Ace

Carson nestled down under the blanket, too sick to argue at this point. He closed his eyes and nodded. "Okay... I'm not gonna go anywhere." Truth be told... this was kind of nice. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing he'd wound up sick today. 

Left alone, the house became quiet, and Carson very quickly fell back to sleep for at least another hour. Waking up just as groggy, he managed to at least warm up the tea Misty had made earlier, and nibbled on some of the toast, although he really didn't feel hungry. He found the Tylenol where they'd always kept it, and went back to the couch, caring little that that he was still in yesterday's clothes. 

By noon, his fever had worsened, giving him a worse headache, and the sinking feeling this might not be the only day he'd have to take off work. As bad as he felt though... he really didn't care. 

Still curled up under the blanket on the couch, he knew Misty would be home at some point, but couldn't keep himself awake enough to be alert. He really didn't mean to be a bother, and really hadn't meant to stay here just when he was getting sick. He hoped it wouldn't be an annoyance to her - that was the last thing he wanted. 


Hunter nodded. He hadn't been sure if Ryan would want complete separation from her normal work, or if it would be a comfort. Apparently it was the latter, and he was glad. Maybe she could involve herself a little in something here that would help with making all of this a distraction for her. 

Once they'd had their coffee and a little to eat, Hunter took her to the barn and had her help him a little with what was left of the feeding. Asking what else he could do, Mick gave him the task of putting some of the horses out in the back pasture, so he let Ryan come along, not pushing her to actually lead the horses, but just letting her walk with him and get used to the big animals. 

Seeing the garage door open at some point, he aimed in that direction and had Ryan follow him. "Hello?" He stuck his head into the shop. "Anybody home?" 

Clint stood up too quickly and hit his head on the open hood of the pickup he was working on. "What?" 

Hunter bit his lip and went on in, motioning for Ryan to follow. "Sorry. Clint?" 

Clint wiped his greasy hands on a rag and came around the corner, stepping over some random tools as he went. Keeping this place organized had...not been a priority... for a while now. "Hey!" He smiled as he saw Hunter and offered a handshake. "Long time no see!"

"Too long." Hunter grinned. "Brought a friend with me, Ryan McKade. She's just chilling and finding out how relaxing the country air can be."

Clint nodded his hello to her, and held his smile. "Once your lungs learn to breathe again, you might have trouble going back to the city." 

Hunter chuckled. "Hey, listen, um... Ryan doesn't know horses but she knows cars. Actually she's my top competition in the races. And... actually she's an ace mechanic too."

Clint's eyebrows rose before he smirked. "Sounds like she gives you a run for your money."

"Yeah, yeah." Hunter threw Ryan an amused glance before looking back to Clint. "Wouldn't need a hand or anything in here, would you?"

"You're kidding, right?" Clint scoffed. "I've got Angel's car that's been throwing her fits, I've got one of the tractors that decided to quit working just yesterday, and I've got Jeff's pickup that I've been working on for three days and I can't, for the life of me, figure out what's wrong. Oh, and did I mention I'm working alone?" He cocked his head at Ryan. Though annoyed at his situation, he would welcome a helping hand that actually knew a thing or two. "Got an extra pair of coveralls in the back if you want..."