Wind Runner

Chapter Seventeen; What Happened?

The first thing I see is bright, white light.

What the hell just happened?

Am I dead? Am I in a coma or something?

"She's awake!"

Then the light is blocked by a person in a white suit. My eyes narrow.

Where am I?

I struggle to sit up, then realize I'm still in horse form as I slump back down. My whole body feels sluggish and slow, my heartbeat weak in my ears. But I still manage to sit up. I'm an a kind of three wall room. Then it clicks.

The track's vet room.

Okay so I'm not dead.

The memories are flooding back now.
Playing with Red, running, the men.

The needle.

Then nothing.

Okay.

I look around more, then I see Rick hurry in, I nicker softly, and he looks relieved. He pats my forehead then starts to talk to the doctor.

"So she's okay right?"

"Yes, the needle we found contained very heavy sedative medicine. Whoever administered it did not do it properly. The amount given to her was so much, it actually stopped her heart, but luckily she is quite a fighter, she managed to get her heart beating again somehow. She should be fine, just groggy for a day or two, back on her hooves in time for the Belmont."

I sigh in relief, and Rick does too. Then I find that I no longer want to be laying down.

I surge to my feet, and Rick and the doctor help me up after their initial surprise. After a minuet or two I am swaying slightly on my feet. I sneeze then move all my legs some. Still working. I yawn, then my stomach growls. Loudly.

I cough a bit, trying to cover the sound. Rick and the doctor laugh. Then Rick says;

"I'm sure you're hungry, you've been asleep for four Jinx!"

Four whole days?! No wonder I feel as if I could eat these two and still room for more.

Rick halters me and leads me out. Immediately I'm assaulted by flashing cameras and shouted questions. I squeal in fear, then I calm down, it's just the press.

I hold still blinking in the bright light. Rick forces his way through to my stall. I yawn tiredly, then my stomach grumbles again. Oh I need food.

Back in my stall I'm eating like a pig while Red watches over me like a mother hen. I look up at him with hay hanging out of my mouth. I chew a bit, then swallow.

"What?"

"You almost died."

I blink, then take another bite of my food, thinking. Then I swallow.

"Well technically I did die, my heart stopped, but hey, somone's gotta keep your ego from getting too big."

He just chuckles then shakes his head, and I go back to eating.

The race is soon. Every nerve in me is buzzing and I am immensely excited. Then I think about the gypsy herd I'm supposed to meet. I wonder about it. It
seems to take on traits of regular horse herds with moving about such. Interesting.

I move to the back of my stall and lock my knees, allowing myself to sleep standing up. Or at least try to. I guess being knocked out so long has made me not need sleep. I sigh, then get an idea. I shuffle over to the wall between Red and I's stall and whicker for him. He makes an odd noise, and I make a low snort at him. Then squeal quietly. He shifts and moves over to me, eyes still half closed.

"What you idiot?"

"Well I've been asleep for like, 4 days, so I can't sleep anymore. Anyways, I have an idea, I'm going to shift and come over to your stall and tell you my idea."

His ears perk forwards in interest and I shift, hearing my bones cracking and popping. When it ends I stretch and wiggle my fingers. Ah it feels odd to be human. I place the horse blanket on the floor and position it as if I were laying there. Then I climb over the wall and land on the floor in Red's stall. When I straighten, a tall dark brown haired boy is watching me. I lift and eyebrow.

"God, even human you're a skyscraper. My human name is Ryder."

Red bows and then straightens and hugs me. Crushing me tightly to him.

"Hugo. Nice to meet you Ryder."

I make an unintelligible sound as it feels like my bones are being squeezed out of place. Hugo lets go and smiles sheepishly.

"Sorry."

I chuckle.

"It's fine you dork, now come one, let's go walk around without the threat of capture."

Hugo nods and offers me his hand, which I take. We slip out of the stalls and walk around, talking about random things until early morning.

I slip back into my stall and pull on the blanket and shift. Once I do, I shuffle my hooves then fall asleep feeling happy.

A/N: so this is what I picture Hugo/Red Luck as looking in human and horse form.
So yay! She's okay! I knew she'd be. So there was no need to almost murder me.
3K??? You guys are absolutely amazing!
~Silver_Storyteller