A Bad Fall from a Horse

This is an excerpt from Common Sense: Listening to the Spirit:

Lilia gazed blankly at Jim, the head of her security team, and tried to regain her bearings when she became conscious again. "Jim, help me. I'm confused."

"We both fell off Rusty, honey. You're in the meadow by the stream," explained Jim quietly. She started to think about what had just happened. Derek, her new and unknown bodyguard, also watched her apprehensively. Jim said knowing his job quite well, "Let's see if anything is broken. Try to move your arms and fingers."

She moved her arms and closed her hands. "They're all right Jim," she answered softly as she tried to get a grip on the situation.

"Now, move your legs and ankles," Jim ordered with patient concern for his girlfriend. He maintained his bent position over her.

"A-h-h-h-h-h-h!" she screamed in pain. "It's my left ankle! It's either sprained or broken. Oh Jim, it hurts so much." She breathed more heavily and began to become upset with her condition.

"Calm down, sweetie. Take a few deep breaths. You're hyperventilating," said Jim as he petted her face and forehead with smooth and soothing strokes. He waited until her breathing started to return to normal.

"Honey, if I set you up on Rusty, do you think you can ride back to the paddock with me?" He waited for her answer. The creases at the corners of his mouth demonstrated the tension he felt at the situation.

"I think so Jim," Lilia moaned in a small  voice. She gazed up at another face framed in the sky behind Jim and asked in a shallow and contrite tone, "Are you my new bodyguard?"

"Yes," he said shyly and looked down at her with care. "I'm Derek." He wondered about her temperament, since she had been so furious a few minutes before, and now seemed introspective.

"Hi Derek," she said as she tried not to embarrass herself further. She said in an apologetic and still manner, "I'm not always this wild."

Jim chuckled at the irony of that statement, and put in, "No. You're not always this wild."