Page 2 of Broken: Taylor

“Okay. Yeah. As long as we continue to be friends I’m cool with that.” Relieved they could always be frank and upfront Taylor hugged her again.

Both finished dressing while talking about the week ahead. It was as if a cloud lifted and they were back to being partners, friends.

“See you around Hamilton.” Felicia picked up her overnight bag and walked to the door.

Three weeks later

The house was too quiet. Tobias, his roommate and cousin, was gone. That morning it was just Taylor and the noisy silence of an empty house. Although there were two dogs in the house, the dogs were probably still asleep.

The clicking sounds from whatever appliance may as well have been a snare drum, the sound emanating from the kitchen into Taylor’s bedroom.

Even with a forearm across his eyes and the pillow cushioning his ears, the clicks and occasional sound of a toilet’s water running made him want to scream.

Silence normally didn’t bother him. However, on mornings when his entire body came to life with blinding pain, every sound pinged directly to the left side of his body. The shattered fragments of his hip that had been pieced together by some talented surgeon never did come to an agreement and work in conjunction. Instead the fuckers staged a daily parade of pain and agony up and down his leg.

Taylor groaned and turned to his right side in hopes of relieving any pressure to the throbbing left hip.

While the damn aches hip-hip-hurrahed in his honor, Taylor clenched his jaw and moaned.

There were only four pain pills left. The next refill would not be available until later that week. The promise of relief killed any thought of saving some pills for the next couple days.

Carefully avoiding moving his left leg as much as possible, he reached into the nightstand drawer.

Without looking, he grabbed the plastic pill jar and popped the lid off. He couldn’t take them all. The prescribed dosage was one, two at the most in one day.

Yeah, like that would do a damned thing.

The lid bounced on the floor and tipping the jar up, three pills slid into his mouth. He saved one for later.

The last thing he needed was to become a prescription drug addict on top of everything else. At least that’s what he told himself. As of late, the one-month dosage only lasted half the time.

He maneuvered the pills under his tongue. They would work faster that way. In about fifteen minutes, he could get up, probably not pain free, but with enough of an edge off to make it through another day.

One hour and two cups of coffee later, Taylor was about as ready as he could be to face the day.

It was still early, not quite eight in the morning. However, work could not wait. There was much to do and not enough time for it. The two ranch hands would be there soon, so he didn’t worry about the horses being let out to the corrals. However, there were cows to check on and several new additions to the herd that needed tending.

Tobias was gone for two weeks. First week, he’d gone on vacation with his sister and parents. The second week, he and Luke were going to a ranching convention in Billings.

His aunt and uncle had invited Taylor to go on the cruise with them, insisting they could let one of the ranch hands cover the work.

Oh hell naw. Each time they’d brought it up, he’d declined.

The last thing he needed at the moment was to be in close quarters with anyone. It would be too hard to keep from letting them know how hard things had become lately.

In a way, he was on a vacation of his own. Not having to put up a front, to make excuses for being slow to do things, or his continuous bad temper.

Tobias’ dogs, two tan Labradors, trotted to the front door and he opened it to let them out. He was glad for the company, although the dogs preferred being outdoors, which he didn’t blame them for.

Bursting with fall colors, the scenery outside made Taylor hesitate and take it all in. Trees of differing heights, rolling hills, and land for as far as he could see with the backdrop of snow-capped mountains was breathtakingly beautiful.

Just over a hill to the left, was where his other cousin, Luke, lived with his girlfriend Leah. However, to see the house, he’d have to go about half a mile out to the edge of the property.

The dogs raced back inside and stood by their food bowls with expectant expressions.

“Your wish is my command,” Taylor mumbled, getting out the dog food and scooping out kibbles.

Just as he placed the full bowls down, the doorbell rang. Chaos ensued.