Page 70 of Willow Vale

The arena erupted into chaos.

“Stay here,” I yelled at Delilah as she and River stared in horror at the sight before them.

Nila kicked dirt in the air with her powerful hooves as she struggled to get up from the ground. One of the men by the chutes ran up to Nila when she started to run around frantically. He caught her by the reins before she could hit Wren—who still hadn’t gotten up—and worked to calm her by running a hand along her neck.

Wren…she wasn’t moving. Just lying on her side with her back to us. Her long blonde hair was spread across the dirt and her hat laid a few feet away. It was bad. It had to be.Why wasn’t she moving?

I ran, pushing past the crowd with my dad to make our way down to the fences. Men and women standing on the sidelines for accidents just like these ran toward Wren too.

My heart was in my throat when I hopped the fence and ran toward my sister.

The man who had calmed Nila handed her off to someone else and hurried toward Wren, getting to her before anyoneelse. I couldn’t get a good look at his face as he knelt beside my sister, seeming to talk to her. It wasn’t until he lifted his face to motion toward the EMS team to hurry that I recognized him.

Logan Ward.

“Wren!” Finn fell on his knees beside our sister at the same time I did. Dad was next and he was breathing heavily. I wanted to tell him to catch his breath, to calm down because it wasn’t good for his heart, but it was no use. None of us were calm right now. Finn’s voice shook as he took in her pale face, eyes barely open. “Oh god, Wren...”

“Nila?” she asked weakly, and I let out a harsh breath. Of course, she was asking about the damn horse.

“She’s okay,” Finn said as he reached to touch her arm but refrained, not wanting to hurt her worse than she already was. The question was: how bad was it?

She had tears in her eyes, and she let out a soft sob of pain. “Good. That’s good…”

“Honey, what hurts? Can you tell me?” Dad asked as the EMS team asked us to clear the way.

“I don’t know…I can’t…” Her eyes pinched closed and my heart sank.

“Wren, you have to stay awake, okay? Stay awake,” I managed to croak when the paramedics pushed us aside so that they could take a look at her.

“Her head is bleeding on this side, and I think her leg is broken,” Logan said to one of them. He spoke clearly and calmly, not sounding like a mess like the rest of us. His face was emotionless, the total opposite of his fucking brother who was grinning like the devil behind the fence in front of me. If he came over here, I’d kill him just for that.

We all stood there, watching as the paramedics eased Wren onto the gurney before rushing her off to the ambulancewaiting outside the arena. Finn went with them without looking at either of us. I knew he’d fight anyone who tried to tell him he couldn’t come along.

“She’ll be okay. She has to be okay,” Dad said, still sounding out of breath, and I put my hand on his back.

“She will be,” I tried to reassure him, even if I didn’t know what else to say.

After one of the ranch hands offered to take Nila back to the ranch, Dad and I both hurried back to Delilah and my mother. My parents rushed to follow the ambulance while I turned toward her and River. They both looked scared and worried. She had unshed tears in her eyes as she looked at me, “Go.”

“I’ll drive you home and then I’ll go to the hospital.” I rasped.

“No, it’s okay. I’ll call Desi to give us a ride. You go with your family. They need you.”

“Take my truck. I don’t want you waiting until she can get here.” I placed the keys into her hand before I kissed her and ruffled River’s hair before promising to call her as soon as I knew more about Wren’s condition.

Then I ran to catch up with my parents.

I pacedthe length of the waiting room. Trying not to look over my shoulder where I could hear my mother silently crying against my father’s chest. I’d never seen her cry as much as I had in the last hour since Wren fell from her horse.

I still couldn’t wrap my head around what had happened. It was like the world came to a standstill the moment Nila fell, taking Wren with her. Hearing the sound of her head slamming into the ground.

It haunted me now.

All I could hear was that sound and I clenched my jaw, wanting to erase it from my mind.

I thought about last week and how she’d expressed how happy she was for me and Delilah. I’d hugged her briefly before we parted ways. I should have held onto her a little longer, told her I loved her. All the things I could have done went through my mind, slowly driving me insane.

By the time we had arrived at the hospital, Wren had been rushed into surgery in critical condition.Critical condition.I’d seen many injuries during rodeos and on the ranch—it was inevitable given the work we did. It was a completely different story when someone you loved was in that position though.

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