So�This Is Montana� Ch. 19
After a long search, ranch hands Mitch Warden and Troy Gardner had found JC in the southern most pasture a little more than an hour ago and now were more than halfway into their return journey to the ranch house where Justin and Chris were waiting anxiously for their return.
Both hands were anxious themselves to get back to the ranch house with their burden, but the terrain that they were riding the horses over was, at the very least, quite difficult to navigate during the day which only made the ride much slower for them since it was now nearing 9:00 at night. And, added to the difficulty of the situation was the fact that Troy was holding a limp, unresponsive JC tightly against him as he carefully guided his horse over the rough terrain.
Periodically during the ride Troy had attempted to get some sort of response out of JC by speaking loudly to him while gently shaking him, but the combination of yesterday�s wild ride with Stan Baker and his truck and today�s little initiation game had apparently completely exhausted JC. So, as a result, no amount of coaxing words from Troy or Mitch, nor jostling of the horse�s sometimes faltering steps over the uneven ground or even the intense pressure that Troy was using in keeping his arm wrapped tightly across JC�s chest had yet to awaken him�and that had both ranch hands extremely concerned for JC.
�How�s he doing?� Mitch asked, pointing his flashlight toward Troy and JC.
�Okay I guess�but I don�t know for sure Mitch,� Troy answered with a worried tone as he stopped his horse. �I can�t tell if he�s just asleep or out cold�I mean�he hasn�t moved a muscle or made a sound at all since we first left the south.�
Mitch pulled his horse back around then stopped beside Troy�s to get a better look at the still figure slumped in his arms. Mitch pointed his flashlight�s beam at JC and saw that his arms were drooping loosely at his sides while his head hung forward limply with his chin nearly touching his chest.
�Well,� Mitch said slowly as he reached over to take JC�s chin in his hand then gently pushed his head back and turned his face toward him. JC�s features were slack�his lips slightly parted�his eyes closed. A scrape mark marred the left side of his face from his jaw line up to his temple and the corners of his mouth were rubbed raw and slightly bleeding again.
�Man�when I see Jared and Coltin�they�ll be sorry that they did this to him,� Mitch said angrily as he took in all of the obvious injuries that JC had sustained during the so-called �game� that some of the hands had decided to play with JC. Mitch shook his head and took a deep breath to calm his nerves as returned his attention back to awakening the young man before him.
Gently Mitch turned JC�s head from side to side to only find that JC was not responding to his light touches.
Next, Mitch tightened his grip on JC�s chin and gave his face a few light slaps with his free hand. One slap across his right cheek�nothing. Two slaps�a slight stir then nothing. At the third slap, Mitch put a little more strength behind it causing JC�s head to slightly pop back against Troy�s shoulder. As JC�s head bounced off Troy�s shoulder, his features were no longer lax, but were not tensed into a slight grimace as a moan escaped his parted lips.
�That�s it�JC�come on�wake up,� Troy said in encouragement as he shook gently shook JC against him while Mitch gave his face another firm slap. With the second, more forceful slap JC�s eyelids parted halfway and he feebly tried to pull his chin from Mitch�s grasp. When he found that he couldn�t, JC slowly brought a hand up out from under the blanket wrapped about him and placed it on the arm circled around his chest. He winced at the pressure encircling his chest then coughed and groaned at the pain that seemed to shoot through his chest.
Both men grinned as they watched JC struggle to gain a toehold on what was going on about him. They knew that he was hurting, but at least he was now awake and would be able to tell them how he was feeling.
�JC�I need to know how you�re doing�talk to me,� Troy said into his ear causing him to slightly jump in surprise.
�Mmm�tired,� JC mumbled, his words slurred with exhaustion before letting his eyelids droop closed again and his head began to slowly fall forward almost muffling his next words.
�Nope son�don�t go out on me again,� Troy said as he gave JC a hard shake.
�I don�t want to have to slap you again JC,� Mitch added as he carefully pulled JC�s chin back up to see that JC�s eyes were open halfway and a few tears were making their way down his cheeks.
�My head�and, um�chest�hurts...mmm�cold�tired�hungry.�
�Thirsty?� Mitch asked as he reached for his canteen.
JC wearily lifted his head and nodded in response to the question. Mitch held the canteen to his mouth and allowed JC to drink as much as he wanted knowing that dehydration might be one reason why he couldn�t seem to stay alert. Minutes later, JC had finished drinking and he once again leaned against Troy.
�Real tired�cold,� JC mumbled.
Troy looked at Mitch and shook his head and mouthed, �poor kid,� before speaking.
�Don�t worry�we got about 20 more minutes left until we�re back at the ranch house,� Troy said in reassuring tones as he felt JC�s weight beginning to shift in the saddle.
�Yeah,� Mitch added as he watched JC slump further forward signaling that he had given into his exhaustion once again. �Don�t worry Mr. Chasez�we�ll be able to get you warmed up and we�ll have the doc come out and take a look at you before you know it.� Mitch reached over and pulled the blanket wrapped around JC further up his shoulders before turning his horse back around to follow Troy�s toward the lights shining dimly in the distance.
�I think he�s just pretty exhausted and maybe dehydrated,� Mitch commented as he shifted slightly in his saddle.
�Yeah�I bet you�re right,� Troy called out over his shoulder. �Let�s pick up the pace and get him out of this cold air.�
Troy wrapped his arms even tighter than before around JC�s chest before urging his horse forward into an easy gallop. The terrain from their location up to the ranch house would be more even from then on and he was more than ready to get JC back to his friends.
Joey stood up and slowly paced worriedly about the small waiting area, hoping to hear something soon about Lance�s condition from the doctors. He was also anxiously waiting for a phone call from someone back at the ranch to let him know that JC had been found safe and sound. It was becoming pretty frustrating waiting for news�especially when it had to be done alone.
Pete Cowan, the ranch hand who had rushed Lance and Joey to the clinic more than two hours earlier, had just left about 30 minutes ago to return to the ranch to help in the search for JC if needed or to just sit with Justin and Chris.
�I can�t believe this,� Joey moaned aloud as his thoughts began to race wildly�the worry that he was feeling for everyone was pressing upon him�threatening to take his breath away. JC�Lance�Chris�Justin�his brothers�some of them hurting physically�all of them hurting emotionally�when would it all end.
Joey�s thoughts were interrupted when he thought he heard footsteps down the hallway. He quickly looked at the double doors at the end of the long corridor only to see that he had been wrong�there was no one coming�no one at all.
With a small sigh of frustration, Joey dropped his head back down into his hands as he thought of how heavy his heart felt for Lance. This second trip to see Lance�s newly acquired ranch property was supposed to make up for the ruined trip of two months ago, but so far, this trip had been just as disappointing, if not more so. A car accident causing three members of the group to be rushed to the clinic yesterday�their first day at the ranch, then Lance�s fall from his horse today and JC�s forced participation in a game that could have possibly caused him more problems since he was still recovering from yesterday�s slight concussion.
Those thoughts caused Joey to shudder then heave another heavy sigh. He stood up and slowly began to pace about the vacant room.
When he could no longer stand to be in the room, Joey walked down a short hallway to a water fountain and drank a couple of sips of water then paced up and down that hallway.
After that became old, Joey then went into the men�s room to splash some water on his face before returning to pace once again in the small, white waiting room. After several more minutes of pacing, Joey walked over to the coffee bar at the end of the room and fixed himself a cup of the steaming liquid. With the cup in hand, Joey once again began pacing about the room, periodically stopping long enough to take small sips of the black coffee in his cup.
After more pacing, Joey knew that it took exactly 23 steps to walk from one end of the room to the other, it was 53 steps from one end of the short hallway to the other and it was exactly 119 steps from the waiting room�s entrance to the double doors down at the end of the long corridor where Lance was�somewhere.
Joey continued with his �informative� pacing until his coffee cup was empty. At that point, he stopped his pacing and slumped into the nearest chair then dropped his aching head into his hands after putting the empty cup on the floor between his feet. The effects of his pain pills that he had taken around mid afternoon had long ago worn away and now he was beginning to feel more than just a little uncomfortable�just something else for him to become overwhelmed with. As Joey sat bent over in his chair, he once again heard what sounded like footsteps coming down the hallway. He picked up his empty cup, slowly stood up then walked over to the doorway, half expecting to be disappointed once again, but this time he was happy to see that there really was someone coming down the hall.
�How�s Lance doing doc?� Joey asked when Dr. Granger walked by the waiting area. Dr. Granger stopped in his tracks and walked back to the waiting area where Joey was now standing, holding a coffee cup in one hand and the door frame with the other. Seeing that Joey was looking more than a little worried, Dr. Granger motioned toward a row of chairs lining one wall of the clinic and the pair sat down.
�I�m sorry that no one has been by to see you Joey�we�re a little short handed here tonight,� Dr. Granger apologized before answering Joey�s question.
�Well, Lance is doing fine considering what his condition could have been if his horse had landed squarely on him,� the doctor said with a small smile that was quickly returned by Joey. �He�s more alert than he was earlier when you brought him in�he�s pretty groggy with the pain meds that we�ve given him, but he�ll be fine and should be ready to head on back to the ranch by late morning or early afternoon tomorrow.�
Joey felt the heavy burden of worry being lifted off his shoulders with the doctor�s words�Lance was going to be okay. It had been so frightening for everyone to see Lance in the dazed, unresponsive state that he had been in when Troy, Mitch and Pete had first brought him back to the ranch after his fall off his horse.
That had been bad, but when Lance had lost consciousness on the way to the clinic as he was holding him in his arms, Joey thought he could never had felt more helpless than at that very moment. Joey knew that if it hadn�t been for Pete Cowen�s calming words and cool presence of mind through out their drive to the clinic, he would have never been able to remain as composed as he had.
Joey�s thoughts were interrupted when Dr. Granger got up from his chair and walked over to the coffee machine across the room.
�Need a refill Joey?� the older man asked as he returned carrying a cup of coffee for himself and the pot of coffee.
�Yes sir�thanks,� Joey murmured as he out his cup and watched the brown, steaming liquid flow into it.
�Creamer�sugar?� the doctor offered once he had walked back over to the coffee machine.
�Um�no sir�better keep it black,� Joey answered with a weary smile. �Was Lance�s arm broken?�
�Yeah�I�m afraid so,� Dr. Granger answered as he sat back down beside Joey. The doctor watched as the young man beside him visibly winced at the news so he quickly added a positive note to the bad news.
�There is some good news though,� he said. �It doesn�t look like he�ll need surgery to repair the break. It was a clean one, right where he had broken it before. One of the assistants is casting it right now.�
�That�s good. So�I can see him when that�s finished?� Joey asked restlessly. The doctor�s reassuring words had helped in alleviating some of his worries, but the best thing possible would be for him to be able to just see his friend.
�Yeah�we plan on keeping him here overnight since his bell got rung pretty good�and we�ll put the two of you in a room together because frankly, Joey, you looked dog tuckered out,� Dr. Granger said with a hint of amusement in his voice and on his face.
The statement caught Joey off guard and he blinked once and sat back in his chair as his mind tried to comprehend what had just been said. A second or two ticked by before Joey finally realized what the doctor�s words had meant.
�If that means I�m tired, you�re right,� Joey said with a small laugh as he wiped a hand over his face before taking a sip of his coffee.
Dr. Granger stood up and motioned for Joey to follow him. �Listen, I�ll just go ahead and take you to that room we have ready for you two and you can go on and get some rest. Lance should be about ready to join you in another hour or so.�
�Can I use my cell phone in there?� Joey asked. He had held off on calling Justin and Chris until he had had the chance to speak with one of the doctors. He was also anxious to hear any news about JC, but the doctor didn�t need to know about that. �I need to call the others and let them know what�s going on here.�
�You really shouldn�t use your phone here in the building, but there is a phone in your room that you can use.�
Joey simply nodded his head as he walked beside the older man down several corridors. Minutes later, Dr. Granger opened a door and allowed Joey to walk in before him.
�We laid out some scrubs for you to sleep in if you�d like to�there�s some towels in the bathroom if you want to shower before you lay down�uh�let�s get those bandages off of your arms and you can take that shower,� the doctor said after seeing Joey nod his head in agreement. He then patted one of the beds and watched as Joey wearily hopped up on it. Dr. Granger quickly removed Joey�s bandages then checked the progress that his arms were making in healing from the road rash that he had sustained the previous day.
�Looking good�I can tell that they�re still pretty painful though,� Dr. Granger said as he stepped back from Joey to lean against the next bed.
�Yeah�I don�t have any of my pills here�everything happened so fast and I didn�t have a chance to grab anything other than a phone.�
�Well�I�ll check your charts from yesterday and see what we can do for you. I�ll be back by in about 15 minutes or so to rewrap those arms and we�ll give you something then. Oh�have you had anything to eat?�
�No sir�supper wasn�t quite ready yet when Lance was brought in,� Joey answered. He had not really felt hungry until that very moment, but now something to eat sounded pretty good. And at that very moment his stomach seemed to agree by rumbling loud enough that Dr. Granger heard it, much to Joey�s embarrassment. With a slight shake of his head, Joey could feel his face heating up as he watched Dr. Granger smile at him.
�I�ll see what I can do about that too,� the doctor said with a slight laugh.
Joey nodded his head as he joined the older man in the light laughter. Still chuckling, the doctor left the room while Joey sat down in a nearby chair to call Chris and Justin with the news about Lance�s condition.
Chris and Justin sat idly in the dimly lit kitchen at the sprawling dining table. Selma had cooked supper long ago for the other hands and had saved some left over chicken and dumplings along with cornbread and purple hulls for the five visitors to eat, but it looked like no one from the group would be eating the meal.
Although the food smelled delicious, neither young man was interested in eating. They were far too worried about the events of the day. Both simply pushed their food about their plates, taking small bites here and there along with sipping their drinks as they both became lost in their thoughts.
Chris was feeling largely responsible for what had happened to Lance. He knew that Lance would have put the ride off until later in the day after he and Justin had taken Joey to the clinic if he had only agreed to go riding with him. And, maybe if he had gone with Lance, the mishap might not have happened.
At the same time, Justin felt that if he had stayed with JC instead of going with Chris and Joey to the clinic, he would have been the one to fall victim to the ranch hand�s prank rather than JC. He could just imagine the condition JC would be returning in. The hands had spoken of how well some of them had come out of the same game but the vivid picture that they had painted did very little in the way of reassuring either young man. None of those men had gone into the game with a concussion and they had all known the players of the game and had had some warning. JC had had none of that.
The only good thing that might come out of the entire ordeal with JC would be that those who had been involved in the hazing would be taken care of. Unfortunately, neither young man knew that John Williams and Steve Cartwright were only planning to give those hands little more than a slap on the wrist, but they would find out soon enough.
The tension was steadily building in the room until Justin could no longer hold it in.
�Man�what is taking them so long?� Justin said in frustration as he dropped his fork onto the plate then gathered up his napkin from his lap and threw it forcibly onto the table. He was about to stand up when Chris grabbed his arm, preventing him from rising out of his chair.
�Settle down J�flying off the handle like that isn�t going to help,� Chris said in a strained voice as he kept his hand on Justin�s arm.
Justin slightly growled then dropped his head to the tabletop with a resounding thud.
�Ouch,� he said quietly before lifting his head to rub his forehead. He turned to look at Chris only to see him simply shake his head at him and give him a small smile.
Seconds later, Chris�s cell phone rang.
�Joey�� Chris whispered before answering the phone.
�Hello? Hey Joey�how is he�yeah�uh huh�that�s good...wait a minute�let me tell J first.� Chris put his hand over the receiver and quickly turned to Justin who was sitting on the edge of his seat in anticipation of what Chris was going to tell him.
�Lance is doing okay�Joey said he�ll be in a room in about an hour after he gets his cast on his wrist,� Chris said to Justin.
�He broke the same wrist?� Justin asked quickly, but Chris shrugged his shoulders as he spoke once again to Joey again.
�So�does he have to spend the night? Yeah�oh�well, I guess that would be better,�
�They have to spend the night?� Justin asked as he started to reach for the phone. He wanted to ask Joey some questions of his own, but a glaring glance from Chris and punch in the arm stopped him. �Wait your turn,� Chris mouthed sternly at him before returning his attention to Joey.
�What�say that again�baby J was trying�what�oh. Um�no�we haven�t heard anything from Mitch or Troy yet. I know�it�s killing us too. Yeah�we�ll call you just as soon as we hear something. What? Oh�well�what�s the phone number there? Yeah�let me get a piece of paper.�
Justin in the meantime had grabbed a paper towel and pen from the counter and thrust them into Chris�s hand. Chris quickly mouthed his thanks and wrote down the phone number that Joey was giving him.
�Want to talk to Curly?� Chris asked as he looked over at Justin to see that he was nodding his head as he held his hand out for the phone. �Okay�here he is.� Chris handed the phone to Justin then stood up from his chair as a feeling of relief washed over him. At least one of the two they were worried about was doing okay�thank goodness. Now, they only had to wait for Mitch and Troy to bring JC back.
A few minutes later, Chris heard Justin lay the phone down on the table.
�Thank goodness he�s okay,� Justin whispered as he slumped down further in his chair.
�Yeah�we need to be really thankful about that,� Chris added. With a small sigh, Chris then picked up their plates and took them to the sink. Justin turned in his chair and watched as Chris washed their plates.
�Why do you think we�re having so much bad luck here?� Justin quietly asked.
Chris stopped what he was doing and looked over his shoulder at Justin. �What do you mean?�
�Well�think about it,� Justin answered as he traced a pattern on his pants leg. �The car wreck, the accident yesterday, Lance falling off his horse and he�s supposed to be an excellent rider, and now JC.�
�Oh�� was Chris�s quiet reply before looking back down at the plates in the sink. �I don�t know�maybe we�re being careless because we�re somewhere different, or...�
�I don�t know Chris,� Justin interrupted. �I think something is going on.�
Chris stopped what he was doing and turned completely around only to find that he was dripping soapy water all over the floor. He quickly grabbed a nearby dishtowel and wiped his hands dry as he continued to speak to Justin.
�What are you thinking J�no�take that back. I�m not sure I want to find out what you�re thinking,� Chris said as he shook his head.
�Well�I mean�something has to be going on,� Justin stammered. �Look�you just don�t have all these accidents and weird things going on all of a sudden�this kind of stuff doesn�t happen at home.�
�That�s right and that�s why I think we�re just being careless. Think about it�the wreck two months ago,� Chris said as he looked at Justin.
�Okay�what about it,� Justin answered as he stood up and joined Chris at the sink.
�It was raining heavily�the roads were slick�Lance had never really driven in that kind of weather before and he had never driven in that area at night either,� Chris pointed out as he handed a plate to Justin to dry before washing the next plate.
�Okay,� Justin said in slight agreement.
Chris took that as his cue to continue. �And with the rain and slick roads, you add cows and wham�you�ve got an accident.�
�But�where was the other hole?� Justin asked suddenly.
Chris looked at his friend. �What?� he asked incredulously.
�Where did the cows get through the fence before they got on the road? Why would one fence hole be repaired and not the other?� These were two questions that he had been thinking about since yesterday.
Chris blinked several times at Justin�s questions then shook his head in bewilderment. �I don�t know about the first hole J, but Mr. Jenson wanted us to fix what we had driven through,� he slowly answered as Justin�s questions began to sink in.
�So�those weren�t his cows that caused us to run off the road that night?� Justin asked as he watched the proverbial wheels turning in Chris�s head as what he had said caused more questions than answers to form.
Finally, after a few moments of thought Chris spoke. �You know�I hadn�t thought about it like that.� With that said, both young men stood quietly at the sink as they mulled over what had been said, all the while not knowing that they had had an audience of one right outside the doorway�Selma. The older woman quietly backed away and headed toward her room at the other end of the ranch house to make a phone call to her son. He would need to hear what she had just heard.
Once Chris and Justin had finished cleaning up after their meal, they put on jackets and went outside to sit on the porch swing hanging just outside the back patio door.
�Do you see anything?� Chris asked as he glanced about at the darkness surrounding them.
�No�wait a minute,� Justin said quietly as he leaned forward then stood up and walked to the end of the tall porch. �Yeah�out there,� he said excitedly as he pointed at two lights bobbing about in the distance.
Chris quickly joined Justin and they stood there watching, as the lights seemed to be coming their way.
�It must be them�they must have found him,� Chris said in a voice tinged with apprehension. �I hope JC�s okay.�
�Yeah,� Justin replied as he put his hand on Chris�s shoulder as they watched the lights progressively draw nearer and nearer to the house.
�Do you think I need to go tell Selma that they�re coming so she can get something for JC to eat�soup or something like that?� Justin asked.
�Yeah�I bet she�s in her room at the other end of the house,� Chris answered. �You go do that and I�m going to make sure the fire in the fireplace is stoked up and then I�ll go get some blankets. I bet he�s cold.�
Both young men quickly ran into the house to carry out preparations for JC�s arrival. Chris stoked up the fire then ran down the hallway leading to the bedrooms to get several blankets and warm, clean clothes for JC to wear. In the meantime, Justin ran down another hallway to find Selma. As he approached her bedroom, he could hear her speaking to someone�probably on the phone.
�Yes my little John�yes�I�m sure it will be yours�all yours someday,� she cooed into the phone.
Immediately, Justin thought that she was probably speaking to a grandson as he stood in front of her open doorway. Selma happened to turn around at that same moment and gasped out in surprise.
�Oh my,� she exclaimed as she clutched at her chest.
Justin instantly began to apologize to the older woman as she spoke into the phone. �No�it�s all right�one of the nice young men just surprised me that�s all,� she said breathlessly into the phone before covering the receiver.
�I am so sorry Selma,� Justin said quickly. �I didn�t mean to scare you like that.�
"That�s okay Mr. Timberlake,� Selma answered. �What do you need?�
Justin looked surprised for a moment before remembering why he had come looking for Selma. �Oh�Mitch and Troy are on their way back to the house�maybe they found JC,� he said excitedly. �We were wondering if you could fix something like soup for JC and the others to eat�or�maybe you could just show us where it is and we�ll make it,� Justin slowly added when he saw a bit of a frown cross Selma�s face so quickly that if Justin had blinked, he would have missed it. He chose to ignore it and waited for her reply.
�Oh�that�s so wonderful. I�ll be right there after I say good bye,� she answered with what looked like a forced smile. �In the meantime, the pots are under the counter and several cans of soup are in the walk in pantry in the kitchen.�
�Okay�thank you and I�m sorry for scaring you,� Justin apologized again before leaving the room to race back down the hallway all the while thinking about Selma�s unusual behavior.
With a shake of his head, as Justin entered the kitchen, he decided that he would push his thoughts to the side and worry about them later. For now, he and Chris needed to concentrate on JC.