Page 78 of Firefly Embers

“I’m fine, I need to go check on Oakley,” she grumbled, pushing herself to a seated position with a sharp hiss as pain radiated through her head. I gently pushed her back against the raised bed and shot her a look that said, “I’m not fucking around.”

Her sigh of frustration was loud enough to be heard from the hallway as Wade came back into the room carrying two cups of coffee, chuckling at her dramatics.

I had been furious at him for leaving me in the stands back at the arena to go check on Izzy, but after he’d had a chance to get her situated and we’d started following the ambulance in an Uber, he’d explained why he’d done it.

Although I was still frustrated at him for trying to shield me from the truth—I was a big girl, after all—but I couldn’t be mad at him for having my best interests at heart.

He knew better than anyone how sideways rodeo events could go, and he was trying to do me a favor by keeping me from seeing something that may or may not have haunted me for the rest of my life.

At the end of the day, I loved him for doing what he could to care for my sister and protect me at the same time.

“As your trainer, I’ll have to agree with your sister on this one. You’ve got a nasty concussion, Izzy, and they can turn from bad to worse quickly. It’s better for you to stay here and be monitored overnight. I had Sterling head down to the stables and check on Oakley. She’s spooked, but physically fine. I’ve already got a farrier lined up to come check out her shoes in the morning, and the vet is heading over there tonight to run a few tests. We’ve got her.”

My sister’s shoulders slumped in defeat as she’d been properly chastised. She’d been fighting with us for the last five hours to let her check out and go back to the arena. I feared, though, that if we let that happen, she’d demand a re-ride and do serious damage to herself or her horse.

She was reckless when it came to winning, and the NFR had taken so much to prepare for, that not placing was a hard pill for her to swallow.

A knock sounded on the door to her room as it slowly eased open. Slightly shocked, I watched as Tanner let himself in, coming to Izzy’s bedside and taking her hand.

“Babe, I’m so sorry I’m just getting here. Finding a flight last minute was insane, not to mention obnoxiously expensive, but I’m here. How are you? Do the doctors think you’ll make a full recovery?”

Wade and I looked at one another, rolling our eyes at his exaggeration of the severity of Izzy’s condition. He was acting like she was dying, and it had taken everything in him to make it here before she croaked.

When we’d spoken to him on the phone earlier, we’d let him know what was happening and made sure to tell him that it wasn’t necessary for him to fly all the way out there, and that we’d keep him updated.

“I’m fine, Tanner. I thought we told you that you didn’t need to fly all the way out here.”

The way her body recoiled at his touch had me on edge. Something about him had always given me the ick.

I didn’t know if it was his straitlacedness, how he was overly doting, or something else, but he had always had an air about him that unsettled me.

“I couldn’t let my fiancée wither away in a hospital bed without her man by her side.”

I closed my eyes to keep from rolling them, but Wade’s groan of annoyance was loud as it rumbled through the small room. I shot him a look to keep his thoughts to himself, and he stuck his tongue out at me.

So mature.

With his juvenile response, my eyes rolled on their own accord, no stopping them this time.

Tanner raised Izzy’s hand to his lips, leaning down to kiss where her engagement ring should have been, but instead met with an empty ring finger on her left hand.

“Where’s your ring?” he asked sharply.

She pulled her hand from his grasp, rubbing at where she generally wore the gaudy piece of jewelry.

It had shocked us all to see how large and obnoxious the ring Tanner had proposed with looked on Izzy’s slim fingers. It was a huge three-carat solitaire diamond that was flanked by smaller diamonds on each side and a diamond-encrusted band. I’m sure the thing cost a fortune, but money couldn’t always buy sense, and it was clear that he’d lost his mind the day he thought that was the type of ring my sister would have wanted.

“I don’t wear it when I ride. That thing’s a fucking hazard,” she grumbled, pulling the covers up around her like a shield.

“Watch your language, Isabella,” he scolded, as if he had any right to tell her how to speak.

She nodded demurely, and Wade and I looked at each other in confusion. I’d never seen my sister shrink under the gaze of anyone, much less a man, and seeing how defeated she looked after being scolded by her fiancé had my hackles rising.

“Knock, knock!” the nurse cheerfully called as she pushed her way into the room, grabbing a pair of gloves as she entered. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?” she asked.

“Like all of this is unnecessary, and I want to go home.”

“I understand, sweetie. But I promise we will get you out of here as soon as we can.”