Chapter 16 Taylor
“Nice job with Diablo today,” Robert said.
“Thanks. He’s a great horse. He was just misunderstood.”
“Aren’t we all,” Sam said. “I’m exhausted. I’m heading in. Sweet dreams.”
“Good night,” Taylor said.
“Nighty-night,” Robert said.
Sam and Robert went into the bunkhouse. Taylor thought about going back inside to give Diablo more love but decided against it. She was tired.
Taylor was almost home when she heard a loud whoosh and crackle echo in the air. She turned around to see that the horse barn was on fire.
Her heart pounded as she ran as fast as she could to the barn.
“Taylor, no,” Sam screamed as she threw open the doors and ran inside.
Coughing, she could barely see through the smoke. Her lungs hurt as she made her way down the stalls.
The horses, screaming with fright, almost knocked her down as they bolted out of the barn. Diablo’s stall was at the back.
She threw open his stall door and grabbed his halter. He was terrified and Taylor could only see the whites of his eyes. He reared up and neighed loudly as she tugged on the halter.
“Come on, Baby. We have to get you out of here. Come on.”
Diablo finally followed behind her, jerking on the halter. Her eyes burned and her lungs felt as though they were going to explode. She could feel the heat crawling toward them.
“Come on, Baby,” she said as she pulled Diablo toward the door.
Flames licked the barn walls and the hay had burst into flames. Diablo jerked hard. He didn’t want to pass by the fire that inched up the wall near the door.
Diablo snorted and then bolted out the door, jerking the halter out of her hand. She fell just as a fiery board fell on her, knocking her out.
A day later, Taylor slowly opened her eyes and looked around. “Hello there, Sleeping Beauty,” Lane said softly, smiling at her.
“Where am I?” she asked.
“You’re in the hospital,” Lane said, pressing the nurse call button.
She was lying on her stomach and was uncomfortable. She tried to turn over, but Lane touched her arm and said, “Don’t move.”
A woman in Scooby-Doo scrubs bustled into the room. She smiled widely when she said, “You’re awake. I’m Kelly and I’m your nurse right now. I’ll be back in a second. I need to call the doctor.”
“What happened?” Taylor asked.
“There was a fire. You went into the barn to save the horses,” Lane explained.
“Are they okay?”
“All of them are good, even Diablo. You saved their lives. Ryder checked them all out. They inhaled some smoke, but none of them were burned.”
“Thank goodness,” she whispered.
She tried to move but a horrible pain exploded in her entire body. Tears sprang instantly to her eyes.
“You need to stay still, Honey,” Lane said. “A burning board fell on you. You have second-degree burns on your back, left arm, and left shoulder.”
Nurse Kelly walked in with a short petite woman.
“I’m Doctor Gardner. I don’t often get to treat a hero,” she said.
“Not a hero. I just had to get them out,” Taylor said.
“That’s my definition,” the doctor said. “You are probably feeling some discomfort.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Taylor replied. “I feel like someone took a horse whip to me and flayed open my skin.”
“More morphine. Got it,” the doctor said. “I’m not surprised. You have second-degree burns which means that your epidermis and the second layer of skin are burned. You are badly swollen and are covered in blisters. You will heal. The only thing that we really need to watch for is infection. If Robert and Sam hadn’t pulled you out when they did, it would have been a lot worse, because you were on the cusp of third-degree burns.”
“They are the heroes,” Taylor said.
“Them, too. I’m a little concerned about your brain. The board cracked your skull and you had to get twelve stitches. I’m pretty sure that you have a concussion. I want to keep you in here for a day or two to treat the burns and monitor your head.”
“Is it necessary?” Taylor asked.
“Yes,” Doctor Gardner and Lane said at the same time.
“Fine, but how am I supposed to eat in this position? I’m starving.”
Everyone laughed and Doctor Gardner said, “That’s a good sign. We’ll bring in an egg crate foam mattress for you to lay against. It’ll take the pressure off of your burns. You’ll be able to sit against it. It’ll be a little more comfortable, although you will still feel some pain, even with the morphine.”
Taylor nodded and ordered lunch.
“I wanted to talk to you about something,” Lane said.
Taylor’s heart sank. This is where he tells me that he had a good time, but we should go our separate ways.
“I really care about you. You are an amazingly wonderful woman. We have a lot of fun together. I know that the engagement was fake and I’m not ready to go there yet, I would like to make our relationship kind of an official thing and see where we go.”
Taylor’s heart skipped a beat and she smiled. She opened her mouth to answer and then she saw a nurse standing in the doorway listening. The woman wasn’t Taylor’s nurse. When she saw that Taylor had noticed her, the woman hurried off.
Closing her eyes, Taylor said, “I think that Anthony’s sister heard everything.”
“Dang it. My guess is that Anthony started the fire, and she was trying to figure out whether he would be charged with assault, attempted murder, or something else if we could prove it was him.”
“Now, he has another weapon to use against us,” Taylor said.
He gently touched her face, and said, “We’ll get through this together. Plus, we have people who love us.”
Taylor nodded, but she was dreading the fallout from the rumors. “By the way, in answer to your questions, I’m all for seeing where our relationship will go. I definitely have feelings for you.”
Lane brushed a kiss across her lips and said, “Good.”
The next morning, the doctor examined Taylor’s burns. “They are healing nicely. I’m sure that you got a concussion. I would like for you to stay one more day to make sure there is no infection, but if you want to go home, I’ll sign off on it. I’ll give you some salve for your back and pills for the pain. If you start to get dizzy, your vision blurs, or you have any of the other symptoms listed on the paperwork, call me.”
“Sounds good,” Taylor said.
Willow picked her up from the hospital. She rubbed the salve on Taylor’s back and made sure she was comfortable.
“Call me if you need anything,” Willow said. “I’ll be here in a flash.”
“Thanks.”
“By the way, I have this bill of sale for Diablo for you. You should have the deed for the ranch soon,” Willow said.
“Thanks,” Taylor replied.
Taylor was just about to take a nap when Melissa called.
“Girl, you’ve done it this time.”
“What do you mean?” Taylor asked.
“It’s all over Meadow Springs that you and Lane came up with an elaborate hoax and tricked everyone into believing that you two were engaged. Everyone is talking about how it couldn’t be true because the Williams and the Johnsons were mortal enemies and that the whole thing had something to do with you getting your old ranch back.”
“Dang it,” Taylor said. “I knew that jerk would tell everyone. Lane said something about it when I was in the hospital and Anthony’s sister overheard it.”
“What are you going to do?” Melissa asked.
“I honestly don’t know,” Taylor cried.