This following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely a coincidence. No resemblance (s) of any actual person or character or act is intended. While there is no sexual contact in this story, please be aware of the rules in your community for reading this or other stories on Nifty. If reading such is illegal where you reside of you are not of legal age, please go no further.
This work of fiction is the property of the author, Sonny Malone and should not be reposted or reproduced without his permission. Email always welcome and should be addressed to rhyolite221@outlook.com
Copyright (c) 2017
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Uncle Rick's Rhyolite Ranch
Chapter 7
After another mouth-watering breakfast Henry and Wes volunteered to drive into Chaparral to get a load of chicken feed and scratch. Normally Wes drove but as they walked out to the truck he handed the keys to Henry.
"I'm feeling a little tired this morning, Henry. I didn't sleep well last night. Would you do the driving today?"
"I don't mind, sure. You look a little pale. Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm just a little tired but I'll be alright. Thanks for driving."
Wes held onto the passenger door handgrip for support around the curves and dips as Henry steered the old Dodge pickup down the mountain road to the highway leading to town. Once on the highway Wes fell asleep. When they arrived at the feed store Henry gently shook Wes awake.
"Oh sorry, I drifted off."
"Bud, If you want to wait in the truck while I go inside that's fine."
Wes opened his door. "No, Thanks. I'm ok. I'll go in with you."
They walked in to the feed store and to the counter together. Wes said he wanted to look at some tackle and walked to the equestrian section located in the back of the store. Henry read off his feed order to the clerk. The clerk began to read back the order and was interrupted by commotion coming from the back of the store. One of the stock boys called out for the clerk. The clerk excused himself and ran back to find out what was wrong. After a few seconds he ran back up to the counter. "Hey, Mister, your buddy has taken a fall back there. You better come quick."
Henry rushed to the back of the store with the clerk to find Wes lying on the floor unconscious. As the stock boy checked Wes' pulse the clerk was on the phone dialing 911. The ambulance arrived within minutes and after a quick examination one of the paramedics pulled a defibrillator from his bag and went to work on Wes. He still remained unconscious and they decided to transport him to the hospital. Henry used the feed store phone to call home and tell Uncle Rick what had happened.
After the paramedics wheeled Wes out of the store and into the ambulance by gurney the stock boy and clerk loaded the truck with the feed and suggested Henry drive to the hospital. Henry took their advice and rushed out of the parking lot, driving to the hospital. Henry checked with the nurse at the emergency room reception desk to find that doctors were examining and treating Wes and she would inform Henry of any developments when they occurred. Henry found a vacant chair and patiently waited.
Within a short time Uncle Rick walked into the waiting room of the hospital. Henry stood and waved Uncle Rick over.
"What's going on, Henry? Have they told you anything?"
"Nothing yet. He's in the emergency room being treated and they are doing tests. I don't know if he's still unconscious. The nurse said she'd let me know as soon as she found out."
It was another hour before Uncle Rick became impatient and approached the nurse at the desk.
"Excuse me, nurse. Could you please tell me what's going on with Wes Fogel? He's been in there quite a while."
The nurse picked up her phone. "Yes, sir. I'll call back there."
After a few minutes of conversing with someone in the E.R. she hung up her phone and looked at Uncle Rick.
"Sir, Doctor Hinton will come out and talk with you in a few minutes."
"Thank you, nurse. I appreciate you checking."
Uncle Rick waved Henry over and the two waited together for the doctor.
Within a few minutes Doctor Hinton walked out of the emergency room. "Rick, I didn't expect to see you back in here so soon."
Rick shook Doctor Hinton's hand. "I hadn't really planned on it, believe me. This is Henry Larsen. Henry was with Wes this morning."
Henry reached out and shook Doctor Hinton's hand. "Doctor, how is Wes doing?"
"As you know, he arrived unconscious. He's remained unconscious and we've conducted several tests. He's stabilized for now but we've got him on oxygen."
Henry nodded. "It doesn't sound good, does it, Doctor Hinton?"
"It's too soon to tell but we're doing everything we can for him. While the paramedics got to him fairly quickly, we're monitoring him closely. Rick, If he has relatives it may be a good idea to notify them."
"Well, he has a sister over in Belmont. I'll call give her a call when I get home. She may want me to fly up and get her."
"That may be a good idea. If you guys want to head home, I'll make sure you're notified of any changes."
"Thank you, Doctor. We'll stay by the phone."
Uncle Rick and Henry bid their farewells and drove back to the ranch. As soon as he was in the house Uncle Rick telephoned Wes' sister, Vera and explained Wes' situation. Vera wanted to come down but she wasn't sure her truck would make the long drive. Uncle Rick offered to fly up the next day and bring her down to Chaparral. She agreed and said she'd be ready whenever he told her to be at the airstrip. They agreed to meet at the Belmont airstrip at 9:00 A.M. After the phone call Uncle Rick called everyone into the living room and explained to them about Wes' condition.
"I'll be flying to Belmont to pick up Vera tomorrow morning. We should be back before lunch but Vera will most likely want to go right to the hospital to see Wes. I need all of you to hold things together here. It's going to be a bit tough with Wes in the hospital. He does a lot of work around here that we sometimes forget about. Each of us has to work just a little harder to make up for Wes' not being around here for a while until he gets better. Is everyone on board with that?"
Everyone nodded and acknowledged their willingness to work harder and asked Uncle Rick to let them know if he thought of anything else they could do or that Wes may need. All of the guys worked extra hard that afternoon doing as much work as they could. They managed to feed and water all of the animals, tend to the gardens and greenhouse plants, clean the stables, and irrigate the lower and upper alfalfa fields.
That evening conversation was minimal around the dinner table. Not only was everyone exhausted from the full day of work but also they worried about Wes. During dinner the phone rang. Uncle Rick walked into the living room to answer it. Everyone at the table quietly listened with concern.
"This is Rick." Yes, Doctor Hinton. Yes, Doctor, please go on... I see... Yes... all right... I'm flying to Belmont tomorrow morning and bringing back Wes' sister, Vera. We'll go to the hospital first thing when we return... Fine... Yes, I'll do that. Thank you, Doctor. Goodnight."
Uncle Rick hung up the phone and returned to the table. "That was Doctor Hinton, the doctor who treated Wes at the hospital. Doctor Hinton said Wes is in I.C.U. and they are monitoring him closely. They performed an M. R. I. on Wes and determined he had an aneurysm."
Erik looked at Uncle Rick confused. "What's an aneurism, Uncle Rick?"
"From what I understand, it's the bursting of a blood vessel inside the skull. It can be very serious and sometimes fatal."
Tears formed in Cody's eyes. "Is Wes going to-to die?"
"Cody, it's too soon to know. They have him sedated for now and he's being fed intravenously. We'll know more when I take Vera to the hospital tomorrow. The only thing we can do for now is send him positive thoughts. Lets finish this delicious dinner. It's going to be an early night and a busy day tomorrow for us."
The group dug in and finished eating although it was a bit quieter than usual around the dinner table.
After dinner Cody, Erik and Daniel volunteered to clean up and wash the dishes. It didn't take them long. Cody and Erik went off to their room and Daniel decided to call Jason to tell him of the news.
Jason answered on the first ring and smiled when he heard Daniel's voice.
"How's everything on the ranch?"
Daniel hesitated. "Well, we're alright but we are really worried about Wes."
"What happened?"
Daniel told Jason about Wes' collapse, his rush to the hospital and his current condition.
"All of us have been taking turns visiting Wes in the hospital. We also have been helping as much as we can to make up for Wes being in there. Erik is still learning the ranch and we've all been putting in extra hours, but Wes did so much around here. The fall harvest is coming up and we're going to be busting ourselves to get everything done."
"I wish I could help you guys. I loved working on the ranch. I miss my little brothers, Erik and Cody and I miss you a lot too. I also miss eating the food, being outdoors and doing productive work."
Daniel grinned from ear to ear. "I sure miss you too, Jason. I sure wish you were here. Don't you have more vacation time coming?"
Jason sighed. "Yeah, I have a lot of vacation time built up. I just can't take any of it for a while or my work gets backed up. Someone was supposed to take over for me when I was gone but they didn't do a very good job. There were piles of work waiting for me. My boss is being even more of a pain since I got back. "
Jason asked Daniel to pass on hugs to everyone and to wish Wes a speedy recovery. They chatted a few more minutes before saying goodnight.
Later that night Cody, Erik, and Daniel locked up the stables and chicken coop. They also made sure the doors on the greenhouse and tool shed were closed and secure before heading inside for the night.
That night no one at the ranch slept well. Sometime around midnight the wind kicked up with gusts howling around the house. The skies darkened, lightning struck nearby, causing thunder to roll over the hills. As the storm grew in intensity lightning struck closer and the rain turned into hail. As the hail pounded against the roof of the house the gusts of wind rattled anything left unsecured outside. Cody pulled the blankets over his head to shield his eyes from the lightning show outside and cuddled in Erik's arms. Erik wrapped his arms securely around Cody. On the other side of the hall Daniel tossed and turned. He dreamed of Jason, Cody, Erik and Daniel working in north alfalfa field. A clap of thunder frightened their horses and they broke loose from their ropes to gallop to safety. Another clap of thunder and sudden downpour caused the boys to run back to the ranch house as fast as they could. In his dream they ran in slow motion doing their best to go fast but the storm was coming at them full force. Why couldn't they run faster?
The next morning Uncle Rick, Daniel, Brandon, Erik and Cody gathered in the kitchen. Brandon kept the coffee maker brewing as everyone quietly drank more of the normally eye-opening java than usual after the noisy restless night. Henry came into the kitchen through the back door.
"Rick, it looks like we have a lot more to do this season than we thought."
Uncle Rick took another sip of his warm coffee and looked up at Henry. "What is it, Henry?"
"I was out looking at our crops and it looks like we're going to have a rough time to get everything done before the season is over. We're going to need to get some more hands to help."
Henry described the two large alfalfa fields ready for mowing, the cornfields ready to be picked, and the wheat and oat fields ready to be harvested. The greenhouse was full of ripe fruit and produce ready to be picked the following week.
Uncle Rick nodded, understanding the dire situation. "Well maybe it's time to call Jason and Travis and see how they are getting along. Maybe they could even come up on the weekends to help. We sure could use them around here, couldn't we?"
Cody beamed at Uncle Rick and started to say something.
Uncle Rick chuckled and interrupted Cody. " I know, Jason is supposed to be here."
Cody nodded. "Of course, Uncle Rick. I hope he can come and help us."
Author's notes:
Will Jason return to the ranch like, as Cody knows, he is supposed to? Will Wes recover from his horrible aneurysm? What will happen to Daniel and Erik's mother, Bishop Foutz, and Cedarline Institute? Will the crops be harvested in time? What do you think?
Thanks to readers Steve, Max, Mark and Kevin for your emails and kind comments. Thank you also to my anonymous S.L. friend for helping with this chapter.
I welcome any respectful comments. Please send me an email and tell me what you think about the story. Thanks!
rhyolite221@outlook.com