Page 71 of Wildest Dreams

So, what do I do?

I run.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

TRIPP

Panic swarms me when I see Dixie moving for the door in which my brother and the doctor just came through.

“Dixie?” I call out.

“I'm just going to the restroom,” she gives me a small smile, eyes glistening with something but I have no idea what. My own smile slips onto my lips just as she disappears, and I instantly miss her.

What is happening to me?

“Tripp,” the young male doctor smiles at me as Riggs falls into the chair beside me with a low growl.

“Hey doc,” I wink at him, as he reaches for my chart just a nurse walks in behind him to check my monitor.

“How are you feeling?” his head tilts to the side as his eyes bounce between mine.

“Better than I look,” I smirk, and I hear the nurse giggle softly.

“That's good,” he nods, flipping over the paper on my chart, “we cleaned your bullet wound up and made sure there was no remnants of any kind. A bit of physio on your shoulder and you'll be good as new,” he chimes, and I watch as his face drops slightly but I don't miss it.

“But?” I ask and I hear Riggs clear his throat.

“Your leg...” he looks up from his chart. “It was bad Tripp; you were in surgery a long time. Your pelvis wasn’t broken and honestly, I am shocked. Muscle and ligament damage around your pelvis and hip, your femur is broken, and your tibia is fractured... along with a few broken toes. Not to mention you had concussion when you came in. We did carry out the relevant scans to make sure there were no bleeds on the brain, and you were all clear.”

“So, you fixed me back together again,” my eyes cast down to my caged leg.

“We did, few pins here and there... couple of bolts,” he gives a boyish grin, and I nod. “But it's going to be a long recovery. You're going to have to have rehabilitation for your walking; physio and so on...”

“How long before I am on the back of a horse again?”

My heart feels heavy at the mention of riding again, my mind flashes to Bucky. The way that coward shot at my horse, killing him instantly. He took my horse’s life. The horse I always loved a little more than the others... he destroyed him in under a minute.

“All in all... with the breaks you have, around two to three months.”

My eyes widen.

“But, it will depend on when you're up and about and well... we won't know for sure.”

“Get me up now,” I throw the covers back and try and move myself, hissing as I do with pain shocking through my body.

“Brother,” Riggs is beside me, hand resting on my good shoulder as he shakes his head from side to side.

“You need to rest, Tripp. You can leave hospital in a few days, but not until we know you have a set up at home.”

“We're going to move you into dad's office,” Riggs says softly.

I throw my head back on the pillow and nod, swallowing down the large burning lump that has lodged itself there.

“I'll be back to check on you soon, nurse Sarah will administer another dose of pain killers,” and just like that, he is gone.

“Pacey?” I turn to look at my older brother.

“Stable, but critical. Lost a lot of blood. They had a lot to repair, they think his spleen is damaged, but they were more focused on getting the bullet out and stopping the bleeding.” And I watch the way Riggs’ face changes. He looks haunted.

---