Keira had stayed on the trail to Broken Hearts Road for twenty minutes, finding no hoofprints what so ever. She had heard that Sabella was closing in on Crossed Arrows, and decided to just let Brayden be the one to bring her home. She let out a heavy sigh. She hadn't wanted to tell Sabella about the Air Force for this exact reason, but she knew it was something she had to do. She'd talked about it to Papa once before, told him how she felt like she needed to serve. At least one kid in every generation on Papa's side served in the military, and Keira knew none of the boys would, they're too scared. None of them would last either, and they were all well aware of that fact. After Papa passed, she knew what she wanted to do with her life. She didn't want Papa's legacy to die with him, so she took it upon herself to be the one kid that generation to go. She had talked to Momma about it first, and in the beginning, she rejected the idea, but eventually, she gave in, seeing how much it meant to her daughter.
Keira got dragged out of her thoughts by Diamond, who snorted due to the pouring rain. "Shit," she mumbled, squeezing the old mare into a gallop. Diamond didn't object and galloped happily back to the ranch, eager to get out of the rain. Keira met her other siblings back in the barn when she returned. "Any word from Brayden?" She asked, ringing out her hair. She had just finished putting Diamond into one of the bigger stalls the barn had to offer as a compromise to the old mare.
Karly shook her head, "Not yet, I'm sure we'll hear something soon." They were all worried about Sabella, even more so now that the storm had taken full hold. They were quiet for a while before suddenly they heard yelling coming from Karly's walkie-talkie.
"Karly?!" He was practically yelling to be heard over the sounds of the storm raging on around him.
"Yeah?!"
"I found her, but she's unconscious and has a huge gash on her forehead. She needs medical help like now."
Karly turned to her siblings,"Shit. Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit!" He heard the younger girl curse. "I'm gonna call Momma, we're all back at the ranch now, try to get her home the way I told you, we'll try to meet you along the road with a truck. Be careful." She put the radio back, looking straight at Jasper. "Jasper call Momma, tell her to meet us at the hospital."
Jasper nodded and turned to go back to the office. The boys had come in when they heard the code red, abandoning the fences they were laboring over. Jensen sat on a tack box that was up against a stall, "What if there's more wrong than just the gash on her forehead?" He asked, his voice laced with worry.
"There probably is. We don't know what happened, and we don't know how long she's been laying out in the storm." Juliet spoke up, her arms tight over her chest. Buddy had come barreling through the pastures coming to a complete stop at the barn doors. Rosaleigh and Juliet had chased him, his reins were dragging the ground, and they were afraid he'd hurt himself. He reared slightly when they approached him, his eyes rolling back in fear. They had eventually gotten him calmed down enough to put in his stall.
"I don't know, all I know is that we need to pile into the vehicles, and someone call Cassia and let her know what's up," Keira demanded, stalking back into the storm to go to her pickup. The rest of her siblings followed after her, none of them saying a word. They knew she blamed herself for what's happened, but really, anything could've triggered this kind of reaction from Sabella. They piled into three vehicles, wanting to have room for Brayden and Sabella, who they figured would most likely need to lay down, and tore out in the direction of Crossed Arrows. Keira was silent as she drove, her grip tight on the wheel. Every vehicle had their brights turned on, none of them want to miss, or hit for that matter, Brayden. Todd was in the truck with Keira and Karly, so he could take Blaze back to the ranch and get him taken care of.
"It's not your fault you know," Karly spoke carefully, softly.
Keira sighed, "It feels like it is. I should've waited to tell her when Momma was there, then maybe this wouldn't have happened." Karly stayed silent, not wanting to anger her sister. Not long after they got to the fork where the trail to Crossed Arrows met the main road. They hadn't seen Brayden on their way, so they knew he hadn't made it yet. Keira threw the truck into park, and the trio was silent as they waited.
Brayden tore a part of his shirt off, tying it tightly around Sabella's head in an attempt to stop the bleeding. He sighed, wishing he had worn a jacket. The girls' clothes were soaked through, and he could tell she was shivering. He lent down, cupping her face in his hands, pressing his forehead against hers. "I'm so, so sorry baby girl." His tears were mixing with the rain as he held her in his arms. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, his lips lingering there. "Please, please come back to me," he was sobbing now, being reminded of his job by Blaze's low whinny. He sighed and carefully, he picked her up, walking her over to the old gelding. The horse's coat was soaked, and the saddle wasn't much better. He sighed again and draped her limp body over the saddle. Using the stirrup, he climbed on sitting behind the saddle. Without having to be told the old ranch horse moved along, knowing exactly where he was going. Letting Blaze do his thing, Brayden focused on trying to get Sabella as comfortable as possible. He tried to sit her up long enough for him to slip into the saddle. It worked and in moments, he had her curled against his chest.
He knew they needed to hurry, but he didn't know how fast he could get Blaze going without harming Sabella. The old horse picked up on his riders nerves and upped his pace into a slow lope. The geldings gait was smooth, so Brayden was able to rock along to it, keeping Sabella's body steady against him. He wasn't sure how long they had been riding, he wasn't even exactly sure where they were. The sky had darkened completely, and the storm still raged on around them. Soon, Brayden was able to see lights in the distance, he figured it was probably Sabella's family, and tried to urge Blaze faster. It didn't take much, the old gelding obeyed, and not long after they were met by Karly and Todd. "Thank goodness you got here in one piece." Karly sounded relieved as the gelding came to a halt in front of her.
Brayden nodded, "Yeah, I wasn't sure how soon we'd be able to get here, but Blaze really stepped up." He patted the old gelding's neck with his free hand, letting the reins fall.
"You get Sabella in the truck and to the hospital. I got Blaze from here." Todd gathered the reins in one hand, nodding toward the truck.
Brayden nodded and carefully dismounted, Sabella still curled lifelessly into him. "Oh Sabella," Karly whispered, tears were gathering in her eyes as she watched her sister. They got her into the truck, her head in Brayden's lap.
"Good thinking trying to stop the bleeding with your shirt." Keira nodded, blasting the heater as they sped down the road. The nearest hospital was quite a bit away, and Keira had called already, telling them they had an emergency coming in.
"Do you think she'll be ok?" Brayden asked, his voice quiet.
He heard the sisters sigh before Karly answered, "Honestly B, I have no idea. I hope she will be. I prayed that she would, and that's all we can do really. Pray." She had turned in her seat to look at him as she spoke. Her voice was soft, barely audible as if she didn't want to wake the girl laying in his lap. He nodded, and the rest of the trip was silent.
An hour and a half later, Keira was whipping the truck into a parking spot, the other siblings doing the same in the ones around her. The siblings piled out of their respective cars, and Brayden scooped Sabella up in his arms, rushing her into the ER, Keira by his side. She ran up to the receptionist, "Hi I'm Keira Maycomb, I called earlier about the emergency?"
The receptionist nodded, "Of course, let me page the nurses." She gave the girl a small smile, paging a couple of nurses who quickly burst through the doors, a gurney with them. Brayden laid his girl on the bed, and together they all followed after the nurses.
"You'll need to get checked as well young man," an older nurse said, turning to him.
He hesitated but nodded, following the nurse. "Is she gonna be ok?" He spoke softly, his head staying down, his eyes glued to the hospital floor.
"We're gonna do everything we can to ensure it." She led him into a small examination room. "Sit there, for now, I'm gonna go grab you some clothes to change into." She nodded toward a chair before heading back out of the room, shutting the curtain behind her.
He sighed, sitting in the chair. The room was pretty small, about the size of one of the stalls back at the ranch. He ran a hand through his wet hair, suddenly realizing how tired he actually was. He fished his phone out of his pocket and called Jude. "Hey man, get to the hospital, Karly needs you," he paused listening to his friend freak out, "No, she's not the one that's getting emitted. It's Sabella," another pause, "No, I don't know how she is right now. They took me to a separate room to get checked out. You'll have to get the room number from Karly." He sighed again hearing footsteps coming his way. "OK man see you soon." He hung up just as the nurse entered the room.
"We didn't have too much, but I managed to get you a hoodie and some sweats." She laid them on the bed, "We're not gonna do too much, just check you over. Got any injuries?" She had a clipboard in hand, ready to take down notes.
"No ma'am."
She marked something down, "Alright, we'll just check your temperature and blood pressure, then I'll take you back to your girl." She set the clipboard down and grabbed her tools.
Brayden's face contorted in confusion, "How did you know she was my girlfriend?"
The nurse gave him a sympathetic smile, "I've been doing this for twenty years now sweetheart, I know when I see love. Besides," she stuck the thermometer in his mouth, "It was obvious in the way you were carrying her. No brother or cousin would carry her like that." She didn't say anything else, and quite frankly he didn't mind. The checkup went fine, the nurse didn't find anything worrisome. "Looks like you've escaped this fiasco alright. My only advice is to stay close to a heater, your body temperature is a little low, but that's expected seeing as how you were out in that crazy storm." She picked her clipboard back up. "I'm gonna go file this, you change and then I'll come by to take you to the room." She gave him a small smile, and he nodded as he stood up, reaching for the clothes. "Oh, there's a bag next to the bed for your wet clothes." And with that, she disappeared back into the chaos of the emergency room. Brayden changed quickly, wondering if Krystal and Cassia had made it to the hospital yet. 'Surely they have,' he thought to himself. The curtain opened as he finished pulling the hoodie down, his clothes already in the bag. "Ready to go see your girl?" The nurse added, smile in place. He nodded, following after her. "The names Joy by the way." She said as they made the trek from emergency room to the actual hospital.
"Nice to meet you, ma'am, my name is Brayden." He nodded, his eyes taking in his surroundings.
"What's your girl's name?" Joy asked, wanting to keep him talking.
A ghost of a smile appeared on the boys face, "Her name is Sabella."
"That's a gorgeous name." He nodded as they stepped into the elevator.