"I'm sorry to say this but..." Elisabeth's heart dropped into the pit of her stomach.
"Ava unfortunately passed away earlier this morning. We tried to revive her for thirty minutes but... she was gone."
She felt as though she was frozen, and everything around her was blurred and muffled.
"We'll discharge you later this evening... I'm so sorry."
She could faintly hear Walker speaking to the nurse before the door closed, her trance fading.
"What did I do wrong...?" Elisabeth whispered, beginning to pick at her fingers.
"Baby, stop. You shouldn't-" Walker told her, taking her hands in his.
"Don't." Her voice was blank and emotionless.
Walker seemed taken aback by her response, reluctantly releasing her hands.
"I shoulda just stayed at the bunkhouse." She huffed as tears stung her eyes.
Walker stayed quiet, simply listening to her and letting her talk.
"If I'd have stayed at the bunkhouse... I wouldn't have gotten shot... I wouldn't have gone into early labor... Ava would still be cookin'... she'd have had the chance to live..."
Walker chewed the inside of his lower lip, concern and grief written across his face.
"I want to go home." She spoke monotonously.
Walker nodded. "I know you do... but we can't. Not yet."
"Did that nurse say what her cause of death was?"
The raven haired male swallowed thickly. "Pneumonia."
"Gotcha..." Elisabeth choked out, her eyes fixating on the corner of the room.
Elisabeth and her fiancé sat in silence until the nurse eventually returned with her discharge papers.
The drive home was uncomfortable and the truck was full of tension.
Not the kind of tension where it seemed like an argument was gonna break out.
But the kind of broken grief where they seemed to have no words. Just overwhelming emotions.
"Do you want me to go up to the house or do you want to?" Walker asked her in a small voice.
"I'll go up here in a bit. I gotta talk to Ryan." Her voice was raspy as she answered him.
"Right... o-ok." He managed, stepping out just as she opened the door.
She took a deep breath to compose herself before limping into the bunkhouse, immediately grabbing the attention of all the wranglers who were present.
Ryan met her gaze and noticed the cloudy haze without missing a beat.
He walked up to her, his brow furrowed.
Elisabeth simply jerked her head for him to follow her, and he obeyed.
They slid into the bathroom and Ryan locked the door, sensing that something important was about to come out of his mouth.
Ryan looked down at her crossed arms. "Ava's not with you..."
"Ryan-" She tried to speak but his anxious rambling cut her off.
"What happened? Is she ok? I mean i know she was premature but-"
"Ryan." She hissed, managing to get him to close his mouth.
He shut his jaws, gulping.
"Whatever you're about to ask is irrelevant now."
He took in a shaky breath. "Ava's... she's...?"
YOU ARE READING
Yellowstone
FanfictionBeing practically raised by the Duttons seems like a dream for some. But Elisabeth had it rough. Her dad was a runaway and her mom was never around. When she turned 12, she found work all the way up in Montana at the Yellowstone Ranch. Not only did...
