FOR
THE LOVE OF GUILTFOR
THE LOVE OF GUILTby Gabrielle © 2003
PART 3
"Emma, that looks heavenly." Jimmy's eyes went wide as Emma placed the enormous chocolate cake in the middle of the dinner table.
"I helped Emma make it," Lou said proudly. Simultaneously Buck, Jimmy and Kid dropped their forks and pretended to back away from the cake. Lou glared at them but later her eyes crinkled in a smile as they all burst into laughter.
"And I'm sure it tastes heavenly too," Kid said, smiling at her. Lou held his gaze for a while and then broke away from it, grabbing the plates, urging Jimmy to cut the cake. But she couldn't hide the furious blush creeping onto her cheeks and when she noticed everyone looking at her, she blushed even more.
"Come on, Jimmy, you'd better cut it fast before Cody gets to it," Lou said, embarrassed. "Then there won't be any left for us."
Cody forced himself to smile. He was about to say something when a sharp pain suddenly sliced through his abdomen and Cody doubled-over involuntarily, grabbing his stomach in pain. At his sharp intake of breath, everyone turned to look at him in alarm.
"Cody, what's the matter?" Emma asked with concern.
"Nothing, Emma, I'm fine," Cody said, straightening up slowly. As fast as it had come, the pain had passed. "Just stubbed my toe, that's all," he added, knowing that neither of them could see him holding his sore belly under the table.
Emma frowned. The boy was looking mighty pale for her liking and for one second he looked as if he was in considerable pain. Stubbed his toe? "Cody, are you feeling alright?"
Kid glanced at his friend's plate and saw what Emma meant. Usually Cody could polish off everything on his plate in about 2 minutes but now everyone was going through their second helping of the delicious dinner Emma had prepared and Cody had barely touched his food. He had never seen that happen.
"Yeah, Cody, what's wrong with you?" Kid asked. "You sick?"
"No, I'm fine. Just tired." Jimmy and Buck exchanged worried glances. They both had kept a lookout for Cody since the incident and though Cody insisted he was fine everytime they asked, they still weren't convinced. The untouched food on Cody's plate confirmed their suspicions that something was wrong with their friend.
"Cody, are you sure you're okay? How's your stomach?" Buck asked in his characteristically quiet voice and though he sounded calm, the other riders could detect the hint of worry in the Kiowa's voice.
"It's fine, alright?" Cody snapped. He was tired of answering the same question over and over again. When Jimmy and Buck told the rest of them earlier about the accident, he'd given the same answer everytime they asked. So why should the answer be any different now? He was about to say something more but froze instead when another stab of hot, fiery pain lanced through his stomach.
"Emma, Teaspoon, may I be excused?" Cody mumbled. Without waiting for a response he dropped his fork with a clang, and much to everyone's worry, pushed his plate away and left the table.
"Something's wrong with that boy," Teaspoon said, frowning.
Jimmy nodded seriously. Teaspoon was right. There was definitely something wrong with Cody.
After dinner Jimmy was about to head straight for the bunkhouse but stopped when he felt someone tapping his shoulder. Buck.
"I'm worried about him."
"You and me both, Buck. You and me both," Jimmy said, a frown creasing his handsome face.
"Make that the three of us." Kid appeared from behind them. "Let's go check on him. How bad was he hit?"
Jimmy's face flushed. "Uh, bad enough," he mumbled.
"Bad enough to make him refuse dinner." Buck.
"That's really bad," Jimmy said slowly. His mind kept playing the same picture over and over again, the plank swishing through air and the heavy sound it made as it smacked into Cody's vulnerable stomach. He felt like kicking himself.
Kid shook his head. "I think he's hurt more than he said he was. I've never seen him this quiet before." Cody was not his usual loud, boisterous self during dinner, that much he had noticed.
"Let's go check on him."
