Hercules: A Matter of Trust (6 page)

I
t took almost twenty minutes to catch Sapphire. They'd ended up having to corner him with eleven volunteers, and the only reason they succeeded was because he'd had his fun and was ready to stop. Meredith had had to go ride in her second Large Pony class, and had handed Moondance off to one of the spectators. The entire class was disrupted, people weren't impressed, but at least Red Shirt was long gone.

Emily hadn't been able to stop giggling at his antics, which had really not made Aunt Debby happy.

They'd just caught Sapphire when Meredith appeared at the in gate on Halo, clutching a blue first-place ribbon in her hand. “Emily!”

Emily clenched her jaw when she saw the blue ribbon. “What?”

“It's almost your turn in the Maiden over fences class! There are only five horses left in the class, so you have to go soon!”

Emily caught her breath and butterflies jumped in her belly as Aunt Debby came up behind her, clutching Sapphire's reins in her fist. “Go get on Moondance and head to the warm-up area. I'll be right behind you.”

Uh-oh…Emily could hear from the grittiness in her voice that Aunt Debby was in a severely bad mood. Emily swallowed. “Okay.” She glanced at Sapphire, who was dripping with sweat and blowing hard, wanting desperately to give him a hug.

“Emily!”

“Right.” She whirled away and ran for the in gate, where a woman in a bright red shirt and hot pink sunglasses was holding Moondance's reins. “Thanks.”

“Sure thing, sweetie. Nice effort out there.”

Emily swung up on Moondance, barely making it aboard without a leg up, then she turned and headed toward the warm-up area, where horses were racing around, jumping over two verticals set up in the middle. She kicked Moondance into a trot, then hauled her to a stop when someone cut in front of her.

She looked around and suddenly registered the craziness around her. Horses going in every direction, jumping, cantering, trotting. Coaches shouting—

“Emily! Trot the low vertical!” Aunt Debby was standing on the edge of the warm-up area, still holding Sapphire's reins. He was breathing hard, and Emily knew he needed to be cooled down properly.

“Emily! There are only two horses in front of you in the class. Get going!”

She winced at Aunt Debby's aggravated tone and gathered her reins, nudging Moondance into a trot, then quickly stopping when she saw the line of riders waiting to take the jump. With a frown, she pulled up at the end of the line. How was she supposed to warm up properly? Trot for ten seconds. Stand still for five minutes. Trot twenty feet to one of the jumps, then repeat the process? It wouldn't be enough—

Her turn came, and Emily gathered her reins and nudged Moondance into a trot. They were so close to the jump, she barely had time to get into a half-seat before Moondance leaped up. Emily forgot to grab the mane, got left behind, and then jerked forward, nearly pitching over Moondance's shoulder.

She glanced around, but no one seemed to be paying her any attention. The next horse was already
jumping the single rail, and Emily hurried to get out of the way.

“Emily! Focus!”

Right. Focus.
Sure
. Emily queued up again and tried to calm her mind and focus on the jumping. This was the class where she needed to concentrate the most, the class where the most was at stake. She frantically recapped all she'd learned in her two jumping lessons—then suddenly remembered that Aunt Debby had warned her this morning she'd have to memorize the order of jumps before she went into the ring!

She jerked her gaze toward the ring and saw a girl on a gray pony jumping. Emily tried to watch the order and still keep an eye on the line as it moved toward the warm-up jump. Diagonal oxer, turn left, take the white picket fence to the brush jump…

“Your turn,” the girl behind Emily said, and Emily turned back toward the warm-up vertical, realizing it was indeed her turn.

She glanced again at the course as she gathered her reins. Turn left after the brush jump and then head down the diagonal line…

She nudged Moondance into a trot and tried to focus on the jump in front of her, then saw a flash of red out of the corner of her eye. She whipped her head
to the right and saw Red Shirt talking to Aunt Debby. About Sapphire?

Moondance lurched over the jump, tripped on the rails, and stumbled, jerking Emily off balance. She flew over Moondance's head and landed flat on her back.

Pain ripped down her back, and she tried to suck in her breath, but no air came in. Her lungs wouldn't work! She tried to sit up; pain screamed through her and her body froze. She couldn't move! Tears slid out of her eyes, and she panicked—

“It's okay, Emily.” Aunt Debby was suddenly leaning over her, her tanned face creased with worry. “Don't try to move.”

Emily shook her head, tried to breathe, couldn't get air, couldn't talk. Sucked in a tiny breath, her body seized up—She grabbed for her aunt's hand, tears flooding her eyes.

“You got the wind knocked out of you, honey.” Aunt Debby held her hand tightly, leaning over her. “Just try to relax and it'll come back.” She jerked her head up and looked around. “You! Get the ambulance over here!”

Ambulance?
Emily tried to shake her head again, but it hurt too much. Tried to suck in more air, but her lungs wouldn't work. She was going to die! Had she
broken her back? Punctured her lung?
What was wrong with her?

“Keep trying to breathe.” Aunt Debby's voice was too calm. Didn't she realize Emily was dying? “Breathe, Emily.”

Emily's lungs sucked again, trying to get air, and they froze up again. Inhale and freeze. Inhale and freeze. Repeated convulsions as her body fought for oxygen…

Suddenly a man was leaning over her, a little emblem on his shirt indicating he was a medical guy. “Hi there, Emily. You're going to be fine. Does your back hurt?”

Emily managed a nod while her lungs continued to seize up on her, and he nodded. “Keep breathing.” Someone else leaned over Emily, blocking the sun, and then they wrapped something around her neck.

She clawed it, suffocating, panic racing through her, and the man caught her hands. “Okay, Emily, try to calm down. You can breathe just fine. It's only a collar to immobilize your neck until we know for sure it's okay.”

A broken neck? She might have a broken neck?
She tried to shake her head, nearly screamed with the pain, and sucked in more air, and this time she got a little breath before her lungs seized up.

“See? You'll be okay. You're getting more air already.”
He looked up. “Get the stretcher over here.”

Stretcher?
“No…” She managed to gasp the one word, and he ignored her, and suddenly she found herself sliding onto a stiff surface. Pain shot through her back again, and she gasped, Aunt Debby huddling behind the ambulance guy.

Aunt Debby leaned over her and took her hand. “It's okay, Em. I'm going to call your dad, and he'll meet us at the hospital. I'm going to ride over with you in the ambulance. You'll be fine.”

“No…” Emily tried to sit up, but she couldn't. Something was holding her down. Straps! They'd tied her down! Panic raced through her again, and she started to fight, her breath coming easier now, but her back still hurting so badly. “Have to ride—”

“No, you don't.” Aunt Debby's voice was firm, and she shook her head. “You are going to the hospital.”

Aunt Debby stepped back, and the medical guy was there again, and they were all talking and ignoring her, and then she heard Aunt Debby ask if Emily's back was broken and the guy said he didn't know yet.

And that's when Emily started to cry.

“
O
kay, Emily, how are you feeling?”

Emily managed a trembly smile at the doctor. The doctors had determined that Emily was going to be fine (according to them), and Aunt Debby had confirmed Emily's dad was on his way. The two adults had decided that Aunt Debby should go back to the show, because neither of them liked leaving Alison and Meredith alone there, in case something happened to
them.

So, Aunt Debby had left, but Emily's dad hadn't appeared yet, and it had been
forever.
The white walls were closing in on her, the smell of antiseptic harsh on her nose. She could hear the sounds of whispers,
of tears, of low voices in the hall. “Fine.” She sniffled, trying to keep from crying. “I'm fine.”

“Good.” The doctor pulled up a seat next to the bed Emily was in. She'd introduced herself as Dr. Truax, and she had bright red hair pulled into a bun, but lots of strands were falling out. Her eyes were blue and she was young. And so nice. She'd come in to see Emily every few minutes and had even brought her a copy of
Teen People
. If it weren't for Dr. Truax, Emily knew she would have totally fallen apart.

“Is your dad here yet?”

“No.” Emily bit her lip to fight the tears. Where was her dad? She'd been there almost two hours!

Dr. Truax's forehead wrinkled, but she patted Emily's leg. “Now, don't you worry, Emily. I'm sure he'll be here soon.” She pulled out a plate of brownies from behind her back. “I stole them from the employee break room. One of the nurses makes them from scratch. Triple chocolate fudge with homemade frosting. Want some?”

“Ooh…” Emily leaned forward to peer at the plate. “Really? They look so good.”

“They are good. Help yourself.” Dr. Truax picked up a brownie and took a big bite, chocolate crumbles falling down the front of her white jacket. “Mmm…”

Emily giggled and picked up a brownie. “You have fudge on your clothes.” She held up the sticky brownie in two hands and sank her teeth into it. Rich, gooey, warm chocolate oozed over her tongue. “Ohmygoth,” she said with a full mouth. “Thith ith the betht…” She swallowed. “The best brownie
ever
.”

Dr. Truax nodded. “So worth some fudge on the shirt front, don't you think?”

“For sure.” Emily shoved the rest of the brownie in her mouth. “Can I have more?”

The doctor winked at Emily. “They're all for you.”

“Oh,
cool
.” Emily helped herself to another and sighed with delight as it melted in her mouth. “This almost makes the whole hospital trip worthwhile—”

The door slammed open and there stood her dad, wearing jeans and boots. “Emily!” His hair was totally scruffy, he had bags under his eyes, and his skin was an ashen gray. He looked sick. He looked terrified.
He looked like the best thing she'd ever seen
.

The tears flared up and spilled out, and the brownie hit the floor. “Daddy!”

“Oh, Em!” He was across the hospital room and had her in his arms in a split second.

Emily fell into him, unable to stop the sobs that exploded when his arms closed around her, protecting
her, making her safe forever and ever. “What took you so long? I've been waiting and waiting and waiting—”

“Sweetie, I'm so sorry it took me so long to get here.” He kissed the top of her head like he used to do when she was little when he used to put her to bed, and Emily sagged against him.

“Don't leave me,” she whispered, scrunching her eyes closed as she buried her face in the rough material of his shirt.

“Never.” He hugged her tightly, twisting her back.

She squawked with pain, and he quickly released her, his face white. “What's wrong? Tell me.”

“No, don't let go of me.” She couldn't keep the whine out of her voice, but she needed him to hold her so badly.

“Excuse me,” the doctor interrupted. “I'm Dr. Truax. You must be Emily's dad?”

“Yes.” He sat next to Emily on the bed and wrapped his arm carefully around her. “What's going on?”

Emily leaned into him, so happy he was finally there. She sighed, knowing that she didn't have to be strong anymore. He'd take care of her.

Dr. Truax wrapped the brownies back up and handed them to Emily. “She'll be fine.”

Emily's dad tightened his arm around Emily. “Really?”
His voice cracked slightly.

“Really.” Dr. Truax nodded. “She has a bad bruise on her back. Looks like she landed on a rock, maybe. She also got the wind knocked out of her, but she's breathing fine now, right, Emily?”

Emily managed a nod as she sagged against him.

“Give her back a few days to heal up, and she's good to go.” Dr. Truax ruffled Emily's hair. “She's free to leave, of course. Try to stay in the saddle next time, young lady.”

Emily shuddered at the thought of jumping again. It had been such a tiny jump, and she'd been hurt so badly….

Nope. There wasn't going to be a next time.

She was done jumping.

 

Emily eased gingerly into the booth at Jake's Burgers an hour later, where she and her dad had stopped for dinner on the way home from the hospital. She'd fallen asleep the minute they'd gotten in the car and had woken up as her dad had pulled into the parking lot.

She was still groggy but felt a little calmer.

Calm enough to be mad.

Her dad slid opposite her and gave her a worried look. “How do you feel?”

“Why did it take you so long to get to the hospital?”

He winced. “I'm so sorry, hon. I left the minute Aunt Debby called me, but the hospital was a lot closer to the show than it was to the farm. Trust me, I broke a few laws getting there.”

“If you'd been at the show, you would have been there with me the whole time. Do you know how scared I was? Aunt Debby
left me there.
” Her voice broke, and she snapped her mouth shut. She was
so tired
of crying.

“I know, Em, I know.” He ground his teeth and rubbed his hand over his eyes. “Believe me, it was killing me, knowing you were there alone.”

“Aunt Debby—”

“Aunt Debby couldn't leave the girls alone at the show, in case something else happened. Once she knew you were going to be okay, we both felt that it was important for her to get back there.” He interrupted quickly, almost as if he were trying to convince himself. His voice was low and tense, rough. “She had no choice.”

Emily snorted. “No, she had a choice. You both did, and you both chose the show and two perfectly healthy girls instead of me in a hospital, possibly
dying
!”

Her dad's eyebrows went up. “Oh,
Emily
.” He sounded so incredibly sorry. “You thought you were dying?”

“How did I know? I couldn't breathe!” She recalled again the panic, the pain, and started to hunch into a little ball. Her old dad, the dad in New Jersey, would
never
have left her alone in the hospital for two hours. She never would have gotten hurt this badly in a dressage show, and Les would have made sure she was organized, not two hours late. “Dad?”

“Yes, sweetie?” His voice was soft as he reached across the table and stroked her hair.

“I want to go home.”

“Back to the farm?”

“No.” She raised her eyes to his. “To New Jersey. I want everything back the way it used to be. I want you to have time for me again, I want to ride Rhapsody in the dressage show next weekend, and I want a coach who won't send me off to the hospital by myself.” Her lower lip was trembling, but she couldn't stop it. “I want to go back.”
Because in New Jersey, I matter.

Her dad's hand dropped from her hair and he leaned back in his seat, a suddenly wary look on his face.

An expression that made her stomach turn. “Dad?”

“I, um…” He cleared his throat. “I thought
we agreed that we wanted to stay at the farm for a while….”

Emily sat up, gasped at the shot of pain, and then looked at her dad.
“What did you do?”

“I gave up the lease on Rhapsody. He isn't yours anymore.”

Tears filled her eyes before she could stop them as the pain of the ultimate betrayal knifed through her. “You didn't!”

Her dad nodded. “It makes sense, Em. I can't keep paying for him if we're not going to be there and he needs someone to take care of him. Your friend Jenny Smith picked up the lease—”

“
Jenny?
” Oh, no! Not Jenny! Emily could just see Jenny's smug face laughing at her as Jenny finally got the horse they'd both coveted. “How could you do that to me without talking to me first?”

“Emily—”

“This is all because of the farm! You used to be my best friend, and we used to be there for each other. You would
never
have done something like this to me. Never!” Her stomach ached. “Aunt Debby's changing you. You aren't my dad anymore—”

“Emily!” Her dad leaned forward. “I understand it's been a tough day for you, and I agree I should have
been at the hospital the whole time, but I still love you, and I haven't changed. I have to make the decisions that are best for us—”

“For you! Not me!” She shook her head, unable to stop her hands from shaking. “How can I trust you anymore? I can't. You're on
her
side now. Not mine. I don't matter.”

“Of course you matter—”

She met his gaze. “Why didn't you tell me about Rhapsody before you did it?”

Her dad seemed to sag in his seat. “I knew it would upset you.”

“So you lied to me so you could do what you wanted without even telling me? Even though you knew Rhapsody was my dream?”

Her dad frowned. “I thought you had new dreams.”

“No, Dad. You do.” She folded her arms. She bit her lip, refusing to look at him, too upset to talk anymore. Her dad, her best friend for her whole life…she couldn't trust him anymore.

And Aunt Debby had tried to sell Sapphire without telling her, and then she'd teamed up with her dad to abandon her in the hospital.

It was official. She was on her own.