When Amy woke up the next morning she reached to turn off her alarm and lay on her bed a few minutes. The previous night had been refreshingly different than she'd expected. Lou had been working in the office while their grandpa and Ty watched a football game on one of the local stations. Ty had been taken home before arriving at Heartland so he could pick up clothes and other living necessities to last him for the few weeks he was expected to be over. He hadn't been able to contact his parents from the hospital during the week but left a message with some relatives whose house they were suppose to be visiting. Amy thought Ty seemed relieved that he hadn't reached them yet, she knew how his father had reacted to his last Heartland related injury, and if he did similar this time she was sure they might damage their relationship.
Amy reflected on Ty and her grandpa's interaction during the evening. She knew her grandpa approved of their relationship, but that hadn't stopped her from worrying. She'd only ever really seen the pair in the same vicinity when Heartland was the topic of discussion. She was relieved to observe that during the game they were comfortable and bantered lightheartedly about the referee's calls. Amy had had too much homework and retreated to her bedroom early for the night.
Rolling over with a sigh, Amy reached for the pair of pants she'd left draped over the back of her desk chair and got dressed.
After a quick stop in the bathroom Amy descended the stairs as quietly as she could. From a point half way down the stairs she saw the spare bedroom's door was part way open. As she arrived at ground floor she saw, through the ajar door; a wheelchair beside the bed. Moving closer to the room she saw that Ty was sprawled out on the bed wearing only his boxer shorts. He was in a deep sleep; one hand cupping his forehead, the other resting on his abdomen, his facial features were completely relaxed and he looked peaceful.
Amy leaned close to the door and slowly pulled it closed, a small smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. She realized that she liked having Ty around, it made her feel happy to see him other than just when he was working and she was home from school. She shut the door and went outside to start mixing feeds.
Just before seven o'clock Amy heard the crunch of the wheelchair coming down the aisle of the back barn. She looked out from mucking Daisy's stall to see Ty outside Mercury's stall, rubbing between the horse's eyes. Leaning the pitchfork against stall's outside wall, Amy followed Ty as he had entered Mercury's stall.
"Morning," Ty greeted in a low voice, watching as Amy knelt on the clean bedding beside his chair. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder as they both watched Mercury pull on his hay net. Amy closed her eyes and happily breathed deep the smell of the horses, the clean straw and Ty's own distinct sent.
"Did you just sigh?" Ty broke Amy's reverie.
"Did I?" Amy asked, "I didn't notice."
"Well at least you're in a better mood than yesterday," Ty mused in a quiet, almost whispered voice.
"Lets pretend yesterday didn't happen," Amy said, her voice muffles as she turned her head and buried her face in his shoulder. She felt him press a kiss onto the top of her head.
"Hey you two, am I the only one who's going to be doing any work around here?" Joni's voice came loud in contrast to Amy and Ty's hushed conversation. Amy looked up to see Joni leaning over the half door, watching the gelding. "He looks better today," She remarked before moving back up the row.
&
Amy worked with Black Lightening, the Hanoverian warmblood that afternoon.
The tall and beautiful jet-black gelding was brought to Heartland after he'd thrown his previous rider on several occasions. The spirited and youthful rider hadn't wanted to admit that her horse was problematic until a friend had joined her on a trail ride and after witnessing her being thrown from her mount, her friend had begged her to get assistance. Black Lightening had been at Heartland for a week prior to Ty's incident on Clairsdale Ridge and Ty who had been primarily working with him had deduced that the real issue was a behavioral problem. Black Lightening realized that if he didn't feel like going riding, he needed only to buck his rider off and the ride would cease.
A week ago Ty had used a method they had utilized on a previous horse with the same disposition, strapping a dummy to the animal's back until he realized that the mount would not be falling off. Amy had decided to longe the horse with his riding tack on today, but not ride him.
As she moved the Black Lightening through his paces, Amy caught sight of Ty wheeling himself from the tack room to the back barn; a groom bucket perched on his lap. She noted that even with the distance she could see a distinct look of frustration in his normally calm eyes. With a pang of guilt, Amy realized that he would probably want to be working Black Lightening. She pushed this thought down, focusing on the gelding circling around the ring. Over lunch, Amy, Ty and Joni had agreed on the distribution of duties as far as Ty was concerned for the next month. At the meal, Amy could sense that Ty wasn't happy about his reduction of jobs, but she knew there was no point in pursuing the matter. In truth, there was only so much he could do while in a wheelchair.
Moving Black Lightening up to a canter, Amy tried to be empathetic. She knew that if she were unable to help out with Heartland, for any amount of time, it would probably kill her.
&
"Amy, phone," Lou said, her hand over the mouthpiece of the cordless as she appeared at the door.
It was towards the middle of the following week, as Amy and Ty sat on the porch, playing cards in the fading sunlight. Amy reached out for the phone as Ty collected and reshuffled the deck.
"Hello, Amy Fleming here," she said into the phone, accepting the cards Ty had dealt her.
"Hello Amy," Came a warm and familiar voice.
"Carey! How are you?" Amy sat up and put the cards back on the table, focusing her full attention on the phone.
"I was afraid you wouldn't remember me," Cary's voice sounded delighted that her fears were unfounded.
"It's only been a few months," Amy said with a small laugh. She knew it would take much longer than that for her to forget Carey Whitepath, the granddaughter of Amy's deceased friend Huten Whitepath.
"Amy, the reason I'm calling is that I've been visiting family just south of you and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind me dropping by on my way back home, I'd really like to come see Heartland…" Carey's sentence trailed off leaving it a question.
"Of course you can come!" Amy was excited, "Just let me check with grandpa to make sure it's alright with him."
They made arrangements and Amy's excitement was elated by the fact that Carey would be arriving on Friday and staying for the entire weekend. When Amy's hung up she relayed her excitement to Ty who smiled at Amy's enthusiasm.
"It'll be good to see her again," Ty said, dealing Amy a new hand.
Amy sat back in her chair with a wide grin plastered on her face. It would be amazing to see Carey again, she had really enjoyed her own stay at Ten Beeches, Carey's family's ranch in the Appalachians and she hoped Carey would have similar feelings about Heartland. As Amy tried to put on a poker face for Ty (which earned her a amused laugh from him), she formulated a rough agenda for the weekend. A trail ride would have to be high on the list.