Happy
LATER THAT DAY, I wandered back over to the barn to visit Happy. When I got to his stall, I noticed him pawing at the ground, agitated, sweat running off of him. This wasn’t my sweet, docile horse. Something bothered him. I walked outside and called over to Will, who stood next to the corral.
"Can you come here? Is there something wrong with Happy?"
Will came jogging inside, shot into the stall, and put his ear to the horse's belly while Happy moved, agitated, and pawed the ground. He took a step back and looked at Happy, then felt under his jaw.
"Fuck."
He ran outside and called to the wranglers, who were still in the corral with the other horses. "Jimmy! Call Sully now."
Jimmy nodded and started punching numbers into his cell phone, running toward the barn.
"What's going on, Will?"
"Think he's colicking. We're in for a long ride. We gotta act now, though."
"What does that mean?"
"There are no sounds in his gut. Means it's probably not working. His pulse rate is high. Has he been eating?" he asked Jimmy, who had come inside.
"I didn't really notice, but it hasn't been as much as usual."
"Fuck, shit, damn," growled Will.
"He didn’t touch his hay the other day and his stall was clean," I said.
"Oh no," whispered Janine, coming over. "Why didn't we notice?"
Jimmy explained, to me, "With animals, it's like having a baby. They can't tell you what's wrong, they can only show you that they are in distress." He paused, talking into the phone, "Dr. Sullivan, please, it's an emergency." He continued, looking at me, "There are a couple of different types of colic. If it's the impaction type, well, that means something is stuck in his system and we can flush him out with oil or water. But if it's the twisted type." He paused. "Hope it's not." Then he started speaking into the cell phone. "Sully? It's Jimmy at Headlands. I think we have a colicking horse." He walked over to the side of the barn.
"What does that mean, the twisted type?" I asked Will.
"Well, sometimes a horse can't recover from the twisted type of colic. Or it's a really expensive surgery and we don't have the budget for it. And if we can't do the surgery, it means euthanizing the horse."
Oh no. Happy. No.
No animal could get hurt on my watch. Never.
"Should we give him Banamine?" asked Janine.
"What's that?" I asked.
"It's a muscle relaxer," said Will. "It's just a Bandaid, it doesn't fix the problem. It would mask the symptoms for a while but then they might come back. Still, it might make him feel better. What did Sully say?" he asked Jimmy.
"He's on his way."
"This is gonna be a long couple of days," said Will.
Stephanie came in the barn. "Will, there's some woman from Hamilton Development here to see you."
"Just what I need," he spat, and stalked out.
"What can I do?" I asked Janine.
"Sit and wait. It's like being in the waiting room at the ER. We need to see what the vet tells us to do."
I looked out the barn door and saw Will talking with an extremely beautiful woman in black wide-legged trousers, a cream silk blouse unbuttoned one button too many, and fancy stilettos. Her hair was that sort of layered, highlighted, expensive golden blonde, and she was tall, with curves and long legs. She was completely out of place on a ranch, but she looked like she belonged talking to Will.
She represented Hamilton Development? What happened to the guys in the suits? Not that a woman can't be a developer, but she didn't look like she was his regular contact, because he shook her hand, like it was an introduction.
Then he stood back from her, arms crossed, trucker hat back on, an expressionless look on his face. She smiled at him flirtatiously and touched his bicep.
Um, no. He was mine.
He took a step back. She looked like she was pleading with him, and he relented and led her to the ranch office.
I didn't like this one bit.
I went back in the barn and waited for the vet to get there, feeling helpless. The wranglers tried to get Happy to drink, but he wouldn't do it.
About a half hour later, Dr. Andrew Sullivan walked in, a young, red-haired Irishman with freckles. He shook hands with Jimmy, Janine, and Stephanie, and introduced himself to me, with a thick Irish accent as Sully. Then he walked over to Happy and started to examine him.
I waited to the side with the rest of the wranglers, for as long as I could stand it, then I had to leave the barn. Too much tension. It really did feel like the waiting room of an ER and we were waiting for the pronouncement by the team of surgeons. I felt like everything was crashing around me. Happy was in distress. Developers tormented Will. And I needed to deal with my shit about him.
As I walked outside, I saw the development lady stalk back to her fancy car and drive off in a huff, and then I saw Will, off to the side, his face looking thunderous. I ran over to him and tackled him, grabbing him around his waist, hugging him tightly. He squeezed me back, burying his face in my hair.
He didn't say anything, he just held me.
After a little bit, he spoke. "Don't need this shit."
"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, nuzzling his chest.
"No," he answered in my hair. But he kept going. "I got a colicky horse. Pushy developers who want my land, thinking that some fucking cunt is going to sway me. She fucking made a pass at me just now. It’s total bullshit."
Oh no. "Seriously?"
"She started taking off her shirt. Like that would convince me to sell."
Now I got pissed too. "Fucking cunt," I hissed.
"I yelled at her to get her ass out of here and she hightailed it. But shit, it's tempting to sell because they're buying up the neighbors. I could sure use the cash to pay for things like horse surgery or my mom's treatment. Can't bring myself to do it and it's killing me."
"Will, you can't sell."
"I know, darlin'."
I felt a horrible trembling come over me. Like I was going to be sick to my stomach and collapse at the same time. But I had to say it because it was true. "If you have to euthanize Happy, and I hope you don't, but I'll support you." And then I burst into tears.
He looked at me, anger dissipating, finger under my chin. "Marie." He hugged me even tighter.
"Can't believe I’d say that. Can't believe I’d think that. But I can't believe you . . . I can't, it's too hard."
"Shh, darlin'. Maybe the horse will be okay."
I sobbed, but managed out, "Maybe you can make some money and buy up the neighbors. Is that a pipe dream?"
"No, it's not. The avocados are coming in now, we should be harvesting a good crop this year. Prices are up too. It's not impossible to be able to come up with a down payment on the neighboring parcel."
"We should go talk with them," I sniffled.
He nodded. "You okay?" he asked.
"No. I feel totally responsible for Happy being sick. I saw that he hadn't eaten the other day. I should have said something sooner."
"Not your fault," he said. "It happens." He wiped away a tear on my cheek with his hands.
"I'm really not happy that some woman made a pass at my man."
"Me neither," he said. Then he stopped. "So you're admitting I'm your man?"
"Yeah," I said. "I am."
"Don't worry, I'm not lookin' at her. It's only you," he said into my hair and then he leaned down and kissed me. Then he broke apart.
"Shouldn't ask this, but I gotta. How come you got so pissed at me yesterday for using the word pussy, when you used the word cunt pretty freely right now?"
"I think I was looking for a fight and looking for an excuse to be mad at you."
He smiled. "Don't need that, do we?"
I shook my head.
"Let's see what the diagnosis is."