“Flynn!?”
I recognized Chelsea’s mom immediately. There were so many nights I spent at Chelsea’s parents’ house after dinner shooting the shit with them around a fire. Her father would always put a beer in my hand, and her mother would always tell me stories, and she was always so sweet to inquire as to how my parents were. I always just felt the longing need to tell her everything: about my mom’s inability to have more kids and how she always took in the more unfortunate ones around the neighborhood. I talked to her about how much I loved her daughter and how I wanted to marry her one day.
I’ll never forget the bright smile on her father’s face when he clapped me on the back and asked me if he could be part of the ring shopping I did for his daughter.
How the hell could I say no to him for that?
“Mrs. August? Everything alright?” I asked.
“Oh God, Flynn. It is you. I didn’t realize you and Chelsea were still in touch like this.”
“I’m not sure what you mean…?” I asked.
“I’m calling from Chelsea’s phone, Flynn.”
She said it like a fact. Like I should’ve known who was calling. I had no idea what she thought, but my gut reaction was that Chelsea was up to her old antics again. Creating lies and spinning webs so no one would backlash on her when they found out she was bed-hopping with her college sweetheart on a whim because she was bored and home. I needed to give her more credit, though. When she started crying on the couch in my trailer about how sorry she was, she seemed sincere.
And then, she uttered five distinct words that ripped me from the rush of questions running through my head that shivered me to my core.
“Flynn, there’s been an accident.”
“Where’s Chelsea?” I asked lowly.
“She uh… she's... we’re-... at the hospital. She’s-”
Chelsea’s mom started sobbing on the phone, and that’s when I heard rustling on the other end. A gruff voice, one I’d never forget so long as I lived, picked up the talking on the phone while I rushed around and grabbed everything I needed to get to the hospital in town.
Something has happened to Chelsea, and I felt a protective need to get to her.
“Flynn? It’s Barber.”
“Hello, Mr. August. What the hell’s happened? Where’s Chelsea?”
“Chelsea’s in a medically-induced coma. She, uh… came to the stables in town and Bradley set her up on a ride.”
“Why is she in a coma!?” I roared into the phone. I unlocked my truck and ripped my door open, and it was then my neighbor came running up to me. News traveled fast in a small town, and she mouthed something about going inside and taking care of the dog while I was away. I nodded quickly and unwound the key to my house from my key ring and sent her on her merry way while Barber continued talking into my ear.
“The horse got spooked by a snake and started buckin’ her every which way. Bradley heard the commotion and got on his horse and went runnin’ towards her, but by the time he got there, she’d already been thrown. The snake that spooked the horse bit her neck, and then the horse came down onto her shoulder.”
“Holy shit,” I whispered to myself. I sped down the road and ignored the stop sign at the intersection before I got on the main road into town. Of all the times, I had to be fifteen minutes outside of town, this had to be it.
My parent’s home would’ve been a hell of a lot closer…
“When did this happen?” I asked as I took a hard-right turn.
“‘Bout three hours ago. They set her shoulder, but the venom from the snake is taking a while to work through her system. No one saw the snake, so a basic anti-venom is all they got until they pinpoint what’s in her system. They are doing tests on her now.”
“And it’s been three hours since the doctors did that!?” I exclaimed. What the fuck were these doctors doing?! Standing around with their thumbs up their asses!?
“Chelsea’s mom told me she’d seen you at the rodeo, and when we found your number in her phone, we figured y’all had reconnected.”
I’m still not sure how she got my phone number or why she would’ve needed it, but if she was at the stables Bradley was still running, then there was a good chance she asked him for it. I’m not sure why, and right now I didn’t care. All I knew was I was still eight minutes away from the hospital, and Chelsea was unconscious and alone in a hospital bed.
“Thank you for callin’ me, Barber. I’m eight minutes away. Get a doctor. I wanna talk to one when I get up there.”
“See ya soon, son.”
That was the thing about Barber, it was always so comforting when he called me son. Even though I hadn’t seen or spoken to them since Chelsea up and left, I still considered them family. They were just those types of people: they imprinted on your life, and they just didn’t leave. Throughout the whole conversation, I could hear Mrs. Mrs. August sobbing in the background, and something told me I was walking into a very dark scenario that would shock Chelsea when she came to.