Page 10 of Big Obsession

Everyone is talking at once, and I’m trying to clear my vision to see who is saying what.

“He’s coming to.”

“He hit his head hard.”

“Pretty sure he cracked a rib.”

“Dude should stick to bull riding.”

I lean up, even though my head is spinning. “Fuck you. Where’s Bullet? Is he okay?”

Rick is crouched down beside me. “All right, take it slow, ol’ man. You don’t want to get up only to fall again. Put your arm around me.”

I do what he says, and he helps me to my feet. With every breath I take, my abdomen hurts, making me think that the assessment is correct. I might have a broken rib or two. Hopefully, they’re just bruised.

The doctor chimes in. “You really shouldn’t move until I’m able to assess you.”

I nod my head to the back. “Well, then follow me because I’m not being ‘assessed’ in front of a crowd.”

I force a smile to my face and wave to the crowd. Everyone cheers, and I try not to wince as I focus on putting one foot in front of the other and breathing.

“Bullet?” I ask again.

Rick is huffing, and I’m obviously leaning on him more than I thought. “He’s fine. I got the thumbs up from the vet. He’s good. You took the brunt of it all. Hit your head on the barrel.”

I use my free hand to wipe across my eyes. I guess that explains why everything is blurry. We get to behind the curtains, and I sit down in the closest chair. The doctor is in front of me immediately. He’s shining a light in my eyes, making me follow the path of his finger.

“Hospital,” he declares.

“Fuck that.” I grunt and try to stand up only to fall back into my chair.

The doctor glares at me. “You leave now without getting checked out, you’ll never ride in another circuit here again. You know the rules. You signed the contract. I say you need to go to the hospital, you go.”

I snarl my nose at him. “Fine. I’ll go, but I’m not getting into the back of any fuckin’ ambulance. Rick, give me your phone and go get the truck.”

“You want my phone?”

I open one eye and glare at him. He reaches into his pocket and hands me his phone. “My truck has the keys in it. Make sure someone is taking care of Bullet.”

As he walks away, I lift up the phone and start punching in numbers. The doctor is still hovering, so I stop and gesture to him. “Can you give me a minute?”

He nods. “Sure, but Tucker, I’ll know if you don’t go to the hospital.”

I just glare at him until he walks away. As soon as he’s gone, I finish typing in Dolly’s phone number.

She answers on the first ring tentatively. “Hello?”

I try to hide my pain. “Hey, Dolly…”

“Tuck, is that you? Oh my God, what’s wrong?”

I should have known she’d sense something was off. “I’m fine, honey. Just a bump to the head.”

“Oh my God, where are you? I’ll get Ace off the field and we’ll be right there.”

A warmth comes over me. Of course she’d come right to me if I was hurt. That’s who she is. “Honey, I need you to listen, okay? Rick is going to take me to the hospital, so I’m not going to be able to pick up dinner.”

“Dinner?” she screeches. “You think I’m worried about dinner? I need to know you’re okay, Tuck.”

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