𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 [ Adopted by Elizabeth Olsen ]

Chapter 84: "What if?"

⚠️TW:⚠️ I'm not going to specify, but there's stuff (no self-harm tho)

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"Novs, is that you?" I heard Ally's voice on the other side of the line. I nodded rapidly before realizing she couldn't see me. "Yeah, i-it's me."

"Novs, it's Luna. S-She's restless and she keeps rolling." She didn't have to say anything else. Colic symptoms. Without saying anything else, I took the phone away from my ear and finally made eye contact with mum.

"I- We need to go", I choked out.

"I need to see her, we need to call the vet." Mum took the phone away from my hand and said a few words I couldn't comprehend. I was too far into my thoughts. Too far in a panic. She had to be fine. Nothing could happen to her. I couldn't lose her. Not like this.

She had been diagnosed with colic before. It wasn't pretty but we got through it.

I could faintly sense mum guiding me somewhere, hopefully to the car. Muffled voices were all I could comprehend as I felt tears start to stream down my face. The next thing I noticed was me being placed into a car by what I hoped was mum.

A soft hand on my cheek startled me, and also somehow pulled me out of my head. "Nova baby, can you hear me?" I nodded as an answer, not trusting my voice in any way. "We're heading to the barn now. Ally has started walking Luna around in the indoor."

"She's not looking too bad, it just looks like a mild case so far. Her condition will hopefully not have worsened by the time we get there." Mum tried to calm me down. "Now, I'm going to drive us and you're going to take some deep breaths so that you don't end up having a panic attack, okay hunny?"

All I could do was nod as I began regulating my breathing, not having time to fall into a panic attack now. I needed to get to Luna. As fast as possible. The 15-minute drive to the yard felt like it took forever. The what-ifs plagued my brain and made calming down impossible.

I swear, I had begged mum to drive faster for what felt like a thousand times, but mum insisted on staying inside the speed limit, not wanting to get pulled over and delaying us further. After a couple minutes, I had to sit on the one hand that mum wasn't holding so that I wouldn't pull at my hair in distress.

Mum had my right hand in a firm grip as she drove, her gaze firmly on the road. She was anxious too, I could sense it. She had never been through something like this, and I knew she didn't know much about colic, except for the fact that it could potentially be deadly.

My state was not making it better either. You know how mum reacted to a little scratch. I was concerned as to how this would affect her, especially if the dreaded happened. Fuck, no, I couldn't think about that. I needed to stay positive. Luna had always been a fighter, she'd get through this.

We always did. Together.

As soon as mum parked, I was out the door and basically sprinting to the indoor where I knew Ally was. To the untrained eye, Luna looked like she usually did, just a bit less keen to walk. But I knew better.

She always pretty much dragged me along as I lead her. Right now, Ally was having to keep some pressure on the lead rope to keep her moving. "L-Luna", I sobbed, the tears reappearing as I saw her.

"She looks fine so far, she's not worse so that's good. But not much improvement", Ally informed me as I took over the lead rope. "O-Okay, how long has she been like this?" I inquired as I forced Luna to keep walking.

"I don't know, I got here and I found her like that. No clue how long she's been like this." Fuck. She could have been like this from the moment I left for set. She could have laid there in agony for hours alone.

"O-Okay. We need to call the vet, we don't know how long she's been like this."

"How about we wait 10 minutes? Then it's been about 30 minutes, and if she's not better by then, we'll call the vet okay?" Ally tried making a deal with me. "Okay fine. But if she gets worse, I'm calling her right away."

The next thing I know, mum is running in. "There you are Nova honey. How is she?" I shrugged. "Could be better, could be a lot worse", I shrugged, not wanting to get into detail. I'd have the vet explain the ins and the outs of colic to mum, I wasn't in the mood.

"Okay, is she going to be fine?" Mum's worry was starting to show. "I-I don't know. I don't know mum." The next 10 minutes were hell. There was no point in calling the vet yet, as Luna could still get better from just walking.

The longer I spent walking her in circles, the more panicky I became. She wasn't getting better. "Has it been 10 minutes?" I asked Ally for the 10th time. "I-It has. I'll call the vet now." I watched anxiously as Ally paced, on the phone with the vet.

Mum had gone to call Ally's parents and the yard owner, Mr. Miller. He was Luna's owner before I got her, he deserved to know. Even though he was currently at a sale, out of the country, looking for some horses to buy.

Luna was still the same, with no improvement so far. She would be fine, right? We had been through this before. Ally then came back, informing me the vet would be here as soon as possible, and that we should keep on walking Luna until she got here.

The next 15 minutes passed in silence, as mum wasn't back yet either. I couldn't bring myself to talk, to try and shine some light on the situation. No matter how many times this happened, it was just as frightening every time.

Colic comes out of nowhere most of the time. There's no knowing when it will strike you. It could be a mild case, or it could be deadly. There's no knowing. I didn't even want to think about how this could potentially play out.

She hadn't gotten better from walking, which means it wasn't a particularly mild case. The vet would have to come and administer fluids to her, to hopefully help her recover. I was deep in my thoughts, but I did notice mum approaching us, phone in hand.

"Your mom will be here as soon as she can", mum informed Ally. "Mr Miller is obviously away at the sale, so he has no method for getting here any time soon. But he sends his best wishes and we are to update him as often as possible."

I nodded. "C-Can someone go out and look for the vet? She should be here soon, it's been 15 minutes." What if she didn't come? What if she didn't find the way? What if the vet's car ended up breaking down?

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Well, the drama is continuing...

I hope you're all doing okay and I hope that 2023 is treating you well <3

Lots of love, Frida xx