# A Weekend That Only Gets Worse



## jenainy (Oct 21, 2011)

continued:
Two days later, when the doctors at the hospital were certain Larissa had suffered no more than a minor concussion, she was released from the hospital. Only then did her parents finally tell her how Felix was doing, even though she’d begged for an update every waking moment of the last two days.
 Instantly, Larissa felt panicked, as she heard her mom draw in a deep breath before informing her on her horse’s state. “Larissa...I don’t know how to put this, so I will just say it right out.” Her mother paused once again and Larissa felt her fists clench, her fingernails digging into her palms. “Felix, he...when he fell, he landed wrong and injured his spinal cord. We had him immediately sent to a sport horse vet clinic and rehabilitation clinic for horses suffering with serious injuries such as his. The vets say he has a long recovery ahead of him, and right now we can only hope for the best. They will be doing everything they can, don’t worry.”
 Larissa opened her mouth to respond, but couldn’t. Her face drained of color, and she turned her attention to the passing landscape through the window of their truck. Her lips quivered, and she let her mom carry on.
 “He is having difficulty walking, there is a lot of weakness in his hindquarters and his hind legs. They are wondering if he is...if he is...partially paralyzed. Until then, they have him in a full body sling of sorts, like, in the movie Dreamer, y’know? That’s so he can’t move around too much or injure himself any more. He’ll be staying at the sport horse clinic for a while, and even if he does make a full recovery, he may not be suitable for riding in the future.”
 Her mother’s words were like salt on an open wound, she was upset and the realities of what had happened to her horse were making everything even worse. At least, she thought, he was alive. And not paralyzed. Sure her mom said they were wondering if he was partially paralyzed, but if he was still able to kind of walk, even with trouble, it means he would be able to move on his own again, didn’t it? Larissa’s mind was a mess of questions, and what ifs, which was never a good thing for a person as worrisome as her.
 “Can I go see him, Mom?”
 “Yes, we’re on our way there, right this minute, L’issa.”
When they arrived, they were greeted by the veterinarians who were working on Felix’s case. They talked away to Larissa’s parents, but Larissa wasn’t following the conversation. She was just staying near them, feeling dazed, as they walked to where Felix was being kept.
 There he was. Her lovely horse, hung from the ceiling of his stall in a leather sling with lots of different straps. His eyes were dull, his ears resting back slightly, overall, he did not look very happy. Felix’s ears perked forwards somewhat as Larissa approached him. He grunted and then sighed in the way horse’s do as Larissa stroked his muzzle and looked him over. Her beautiful, brave horse. He always tried so hard for her. Larissa felt so horribly guilty about his accident, as if it was all her fault. If only she had turned away from the jump sooner....
 “Will I ever be able to ride him again, Doc?” Larissa asked, her voice small and timid.
 “We’ll see, Larissa. We have excellent staff here and a great, very advanced facility to help your horse recover. He will be well cared for here and we can assure you we will do all we can to help your boy return to normal. Though at this point in time, we think he has suffered some nerve damage, and he may not walk the same, as it seems like his brain signals are not quite getting through to his hind end as well as they should. I wouldn’t get your hopes up to high, Larissa, but I do believe miracles can happen.”
 Larissa tried to manage a smile, and nodded to the vet before focusing her attention once again on her horse.
 “Felix, I will make sure you get better soon and can come home. I don’t know if we’ll ever compete again, but that’s okay.” Larissa slipped her fingers into his soft mane and twirled the strands in her hand. The vet and her parents were silent as she shared a peaceful moment with her equine pal.
After a little while, they proceeded on and the vet showed them their beautiful, world class healing facility. There was pools for the horses to wade in to regain their strength, equine massage therapists, an oxygen chamber to enhance the time of recovery, an underwater treadmill, a walking machine, which is similar to a revolving door where the horse’s are able to exercise without a handler, a beautiful indoor arena with extremely comfortable footing, a hot/cold compression system, a solarium, and finally, vibration therapy. To Larissa, it all seemed expensive, technologically advanced and hopefully, she thought, very effective.
After the tour was finished, and the Greggory’s were satisfied with the care Felix would be getting, Larissa was allowed to go visit Felix quickly before leaving. After embracing her equine friend, she left the facility. Uncertain of Felix’s future, Larissa knew, as her mother had said, that they could only hope for the best. The best, Larissa thought, would be that her and Felix would return to the eventing scene. However, she knew that was highly unlikely, so she instead accepted that she might never be able to ride her horse again. She hoped that he would recover quickly and painlessly, to live the rest of his life comfortably in a lush green paddock with his horse friends and Larissa by his side.
 

The end!


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## Live2Ride15 (Feb 22, 2012)

WOW!! This is really good!! sad but Good!! lol


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## xJumperx (Feb 19, 2012)

Wonderful! And where is the rest? I'm addicted x.x


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## jenainy (Oct 21, 2011)

Awh, thank you guys so much! The fact that you even took the time to read it means so much to me! And as of right now, there isn't more...haha. Maybe I will get around to turning it into more than just a short story at some point! I have lots of free time now that it's summer.


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