Out of the Ashes
How coud you be so stupid
When Lexie woke up she was in the back of an ambulance. She tried to sit up, but the EMT pushed her to lie back down.
“Alexa what the Hell were you thinking,” Brooke rebuked apparently in the ambulance beside her. Lexie’s throat was too sore to offer an answer and she quickly drifted back to sleep. When she awoke again she was in a hospital room.
“Water,” she croaked to whoever was in the chair beside her. Brooke poured some from the pitcher beside her bed and handed her the cup. The cool water soothed her sore throat. “Is the horse okay?” she rasped.
“He is, but that was a very big risk you took young lady. It’s a miracle you both made it out of alive and an even bigger miracle he didn’t kill you. What you did was reckless,” Brooke said barely holding it together.
“What’s more frustrating than anything is that you watched your father die in a barn fire only a few months ago. How could you be so stupid?” she asked in earnest.
“I’m sorry. I just couldn’t leave him in there. I couldn’t watch another horse die. Do you know what that is like? Have you ever heard a horse burn to death? The screams are horrific and you feel powerless and you have nightmares night after night. It was my fault he died. I couldn’t take it, listen to her screams. I begged him to save her even though I knew the barn might go down any minute. So he went back in,”
Lexie was sobbing now as she remembered. “If I hadn’t begged him he would still be alive, but he went in and I had to hear her dying screams anyway because neither of them ever came out. I couldn’t hear another horse scream like that again,” Lexie was sobbing uncontrollable. Brooke mindful of her IV’s pulled the girl into her arms and held her.
“I’m so sorry sweet heart. It’s okay now,” said rocking her as tears fell from her own eyes. It was hard to imagine what the girl had been through. After a while Lexie stopped crying and pulled herself from Brooke’s arms.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly.
“It’s over just promise me you won’t do something like that again,” she asked of the girl.
“I promise. The horse is he really okay?” she asked.
“He had some minor smoke inhalation damage to his lungs, but he will recover. You should know that he has some serious emotional problems and you are lucky he didn’t kill you,” Brooke explained.
“What do you mean?”
“First of all he is a stallion so if we decided to keep him he would have been gelded, but we ‘re not keeping him. He was severely abused and though one of the trustees was trying to rehabilitate him, he couldn’t help him. The horse wasn’t supposed to end up with us, but long before his death the trustee willed all his horses to us unaware Phoenix would be among them. We are trying to find a sanctuary he can go to because he is just too dangerous for our program. He has tried to attack everyone who has handled him and last night he was in there because nobody could get near enough to him to get him out of the fire.”
“Except for me,” Lexie said softly.
“Except you and that became a problem after you two came out because he refused to let us near you. They had to shoot him with a tranquilizer so we could get you into an ambulance,” Brooke explained.
“What is going to happen to him now? Are you still looking for a sanctuary?”
“Eventually, but right now we have more pressing matters, but Lexie when you are feeling better you and I need to talk.” Brook said her tone seriously.
“About what? I’m in serious trouble huh?”
“You are definitely in trouble, but you and I need to talk about your father. Get some rest and I will see you tomorrow.”
Lexie watched Brooke leave and struggled to figure out what Brooke could possibly want to know about her father. She finally drifted off to sleep and for once the nightmares she’s had every night since her father’s death didn’t come. Instead she dreamt of a gray stallion galloping around the race track.
“Alexa what the Hell were you thinking,” Brooke rebuked apparently in the ambulance beside her. Lexie’s throat was too sore to offer an answer and she quickly drifted back to sleep. When she awoke again she was in a hospital room.
“Water,” she croaked to whoever was in the chair beside her. Brooke poured some from the pitcher beside her bed and handed her the cup. The cool water soothed her sore throat. “Is the horse okay?” she rasped.
“He is, but that was a very big risk you took young lady. It’s a miracle you both made it out of alive and an even bigger miracle he didn’t kill you. What you did was reckless,” Brooke said barely holding it together.
“What’s more frustrating than anything is that you watched your father die in a barn fire only a few months ago. How could you be so stupid?” she asked in earnest.
“I’m sorry. I just couldn’t leave him in there. I couldn’t watch another horse die. Do you know what that is like? Have you ever heard a horse burn to death? The screams are horrific and you feel powerless and you have nightmares night after night. It was my fault he died. I couldn’t take it, listen to her screams. I begged him to save her even though I knew the barn might go down any minute. So he went back in,”
Lexie was sobbing now as she remembered. “If I hadn’t begged him he would still be alive, but he went in and I had to hear her dying screams anyway because neither of them ever came out. I couldn’t hear another horse scream like that again,” Lexie was sobbing uncontrollable. Brooke mindful of her IV’s pulled the girl into her arms and held her.
“I’m so sorry sweet heart. It’s okay now,” said rocking her as tears fell from her own eyes. It was hard to imagine what the girl had been through. After a while Lexie stopped crying and pulled herself from Brooke’s arms.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly.
“It’s over just promise me you won’t do something like that again,” she asked of the girl.
“I promise. The horse is he really okay?” she asked.
“He had some minor smoke inhalation damage to his lungs, but he will recover. You should know that he has some serious emotional problems and you are lucky he didn’t kill you,” Brooke explained.
“What do you mean?”
“First of all he is a stallion so if we decided to keep him he would have been gelded, but we ‘re not keeping him. He was severely abused and though one of the trustees was trying to rehabilitate him, he couldn’t help him. The horse wasn’t supposed to end up with us, but long before his death the trustee willed all his horses to us unaware Phoenix would be among them. We are trying to find a sanctuary he can go to because he is just too dangerous for our program. He has tried to attack everyone who has handled him and last night he was in there because nobody could get near enough to him to get him out of the fire.”
“Except for me,” Lexie said softly.
“Except you and that became a problem after you two came out because he refused to let us near you. They had to shoot him with a tranquilizer so we could get you into an ambulance,” Brooke explained.
“What is going to happen to him now? Are you still looking for a sanctuary?”
“Eventually, but right now we have more pressing matters, but Lexie when you are feeling better you and I need to talk.” Brook said her tone seriously.
“About what? I’m in serious trouble huh?”
“You are definitely in trouble, but you and I need to talk about your father. Get some rest and I will see you tomorrow.”
Lexie watched Brooke leave and struggled to figure out what Brooke could possibly want to know about her father. She finally drifted off to sleep and for once the nightmares she’s had every night since her father’s death didn’t come. Instead she dreamt of a gray stallion galloping around the race track.