The sun had finally fallen behind the trees and the pastures so that the only light that led Hayley and Sav back to The Barracks after an evening stroll were the lights on its porch and the moon. Their walk had been just what Hayley needed to keep her mind straight forward toward what she needed to focus on most. What was obviously most important.
It was exactly what she needed to get back on track and focus on herself as she and Sav had discussed possible future plans and the things they wanted most. Well, it had been what she needed until Sav breached topics Hayley would rather have left dead.
"I don't understand why you're being like this." She told Hayley as she shook her finger, then threw her hands in the air. "Both of you are so damn stubborn and it's infuriating. Why the hell not?"
"Because I said so, Sav. She obviously has other people she would rather be with and more importantly, I need to just worry about me." Hayley stepped onto the first stair of the porch and hesitantly turned back toward Sav. Her face wasn't covered by her previous, empathetic expression, but instead she looked stir crazy and was staring off into the distance. "What is it n--"
"Shhh!"
"Excuse me? What is the matter with y--"
"Quiet!" Sav reached up and latched onto Hayley's hand. Hers was shaking and Hayley could practically taste the anxiety leaking off of her in the air. It was so palpable. "There's something wrong..."
Hayley got down from her perch and peered around where Sav's eyes were transfixed, but couldn't see a thing past the light of the front porch. A faint pounding rumbled in the distance and at first, Hayley worried over a series of possible natural disasters but none would explain how Sav had seen any of it coming or why the night was so still. Aside from a slight breeze, everything was calm. Or at least, it was.
In an instant, the pounding grew so loud Hayley cringed behind Sav and began to shake. Sav relaxed her features and wrapped her arm around her, then ran them up the porch steps. She had no way of knowing just what that sound was until she heard a sharp snarl headed their way. Just as Sav pulled her into the house, Hayley looked over her shoulder and saw a wild, terrifyingly fierce looking pig run by.
Once inside, she looked out through the front door window just as she heard more hogs approaching and Sav running up the stairs to the second floor. There were around eight of the feral pigs and they bolted past The Barracks like they were on a mission. Hayley kept watching as they disappeared into the darkness toward the crops that weren't too far off from the boarding house. She turned around and found Sav climbing back down the stairs, her phone on her ear.
"Yes." She paused and mouthed a "You okay?" at Hayley. She just nodded, but she could feel her breath hitch and her temperature rise. She hadn't realized just how predatory or threatening pigs could look and the vast difference between them and the pigs in the barn, or even Hairy and Daisy, was staggering. That look they had in their eyes rattled her down to her bones and she wrapped herself up in her arms. "Yeah, about eight. You still on the ranch...? 'Kay.... No. Take care of the hogs first, then... Yeah. We'll be fine. See you in a bit."
Sav put her phone in her pocket, bent over and took in a shaky breath, then exhaled, visibly trying to calm herself down. Hayley hadn't noticed until right then, but Sav's hands were trembling and her eyes were dark. She moved toward her and ran her hand up and down her back and didn't stop until her breath was back to normal. She knew exactly what it felt like to become paralyzed with breathless fear and felt a sharp twist in her gut upon seeing Sav in such a state.
Sav gave her a weak smile and stood up straight. After several minutes of silent waiting, there was a knock at the door and Hayley opened it, curious who was brave or stupid enough to walk around outside. Dan stood with his hat in his hands and searched her face before looking over her shoulder at Sav. He moved past her and looked up and down Sav's body, checking every spot he could for signs of harm. Once he looked satisfied, he gave her a longer than normal, yet modest hug, then backed away.
"I told you to check on the crops first. What the hell--"
"Mike was with me." He told her as he rubbed his hand up and down her arm. It appeared to be more soothing for him than Sav and Hayley found herself softly smiling at the endearing gesture, despite the ache in her heart. Sav's face softened and she never stopped gazing into his eyes. "He took Heath and Lee. We were all in a meetin' 'bout... Well, a meetin' 'bout those damn hogs, actually."
"Ironic..." Sav commented and peered over at Hayley.
"More like coincidence." She replied and took a step forward. "You said... You said Lee, Mike and Heath... That was all who were in the meeting?"
"Uh, yes'm." Dan tapped his hat on his knee and looked around like he was trying to hide something.
"Why wasn't..." She abandoned her resistance and plunged forward. She needed to know where Chris was. Suddenly hearing she wasn't with them made her worry as Chris always took Thomas out on Sunday evenings, most evenings for that matter. There was a slim possibility that...that she... "Where was Chris?"
"She... She, uh, she wasn't with us." Dan rubbed his mustache and glanced over at Sav then back at her. "We seen how tired she's been lately, so we decided to take care o' the hogs ourselves. Surprise her, ya know? But..."
"But?" Anxiety took over and Hayley cleared the space between them. She held onto his arm and stared at him as he squirmed a bit, staring back with wide eyes. "But what, Dan?"
"Sh-She...was out for a ride." He put his hand atop Hayley's and gave it a few pats. "In...the direction the hogs came from..."
She didn't need to hear more. Hayley grabbed one of the flashlights that hung on the wall and bolted out of the door, ignoring the cries from Dan and Sav to go back inside. She couldn't go back. Her mind filled with Chris' name and images of her working, holding her...smiling. She had a one track mind and no one could convince her to stay put.
"Miss, Hayley! Those yearlin's in the herd are dangerous! They got fresh tusks!" Dan paused, but Hayley still ignored him and rounded the corner of the house as she heard him shout, "Get back 'ere!"
She pulled out the keys to her car and hopped in, thankful she'd decided to just go on and park it next to The Barracks. It hadn't rained much since she arrived, maybe once or twice, and not ever hard or long enough to cause her sedan to become stuck in the dirt. Now, she had what she needed to get to Chris without heaving over from a long run, and it would have been a run. Only the revving engine of her car could carry her along the gravel road and forward.
She drove at lightning fast speed until she spotted Chris' cottage lit up only by her car's brights. When she parked the car and got out, she scanned the house and saw no sign of life from the outside. It was only eight-forty-three, so there was no way Chris was already in bed. She always stayed out with Thomas well past dark on Sundays. They always went to... The creek!
Hayley turned and a harsh twinge of agony rocked through her body at seeing the dark silhouette of Thomas resting in his stable. He didn't even look up at her as she ran to him, spotting that he still wore his saddle with the aid of her flashlight. Chris would never have left him in his stable with the saddle still on his back. She would have taken it off of him and given him a soothing brush down, then possibly stayed up longer chatting with him for a bit. She'd seen Chris do it a couple of times when she was still recovering in her bed and the twinge in her chest became a stab that throbbed throughout her entirety.
She left Thomas in his stable, closing the door, and turned for the hills toward the back of the property where that forbidden creek lay. If Chris got mad at her again for being there without permission, then sobeit. She had to make sure she was alright, breathing and unhurt, and a sickening feeling in her belly pushed her onward.
She didn't run in fear she may have an asthma attack and would then be of no help to Chris if she were hurt, but picked up a steady jog. What would she do if Chris were hurt? She didn't have a first aid kit but more importantly, if she had been hurt what if it was so bad she couldn't walk? How would she get her home?
"Please, don't be hurt, Chris... Where are you?"
She thought aloud as she was nearing the creek, close enough to hear its babble. Images of Chris in a hospital bed flashed across her mind and a chill ran up and down her spine. Now, all earlier feelings were forgotten and all she wanted was Chris unscathed and resting in her cottage. Maybe she had just been too tired, dead on her feet, to get Thomas settled properly. Maybe she was already in bed, settled in for the night and tucked away in her queen sized bed.
Hayley's hopes were shattered when she shined her light toward a dim shimmer in the distance. There was a flickering flashlight next to the giant boulder she'd seen last time she was here and she examined it with her light. Just to its side, there were a pair of boots and she knew who they belonged to like she knew the back of her hand. She moved the light steadily up Chris's body trying to convince herself it wasn't her. She had to be safe and sound in her...
She froze when she spotted Chris' pale face. A few drops of blood trailed down her cheek from her hairline and the sight of them made Hayley's stomach twist. She fought back the urge to vomit and ran to her like those same feral hogs were chasing her.
She knelt down next to Chris and reached out wiping away some of the droplets of blood while she shined her flashlight over her face. Aside from the paleness and a small cut Chris had just past her hairline, she appeared unhurt, but Hayley didn't have the chance to feel relieved as she spotted the real damage.
There was a red gash traveling vertically up Chris' calf whose blood soiled her pants and dripped down her muscled leg. Her trousers were slashed where the cut laid and completely shredded along their torn edges. Little bits of leg hair and loose threads mingled with the blood, some clinging to Chris' pale flesh. Hayley reached out, involuntarily wanting to comfort pain away she worried Chris may still feel in her unconsciousness, and she felt that some of the blood had already dried. That may have been a good sign. Maybe the bleeding had stopped relatively quickly and the dim light from her flashlight only made it look worse than it actually was.
She looked back at Chris' face and brushed some of her always defiant little red locks from her forehead to reexamine the cut on her head again. As soon as she found the cut once more, which for some reason even in its minuscule size bled ferociously, she covered it with her hand in an attempt to stop the blood flow. Setting her flashlight down beside herself, but on its hilt so that the light shone towards the trees and the sky above, she grabbed the hanky from her dress pocket.
It'd been a gift from her brother when she left and had been beautifully embroidered with little goats and chickens. She hadn't ever used it in fear of it being ruined, but the situation called for it and she still hadn't spoken to Ben in a while. It was fairly clear her family had effectively cut her off and she, in a way, had given up as well. Still, that didn't matter now. She needed to focus on Chris.
She unfolded it and lifted Chris' head with one hand while she folded it down to a flat strip like when the ranchers put their bandanas across their foreheads to catch their sweat. Sweat, however, was not what she was planning to catch. Wrapping it around the back of her head careful to not cause her more harm than good, she began to tie it off and Chris groaned as her face scrunched up. She turned her head from side to side, making it a bit hard for Hayley to finish and causing the material to tighten a bit too much.
Whoosh! Chris sat up and began swiping at the air, nearly hitting her a few times. Hayley reached out and grabbed her wrists trying to ground her for however brief an instant.
"Chris! Shh! It's okay!"
She turned toward Hayley and gave her infamous deer in the headlights stare. After a wave of apparent realization came to her mind and she eventually noticed the pain in her head, Chris held onto both sides of her face and groaned again. After a few moments of complete silence aside from their harmonizing breaths, Chris tried to stand, but Hayley stopped her.
"Just what do you think you are doing?" She hadn't meant for that to sound so demeaning.
"Uh... Hogs!" Chris shook her head like she was trying to remember something, but grunted when, evidently, more pain came. "Uhh...I think I hit my head..."
"You think? Chris, you're bleeding from multiple places, you look feverish and--"
"Multiple...?" She actually looked confused as to what Hayley could possibly mean. "What?"
Chris followed the light as Hayley picked up the flashlight and illuminated her leg making the blood on her calf sparkle. She grunted like she hadn't even felt the pain until looking at it. However, even with the cut being as long and reddened around its edges as it was, Chris probed at it. She poked her finger near it and winced a bit, but then settled. For a moment that felt like hours, she just sat in silence staring ahead, then a light went off!
Hayley nearly jumped as Chris yelped out an "Ah!" seemingly proud of herself for finally remembering what happened. She was smiling and Hayley was growing annoyed.
"Do you really care so little for your own wellbeing?" She could hear the tears coming in her own voice. She stood and balled her hands into fists, feeling her nails sharply digging into her palms. "Do you even care what would have happened if you were hurt worse? Or if you didn't wake up?" She paced from one end of Chris' body to the other as her sobs began to overpower her. Turning away, she surprised herself with more words that just wouldn't stop coming. "And now you're smiling? What would we have done if you got extremely hurt or worse? What would I..."
Hayley stopped her ramble when she turned back around and came face-to-face with her. Chris was standing, wincing a bit from the pain, but otherwise looking like the color may even be returning back to her face. Did... Did she just blush? Without thought, Hayley lifted her flashlight up, then mentally cursed herself when Chris jolted with pain.
She backed up, but Chris followed. She took Hayley's hand and gave it a calming squeeze. For a moment, nothing else in the world existed. Just the two of them standing there, silently looking into each other's eyes. Then, Chris finally spoke.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Her drawl was still there, but she innonciated every syllable in her words, seemingly trying to make sure she got her point across.
Hayley had an argument on the tip of her tongue, but for the life of her she couldn't say anything aloud with how Chris looked at her. Her eyes were warm and kind. Thoughtful, yet full of self doubt. The sadness and empathy swimming in the tiniest amount of tears that wouldn't go any further than Chris' eyelashes made her heart ache. She worried it may stop beating all together and found herself breathless.
"I should get home." Chris let go of her hand. "Need to clean this up, then go help out."
"Chris... You need to have your leg examined and go get shots." She sighed as she wiped away her drying tears with the back of her hand. "Can you at least do that before you help with the ranch?"
Chris looked very reluctant and Hayley couldn't help but think of the many illnesses she'd read about that can be spread from farm animals to humans. However, these weren't clean farm animals. They were feral hogs that could hold any number of diseases. Those images of Chris laying in a hospital bed crept up on her again and she cringed.
"Please... Please, Chris."
Chris studied her for a moment, then nodded and held out her hand. This time, Hayley didn't hesitate to grab it and quickly realized just how much they both needed it. Chris knew her way home after memorizing the land for years, pointing them in exactly the right direction, but Hayley could feel the small tugs on her hand. Chris was partially using her to walk, almost like a cane in a way, which she did not mind. She felt so useless to Chris in the past, no matter the work she did on the ranch, and now she felt she was actually helping. A smile tugged on her lips and she decided what to do for Chris that she knew would project this feeling to new heights, but more importantly, help her continue to calm her nerves.