Amy felt tears prickling behind her eyes as she moved Juniper towards the gate. Her legs once again felt like lead and she inconspicuously leaned against Juniper's broad shoulder as she walked to the gate.

"Hey," Amy said softly, her voice was becoming hard to find behind a lump that was building in her throat. "I… I thought you were in the hospital for another – another night?" Amy stuttered slightly when she'd reached Ty. She was attempting to compose herself and conceal the sudden onslaught of emotions she was feeling. She was failing miserably.

"Are you alright, Amy?" Ty asked looking up at her, concern etched into his face.

"I'm fine," Amy shook her head. "I'm just going… put this guy away, I'll be up at the house in… minute," Amy finished, swallowed hard and turned away from Ty's shocked expression.

She reached Juniper's stall all right. While bending to pick a body brush from the groom kit outside his stall however, she continued falling toward the wall of the stall, turning slightly until she was sitting with her back against the stall with her knees pulled up to her chest. A deep ripping sob tore through Amy and she wrapped her arms around her legs, burying her face in her knees.

She wanted to attribute this reaction to her lack of sleep but she knew that fatigue would only be emphasizing the real reason for her tears. Seeing Ty in the wheelchair made his condition more of a reality than she could handle. He couldn't walk for a month and regardless of what he'd said, she still blamed herself to a degree. His entire future had always rooted around Heartland and now it seemed to her that she had managed to mess up his life for a month and a half. She didn't want to feel this way but now that the idea was planted in her head she couldn't shake it.

She rocked backward and forward tears soaking into the knees of her jeans when, at the feeling of something on her arm her heart rate skyrocket as she jumped. She looked at the hand on her arm; she looked up and saw Ty.

She sniffled and wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands.

Ty lifted himself out of the chair and sat beside Amy on the cement floor. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her towards him. She leaned into his chest and as the weight and warmth of his arms surrounded her Amy dissolved into tears again.

Ty waited patiently for her tears to subside. Once her breathing had returned to normal he pushed her back, turning to face her and spoke in a tone so serious that it sobered her up immediately.

"Amy, I want you to listen to me," He said, holding her upper arms, squeezing them lightly to put emphasis on certain words. "When I'm around you can't cry. I don't need it. I don't want it. I really, really just need you to act normal, like nothing happened."

Amy swallowed and nodded.

They were silent for a minute, Ty shifted so he sat with his legs out in front of him. "So what were you up to when we pulled up?" He picked a stray piece of hay from the floor and lightly tapped the back of her hand with it.

"I was just working with Juniper," Amy answered offhandedly, half waving to the stall behind her.

"I like seeing you join up," Ty said quietly, trailing the straw over Amy's thigh, drawing random shapes.

Amy had known he had seen her.

"I'm usually so busy, I don't get much of a chance to just watch you work," Ty continued. "I guess I'm going to see a few more join ups…" His voice trailed.

They sat for a while talking. Amy had composed herself and decided that she would honor Ty's wish and remain supportive and as normal as she could. They discussed what kind of work Ty would be able to do and as the topic of yard work arose, they simultaneously agreed that it was time for the evening feeds.

Amy had to walk a bit slower so Ty could match her pace but she didn't mind. In the feed room Amy mixed the feeds while Ty read over a note that had been left on the bench. Amy looked over and realized that Joni had written a note for her listing the horses she'd worked on, a reminder of her verbal list, no doubt.

"Joni said to go to bed early," Ty mused setting the note back on the bench and grabbing a pile of feed buckets. He set them on his lap.

"I was up all night with Chester," Amy answered. "He was colicky."

Ty nodded knowingly and led the way out to the aisle as Amy carried the other buckets. It was working out well and Amy began to feel better knowing that there were going to be some things that could be adapted. I wonder how he'll take not being able to do very much hands-on work for a while… Amy thought to herself as they made their way to the back barn.

A frown graced Ty's face as he turned to the door. "How's Mercury?" He asked as Amy helped push him over the doorframe.

"He's fine," Amy commented as she pushed back the bolt to the horse's stall.

All the other horses had initially backed away from or suspiciously eyed the wheelchair, but as they entered Mercury's stall the horse instantly approached Ty, blowing out softly in his face before dropping his head to nuzzle his knee.

Ty rubbed between Mercury's eyes and looked up at Amy with a bemused expression. "I've never had a horse act like this before," he commented.

Amy nodded in agreement as Mercury picked his head up and again blew air contently in Ty's face. Good thing you didn't see him during the week, Amy thought to herself, reflecting on the horse's previously dejected nature and sulky attitude when he had given up his watch on the door and taken to hiding in the back of his stall.

Amy heard Lou's voice echo from the house. "Supper!"

Ty joined the family for supper and, seeking higher wisdom relayed Mercury's behavior to Amy's grandpa. Ty wore the same bemused expression as he had in the stall and as Amy passed the mashed potatoes to her grandpa she noted that he was wearing a very calculating expression.

"Well," Her grandpa paused to serve himself some of the steaming potatoes then carefully set the serving bowl on the potholder in front of him. "Horses, you have to remember, aren't really all that different from people. He could be feeling that it's his fault you fell off."

"But there have been horses here before that lost their nerve after riders have been thrown, they never acted like that before," Lou commented. "They usually just don't like being ridden in certain situations. Joni was riding Mercury earlier today, he was fine."

"Every horse is different," Amy gently corrected her older sister.

"So what should I do?" Ty asked. "We can't send Mercury home if he's feeling guilty."

"I think you should spend as much time as you can with him while you're recovering. Let him think that he's helping so if he does feel responsible, he can feel like he's helping you," Grandpa explained.

Ty nodded silently, turning back to his meal.