Dean & Simone Pt 5

Simone adjusted her little elf outfit, green flannel short dress with red tights, before adding pointy eared elf earmuffs and her red Santa hat. The downtown Christmas parade was her favorite. Everyone she loved had a part. Her church family had a float re-enacting the nativity scene. Rax would be singing “What a strange way to save the world” with his beautiful soprano voice. Her mom and dad were riding in the sleigh, several floats behind the church, singing various Christmas songs. Toddy would drive the sleigh with Chaucer and Dante, their two gray Percherons pulling. Preston would lead the high school band right behind the sleigh, providing music for her parents. Then the football team would ride on the large flatbed, tossing candy to the crowds. She, Blaine and Diedra, representing Soul Rise Farms equestrian team, would ride behind the football team. They had spent the day braiding manes and tails, decorating them with green and red ribbons. Blaine wore a red sexy Mrs. Claus dress and Diedra wore an ugly Christmas sweater with lights and she was the elf. She ran a brush over Archer, pleased at how her horse had worked and trained over the last couple of months to prepare for the parade. He’d done great in the homecoming parade, ignoring the sirens and horns.

The evening was unusually cool but it felt nice as all the excitement made things warmer. Giving Archer one last look over and checking the saddle, she nodded her approval.

“Need a leg up?”

She startled and turned to see Dean who looked so good in his football uniform. The chills left and she smiled. “Sure!”

“After the parade, your parents said all of us would get Mexican then us kids can hang out.”

“Nice! I can’t wait.” She enjoyed hanging out with him, even though they couldn’t date. Not that Dean wanted to date. Deidre said he liked her but he hadn’t acted on it if he did. Sure,

he did more around the barn and had started helping her care for the foster dogs, but nothing else. Still, she wasn’t ready and liked being a part of a group. Rax, Preston, Blaine, and Diedra would round out their circle and maybe a few other friends from church. Maybe they could go to Hopeland Gardens and see Christmas lights.

He cupped his hand and when she placed her foot into it, hoisted her into the saddle. She slipped her other foot into the stirrup and enjoyed the warmth of Dean's hand on her knee, which he patted before heading back to the football team. He took a spot on the back where he could see her unobstructed and as the parade started, he and Drake grabbed extra large Santa hats, filled with candy and began tossing them candy canes and packets of gummy bears and chocolate to the crowd.

“You tap that yet?” Drake asked smiling as he tossed a handful of candy toward a little girl..

“You ever make that kind of sleazy comment about Simone, I’ll make sure to cut your tap completely off,” Dean said with his own smile. He looked over at Simone, who had Archer doing some kind of fancy trot, where he looked like he was trotting, but really only moved at a walk. The elf ears looked adorable on her and she radiated in the amber glow of the street lights.

Drake waved to some more kids and tossed some more candy. “This is serious, isn’t it?”

“It will be. I just have to figure out how to make it happen, without upsetting Scott and Lily.”

“You deserve a good woman, bro,” Drake said. “I’ll show her nothin’ but respect.”

“Good.”

“Maybe she’ll put in a good word for me with Blaine. That chick is---,” he groaned, smiling, but his smile fell when he looked into the crowd. “Hey, isn’t that the guy who was harassing her?”

Before Dean could turn to look, flashing lights and a rat-tat-tat of popping erupted. It sounded both out of place, but right for a parade. It didn’t sound like a gun, but his mind struggled with placing it.

Pop. Poppopopop.

Then he heard an ear-splitting shriek of an animal frightened or in pain. He turned, watching in horror as Archer reared, then bucked. Dean’s breath stopped. Simone, looking calm, moved with the horse, but the gelding reached into the sky again, his terrified shrieking slicing through the night. Simone leaned forward, getting her body weight over his front shoulders, trying to force him down, but she didn’t weigh enough to matter to that massive horse.

Her serious, focused face never changed. He came down into a buck, forcing Simone to quickly change how she sat. He reared and she again moved up on him and Dean watched in horror as the horse’s hind legs struggled with its footing, his hooves scraping against the asphalt, unusually clumsy, like he didn’t want to put his near back hoof onto the ground. In slow motion, Archer tottered to one side and Simone scrambled to steady him, but both crashed to the road in a sickening thud.

Dean and Drake jumped from the moving truck. Archer struggled to his feet, in shock, so Dean grabbed his reins and gave a hard jerk. The horse, ears flat and eyes wide, jerked his head up and back, but Dean gave another harsh jerk and yelled “back.” This time Archer stepped back, away from Dean.

“I got him,” Diedra said, panting, her horse sweating and tossing his head.

Dean turned the reins over and rushed to Simone, where a crowd gathered. Blood streamed from her mouth and her muscles twitched. Kneeling beside her, he knew not to move her head, but he needed her to give him some sign.

“Simone!” he yelled. “Look at me! Please!”

The words choked him, but not as much as the vacant, glazed orbs staring back at him.

Someone knelt beside him. “I’m a doctor. Don’t move her. An ambulance is on the way.”

Dean nodded and watched as the man checked her pulse then pull out a flashlight to shine in her eyes. Scott, Lily and Preston ran up and knelt beside her.

“What happened?” Lily asked Dean.

“Archer flipped out. He reared and bucked. And he fell.”

“It was firecrackers,” Blaine said, riding up to where Archer had started bucking. “The papers are right here.” She gestured to used firecrackers next to her horse’s hooves.

“Idiots,” Lily hissed. “Who throws firecrackers at a horse?”

She knelt by her daughter, studying her daughter’s immobile face. If fear or worry entered her mind, it never showed. If Dean could find a fault with Lily or Simone, it was they could hide their worry and fear like a bandit hiding treasure.

“Simone? I’m right here, an ambulance is on its way. Archer is okay and you will be.” Lily spoke with compassion, but authority, as if Simone didn’t lay unmoving.

The ambulance arrived and Lily went with the paramedics. Dean watched them load her up, trying to find his breath and trying to stop the waves of images of both Simone laying on the ground and his mother’s funeral when he felt a hand on his back.

“Is she okay?” Drake asked.

Dean stared at him, but not really seeing. “No.” He stammered out what he saw and shook his head. “I need to get to the hospital.”

“Let’s go.” Drake jerked his head toward the parking lot, about a quarter of a mile away, where they had parked.

The antiseptic smell of the hospital irritated Dean, reminding him of the useless time he’d spent here this summer as doctor’s tried to revive his mom. The aneurysm hadn’t killed her immediately, she’d lived about two hours, giving him enough time to tell her all the things he needed to. He hadn’t been able to say much, other than he loved her and he’d be okay. That she’d been a great mom and he appreciated her. It was the first time he’d ever lied to her. She’d been a great mom, but he doubted he’d ever be okay again. His fear then and his fear now felt the same and he wished for Lily Watson’s ability to steel himself against it.

Sitting in the triage waiting room, he, Scott, Preston and Rax waited on any tidbit of information. He prayed he wouldn’t have to think of anything to say to Simone. Lily remained with Simone, who was getting a lot of scans done. Dean knew it was a slow process, but if she would just regain consciousness, he wouldn’t be so uptight. The accident seemed to play on an endless loop along with the memory of coming home from a run and finding his mother on the kitchen floor.

Stopping the pain replay of these memories proved too much and so he sat, elbows on his knees, staring at the floor. No one felt like talking, so the four sat in silence. The heavy silence permeated the room, like invisible concrete, keeping them locked in themselves.. They had not seen Lily or a doctor since arriving. A nurse opened the door and they all rose.

“I don’t have an update, however, the waiting room is full of football players and band people asking.”

“Thank you,” Scott said, looking at the boys. “We’ll step out to speak to them, if you need us.”

She nodded and they all walked out. The nurse failed to mention most from the small church Scott pastored were also there, in addition to Simone’s friends. Drake approached him first. The tight end greeted Rax before looking at Dean.

“We don’t know anything,” Dean said, glum.

“They’re doing MRIs, CT scans and x-rays,” Rax said.

Drake patted Dean’s shoulder. “She’ll be okay, Dean. She’s tough. She’s not afraid of you.”

Dean nodded but couldn’t find any words.

“Listen,” Drake said. “Promise me you won’t do anything stupid?”

Dean’s gaze narrowed. “No, I won’t promise. What?”

“Dean. The police are handling it.”

“What?”

“It was Lucas Reynolds who threw the firecrackers. They arrested him.”

“How did they know?”

“I saw him. When you went to Simone, I went after him.”

Heat rose up Dean’s neck. His fist clenched.

“I’m gonna kill him. I should already done it.”

Rax put a hand on his shoulder as he started to charge forward and Drake moved in front of him.

“He’s been picked up, so you can’t get to him now,” Drake said. “Let the cops handle it.”

“If you leave and we get an update, you’ll miss it, cause I am not calling if you're committing a felony,” Rax said. Before he could respond, he saw Lily and a doctor emerge from the back. Her eyes looked serious and pensive, rosy lips pursed in a tight, grim, straight line but she walked with confidence to Scott. Rax and Dean hurried over.

“Our immediate concern is her brain swelling,” the doctor said. “If it continues to swell, we’ll need to do surgery and remove part of her skull, to give it room.”

Dean’s throat constricted. He didn’t know the details of brain surgery, but that sounded like brain surgery.

“But she’s going to be okay?” Preston asked. Dean studied his best friend, Simone’s older brother and wondered when the goofy musical whiz became this pillar of calm strength, like his father.

The doctor drew a deep breath. “Brain injuries are tricky. We won’t know where she is cognitively until she regains consciousness. She’s being moved into a room now and you can visit her.”

Diedra and Blaine had come into the huddle to hear the update and Blaine tapped Dean on the shoulder.

“The firecrackers burned Archer’s fetlock. That’s why he freaked out,” she said.

He didn’t know horse anatomy and stared at Simone’s friend. “It burned him?”

“Yeah. Archer is solid. Simone made sure he didn’t spook at firecrackers and sirens, bands playing. But pain is different. It’s a nasty burn, but he’ll be okay and Toddy said she’d take care of him and come down here.. I’m just glad she didn’t misjudge him.”

She loved Archer and if he’d been found unreliable, Simone would blame herself. She’d spent months training him and he’d handled smaller parades perfectly. No, this wasn’t Simone’s fault. It was Dean’s. Obviously Lucas didn’t get the message a few months ago when he told the kid that Simone was off limits.