Page 29 of Saving Veronica
“Yes.”
“Do you know where you are?” The next question sounded slightly frustrated.
“I think.”
“Do you know what day it is?” This question definitely frustrated the doctor, and Ronnie rolled her eyes at the guy again, as he smirked.
“No,” she answered truthfully.
“Dr. Smith, may I?” The guy at the end of her bed asked of the older doctor.
“Be my guest, Dr. Atwal.” He waved to him and the man named Dr. Atwal didn’t move away from the foot of the bed, but he also didn’t say anything, until he had Ronnie’s undivided attention.
“What’s your name?”
Ronnie smirked and answered. “Veronica Renee Parker.” The older doctor, Dr. Smith swore under his breath.
“Do you know where you are?”
She looked at the chest of his white coat and smirked again. “Obviously a hospital, and I’m guessing from your coat, Helena Mercy.”
“Okay, and you’d be correct. Now, I’m almost positive you don’t know what day it is without some information.”
“And you would be right.”
“So, how about this? What was the last thing you remember?”
Ronnie told them about her week walking the meadow, then finding Paige and what she remembered from that.
“Okay now,” Dr. Atwal said. “Start when you found Paige. What did you do and what happened?”
“Why do you want to know?” Ronnie frowned. “What’s wrong with me, and how did I get here? And when can I go home?”
“We’ll get to that, but first, medically speaking, you’ve received several severe injuries and have been through hell. We, as your doctors, need to know what happened.”
Ronnie stared at him, then sighed. “I found Paige.” She realized everyone around her sighed along with her. “She is my pregnant mare, due two weeks before I went looking for her. When I found her, she faced the bottom of the ravine fifty feet down and was in active labor. I took off my slicker and flannel to help her finish delivering. As soon as the foal was born, Paige rose and faced the top of the ravine. I knew there was no way in hell the baby would make it on its own so I gathered it to my chest and elbow crawled to the top. The foal ended up being one messy, squiggly bundle in my arms, but I made it.
“As soon as I set the foal down.” She paused and frowned. “Damn.”
“What?”
“I don’t know if it was a colt or filly.” She shrugged and looked directly at Dr. Atwal, as she continued, “As soon as I set the foal down, Paige and Sarge were there. Sarge is my stallion, I had him saddled. They both turned to check out the foal. I sat on my knees and I put my hands on my hips, leaning back to stretch out my lower back. Then, all hell broke loose.” She frowned and looked off to the left.
“How so?” Patch asked, after she remained silent for several minutes.
“You ever see a wild mustang, Doctor?” Ronnie frowned at him.
“Not up close and personal, no. But I’ve seen them on nature shows.”
“Have you ever seen them when they’re running full out, and the leader of the pack is biting and screaming at the others to get them moving? Teeth actually biting flesh? The whites of their eyes are showing, and they’re screaming in terror, causing the hair on your body to stand on end?”
“Again, not personally, but I can only imagine. As I said, I’ve seen those things on the nature shows.”
“That’s what I saw and heard, up close and personal. I don’t know how many, but it seemed like as soon as I set the foal down next to its parents, I heard the screaming and thundering hooves. They were so close, I swore I could reach out and touch them. I looked at Paige and Sarge, thinking I could grab Sarge’s reins and have him drag me away, I’d get loose later. As I watched, all the horses lined up with their asses to the ravine, then I heard a different type of scream. One that made my blood curdle before freezing in my veins, and it made the hair stand up on my body. That scream put the fear of God in me. Caused me to freeze. Before I could look around to see what it was, I felt ungodly pain in my right thigh.” She reached down to rub the area, but Dr. Atwal stopped her hand from making contact. “I looked back at the horses and at the last minute I threw my head back like this.” She demonstrated. “The horses were kicking back toward me, one connected here.” She put her hand on her chest and frowned when she encountered hardness.
“We’ll get to that,” Dr. Atwal said, and she believed him. “What happened next?”
“When the horse kicked me, I flew back into nothing. I don’t remember how far I flew, or when I landed. The next thing I remember, I felt breathing, and heard growling around my head and body. I don’t know why, but I held completely still. I had my knife on my waist, and as soon as it was in my hand, I felt the breathing here.” She indicated her left upper arm. “Then I felt breathing here.” She indicated her left forearm. “I reached out blindly with my knife and heard screams, then I felt pain in my arm and I swear, but I can’t confirm it, but I swear I was thrown against some boulders. My whole right side was on fire. That’s the last thing I remember, until I woke up here.”
