“She said Kaci and the baby are okay. I need this ride.”
“You need to be getting your ass on the helicopter!”
I ignored him as I climbed on top of the bull.
Dirk backed away, leaving Bob, the contractor and owner of Midnight Ride, to help tighten the bull strap.
When I glanced up, I saw Dirk was leaving. He stripped off his vest and started down the steps away from the chutes.
I knew he was pissed at me for not putting Kaci first, but I had to ride this bull. If I won, that would mean a lot of money for me and Kaci; we’d be sitting really nice financially. Dirk didn’t see that side of things. He only saw me putting bull riding over Kaci. But I was thinking about our future.
It was only a few more minutes. What would it hurt?
After getting my hand in position and digging in, I nodded, and the gate opened. Midnight Ride was a left-hand delivery, and he turned away from my hand. He jumped up like someone had just shot him in the ass. He tried every direction, every move he had in him, but I held on for the full eight seconds. My hand was caught for a brief moment before I got it out and jumped down to the ground. The bull tried to hook me, but I scrambled out of the way. The sounds of the crowd going wild had me smiling. I took off my helmet and threw it up in the air.
“Brock Shaw, the Montana native, just rode an eighty-nine point five, folks. You have a new leader here in Billings!”
I couldn’t believe it. Not only had I stayed on and had a qualifying ride, but I’d also scored decent. When I looked up into the chutes, I expected to see Dirk before remembering he had taken off.
Kaci.
Grabbing my bull rope from Sam, the bullfighter, I got my helmet and hightailed it out of the arena. I was stopped by Kim, a CBS reporter, who asked how I felt about the ride.
“I feel great. I need to go, though. My wife is in labor.”
Everyone started yelling out, and I quickly located Kendall.
“Hey, I’m ready to go if Bob is still willing to let me use the helicopter.”
She nodded. “Dirk wanted to use it and leave you behind, but Bob said no.”
Hell, Dirk was more pissed than I’d thought. I wasn’t surprised, though.
Dirk was waiting in the helicopter, a pair of headphones over his ears. When I climbed on, Kendall handed me her phone.
“Brock? Are you on your way?” my mother asked.
“Yes, how is she?”
“Pissed you rode.”
My head turned to look at Dirk, who was currently texting someone on his phone.
“How did she find out?” I asked, still staring at my best friend.
“Dirk called.”
“Of course he did,” I grumbled. The idea that my best friend would call my wife and tell her I rode had anger boiling in my veins. He could be pissed, but it was low to do that to me.
“Now is not the time, Brock. The baby is putting a lot of strain on Kaci. She’s having a very hard time pushing.”
“I’ll be there soon.”
Bob had arranged for a driver to be there to pick us up upon landing. Dirk still hadn’t uttered a single word to me. I couldn’t blame him, in a way. He would have never put a bull before Kaci. Internally, I already hated myself and wished I could go back in time.
Why in the hell did I ride? What was I thinking? I could tell myself it was for our future, but was that really the reason?
As we rushed into the hospital, Dirk was on my heels the entire time.
“Kaci Shaw?” I asked, rushing up to the desk. “I’m her husband.”
The nurse nodded and motioned for me to follow her.
When I opened the door, I saw the doctor holding up the baby. Kaci dropped back on the bed and turned her head to look at me. I smiled as I glanced at the baby and then back to her.
Kaci returned my smile, but I saw the disappointment in her eyes. It nearly gutted me.
She reached out for my hand and said weakly, “Brock, we have a son.”
Those were her last words to me.
I looked down at the baby boy the nurse was currently handing to me. My heart was instantly filled with so much love. “Baby, you did so good. Look at how beautiful he is!”
“Kaci? Kaci? Kaci!” my mother screamed, as I turned to see my wife lying lifeless on the bed.
Everything happened so fast. The baby was taken from me and rushed out of the room while the doctor began giving CPR to Kaci and my mother cried out for someone to tell us what was happening.
An hour later, long after they had ushered us out of the room, the doctor came out and told me that Kaci had died from what was most likely a blood clot that had traveled to her heart or brain.