Page 55 of Worth the Risk
“Colt, we’re gonna have to take you to the hospital. I think you may have hit your head.” He pulls his brows together and looks at me.
“I don’t think I did, but it got pretty crazy once I fell in.”
“Again, I can’t thank you guys enough for helping me out.” Yellow vest chimes in again.
“Hey, it’s alright, we both made it out of the water, so that's a win.” Oh jeeze, okay.
“Yep, alright buddy, let’s get you into the truck, I’ll unhook the trailer and load the boat and we’ll get you to the ER.”
“Are you sure? I really think I’m fine, Rhett. It’s not the first time I’ve fallen out of a raft, though it has been awhile.”
“Yeah, I’m sure Colt. You’ve said the same exact thing, verbatim, three times in the last 45 seconds.”
“Ah, gosh. Now I feel even worse about this.” Good grief, this guy again.
“Hey, it’s alright, we both made it out of the water, so that's a win.” Colt says for the fourth time now. That’s not gonna get old.
“Let’s go Colt. Get in the truck.” He listens to me and gets in. I help yellow vest, Martin tells me, get his kayak and he calls his friend to come pick him up. I unhook the trailer, load the boat, strap it down, and use a lock I find to put on the hitch. I get in the truck and ask Colt multiple questions which he can answer so that's a good sign, I think. I pull my phone out of the dry bag once we make it to the emergency room and they get Colt into awheelchair. He fights them a little but Marigold is on duty and he makes the smart decision not to fight with her.
“Have you called anyone yet?” She's looking at me.
“Uh no. Not yet. Just pulled my phone out.”
“Well you better call Winnie, she’ll wanna know he’s here.” She turns and starts wheeling Colt down a hallway, but calls over her shoulder “After his scans, he’ll be in room 13.” Great, now I’m calling for the first time today and it’s to tell her that her brother is in the hospital with a concussion and I don’t know how serious it is yet. Really not what I wanted the topic of our next conversation to be.
When Rhett’s name lit up my screen I was so giddy and excited to hear his voice. I was still floating on cloud nine thinking about our night together and what the future may hold for us. Very un-me thoughts. I’m in the back of the bakery, I just got the last batch of pastries out of the oven, so I decide to answer.
“Hey, cowboy.” Oh gosh. Did my voice sound as eager to him as it did to me?
“Hey, honeybee.” He sounds tense, nervous, not at all what I’m expecting from him.
“Is everything okay?” Here it is, what I’ve been dreading. He’s decided it’s not worth it.
“Everything is going to be fine, Win.” My heartbeat accelerates and there’s a slight ringing in my ears.
“What is it?” I hear him take a deep breath.
“I’m at the hospital.” Now my hearts stops. I’m 13 all over again and losing someone I love. I can’t hold the panic at bay and words start tumbling from my mouth.
“Are you okay? What happened? Is it Mary? Tom?…”
“No, I’m fine, they’re fine…but um Colt and I went rafting today and…”
“Colt?! Is he alright? Rhett, is Colt alright??”
“Winnie, baby he’s okay. He fell out of the boat trying to help someone and I think he hit his head.” My eyes sting and I can feel them fill with tears, I can’t breathe.
“Breathe, Winnie. Please, baby. He’s alright. They’re just gonna do some scans to make sure.” I’m breathing roughly now.
“Okay…” I croak.
“Moms on her way to get you now.”
“Mary?”
“I figured you would need someone to drive you.”
“Thank you. I’ll be there soon.”
