“Have they told you how bad it is?” she asked quietly. Her hand found his and she held it tight enough he winced. “Sorry,” she gasped. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
His eyes shifted to her again. “It’s pretty bad,” he finally managed.
Her lower lip wobbled. “Really?”
Jacob stared up at the ceiling. What was he going to tell his sponsor? What about Kai? His manager was going to be livid with him for putting himself in this situation to begin with.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” she said, her voice cracking, breaking, shattering the silence that filled the spaces between each beep of the machine.
He scoffed, then winced at the effort it took him. “And let you take my place? Not on your life, Hallie.”
Her tears fell faster then, pouring down her cheeks. The twinge in his chest morphed into something almost feral. She shouldn’t have to deal with this. He’d made a decision. He’d tried to be a hero. Maybe he regretted it. Maybe he didn’t. It was too soon to tell. But he’d never admit it, least of all to her.
“You need to go, Hallie.”
Her head snapped up and she stared at him with more pain than he’d thought possible. “What?”
“I don’t want you here.”
“But—”
At that moment Dr. Smith walked in. “Mr. Hines, this is Dr. Drake. He’s the leading physical therapist in the area. He’s on his way out of town for the weekend but he wanted to ensure we both speak with you regarding your treatment.”
Jacob couldn’t see Hallie anymore and he wasn’t sure if she left the room or if she simply moved out of his line of sight. He opened his mouth to ask, but the doctors jumped in before he had a chance.
“Mr. Hines, Nurse Sebastian has alerted me to your concerns regarding your ability to walk.”
A sharp gasp filled the air, the only indication that Hallie hadn’t left. But at this point, Jacob didn’t care. He needed answers.
Dr. Drake continued. “The compression fracture of your cervical spine isn’t severe enough to present problems to your mobility as long as you give yourself time to heal. There doesn’t look to be any damage to your spinal cord. Dr. Smith and I have discussed treatment, and the best course of action will be a sturdy neck brace for six to ten weeks followed by some physical therapy.”
“And as for the fracture to your fibula, it was also simple enough to avoid surgery. We’ll put a cast on it and the same treatment will be prescribed as with your cervical fracture,” Dr. Smith added. “You were very lucky.”
Jacob didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath until those words reached him. He exhaled heavily and blinked rapidly to avoid shedding tears, but still, one escaped. “That’s good, then. I should be able to ride again, right?”
The doctors exchanged looks and his heart sped up. “I’ll still be able to compete in the rodeo, right, doc?”
Dr. Smith cleared her throat. “It’s a little soon to tell. I can’t give you a firm answer yet.”
“But you said they weren’t severe breaks.”
“I did, however there are a lot of things to consider. We need to see how you heal. Some patients see a higher likelihood of additional breaks. Others don’t have an increase in risk. We’ll need to wait until you get through the initial stages of the healing process.”
“But if you had to guess,” Jacob pressed, hating the urgency in his voice, the pleading. “I’m not going to hold it against you if you’re wrong. Just tell me if there’s a chance I can.”
“Of course there’s always a chance you can return. But you can’t?—”
“But I shouldn’t get my hopes up. That’s what you’re saying.” Jacob looked from one doctor to the other. That was it then. There was a good chance his career was over and this was the end of it. He might as well hang up his spurs. Served him right.
Dr. Drake spoke up again. “How about we take this one day at a time. Let’s see how things go and we’ll reevaluate it in six weeks. Then eight. What do you say?”
Jacob worked his jaw even though it was incredibly painful. He refused to answer the man. There wasn’t any point to any of this. He’d be sent home, expected to just sit and wait for his body to heal. By the time he was healed, he would have lost time—time he could have used to practice, time he needed to ensure he would earn a national title.
“Now, we need to discuss what happens next. We should be able to discharge you in the morning. Do you have anyone at home who will be able to help you?—”
“No.”
“Yes.”
