Leaping Hearts(56)

Every time a hoof hit the ground, she felt a white-hot sensation shoot from her elbow to her shoulder. Worse, she lacked the strength to hold her arm tightly against her body and the injured extremity was flopping around, making the pain unbearable. With resolve, she tucked her hand into the waistband of her pants to reduce the jarring and noticed in the process that her fingers were becoming numb. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could go without passing out, but she was determined that they go over one jump.

As she struggled with her agony, A.J. told herself she wasn’t going to die from the pain. All she had to do was get over a jump and then she could baby herself. It wasn’t going to take long.

The pep talk didn’t really help so she gritted her teeth, pulled Sabbath together as best she could and took him over two uprights, avoiding the water hazard altogether. By the time she was finished, the horse had calmed down but she’d broken out in a sweat from the suffering.

She steered the stallion over to the two men and fell to the ground as she dismounted.

Devlin helped her to her feet, his face a tight mask.

“I’ll take care of the spook,” Chester said to no one in particular and left with the horse.

“We need to take you to the doctor.” Devlin’s voice was flat.

“I’m going to take a bath.”

“Get in the truck.”

A.J. ignored him, preoccupied with her aching arm as she left the ring. She’d carefully taken the hand out of her waistband and was trying to keep the arm from being jostled. Her stomach felt queasy and she was light-headed but she felt better than she had in the saddle. Her one goal was to get into some hot water and the idea of not moving was really attractive.

Devlin followed close behind. “You need an X-ray.”

As she walked by the truck without stopping, he swore a blue streak.

“A.J.!” he barked, and, reluctantly, she turned around.

She was shocked. He was shaking with rage.

“It’s not broken,” she told him.

“How the hell would you know?”

Struggling not to have a meltdown, she said quietly, “If you’d just relax and let me get to the house, I’d really appreciate it.”

“Did hitting the ground knock the sense out of you? Be reasonable for once in your life and get in that damned truck.”

“No.”

“You need a doctor! You look like you’re ready to fall over.”

“And this argument is really helping me.”

“Then grow up and stop behaving like a child.”

The words ricocheted around in her head, piercing the fog of pain. Blue eyes clashed with hazel.

She said, “In case you don’t remember, I just fell off a horse in that ring. I need a break. What I don’t need is you playing mightier-than-thou with the orders, okay? And I’m not being childish.”

“When you’re hurt, you go to the doctor. It’s really that simple for most people.”

As the sounds of the argument drifted through the air, Chester came out of the stable. One look at A.J.’s pale green face and he grew alarmed. “Go easy on her, McCloud. She’s in shock.”

“Stay out of this,” came the thorny reply.

“McCloud!” Chester’s voice cracked like a whip. “Back off before ya say anything else you’ll regret.”

Devlin wheeled on the man, full of fury. “What the hell’s your problem?”

“Stand down!” Chester ordered, meeting him square in the eye. “Y’re just takin’ your worry out on her hide.”

“I don’t need your half-baked psychology,” he growled.

“An’ she doesn’t need this kind of air show.”

“Then to hell with you both.”

Stalking over to the truck, Devlin wrenched open the door, gunned the engine and peeled down the driveway, out of sight.

A.J. felt her knees buckle and Chester was the only thing that kept her standing. Unnoticed, tears began streaming down her cheeks and she started to shake all over.

“He didn’t mean any a’ that,” Chester said. “It’s just the fear talkin’.”

She tried to nod but emotion was boiling up and overflowing, her shoulders quaking as sobs left her. As if he were handling an unbalanced load, Chester carefully led her to the door of the farmstead.

“Ya go in now an’ take that bath. I’ll make sure Sabbath’s put up right an’ then we’ll see about that doctor.”

Lacking the will to argue, A.J. did as she was told, walking up the stairs like an old woman. After she’d undressed in the bathroom, she looked at the arm in the mirror, seeing that it was swelling up already and had a big purple bruise forming at the elbow. Tentatively, she stretched it out to its full length and then back again, relieved that she had some range of motion. Focusing with difficulty, she went to the tub and cranked on the faucets, watching the water fill up while feeling as empty and lonely as she ever had.

When she slipped into the water, she grimaced as she tried to position her arm in a way that didn’t hurt. It was impossible. There was no comfort to be found, no precise combination of crook or bend that would ease her pain. She thought it was probably because so much of her suffering wasn’t physical.

Looking around the bathroom, she remembered moments with Devlin that had been warm and intimate and the images went through her with a rusty knife’s imprecision, cutting deep and jaggedly. She leaned her head back against the porcelain, tears sliding down her cheeks, falling into the water surrounding her body.