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A few weeks passed, but things were hardly getting back to normal.
Monica's sister in law died, leaving her nieces and nephews as orphans. She and Kaycee had to help in the fall out of that, helping get them ready to go live with their grandparents in Seattle. Lexi knew Kaycee felt extra guilty because of what happened to their father.
There was an incident with Tate falling into the river on his grandfather's watch. They rushed him back to the ranch where Lexi stitched up his face; Kaycee was, rightfully, upset.
Beth was getting in deeper with the family troubles surrounding Dan Jenkins; Lexi was sure she didn't want to know what all she was up to. Kaycee ended up mixed up in some trouble on the reservation, but thankfully Jamie was able to get him out of it. He was home more now, working on the horse he had given their father after Lee died. It was great to have him, Monica and of course Tate around more.
Then, of course, there was the business of John having cancer.
When Beth found out she stormed into Lexi's room, knocking stuff off the wall as she screamed, demanding to know if the "doctor in the family" knew. Lexi hadn't, accusing Beth of forgetting her psych meds that morning.
That evening when John came home he had three kids waiting for him to confront him. They knew their father though and he hardly shared anything with them.
Monica ended up at the nurse's office at her school the next day, having been knocked out trying to break up a fight. Lexi had just finished up at their house that evening, checking Monica out and telling Kaycee to call if he needed her; back at the ranch, she made her way to the bunkhouse. She and Ryan had been hanging out a lot the last few weeks, though they both continued to tell everyone else they were just working on being friends for now.
"Wasn't your dad's big dinner tonight?" Ryan asked as she joined him at the table. He was there alone having a drink; others were milling about the bunkhouse, inside and out, going about their usual evening.
"Got out of it, I'm on call," she said, setting her phone on the table.
"You got your license figured out?" he asked curiously.
"No," she shook her head. He had started to wonder why she didn't have a job yet and she told him it had to do with transferring her license. What she didn't tell him was the hold on her license had to do with her now being a missing person in California. "I'm just waiting around to see if Kaycee needs me, for Monica."
"How was she?" he asked.
"Ok, hurting but she seemed like she was pulling through all right," she explained and he nodded.
"How are you and your dad?" he asked. John's secret wasn't so much a secret anymore, though no one talked about it much, certainly not when he was around.
"Ah, still a little icy," she admitted. How could her dad keep that from them and from her especially as a doctor? "I'm glad I have an excuse not to go tonight, let's just say that," she said lightly and he smiled at her.
Her phone started going off now with a call from Kaycee.
"Hey Kayce," she started but he was already ahead of her. "Whoa, whoa, slow…."
"Monica passed out," he panicked as they were speeding towards the hospital. "We're headed to the hospital, but she-"
"Ok, ok," she said, trying to calm him but knew it was useless. "I'll meet you there, ok?"
"Everything ok?" Ryan asked worriedly.
"Monica's taken a turn," Lexi said, getting up quickly. "I need to get to the hospital."
"I'll drive you," he offered and she nodded to accept.
…
Ryan and Lexi sped the entire way to the hospital, with him barely parking the truck before she hopped out, both rushing to the emergency entrance. They got there in just enough time to see Kaycee punching a doctor in the face. Lexi figured something must have happened with Tate as there were two male doctors trying to hold him down; that's when Kaycee must have come out swinging. In any case, Ryan was over quickly to pull Kaycee out of the fight, with Lexi helping Tate up from the ground, putting her arm around him.
"You're all going to have to leave," the head attending doctor, her father's friend Keith, was telling them.
"I'm not leaving my wife," Kaycee protested.
"I'm responsible for everyone's safety," Keith began, motioning to the room.
"He's a kid and they were-"
"And this isn't safe," Keith finished. "You need to take a break from here."
"You didn't even finish telling me about her," Kaycee continued. The doctor had pulled him to the back to talk about Monica's condition when all hell had broken loose.
"Take a break," Keith reiterated. Ryan caught Kaycee's arm to keep him from swinging. "I'll talk to your sister, head outside," he ordered.
"C'mon Tate," Ryan nodded for him to follow.
"I wanna stay with my mom," Tate protested, though Ryan and Kaycee started to shuffle him out without much fight.
"I bet you're hungry though, right?" Lexi could hear Ryan saying as they headed out the sliding doors. Lexi sighed heavily, turning back to Keith.
"What the hell was that?" she asked.
"The nurse called a code white," he started to explain.
"On a six year old?" she scoffed; he just shook his head at her, indicating to let it go. "What's going on with my sister in law?"
As Keith explained the details of Monica's injuries to Lexi, Kaycee sat across the street on a bench. Ryan asked if it was ok to take Tate to get something to eat and Kaycee agreed; they were a few doors down now, having found a place that was still open. Kaycee just sat there, staring at the doors, waiting for his sister to come out. When she did he nearly jumped though she came across the street quickly to meet him; he stood up to greet her.
"How is she?" Kaycee asked seriously.
"She-"
"And don't give me your let's hope for the best doctor voice," he cut her off. "I want the full picture. How bad is she?"
"Ok," she nodded in agreement, though she contemplated where to begin. "She developed what's called a subdural hematoma, it's a blood clot between the brain and the cover between it and her skull. It causes increased pressure which…" She trailed off, motioning back to the hospital. "Leads to this."
"Can they fix it?" he asked.
"They did," she reassured him. "They did a procedure where they took off part of her skull to relieve the pressure, they got the clot out…"
"Then, she'll be up soon?" he asked, looking to her to confirm.
"It's…hard to say," she admitted. "It's a brain injury Kaycee, it's got a long recovery progress no matter how much damage-"
"Damage?" he cut her off.
"You know how when you get hurt you can't tell right away if there's going to be a scar?" she asked. "Same kind of thing. We won't know this soon." She reached out and took her brother's hand. He held hers loosely, though he avoided looking at her. He felt like he might break down into tears. "Can I give you my doctor hope voice?"
"Ah, yeah," he agreed lightly, wiping at his eyes with his free hand.
"She's tough," she assured him. "She's gotta be, to be married to you, to have your kid," she said, getting him to give a weak smile. "Go wait," she said as she squeezed his hand before letting go.
"I thought-"
"I got you in," she shrugged. "I just gotta take Tate home, limited visiting hours," she quoted and Kaycee nodded.
"Thanks Lex," he told her, kissing her cheek.
"Of course," she assured him. "Where's Ryan and Tate?"
"Ice cream place," Kaycee nodded down the block.
"This late?" she asked, noting the time was after 10.
"I think they just closed," he explained. "Ryan kept knocking on the door until someone came and unlocked it. Must have told them what happened and got let in," he shrugged.
"Hmm," she sighed. "Every day I'm reminded what a screw up I am."
"If you're a screw up, I hate to think what I am," Kaycee joked with her. "I am sorry Lex, about how I've been since you've been home."
"A lot's happened," she assured him. "Go see your wife, we'll talk more later."
…
Lexi and Ryan took Tate back to the ranch, with Tate falling asleep on the way there. When they got back Ryan parked behind the main house so it would be easier to carry Tate inside. He scooped him up, following Lexi into the house where John was sitting awake, having a drink after the dinner his office hosted that night. Lexi stayed to explain to him what was going on while Ryan took Tate upstairs to the guest room he usually slept in.
"Thanks for your help tonight Ryan," John was telling him as he came back down the stairs.
"Sure thing," he nodded, then looked at Lexi. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"I'll let you know if anything changes," she promised, having already texted Jamie and Beth about what was going on, not that she expected either at the hospital.
"He's a good man," John commented as Ryan was gone now.
"Always has been," Lexi agreed, going to kiss his cheek. "Sorry I missed your dinner."
"You had good enough reason," he assured her; Jamie was home now. "Others on the other hand," he commented as Jamie came through the door.
"Goodnight," Lexi said, making her exit quickly, not wanting to hear whatever was going on between her dad and brother; she had her fill of anxiety for that day.
…
"Your dad is right," Lexi was saying to Tate a couple days later as she was driving him back to the ranch from the hospital. Monica was finally awake and showed a lot of great signs of progress but she had a long way to go. "Too much time at the hospital will make you crazy."
"Aunt Lexi, you work in a hospital," he reminded her.
"Yeah, and look at me," she said, making a face at him; he laughed as she parked her car. "You want something for supper?"
"Grandpa says you can't cook," Tate informed her.
"Grandpa isn't wrong," Lexi laughed as they hopped out of her car. "How about we go see what the cowboys are having?" Tate happily agreed, heading down the hill with her. He was still worried about his mom, so she promised he could have her phone as Kaycee was due to call with the results of Monica's most recent scan once they had the results.
"Hey Tate," Ryan greeted them as they came in. He was standing around the kitchen with Lloyd and Colby talking; it was the same as usual in the bunkhouse. "How's it going?"
"Hungry," Tate told him, to which he and the others laughed.
"Have a seat," Lexi nodded at the table where some new guy was sitting and playing guitar. She went into the kitchen to grab him a bowl and some food.
"How's she doin'?" Lloyd asked her.
"Lucky as all hell," Lexi said softly. "We're hoping she gets discharged soon." He nodded. "I'd love to get this kid's mind off of that though, so…" She looked at them if they had any suggestions.
"Guess what Tate," Ryan called his attention over. "Jimmy almost got eaten by a bear today."
"No way!" Tate was exclaiming, looking over to where Jimmy was.
"Oh for the love of God," Lexi half laughed half groaned, her head falling back. "What was he doing?"
"Well, we were," Ryan was starting to tell her the story as Jimmy was sitting at the table now, relaying it to Tate.
"Who's we?" she questioned. "You were there?"
"Aunt Lexi, someone's calling you," Tate was saying, holding up her phone so she could see it. It was an unknown number with a 415 area code; her phone showed it as being from San Francisco.
"Probably a spam call, just ignore it," she told him and he did. "Are you ok?"
"I'm not the one who fell off my horse," Ryan continued the story. "Or forgot the gun," he directed his comment at Jimmy.
"Aunt Lexi," Tate said, showing her phone again; it was the same number.
"Just ignore it honey, they'll get the picture," she said, turning back to the conversation. "Who all was there?"
"Me, Jimmy, and Walker," Ryan listed.
"Who's Walker?" she asked, though she remembered the new guy.
"The, ah, ex con playing guitar for your nephew," Colby chimed in.
"This place never ceases to amaze me," she murmured. "So-"
"They're not getting the picture, Aunt Lexi," Tate said, revealing the same number was calling back. Ryan noted her expression; it wasn't one of confusion, it was of concern, maybe even fear. She grabbed the phone from Tate to answer it before he could offer to take it.
"Hello?" she answered cautiously.
"Hey, it's me," her fellowship director at her hospital in San Francisco, Chris, greeted her.
"Shit, Chris," she half laughed, half sighed in relief. "I thought it was…spam or a scam or something," she continued, remembering where she was. "What extension is this?" she asked, looking at the number quickly again, not recognizing it.
"I'm in Alice's office," he said of the hospital administrator.
"Don't tell me the ER is falling apart without me," she joked, leaning back against the counter.
"I actually-"
"Wait, sorry, did you get that file I emailed you?" she cut him off; she had sent him Monica's tests and other information. "Since your specialty is neuro I thought-"
"It's not about the file," he was trying to say.
"Can you look at it and call me back?" she continued. "I'm waiting on a call about her anyway, plus my friends were telling me this story about getting chased by a bear. You know, Montana things," she laughed.
"Lexi, it's Matt," Chris stopped her finally. She had been so relieved it wasn't Matt calling that she forgot to wonder why Chris called her so urgently.
"Is he in the hospital?" she asked in confusion.
"You know he filed a missing person's report on you."
"Right, but," she started then trailed off at what he was saying next. It was unfortunately timed as there was a lot of background noise in the bunkhouse now, going on about whatever sport was on tv. Lexi excused herself to go outside.
"Jamie was supposed to take care of that," Ryan heard her saying as she went outside. He was worried about her before with how she answered the phone, but he was really concerned now. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, was he supposed to go after her or give her some space?
To hell with it, he thought as he went outside to follow her, his nerves getting the better of him. He'd never let Colby know that he was right but he was; he still loved her, always had. And whatever might be wrong with her scared him.
"So I have to come back," he heard her saying; she was leaning with her back against the corral fence.
"I guess your brother didn't file with your police there in time," Chris was explaining. He had heard all about it that morning from his husband, Owen, who worked for a local newspaper. "The Morris's are alleging that your family is in on you missing anyway and so you have to make an appearance to the local police. No facetime or zoom or whatever, in person for it to get dropped."
"What if it doesn't?" she asked though she wasn't stupid; she was just grasping at straws.
"You won't be able to work," he reminded her. They couldn't exactly give her a license in Montana if she was missing, could they? "Not to mention the news-"
"What do you mean?" she asked curiously.
"The son of a prominent family in the city files a missing person report on his girlfriend," Chris explained. She had previously wondered how bad it looked for Matt to take so long to file, but of course he lied about the last time he saw her. "He believes her family, who just made national news last month after the suspicious death of her brother, has something to do with it. It's a big story. Owen's kept his people off it for as long as he can, but the higher ups have had enough waiting. He got you until this weekend."
"This weekend? It's Wednesday," she told him. "I would have to-"
"Get here tomorrow," he finished for her.
"Shit, ok," she said after a long silence. What was she going to do, not work? And, worse, have her family find out everything through the news?
"I'll pick you up, just tell me what time your flight is," Chris assured her. He was one of the few people in California that knew where she went; he helped her leave her contract early and still keep her credentialing she had worked so hard for. "Owen's sister is a travel agent, we can get you a hotel under a fake name, no one has to know."
"Ok, thanks Chris," she said as she hung up. She had noticed Ryan come outside and had come over by this point; she wiped at her eyes quickly.
"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.
"Ah, my license got screwed up," she said. It wasn't a total lie. She couldn't tell him, she didn't want him to get himself into trouble; she couldn't tell anybody, she knew how they would react.
"What do you mean?" he asked and more tears sprung to her eyes which she blinked away, her mind racing.
"They have a hold on my license, since I didn't technically finish my fellowship," she lied. "Jamie was supposed to file something for me to sort it out, but he missed the deadline, so now I have to go to California to sort it all out." That part was at least true.
"Have you tried calling Jamie yet?" he asked.
"No," she said, going to call him now. She had been so upset she hadn't thought to see if he had any other ideas. Unfortunately, his phone went to voicemail. It went in a way that told her he was ignoring her phone call rather than his phone being turned off or ringing the whole way through.
"Hi Jamie," she told the voicemail. "This is the sister you screwed over calling to remind you you're running unopposed and need to answer me!" she snapped, hanging up.
"It'll work out," Ryan assured her, gently touching her arm. "You just go, get it fixed and come back, right?"
"I'm just…really frustrated," she decided. She couldn't tell him. If he knew he would go with her. And if he went with her he could get in trouble. Or worse yet, what if Matt hurt him?
"I get it," he promised. "You worked really hard. But it'll sort out."
"Thanks Ry," she offered a weak smile, nearly dropping her phone as it rang. She hoped it was Jamie but it was Kaycee. "Hello?" she answered; she felt herself reaching for Ryan's hand. "Really? Day after tomorrow?" Monica was going to come home. "That's great, yeah I'll grab Tate," she said, squeezing Ryan's hand as she let go.
…
The next morning, the cowboys were all working around the corral, with John overseeing things. Lexi came down from the house to say goodbye before leaving on her flight, getting to California early that afternoon. She planned a quick turn around, planning on catching the first flight out the next morning.
"You talk to your brother yet?" John asked her when she got there.
"Well, his voicemail got an earful," she said lightly.
"When are you back?" he asked now. He wasn't too happy with Jamie already but now he majorly dropped the ball for his sister with her medical license.
"Tomorrow morning," she told him, kissing his cheek before giving him a hug. "I'll call when I land, love you."
"Love you too sweetpea," he told her as she prepared to go. He caught Ryan's eye and it looked like he wanted to ask to walk her up; John went ahead and nodded for him to go.
"All packed up?" Ryan asked as he caught up to her, walking with her the rest of the way to her car.
"Yeah, don't need much," she said as she pulled her keys from her sweatshirt pocket. "In and out, right?" He had told her that the night before as she was booking her flight on her phone; in, out and she would be done.
"Right," he smiled at her. "Just um…"
"What?" she laughed a little; was he nervous?
"Can you let me know when you get there?" he said, though that wasn't really what he meant to say.
"Promise," she nodded with a grin.
"I'll miss you," he said now, which was what he really meant to tell her.
"I'll miss you too," she said back. "It's just till-" She stopped as he took her hand, bringing her in to kiss her. It was slow at first but then deepened, with his hands finding her hair, her arms wrapping around him; after a moment they pulled apart.
"Wow, now I'm super pissed at Jamie," she laughed about having to leave; Ryan laughed too. "Hold that thought until tomorrow, ok?"
"Promise," he agreed, watching her get into her car and then pull away.