Page 80 of Austin
Chapter Fifteen
Slick Back wasa small bull with a nasty attitude—quick and agile, totally unpredictable. There would be no lazy spins or half-hearted bucks. Slick Back relished every contest, and Austin had been fortunate to draw him when he needed a high score to boost his standings. The bull would do his part. It was all on Austin now.
The bull shifted nervously, stamping his feet as Austin went through his prep. As soon as he was in place, Austin nodded. The spotter released his vest and Slick Back burst out into the arena before the gate fully opened, snapping Austin’s head back with the force of his first landing.
Austin tucked his chin, pushed down hard, rolled a shoulder first in, then out, to counteract a sudden spin followed by an equally sudden reversal. The bull’s feet pounded the earth, but he still moved fluidly, his back humping as he pushed his shoulders high into the air, all four feet coming off the ground. He landed hard, swinging his ass around, pounding the arena floor again as he reared, then spun. Austin stayed square in the middle, sheer determination holding him in place at times. The horn sounded and he started debating dismounts, when suddenly Slick Back shifted beneath him, shifted in a way that his body hadn’t expected and the world went sideways as the bull’s feet came out from under him and he slammed to the ground on his side, taking Austin with him.
The blackness started to clear, giving way to a mottled black and white world as Austin opened his eyes, inhaled dirt. He tried to lift his head, but pressure from above kept it from moving.
Pinned. He was pinned under the bull. He had to get free.
He put his palms in the dirt, pushed up. Couldn’t move. The weight was too great. Frantic now, he pulled his knee up to get it under him so that he could struggle free of the massive bull and his body exploded in pain. An animalistic sound ripped out of his throat.
“It’s me, buddy. You’re okay. Lie still.”
Austin didn’t recognize the voice, but his brain started to wrap around the fact that it wasn’t the bull that had him pinned. Slick Back wasn’t lying on him. He was being held down by a fellow human being. Kept from moving.Why?
He wasn’t paralyzed. The pain was too fucking intense. But he needed to get to the gate before the bull came back.
He couldn’t move.
His head went back down; he took another lungful of dirt. Closed his eyes. Moaned again.
“Easy.”
There were hands on him. Testing, touching. Voices. A low rumble. Not a bull. An engine. A vehicle. He was going to be run over if he didn’t get off the highway he was lying on. He struggled again and was rolled over onto something hard. Pinned down again as he squinted against the bright orbs of light above him.
And then he was weightless. Rising in the air. Moving.
Ambulance. They were putting him in a fucking ambulance.
Better than lying on a highway waiting to be run over. Maybe.
A face came into focus. One of the medical guys, peering down at him, looking concerned. Too concerned.
Austin made a sound and the guy leaned closer.
“Score?” The word slurred out of his lips, barely audible, but the guy understood.
“Ninety something, man. You did good.”
*
Kristen’s head cameup at the sound of footsteps in the deserted hospital corridor, and she rose to her feet as a nurse came around the corner, clipboard in hand. The nurse gave Kristen an encouraging smile. “You can go in now.”
“Thank you.” The words barely came out. Despite several cups of coffee, her throat was dry, her nerves shot.
“He’s on serious pain meds. He may not remember this visit.”
“I just want to see him.” She’d driven almost four hours from Marietta to Missoula without stopping, arriving at the hospital in the early hours of the morning, only to be told that Austin was still in recovery.
That was when she started pacing. Pacing and making serious life choices. There was no way that Austin was going through this alone. His brother and sister-in-law were in Tennessee. His parents in Arizona. She was available and when Shelby Harding had called her to tell her that Austin had a bad wreck, she hadn’t even paused to pack a bag. She’d grabbed her jacket, purse and keys and headed out the door. It wasn’t until she got to Missoula that she’d sent her sister a text telling her that her car hadn’t been stolen. It was in Missoula.
“Room 544. Almost to the end of the hall, on the right.”
Kristen thanked the nurse and started down the corridor, needing more than anything to confirm that Austin was in one piece.
He’s alive. He’s okay. It could have been worse.
