This is Prompt No. 45-Spinning

The night air whipped Mitchie's hair in front of her face as she bent low over History's neck, trying to stay awake. She groaned into History's mane as she felt a jolt from the ground travel straight through her body and up into her pounding head. "Uh!" she moaned.

History's hooves pounded the hard-packed turf as he galloped back to the base. Caitlyn had given him his head, tying the reins loosely around the saddle horn, so he was able to stretch his neck out further, giving him more momentum. Mitchie couldn't think straight as she slumped over the saddle, her head bouncing against History's neck. Though it jarred her, she couldn't be bothered to lift her head.

"Hurry, History," she begged as her arms wrapped around the horse's neck in an effort not to slide off. The horse seemed to sense her distress, for he pushed himself harder, his neck and legs moving forward and backward in a rapid pumping motion that seemed almost impossible.

Soon, the base came into sight and History slowed down, coming to an abrupt stop at the old, termite infested hitching post. Mitchie literally slid off his back, landing with a thud on the ground. She reached for the saddle horn in an attempt to steady herself, and she staggered forward towards the stairs, taking them one at a time. Her limbs felt on fire as she pushed open the door and staggered into the room of the old house.

She dragged herself over to the cupboard and collapsed onto it, not sure what to do now. "Please!" she called, hoping that someone would hear her. "It's Mitchie."

There was a long silence, and Mitchie collapsed against the back of the cupboard, closing her eyes for a moment. What would happen if no one heard her? Was there something she was supposed to do? She tried to think back to earlier that night when Caitlyn had brought her up by way of the cupboard, but couldn't remember anything. Had it really only been earlier in the night that all that had taken place? To Mitchie, it seemed like ages ago.

She pounded on the cupboard again, but she felt so weak that it sounded only more like knocking. "Please!" she called again.

All of the sudden, the cupboard started to shift and Mitchie felt herself descending down, leaving the old shack behind. She leaned back against the wall and tried hard to stay awake for just a little longer. The cupboard stopped moving and a door was opened. Mitchie tumbled out, right into Shane's waiting arms.

"Mitchie!" he gasped, not expecting her to come rolling out so limply. He lowered her gently to the floor. "Mitchie, what happened?" His voice was rising to an almost hysterical note as he shook her slightly.

"I had to play poker," Mitchie mumbled softly, "against this horrid man that cheats."

"Okay," Shane said quickly.

"I won and he shot me," she explained. Shane sucked a breath in and even in the state she was in, with the world literally spinning in front of her eyes, she knew that he was worried about her and thought the worst. "I'm not hurt," she told him. "He hit that book you gave me as a prop."

"Then what's wrong?" Shane asked, eyeing her up and down, looking for any signs of blood.

"Before he shot me, he drugged me," Mitchie said, slumping against Shane's body, her eyelids closing and mouth pulling into a grimace. Even the darkness behind her closed eyes seemed to spin as she felt herself slipping away.

"Stay with me, Mitchie," Shane commanded, gathering her into his arms and striding quickly down the hall. "Don't fall asleep, stay with me."

"I can't," Mitchie murmured, her head tossing back and forth as he walked. "I just can't."

"Try," he told her.

He almost ran down the twisting and turning halls, his teeth clenched together as he carried Mitchie. As he careened around one corner, he almost ran into Nate. Nate took one look at her and cried, "What happened?"

"She was drugged, Shane said hurriedly. "Get the doctor on call."

Nate took off sprinting and Shane continued in the opposite direction, holding Mitchie tightly to his chest. "Hold on," he told her.

He barely heard her whisper, "I'm trying."

Finally, Shane skidded around the corner to Mitchie's room and pushed open the door, laying her gently on the bed and tucking the covers around her. Nate soon arrived with the doctor on call and he examined Mitchie, who had finally succumbed to the drug and was sleeping. "Is she going to be okay?" Shane asked nervously.

The doctor straightened and said, "She should be fine. Just let her sleep the drug off and she should be back to normal in no time at all."

He turned to leave and Shane asked again, "So she's going to be perfectly okay?"

The doctor turned and looked at the young man, seated on the bed next to the drugged girl, holding her hand and looking up at him with eyes that were pleading for an affirmative, assuring answer. He smiled. "Yes," he assured Shane again, "she'll be just fine."

A/N: There you go! A quick update before I'm off to Canada! Please review! :D