Men called horse - chapter 3 - It first needs to get worse before it gets better
This story is rated explicit, for warnings, please check out chapter 1.
It is only a short chapter, because I tried to make some art to illustrate the story, but as I am not familiar with picture editing programmes... Well, I tried.
Here is chapter 3, which can also be found on AO3:
John and Peggy are having breakfast when Peggy looks up from her tablet.
“John, I called Ann and I think we should go ahead with Neal´s surgery.”
“You think he is ready?”
“Well, as ready as he will be, he isn´t so weak anymore and I don´t want him in constant pain, so I think we should do this as soon as possible. He will need more surgeries, not only for his leg. We also need to fix his teeth and I also want to see if we can re-vocalize them.”
“OK, just let me know when you plan to do the surgery.”
“Ideally, I would like to do it tomorrow. I will ask Ann if the vet table is free and if it is, preferably in the morning because I want him sober for the anesthesia and that way it is not so hard on him.”
“OK, he will be ready.”
John drives to the stables and goes through the days routine. He tells Neal and Peter about Neal´s pending surgery. Neal is getting anxious again and presses himself to the back of the stable. John can see that Neal is having a flash back. He waits for Neal to work through it but wonders what happened to Neal.
When Neal is dragged back to the stables after yet another failed escape attempt, the stable master is so furious, he puts a twitch around Neal´s upper lip and drags him into the yard. He doesn´t say anything, he just picks up one of the iron rods that is used to restrain the horses in the squeeze chute. The moment Neal sees what is about to happen, he starts struggling almost ripping of his lip, but before he can get free, a devastation blow to his leg cripples him and he howls in pain, collapsing to the ground. The twitch is released and he is left in the yard.
“Neal, we are not going to hurt you, we are going to fix your leg so you don´t have any more pain.”
Neal snaps out of his daydreaming and looks up at John, who can see that the stallions still don´t trust him one hundred percent, but he also knows that if he can convince Peter, Neal will follow. He explains that Neal´s leg will be aligned, so he will no longer be in constant pain. He also explains that there will be a cast and Neal will get pain medication to take care of any discomfort.
After lunch, he takes them to pasture and let both ponies loose, Neal limps towards the shade and lies down, Peter stands guard close by.
Peter is dragged into the yard and starts to fight the moment he sees Neal lying on the ground. He is lying in his own filth and he is not one hundred percent conscious. It only takes Peter one look at Neal´s leg to see that they broke the bone. Neal won´t be able to get up by himself with the restraints.
“Neal, we will get out of this place. Be strong.” Peter shouts, hoping Neal hears him. The handler to his left curses and drags Peter with him, using the whip. Peter refuses to show that it hurts, only glaring at the man, who seems to enjoy tormenting him.
“You need to take care of his leg or he will be a crippled show horse.”
“Don´t worry about that, the boss doesn´t care anymore, he has other plans.”
Peter comes back out of his thoughts when Neal bumps him in the chest. He makes a shooting sound and Neal settles against him.
They stay all day in the pasture, dozing and by dinner time, John takes them back, explaining that Neal is allowed some light food because he has to be sober tomorrow morning. John feeds them protein shakes. And a small piece of his donut as dessert.
* * *
The next morning, Peggy and John are early at Vesta Stables, Ann is already present to see that everything goes as planned. While Ann and Peggy prepare the room, John goes to Neal and explains that he will be getting a sedative to keep him calm before the operation. He pulls away from John when John wants to open his mouth but this is not the first pill John has ever administered so he quickly puts his thumb in the corner of Neal´s mouth. He knows there are no teeth in the back as they have been pulled by the previous owner to accommodate the bit. So Neal can´t bite and it is easy to push open his mouth, within a couple of seconds the pills is gone. Neal looks betrayed but John explains it is better to go in the surgery relaxed. When he lets go of his halter, Neal seeks Peter´s companionship and John let´s him. He leaves the stable to see if they are ready for Neal.
When it is time, he walks back with Frank and when they arrive, Neal´s eyes are already half closed and he is leaning against Peter.
“Good boy, Neal, let´s go, it will be over soon. Peter, you stay here, we will bring Neal right back.”
Peter breezes his understanding and looks anxious when they slowly walk Neal to the vet room.
Once inside, Neal´s adrenaline kicks in again, but Peggy is quick and sedates him before he can really panic. The drug is quick working and the fight leaves Neal´s almost immediately; Frank and John lift Neal onto the table and restrain Neal, just in case.
Peggy and Ann have their scrubs on. Ann takes off the boots and Peggy quickly disinfects the leg. John already shaved it yesterday, so they can work more efficiently.
Two hours later, the bone is broken again, re-aligned and set. The fracture was worse than Peggy expected, so she placed a titanium plate against the bones, so they will be stronger. The leg is bandaged and Neal is already waking up. He is carefully lifted and carried to the stable Peter is already peering over the door and is happy to see Neal being brought back.
Once they have settled Neal in, they leave the stable and turn on the infrared light above Neal, so he will be warm and cozy when he fully wakes. They hobbled him so he can´t get up and put weight on the leg, not until they are able to put a cast around the leg. But first the swelling needs to go down. John stays close to calm Neal if necessary. Peter waits next to his companion.
A low moan is the first real sign of consciousness and Neal´s eyelids flutter, he is fighting to wake up. But with the return of consciousness, the dizziness and nausea of the sedation becomes more apparent.
“Hey boy, just keep still, you can´t get up anyway.” John enters the stable and gently pets Neal.
Two hours later, Neal is fully awake but still pale and shivering. John already placed a blanket over him and turned the heater up in the stable. He feeds him some water from a bottle. Once that stays down, he promises Neal some strawberry smoothie. John found out that Neal has a sweet tooth. It is funny to see that Peter likes more fattening foods, and Neal healthy food, but your donut is never safe for Neal.
* * *
A couple of days later, John walks up to the stable to find Neal and Peter lying next to each other, they are awake. Once Peter catches John´s arrival, he gets up and John enters the stable.
“OK, Neal, we are going to do this very slowly. We don´t want to get you hurt, OK? We will carry you to the vet room to have an x-ray and hopefully a cast. If you get a cast, I will remove the hobble.”
John calls in three stable hands and together they get Neal safely and without much discomfort to the vet room where Peggy is already waiting. A quick examination and Peggy decides that she can cast the leg. While Neal waits for it to dry, John feeds him some pieces of fruit and as always he brought a threat for Neal, a small piece of lemon cake.
Once the case is set, Peggy and John help Neal up and more easily than expected, Neal is standing again.
“Good boy, how are you feeling?”
Neal nods with his head and follows Johns out of the stable, the limp is almost gone, of course he´s gait is off because of the cast, but he doesn´t have that strange limp anymore. John takes both horses to the table in the middle of the stables where there is an assortment of fruits and breakfast bites.
To chapter 4.
It is only a short chapter, because I tried to make some art to illustrate the story, but as I am not familiar with picture editing programmes... Well, I tried.
Here is chapter 3, which can also be found on AO3:
John and Peggy are having breakfast when Peggy looks up from her tablet.
“John, I called Ann and I think we should go ahead with Neal´s surgery.”
“You think he is ready?”
“Well, as ready as he will be, he isn´t so weak anymore and I don´t want him in constant pain, so I think we should do this as soon as possible. He will need more surgeries, not only for his leg. We also need to fix his teeth and I also want to see if we can re-vocalize them.”
“OK, just let me know when you plan to do the surgery.”
“Ideally, I would like to do it tomorrow. I will ask Ann if the vet table is free and if it is, preferably in the morning because I want him sober for the anesthesia and that way it is not so hard on him.”
“OK, he will be ready.”
John drives to the stables and goes through the days routine. He tells Neal and Peter about Neal´s pending surgery. Neal is getting anxious again and presses himself to the back of the stable. John can see that Neal is having a flash back. He waits for Neal to work through it but wonders what happened to Neal.
When Neal is dragged back to the stables after yet another failed escape attempt, the stable master is so furious, he puts a twitch around Neal´s upper lip and drags him into the yard. He doesn´t say anything, he just picks up one of the iron rods that is used to restrain the horses in the squeeze chute. The moment Neal sees what is about to happen, he starts struggling almost ripping of his lip, but before he can get free, a devastation blow to his leg cripples him and he howls in pain, collapsing to the ground. The twitch is released and he is left in the yard.
“Neal, we are not going to hurt you, we are going to fix your leg so you don´t have any more pain.”
Neal snaps out of his daydreaming and looks up at John, who can see that the stallions still don´t trust him one hundred percent, but he also knows that if he can convince Peter, Neal will follow. He explains that Neal´s leg will be aligned, so he will no longer be in constant pain. He also explains that there will be a cast and Neal will get pain medication to take care of any discomfort.
After lunch, he takes them to pasture and let both ponies loose, Neal limps towards the shade and lies down, Peter stands guard close by.
Peter is dragged into the yard and starts to fight the moment he sees Neal lying on the ground. He is lying in his own filth and he is not one hundred percent conscious. It only takes Peter one look at Neal´s leg to see that they broke the bone. Neal won´t be able to get up by himself with the restraints.
“Neal, we will get out of this place. Be strong.” Peter shouts, hoping Neal hears him. The handler to his left curses and drags Peter with him, using the whip. Peter refuses to show that it hurts, only glaring at the man, who seems to enjoy tormenting him.
“You need to take care of his leg or he will be a crippled show horse.”
“Don´t worry about that, the boss doesn´t care anymore, he has other plans.”
Peter comes back out of his thoughts when Neal bumps him in the chest. He makes a shooting sound and Neal settles against him.
They stay all day in the pasture, dozing and by dinner time, John takes them back, explaining that Neal is allowed some light food because he has to be sober tomorrow morning. John feeds them protein shakes. And a small piece of his donut as dessert.
* * *
The next morning, Peggy and John are early at Vesta Stables, Ann is already present to see that everything goes as planned. While Ann and Peggy prepare the room, John goes to Neal and explains that he will be getting a sedative to keep him calm before the operation. He pulls away from John when John wants to open his mouth but this is not the first pill John has ever administered so he quickly puts his thumb in the corner of Neal´s mouth. He knows there are no teeth in the back as they have been pulled by the previous owner to accommodate the bit. So Neal can´t bite and it is easy to push open his mouth, within a couple of seconds the pills is gone. Neal looks betrayed but John explains it is better to go in the surgery relaxed. When he lets go of his halter, Neal seeks Peter´s companionship and John let´s him. He leaves the stable to see if they are ready for Neal.
When it is time, he walks back with Frank and when they arrive, Neal´s eyes are already half closed and he is leaning against Peter.
“Good boy, Neal, let´s go, it will be over soon. Peter, you stay here, we will bring Neal right back.”
Peter breezes his understanding and looks anxious when they slowly walk Neal to the vet room.
Once inside, Neal´s adrenaline kicks in again, but Peggy is quick and sedates him before he can really panic. The drug is quick working and the fight leaves Neal´s almost immediately; Frank and John lift Neal onto the table and restrain Neal, just in case.
Peggy and Ann have their scrubs on. Ann takes off the boots and Peggy quickly disinfects the leg. John already shaved it yesterday, so they can work more efficiently.
Two hours later, the bone is broken again, re-aligned and set. The fracture was worse than Peggy expected, so she placed a titanium plate against the bones, so they will be stronger. The leg is bandaged and Neal is already waking up. He is carefully lifted and carried to the stable Peter is already peering over the door and is happy to see Neal being brought back.
Once they have settled Neal in, they leave the stable and turn on the infrared light above Neal, so he will be warm and cozy when he fully wakes. They hobbled him so he can´t get up and put weight on the leg, not until they are able to put a cast around the leg. But first the swelling needs to go down. John stays close to calm Neal if necessary. Peter waits next to his companion.
A low moan is the first real sign of consciousness and Neal´s eyelids flutter, he is fighting to wake up. But with the return of consciousness, the dizziness and nausea of the sedation becomes more apparent.
“Hey boy, just keep still, you can´t get up anyway.” John enters the stable and gently pets Neal.
Two hours later, Neal is fully awake but still pale and shivering. John already placed a blanket over him and turned the heater up in the stable. He feeds him some water from a bottle. Once that stays down, he promises Neal some strawberry smoothie. John found out that Neal has a sweet tooth. It is funny to see that Peter likes more fattening foods, and Neal healthy food, but your donut is never safe for Neal.
* * *
A couple of days later, John walks up to the stable to find Neal and Peter lying next to each other, they are awake. Once Peter catches John´s arrival, he gets up and John enters the stable.
“OK, Neal, we are going to do this very slowly. We don´t want to get you hurt, OK? We will carry you to the vet room to have an x-ray and hopefully a cast. If you get a cast, I will remove the hobble.”
John calls in three stable hands and together they get Neal safely and without much discomfort to the vet room where Peggy is already waiting. A quick examination and Peggy decides that she can cast the leg. While Neal waits for it to dry, John feeds him some pieces of fruit and as always he brought a threat for Neal, a small piece of lemon cake.
Once the case is set, Peggy and John help Neal up and more easily than expected, Neal is standing again.
“Good boy, how are you feeling?”
Neal nods with his head and follows Johns out of the stable, the limp is almost gone, of course he´s gait is off because of the cast, but he doesn´t have that strange limp anymore. John takes both horses to the table in the middle of the stables where there is an assortment of fruits and breakfast bites.
To chapter 4.