Page 16 of My Apocalypse Cowboy
I want to lie, want to give him false hope. But he deserves honesty.
"I don't know. If it's a blockage, the oil might help and she could get better soon. If her gut is twisted..." I swallow hard. "Then we'll have to decide if we can help her or if we're just letting her suffer."
His face crumbles for just a moment before he gets it under control. "She brought you to me."
"I know."
"If she dies..."
"She's not going to die." The words come out fiercer than I intended. "I won't let her."
"Rebecca—"
"No." I take Sunshine's lead rope from him, my jaw set with determination. "We're not giving up."
I spend the afternoon trying everything I can think of. More oil. Walking. Gentle massage of her abdomen to try to stimulate gut movement. I even attempted some acupressure points I remember from an alternative medicine elective.
Over the next hour, Sunshine's condition steadily improves. The pain lines around her eyes fade. She starts showing interest in her surroundings instead of just focusing inward on her discomfort.
"She's going to be okay," I tell Joseph, who's been watching anxiously from the corner of the stall.
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure." I run my hands over Sunshine's neck, feeling her relax under my touch. "She'll need a few days of easy feeding and close monitoring, but she's out of danger."
Joseph doesn't say anything. He just pulls me into his arms and holds me so tight I can barely breathe.
"I thought we were going to lose her," he whispers against my hair.
"So did I."
He pulls back to look at me, and there's something in his eyes I haven't seen before. A kind of awe mixed with love and gratitude.
"Marry me," he says suddenly.
I blink. "What?"
"Marry me. Tomorrow. Next week. I don't care when, but marry me. Because watching you save Sunshine, seeing you fight for her like that..." He cups my face in his hands. "You're incredible, Rebecca. And I want to spend the rest of my life watching you work miracles."
"Yes," I say, and I'm crying now, happy tears that I can't seem to stop. "Yes, of course, yes."
He kisses me then, soft and sweet and full of promises, while Sunshine munches contentedly on the small pile of hay I've allowed her.
"She really brought us together," I murmur against his mouth.
"Best horse thief I ever caught."
"The only horse thief you ever caught."
seven
Joseph
Innotimeatall, Sunshine is back to her normal, imperious self, and I'm watching my fiancée fuss over her like a mother hen.
"Her appetite's completely normal," Rebecca says, making notes in the journal she's started keeping of Sunshine's recovery. "Temperature's good, heart rate's back to baseline."
"She looks fine to me."
