Yellowstone: Love and Cowboys

Loss

She wanted Travis to put her down, but she could not trust that she would be steady on her feet. She had been hit on one side of her head only to land on the other; all of her head was throbbing, like she was wearing a crown of pain.

She had not passed out, she knew that was a good sign, but how badly was she hurt? Travis wanted to take her to the emergency room, but she was not sure if she was up to another doctor's visit. If she could go home and lie down, she was sure she would be fine, or would she?

"Can you stand?" he asked her.

"Let me see, I think so, my head just hurts; he hit me pretty hard." She didn't like being carried in front of people, and now the stares she was receiving made her uncomfortable. "Let me try." It proved to be a mistake, her knees buckled under her, and she fell to the ground.

"I guess I can't right now, maybe in a few minutes." She felt embarrassed, she didn't deal well with being helpless.

"I'm taking you to the ER, you took a pretty hard fall on your head. You may have a concussion, or it may be nothing, but I'm taking no chances." Travis pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "I've called a cab; it should be here in a few minutes. I'm having you checked out to be on the safe side."

"Fine," she said, and knew she was defeated. She couldn't blame him; he'd already seen her with a serious concussion. He was probably worried about the baby, too. She hadn't sufficient knowledge about pregnancies to know if the fall or the trauma might cause her to miscarry. She felt guilty about being so careless, what if she had hurt the baby? Travis had told her what to do if she saw the thief, come, and get him because he might be dangerous. Well, he had been, and she had a throbbing head to prove it.

"I told you what to do if you saw him again, don't do anything but come and get me." He sounded irritated and she wasn't surprised, he expected her to do what he told her. "You should have listened to me."

"I did, I just chose to ignore you," she wanted to say but said nothing. The cab pulled up and they got in. The driver was driving too fast, and it was making her dizzy, but it meant they would get to the ER that much sooner. And the sooner they could get it over with, she told herself.

After her concussion she had developed a revulsion to hospitals, she was hoping she could have a home delivery, but Travis might have something to say about that. Fortunately, the ER was slow that day, and they got in a gown and put her into a gown and an uncomfortable hospital bed.

They took her blood pressure, checked her heart and pulse, and her breathing, all were normal. The doctor was young, but competent, and had an reassuring bedside manner. They would do a CT scan; it should not affect her pregnancy. She might have had a mild concussion, but she wasn't displaying symptoms, the CT was just to make sure.

She could feel a headache coming on, a bad one. She'd never been hit like that before, and it hurt, next time she would do what Travis said.

They came and wheeled her into the CT lab. The process didn't take long, and she returned to her cubicle more quickly than she expected. They gave her Tylenol for her headache and promised they'd have the results soon.

She was lucky, she'd been hit hard but that was as far as the damage went. She needed to rest a couple of days before she returned to riding. How long did she plan to continue riding anyway?

Travis didn't give her a chance to answer. "Around four months, but no longer, and that will depend on how she's doing. I don't think I could keep her off a horse if I tried."

She was sitting up when the cramps hit, the pain so bad she was doubled over. They both knew what was happening as Travis called the nurse.

"No," she moaned, "It can't be," but it was happening anyway. It was almost pitiful, how quickly it took for her to lose the baby. It was like having a heavy period with painful cramps, but once it was over they started to subside. The pain medication they gave her helped but could not help the sorrow she was feeling. There was no question of her competing at the Wichita show, Tulsa might not be possible either.