By Chance: Day 6

Word Count: 36,050

Summary of Events:

Steele spent the ensuing days doing a lot of reading of books he'd borrowed from friends and the library, as well as being interviewed by the local newspaper, as they'd heard rumours of his injuries and wanted to confirm them and spread the news to a wider audience. He also ended up receiving a call from Shai's aunt with an update about his injured coworker, who'd been transferred to the best hospital in the province because of significant concerns with the health of his brain…

Excerpt of the Day:

“He’d been taken to Calgary?” Steele asked.

“Yes, I believe he was flown out there the same day he was injured,” Rose replied. “He’s got a significant skull fracture and there’s fears of brain damage, but he’s not been stable enough for them to do any scans to determine the extent of any possible brain damage.”

Steele could feel the bread and cheese churning in his stomach as his mind recalled the horrible way Zicker’s head had hit the metal rail and then snapped back.

“He also has a fractured neck vertebra, but there’s no concern of paralysis, that’s all stable,” Rose said. “And some other bumps, bruises, and possibly minor fractures. Their biggest concern is his brain and the various issues it’s been manifesting, thus why they sent him up to the U of A.”

“And he’s the one of us with a wife and kids,” Steele said.

“Yes, they’ve gone up to Edmonton to stay with a cousin of hers,” Rose said. “Job and Iris are planning on heading up this weekend to stay with Iris’ second cousin.”

“Have they made contact with Mr. Winchell?” Steele asked. “Last I heard he’d been trying to get a hold of them to no avail.”

“I don’t know,” Rose said. “But I at least figured that you would want to know what’s going on.”

“Yes, thank you,” Steele replied. “I appreciate it.”

“I’m sorry that it’s such bad news,” Rose said.

“At least it’s news,” Steele replied. “I mean, I think we all might’ve thought he was dead on the ground in the pen, but we at least all knew he was alive because they took him to the hospital, and it’s good to know that he’s still there.”

“It was that bad?” Rose asked.

“He hit the permanent pipe rail,” Steele replied. “That pipe is, like, three millimetres steel, no give.”

“Oh dear,” Rose said. “And he was bucked off his horse?”

“As he was reaching for the rail to get off,” Steele replied. “He’d been jostled loose by an initial buck, kept from resetting his seat by a couple half-rears, and then he went to get off and the colt bucked again, throwing him completely free, and I think he tried to stop himself, but his hands missed the rail, and his head didn’t.”

“Oh, that is horrible,” Rose said. “I’m sorry Steele.”

“Can’t predict the mood the animals are going to be in when they come out of the trailer,” Steele replied.

“That is true,” Rose said quietly. “We’ll be praying for you as much as for him Steele.”

“If it makes you feel better,” Steele replied.

Rose sighed. “I’ll talk to you later Steele.”

“You too,” Steele replied.

Steele sighed heavily as he ended the call. As good as it was to know that Zicker was still alive, the fact that he was still in the deepest thicknesses of the metaphorical woods made Steele feel horribly, and wonder if there wasn’t something he could’ve done sooner to prevent the situation from happening, even though he knew his distance from Zicker and his anxious colt probably wouldn’t have allowed him to do much, considering he’d been in the process of riding over to Zicker when most everything had unfolded.

Pronunciations:

Zicker: zihker