“You got it. She will either be with me or Ty at all times. Can she get some sleep?”
“The doctor said she needed to ice her wrist every few hours and to rest. It’s been over eight hours since the accident, and she hasn’t shown any symptoms, so yes, she can sleep.”
“On it.” I nodded.
“Grace, I’ll call in the morning to see how you’re doing.” Blake wrapped her arms around herself. She seemed unsure of what to do next.
Grace let go of me and hugged Blake tight. “Thanks, Blake. For everything. I know this must have been scary for you, too.”
Blake nodded and squeezed her sister. A long shuddery sigh left her mouth before she let go of Grace. I know my heart had been wrung out with worry for Grace, and I imagined Blake felt the same.
After giving me a nod over her sister’s head, Blake let go and smiled at Grace. “Why don’t you go rest up? I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
Grace moved back to my side while Blake took off with one backward glance in the direction of the Kingston’s house. I led us into the barn and to Storm’s stall. The gelding was standing in the aisle looking into his stall, watching Ty put another layer of shavings down for cushioning.
“Thank God, you’re back.” Ty dropped the rake and ran to Grace to embrace her. “Beautiful, we’ve been so worried about you. How are you feeling?”
“I love how everyone keeps asking me that.” She let out an exhausted sigh. “I’m fine. Just sore, and I have a minor wrist tweak. I’ll be back to normal in a few days.”
Ty planted a gentle kiss on her lips before Storm nudged Ty’s shoulder.
“Okay buddy, you can have your turn now.” Ty stepped out of the way, and Grace rushed over to wrap her arms around the gelding’s neck. She stroked a hand down his face, and he bumped her hip with his nose.
“Blake said he was okay, just going to be bruised for a bit. Is that right?” She turned her worried gaze to us.
“Yes, peaches. He bruised his cannon bone. He must be monitored like you for the next day, and he needs the ice boot on him. Ty gave him his dinner and his evening pain meds. We were just getting his stall ready. He’s going to be fine.” Grace shuffled over and wrapped her arms around my waist and leaned her forehead on my chest.
“I was so afraid for him” Her shoulders shook, and she released soft muffled sniffles.
“It’s all going to be alright.” I soothed a hand down her back. Ty stepped up behind her and touched her shoulders and waist, rubbing them in comfort.
“Why don’t we get you back to the house so you can soak in the tub?” Ty said.
“No.” Her tear-stained face shot up to look at us. “I can’t leave him. You said he needed to be watched, so I’m going to watch him. I did this to him. I can’t abandon him when he’s hurting.”
“Grace, let us worry about him. You need to focus on you right now. You should be in bed resting, not sitting around in a barn.” Ty tried again with no luck.
Grace shook her head and extracted herself from our grips. She turned and led Storm into his stall and closed the door.
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m staying right here. When was the last time you put a boot on him?”
“About an hour ago. Once we finished the stall, we were going to put it on again.”
Her cheek rested against Storm, and her hand rubbed at the side of his face. The tears tracking down her cheeks broke my heart. “Okay, can you please go get it for me? Let’s get it on him.”
“Of course. I’ll be right back.” As much as I hated to leave Grace’s side, I was only going into the tack room to grab the boot from the freezer. I wasn’t going to be leaving her alone to watch Storm through the night. If she was camping out in the barn, so was I.
We joined Storm in his stall and reminisced about when Blake first bought Storm for her on her eighteenth birthday. She hadn’t wanted to train with him, fearing he would end up in the same situation as Knight, who had come down with colic but recovered, when she finally made it to the Olympics.
Grace made it about three hours before passing out sitting against the wall of the stall. Her pain medicine had probably kicked in and the adrenaline from everything today had worn her out.
“Go take her to the house and get her in bed. I’ll stay here and watch Storm,” I told Ty who was sitting on a bale of hay just outside the stall door.
“Are you sure? I can take the first shift with Storm if you need some rest.” The wrinkles on his forehead deepened as he looked at me.
“No, it’s fine. I’ll text you if I need you.”
Ty went over and scooped Grace up in his arms. I helped adjust her, so her head rested against his shoulder.
“Don’t worry. I won’t leave her side,” Ty assured me and headed back to the house. I turned to Storm. He nickered and stepped forward for scratches.
“Good boy. Don’t worry. She’s fine. Ty will take good care of her. I just need to make sure you are good, so she doesn’t decide to come back down here until she’s healed enough.”
Storm was one of the only things she truly had in life that was hers. She loved that horse so much. There was no way I was going to let anything happen to him.