Clouds and Rain

time his breathing seemed to falter.
    Eventually, Calley arrived with screeching tires. She looked very worried.
    “What happened?” she asked Flynn after taking a quick look at Gable, then at his foot.
    “He tripped on a bale of hay,” Flynn told her. “When he didn‟t return to the house, I came looking for him and found him here.”
    “I suppose it‟s a miracle it took so long.” Flynn wasn‟t sure what she meant. “You expected this?” 68

    Clouds and Rain

    Calley nodded. “When he got hurt the first time, they were afraid they wouldn‟t be able to save the foot. The bones were shattered and there was apparently some problem with the blood flow. I‟m no doctor, so I don‟t know the specifics. Anyway, when it seemed to heal up some, Gable didn‟t want to have anything more done to it. The first time we left him alone here, he hit his foot on a table inside the house and it swelled up again, and they told him that eventually he‟d lose it, but he wouldn‟t hear of it. That‟s why he refuses to see a doctor.” Flynn pulled Gable closer and hugged him. “What are you saying?”
    “All any doctor talks about is amputation, Flynn. And Gable flat-out refuses to even contemplate it. He‟s had third and fourth opinions.
    They all agree that, sooner rather than later, he‟s going to have no other choice.”
    Flynn looked into Gable‟s sleeping face. “Right now, he doesn‟t even have the luxury of choosing.”
    “That‟s what I was afraid of,” Calley replied.
    They both looked up as they heard a car stop in front of the barn.
    The flickering lights accompanying it identified the vehicle, and Calley got up from her crouching position in front of Gable to take a look. She soon had to prevent a loudly barking Bridget from guarding her master too diligently, as the ambulance team arrived with a stretcher and a bag of supplies.
    “I found him unconscious,” Flynn explained to them. “He hurt his foot earlier today. Now he has trouble breathing and he stops sometimes, but he starts again when I rock him.” One of the men looked at Flynn compassionately. “We‟ll take it from here, sir,” he stated.
    Flynn had a hard time letting go of Gable, but the stern look the EMT gave him told him he was going to have to. It was then that his heart started racing.
    “Come on, Flynn, get into my car. We‟ll follow them to the hospital,” Calley said, placing a compassionate arm around Flynn‟s shoulders.

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    Flynn shook his head as he saw they were carefully transferring Gable to the gurney. “I want to ride in there with Gable.” He pointed at the ambulance.
    “I‟m sorry, sir, but the lady is right. There‟s no space for you.
    Better follow behind us.”
    Flynn shook his head with even more conviction. “No! I need to be with him. If he dies in there, I need to be with him.” Hearing himself say the words shocked Flynn, but there was nothing he could do. He feared this with all his heart, and hoped he was wrong.
    Calley pulled him closer and hugged him tightly. Then she took his face in her hands and made him look at her. “Flynn, listen to me.
    He‟ll be fine. He‟s in capable hands!”
    “We‟ll take care of him, sir,” the EMT said after they loaded Gable into the back of the small ambulance. “Just follow us.” The trip to the local hospital along the pitch-dark country roads was not something Flynn would have contemplated, but Calley was a more than capable driver and, despite her own apprehensions, she safely navigated them into town. The local doctor who‟d been called on almost immediately gave the order to transfer Gable to a larger facility, though, so once again they were driving behind the ambulance, only this time along less-familiar but better-lit roads.
    The emergency room in the city hospital was busier and quite a bit larger than the makeshift reception area in their local hospital. They were told to wait and fill out some forms, and Flynn realized he really didn‟t know that much about Gable. Luckily, Calley seemed on top of things.
    “This isn‟t the first time I‟ve done this, Flynn. Just after the accident, he was in and out of the hospital and never unless it was absolutely necessary, so I‟ve been through this routine a few times.” She put her hand on his arm to console him.
    “I don‟t even know if he has any family,” Flynn mumbled. “I don‟t know anything about him.”
    Calley squeezed Flynn‟s arm. “He‟s not the most