Chapter Ten

Lana's haughty smirk on her face told Brittany that she wasn't there out of sympathy. No, she had something up her sleeve. Her four-inch heels clicked across the door.

"What do you want?" Brittany asked, irritated.

"I just wanted to stop by and tell you that I've filed charges against you with the track stewards. You and Corbine, too."

Brittany's face went blank, with her jaw dropped.

"You did what?"

"You heard me!" Lana sniped.

"Are you completely insane? What would you do something like that for?" Brittany exclaimed, bewildered, her raised voice pounded against her broken bones.

"For sabotaging Justifying Guilt's chances in the race. You and Corbine planned it all out in the jockey's lounge."

"Did you fall on your head? We did no such thing. Devil won that race fair and square. But honestly, did you really think racing and flying cross-country less than a week before the race was really smart?"

"Don't play innocent with me! And don't you dare question my knowledge! Your nothing but a..."

"Get out," Kevin snapped, fiercly, but quietly, holding the door open.

"Fine, but you'll be hearing from me," Lana said, before walking out of the door, looking down her nose.

Kevin shut the door behind her and watched her get into her car and pull out of the parking lot and onto the highway through the window.

"Can you believe that?" Brittany fumed, incredibly annoyed.

"Coming for Lana Katoll, yes, yes, I can. She's just the type of person to go hysterical over one lost race."

"But she can't do that! She has no proof of a set-up!"

"Knowing Lana, she'll lie, cheat, and steal and get the officials on her side. Don't worry, I'll look into it, I'm sure nothing will ever become of it."

The blonde-haired nurse, Hope, walked into the room, carrying a small food tray and a large cardboard box.

She smiled at Kevin and Brittany and said, "Miss Edson, we've been getting hundreds of phone calls from your fans. Letters, too. There's about two hundred envelopes in this box if you feel up to reading them. Your doctor, Janet Goodwell, will be in in a few minutes to check on you. Here are some painkillers," she told her as she handed Brittany a small cup with two tiny, pink pills in it and a glass of water. She swallowed the pills and sighed as the nurse left the room.

"Want me to read one to you?" Kevin asked as he opened the lid of the box and pulled out a letter. It was pink and was signed on the back with a decorative horse head and a flourish.

"Sure, I don't think I could sleep now anyway," Brittany admitted.

Kevin ripped open the envelope and took out a piece of pink paper.

"This one is from Heather, seven years old and lives in Baton Rouge. 'Dear Devil's Dream and Miss Edson, I am a big fan of you and your horse. I cried when I watched the race. I hope you and her are both okay. I'll be praying for you both. Heather.'" He paused to smile at Brittany. "Her mother wrote a P.S. on the bottom, too. 'Hello, Heather's birthday is next week and nothing would please her more than an autographed picture of Devil's Dream. God Bless you, your family, and your horse."

"How sweet, I'll get an autograph for her soon. Be sure to save the address." Brittany was touched that such a young girl could write such a touching letter.

They read several more letters before Kevin noticed, "Did you know that almost every single letter is addressed to Devil?"

Brittany chuckled. "I had no idea we were so popular. I've only been a jockey for a year."

The doctor tapped on the open door, while walking into the room, studying a clipboard. Her brunette hair would have hung down past her waist if it hadn't been done up in a French braid. Her long, white lab coat swished against her blue jeans and a stephescope was around her neck.

She looked up and laid the clipboard on the night stand, next to the box of mail.

"Hello Miss Edson, Mr. Lindson." she said cheerfully.

"I'll leave for a little while. I'll be back later. I promise," Kevin explained as he got up. He grinned at Brittany in a way that made her heart melt, before disappearing behind the door.

Janet sat at the edge of the bed, wiggling it as little as possible.

"How're you feeling?" she asked as she rolled up Brittany's hospital gown and started to unwrap the bandages on her ribs.

"Physically, alright. Emotionally, not so good. Hope gave me some painkillers," Brittany winced.

Janet smiled at Brittany and continued to remove dozens of little pieces of white gauze.

"Have you heard about your filly since the accident?"

"Yes, the vet came and told me about her in person. I had another visit from a...business associate. When can I leave?"

"No sooner than a week. I want to make sure there's been no damage to your lungs. I think you may be able to ride, not sure about racing. I'm afraid it will put to much pressure on your injuries, even after they have healed. We usually don't allow patients in your condition to have visitors other than family, but I understand that you need to talk to people about you filly and over things, so I made an exception." Janet explained as she removed the last strip. Her soft hand gingerly skimmed over the green and yellow bruises over the breaks. It nearly brought Brittany to tears. She had to bite her bottom lip so hard she could almost taste the blood.

"It will hurt like that for awhile yet, I'm afriad. How is your arm, too tight?"

Brittany shifted and replied, " No, it's fine."

"Good," she said, reaching into her pocket for a new roll of tape and started rebandaging her ribcage. She finished examining all of her injuries twenty minutes later and she gave Brittany another painkiller. She started out the door, but stopped when Brittany called to her. "Dr. Goodwell, could you tell Kevin to give me a while alone? I need some time alone to feel sorry for myself."

Janet nodded and said, "Sure, get some rest."

She pulled the door shut and it clicked behind her.

Brittany sighed and closed her eyes, covering her forehead with her right, undamaged hand. Tears started rolling down her face and every sob pulled ferociously at her injuries. She eventually cried herself to sleep.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Brittany awoke to Janet checking her broken ribs again. She rubbed her eyes and asked in a froggy voice, "How long have I been sleeping?"

"About six hours. Feeling okay?"

"Better, what time is it?" she couldn't read the clock on the wall across the room.

"Around ten o'clock PM, try to go back to sleep."

Brittany awoke again the following day around noon. Kevin was just coming in and asked her if she felt like eating.

She shook her head and rubbed the corners of her eyes. "No, I couldn't eat anything if I had to."

He brought her a glass of orange juice that Brittany knew was loaded with extra vitamins. She drank half of it and set the rest on the table. She listened to Kevin read her mor letters from another box of mail they received.

"You parents and McLeod wanted to come see you after lunch. Your mother's going nuts. Janet told me she thought you would be more comfortable talking to me rather than your parents, or worse, McLeod."

"She's right," she smiled lovingly at him and reached for his hand.

An hour later, Jackie and Robert came in. Jackie was wringing her hands, her nervous habit, and her hands were shaking.

"Hi mom, dad." She tried being strong, but it was hard.

"Hello, honey, are you okay?" Jackie asked with a catch in her voice.

"I'm fine, did...did you two...see?" Brittany could feel the lump of guilt rising in her throat again at just the thought of the incident. Jackie nodded.

Brittany's heart broke and she was nearly in tears while asking, "Did Robin? Does she know?"

"Yes, she saw. She wanted to come with us, but we didn't think it was a good idea. She never stopped crying," Robert told her.

Brittany couldn't imagine her little sister so upset. She more than likely was staying with Mrs. McLeod and Vanessa.

The last time Brittany saw Robin cry was two years ago when she got bucked off a young colt while loading into a practise gate. She hadn't been injured and had only hit the dirt track, but it had scared Robin, who was watching from the rail.

Trying to get away from breaking down again, she tried saying something not so depressing.

"I'll be leaving the hospital in less than a week hopefully."

"That's good," Jackie answered quietly.

The awkward conversation continued for twenty more minutes. Brittany's parents left and no more than two minutes later, Mr.McLeod walked in.

Brittany immediately straightened up and tried smiling. She hated looking so helpless in front of her boss.

"Hello Brittany, I'm sure your tired and don't want to talk about the matter right now, so I'll get right to it." He paused to sit in the chair Kevin had. He continued, " The veterinarian who operated on Devil's Dream telephoned me and told me her situation. It sounds as if she'll pull through, but won't be racing again. Due to the damaged tendons and torn ligaments, of course. She has excellent bloodlines. She would make an excellent broodmare, which is why I'm here. Now you have Timeless Effort to look after and keep racing and you said so yourself that you weren't intrested in breeding and raising Thoroughbreds yet. So to get to the point, I'm here to offer to buy Devil's Dream."