Page 43 of His Tenth Dance

“We’ll have to watch this closely for infection,” she said. “And we need to get the inflammation down. If we can’t control both of those, we’re looking at laminitis. It’s painful. Very hard to recover from.”

She paused and looked at Mission, then Gloria.

“Some horses don’t.” She had to be honest; it wouldn’t be fair to give Molly and Hunter false hope. Silence settled over the three of them like a wet blanket on a dark night.

“But we’re not there yet,” Kristie said as brightly as she could. “Right now, she’s doing great. She’s letting me treat her. She’s scared and hurting, but I’m going to numb this and clean it more thoroughly.”

Hooves were so dirty—really the worst part of a horse that could be injured—but Kristie kept that to herself.

“I’ll text Hunter and Deacon,” Gloria said, and she moved away to do that.

Kristie kept working, and Mission kept Lady right at his shoulder, holding her and shushing her when she snuffled or moved. Kristie administered the shots to numb the wound and gave Lady the pain medication that would make her more comfortable.

She also administered an antibiotic and flushed and cleaned the wound three times to make sure she’d gotten everything. The scent of metal, antiseptic, and medicine filled the air, and Kristie found it oddly comforting.

She started to wrap the hoof. “We want to check this and make sure it’s not bleeding several times a day.”

With the hoof partially bandaged, Kristie got out her portable X-ray machine and set it up. “I’m just going to make sure there’s nothing broken,” she said. “I don’t think there is—I think we’d see a lot more damage to the leg if there was.”

“All right,” Mission said, as if she needed his permission to do her job.

She took the images and examined them. “I don’t see any broken bones,” she told Mission.

“That’s good news,” he said.

She clipped the image to the clipboard on the wall, not knowing what it was for but assuming Gloria—and perhaps Molly—would want to see it.

“I’m going to finish this bandage and put her in ice boots,” she said. “I have those and some hoof support pads back at my house. I’ll have to go get them.”

“What’ve we got?” Deacon asked as he returned with Gloria.

Kristie quickly went through everything again for him, and then asked, “How’s Molly?”

“We just heard,” Deacon said. “She’s awake and doing well.”

“They’re going to keep her overnight, though,” Gloria said, shooting Deacon a look that said so much. “She’s got a moderate concussion.”

“She lost consciousness for a long time,” Kristie said. “I’m surprised they didn’t say it was severe.”

“Oh, it’s severe,” Deacon said. “But she can remember before and after the fall. She hasn’t thrown up. She does have some trouble answering questions, and she’s got a headache. They’ve put her in a dark room.”

“She’ll need several days of rest,” Kristie said. “Have they done a CT scan?”

“Yeah. Everything came back okay,” Gloria said. “She doesn’t have any broken bones.”

Relief rushed through Kristie. “Oh, that’s great news,” she said. “Lady doesn’t have any broken bones either.” She indicated the X-ray on the clipboard. “But it could take months for the laminae to heal. And Lady will need around-the-clock attention for the next few days.”

Deacon moved over to the X-ray but didn’t touch it.

“I’m not sure what my schedule is,” she continued. “But I told Mission I needed to run home and get a few more things for her. Then, when I get back, I can clear tomorrow to stay with her.”

“We’d appreciate that,” Deacon said. “Is this stall gonna be okay?” He nodded to where Lady stood comfortably, her leg back in the sling.

Kristie turned and surveyed it, noting that Lady’s eyes had softened, and she only held them halfway open at the moment. She moved over to the gentle creature and stroked both hands down her neck.

“She has a scratch here?” she asked.

“Right there,” Mission murmured, moving lower than Kristie had. It was superficial—barely any blood.

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