Page 43 of Cowboy's Sinful Bargain

"Oh, fuck," Wade replied. "Where are you?"

"West of house near creek."

"Okay, I know where you are. We'll be right there."

"Wait, you need to bring a truck for Jos and something to move Bucky."

"Bucky?" Wade asked in a hesitant tone.

"Bucky got hurt in the stampede, but I think I can save him. We just need a way to move him back to the barn. Once I treat him, he can't be moved. I also need someone to bring a first aid kit and the green leather case from the top drawer of my dresser."

"Yeah, okay, we'll be there soon."

Once I hung up, I placed the cell phone back on Jos's belt. I wasn't sure what to do with the gun. I'd let Wade handle it when he got here. I didn't want to touch it. Guns were not something I had experience with.

I quickly looked Jos over, checking to make sure none of his injuries were life threatening. I didn't think they were, but I knew he might have internal injuries I couldn't spot. As long as the cows didn't come back, I wasn't going to move him.

Now, to Bucky.

It was easy to see where he was injured. Blood covered the jagged wound on his hindquarter. Before I could start to assess the injury, I needed to calm Bucky down.

I moved to his head and started speaking Japanese to him in a low, calm tone. I told him everything was going to be all right, even if I wasn't sure it was, I told him that he wouldn't feel any pain soon, and I told him how much Jos loved him.

I'm not sure how much of what I said Bucky understood because I didn't know horses that well, but his breathing calmed and he stopped shuddering so hard.

I guess that was something.

I moved back to the injury. I tore off the bottom of my T-shirt and wiped away as much of the blood as I could so I could see exactly what I needed to do to fix Bucky. The injury wasn't that deep, but it had torn into muscle quite severely.

I then understood what Jos had wanted to do. I might be an expert on horse anatomy, but I knew what it meant when muscle was destroyed like this. For a horse, it was a devastating injury.

I still felt that I might be able to do something.

I worked feverishly to stem the flow of blood while keeping Bucky as calm as possible. My movements, while frantic, were slow and measured as to not spook him.

Or me.

I was freaking out here a little bit.

I just hoped Jos didn't wake up before I could get help. I didn't have time to argue with him right now. Bucky had to be my first priority.

Relief flooded me when I heard the sounds of a vehicle approaching. It was going rather fast. When I looked up, I saw one of the ranch trucks tearing across the field right for me.

I prayed it stopped in time.

When it skidded to a stop several feet away, it threw up dust and debris into the air. Wade jumped out of the driver's seat and raced over to me, my green leather case in his hands.

"Are you okay?" was the first thing he asked.

I nodded as I held out my hand. "Case please."

Once Wade handed it over, I set it on the ground and unrolled it. I picked two needles. One that would block Bucky's pain receptors and one to keep him immobile. I didn't want himthrashing around when we tried to move him. I also didn't want him to feel any pain while we did it.

"Boss?" Wade called out as he shook Jos's shoulder. "Boss?"

"Let him sleep," I ordered. "I don't want him waking up until this is over with. If we have to put Bucky down, I don't want him to be the one to do it. He doesn't need that image in his head."

I was surprised when Wade listened to me.

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