Kris sat up in the hospital bed and smiled at Pablo and the Ritters (including Todd, who was home from boarding school). They were here to take her back home to Raintree. The Ritters had worked together to fix up Matt's old bedroom for Kris and cancelled the dudes so that there wouldn't be too much excitement for her, and Pablo had helped Matt train the young horses for their upcoming races so that Jean could stay with Kris most of the time. Kris still hadn't spoken to her. Or anyone. Her mind simply wasn't ready or even able to accept the fact that Junior was gone-this time forever.
"Are you here to take Kris Furillo home now?" asked the doctor.
"Yes," said Jean, Matt, and Todd in unison.
He nodded. "I need to speak with her alone before she leaves."
Everyone looked at each other, puzzled. "Okay?" said Jean.
"Sure," said Pablo.
"Kris, we'll be right outside," said Matt. Then all four of them stepped out.
"Kris," said the doctor. "You're aware that your only injuries were to your left arm and to your head. Your arm is almost entirely back to normal. To take care of it, you'll just have to do the exercises that I showed you." Kris nodded. She knew what he was talking about. "Because of your concussion, you won't be able to do any strenuous physical activity for another week. No running, no dancing, and definitely no horseback riding."
Kris nodded. She'd actually gotten a concussion before, back when she was still at Camp LaGrange and Pablo asked her to help him train Wildfire. Everything had gone fine until one of the other girls ran up and honked a horn in the colt's face, causing him to buck Kris off. She'd had to stay in the infirmiry for a week and couldn't go to the barn and see Pablo and Wildfire for another week after that. It was the worst two weeks of her entire sentence.
"So, are there any...other health issues you'd like to ask me about?" asked the doctor carefully.
Kris starred at him, suddenly worried. "What do you mean..." her voice was gravelly after several days of not talking "...other health issues?"
The doctor starred at her. "Well, I was thinking that you might be worried that you had a miscarriage in the accident. You didn't." He paused. "You are aware that you're pregnant, aren't you?
Kris froze. She choaked on her own breath. There was no way he had said what he had just said.
"Miss Furillo?" said the doctor again.
Kris nodded. "Yes, of course," her voice crackled out.
"Okay," said the doctor. "Your baby is all right, though. No worse for wear. The airbag seems to have protected you both quite effectively." Kris nodded. "Well, okay. I'll see you in a few weeks for your follow-up visit. Get some rest, and stay healthy. For both your sakes."
Kris nodded again. "Thank you," she whispered. Then she got up and walked outside to where everyone was waiting for her.
"Are you feeling okay?" asked Matt, putting his arm around her shoulders.
Kris gulped. "Headache," she whispered. It was the first time she'd talked to her family since the accident.
"Come here," said Todd. He put his arm around Kris's waist. Together they led her outside the building, Jean and Pablo following closely behind.
Outside, Dani was waiting with her van. Once she saw everyone walking towards her with Kris, she got up and ran to meet them. Kris wordlessly took a step forward and embraced her best friend who should have been her sister-in-law and tightened her hug when Dani broke down into hopless sobs. Matt kept one hand on Kris's shoulder and started rubbing her back, tears in his eyes. Nearby, Pablo put his arm around Jean, who was also crying, and she rested her head on his shoulder for a moment.
"Hey, Kris?" said Todd. "Why aren't you crying? Aren't you upset?"
"She's not crying because she's more upset than all of us put together," Matt whispered.
That was true. To some extent. For the past week Kris had been nothing but depressed, but right now she was just plain numb. Junior was dead. She was pregnant with his child. She had never thought that he would be gone like this, and she's certainly never been planning on being pregnant. With anyone's child. Ever.
"Let's get in the car," said Pablo. They all walked over together, Matt and Dani staying close to Kris and Jean and Pablo staying close together.
"Who's driving?" said Jean.
"I'll drive," said Matt. He squeezed Kris's shoulder and then went up and hopped into the driver's seat.
"I call shotgun," said Todd.
They all climbed into Dani's van. Kris sat in the back row between Dani and Jean, Pablo sat right in front of them. "Kris," said Todd. "What radio station do you want?"
"Just play whatever's on," said Kris.
Come wake me up
Tell me love
That it's all alright
Tell me
I'm having
Just a
Bad dream
Tonight
Bad dream
Tonight
Come wake me up
Come wake me up
Come wake me up
Come wake me up
Come wake me up
Kris closed her eyes and pinched her own shoulder just in case. She kept her eyes closed the whole way home, desperately hoping that this entire past week was nothing but a horrible nightmare, that she had really just fallen asleep on Junior's shoulder and that she was about to wake up in front of the wedding chapel of their dreams.