It wasn't even ten o'clock and Coralee was having trouble holding her eyes open. Lack of sleep and an adequate meal was making her tired and eventually, she closed her eyes and decided to ignore Rip. It was a good thing that the Yellowstone was not outrageously far from Bozeman, she would have fallen asleep had it been any further.
Rip grabbed her suitcase as she let herself out of the SUV. "Here, I can get that," she told him.
"Nah, it's all right, I'll take it up to your room. Gator fixed breakfast for you, something better than that protein shake they gave you in the hospital. Why don't you take a nap after you eat, you probably need it. By the time you wake up, we'll know what's going on with Mr. Dutton, hopefully, it will be good news."
Gator had fixed her French toast and bacon, accompanied by freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee. She was so tired she knew that the caffeine would not keep her awake, so she helped herself liberally to both juice and coffee to wash down her breakfast.
She would have liked to take a shower, but she was dog-tired and didn't have the energy. She put on the shorts and tank top pajama set she had purchased at the airport and was asleep almost before her head hit the pillow.
It was two o'clock when Rip came in and woke her. "Mr. Dutton is awake, and he's asking for you and all the kids. You can take a shower if you make it quick, how do you feel?"
"Better, but I bet I'm out before nine o'clock tonight, I will take that shower and brush my teeth. Do you know how Uncle John is doing?"
"All Beth would say is that he's stable but still critical. Monica and Tate are coming, Kayce has been there the whole time and Beth got there just as soon as she heard the news. Get your ass in gear and I'll meet you downstairs."
She took the quickest shower of her life, then brushed her teeth. She pulled on jeans and a snap shirt but decided she'd leave her hat at the house. She ran down the stairs to find Rip standing in the foyer and waiting. He looked grim, he loved John Dutton like a father, John had taken him in, and he had never forgotten it.
"Ready," she said and slung her shoulder bag over her right shoulder. She could tell Rip was as eager to get to the hospital as she was. It mattered to her more than he could imagine. She had found her uncle bleeding from unknown wounds and she had been the one who had shouldered the responsibility of getting him to the hospital. It was time to find out how he was and if she had made a difference. She loved her uncle and could not bear the thought of him perhaps being left alone on the road to die.
When they got to the hospital Monica was already there. She took them to his room, warning them that the scene was grim, but Coralee was not prepared for how bad it was.
Her uncle was drifting in and out of consciousness. He was weak, too weak to even speak. He was hooked up to machines to monitor his condition, but fortunately, he had not been put on a respirator.
The doctor was in the room, and she could not refrain from asking him how bad it was, how bad it had been. She did not want to be a nuisance, but she needed to know.
"Well, fortunately, whoever shot him didn't have very good aim. He missed his vitals, but the bleeding was a problem. Coralee, your being there probably saved his life. Had he sat there untreated for too much longer he might have bled out. Whatever you did, it was the right thing at the right time."
"There was a nurse and her husband, she treated Uncle John as best she could while I called the medivac," looking at her uncle she still could not believe how close it had been, "I couldn't believe what had happened, I hope that if it had been someone else they would have stopped, but if I helped save his life I'm glad." Take that Beth, she thought, I helped save Uncle John and whether you give me credit or not, I know what I did.
They were giving him oxygen, and with the mask on he could not speak, but he was too tired and out of it from the painkillers. She wanted to touch him, hold his hand, and kiss him, but he looked so fragile she didn't dare.
They left to let him rest. She persuaded Kayce to let her buy them dinner at Tate's favorite place, a restaurant famous for its variety of burgers. They also had some specialty drinks and Coralee was craving a cocktail, probably the last she would have for a while once Travis came to fetch her.
Travis. She had forgotten about him, which had been part, but not all, of her plan. She didn't quite know what to do. She was afraid to check her texts and emails, she supposed he was angry, and she didn't blame him, but she had done what she needed to do. When he told her to do something, he expected her to do it, but she was growing uncomfortable with that part of their relationship. She had grown complacent and had gone along with him but now she realized that would no longer work.
Leaving in the middle of the night had not been the right thing to do, she should at least have told him. But telling him would not have worked, he would have tried to stop her. She realized for the first time in their marriage she was uncertain of how she should approach him. She knew she had to call him, but a part of her wasn't ready.
She was lying on her bed, watching TV trying to keep herself from thinking. It was only working half the time, but at least she could quiet her mind for a short period before it started working overtime.
There was a knock at the door, Beth's distinct knock. "Go away Beth," she said but Beth opened the door and stood there, phone in her hand.
"It's for you, it's Travis," said Beth, a malicious smile on her face.
"Fuck off Beth," she said and after taking the phone from her she shut and locked the door. She waited for a moment, staring at the phone then said, "Hello Travis."
"What the hell are you doing in Montana?" he asked, and she could tell from the tone of his voice he was not pleased, no, he was mad.
"I saved my uncle's life, what have you been doing?" It was not what she should have said, but it just came out.
"You what?" She could tell by the tone of his voice that she'd caught him off guard, he was not expecting that. "Tell me what happened Coralee."
"I was driving on Highway 89, you know, the road that goes to the ranch, and I saw a Yellowstone truck parked along the road. Something seemed off and then I noticed that someone had propped themselves up against the truck tire. I couldn't believe it, but I was looking at Uncle John. I tried to get a phone signal but I couldn't, so I took off down the road and ran into this couple who drove me to where I found a signal. I called the Medivac, and they came and took Uncle John to the hospital."
"And the part where you saved John's life?" He sounded skeptical and she couldn't blame him.
"The doctor told me if Uncle John had to wait too much longer, he might have bled out. I arrived on the scene at just the right time. There's not much traffic on that road sometimes." Please believe me, she thought, maybe I did the wrong thing. but I did it for the right reason.
"So how's he doing?" Travis asked, his voice still cold but he sounded like he might believe her. Maybe.
"Critical, but out of danger. The doctor said they won't have to do any more surgeries, but he faces a long recovery. He won't take that well." She was starting to choke up, he was mad at her, she didn't want him to be, but neither would she apologize for what she had done. All he would have had to do was let her go to Montana to check on her family.
And she wasn't going to beg. She didn't want her marriage to be over, they had a child on the way. If she had to she could go home but that's not what she wanted.
There was silence on his end, and she wondered what he was thinking. They were on thin ice, and both knew it. They sometimes sparred but never fought and now they were in new territory.
Travis spoke first, "Did you have any idea how worried I was when I woke up and saw that you were gone? You should have told me where you were going."
"Now where else would I have gone, Travis, where would I be? Why would I want to talk to you about it? You'd forbidden me to go to Montana, you told me I had to stay in Texas, why would I ask your permission to leave? You should have let me go in the first place. My god, my family's ranch got invaded, I grew up there as much as I did at my parent's place. I'm a Dutton, when my home is threatened, I'm threatened, and look what happened. Someone tried to kill my uncle and he's lying in a hospital bed half alive."
"Someone might have found your uncle," he started to say, but she interrupted, furious at what he said.
"And would they have found him in time? There wasn't much traffic on the road that day, maybe whoever shot him was counting on it. It was all over when I got there and you have no idea what it felt like to see him covered in blood. The doctor told me it was lucky that I came along because he might have bled out if he'd had to wait much longer. Then a nice couple came along, and she gave him first aid while her husband drove me until I got a cell signal and I could call a medivac. Do you have any idea how I felt?"
"Something could have happened to you, Coralee, they might have come back to make sure they finished the job," Travis was trying to sound like the voice of reason for all the good it did.
"You don't think I'd give my life to save my uncle, or you for that matter. All I cared about was helping him. I don't care how mad you are at me; I would have done the same thing all over again. I'm a Dutton, we're there for each other, always. They're my blood."
"Calm down, Coralee, calm down. Yes, I'm angry but I should have known better. You Duttons are thick as fleas, I guess I forgot who I married. I'm sorry you felt like you had to sneak away in the middle of the night, I'm sorry you thought I wouldn't let you go. I underestimated you and the way you feel about your family, if you felt you needed to go to Montana I should have let you. We're both stubborn people and this won't be the first time we butt heads; I just wish you had called and let me know you were okay."
That was reasonable, she decided, maybe she'd been wrong to not trust him but worry had outweighed reason. Put yourself in his shoes, she thought, how did it feel for him to wake up and see that she was gone?
"I'm sorry," she told him, "I did what I thought was the right thing at the time, and I didn't call or talk to you because I was afraid you'd try to make me come back to Texas. I'm glad I did what I did, I'm just sorry for the way I did it. I knew I needed to be here and it was a good thing I was. I saved my uncle's life, and that means more than anything."
"How long do you plan on staying?" he asked her, his voice was calm, and she knew he was no longer angry, or as angry.
"I want to stay until he comes out of the hospital, but it depends on how long that is. I'll wait two weeks, but if he's not home by then I'll fly back to Texas. I can't just leave, Travis, you have no idea how worried I am. I don't want to have to find out how he is by phone calls, I need to be here so I know how he's doing. He's very weak and not yet out of the woods."
"Do you want me to come to Montana?" he asked, and she knew she had won.
"No, you've got a lot going on. If you want to come, fine, but I know how busy you are. I'm going to see a doctor in Bozeman. They gave me a checkup when my uncle got admitted and I'm fine, but they told me I should see an OB-GYN so I will. I can let you know how Uncle John is doing and when I'll be coming back."
"I'll come for a few days," he said, "I want to know you're all right, and I miss you, but don't pull a stunt like this again. And I'm worried about you being there, I'd feel better if you were back in Texas. I love you, my crazy little wife."