A New Start || Wyatt

[Lily Parker]

Lily couldn't believe how much their daughter had grown over the two years. And how much she was willing to accept her mother into her life once again. If only it could be like that with Wyatt. But Lily needed to stop thinking like that for she doubted that it would happen anytime soon. Katy's father just needed time. Lily had plenty to give him, since he had been waiting for two years from some sign from her. A sign that came in the form of divorce papers, or a sign that said she was coming back. When she gave the one she thought he would like the most, it was shot back into her face. She just needed to give him his space as well. Everything would be alright, they would see. The young woman looked wistfully towards her husband, and then focused back on her daughter in her arms. Even though Katy had gotten bigger, she wasn't as heavy as Lily expected her to be. Holding her like this was easier than she thought it would be. Lily smiled softly to Katy as the little girl started nodding.

When she spoke about her grandfather, Lily let a smile slide across her face. "Yes he did, but don't tell daddy that." She said with a short laugh, and then reached forward to gently tuck Katy's hair behind her ears. She needed a haircut in all honesty, but that didn't matter now. Lily made sure the little girl's face was clear of anymore hair, and then looked into her excited eyes. She loved horses, and that was easy to see. Laughing a little at her first words, she held out her pinky so that she could promise Katy she wouldn't tell. Pinky promises had been Lily's favorite when she was a little girl, but she didn't know about Katy. "Pinky promise I won't tell him, no crossies either." She said, meaning that she wasn't crossing her fingers or anything else to go back on her promise. When she spoke about Martha, Lily remembered when she and Wyatt had talked about which horse to let Katy ride first. Of course Martha had been the first choice, and she was glad to see that Wyatt had gone through with it. But she didn't know who Dee was. She gave Katy an excited look. "Dee? That's a good name! You'll have to show me him tomorrow, okay?" Lily told her daughter, and then looked over as she heard a commotion. Hero wasn't too happy about the new arrival on the ranch, as she knew he wouldn't be.

But Flyer was from the wild, as Hero was. He was fresh from the wild however, and his instincts took over immediately. He wanted to protect himself and show his dominance from the first time he heard Hero's call. The blue roan stallion froze in his tracks, his nostrils flaring as he took in the scent of the rival stallion. A slight rear was all that Fly did at the moment, and he looked around until he caught sight of the black stallion between the boards of the round pen. It was then that the horse exploded. Lily watched in awe and slight fear at the pure power of the blue roan Nokota. His muscles rippled beneath his dirty coat, and his ears perked forward to the utmost extent. It seemed he was parading around, but he was readying himself for a fight, and conserving his energy. The sedative had worn off, and Flyer was back to his old safe. As Hero whinnied his way, Flyer stopped in his tracks and then reared up to his fullest height, trumpeting his challenge to the other stallion. The blue roan landed and still paced back and forth, knowing that he couldn't escape the pen, but wishing that he could. He wanted to face that mustang stallion more than anything else in the world at the moment. It got his mind off of captivity and the fact that he could be hurt at any moment. He was ready to fight a horse instead of a person. And Hero gave him that perfect opportunity. As he bugled again, Lily ignored him and looked to her daughter.

"So what's going on tonight Katy? What did you, Carl, and Billy plan for us all?" She questioned her excited daughter, looking into her wide, excited eyes. She heard rough housing off to the side and smiled slightly as she saw Wyatt loosening up with Billy for help. Shaking her head at the antics of the older men, she glanced to the side to see Carl, and gave him a small grin. Facing back to Katy, she gave her the option of getting down if she wanted to, but other than that she held her daughter close. She didn't want to let her go for a long while, but she would so she wouldn't smother the poor child. Lily found that she was wishing and hoping life could go back to the way it was before. She wanted nothing more than to have Wyatt hold her in his arms, or to kiss him and never stop. She wanted to show him she still cared, and it seemed that her words had done nothing. So she had to show him. Kissing him seemed to be the only way, but she didn't think that would work since he wanted nothing to do with her. Lily shook her head, and then felt the pain returning in her stomach. Trying not to groan, she grimaced instead and slowly lowered Katy to the ground. "Why don't you go get your daddy Katy? Go tell him he better behave, or no marshmallows for him? He'll listen to you." She said with a grin, and then stepped back and away from the small group of people gathered. Her stomach was splitting, and she felt like it was going to open right then and there. Something was wrong, but she didn't know what it was. She was going to throw up, but she was trying to hold it in. Everything felt like it was spinning out of control in front of her, and she swayed as she stood there. Suddenly Wyatt's truck was in front of her, and she leaned against it presently, trying her best not to get sick. She couldn't look weak...she couldn't ruin this night.

[Wyatt Parker]

Word Count: 477
Status: Complete

Katy happily put her side into the 'pinky agreement', her little pinky finger barely half the size of Lily's. She chewed her finger with an impish expression on her face, turning her head and watching Wyatt and Billy messing around. She knew the two of them well enough to know that they were just horsing around. The two of them had never actually had a fight that included real punches. Except for the one time at the bar where Billy decked Wyatt and Wyatt had returned the favour. They'd ended up sitting at the bar with two bold beers on their faces laughing their asses off about the reason for the small brawl: the two of them had been in each other's faces, undecided about something to do with their next cattle drive. Wyatt had challenged Billy to hit him after Billy threatened to. He'd never know that the ranch hand would actually do it. Well, he was eating his words, wasn't he?

"We's gonna make a fire."

She replied, pointing at the collection of rocks shaped in a circle. In the middle of the circle was a bunch of twigs and what not, all ready to be lit. All around them dusk was setting in and most of the horses had already been taken to their stalls. The only ones left were Hero, Beauford, Martha and Flyer, who would have to stay in his pen for the night.

Katy was put down, much to her bemusement and she nearly reached up for her mother again except when she was able to sense that something was wrong. She looked into her mothers eyes, looking as if she too were about to cry. Carl saved the day by picking her up. Wyatt had seen the look on Lily's face and had advanced towards her, much to the other mens surprise. Carl cuddled Katy, taking her over to the make-shift seats using logs and sat down with her, amusing her whilst Wyatt spoke to Lily.

Wyatt stood in front of Lily, rather close compared to how he had kept his distance before.

Lily?

He asked, not using the nickname that he had so fondly called her before. He had even used it by mistake that very morning. Now, looking at her pained expression, he felt useless. He felt like it was inappropriate to hold her and to be that close, so what was he going to do? Just stand there decorating the yard?

I might have somethin' in the house to help you with that stomach of yours. C'mon.

He spoke softly, holding his hand out to her if she needed any help. Not only did he feel awkward, but he felt like he looked like it too. Then again, did it really matter when the woman you loved looked like she was going to double over in pain?

[Lily Parker]

Lily hadn't felt this much pain today. It had been slowly building up until she could not ignore it any longer. She didn't want Katy to be scared though, so she was putting on a brave face to allow her daughter some comfort. But the little girl was a lot smarter than Lily had first imagined. She knew their daughter was intelligent, but she thought she would be able to hide something like this from her. As Katy seemed like she was going to cry, Lily gave her a small smile of encouragement. "It's alright Katy. I'm okay, don't you worry." She didn't want to say anything was wrong with her because she didn't want it to ruin Katy's night. She could tell her she just had a tummy ache, but that would still make the little girl concerned over her mother. So Lily forced herself to straighten up, and was about to pick up her daugher when Carl saved the day. Lily gave him a thankful look, and let Carl take Katy towards the seats by the fire.

The young woman didn't know what was wrong, but she didn't think it was anything serious. They just had to be stomach cramps, right? What else could they be? Shaking her head a little, she realized it was something worse than she thought. The pain and the dizziness were overwhelming, and she was doing her best to cling to the side of her husband's truck. Her hand was shaking from the effort of holding herself up, and soon enough she had doubled over. Thankfully she had moved herself to the other side of Wyatt's truck so she was out of Katy's view, because she didn't want to scare the young girl. Takng a deep breath, Lily found herself leaning over, wrapping both arms around her abdomen and trying her best to overcome these feelings. She didn't know what was going on, but she honestly wished it would stop. A small groan came from her mouth, until she realized that she was being watched. Putting on a brave face, she straightened a little too quickly, and stepped to the right to regain her balance. The pain was obvious on her face, but she couldn't do anything to hide it at the moment. He would know by now anyway, because she was certain he had seen her doubled over. Slight fear was mixed within her expression, and she was doing the best she could to keep herself from losing the small lunch she had had today. As he spoke her name, she finally brought her eyes to his. "Wyatt...it's getting worse. I don't know, what's wrong." She managed to gasp out, hating herself for this.

She just wanted to come back and have life go back to normal. She wasn't supposed to be getting sick, and she wasn't supposed to be showing that she was still as weak as ever. But this stomach issue was something she had never expected. She hated herself right now. Lily wanted everything to be perfect, but it was anything but. Nothing was working out the way that it was supposed to. Groaning once more, she suddenly realized he was speaking to her once more, and she stared at him through her pain. Nodding her head through her pain, she found herself reaching for his hand. "Okay...can we...can we just, go slow?" She questioned, not knowing how he would feel about this. She didn't care about the awkwardness or their insecurities. This was scaring her, and she just wanted to get out of Katy's sight. She didn't want to scare her anymore then she probably already was. As she started walking with Wyatt, she braced herself on his arm, not certain if he was comfortable with their closeness, but not able to walk on her own. The wave of dizziness that overcame her suddenly sent her spinning, and she stumbled, unable to catch herself. It was just a good thing she was out of Katy's sight. She landed on her knees upon the ground, and released Wyatt before she dragged him down with her. And before she could stop herself, she was vomiting even though she didn't want to. And it wasn't normal either. The vomit was nothing more than blood, and it was making Lily feel even sicker. She couldn't believe that this was happening. This was more embarrassing then anything else, and she couldn't even help it. She didn't want him to see her like this, but apparently she had no choice. Leaning back, Lily let herself fall onto her rear in the dirt, and she sat there, trembling from the effort it had taken her to heave that out of her system. She thought she was finished, but in another instant she was doubled over, clutching her stomach and throwing up even more than the first time. Tears were rolling down her face now, and she didn't understand what was going on. She called out for the only person she wanted near her right now. "Wyatt..." She had stopped throwing up for the moment, and she sat there shaking, her teeth chattering from it all. Her stomach was blinding her because of the agony, and she was soon trying to keep herself upright. What was going on?

[Wyatt Parker]

Word Count: 668
Status: Complete

Wyatt frowned when she spoke, realizing that maybe it was more than just stomach cramps. Lily was in agony but what else could he do? He felt like his blood had become ice in his veins when she looked at him. His extremities felt useless yet he was using them as he supported her, holding his wife in his arms for the first time since she had left. He had his arm around her waist, keeping her up should she fall. This wasn't right. She shouldn't be this sick for him to have to wake up and just hold her, apologize for acting so damn stubborn and to stop the hurt that she was going through. They hadn't even made it halfway to the house when Lily collapsed. Wyatt collapsed onto his own knees beside her, frozen as his eyes settled on the blood coming directly from her. His eyes widened and he felt panic rise in his chest, into his throat and nearly into his words. He couldn't speak; speech escaped him. The sight was too gruesome. Then Lily was sitting on the ground but before she had time to breathe she was choking up blood again. Wyatt... That set him off the edge.

Lil, stay awake, hunny.

Wyatt didn't give her any choice - she was coming with him no matter how weak she felt. Taking her into his arms, careful to cradle her in a position that would not cause her any discomfort.

Billy! Unhook the trailer!

He called and Billy stood to attention, looking at Wyatt as if he were crazy.

"What the hell happened?"

Just do it, Billy.

Billy hesitated then ran off towards Wyatt's truck, which was still positioned by the pen. He worked fast to unhook the trailer, stumbling a little bit but managing it quickly. By this time Wyatt was already by his truck, somehow opening the door and stepping up onto the step, gently laying Lily in the seat and doing up the seatbelt. He stroked her face, tilting her head up.

Stay awake, ya here me?

He said, hesitating like Billy did before he closed the door and ran around to his side.

"Wyatt, don't do anythin' stupid on those roads."

Billy warned, but Wyatt was hardly listening. He was panicking. Honest to god he was panicking just like he had when his own father had fallen from his mount, convulsing as the pain suffocated him. The nose bleed, the terrified look in his eye. This was all a replay and Wyatt didn't react well. He was just doing the cliche, save the girl. But this time, he was saving his girl. The engine started up with a roar and as Wyatt pulled out of the yard, he heard Katy yelling and Carl's voice trying to calm her down.

"Daddy!"

He covered his mouth, biting his hand to stop himself from feelin' choked up about leaving his little girl in such a state. All he knew was that the way Lily choked up blood wasn't natural, and it wasn't anything normal either. Something was wrong, but what was it?Wrapping his head around this was difficult. He looked to the side at Lily sitting in the passenger seat. Her face was pale. He took her hand.

Hang tight, Lil.

He looked away, speeding down the main road that would take him to Westin's hospital. He had to overtake a couple of cars, a lot of them taken by surprise at the usually conservative cowboy, who was now speeding across town like his tires were on fire. Maybe he was being stupid. Maybe she was okay. Maybe he looked like a damn turd for reacting so badly to the way she had vomited up blood. Maybe this was actually a serious situation, and he was doing his best to save the woman he had married all those years ago. So as he pulled up into the emergency entrance at Rickshaw Hospital, he felt his panic might actually be worth something.

OOC: Do you want to reply at the hospital?