Possably

Even though Jeff didn't say it Kate new that he shouldn't be helping her with Hunter and she felt badly. She could try and help Hunter herself but once on the horse it would be far harder and she might do more damage to him on her own. There really was no other option at the moment and all Katie could do was hope Jeff would be ok and it would be quick so he wouldn't have to prolong helping her.

Once Hunter was on the horse Katie has to do all she can to keep from crying anymore herself. Just seeing Hunter in so much pain it sent daggers to her heart. In a way Katie wished Hunter would pass out than he wouldn't have to feel the pain of riding back to the ranch.

Mounting herself Katie moves her leg to rest it slightly against Hunter's to keep his knee from moving to much while they walked. Starting forward Katie goes at a little bit of a slower pace making sure to avoid a lot more than she had on the way up. Now it was different.

    "It's gonna be ok Hunter. Just lean into me and try to relax."

...Several hours go by and finally the ranch comes into view. Katie lets out a sigh of re leaf knowing the journey was almost over. It had been a long ride back, much longer than she ever remembered. But when one was in a hurry it always seemed to be that way.

Getting onto the ground and seeing Eric by one of the barns Katie calls to him. Her dad was exhausted already from helping her get Hunter on the horse she wasn't going to make him help get him down too. Now that they were here someone else could help.

   "Hey Eric, I need you help please."

Giving Eric a quick idea of what happened Katie asks him to help get Hunter down and take him into to see Angel where once again she tells what happened. Being asked to wait in the other room Katie lets out a small sigh but new why.

Looking to Eric Angel could already tell something was wrong with Hunter's keep even before looking under his pants.

   "It's dislocated, and there might be some cartridge damage. If you don't mind I am going to need some help. I have got to put it back into place and for that I am going to need you to hold Hunter down."

Looking to Hunter Angel shows him pity. This was not going to be fun and it was going to hurt a lot. Getting a plastic pipe from one of her draws she tells Hunter to bit down. Giving a nod to Eric she goes to the other end of Hunter's leg.

   "Alright...One...two..."

Angel doesn't even get to three as she take his leg and twists popping the knee cap into place. At least the hard part was over. It doesn't take much longer for Angel to finish cleaning up the cuts and bruises and the rest of Hunter over. It seemed the worst part had been his knee.

   "It's going to take a little bit for your knee to heal Hunter. You need to stay off of it, and ice it along with heat twice a day. Other than that, your gonna be ok. Minor concussion, some cuts, but no major damage. Your lucky you had people with you or you could have possibly died."

Shouldn't

"Yeah, I can lead Bonzai, no problem - he's a good follower and he and Hawk get along." Those were two pluses right there. If only that were the most difficult decision. Jeff sets his hands on his hips and looks between them and the horses then back again. 

No... he shouldn't help with Hunter at all. He wasn't supposed to lift over five pounds for another four weeks at least, and he'd even asked for help getting saddled up earlier. But there was no way he could let Katie try and support the weight of a grown man on her own. He'd just have to pray that this incident wouldn't have a negative affect on his own health. 

"Yeah, I'll be fine." He gives his daughter a reassuring nod, hiding his apprehension. "Okay, Hunter... we're gonna have to get you in the saddle again." 

Hunter just groans. He didn't want to be difficult, but right about now, a saddle sounded like the worst idea in the world. 

"I know... but we gotta do it." Though Jeff's coaxing tone was calm, he wanted to get Hunter back to the ranch as soon as possible. There could be more injuries than just his knee, and even though it appeared the shock was wearing off, there were still many possible dangers that might not be detected until Angel looked him over. 

Kneeling, he looks to Katie for help getting Hunter to first sit up. 

As Hunter rights himself with their aid, his leg bends, causing more shooting pain. Muffling his own cry, he bites his lower lip hard enough that it starts to bleed. Hanging on to both Katie and Jeff as he's pulled up from the ground, he puts no weight on his injured leg - afraid to even try, and knowing that he probably shouldn't anyway. 

"Alrighty..." Jeff was breathing heavily by now as beads of sweat formed on his brow. He slings Hunter's arm over his shoulders and waits for Katie to do the same before starting forward slowly.

Hunter was not a small man and it took some doing just to get him as far as the horses, but Jeff and Katie manage. Once to Katie's horse, Hunter leans against the saddle, hiding his face and his contorted expression of pain. 

Catching his breath, Jeff gives his daughter another nod. "Okay... Grab hold of his belt with me and we're gonna give him a boost so he can get his right foot in the stirrup." He was mounting up from the wrong side, but thankfully Katie's mount didn't care. "Hunter - you still with us?" He pats his arm. "Come on - you can do this." 

Hunter nods numbly, having heard the plan. Grabbing hold of the saddle, he waits until the other two are ready before springing up. It works better than he thought it would - until he has to swing his left leg over the saddle and he bumps it as he goes. Choking on his own breath, his hand grip the saddle horn until his knuckles were white, and he was afraid he might pass out right there. 

"Easy does it," Jeff prompts. "Take a deep breath. The hard part's over." It wasn't really true, but it's all the reassurance he had. Hanging onto the reins, he lets Katie mount up behind Hunter before giving the reins back to her. Returning to Hawk and retrieving Bonzai as well, he mounts up too, ready to go. Sweat had soaked his shirt and his pulse was racing, but he ignored himself for now. He didn't have time to worry about any of that yet. "Okay, Katie... you take the lead." He knew he didn't need to tell her to take it easy. 

Starting forward, the movement was almost too much for Hunter to bear. Hunching forward, he tries to keep breathing as his eyes water from the pain. It had taken them several hours to get here... it was going to be an even longer ride back. 

Help

Trying her best to stay as calm herself as she could Katie just listens to Jeff. She was happy he was there and she was not alone. One wouldn't know how to act in this situation till it really happened and if they had been alone maybe she would of been ok, but he was there now and he new the right questions to ask and for that she was very thankful.

Hearing Hunter cry out in pain Katie gives a little jump and a few more tears roll down her cheek. To hear a grown man cry out in pain like that you new something had to be wrong and it had to be bad. It hurt to see Hunter in so much pain and feel so completely helpless to him.

   "Yeah I wont mind taking Hunter with me as long as you think you can lead Bonzi back with you. He should be ok and calmed down by now."

Looking up at her dad Katie gives a worried look. She just wanted Hunter to be ok, but she new this ride back was going to do him no good. The only way to get him out though would be by horse back since he couldn't walk. Maybe with any luck her horse would sense something was wrong and move with extra care. 

   "I'm going to need your help getting him on the horse though. Will you be ok to do that?"

   

Pain

Letting his eyes fall shut  again, Hunter listens to the brief recap of what had happened. He remembered tumbling down the embankment and hitting the water. Then being pulled under. The thought makes him shudder and he grips Katie's hand a little tighter. Coughing some more, his lungs ached and he wondered if he'd ever get all the water out.

His chest? Come to think of it, it did feel pretty sore, and it takes a moment for his lethargic mind to realize that not only had he breathed in a bunch of water, but Katie had probably given him CPR. What about anything else? He sort of just felt numb all over. "Um..." Yeah, he'd thought he'd lost himself there too for a few minutes.

"Here you are." Jeff was back and tucking a blanket around Hunter's shivering body. "Just lie still. Can you hear us?" 

Hunter nods slowly, prying his eyes open once more. They stung from having been open underwater. 

"Good. How do you feel?" 

"Mm..." It was hard to speak with chattering teeth. "Ss...s...stupid." 

Jeff can't help his chuckle and he rubs Hunter's shoulders under the blanket to warm him and keep his blood flow going. Not having heard Katie himself, he repeats her question. "Are you hurt anywhere?" 

Hunter blinks, forcing his eyes to open wider before coughing again. "I... I don't think so..." 

"Thought maybe you hit your head." Jeff runs a careful hand through Hunter's hair, checking for any injuries. 

"Uh-uh." Hunter shakes his head a little. "I just... I couldn't breathe and... and passed out I guess." 

"I've never known the undertow in this river to be that bad," Jeff muses as he continues to keep Hunter warm - and keep him talking so his mild shock didn't turn into something worse. He was glad for Katie's presence as well, knowing she would help keep Hunter calm.

"Mm... I got caught..." Hunter coughs again, spitting up what he hoped to be the last of the water. "My leg..." 

Jeff lifts his eyebrows and glances to Katie before speaking to Hunter again. "Which leg?"

"Um..." Hunter tries to think. "Left... I think."

Jeff moves down to Hunter's legs and feels through his jeans, starting at the ankle and moving up. When he reaches the knee, he knew immediately something was wrong. 

Crying out in pain, Hunter puts Katie's hand in a death grip before rolling onto his back. "No don't touch it... please, please..."

Jeff sighs and tilts his hat back on his head. "Hunter, I think you dislocated your knee." 

Hunter groans, still trying to breathe after the shock of pain. "Is it... is it bad?" 

"I don't know - but your kneecap isn't where it's supposed to be."

"Can you put it back in place?"

"There's a chance I could." Jeff nods. "There's also a chance there's more damage than that or that I do something wrong and make it worse." 

Hunter swallows hard. As he becomes more alert, the more his numbness turned to pain in more than one place - but his knee was by far the worst. He blinks another couple drops of water out of his eye as he shivers again. "What... what do we do?" 

"I don't know." Standing up, Jeff checks his cell phone, just to confirm what he already knew - no signal. They were too far out to contact anybody. But to make Hunter ride would not only put him through excruciating pain, but could potentially injure his leg even more. But what choice did they have?

Leaning his head to the side, Hunter's eyes fall shut again as he tries to concentrate on Katie's hand that combed through his hair, rather than his pain. He felt stupid, embarrassed, helpless and scared. The terrifying ordeal had lasted only minutes, yet the adrenaline still raced through his veins. 

Looking down at Katie, Jeff locks eyes with her. There was simply no solution other than Hunter riding, but it wasn't going to be easy. The rest of their ride, and lunch, were completely forgotten. "Hawk doesn't do very well with extra passengers. You up to having Hunter ride double with you?"

Heart Attack

As Hunter spits up the water Katie lets him roll over as she rubs his back. Getting the water from his lungs was good and she wasn't going to stop it. The water needed to come up and Katie just held Hunter stable and rubbing his back. Katie's heart still raced and her own hands shook a little bit. The tears finally breaking free from her eyes as they streamed down her face. She'd been trying to be so strong and now the walls just broke open.

Brushing some of the wet hair from Hunter's eyes Katie rubs the side of his cheek with her hand. She had no idea what Hunter was feeling right now but she felt releaf and terror at the same time for what had happened. It had happened all so quickly and he been a pure adrenalin rush that now it was over coming down was not fun.

   "Your horse got spooked and you took a pretty nasty spill. Stopped breath there for a little bit and gave me a heart attack. Are you feeling any pain besides your chest?"

Katie didn't know if they would be able to make it back to the ranch or have someone come here. Moving Hunter could be dangerous if he had head trauma. If there was no real danger of that though they could head back and have Angel look at him. It would be much easier than having her come here.

Letting her hand find Hunter's Katie just holds it. Giving it a little squeeze to let Hunter know she was there too. Her other hand still gently running through Hunter's hair as she just softly trys to sooth him. He was going into shock if not already in it and she needed to keep him calm.

   "I thought I'd almost lost you!"