Taken By The Bull

*****

Steve had asked if she needed to be carried to the house; but she was done with being rescued for the day and half hobbled, half hopped there herself. It felt so wonderful just to be able to move at her own pace and not to be trying to out-run a thing twice as fast and ten times as big as she was.

And now, she was back on the swing-seat on the front porch again. Had any of that just happened? Any of it? It felt like some strange dream.

“I can’t thank you enough. I really can’t-” as she leaned forward to take the glass of cold water Steve was holding out to her, her knee beneath the shredded fabric of her jeans throbbed painfully, and reminded her that yes – that really had just happened. “Ow! Sh*t. Sh*t.”

“Don’t be testing yourself, now. Let me have a look at that.” He knelt before her, calm, dark eyes on her own. “Can’t be packing you off in a cab if you’re better off seeing a doctor.”

“I – I really can’t afford a trip to the ER, either way.” She took a sip of the water, and tried not to grimace as she felt his hands on either side of the aching joint, fingers curved gently around the source of the pain. “Some pills, a cold compress, and some time lying down. It’ll be fine. I can’t afford anything else.”

“Hospital fees are nothing to sniff at, it’s true.” His hands felt too gentle, too warm, to be a part of a man with such big shoulders and strong arms. “Looking at it, it’s not so bad. Why, I think you’ll barely notice a thing in a few minutes.”

“I doubt that, but…” Her voice trailed away as he leaned in closer, almost as if he were focusing hard on the ligaments and bone beneath the skin; and he flexed the joint slowly.

“How does this feel?”

She steeled herself for the jarring flare of expected hurt; but it never came. The pain wasn’t as bad as she anticipated, although a deep, throbbing warmth spread through the limb. “It’s not that bad actually?”

“Ah, see what I mean? Probably just bounced off the nerves in there. Might be you’ll have some bruising, though.”

Staci started to reply, remembering the grinding sensation in her knee as she’d limped her way to the porch, the burn of cold air on grazed skin; remembering how certain she’d been that she had at least cracked a bone there, somewhere. Then she closed her mouth again, and took a deep breath instead. It didn’t hurt much, at all. It didn’t hurt any worse than it had when she’d been little, and scraped her knee on the sidewalk. No, less than that, even. “Maybe you’ve got magic hands. Or I just got lucky, I don’t know.”

“It’ll be the latter, I’m sure.” His hands remained on her leg as he paused, and looked up at her. “But there’s more kinds of trauma than the ones you can see on the surface. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah. I-” The words died on her lips at the sight of his expression. She wanted so much, suddenly, to tell him how sorry she was; that she never should have come here, looking for reasons why such a sweet man could be cheating the system. How bad she felt, for even thinking that. How she should have never set foot inside that field – how her mother was right, that climbing trees was dangerous – and sorry that she really thought she could do this job, so far away from home.

All these things crowded up, impossible to filter or sort through; and with no way to express so much all at once her eyes burned and she drew a deep, shuddering breath. “Sorry. Sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“You got nothing to apologize for.” His smile was slow, his voice as calm and steady as when he soothed the bull. “Just be staying on the safe side of the fence next time, alright?”

“Yeah. I know, now.” She couldn’t keep her eyes on his, so dark, so gentle; and she looked instead down at her knees before her, at the torn cloth and dirt-stains. But still, something nagged at the back of her mind; something she was sure she’d be able to put a finger on, if she wasn’t still so highly-strung after the events of the last twenty minutes. “The countryside is dangerous. Isn’t it?”

“Can be. It sure can be.” he nodded slowly, as thoughtful as if the sentiment had never occurred to him before. “Oh, and by the way. I got this from the field. You dropped it.” His hand appeared in her field of vision, holding the small, silver voice recorder. “I’m guessing that you-”

“Steve? A word?” Seth’s voice broke in, quick and urgent, from the doorway. “Right now?”

“Yeah, sure.” He was up on his feet in an instant, the recorder still in his hand. “What’s the problem?”

“I’ll – yeah.” Seth jerked his head towards the inside of the house and he moved inside, indicating that his brother should follow. With a frown and a quick glance towards the disheveled woman sitting on the swing-seat, Steve followed.

So I’m alone again. This time, Staci could hear the quiet murmur of voices coming from inside the house. Maybe I should go find some new and fascinating way to risk my goddamn neck. She stayed seated though, resting her chin on her curled fist, her thoughts blank; everything oddly peaceful inside her head, until she heard the engine of the cab on the road outside the ranch house.

*****

“You didn’t need to come with me, you know. I’d have been fine.”

“Maybe I wanted to spend a little more time in your company, you ever think of that?”

“Maybe you wanted to be sure the crazy city girl didn’t get a mind to sue your ass for not putting signs up around your bull-pen.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised that he wanted to come with me in the cab. Staci thought as she pushed open the passenger door and let in a little of the cooler night air. Making me feel like the worst kind of asshole, just by being a nice guy. “How much is the fare, sir?” She politely asked the driver.

“Twenty-four fifty, ma’am.” His reply came wrapped up in a warm drawl, as slow as dripping molasses; he sounded older than he looked.

“I got this.” Steve said, his hand reaching towards his pocket; Staci shook her head quickly.

“Not a chance!” She leaned forward, her own hand dipping into the back pocket of her jeans where her credit card sat snugly, pushing it into the general vicinity of the driver.

“You sure?” The man looked right past her, towards Steve, and Staci rolled her eyes in exasperation.

“He’s sure. And if you want that ten dollar tip I was about to ask you to tag on, you’ll be sure too.”

That was enough to get the man focused on her, instead. He took the card from her hand with a nod. “Right you are, ma’am.”

Ma’am, Staci thought as an amused half-smile ghosted over her lips. Makes me feel like I’m fifty years old, at least. “Thanks, sir,” she said as she took her card back and stuffed the receipt into her pocket behind it. “And Steve, I’ll…”

“Don’t be foolish now, I’m walking you in.” He pushed open his door and got out on the opposite side of the cab, turning to face her. “My mother always told me to be a gentleman, right to the end of the evening.”

“On dates, maybe!” She chided him gently, leaning her elbows on the roof of the car. “Is this a date?”

“It’s a poor excuse of a man who only puts on his good manners while pursuing a lady.” As if that answered everything, Steve ducked down to speak to the driver through the open window of the cab. “I’ll not be long.”

“Sure, sir.”

Steve skirted the vehicle; and upon reaching Staci’s side, he nodded affably to her. She’d thought for a moment that he was going to offer his arm, like a smooth Southern gentleman from a black and white movie. “Lead the way.”

“All told, I did have a wonderful day.” She told him as they walked up along the line of trees whispering softly that ran along the edge of the street between the parking lot and the door. “Despite the terrifying part. Hell – including the terrifying part, I guess.”