being that of ten years after diagnosis. They'd been able to explain her odds better than Cordell had been able to when he'd first broken the news to her but knowing what they were brought little comfort.

A few people walked past going about their day, Maddie wondering if they knew just how lucky they were to be alive. She'd never thought before how much of a gift life really was until now. Now, sitting here waiting for her father to get back from heading to the chemist to get her medication she'd been prescribed, she wondered if this was how her mother felt. While her mothers breast cancer hadn't been as aggressive as what this brain tumor was, did she go through the same feelings she was experiencing now? Disbelief? Anger?

They were going to operate on her, surgery being scheduled a little over two weeks from now which was the earliest they could get her in. She didn't really have much choice in the matter. As they had explained to her, the pressure from the tumor was already affecting her greatly, having had another two seizures already since Wednesday. If they didn't remove the tumor, if it was allowed to progress unchecked, her family would be placing her in a pine box before the year was out.

Another tear slid down her cheek.

She wasn't ready to die.

She still had her whole life ahead of her.

She wanted to marry, wanted Cordell to walk her down the aisle. Wanted to have kids, watch them grow and have families of their own and now… She wiped her cheeks again on the back of her hand, absentmindedly watching a pigeon pecking at something on the ground. Even with treatment, most patients passed around twelve to eighteen months after being diagnosed.

Even if she was lucky to have an extra year and a half she would be grateful and so, after hearing what the doctors had to say, she and Cordell made the decision together for her to receive treatment. First would be the surgery and then after that, chemo and radiation.

She'd seen what her mother had gone through having treatments and saw firsthand how hard it had been on her. The thought of having surgery and the rest terrified her but without it, six months… She didn't have much of a choice. She swallowed the lump in her throat, resting her head back against the headrest. No. She'd made a vow to herself. To her family. To fight this. To be one of those rare cases who managed to defy the odds and survive long after the doctors had said they would die.

Time slipped by as she wrangled with her thoughts and emotions, thankful that her father wasn't there to see her break down. She was trying her hardest to keep it together for his sake. This was hard on him as it was, she didn't want to add to his grief. The last thing she wanted was to make him feel even worse. While she had a hard time keeping it together back in the appointment she knew her father had struggled even worse than her. He had those little tells of his that gave away when he was anxious, worried. Playing with his hat, stuttering over his words more than usual. She'd learnt them long ago.

The last thing she wanted was to make this harder on him, on any of them.

All that mattered to her was her family. Nothing else.

Finally, she spied Cordell walking back through the car park and quickly dried off her cheeks and blew her nose. Forcing her emotions back she put on a brave face as he returned to the truck. 'How'd you go?'

'Got-got everything.' Cordell replied as he hopped into the driver's seat, placing a couple bags behind them. 'Might have gotten you a little something too.'

He held out a brown paper bag to her and she managed a teeny smile as she took it from him. He'd brought her a blueberry muffin for a snack. 'Thanks Dad.'

Cordell smiled at her, placing his hand on her shoulder for a moment then started the truck up. 'James-he uh… He gave me the rest of the day off. So… We day?'

'Like what Emily used to do with Stella?'

He nodded. 'Where would you like to go?'

Anytime normally she'd have asked to go see her horses but the way she felt she knew she wouldn't be able to keep it together if Mika started asking questions. 'Can…' She thought about it for a moment, reaching into the bag to take out the muffin. 'Can we go to a park? Maybe go for a walk and pick some flowers? I miss… I miss picking flowers out at the ranch.'

'Yeah, yeah… We can do that. There-there's a place Emily and I used to take Stella and August to. They-they've got flower picking… ah… berry picking, pony rides-'

That drew a chuckle from Maddie. 'Pony rides? Really Dad? Don't you think I've graduated from the lead line now?'

Cordell realized what he'd said and shook his head with an amused smile. 'I forgot you're the best rider out of all of us.'

'No I'm not.'

'Yes, you are.'

'No I'm not.'

'Okay… So jumping Bel bareback and bridle less, over a course that's four and a half feet high, doesn't qualify?'

'You could do it too if you tried.' She replied. 'So, we gonna go to this place or what?'

'Yeah, yeah, sure.' He glanced in the revision mirror to make sure there wasn't anyone behind them then pulled out of their parking space. 'You better give Mom a call and tell her to expect lots of strawberries. We'll be having strawberry pie for dessert tonight.'

Maddie sat at a picnic table, watching the ducks swimming by later in the afternoon. They'd spent most of the afternoon picking strawberries and tulips, both of which were waiting back in the farm's refrigerator for them to pick up before they left. After that they'd gone through the petting zoo, the highlight of which had been the adorable baby goats. Her favorite part had been when Cordell had been given a kid to bottle feed, the goat managing to get milk all over his tan shirt. It had been adorable, a most photo worthy opportunity and she'd taken plenty while having a good laugh at his expense.

There were a few other families with small children going about the farm, a sad smile coming to her lips as she watched a mother picking flowers with her little girl. She missed her mother. Missed hearing her laugh. Her voice. Her mothers hugs. Part of her was relieved though that she didn't have to witness this, to see her going through cancer. It was hard enough on her adopted family, she couldn't imagine how hard it would have been on her if she'd been around to see this.

'Alright-' Cordell held up a brown paper bag as he returned to Maddie. 'Got the feed.'

'You gonna feed the ducks too?' She questioned with a cheeky grin as she rose from her seat, her father handing her the bag of pellets.

'No, no-'

'Come on.' Maddie smiled, giving him her sweetest expression and puppy eyes. 'Please?'

He shook his head, a smile on his lips. 'You know when you use those eyes you can get me to do anything.' He let out a long sigh. 'Alright, alright. If my shirt gets any more dirty though, you can pay for the dry cleaning.'

'Dad, you never get your clothes dry cleaned.' She chuckled as they walked down towards the pond. 'I might just have to deal with a lecture from Mawline but hey, no dry cleaning.'

'Maybe I want to have this dry cleaned-'

'Oh, I could get it clean for you.'

Cordell looked at her then at the pond that Maddie had motioned to. 'Oh no you don't…'

'Don't you want me to push you in?'

'No, no thank you.'

'Alright. Just because I'm a loving daughter I won't push you in.' She replied as she knelt down to entice the ducks over to her then glanced back up at him, grinning mischievously. 'This time.'

'You know, I swear you and Cassie are cut from the same damn cloth.' He started, crouching down next to her. 'You both are-'

'Stubborn?' Maddie offered her suggestion as a couple of ducks began walking up to them. 'Independent? Headstrong?'

'Well, I was going to go with annoying…' He chuckled as she playfully slapped his arm. 'Ow.'

She smiled at him, tossing her hair back over her shoulder. 'You'll live.'

'Madeline Matilda Walker…' Cordell shook his head. 'One of these days that cheekiness is going to get you into trouble.'

'Ah, but not today.' The ducks had reached her now and she held out her hand to them, offering them the pellets. 'You going to feed them too?'

'Yeah, yeah…' He poured some of the feed into his hand to offer to the ducks. The ducks began to eat, Maddie laughing softly as their bills tickled her hand. He watched her thoughtfully, committing the moment to a memory. The way her hair shone in the sunlight, her laughter as one duck got a little too eager and pecked her hand hard, the joy, the life in her.

When the paper bag was emptied the ducks wandered off again, some heading back into the water and some heading off to forage on the green grass. Maddie lent against her father, Cordell wrapping his arms around her as they sat in silence, watching the gentle breeze ripple the water on the pond.

'You okay Dad?' She asked softly after a time, looking up at him with those gentle brown eyes. 'You've been… quiet.'

Cordell swallowed the lump in his throat at her question. 'I-I'm fine, baby girl.'

Maddie could hear the quiver of emotion in his voice and rested her head back against his shoulder. 'I wish… I wish there was something I could do… Something to make this better. Something to take away your pain.'

Smoothing her hair back he placed a kiss on her head, not trusting his voice to reply.

'Dad…' She looked up at him after a moment. 'Dad… listen… If I don't make it-'

'Don't… Don't talk like that honey.'

'Dad…' Maddie said firmly. 'We can't sugar coat how serious this is. I don't want to sugar coat it. I know you don't want to think about me dying and I don't want to think about it either but we have to face reality.' She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts, trying to think of how to put what she wanted to say into words. 'Dad, I love you so much. If I die… I couldn't bear the thought of you going off the deep end again, like before.' She was talking about how he had been in the months after Emily's death. 'I want you to promise me you'll keep on living. I want to know that my family is going to be okay. That you will be okay.'

Cordell nodded, pressing another kiss to her head. 'I-I promise… baby girl.'

'Good.' Silence fell for a time then she sat up, contenting herself with picking blades of grass around her. 'Dad, I want to compete at the Mustang Makeover. I want to finish what I started.'

He moved over closer to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. 'It's too dangerous for you to ride. You heard what they said. Any hard knock to the head…'

'Daddy.' She interrupted with a soft sigh. 'I want to do this. I need to do this. What's that old song say? Live like you were dying? Dakota deserves to have her moment and I want her to finish the competition.'

Cordell let out a long sigh. 'Alright… Alright, we'll talk to them about it, okay? If they say you can do it, you can finish out the competition. But-' She went to protest and he continued before she could. 'But if they say no, I won't hear another word on the matter.'

After a moment Maddie nodded her agreement.

'I know how hard you and Dakota have worked together.' He continued gently, placing a hand under her chin to make her look at him. 'And you two have done so well. You should be proud of what you two have been able to accomplish.'

'I am.'

'And regardless if you compete or not, you should still be proud.'

She nodded again, looking back out over the pond once more. 'Do you think we could finish off some more of those things on that bucket list of mine?'

'Yeah, yeah, sure sweetheart.'

'I want to make some happy memories.' Maddie continued, watching a duck lazily paddling around. 'After I'm gone I want you all to have those memories to hold onto.'

'Maddie…' Cordell's voice broke. 'Please… Don't talk like that sweetheart.'

'We have to be realistic, Dad.' She looked back at him. 'I'm gonna fight this, I'm gonna try my best but we just can't ignore the very real possibility that I won't make it and just hope that it'll go away. I know it's hard to think about me dying and I hate to think of it too but we have to understand my chances. The chance of me living for anything past what they have said is slim. I know it. I'm trying my best to deal with it. I just… I want to make this easier, in any way possible. Let me try Dad, please.'

He felt his eyes begin to water, stroking her cheek gently with the back of his hand. 'Maddie… you-you aren't a little girl anymore. When did you grow up?'

'I haven't been a little girl for a long time.' She replied sadly. 'I know this is going to be hard on you all, I just wish there was something I could do. Something that would ease the pain I know losing me will bring.'

'You… oh Maddie…'

'Don't you start crying on me Daddy.' Maddie reprimanded softly. 'I don't feel like crying this afternoon.'

That brought a sad smile to his lips as he kept caressing her cheek. 'I-I don't know what I did to deserve such a sweet girl as my daughter.'

'You just got lucky.'

Cordell chuckled. 'I guess I did.'

Silence fell again then Maddie glanced down at her watch. 'If we're gonna have Mawline bake strawberry pie for dessert then we might want to get a move on and get those strawberries back to her.' Carefully she got to her feet, offering a hand to her father. 'Need a hand?'

'You-you think I'm too old to get up on my own these days?'

She chuckled. 'Well, you were just complaining yesterday about your knees.' He got up with a little bit of help then placed his arm around her shoulders. 'Shouldn't have done the bull riding.'

'Hey, I'll have you know I'm pretty good at bull riding.'

'Yeah yeah.'

'I am too.' Cordell protested as they headed up to the farm store to pick up their strawberries. 'I've won buckles and everything…'

Cordell sat in the living room, watching the flickering flames in the fireplace after the kids had been put to bed. A glass was in his hand, slowly swirling around the whiskey inside as he tried to make sense of the thoughts going through his mind. Being with Maddie, sitting in that doctors office and having the neurosurgeon explain the process of her treatment drove home the fact that his little girl did have cancer. In a little over two weeks she would be going in for major surgery. It had become real.

Abeline joined him, taking a seat on the couch beside him with a wine glass in hand. There was silence for a time as she sipped at her drink and after placing the glass down on the coffee table, turned to her son. 'How's Maddie doing?'

'I-I don't know.' Cordell replied, looking at the whiskey in his glass. 'She-she's trying so hard to be strong… we all are, I guess.' He took a deep breath, his mother's hand coming to rest on his shoulder. 'She-she was talking to me today and all she's worried about is how we-we're going to cope… After she… after she's gone.' He paused for a moment then looked at Abeline, his eyes glistening in the firelight with tears. 'Why Ma? Why did this happen?'

'I don't know baby.' She replied softly, swallowing back the lump in her throat.

'Maddie… she-she's so kind. So gentle. She doesn't… she doesn't deserve this.'

Abeline rubbed his back as silence fell between them for a moment. 'How… how did her appointment go?'

'She-she's booked into surgery on the fifteenth.' Cordell replied, returning his glass to the coffee table. 'Somehow I-I've got to figure out a way of coming up with the money for her treatment.'

'Won't the health insurance cover it?'

'Not this kind. I just…' His voice broke as he shook his head.

'We'll find a way to come up with the money.' She assured him gently. 'Your father and I will help anyway we can.'

Cordell nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

'We'll get through this Cordell.' Abeline continued after a moment. 'Somehow, someway. We always do.'

'I know Ma… He replied with a sigh, looking down at his hands before turning back to her. 'You know, regardless of all this, Maddie still wants to compete in the Finals.'

She smiled a little at that. 'You know when that girl of yours puts her mind to something there's no talking her out of it.'

'I-I'm well aware of that.' Cordell chuckled slightly thinking about how she'd railroaded him earlier into feeding that baby goat and the ducks. 'My good shirt is evidence of that.'

'And those photos. You've got to admit, that was pretty cute.'

'Yeah… yeah, it was.'

'So… She going to be able to compete?'

He let out a long sigh. 'Just watch me try to stop her, she'd find a way to ride even if I say no. Any hard knock to the head though, such as falling off…' He ran a hand back over his head. 'It could cause her to have a brain bleed.'

'What did they say about her riding?'

'I didn't think to ask. I-I told Maddie I'd talk to them.'

'Just wait and see what they say.'

He nodded.

Silence fell, Abeline pouring herself another drink from the wine bottle. 'We still going ahead with her birthday party?'

Cordell nodded again. 'She-she's never had one. Ever. With everything that's happened lately… She deserves to have some fun.'

'Stella was asking earlier if you'd invited Micki.'

'No, no… Haven't had the chance.'

'We're going to have to tell her about Maddie. Tell the rest of them too.'

'Yeah Ma, I know…' He replied. 'Cassie-Cassie already knows. I-I'll have to speak with James, ask for time off. Just-just thought I'd wait until… Until we knew for certain what was going on.'

Abeline finished off her drink, returning the empty glass back to the table again. 'Have you told Geri yet?'

He shook his head. 'We… Geri and I haven't spoken much lately.'

'Cordell, you need to tell her.' She said firmly. 'Geri's become quite close to Maddie. She deserves to know.'

'Yeah Ma…' He let out a long sigh. 'I know. I-I'll talk to her.'

'I still can't believe it's her.' Abeline started after a pause. 'That it was Geri-our Geri- and… I had no idea.'

'Mama… she doesn't blame you. You know that.'

She was silent for a time, rising to put another log onto the fire. 'Doesn't seem like we can catch a break these days.'

'No… No it doesn't.'

'It's gonna get better though.' She said as she turned back to him. 'We just got to hold onto hope that everything's going to be okay.'

'Yeah, yeah I'm tryin to, Mama.' Cordell replied, looking over at her. 'I just keep hoping that this all is a bad dream that we'll wake up from but…' He sighed heavily. 'After losing our home we had each other and now…' His voice hitched for a moment and he paused to wrestle his emotions back under control. 'I… I could lose my baby girl. We-we could lose our Maddie.'

Abeline sat down beside him again, wrapping her arms around her son. What could she say to ease his pain? Her heart was broken for him. To lose a child was the worst kind of pain any parent could ever experience. 'I know…' She whispered softly as she held him, wishing there was something she could do. 'I know.'

'Ma…' Cordell finally broke down, Abeline holding him close as he cried. 'I-I can't… I can't lose her too.'

'You bout finished with these guys?' Mika questioned, coming to a stop near where Maddie was brushing down Bel and Dakota outside their stalls.

'Yeah, almost. Just got to rug them up now.' She replied as she returned the brush to the grooming kit. 'Would you mind rugging Bel up for me?'

She nodded, grabbing the light canvas rug off the rack out the front of the mare's stall. 'So, you've been awful quiet this morning. Somethin on your mind?'

'Oh, you know… The usual.' Maddie put Dakota's rug in place over her, clipping up the back leg straps before doing up the chest and neck rug ones. 'Just stuff.'

'I see.' She replied with a glance over at her friend, finishing up with putting on Bel's rug. 'Pasture now?'

'Yep.' With the belly straps buckled up Dakota's rug was on properly and she untied the mare, leading her out of the stable after Bel.

'You haven't said how your appointment went yesterday.' Mika pointed out as they led the mustangs across the yard to their pasture. 'How'd it go?'

As Maddie opened the gate into the pasture for them, she let out a long sigh. 'I was going to talk to you about it…' She closed it again once Mika had led Bel through and together the two of them turned the horses loose then stepped out once more, Maddie latching the gate shut after them. 'It's not going to be a short conversation. When's your break?'

Mika shrugged, watching as Bel and Dakota trotted over to the far side of the pasture to graze. 'I'm all finished for now until later this afternoon. Tuesday's are pretty laid back for me. I'm surprised you don't want to go for a ride.'

'I-I'm not really supposed to be riding at the moment.'

'Ah, since when? You only rode Sunday.'

'Yeah, yeah I know. Yesterday kinda changed that.' Maddie looked over at her. 'Can we go for a walk?'

'I guess so. Sure.' She hung the halter and lead rope up on the hanger beside the gate after Maddie had hung hers, the two of them heading towards the cross country course. Maddie was silent and after they'd walked a distance, she looked over at her. 'I get the feeling that whatever you were told at yesterday's appointment wasn't the best of news.'

Maddie let out a weak laugh, swallowing the lump in her throat. 'That-that's an understatement.' There was an old log up ahead, one of the cross country jumps and she sat down, Mika sitting down beside her.

'What is it?' Mika questioned with concern. 'Come on Maddie… You're kinda scaring me.'

'I-I don't know how to tell you this.' She replied after a moment, looking down at her hands.

'Maddie…'

Maddie turned to her. 'I've got cancer Mika.'

Shock and surprise were written on her face, her hand covering her mouth. 'C-cancer? Oh Maddie.'

'Yeah… Was a shock to me too.' She said as she looked back out over the landscape, feeling her eyes begin to moisten with Mika's show of emotion. 'I wish… I wish there was some other way of telling you but well… I know there's no kind of preparation anyone can say for something like this.'

'What… what kind?'

'Its ah…' She paused. 'It-it's a brain tumor.'

'Brain tumor?' Mika repeated with disbelief. 'Oh God Maddie…'

'Yeah…'

When she'd regained her composure, a thousand thoughts running through her mind, she turned back to Maddie. 'It-it's serious?'

Maddie nodded. 'I go in for surgery two weeks from now.'

'Two weeks?' Oh god, it was serious then.

'They'd have gotten me in tomorrow if they could have,' She started after a moment. 'but the neurosurgeon that's taken me on travels in from Dallas. He flew in yesterday on his day off to meet with my GP and neurologist here to meet with me and get things sorted.'

'So what… what does this mean? I mean, you're going in for surgery?'

'And after that, chemo and radiation.'

Mika shook her head, at a loss to know what to say. 'Maddie, I-I'm so sorry.'

'Hey, I don't want your pity.' Maddie said firmly as she turned back to her. 'I don't need pity. What I need is support. If you don't think you can stick by me through this then say so now. I understand if you don't want to stay around. It ain't going to be nice-'

'Maddie, Maddie, stop.' She interrupted. 'Maddie, of course I'm going to stick around. There's nothing else I could do. You're my friend. One of the best I've got. I'm not going anywhere. That's a promise.'

'Are… are you sure?' She questioned with hesitation. 'I mean, I saw what my mom went through. I couldn't blame you if you want to walk away and pretend you never knew me-'

Mika placed her arm around Maddie. 'Maddie. I'm not going anywhere and that's something you can count on. I will be here for you. Whatever you need. I'm gonna be here.'

Hearing that, Maddie couldn't hold herself together any longer. Tears ran down her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around Mika, her friend hugging her back. Mika too was crying, the two girls gaining strength from each other. Finally Maddie let her go and sat back, brushing the tears off her face. 'I-I'm sorry… I-I didn't mean to break down like that.'

'Hey, hey.' Mika smiled through her tears, finding a spare handkerchief in her pocket to hand to her. 'That's what friends are for, right?'

'Oh, you're more than just a friend.' Maddie replied as she took the handkerchief, blowing her nose. 'You're family Mika.'

Her smile grew and she gave her another hug. 'You're family to me too.'

Maddie smiled, closing her eyes for a moment then opened them again when Mika pulled back. 'Thank you, Mika.'

'For what?'

'For promising you'd stay.' She replied sadly. 'My mom… When my mom got sick, all her friends deserted her. She had no one except me. There were people she thought she could rely on that let her down. It hurt her. I-I just wanted to spare myself the pain if you didn't think you could handle it.'

Mika looked at her thoughtfully. 'You haven't had it easy, have you?'

At that, Maddie laughed. 'They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. If that's true, I should be able to beat superwoman by now.' Her friend chuckled at that then they both sobered once more. 'No, no… I haven't.'

'But what I say goes, Maddie.' She said after a time. 'I mean it. I will be here for you. Whatever you need. I'm here. You only have to ask, and even then, most of the time you probably won't get a chance because I'll beat you to it.'

She smiled again. 'Thank you. It-it means a lot to me.'

Mika smiled too. 'I know. If I were in your shoes I'd want someone to do the same for me. I know we've only known each other for a couple weeks but you've been more of a friend to me then most I've had my whole life.'

'I-I haven't done anything special.'

'You're honest. Real. Those are rare these days.' She replied. 'All through school I was picked on because I was different. Old soul is what my grandma calls me. I was just… different. When other girls were out partying and drinking, I'd be down here mucking out stalls in exchange for riding lessons.'

'Huh. Maybe we are more alike than I gave credit for.' Maddie remarked with surprise. 'Mawline has called me 'old soul' on more than one occasion.'

'Oh, I got called a lot of other stuff too. Sure was glad when I finally finished school.'

'I bet.'

'So…' Mika turned back to her. 'What happens now? I mean, you've got surgery and the other stuff but like, what are you going to do?'

'Take it one day at a time, I guess.' She replied after a pause. 'Mika, this brain tumor I have… It's rare and it's not the best kind to have.'

'Is there any good kind?'

'Probably not but this is most definitely not the best.'

'I know.' She exclaimed softly. 'I can see it in your eyes, Maddie. You haven't told me the whole truth.'

Maddie looked away from her again. 'You want to know the whole truth?'

'Yes.' Mika replied decisively. 'I want to know.'

She let out a long sigh. 'Alright… Um… They said I've got maybe twelve to eighteen months to live with treatment. Without it I'd be lucky to see the year out.'

'Have-have you got any chance of beating this thing?'

'I-I don't know.' Maddie turned back to her. 'Six percent of patients live to five years after diagnosis, three make it to ten. There's a few rare cases where they've made it to twenty but the majority…' She let her voice trail off. 'The doctors don't want to get my hopes up. Those are just the plain facts. Most people with this kind of tumor die. Not a case of if, it's when.'

Mika shook her head, covering her mouth with her hand again.

'I'm sorry Mika.' She said after a moment. 'You wanted to know the truth.'

She looked back at her, tears in her eyes. 'How can you speak about it so calmly?'

Maddie shrugged. 'Coping mechanism I guess.'

'And you've only known since yesterday?'

She shook her head. 'They found the tumor Thursday and called Dad in to tell him. He told me that afternoon.'

'You've known since then?'

Maddie nodded. 'I didn't want to say anything until I'd been to the appointment and knew exactly what was going on. They were able to explain it better to me so I understand now what's going on.' She paused for a moment. 'I didn't want to tell you sooner either because you knowing makes it real.'

'I guess that makes sense…' She replied slowly. 'How… how are your folks doing?'

'As well as they can be, I guess. Dad's taking it hard, they all are. Caught Mawline cryin with Grampa in the kitchen the other day, they didn't realize I saw them. I don't know what to do…' Maddie looked back down at her hands. 'I want to help them but I don't know how.'

'Um, well, proving the doctors wrong on that time frame would be a very good start.'

She chuckled at that. 'Oh I intend to do exactly that, don't you worry.'

'So this is why you can't ride?'

Maddie nodded again. 'Yeah. Any hard knock to my head could cause a brain bleed.'

'That doesn't sound good.'

'No, it ain't.' She sighed heavily. 'The doctors didn't bar me from riding themselves, it's Dad.'

'What about the competition then? Are you going to have to withdraw?'

'I don't know.' She sighed again. 'But hey, with everything else here going to crap not being able to finish out the competition would just be the icing on the cake.'