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I moved to the side of the truck where the horse’s head was and carefully reached out to touch him, speaking slowly in a soothing voice, telling him what a good job he’d done on the trip to the ranch. I waited until the gate was open, and then I undid the hook on the break-away tie Murphy had used in the trailer and replaced it with the rope halter. I kept talking to him softly to keep him calm as I gently tossed the rope over his back so I could reach it from inside the trailer.
Opening the trailer’s back door, I stepped inside, moving at a slow pace to keep him as calm as possible. He looked at me warily as I moved to the edge of the divider. “Aren’t you a pretty boy?” I cooed as I slowly laid my hand on his side, cringing when he tensed at my touch. No animal should react that way to a human’s touch. That was a learned reflex, and I hated it. I stood there with my hand on him until he relaxed a bit, and then I began to slide my hand along his side. “You’re safe here. Don’t you worry. We’ll get you all taken care of. Such a sweet boy.”
I stayed by him until he seemed to settle and then, in a calm, firm voice, let the others know what was going on. “We’re about to come out. He’s doing fine.”
He followed me with his eyes as I moved to the end of the divider. I kept my movements steady and one hand reassuringly on his left flank. I flipped the latch, releasing the divider, and carefully gripped the rope I’d laid across his back as I stepped back and opened the partition so the horse could exit the trailer. It was all going according to plan…until it wasn’t. We made it almost to the opening of the trailer when there was a loud clattering noise off to the side, and he spooked.
He attempted to rear up but didn’t have room, which seemed to intensify his panic. From there, everything moved so fast that I wasn’t even sure exactly what happened other than the fact that he bolted for the opening. He caught me with his back right hip or maybe his thigh, I’m not sure, knocking me hard into the metal trailer, and fuck did it hurt. My vision blurred until all I saw was white. I fought back a wave of nausea and stumbled out of the trailer. He’d ripped the rope out of my grip, but Cruz, Don, and Murphy had been standing by just outside the trailer and had successfully directed him through the gate and into the corral, thank goodness. Chasing a runaway horse didn’t sound like fun in that moment since I couldn’t move my left arm.
As soon as I was sure he was secured, I slid to the ground, holding my arm. “Son of a bitch,” I growled. This wasn’t my first dislocated shoulder, but I’d forgotten how badly it sucked.
“Fuck,” Cruz said when he saw me sitting there. He turned to look at Levi. “Run to the office and grab Spencer.”
“Spencer?” I asked, sounding confused. I mean, I wasn’t actually confused. I knew who Spencer was. He spent a lot of time here on the ranch, hanging out with Nolan. What I didn’t know was that he was here today or why Cruz sent for him.
“Yeah, he’s a nurse, remember?” Cruz asked, sounding even more concerned. He probably thought I had a concussion or something.
“Right. I knew that.” And I did. I’d just been talking about that with him a few nights ago with Cody and Landon. I’d just forgotten because, when I thought about Nolan’s friend, it wasn’t his profession I thought about. It was those big blue eyes and that soft curly hair. At least I assumed it was soft. It sure looked it.
“Nash!” Cruz said firmly in that deep, commanding voice he normally saved for a misbehaving horse or for Nolan, letting me know it probably wasn’t the first time he’d said my name. Hell, maybe I did have a concussion if I was thinking about the cutie he’d sent for instead of the pain in my shoulder. Of course, it actually wasn’t hurting too badly right now because I was cradling it against my chest and holding it perfectly still.
“Sorry. What did you say?” I managed to ask.
“Let’s get you up and into the bunkhouse. Then we’ll let Spencer take a look.”
“Pretty sure it’s dislocated.” I hissed out as pain shot up my arm and across my back as my arm moved slightly when he reached down and pulled me up.
He winced in sympathy. I was guessing, like most rodeo men, he understood the pain. “Shit, that hurts.”
“It does, but it isn’t my first. We’ll just have to pop it back in, and I’ll be right as rain.”
“Okay, we’ll let Spence check you out, and then, if we need to get you to urgent care, I’ll run you up there.”
“I don’t need to go to urgent care,” I insisted as I walked with him to the bunkhouse so Spencer could take a look. I knew what they’d do, and it was just as easy to do it here so I could get back to work. Speaking of work…
“Is the colt okay? He didn’t hurt himself?”
“The colt is fine. The wind knocked over the poles that were leaning against the barn and spooked him. It was just shit timing, but once he was out of the trailer, he calmed back down.”
“Good deal.” I was relieved. The last thing I wanted was for the poor thing to be injured because he was scared. He’d already had enough of that in his life. Cruz pushed the door to the bunkhouse open. I slipped in, flopped down on the couch in the common area, and waited for Spencer to come tell me what I already knew. Sure enough, a minute later, he and Nolan came rushing in the front door.
Spencer
“What happened? Levi said Nash is injured.” I looked from Cruz to Don frantically, and they stepped aside so I could see Nash sitting on the couch, pale as a ghost. The lines on his face and the way he was gritting his teeth told the story. The man was in serious pain. I rushed over to where he sat, looking for blood or any obvious injuries.
“It’s my shoulder,” he hissed out as he shifted on the couch, wincing at even that small movement. “It’s dislocated.”
“We should get you to urgent care and check it to make sure.”
“Trust me, cutie, I know a dislocated shoulder when I feel it. This ain’t my first go-round with a horse.”
I ignored the cutie part and rolled my eyes. “And that’s exactly why we need to scan it. The more times you injure the same location, the more at risk you are for tears to the ligaments.”
“It’ll be fine,” he insisted.
“Stubborn freaking cowboys,” I grumbled. “You’re not going to go, are you?”
He shrugged with his one good shoulder. “Nope. It ain’t fun, but I can put it back in place myself if I have to.”
