Author's note: Hey y'all I'm not dead! I know this part took me way longer to write than I'd like to admit. I've been researching stuff for the upcoming chapters so hopefully they don't take as long as this one did.
That being said, given that it's spring, my real job as a farmhand is likely going to take up a larger portion of my time for the coming months. So, time will tell if I can actually keep the parts coming. Regardless I appreciate your patience.
Anyway, back to the story!
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Sarah sat in her living room watching TV. She had been watching a movie all day to avoid thinking about what had happened the day before. Around the time the movie ended, she got a text and checked her phone to find that it was from Stacy.
"Hey, are you alive over there? I haven't heard from you all weekend."
"I'm doing ok."
"Ok... Anyway, my parents are out for the night, and I was going to ask if you felt like coming down for some card games?"
"Sure. What time and where?"
"My house around 7:00. Randy's gonna bring pizza and drinks."
"Free food sounds nice lol. What games are you thinking of?"
"Anything you can play with two normal decks. I think Randy can bring poker chips if I asked him."
"You know, I've never played poker before."
"We can teach you if you want. It's not hard."
"Ok, why not? I'll see you in a bit then."
"Yeah. I'll text Randy and tell him to bring his chips."
"Ok should be fun."
"Don't worry. With Randy, poker always gets interesting. Lol."
"Lol. I'll see you later then."
"Yep. see you in a bit."
Sarah checked the time on her phone. It was currently just before 6:30. She considered staying to watch an episode of another show, but she decided to simply get ready and arrive early. She went to her room, put on some some simple clothes and then grabbed her jacket and headed out the door. As she got into her car and drove down her driveway, she caught a whiff of diesel fuel. The smell instantly brought her back to the day before when Chase had been right beside her. A surge of emotion rushed through her as the events of yesterday flashed through her mind.
"Please... Please let me know you're ok." She said, as if Chase was there to hear her. As she continued along her drive, her mind drifted to sitting in the exam room waiting for the doctor to arrive. Something Chase had said while they were waiting jumped to the front of her mind.
"It's ok, you've done your part, now let the professionals do theirs."
"He's right." She thought to herself. "He's in the hands of professionals, surely they know what they're doing." That realization calmed her somewhat for the rest of her journey. She still couldn't believe that it had taken him all day to get back to her, but the day wasn't over yet either. For now, she decided it was best to keep her mind focused on driving.
Before long, she had arrived at Stacy's house. She walked up and knocked on the door. "Oh, you're here early." Stacy said as she answered the door.
"Yeah I know. I didn't have anything better to do so I figured I'd just get here early." Sarah explained.
"Ahh, I see." Stacy replied. "Well come on in. Randy's gonna get here a little after 7:00 with pizza and his poker chips."
"Ok. It's not like I have anything better to do right this minute." Sarah said as she walked in, took her shoes off, and hung up her jacket.
"Yeah." Stacy replied. "Do you want your crash course on poker while we wait?"
"Sure." Sarah said.
"Ok, let's go sit down and I'll walk you through it." Stacy said as she walked over to her table and sat down.
"Ok." Sarah said as she followed Stacy to the table and sat down.
Stacy then went on to explain the rules. It took the better part of ten minutes for everything to make sense, but Sarah felt like she could at least play and know what was going on, which given it was her first time, was good enough for her.
"So are you ready to play later?" Stacy asked.
"I think so. I'll at least know enough to know what's going on." Sarah replied with a chuckle.
"True enough." Stacy replied, echoing her laughter. The two fell quiet for a moment before Stacy spoke again. "Ok Randy, hurry up. I'm hungry." She said.
Sarah laughed. "You and me both." She replied. "When's he supposed to get here again?"
Stacy checked the time on her phone. "He should be here any minute." She said. "It's 7:00 right now."
"Hmm." Sarah commented. Just then the door opened.
"Speaking of the devil." Stacy said. Sarah looked to the door to find Randy walking in with two pizza boxes in one hand, two two-liters tucked under his other arm, and a case for something in is other hand. "Here." Stacy said as she took the pizzas from him and headed towards the counter.
"Thanks." Randy said as he kicked his boots off on the doormat. He then took the two-liters over to the counter and sat them next to the pizzas. He then sat the case that he'd been holding down on the center of the table. He then took his jacket off and hung it up. "You gonna eat?" He said looking at Sarah.
"Oh..." Sarah replied, not yet having processed what had happened. "Yeah." She said as she got up and headed over to the counter where Stacy had already gotten herself a plate and was pouring herself a drink. As she neared the counter, Stacy handed her a plate and a cup.
"Just grab a paper towel to use as a napkin." Stacy told her as she took them.
"Ok." Sarah replied as she got herself two slices of pizza. As she poured herself a drink, Randy snuck behind her and grabbed his own plate. Sarah then grabbed a paper towel and made her way back to where she had been sitting at the table. Upon arrival, she noticed that Stacy was already tearing into her pizza. "You weren't kidding about being hungry." she commented.
"No. No I was not." Stacy replied. They both laughed.
"She never jokes about being hungry." Randy said as he poured his own drink. "If she tells you she's hungry, you've got about an hour before she's not only hungry, but also pissed off."
"He knows me so well." Stacy whispered to Sarah, who smiled in response. Randy then made his way over to the table and joined them as they ate. "So are you ready for your week off?" Stacy asked him.
"Oh yeah. It'll be nice." He responded. "I'll take a week off with pay six ways to Sunday."
"Oh, you won't know what to do with yourself for a week." Stacy joked.
"I'm sure you can help keep me busy for a couple evenings." Randy retorted.
"Yeah." Stacy said laughing. "But that won't keep you busy enough to stop you from finding something to mess around with or fix."
"Who do you think I am?" Randy responded. "Chase?"
Stacy laughed but Sarah felt a sudden tension rise in her chest upon hearing that name, reminding her of her concern for him.
"Speaking of Chase," Randy added, "He's been in the hospital all day today."
"Really?!" Stacy asked, her surprise evident in her voice.
"Yeah." Sarah said quietly. "I took him there yesterday."
"What happened?!" Stacy asked, sounding somewhat concerned.
"I don't know exactly..." Sarah answered.
Randy saved her from embarrassment by answering the question for her. "He told me he was working on his combine and got oil injected into his arm."
"Geez." Stacy commented. "I hope he's ok..."
"Me too..." Sarah thought to herself. She didn't want to have to live with a guy she liked ending up dead from an accident. Having to deal with that happening to her dad was bad enough, she didn't need to go through that again.
"I called him on my way over here." Randy said, snapping her out of her internal monologue. Her eyes snapped to him like a magnet as she waited for what he was about to say. "He said his grandpa's taking him home right now, but he'd see if he could give him directions to here."
"So he's out of the hospital then?" Stacy asked, echoing Sarah's thoughts.
"Yeah." Randy answered. "He said everything's good, but he's stuck in an immobilizer for a couple days. I'm also pretty sure he said he's not allowed to do any heavy lifting for six weeks either."
Sarah felt a rush of relief wash over her upon getting confirmation that he was ok. She was a little bit disappointed that he hadn't contacted her, but that was overrun by her relief.
"Did you say six weeks?" Stacy asked, snapping Sarah out of her internal monologue.
"Yeah." Randy answered. "He won't wait that long though."
"What do you mean?" Sarah asked.
"He'll be out working as soon as he can be." Randy explained. "He'll just use his other arm."
Sarah felt concern rise in her upon hearing that. She didn't like the thought of Chase hurting himself again. Then again, what was she going to do?
"Yeah..." Randy lamented. "That man is a workin' fool."
"Sounds like it." Stacy agreed.
The three of them returned to their food. After a few more minutes of them eating, there was a knock on the door.
"I'll bet that's Chase." Randy said as he got up and headed over to the door. Sarah watched eagerly as he opened it, revealing Chase standing on the other side. "You made it." Randy said when he recognized him.
"Yep." Chase said as he made his way inside. He still stood just as tall as he usually did, standing a few inches taller than Randy. "Did I miss anything interesting?" He asked as he unzipped his jacket with his working hand and slid that arm out of the sleeve. As he slipped his arm out through the zipper and slid his jacket off, Sarah couldn't help but wish that he was taking off more that just his jacket. Once he'd hung up his jacket, he sat down on a bench next to the door and used his mobile hand to untie his boots and take them off. At that point Sarah felt someone nudge her.
"You're staring." Stacy whispered. Sarah felt her face turn red at the realization of being caught.
"Not really." Randy said, bringing Sarah's attention back to what was actually happening. "The pizza's on the counter if you want some."
"Ok, thanks." Chase said as he started towards the counter. As he walked, Sarah noticed that the immobilizer on his arm had done nothing to affect the way he carried himself. He still held his head high and kept his back straight and his shoulders square.
"If only I could see or feel what's under that shirt..." Sarah thought to herself. She returned her gaze to her food but her thoughts remained on the man walking just outside of her peripheral vision. "If only I'd ever get that chance..." She mused.
"I was about to get everything set up for poker. You want me to deal you in?" Randy asked.
"Does a cow shit in the barn?" Chase retorted as he made his way over towards the counter. Sarah couldn't help but smile at his retort. She shifted her gaze back to him as he got himself a couple slices and began to pour himself a drink.
"How long are we going for?" Randy asked, seemingly to no one in particular. Sarah turned to Stacy, waiting for her to respond.
"My parents are gonna be back around midnight" She said. "As long I have time to get things cleaned up after that we'll be good."
"Alright." Randy said. He opened up the case he'd set on the table earlier. The case was full of poker chips and he started counting them out and making piles for everyone.
"I'll get the cards." Stacy said as she got up from the table and left the room. Sarah then looked next to her to find a cup sitting there. She looked up to find Chase approaching with his plate. She felt a nervous tingle rush over her as he sat next to her.
