Page 65 of Rancher's Heart

“Hey, Woman, did you do this to me?” I grimaced as I shifted my hips.

“Yeah, I did,” she whispered as a tear dripped off her cheek, landing on my bare chest. I tried to move my arm to wipe the one that followed away, but it seemed to be attached to me. “Don’t move that arm. You had to have your shoulder replaced, and you’ve got some burns.” Turning, I looked, sure enough stark white bandages covered my shoulder and ran down my arm with a brace keeping it at my side.

“Well, that answers one thing. Why does my chest hurt so bad?” My voice was raspy and harsh, and I had to move my eyes slowly back to her so I didn’t get dizzy, and I could focus on her again.

The pain in her eyes almost killed me. Elle bit the corner of her mouth and gently sat on the edge of my bed. “Your heart stopped by the time I got into the barn and I pulled you out. Then I had to perform CPR on you, and I broke a few ribs in the process.” Tears rolled down her cheeks, and I wanted to wipe them away, but everything felt so heavy. “I worked on you until I got you back. Didn’t even let Jake help me when he showed up.” She gave me a half smile.

“You could have died.”

“You did die,” she said as she frowned at me.

“Don’t ever risk your life for me again.”

“If you weren’t broken, burned, and stitched back together I’d punch you square in the mouth. I will risk my life for you every time.” She stood and walked out of the room, leaving my brain to start counting the beeps of the machines.

“Well, Mr. Harp, you shouldn’t be here.” The older man who had been here but stepped out when I was talking to Elle hadreturned. “I don’t know what you said to Nurse Greggory, but if it was anything other than an ecstatic thank you, I might restrict your pain meds.” He looked down at the clipboard in his hand. “Damn Hippocratic Oath,” he muttered under his breath.

“I won’t sugar-coat things Griffin. I don’t really think you’re a man that would appreciate it. You’re lucky to have kept your arm, and damn lucky you’ll be around to see your child come into this world.” The man was still talking, but I might as well have been underwater trying to listen to him. Did he just say, my child? What was he talking about? Parker was too young to be visiting the ICU and way too old to be entering the world again.

“Where is she? I need to see her.” I tried to sit up but the entire room tilted, while I groaned in pain and fell back down onto the bed.

“She’ll be back in a bit. I need to examine you.” The doctor pulled a pair of gloves out of the box on the wall, and a few other medical people came in to assist him. I listened to them talk amongst themselves and I passed out before they were done.

There was no way to know how long I’d been out, and when I woke up, it wasn’t Elle beside me — it was my parents. “Oh my boy, you scared us.” My Mom, who looked like she’d aged ten years since I’d seen her a few weeks ago, dabbed her eyes with tissues.

“You gave us quite a scare son,” Dad said as he put his hand on Mom’s shoulder. “We’ll never be able to thank Elle enough for saving you.”

“Where is she?” I asked, knowing full well I should be focused on them.

“She just went to shower at our hotel, that woman hasn’t left your side in the five days you’ve been here.” Dad took a chair on the opposite side of the bed. “Troy brought Parker to see her, and they sit in the waiting room and we take our shift but as soon as he’s gone she’s back at your side.”

“Troy’s been bringing Parker?”

“Yeah, he’s not a bad guy, but he and Elle just wanted different things in life. He’s sat with you a bit, too, while Elle spent time with her son.” Mom said with a force lightness in her voice. “He even snuck Parker into see you. That boy’s been so worried.” Mom shook her head.

“Did she tell you?”

“She told us what happened and how she found you. I’m just so glad she was there with you.” Mom patted my hand and picked up the knitting that was on her lap. Again, my eyes were too heavy to keep open, and I fell asleep again.

Opening my eyes again, I was sure I’d only been out a few minutes, but looking out the window, it was dark now. The hospital sat on the edge of the city, and I could see the twinkling stars and imagine the blank expanse of the open range. “Hey, can I get you anything?” It was her. Elle’s voice was soft and caring and she was back.

“No, I don’t need anything, but I do have a question to ask you.”

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

“When did you find out you’re pregnant?” My words weren’t intended to sound harsh but they came out that way.

“The day after you got hurt. I couldn’t keep anything down and Jake insisted I get looked at. They ran every test, and well, the pregnancy test came back positive.” She looked down at her hands and chewed on the corner of her mouth. “I know we never talked about this, and with everything going on, I can handle this on my own.”

“What do you mean handle?” I asked frowning at her, my blood thrumming through my body.

“I can make an appointment and.” She let her voice trial off.

God how could she ever think that, what had I done to make her believe she only had one option? “You think I want you to have an abortion?”

“Griff, you never wanted kids, I heard your mom say it. I won’t force this on you.”

“I didn’t want kids with someone I didn’t love.” Laying down to have this conversation wasn’t ideal. I needed to hold her in my arms and reassure her everything was going to be okay. “Elle, I want twenty babies with you. I want to have our own football team or have so many babies we have to start our own town. How the hell do I sit up?” I grumbled as I shifted in the bed ignoring the pain.

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