Chapter Forty-Six

Company Progress, Trials and Tribulations

A/N – What another fun chapter to write. A lot of my storylines align with some real-life experience of mine so if it seems I may know more about dance competitions than others, well I do. The early part of the year is in full swing. The Board is planning a yearend review meeting that as expected will show outstanding results and accomplishments. The Borden kids are in full school mode. But the family again will be needed to band together when challenges come their way. And I would be remiss not to focus on our two main characters. Mature Content. Enjoy

The news of Lyndy's accomplishment had made it all the way to her school as they entire team was recognized at one of the weekly assemblies. Her sisters were so proud of her and couldn't stop talking to their friends about it. At dinner one night there was active discussion about the assembly and as was becoming the norm Wyatt was there. Grandma June was still in the hospital, and it looked like she would need to be in a rehab center for a while after that. She did have a niece who lived in the States who came in periodically and helped her line things up for future care. She had been to the ranch several times and had met with Amy and Ty. It was agreed that The Borden's had be given limited Power of Attorney for Grandma June because her niece was not able to spend a lot of time with her. Grandma June was more than able to make decisions, just had physical limitations. They were also given limited guardianship of Wyatt and took the time to explain what that meant to him and Lyndy when they visited June at the hospital with her niece before she had to go home. The bottom line, whatever Grandma June and Wyatt needed the Borden family would be there to help them.

That night after everyone was checked on Ty and Amy got ready for bed. Their conversation was on a lot of different things as they settled in bed. They talked about what was happening at the Equine Center, how they had been approached by several different schools about Lyndy and their interest in her and finally to June and Wyatt and the commitment they made to them. Amy leaned over and laid on her husband making circles on his chest. ""I feel so bad for Wyatt, that young man has had a lot of setbacks in his life and I really want to help him. I know he has Lyndy and us but I just think we really need to keep an eye on him to make sure he is Ok." Ty smiled, "Agreed, you are something Mrs. Borden. I know that we both have benefited from the help of others and it feels good to be able to pay it forward. I love you horsey girl." Feeling a little frisky, Amy rolled on top of him whispering, "I love when you call me that you juvenile delinquent with a bad attitude." Before he could respond she latched onto his lips with a passionate kiss. She took his breath away as the kiss escalated into much more. Ty whispered, "We need to be quieter with our extra guest." She smiled in his neck, "Well I will try but when you do certain things I can't promise that." He quickly discarded their clothes and moving to the area she was thinking of he whispered, "You mean this, and this and this?" She breathlessly answered, "Oh Ty yes please don't' stop." Their love making escalated as the night moved on satisfying each other several times. They laid back panting and a little sweaty as Ty whispered, "Well you weren't too quiet." She smiled as happy as she had ever been snuggling into her husband.

The Heartland Equestrian Experience Business review was coming up at the end of the week. To make it easier the Board decided to have it after school let out and make is a virtual event. The Board would be in the Fairfield meeting room and would set up a Zoom meeting that would be displayed at every location for general viewing. Each location would then provide dinner for the local staff and family members. The Board planned a nice dinner for them at Fairfield. The day arrived and everything was set to go. As usually Lisa started off with general comments and thanks to the staff, "Overall the organization has performed above and beyond expectations. With the award money we received we reinvested back with improvements and additional space for Heartland and the Equine Center. We also purchased 180 additional acres of land that allowed this expansion. All of the projects will be completed by the start of summer. We also have had great results from both the clinical program with the University of Calgary and or Juvenile Enrichment program with Clint Riley and his team. I know many of you have been involved in one or both of them and again we can't thank you enough for you work. Our prosperity and growth is the result of everyone in our organization." She then passed over to Lou who gave a high-level overview of the financial performance of the prior year and expectation for the current one. The numbers, although a little confusing for some were extraordinary. At the end of her section, she mentioned to get with one of the Board members if you have more specific questions. Then Max and Lisa talked about the reorganization of land ownership realignments and those benefits.

In order to keep things under two hours, each smaller location had a 10-minute section to discuss specific successes and changes at their facilities. They allowed 20 minutes for The Equine Center and Fairfield as they comprised 50% of the total revenue. The presentations were focused on the growth, physical changes and projections for the coming year. The mood was upbeat and positive. During the Equine Centers section Amy spoke, "We have had a lot of exposure over the last 9 months and that has helped us expand our audience across Canada and the Northwestern US. We expect that to grow even more this year. So I hope everyone is ready for the ride, it will be fun." Ty then talked about the PMs visit tentatively scheduled for June. "I can't tell you how proud I am of our Juvenile Enrichment program named after Amy and Lou's mom Marion. Scott and I can attest to the impact she had on us and I know the kids we have brought through the program are in a better place because of it and you. The Prime Minister is excited to experience it when he visits. I expect that many of us will be able to interact with him, especially Maddie, his BFF." The group laughed at each location and Maddie spoke up proudly on the call. "Well I just got a letter back from him and he is looking forward to the visit. You all need to be helpful or you will have to deal with me." Everyone again laughed, Lisa got up again and motioned from Jack to join him. He looked tired and a little off but prepared to speak before Lisa ended the meeting. Amy and Lou were concerned that he didn't look good but he was determined to thank everyone for their support during his illness. As he got up to speak he seemed a little dazed. Ty and Scott immediately got up as he fell back into them. Everyone was caught by surprise and the entire meeting went quiet. After some shuffling around, Jack got back up and apologized to the entire group. Lisa hastily ended the meeting and told everyone to enjoy their dinners. As the meeting cut off the Board immediately got Jack comfortable and called 911.

Lisa and Lou went with Jack in the ambulance to the hospital. He was conscious and responsive and complaining about the fuss but he was visibly in distress. The rest of the family followed except Cass and Caleb who went back to make sure all the kids were in a good place. Jenn and Ben decided to get JT and have him stay with them for the night. Katie and Clay would be staying at the Miracle Ranch with the Borden girls and Steven would go back to be with their twins. Amy, Ty, Scott and Georgie followed the ambulance to be there to support Lisa. Amy was quiet so Ty reached over and grabbed her hand, "Amy I am sure he is Ok, his treatment is very taxing and you know how he pushes himself." "No, I knew something was not right when I talked with him yesterday, I should have said something to Lisa, it is my fault." Amy cried. Georgie stepped in, "Amy we all talk to him and none of us saw this. It is not your fault." Scott added, "I was with him this morning and just thought he was tired. I just thought he was feeling bad because he had a treatment yesterday." They sat in silence until Ty spoke up. "Guys we all saw him and didn't pick up on any issues. I am sure he is just having a reaction of some sort." As he finished he pulled into a parking spot. Seeing Amy's distress he went over to help her out of the truck and supported her as they walked in. Thet were greeted by Lou as she lunged for Scott with tears in her eyes. Immediately Georgie ask, "Mom what's wrong."

Lou gathered herself as they went to the waiting room. "Lisa is with him but he is unconscious in the ICU. The paramedics worked on him on the trip here. He was struggling to breath and was in and out of consciousness. They don't know what is wrong so they are running a lot of tests. We…" Lou hesitated, "We almost lost him on the ride here. He looked so bad guys I can't believe Lisa was so strong." As she finished Lisa and the doctor walked out. The doctor spoke up as Lou, Amy and Georgie held on to a tired Lisa. "Well Mr. Bartlett is resting comfortably right now. We have decided to put him into a low-level coma to allow his body to rest and for us to be able to run some test. Our first thought is that he has had some type of reaction. Has he seemed overly tired in the last few days?" Ty was the only one able to speak, "Well we all talk to him every day and he did seem a little less energetic but until today when he passed out, we just thought he was tired. He seemed alert and his usual self." The doctor smiled, "Well we all know he is a tough guy but he had a treatment a few days ago where we made slight adjustment to his dosage, which is standard for his treatment. Possibly he wasn't quite ready for it and this is his body telling us so. We will continue to watch him and run additional test. I expect him to be in the hospital at least several days if we determine what is going on. But he is pretty tough and I expect he will be able to come out of this. This cancer is aggressive and it takes a while to knock it on its butt." The family appreciated his comment and thanked him.

After they settled calls were made home. Lou and Amy called Katie and Clay. Amy spoke to the girls and filled them in. Amy also asked Katie to call Max and Lilly and maybe let the kids talk to them. They were all very upset and she promised that her or their dad would be home before they went to bed. Katie said, "Max and Lilly are already on their way. I hope its Ok but I said they could stay in the guest room here." Amy thanked her and told Ty. Ty called Jenn and asked if it would be OK for JT to spend the night. "Of course Ty in fact they already have their PJ's on having fun with Ben. Georgie filled in Steven and asked him to get with Caleb and Cass. Ty sent an email out to the team and updated them on his status and asked them to forward it to anyone not copied . When he went to his phone he had over 20 texts and emails. Scott called Tim and Casey and told to them separately. They offered to help in any way and planned to come see him tomorrow. The visited him in groups of two – Ty and Amy, Lisa and Georgie and finally Lou and Scott. Lou decided to stay with Lisa over night as Amy and Georgie needed to get home to their kids. Scott would come back after he got things up and running at the clinic. Everyone promised to have their phones with them in case they needed to be updated.

With much hesitation the group headed home. As soon as Georgie got home she collapsed in Steven's arms. To that point she had been strong but seeing him and their babies broke her down. She laid in the room for over an hour with her babies as they slept until Steven forced her to get up and eat something. Jack is her superhero and this rocked her to the core. Steven helped her get dressed for bed and held her until she settled for a fitful sleep. Even though it was after their bedtime Amy and Ty walked into the lounge to 4 very awake girls and Wyatt. The thanked Katie and Clay as they left to go back to Heartland. They told them that Caleb and several of the ranch hands took care of all the horses and would do it tomorrow as well, so there was no need to worry. Amy and Ty talked to the girls and sent them to get ready for bed. As they went to say good night to them all their conversations took a while. They were honest with Maddie, Annie and Addie and were pleased with their understanding and mature questions. All three wanted to see him but Amy and Ty said they will need to wait and see what is best for him. When they walked into Lyndy's room they noticed the door was open and a quiet conversation was going on. Amy peeked in and said, "Honey can we come in to talk." Lyndy said, "Of course, Wyatt and I are just talking." Ty sighed in relief as he saw her sitting at her desk and Wyatt in a chair next to her. He immediately noticed a look of concern on his face.

Ty started, "Hey guys, how are you both doing. They both looked down as Wyatt spoke first. "I am sorry I am in the room, I know the rules. I am just struggling because of what is happening with my grandma and what happened to my grandpa. He had a similar cancer that ended up leading to his death. It's just." Lyndy placed her hand on his shoulder in support. "It is just like we went through with him and I don't want it to happened to Jack too" Amy smiled at him tearfully. "We understand you guys and although we don't know what is going to happen, GG is strong and a fighter. But I am sure your grandpa was too Wyatt." Everyone took a breath as Ty continued. "Wyatt and Lyndy, I know this is hard and if you ever need to talk just let us know. Jack is important to all of us and Wyatt, I of all people know how we can be reminded of bad times in the past that come back to haunt us. You two are very important to us and we want to make sure you are both Ok. Well we are heading to bed, good night." As they stepped away Ty noticed Wyatt stayed seated. "Don't worry Mr. Borden, I am leaving in a minute." Wyatt reasoned. Lyndy looked at him smiling, "Dad we just want to talk a little while longer, with the door open." He smiled leaning into Amy, "And our door will be open too." It had been a long day and everyone fell into a worried sleep.

The next morning it was a somber breakfast, The girls didn't want to go to school but their parents wouldn't have it. Amy spoke up, "If we need you guys we will get with the school office. When you get home get your chores done quickly and if we can dad or someone will take you to see him." Ty made a mental note to call both schools. "Mommy he needs us we need to be with him, "Maddie cried out. Ty spoke up, "We understand girls, but we need to see what is happening and begin fixing it. We have to be patient." The kids reluctantly agreed and headed out to the bus. Normally they go on their own but today Amy and Ty went with them. As they left JT spoke for the first time that morning. "Mommy, please take care of GG, we love him," Holding back until the bus pulled away, Amy burst into tears hanging on to Ty, "Ty I hope he is Ok, those kids need him, we need him." Ty and Amy had a quick call with everyone letting them know what was going on and ensured that schedules and coverages were handled. They swung by to get Scott and Georgie and headed to the hospital. The group had decided to limit visitors outside of them along with Lou and of course Lisa. The ride was quiet as Scott spoke up, "I spoke to Lou this morning, Jack had a good night and they plan on waking him up this morning. Let's hope when we get there we have some news." The rest of the ride was quiet.

As they walked in they saw Lou and Lisa talking to a couple of doctors. As they arrived the doctor the recognized from the day before greeted them, "Good you are all here, I was just going to give Lisa and Lou and update. Jack had a good night. We were able to run some test during the night and this morning. We are still trying to determine what has happened but still haven't been able to. But there is good news. The cancer has not spread or gotten worse. He still is on the remission path. We believe this incident is related to his treatment, which was changed last week, which is normal. We will be waking him up shortly, Lisa I think you should be there and when he comes around the rest of you can see him in groups of two." They thanked the doctors and Lisa went with them. For the rest of the day the 6 of them visited and kept in contact with home base. Cass, Ellie, Caleb, Katie, Clay and Steven all stepped up and took control. Since they decided to not have too many visitors the hope since the next day is Saturday was that the grand kids and great grandkids could visit. Max and Lilly arrived at the airport so of course they came to the hospital as well. It was decided that Lisa to stay the night and Lilly would be there with her so she could have some breaks. Everyone else went home to be with their families and the Borden kids were happy their parents could be home. When Ty and Amy arrived, The girls had dinner underway, the table was set, homework was done and JT was being kept active.

Dinner was a little livelier that earlier in the day. The girls talked about their day and of course Amy and Ty filled them in on GG and told them they could visit with him in the morning. Everyone went to sleep early. Amy and Ty were lying in bed talking about the day. Amy was emotionally exhausted but then realized something. "Oh my God Ty, I just realized you have been taking care of me while you must be feeling bad as well. How are you doing," snuggling into the love of her life. "Well, when Jack collapsed I have to admit it unnerved me. But Amy making sure you and the kids are Ok is the most important thing in my life. I don't want to sound all chauvinistic but that is my focus and actually it helps me cope. But holding you like this kinds of helps too." She giggled. "And that is reason number 10,000 as to why I love you so much." She became a little more aggressive moving on top of her lover, kissing and rubbing him seductively. She discarded her pajamas and helped him take his off as well. They kissed and moaned as they each helped each other find a release. Their love was not rushed and over the course of the evening they achieved multiple climaxes. It was what they both needed to relieve stress but more importantly share the love they both had for each other. After a couple of hours they fell asleep holding each other's naked bodies. They both were startled when they heard a knock on the door. Jumping up to find their PJ's Ty called out, "We will be down in a minute." They heard three sets of giggles and finally Maddie blurted out. "Well we hope you are done "sleeping in" breakfast is ready and we want to see GG." Annie, Addie and Maddie laughed and headed down the steps. Ty looked at his partially clothed wife, "Busted!"

Breakfast was great in spite of their interruption and after everything was cleaned up, they headed to the hospital. Grandma Judy was in the same hospital in the rehab center so Wyatt went to see her. As the Borden's entered Jacks room Lilly excused herself. Immediately JT reached for his GG wanting to sit in his lap. Jack smiled and reached for him. The girls were coached so Addie asked, "GG how are you feeling." Jack answered looking at all 5 kids, "Guys I am feeling fine, the doctors say I will get better, they just don't know why it happened." Annie spoke next, "Does it hurt?" He smiled and assured them all he was not in too much pain. Lyndy who was abnormally silent went over to hug her GG. She couldn't speak so Maddie spoke for her, "GG, Wyatt's grandpa had what you have and he," she couldn't say it. "Ok girls and my little man I have something to say to you. I don't know what is going to happen but you shouldn't think of what might happen only live for the day and enjoy every moment. When GG Lyndy was about to pass she said something to me that I will never forget. She told me to live every day with joy and happiness. And never forget those who have been in your life. Their legacy will remain with you forever and beyond. Kids, no matter what happens I will always be with you." The kids sat with their eyes open understanding everything he had said. Ty and Amy were speechless as they watched the interaction. As things settled, JT blurted out, "GG, we had races yesterday at school and I won." Everyone laughed as the rest of them started talking about school and horses. Amy whispered to Ty, "This is the best medicine for him right now. But look at Lyndy, we are going to have to talk to her, she seems pretty down." He smiled in agreement.

The rest of the weekend went well with a constant and controlled visiting schedule for Jack. Come Monday morning the original group met with Jack's doctors in one of the conference rooms with Max and Lilly were there as well. The lead doctor spoke up, "Well we have news. We have found the cause of the spell. It seems that when we adjusted your treatment, the change in medications caused a negative reaction. Not to get to technical but some of the new meds did not interact as expected and caused a negative reaction. We have already corrected the dosage and treated the issue. We see no reason why you can't leave here later today and restart your treatments at the end of the week. We are confident that after the next few rounds the cancer will be in full remission, basically you will be cured." All of them sighed simultaneously and a large group hug occurred, Amy, Lou, Lisa and Georgie hugged the doctors and Jack was hugged as well. They chatted with the doctors for a few minutes longer and they excused themselves. Everyone less Lilly and Max left. They would drive Jack and Lisa back to Heartland so the rest could head home to tell their families. All of the kids and staff were relieved when they heard the news. A low-key welcome home BBQ open house kind of party was planned for the weekend so more of the friends and staff would be able to visit. Amy, Lou and Lisa ensured that it would be stress free as they knew Jack would be still not at 100%. Lou joked, "If we could just invite the great grandkids he would be happy. When he sees them his eyes light up. Especially JT, there is a definite strong bond there." Amy smiled, "If you would have seen him when we visited. He just wanted to sit on his lap never needing to say anything. All JT did was stare at him, it was really special." They smiled and finished deciding on the preparations.

The party was a big success and Lisa swore that it only seemed to make Jack feel better. Everyone stopped by even Bethany and Billy. Jack had a special place for the little boy, in fact all of them. The best picture of the day was one with JT, Ben, Billy, Brey and Dax with Jack, Max and Tim. They called themselves the Heartland Cowboy Club. At the time of the picture Amy decided it would be a good present for him to hang in his office at Heartland. Everyone had a chance to chat with Jack and many laughs were heard. Stumpy and some of his other friends came as well. Jack was strong but each of the Borden girls and Katie took turns sitting with him to make sure he had something to drink or whatever else he needed. Jack called them his female protection team. He also got a picture with all of them. As the party ended, Jack looked tired but very happy. He was talking to Ty, Amy and Bethany. "How are you all settling into the house and your new jobs Bethany," Jack inquired. Bethany answered with a smile, "You know Jack so far everything has been great. At first we were hesitant but it is nice to be on our own but still close enough to my family to visit. And Amy, you, Ty and your kids have been amazing." Amy smiled and chuckled, "Well the reason you came to see us was a little different but it all worked out well. We really like you and I think Ty likes the idea of you guys being close." Bethany continued, "Anyway we love the house and the school where I work is amazing. This community is so welcoming and my teaching job is everything I hoped for. Will loves his new job, especially the added responsibility. He is a born leader and he comes home excited every day." As she finished her phone rang. Her happy look changed quickly as tears filled her eyes and she dropped the phone falling into Amy's concerned embrace. She gathered herself and mustered a simple phrase, "Will has been hurt at a fire."

The family went into helping mode almost immediately. Ty and Amy took Bethany to the hospital, Katie and Clay took the Borden girls and Lou offered to take care of Billy and JT. Amy spoke briefly to the girls before Ty pulled the car up. Amy helped a visibly shook Bethany into the car. When the Borden girls got home, Addie, Annie and Maddie planned out a schedule to take care of Billy, Georgie, Katie and Lyndy laid out some meal plans and made a list of what they needed to get at the store. The family was fully committed to make sure they had nothing to worry about. On the ride Bethany leaned onto Amy for support. Ty dropped them off at the ER and noticed several fire trucks and police cars there. He dropped Amy and Bethany off and went to park. When Amy and Bethany entered, the chief of police and the fire department approached them. Mrs. Masters let's get you in to see the doctors. Holding onto Amy they walked into the waiting room that was packed with firefighters and police officers. Bethany recognized several of them and immediately went to them. The doctor sat her down as she was encircled by all of the support. As Ty walked in the doctor began to talk, "Mrs. Masters, Bethany, your husband is in the ICU and I will take you there personally when we are finished. It seems that he fell through a floor and has fractured his ankle and wrist. He has minor burns but by some miracle he was able to get himself out on his own. He told one of the other firefighters that he needed to get to you and Billy." He paused as everyone gasped. "Well that saved him a lot of additional injury. Overall his fractures will heal and his burns will heal completely in time. We have him in an induced coma so he can heal a little faster and we can make sure there is no head trauma. Let's go see him."

Bethany, still in Amy's arms walked with the doctor. As they entered the room she stopped as she saw her husband on the bed pale with tubes and bandages all over him. Amy walked with her but let her approach Will. The nurse spoke up, "Well you are just in time, we are about to wake him up." Amy stepped back but Bethany reached for her hand. Will slowly opened his eyes and after focusing looked his wife in the eyes. He whispered, "Hey beautiful." She broke into a big smile and cautiously walked to him embracing him. "Oh Will I was so scared, I am so happy you are going to be Ok." Bethany cried. "It's Ok you know this can happen. I was being safe as always but I got distracted when I thought I heard someone call out and lost my footing. I don't remember how but I got myself out and told the team there was someone in there. Did they rescue them?" The chief had just walked in with Ty and two other people. He was standing behind them and spoke up, "Mrs. Masters, you husband is a hero. Even though he was injured he still was able to tell us where they were and we got them out. May I bring them in to the room, they just got released." A young women and her 3-year-old daughter stepped up. "Mr. Masters, I am Evelyn and this is Tracey, I can't thank you enough for saving our lives." Bethany went to hug both of them as she continued. "I think I have you and your son to thank as well. The chief said that your husband got himself out to get to you and your son. Thank you. Mrs. Masters, when your husband gets home, we would love to visit." Bethany cried in her arms, "That would be nice, I think Tracey and our little Billy could be pals for sure." As Amy and Ty watched Ty whispered in her ear, "I know he is not my son but I feel like a proud father." She snuggled into his ear kissing his cheek.