Chapter 9: Dallas

I’d finally gotten done cleaning up the damn mess my fucking dog left in my house when I heard my phone vibrating on the counter. It rang and rang, and I rushed over to catch it just before it fell and hit the tiled kitchen floor. I didn’t recognize the number on the screen, and part of me was tempted to simply let it go to voicemail. It was easy around here for people to get numbers and then start soliciting things, and while I loved buying cookies from the scouts around the area, I didn’t like politicians and churches calling me up and asking stupid questions and wanting me to donate money to some campaign I’d never heard of.

But something told me I needed to take this call. Something in the pit of my gut told me that the local area code flashing across the screen meant something terrible had gone wrong. I thought of all the things that could’ve happened. Maybe someone broke into my parents’ old home that I’d renovated, or maybe something had happened to Bradley at the stables. I told him he was taking on too much work with his dad climbing up in age, and I’d offered my services on a part-time basis time and time again to help out.

However, the voice I received on the other end of the line was one I never thought I’d ever hear again.

“Dallas?”

I recognized Autumn’s mom immediately. There were so many nights I’d spent at Autumn’s parents’ house after dinner, shooting the shit with them around a fire. Her father would always put a beer in my hand, and her mother would always tell me stories and inquire about my parents. And I would regularly feel the longing need to tell her everything, from how my mom was unable to have more kids, to how she always took in the more unfortunate ones around the neighborhood. I talked to her about how much I loved her daughter and how I wanted to marry her one day.

I’ll never forget the bright smile on her father’s face when he clapped me on the back and asked me if he could be part of the ring shopping I did for his daughter.

How the hell could I say no to him for that?

“Mrs. August? Everything all right?” I asked.

“Oh God, Dallas. It is you. I didn’t realize you and Autumn were still in touch like this!”

“I’m not sure what you mean…?”

“I’m calling from Autumn’s phone, Dallas.”

She said it like a fact. Like I should’ve known who was calling. I had no idea what she thought, but my gut reaction was that Autumn was up to her old antics again, creating lies and spinning webs so no one would backlash on her when they found out she was bed-hopping with her college sweetheart on a whim because she was bored. I needed to give her more credit, though. When she had started crying on the couch in my trailer about how sorry she was, she had seemed so sincere.

Before I could think any further on it though, Mrs. August uttered five distinct words that ripped me from the rush of questions running through my head and shivering me to my core.

“Dallas, there’s been an accident.”

“Where’s Autumn?” I asked instantly.

“She uh… she's... we’re-... at the hospital. She’s-”

Autumn’s mom started sobbing on the phone, and I heard rustling on the other end. A gruff voice, one I’d never forget so long as I lived, picked up the talking while I rushed around and grabbed everything I needed to get to the hospital in town.

Something had happened to Autumn, and I felt an instinctual and protective need to get to her immediately.

“Dallas? It’s Barber.”

“Hello, Mr. August. What the hell’s happened? Where’s Autumn?”

“She’s in a medically-induced coma. She, uh… came to the stables in town and Bradley set her up on a ride.”

“Why is she in a coma?” I asked, panicked. My body began to tremble and I had to take a deep breath, willing myself to not let emotion make me shed my human skin entirely. All the while, I unlocked my truck and ripped my door open, seeing from the corner of my eye that my neighbor was running toward me. News traveled fast in this small town. I looked at her, seeing that she was mouthing something about going inside and taking care of the dog while I was away. I nodded quickly and unwound the key to my house from my key ring and sent her on her merry way while Barber continued talking into my ear.

“The horse got spooked by a snake and started buckin’ her every which way. Bradley heard the commotion and got on his horse and went runnin’ towards her, but by the time he got there, she’d already been thrown. The snake that spooked the horse bit her neck and leached venom into her bloodstream, and then the horse came down onto her shoulder.”

“Holy shit,” I whispered to myself. I sped down the road and ignored the stop sign at the intersection before I got on the main road into town. Of all the times I had to be fifteen minutes outside of town, it had to be now. Had I been at my parents’ home, it would’ve been a hell of a lot closer.

“When did this happen?” I asked as I took a hard right turn.

“‘Bout three hours ago. They set her shoulder, but the venom from the snake is taking a while to work through her system. No one saw the snake, so a basic anti-venom is all they got until they pinpoint exactly what’s in her system. They’re doing tests on it now.”

“And it’s been three hours since the doctors did that?” I exclaimed.

What the fuck were these doctors doing? Standing around with their thumbs up their asses?

“Autumn’s mom told me she’d seen you at the rodeo, and when we found your number in her phone, we figured y’all had reconnected.”

I’m still not sure how she got my phone number or why she would’ve needed it, but if she was at the stables Bradley was still running, then there was a good chance she had asked him for it. I’m not sure why, and right now I didn’t care. All I knew was that I was still eight minutes away from the hospital and Autumn was unconscious.

“Thank you for callin’ me, Barber. I’m eight minutes away. Get a doctor. I wanna talk to one when I get up there.”

“See ya soon, son.”

It was always so comforting when Barber called me son. Even though I hadn’t seen or spoken to them since Autumn up and left, I still considered her parents family. They were just the type of people who imprinted on your life and just didn’t leave. Throughout the whole conversation, I could hear Mrs. August sobbing in the background, and something told me I was walking into a very bleak scenario that would shock Autumn quite a bit whenever she came to.

If she was ever gonna come to…

Another powerful wave of emotion hit me, and I felt my bones quivering again. If I could enter my alternate form, my emotions would be numbed somewhat. And that was a compelling idea, because Lord knew if Autumn never woke up, I wouldn’t be able to take it. I wouldn’t be able to go on. I would probably give up my life as a human entirely.

I sped into the hospital parking lot and whizzed by a police officer. He whipped on his lights and followed me to the spot I picked, and when I got out of my truck, he paused when he realized who I was.

“I’m sorry, Dallas,” he offered.

That’s how I knew it was bad; when a police officer won’t arrest you for buzzin’ around in a hospital parking lot, things are never as good as you want them to be.

I busted through the hospital doors and made my way over to the nurse’s desk. I rattled off Autumn’s name, and their faces instantly grew dark, making my stomach churn with anxiety. The bile I was trying so hard to fight off rose to the top of my throat. Not wasting another second, I sprinted to the stairs and took them two-by-two. When I shoved the door to the fifth-floor open, I looked around frantically for the room numbers.

Suddenly, a familiar voice caught my ear. I whirled around to find Miss August runnin’ towards me from down the hallway.

“Oh, Dallas,” she breathed. I cloaked my arms around her trembling body and slowly walked her back to the waiting room. That’s when I saw Barber. His pale face was in his hands and I could tell by the way his shoulders shook that something bad had happened. Between the time I cut that phone call ten minutes ago and now, the doctor had delivered some news I wasn’t been privy to yet.

“Where the hell is the doctor?” I said.

“Right here, Bullhead.”

I held Mrs. August close to me while I turned towards the familiar sound. I easily recognized the woman walking towards us. It was Ashley Lawson, a girl I’d attended high school with. She wore a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Hey, Ash,” I said.

She nodded hello and then spoke in a low voice. “We got her venom tests back, and it’s not good. A rattlesnake got hold of her and bit her right in a main artery. She’s got a great deal of brain swelling, so we just finished inserting a tube underneath her skull to help drain off some of the fluid while the anti-venom takes hold in her system.”

“Her… her brain is…”

I couldn’t think straight. Just last night I’d been thrusting into those beautiful hips and dreaming of her juices on my tongue. Just this morning, I’d cursed her for leaving her scent behind without her body, and all day I couldn’t get the thought out of my mind that maybe-- just maybe-- if I tracked her down I could have her thighs squeeze around my hips one last time before she left.

Because we all knew she’d eventually leave and go back to wherever she had come from.

“We have her in a medically-induced coma to try and reduce the amount of stress her body is under, and she’ll be like that for the next few days. She’s had that venom in her system for a while, so leeching it from her muscle tissue is gonna take some time, and her body needs to rest so that she has the energy for it.”

I heard Barber’s sobs from behind me, and it was all I could do to keep my composure. My Autumn, the woman I had dedicated my life to, the muse for my riding--the woman I realized I never wanted to let go of ever again--was lying in a hospital bed for no other reason than happenstance. She was an expert horse rider, everyone knew that.

But nothing can prepare you for an animal randomly turning into a rodeo bronco.

“Can I stay with her?” I asked. I felt Mrs. August look up at me while my eyes connected heavily with Ash’s. I knew her parents would want to stick around the hospital, and I knew there was a good chance she would have many different visitors for the next couple of days. I could already feel Mrs. August tensing underneath my grasp, and I could tell that everything within Ash was about to tell me ‘no’. But I saw something flash for a split second behind her eyes before she looked around at the people who loved Autumn August just as much as I did, and she took a step closer to me and lowered her voice.

“Don’t let anyone catch you,” she said.

I nodded and pulled Mrs. August away from me before I wiped her tears away.

“Your husband needs ya to be strong for a little bit. Why don’t you go sit with him, and I’m gonna go get some clothes from my car.”

“You came with a bag?” she asked.

“I always carry clothes with me. Got into the habit in college when-”

I paused, catching myself. I was about to say, ‘In college when Autumn traveled the road with me,’ but all it did was bring tears to my eyes before I harshly blinked them away.

“I’ll be right back,” I choked out, and bolted for the door.

Out of the hospital, I ran and ran, not stopping until I was a safe distance away. The wind, which suddenly felt too cold, whipped across my face, drying the tears as they fell down my cheeks.

Even though Autumn had never left my mind in all the years we’d been apart, I had been forced to get used to the absence of her presence; she had given me no choice but to get used to it. But the difference was, even when Autumn was gone from my life, I knew she wasn’t gone from this world…I’d always know she was out there somewhere.

But now, with her future so uncertain, I was forced to face the possibility that if she didn’t survive this terrible stroke of fate, she would be gone permanently. There would be no more surprise encounters. No more unexpected visits. No more spontaneous sessions of all-night love-making. No more nothing.

The woman of my dreams, the woman who would always own my heart and mind, would be gone forever.

My heart felt like it was shattering in a million pieces and I officially couldn’t take it anymore.

Through tearful eyes, I glanced around at my surroundings, wanting to ensure that no one was in sight; I couldn’t risk anyone seeing me.

I knew it was stupid and that I shouldn’t be so reckless as to do what I was about to do and risk being overseen, but in that moment, I didn’t care. The pain I was in was far too great. Waking up to a cold and empty bed from Autumn’s abrupt departure was nothing in comparison to this.

I pulled my shirt from over my head and stepped out of my shoes pants, and drawers. I then turned my head upward to the sky and allowed my bones to shift, concentrating entirely on the physical feeling of my bones altering, letting it overshadow the emotional anguish I was in.

My alternate form, a powerful muscular mountain lion, took over, freeing me from the emotional pain tormenting my human brain.

I stood there, pawing the ground and focusing on my more primal instincts, momentarily letting negative thoughts of Autumn’s fate fall to the back of my mind. I breathed in the air around me, distracting myself with the various scents of the earth.

And then I decided to go on a run, albeit a quick one. Just long enough for me to take a much-needed break so that I could eventually return to the hospital, where I knew Autumn’s parents needed me.