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Weston let me know he found the stallion and got him back into the round pen at some point.

Briar remained in critical condition.

Somehow, I eventually found myself beside a bed where she lay, dressed in one of those awful hospital gowns. Unconscious but at least alive.

Eventually, it was just me at this hospital, listening to the steady beeping of her heart.

Alive.

She was alive, but the doctors said the amount of nerve damage done to her spinal column could possibly be life altering.

They wouldn’t know the extent of the damage until she woke up.

But she was alive.

Once in a while, family would drop by.

And at some point, even the woman who gave birth to her showed up.

But it was a good thing Weston happened to be there at that moment, or I would’ve been the reason another patient was admitted to this hospital.

She woke up maybe a week later. But the moment her eyes opened, a scream unlike anything I’d heard before left her beautiful lips. The doctors immediately put her into a medically induced coma, explaining that the pain was so excruciating for her, that without rest, her body wouldn’t have a chance to heal.

My head bobbed, gently bumping against the hard mattress that had been Briar’s resting place for over two weeks now. The medically induced coma ended this morning since the most recent scan of her spine offered some indication that healing had begun and gave the doctors hope. Now, it was a matter of her waking up on her own.

And without the agonizing pain like before.

Exhaustion filled even the deepest crevice of my bones. All I wanted was to see those beautiful gray eyes once more.

And to be able to tell her how sorry I was. Sundance had not been ready for any of that, but I thought…

“You idiot,” I grumbled to myself and uttered a few curse words under my breath. This was an appropriate time for the use of them and completely worth the money I now owed Weston. But it didn’t make me feel any better.

I was the reason that she was here. My inability to control my rage for Wayde had left her lying in the dirt, injured so severely that if the police hadn’t been on their way from my concealed phone call, she would’ve likely died.

My fault.

Another string of swear words directed toward me left my mouth.

“Don’t say that about yourself,” a hoarse but incredibly perfect-sounding voice muttered.

And my entire body became as light as a feather. Shooting my head up from the mattress, relief, indescribable joy filled the tortured hole that had been left in my chest as her eyes fluttered open and her gaze met mine.

“Hey, Goldie,” I said, quickly wiping some of the wet trail on my cheeks away with my palm.

A tight smile spread across her lips. “What happened? I remember grabbing Sundance’s lead rope and then…”

“It was my fault,” I whispered and leaned forward, pressing my lips against her forehead. “I’m so sorry. I thought Sundance could handle things, but it was too much for him too soon, and he ended up striking you right in the back while he reared. I’m sorry. I am so sorry.”

“Oh, Cassidy,” she muttered and raised a shaky hand. Her calloused skin rested against my cheek. Sinking into her touch, I briefly closed my eyes, keeping my lips against her forehead. “It’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have tried to stop him. We could’ve found him later. I just…I just never meant for you to get in the middle of things.”

Shaking my head, I smiled against her skin. “I had no issue being in the middle of things.”

“You are everything, Cassidy Duke,” she answered, slipping her fingers through my hair.

“By the way, the woman who birthed you stopped by, but I kicked her out. If you want—”

“Yes. I want to see her,” Briar immediately stated, twisting her hold on my tresses even tighter.