Accident

"Hope?" Justin knocks lightly on her open office door before stepping quietly inside and offering her a friendly smile. "Got your message. I just happened to be in town so I thought it would be just as easy to stop by rather than calling you back." In truth, he'd been to see his mom and exchange a few awkward words with Jared. At the moment, he'd just as soon concentrate on somebody else for a while, and he did have genuine concern for Scott. 

Hooking his thumbs in his jeans pockets, he cocks his head, studying Hope for a moment. She looked more tired than the last time he'd seen her. Was it her health or Scott that was having an affect on her? 

"I've been keeping an eye on Scott's mood and you're right - I think he's got some anger that's starting to surface. We covered a lot of things while at Brookshire, but it was mostly dealing with the present, not necessarily with what happened to him. I didn't think he'd push you away though. What happened?" 


Standing back and watching in horror as her dad took a swing at Chad, Rosalyn is too upset to even cry. She was glad that Chad had his wits about him and was able to avoid getting hurt, but this whole thing was making her feel sick. Not knowing what to do, she just nods numbly at Chad as he walks away, still standing in the bunkhouse. It wasn't until Jim moved that she did. 

Angry that he'd been unable to get the upper hand, Jim stalks out after Chad. "Don't you walk away from me!" he shouts. "I told you to pack up and-"

"Leave him alone!" Rosalyn finally finds her voice as he comes up behind her father. "You've said enough!" 

Jim whirls around to glare at her. "I haven't said nearly enough to either one of you! If I had-" 

"Hey, whoa, what's going on?" Eric had already been up for a short while, and was mounted on Static for an early ride before getting started with the day. Reining in his sweaty horse, he looks with concern between the three involved in this seemingly chaotic scene. 

Jim shoots him a look. "None of your business, so butt out." 

Frowning at Jim's tone, Eric holds Static steady as the horse senses the tension in the air and starts to fidget nervously. "I think y'all just need to calm down here."

"Don't tell me what to do! This is not your concern!" 

"It is when you're causing a scene!" 

Rosalyn's eyes widen as the two go back and forth and Static grows more and more nervous. Backing up a step, she glance to where Chad had walked, feeling trapped in this whole horrid mess. 

"Go take care of your horses or whatever it was you were doing," Jim growls. 

"I'll stay here if I want to." Eric shakes his head in disgust before giving Static's reins a warning tug for him to settle down. At this point, he just wanted Jim to leave Chad and Rosalyn be, before he did something stupid. He had no idea what had started the fight, but it had been an awfully long time since he'd seen that kind of blazing anger in Jim's eyes, and he wasn't about to take it lightly. "How about you and me go getting a cup of coffee an talking about it, huh?" 

"I don't need to talk about it!" Jim yells. At the same time, he throws his hands up in frustration. 

Too close to the horse, Static takes advantage of the moment by spooking at the flying hands. Shying to the side, he rebels against the bit and gives a quick buck with his hindquarters. Focused on the situation and not enough on his horse, Eric was unprepared for the quick movement. Tossed from the saddle, he does a sloppy somersault over Static's neck, landing hard on the ground. Rolling over, dazed, he looks up to see Static sprint towards the barn, reins flying. 

Now caught between still being angry, and also being sorry for the incident, Jim reaches a hand down to him. "You alright?" 

Breathing heavily, Eric looks up at the hand but doesn't accept it. "I'm fine. Just... knocked the wind outta me." Not happy, he locks eyes with Jim for just a moment. "I suggest you walk away." 

Knowing it was time to back down for now, Jim's expression is one of irritation and apology both. Backing up a few steps, he finally turns to leave, not looking at Rosalyn or Chad, but heading straight for the barn instead. 

Only now does Eric wince as he tries to get up. His bad leg had taken the brunt of the impact, and it felt none too good. 

"Eric, I'm so sorry." Rosalyn bends to help him up as tears form in her eyes. "Are you okay?" 

"I will be." Eric takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. Standing, he puts little weight on his one leg but doesn't want Rosalyn to worry. "Don't be sorry - it wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was. It all is." The tears spill over and down her cheeks. "This whole thing is all my fault." Not wanting to even look at Chad right now, Rosalyn spins around and takes off at a half-jog towards the back corral, ignoring all the eyes that had stopped to stare at the scene.