God Gave Me You

Good Days and Bad Days

I smiled as the breeze slid by my face spreading the fragrance that beheld our garden. Soon I felt a warm arm around my shoulders and looked up to see Cole with his eyes closed, taking in the the wonderful smell of the flowers of our garden mixed with the fresh hay, a fragrance of which still wandered our yard and beyond.

"Hey." I said softly.

"Hey." He replied keeping his eyes sealed shut. I leaned up to kiss him. It was just a short, soft, kiss, but it still held the same utter bliss that I could hardly get enough of.

"I love you, Miss soon-to-be Mrs. Eliza Pederson." Cole said.

"I love you too, Mr. Cole Pederson." I replied, not able to suppress the giggles that had had to come out.

Cole laughed and picked me up bridal style, then started walking up the trail that led to the house.

"What are you doing, Mr. Pederson!" I screeched.

"Why does it look like I'm doing? Carrying you, duh!" He replied. I smiled at my fiancé's immatureness.

When we arrived at the house, Cole finally set me down after giving me a longer kiss that I did not mind at all.

"Aww! Look at the two lovebirds." Angelina said as soon as Cole set me down. I rolled my eyes and went over to help Angelina prepare dinner, while Cole plopped down on the couch beside Max.

Angelina and I prepared a quick salad and grilled some chicken, then called the men to the table.

"Dear, Jesus," I started as we all sat down. "Please help us to have a good week as it is the week before the wedding. I ask you to help strengthen my father to a recovery, as he is getting better which I thank you greatly for. Bless this food to our body's use. In Your Name We Pray, Amen."

"Amen." They all repeated and soon after began dishing up their food swiftly.

Cole let out a moan as he stuffed the chicken in his mouth.

"This is amazing." He said with a mouthful of chicken.

"Thank you." I said, mimicking a bow, and blowing kisses out to everyone at the table.

Cole smirked at me. "See, this is why I'm marrying her, she's entertaining."

We all laughed. "She definitely is.." Angelina agreed.

After supper, we all sat down on the couches for an episode of Duck Dynasty. I cuddled up to Cole on a couch while Angelina and Max took the other couch and also snuggled up to each other. As the episode started I looked up at Cole.

"What if he's not better by the wedding?" I asked, tears threatening to fall as I thought of my ill father.

"He will be, remember? He's close to making a recovery. He'll be there." Cole reassured me.

"Okay." I muttered.

"I'm so excited to marry you, I can hardly wait another week." Cole said, and I let out a shaky laugh. "Hey! I got her to laugh! One point, Cole!"

"Oh, shut up." I said as I snuggled closer to him.

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Sometimes, there are good days, other times, there are terrible days.

This was one of those terrible days.

"Cole! Could you hand me the saddle?" I hollered over to Cole, who was brushing Mac.

"Sure! Just a sec!" He yelled back. He finished one side of Mac then went behind Mac to grab the saddle. Wrong move. A truck was pulling in by the barn that same time, and Mac was spooked. He thrust out his back legs and nailed Cole right in the back of the head. Cole's eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed.

I gasped. "Cole!!!" I ran over to him and turned him over while letting a sob escape. I shooed Mac away and turned to Cole. He looked terrible.

He was paler than usual, he had a huge knot on the back of his head, and he was, of course, unconscious. Instead of panicking too much, I quickly dialed 911. I told the police and ambulance where we were and quickly ran over to the barn's freezer that we store ice packs and horse treats in. I grabbed an ice pack then ripped off a piece of my shirt to cover the ice pack with. Then, I put it on Cole's head where the knot was.

As I pressed the ice pack to his head my hands started shaking. I prayed to God that Cole would be okay and that the ambulance would come soon.

I lay down on Cole and hugged him, sobbing into his shoulder, when I felt slight movement. My head shot up and I saw Cole begin to stir.

"Cole, can you hear me?" I said.

"Eliza?" Cole mumbled, and I let out another sob.

"Yes, Cole, it's Eliza. How do you feel?" I replied, still shaking.

"My head is killing me, what happened?" He muttered, his eyes now open and focused on me.

"Y-you got kicked in the back of the head by M-Mac, he was spooked from a truck coming in." I said. shuddering.

"Well thanks for the ice pack." He murmured, then his eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped against me. By now I was full on crying and practically begging God for Cole to be alright.

Finally, the paramedics arrived and started getting Cole onto a stretcher. I had gotten knocked out a few times while riding and I always ended up with a bad concussion.

I let out a shaky breath and got into the truck.

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Sorry about the long wait and short chapter. I've been really busy and have been trying to find some inspirations but I'm coming up a bit short. Ill try to get the second half of the chapter up as soon as I can! Make sure to check out Putting the Pieces Together to get a feel on Eliza as a teenager and how she meets Cole. Thanks for reading! Remember to vote and give me your feedback! All right, gotta get writing.

God Bless,

Emma