Emergency personnel rushed to the gate, but the bull wasn’t exiting. He snorted and spun toward the crowd. He pounded his foot, then scraped it back, turning slowly toward Adam. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the cowboy on the pickup horse roped Rocket Fuel, his horse pulling the unwilling bull toward the gate.
Adam tried to get up, but the medics raced to him and wouldn’t let him move.
Merry Anna held her breath as she watched the team lift him onto a stretcher and carry him out of the ring.
The crowd cheered, yet Merry Anna and Zan both just stood there, speechless.
Adam raised a hand in the air, but Merry Anna wasn’t convinced he was okay.
What am I supposed to do? I can’t sit here waiting. Please be okay.
The rodeo continued. Another rider was already on a bull, another rock song pumping into the arena.
Merry Anna gathered their things and guided Zan. “Come on. We’re going to talk to some people and check on your dad, okay?”
Zan nodded, then ran her hand across her nose, sniffing back the tears. It broke Merry Anna’s heart. “Honey, it’s okay to cry when you’re scared or sad. See,Icried too.”
“My mommy said never cry.” She gulped a sob. “She said to be a brave girl while she’s gone.”
“Oh, you are very brave.” She squeezed her hand. “I promise that your mom would say it’s okay. You are a very special little lady. Your mom and dad are very lucky to have you.”
Merry Anna collected herself, then walked over to a guy holding a clipboard and asked for a report on Adam.
The guy lifted his gaze from the papers. “You his wife?”
She was tempted to lie, but surely all these guys knew each other. “I’m his friend, with his daughter.”
Clipboard Cowboy disappeared behind a curtain and then came back out. “You can go back there.”
Merry Anna tried to keep from dragging Zan, but she was anxious to see Adam for herself. Thank goodness that whenthey stepped inside the room, he was sitting on the edge of a medical table.
“I’m okay, baby girl. Come here. I’m sorry I scared you.”
Zan ran to him, clinging to his leather chaps. With a handful of fringe in her fist, she stuck to him like glue.
Adam closed his eyes, then looked at Merry Anna. “Concussion. Stitches. I’m going to have one heck of a headache.”
Relief allowed her to take her first real breath since the accident. “Adam.” She shook her head.
“Knowing you saw that hurt me worse than the bull.”
Doc walked over. “He’s going to have to go over to the hospital. I want them to do an MRI and check for spinal damage.”
“I could have walked off if they’d have let me. There’s no spinal damage.”
“Humor me.” Doc turned his attention to Merry Anna. “I can let you take him, or we can have the ambulance take him over.”
“I’m not getting in an ambulance,” Adam interrupted. “Doc, this is Merry Anna. She’ll take me.”
“I can drive him.” She’d never driven a truck as big as Adam’s in her life, but she’d get him there.
“That’s good, because he can’t drive for forty-eight hours after that type of injury,” Doc said. “Merry Anna, go ahead and pull the truck around here to the back. Zan can wait here with us.”
Merry Anna went out to the parking lot and got in the truck, resetting the seat so she could reach the pedals. Then she started the engine and idled forward and around to the back entrance, where a guard rent-a-cop stopped her.
“Hi,” she said. “I’m picking up Adam Locklear to take him to the hospital.”
He waved her through.
