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He got to his feet. There was a good chance she had a concussion and needed to see a doctor. Dax pulled her to her feet, letting her lean into him as he pulled out his phone and sent a text to Brielle to call the doctor.
“Come on. We need to get you back before we get soaked by the storm.”
“You came to find me,” she said sleepily. “Does that mean we’re friends, now?”
“Sure.” He adjusted his grip on her. “I’m going to lift you into the saddle. You have to hold on while I get on.”
“So sleepy,” she yawned, then stumbled as he practically dragged her toward the horse.
“You can’t fall asleep, Sarah. You probably have a concussion.” By the time he got her in the saddle, the clouds were dropping fat drops of water. There was no way they wouldn’t be drenched by the time they made it back to the ranch.
He didn’t know how he managed to get her into the saddle without falling off. But the moment he got into the saddle behind her, he slipped one arm around her waist securely and turned the reins with the other. Sarah slumped against him, frailer than he’d remembered.
“Stay with me,” he muttered.
9
Sarah
Cold.
Ice cold.
Sarah moaned, shivering. She couldn’t remember her head hurting more than it did in this moment. Each time she breathed, it was like hitting her head against a wall.
Every sound, big or small, added insult to injury. She winced and attempted to shrink away from the source of the sounds, but they surrounded her.
She whimpered, surrounded in darkness with voices floating around her.
“Don’t we have to wake her up?”
“Where in the world is Dr. Henry?”
“He said he was on the way and it’s probably okay to let her rest.”
“I’m not going to risk her safety on a probably, Bri.”
“She’s shivering. Why won’t she stop shivering? Do we need to put her in front of the fire?”
“Isn’t body heat better for that?”
Sarah groaned again, the familiar voices dragging her from the dark recesses of her mind. “Don’t talk so loud.”
“Thank heavens. Sarah, can you open your eyes for me, please?”
Her lids still felt heavy, swollen almost, but she managed to get them to flutter open slightly. Light sliced through the slit in her eyes and she flinched. “Can someone turn off the light?” She didn’t recognize her voice with how sore and coarse it sounded.
The lights in the room she was in dimmed, and she tried opening her eyes once more. The first face she found was Dax. His hair was wet, slick as if he’d just stepped out of the shower. His clothes were soaked too. His expression was dark, upset and exhausted.
“You look terrible.” It was the only thing she could manage to say.
“Speak for yourself,” he said, looking upset but she didn’t know why.
She attempted to adjust her body, but found she was covered with several wool blankets and was propped up on the couch. A sea of faces surrounded Dax. Every one of the Callahan women and the one Baker. Beside her, Brielle seemed to hover as if she didn’t know what to do with herself. Her face was puffy and red. She’d been crying.
Sarah’s brows creased. “What’s wrong?”
She flung her arms around Sarah. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have let you leave. It was my responsibility to get you back safely. I should have gone after you.”
