Page 10 of Wyoming Bodyguard
Gratitude washed over Lily as she followed the doctor down a wide corridor. The smell of disinfectant hung heavy in the air. Nurses buzzed from room to room, caring for patients and speaking with doctors. Lily’s nerves stretched tighter with each step. By the time they reached her father’s room, anxiety practically oozed from her pores.
Dr. Waters stopped at room 104. “Try to keep your visit brief. He needs rest.”
Lily walked past the doctor and entered the dimly lit room. She ignored the lone chair pressed against the far wall and approached the bed. White rails caged her dad in place. Machines beeped and hummed beside him, broadcasting numbers and stats that might as well be in another language.
Tears clogged her throat and strangled her as she approached her dad. Tubes ran out of his mouth, connecting him to a machine to help him breathe. IVs connected bags of fluid that hung from hooks beside him. “Daddy?”
She held her breath, wishing he’d open his eyes and grin. That he’d shed the medical equipment that kept him alive and tell her it was all a big joke. That he was fine, and they could go home and share a nightcap on the porch.
But he didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Didn’t do a damn thing to take her out of the nightmare she’d endured for the past few hours.
She coughed, clearing the emotion from her throat, and forced herself to be strong. She placed her hand over his and cringed at the cool, lifeless feel of it. “It’s me, Lily. I talked to the doctor. She said you’ll be right as rain in no time. You’ve just got to rest and take care of yourself. Let the doctors and nurses do their jobs, okay? I know lying around and doing nothing is hard for you. But now it’s time to let other people take care of you for once. Then we’ll get you home where you belong.”
Minutes ticked by, the sound of the machines her constant companion, until she couldn’t stomach the sight of her father looking so small, so vulnerable.
So close to death.
She raised his hand and pressed her lips to the thin skin on his knuckles before placing his arm gently at his side. “I’ll be back, Dad. I love you.”
* * *
Thirty minutes later, Lily gathered what was left of her energy as she prepared to peel herself from Eve’s car. Blood still stained her shirt since she hadn’t found a need to change on the way out of the hospital, but she’d forced down the sandwich Eve had brought.
“You can drop me off at the white barn,” Lily said.
Eve maneuvered the car over the gravel drive, past the large cabin, and parked in front of the old structure that housed her horses. “Why the barn?”
“Horses don’t care if I’m tired. They still need to be fed.” As much as she wanted nothing more than to stand in the shower for an hour and wash away this horrible day, she couldn’t shrug off her responsibilities. Not even for one night.
“Would you like help?” Eve asked. “I might not know my way around a ranch, but I’m pretty good at taking direction. We can get those pesky chores finished in half the time.”
“You’ve already done so much. I couldn’t ask you for more.”
“Then it’s a good thing you didn’t ask, and I offered.” Eve turned off the engine and hopped out of the car before Lily could refuse.
Because as much as she didn’t want to put Eve out anymore, the thought of getting into the shower even faster was just the push Lily needed to climb out of the vehicle and into the warm night air. Her body yearned for the comfort of her home, but a peacefulness washed over her as she pushed open the barn door and breathed in the scent of hay and horse.
This was her sanctuary.
She led Eve to the storage room at the back of the barn and showed her where the horse’s food was held and how to access water for the buckets inside their stalls. “If you can feed and water the horses, I can muck the stalls.”
Eve went right to work while Lily grabbed a shovel and wheelbarrow. By the time she got to the last stall, sweat dripped down the back of her neck and her muscles ached. She was tired as hell, but a good tired. The kind of exhaustion that only came after hard work, and would help her mind shut off when she crawled into bed at night.
Queenie, her golden American quarter horse, whinnied then butted her long nose against Lily’s shoulder.
“I see you, lady.” Lily rested her forehead against Queenie’s soft muzzle and sighed.
She’d always loved her mother’s horse, and their bond had grown after her mom passed away. As though the two needed each other in a way no one else understood.
And now, she needed the unconditional love of this animal who meant so much to her.
The clearing of a throat shifted her head so her cheek pressed against Queenie.
Eve wiped the back of her wrist across her forehead, smearing dirt on her skin. “Everyone’s fed and watered.”
“Thank you. Really. You can’t understand how much this means to me. I owe you big time.”
Eve ran a palm along the strong muscles at Queenie’s neck. “Are you kidding me? I was like a kid in a candy store with all these horses. Just wish it was a different situation that brought me out here.”
