Page 80 of JoyRide

I drove Billy to the hospital while Harlan took care of the trouble Billy had at the station. I sat Billy in the waiting area outside Emergency and walked up to the nurses’ station to get him moved to the top of the list. His head was bleeding and didn’t want to stop.

“Can I help you?” The triage nurse smiled at me.

“I have an injured sheriff sitting right over there. A head injury. He’s bleeding bad, and I need a doctor to look at him right away.”

“Take the sheriff to treatment room four down the corridor and I’ll send a nurse.” She handed me a clipboard with a form to fill out and I gave her the Harrison County Medical card.

“Thank you.”

I went back, got Billy, and walked him down the hall to room four. I could tell by the way he was walking that he was dizzy on his feet.

He stopped for a minute and leaned on the wall. “Hold up a second, Tammy. I might puke.”

“Let’s get you into room four and you can puke in there. Travis puked when he had a concussion.”

“You think I’ve got one?” Billy glanced up at me and his eyes looked weird. Concussion for sure.

“That guy hit you with the butt of his gun. You might need an x-ray to see the damage to your head.”

“I don’t want an x-ray.”

“Don’t be stubborn, Billy. Won’t hurt and only takes a minute.”

A nurse came in, cleaned all the blood off Billy’s head and neck, but it was still in his hair and would stay there until he got home and had a shower.

An orderly came in next with a wheelchair and whipped him off to the x-ray department.

While Billy was in x-ray, I found out where Danny Burridge was and took the elevator up to the ICU floor.

Lying in his bed, Danny was half asleep, with his left wrist chained to his bedrail. That was the most important thing to me. He had been hard to catch, and I didn’t want him running away on us again.

His mother sat in the chair next to his bed with a wad of tissues in her hand. Crying over Danny and I felt sorry for her having to deal all by herself with the trouble her son was in. Mister Burridge had run off and he wouldn’t be there to support either one of them.

She didn’t notice me in the unit and didn’t need to. I saw what I needed to see, turned around and left. I took the elevator back to the main floor and went back to see if Billy was fixed up.

Wild Stallion Ranch.

Billy had a mild concussion. The doctor gave him pills for the headache that was coming and might last for several days. The gash on Billy’s head didn’t need stitches. Just antiseptic cream and a bandage. He was happy about that.

Savanna was at the ranch when I drove Billy home, and she could watch over Travis and Billy both.

“I’m waiting for Harlan to finish up at the shop and drive Billy’s truck home to the ranch.”

“So sorry you got hurt, Billy,” said Savanna. “Lie down on the sofa and take it easy.”

“I’ll sit in there too,” said Travis. “Will you make fresh coffee, babe?”

Savanna smiled. “I’m all over that, boss.”

When Harlan got back to the ranch, He told us about Mister Smollett and asked Billy about the charges we needed to lay on the guy.

“I’ll write the list down for you, son,” said Billy. “You can book him in the morning.”

“Yeah, I’ll need Ted to help me control him. The guy is a fuckin nutter.”

“Wish I could tune him up,” said Travis, and Billy laughed.

Harlan and I ate sandwiches, drank coffee, then headed to the fairgrounds in Shelby with Max and Sarge.

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