The bottle exchanged hands, and Caleb opened it and shook the pills in his palm. As soon as he put them back in the bottle, he whipped his head to Shay. “You didn’t take any?”
“No, I took these instead.” He handed over the second bottle, and Caleb did the same thing.
“Christ, how many days did you take these for?”
“Four. I didn’t need it after that.”
“Do you want these destroyed?”
“Please. Since I stopped taking those, I haven’t had any pain medication. If I need anything, I’ll take something over-the-counter.” He handed over the third bottle. “That’s what I usually take.” He wouldn’t release it, and after Caleb looked at it, Shay put it back in his pocket.
“Okay, I will also include the lack of needing the pills in the e-mail. May I include your cell phone number in case she wants to talk to you?”
“Sure.” Shay made sure he had it, and after he re-dressed, he turned to Caleb. “I know it might not be possible, but I came to you for a few reasons. One, I didn’t want the pills around. Two, I wanted to get a smaller brace. Three, I was hoping you’d reach out to Dr. Johnson, and maybe I won’t have to go see her in two weeks.”
Caleb grinned. “I’ll mention it.”
“Thanks, Caleb,” Shay held out his hand to shake, and turned on his heel to leave. He had tossed his jeans in the front seat of the truck, and when he arrived at New Double, instead of going to his cabin, he went to the men’s room at the main barn, changed into his work clothes, took the others back out to his truck, and went to find Cole. He knocked his knuckles on the door, and smiled when Cole looked up.
“How did you make out?”
“Good,” Shay said, and pointed down. “I was able to get rid of the big one, I do have one on, but it’s beneath my jeans.”
“How do you feel?”
“Good, I’m ready to do something else.”
Cole grinned as he tossed his pen on the papers on his desk and leaned back in his chair. “First, stalls need to be mucked out. After that, go see if Ann has something for you. If she doesn’t have anything for you, get with Faith. However, before you see Faith, come see me.”
“Okay, but why do I need to go see Faith?”
“Because until Pedro arrives, someone’s going to need to keep track of the horses’ times. Come see me, and I can explain what needs to be done, what to look for, and what you need to do. Ducky and Clem are out at the track now, but I don’t want Ducky out there all day.”
“I totally understand and agree with that. I’ll get to work on the stalls now.”
“Good.”
Shay started to turn away, but turned back, and didn’t stumble when he did it with his previously injured leg. It never fazed him, and Cole nodded when he saw that. “I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but Caleb’s going to send an e-mail to Dr. Johnson to tell him what happened this morning. I’m hoping she’ll call me, and I can tell her myself. I’m also hoping that I won’t have to go back and see her in two weeks.”
“Can you drive?”
“Yes. Dr. Johnson didn’t tell me it’s okay, but for a week now, after work, I take the brace off when I’m home. I drove over to Broken Two today, and had no problems.”
“Good, let me know if you need anything, and come find me when you’re done with the stalls. Oh, and Shay.”
“Yes?”
“It’s nice enough weather now that the horses are being let out before the stalls are cleaned.”
“Sweet, then we won’t have to move them out of the way.” Shay shook his head with a smile. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that we have a couple of extremely stubborn horses that won’t move until you clean around them, then they’ll move.”
“Nope.” Cole laughed and waved him away.
Shay whistled as he left Cole’s office and headed down the aisle toward the room that held the tools. With his fork in his hand, he was still whistling when Ann entered. She stopped and stared at him.
“Where’s your brace?”
“I still have one on,” he said with a grin. “It’s just smaller.” At her look he held up his hand to stop her. “I went to see Caleb this morning. He’s going to call Dr. Johnson. The new brace is doctor approved.”
