I’d finally gotten done mucking out the stables when I heard my phone vibrating on the counter. It rang, and it rang, and I rushed over to catch it just before it fell off the counter and onto 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 that was flashing meant something terrible had gone wrong. I thought of all the things that could’ve happened: maybe someone broke into my parent’s old home I 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 him.

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

“Flynn!?”

I recognized Chelsea’s mom immediately. There were so many nights I spent at Chelsea’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 she was always so sweet to inquire as to how my parents were. I always just felt the longing need to tell her everything: about my mom’s inability to have more kids and 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 alright?” I asked.

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

“I’m not sure what you mean…?” I asked.

“I’m calling from Chelsea’s phone, Flynn.”

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 Chelsea 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 and home. I needed to give her more credit, though. When she started crying on the couch in my trailer about how sorry she was, she seemed sincere.

And then, she uttered five distinct words that ripped me from the rush of questions running through my head that shivered me to my core.

“Flynn, there’s been an accident.”

“Where’s Chelsea?” I asked lowly.

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

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

Something has happened to Chelsea, and I felt a protective need to get to her.

“Flynn? It’s Barber.”

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

“Chelsea’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 roared into the phone. I unlocked my truck and ripped my door open, and it was then my neighbor came running up to me. News traveled fast in a small town, and she mouthed 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 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, this had to be it.

My parent’s home 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 what’s in her system. They are doing tests on her 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!?

“Chelsea’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 asked him for it. I’m not sure why, and right now I didn’t care. All I knew was I was still eight minutes away from the hospital, and Chelsea was unconscious and alone in a hospital bed.

“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.”

That was the thing about Barber, it was always so comforting when he called me son. Even though I hadn’t seen or spoken to them since Chelsea up and left, I still considered them family. They were just those types of people: they imprinted on your life, and they just didn’t leave. Throughout the whole conversation, I could hear Mrs. Mrs. August sobbing in the background, and something told me I was walking into a very dark scenario that would shock Chelsea when she came to.

If she was ever gonna come to.

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 so sorry, Flynn,” he offered.

That’s when you know it’s 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 Chelsea’s name, and their faces got dark, and my stomach began to churn and the bile I was trying so hard to fight off rose to the top of my throat. I sprinted to the stairs and took them two by two, and when I shoved the door to the fifth-floor open, I started looking around frantically for the room numbers.

But a familiar voice caught my ear, and when I whirled around, I saw Mrs. August runnin’ to me down the hallway.

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

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

“Right here, Bullhead.”

I held Mrs. August close to me while I turned towards the familiar sound, and I recognized the woman walking towards me. Ashley Lawson, a girl I attended high school with, had a smile on her face that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Hey, Ash,” I breathed.

“We got her venom tests back, and it’s not good. A rattlesnake got hold of her and bit her right in her main artery. She’s got a great deal of brain swelling, so we’ve just got done 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 was thrusting into those beautiful hips and dreaming of her juices on my tongue. Just this morning I 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 came 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 she had the energy for it.”

I heard Barber’s sobs from behind me, and it was all I could do to keep my composure. My Chelsea, the woman I dedicated my life to, the must 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 past 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 that loved Chelsea August 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 caught myself and the memories I was dredging up. I was about to say, ‘in college when Chelsea 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.