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"Cody," he said gently. "Let me see?"
Reluctantly, she let go and he leaned in, carefully turning her palm upwards before he began to press around her elbow.
"She was favoring that shoulder too," I told him. "Not sure she even knows it hurts yet."
"Ok," Doc said. "You're going to need to come have a little visit with me. Now, you have two options."
"Yeah?" she asked.
He jerked his head back. "Anthony there can pick you up and carry you out, or you can get to your feet, wave to your fans, and limp your ass back to Sports Medicine."
She looked over to Anthony and a smile cracked her face. "Tempting..."
Which made me laugh. "No stealing my girl, bro."
But Cody thrust her good arm out. "I'm just going to need a little help."
I caught her hand, leaning back so she could pull against me as much as she wanted to. Her fingers gripped me hard. I felt her pull like she meant it, and then she was up. Immediately, Doc ducked under her arm, settling that around behind him so he could hook her waist.
"Ok, let's go, cowgirl," he said, leading her forward.
Cody walked. Her legs were ok, but she did grab onto Dr. Stephens, most likely because she was a little light-headed, or just dazed. As those two made their way to the closest gate, Anthony slapped my shoulder lightly.
"I'll make sure she's ok. Private area and all."
"Just take care of her," I begged him. "I don't need more bad news this weekend."
"We'll do our best," Anthony said. "You did good, Tanner. Looks like she might be out for a bit, but you made the right call with that dive."
"Stalker," I teased.
"Worried about these bulls," Anthony countered. "If she heads to the hospital, I'll make sure you know, but she should be in the back when you're done here."
"Thank you," I breathed.
Anthony followed Doc, stretching his legs to catch up with him and Cody. I turned the other way, jogging until I reached the corner of the arena, then jumped up on the wall. A swing of my legs had me over, and two steps took me straight to where Dean and J.D. were seated.
But Dean wasn't sitting. The man was standing, looking after Cody with panic on his face. He saw me, but he still couldn't pull his eyes away from her for more than a second.
"How bad?" J.D. asked from his wheelchair.
"Elbow," I told them. "She pulled it on her ride. It failed on her landing, probably from her wrap not coming loose fast enough. Doc's got her."
"And Jake's got her shit," J.D. said. "I'll get that from him later."
Dean just grabbed my shoulders. "Is shehurt, Tanner?"
I looked up at his face, thinking he hadn't heard me the first time, but that wasn't it. From his expression, this was a different question. He wanted to know if this was a bump or a tragedy. Her father was worried she was going to be the next one needing surgery.
"She's fine," I assured him, clasping his arm. "Tape, Dean. Maybe taking tomorrow off. She'll be fine. Nothing broken."
"She didn't get up," he said softly.
I just nodded. "Adrenaline. Gonna guess a woman who rides as well as she does hasn't had to push through that too often."
"No, she hasn't," he agreed before pulling me against his chest in a big hug. "I saw that save, son. I..." His voice broke. "Thank you."
I just nodded, stepping back towards the railing, but overhead the announcer was talking. The sound of my name made me look over to find the big screen showing the three of us.
