Ch9 Trigger On The Mend

“What happened?  Why did you leave work early?  Tricia wouldn’t give me any details.  She just said that you had a situation at home.”  Kaysea sounded frantic.

“Calm down Kaysea!  It was Trigger.  The stablehand found him laying down in the paddock earlier today so dad called me just in case things turned for the worse.  He’s stable for now and the vet is staying with him overnight.  Seems like he ate something bad.  I would have called you before now, but once I got home it was one thing after another.  I just caught a break.”  Willa tried to reassure her friend.

“Thank God!  I was worried something happened to your mom.  Sorry to hear about Trigger though.  I wonder what he got into?  Are they sure he ate something bad?”

“Yep, that’s what the blood exam is leaning towards.  I’m just glad they ruled out poison.  Although if he had been poisoned, I don’t know who would have wanted to do that and why?  He’s on a drip right now and about to go to a second one with antibiotics.  I feel like by the morning he will be feeling much better.”

“Wow, that sounds promising!  You’ve had that horse for sometime now since we were in high school.  It sure would be awful if something happened to him now, especially since you just got back from university.  If you need me to come over and keep you company, then let me know.  I will be more than happy to come over and spend more time with my bestie!”  Kaysea was like a ray of sunshine just at the right times.

“You are the best friend any girl could ever have, Kaysea.  You are welcome to come by anytime.  Why don’t you come by and have dinner with us tonight?  Rainey has plans with Cal and his family so she won’t be around.”

“Ok, then I will plan to come over and eat with your family tonight.  It would be good to see your parents and have a look at Trigger.”  Kaysea was indeed looking forward to coming by as she had not been over to the Stockholm mansion since Willa had returned home.

When Willa hung up with Kaysea she informed the kitchen staff to set another place for dinner.  She didn’t want to throw them off guard when her best friend showed up and they didn’t have notice ahead of time.  When Willa saw her parents come down from their nap she told them about inviting Kaysea over for dinner.  She also told them that the lab ruled out poison in Trigger’s blood work and the vet had added antibiotics into the second drip bag.  The vet thought that Trigger would feel much better by morning.

Trevor was the first to answer.  “Dr. Nichols sure has been great to our family over the years.  He should join us for dinner as well.  Right Martha?”

“Yes, indeed!  I’ll let the staff know we have another to prepare for.”  Martha went into the kitchen.

Trevor said, “Now I wonder what Trigger got into that caused all of his troubles?  Does the doc have any ideas?”

“He didn’t mention anything, but he did say that the lab would look into it.  I think we will have an answer shortly.”  Willa seemed confident that the lab would get to the bottom of it.

“Let’s go let the doc know that we want him to join us for dinner.”  Trevor walked alongside Willa towards the stable.

Willa spoke up first, “Dr. Nichols, we would love it if you would join us for dinner tonight.  We can have dinner brought out to your assistant.  I know one of you will probably want to stay with Trigger.”

“Yes, that would be lovely.  I’d love a home cooked meal.  I believe Trigger is already responding to the antibiotics.  I gave him a little water and he drank some.  That is a positive sign for sure.”  Dr. Nichols gave them both a thumbs up.

“Well let’s go enjoy a nice hot meal together and hopefully the old boy here will continue to get better over night.  We want your stay here to be as comfy as possible doc.”  Trevor patted Dr. Nichols on the back and they all went back towards the house together.

Kaysea had arrived and they all sat down at the dining room table for their meal.  The conversation was lively.  Willa’s parents were able to catch up with Kaysea about the goings on at the vineyard and her personal life.  It had been a while since they had last seen her as Willa had been away at school.

After dinner they all retired to the living room for a night cap and some more after dinner conversations.  Martha served some cookies the kitchen staff had baked earlier that day and some coffee.  “Dr. Nichols I suspect you might be needing some coffee if you are planning on staying up to watch Trigger overnight.  I can send out a thermos for you and your assistant if you would like later on as well.  What do you think?”

“Oh yes!  That would be great!  You think of everything Martha.”  Dr. Nichols beamed.

“Not a problem at all dear.  We appreciate everything you do for us and especially tonight concerning Willa’s horse.”

Just then Kaysea got up to excuse herself and asked if she could go take a look at Trigger before heading home.  Willa went out to the stables with her.

“So are you getting excited about your next date with Grey?  I hope this setback with your horse isn’t going to cause you to cancel on him Willa.  It sure would be a shame,”  Kaysea said as they walked together.

“I haven’t had much time to think about that since our lunch out today to be honest and no I won’t cancel on him.  I think Trigger will pull out of this thing that has got him out of sorts.  He has already made some improvements.”  Willa made a grimace on her face.

“That’s good.  Have you told your parents about Grey asking you out again?”

“Not yet.  I don’t know what they are going to think about that.  Dad already has some reservations about him.  He didn’t say so outright.   I'm just reading between his words if you know what I mean.”  Willa winked at Kaysea.

The two women arrived at Trigger’s stall and he lifted his head up.  The assistant got up and made haste towards the restroom.  As she went by them she said, “He’s doing much better!  I’ll be right back.  I just drank a little too much water with that fantastic dinner you all sent out for me.  It was delicious.”

The girls smiled at each other and stroked Trigger's head.  “I’m not sure what kind of shape you were in before, but I think you are getting better now sweet boy.”  Kaysea told Trigger.  He nudged her hand.

The girls both laughed.  “Yep, you must be feeling better indeed.  You should definitely soak up all of this attention too.”  They hung out for a few minutes longer and then Kaysea bid farewell.

“See you later Kaysea!  I need to go get some of my school work done now.  I sent some emails off earlier today to let my professors know about this situation, but I still have to make up the work.”  Kaysea nodded at her and went towards her car.  Willa rubbed Trigger one more time and went back towards the house.