On These Broken Wings

by NekoFallenOne

Chapter 2: Dark and Dreary

Chapter 2: Dark and Dreary

Darkness. Pure, blissful darkness.

The dark void surrounded Sky Shimmer. He could not see or sense anything around his body, it felt as if his ears were filled with cotton, mouth unable to taste, eyes not willing to see, and his nose filled with only a faint, nauseating odor, one that he was unable to put a hoof on.

Drifting through such emptiness, the only sense fully left to him was his own thoughts, yet even those came slow and foggy, as if each individual thought fought it's hardest to come to the surface of his mind. Almost as if something was trying to keep them at bay. As it was, his sense of time was non-existent.

How long he drifted through the dark, peaceful, and utterly terrifying void, he did not know. The only coherent thing his mind seemed to be able to process was the absolute lack of any feeling whatsoever. This both pleased, and concerned him.

After what could have been eons, perhaps even mere seconds, his mind became aware of something else.

A strange sound, nearly inaudible, began to fight against the numbness and darkness, begging for his attention. Fighting through the cotton that filled his ears and the strange fog that had surrounded his mind.

It took a while for his mind to start to procedures what it is was, the fog in his mind slowly dissipating, as he concentrated all his effort on the noise.

*Beeep*

In the void, his ears twitched, in an attempt to locate the source of the sound. All of his concentration soon became focused, using every ounce of strength he could muster, to find out what was making the noise.

*Beeep*

*Beeep*

*Beeep* ….. *Beeep*

The sound became much clearer, his mind finally making some sort of rationalization as to the definition of the sound, and the direction it was emitting from. Being the only other thing in the void along with him, he fought against the darkness, willing himself to follow the sound of the beeping to it's source, not wanting to be alone.

As he concentrated and urged himself closer to the sound, the beeping slowly became louder, more focused, and regular.

Muffled voices soon began to fill Sky Shimmer's hearing. He was unable to make out just what they were saying, the fog in his mind and cotton feeling in his ears still hampering his senses, he found it a welcome addition to the beeping sound he had followed out of the darkness.

Ever so slowly, he tried to open his eyes, closing them again quickly as bright light threatened to blind him. Breathing slowly for a few moments, he once again slowly opened them, allowing his eyes time to adjust to the light.

Looking to the left, vision blurry, his ears twitched slightly, as his mind slowly was able to lock onto the source of the beeping. Ever so slowly, the fog through which he was gazing began to lift, and the shape of strange silver boxes began to focus in his view.

It took him a few moments to realize what they were. Monitoring devices. The front of the equipment were aglow with images of strange lines, a few of which seemed to spike in time with the beeping noise emanating from the machine. Noticing a set of brightly colored wires hanging from the back of the equipment, he trailed them down and across the space between it and the bed, some of them slipping beneath the covers, while one set led to his leg. A strange round pad was connected to the wire and strapped just above his hoof.

Slowly lifting this hoof to eye level, he studied the strange pad, twisting his leg back and forth. Reaching out with his other forehoof, taking note of the bandages wrapped all along his leg, he plucked at the pad, pulling it slowly away from his skin.

The machine next to him cried out with a horrible squeal.

His ears twitched to the right, as the sounds of frantic hoofbeats filled his hearing.

Turning to face the direction of the new sound, he saw a door slide open, slamming against it's frame in the urgency of a pony in a long white coat to enter the room. This new pony was flanked by two others, dressed in light pink scrubs with matching hats, each with a red cross and heart design upon them.

The one in white skidded to a halt next to the bed, causing the other two to nearly crash right into him. Blinking in surprise, he reached up and adjusted the spectacles that had slipped down his muzzle, as his eyes wandered down Sky Shimmer's body, still covered in the sheet.

“Ahem. Well.. Sorry about the commotion..” he stammered, as he fought to regain his composure. “We just heard the warning from one of the monitoring devices, and came rushing in, fearing something bad had happened...”

Looking down at the small pad in his hoof, Sky Shimmer blushed slightly, letting it drop back into place, silencing the annoying squeal from the machine. “Oh... Sorry about that...” he replied, voice coming out in a thin raspy sound, throat feeling like sandpaper.

Upon hearing this, one of the other ponies, a Nurse Sky Shimmer now recognized, turned to a counter on the other side of the room. Her horn glowed slightly, causing a glass to levitate over to a sink, filling it with water, and then adding a straw, before floating it over to hover in front of Sky Shimmer's head.

Nodding his thanks, he leaned forward and took a long, refreshing, and incredibly welcome sip from the water. Once his thirst was sufficiency quenched, he smiled at the nurse, eliciting a small blush upon her cheeks, as she floated it over to a nearby side table.

Clearing his throat, the doctor smiled and nodded to the two nurses. Nodding themselves, the two mares turned and slowly left the room, closing the door softly behind them.

“Glad to see that you are awake.” The doctor began, pulling a nearby stool closer and sitting down upon it. “After that nasty accident, we were unsure as to when you would awaken, if ever.” This last was said with grim tone to his voice, eyes dropping slightly away from Sky Shimmer's.

“Accident?” Sky Shimmer asked, head still fuzzy and having no memory of why he might be in a hospital to begin with. “I do not remember any...”

His voice trailed off, as random images and sounds flashed before his vision. Flying in the sky, bright rainbows, a thundercloud, falling, then darkness. Shaking his head to try to clear his mind of such visions, he looked back up at the doctor.

“So... it was not just a dream then.” He asked, voice slightly shaken from the memories. Seeing the doctor nod, he continued. “H-how... How long was I out...?”

Looking up, the doctor turned and studied a calendar hanging on one of the walls near the doorway. His face scowled in concentration, lips moving as if mumbling to himself, before he nodded and turned back to face Sky Shimmer. “Three weeks.”

“T-t-.. Three weeks?” Sky Shimmer stuttered, blinking in surprise. To which the doctor simply nodded. “No wonder I feel tired...”

Sighing, the doctor got up and retrieved a file hanging off the end of the bed, flipping through a few pages. “That would partially be due to the painkillers and paralizers we had to administer.” he stated grimly, still looking at the parchment. “You were an absolute mess when you were rushed in here. We nearly lost you a few times, especially during the operations. In order to try and keep you alive, and from further injuring yourself, it was decided to put you in a combination of a drug and magic-induced coma...”

The color was slowly draining from Sky Shimmer's silver coat, making him look even more pale, as he took everything in. Sitting up slowly, causing a groan to escape his lips and a raised eyebrow from the doctor, he shook his head slowly. “You mentioned operations...?”

A grim look took over the doctor's expression as he slowly nodded. “Like I said, you were an absolute mess when you were brought in. Once we were able to stabilize you, there was a hell of a lot of work we had to do. Both of your back legs were broken, a few of the bones nearly shattered from your impact with the fountain. Though we managed to mend them well enough, though we did have to use some surgical splints and screws to hold a few together, but we will be able to remove them in about a month's time.”

Sky Shimmer blinked in confusion. “Fountain?”

This brought a small nod from the doctor, as he continued to flip through the parchment in the file. “Yes. When you plummeted from the sky, you crashed directly in the fountain in the center of Ponyville. Obliterating it completely, and scaring the bridles off of all the ponies nearby.” When a look of concern crossed Sky Shimmer's features, the doctor shook his head. “Do not worry, no other ponies got seriously injured. Just some minor cuts and bruises.” His eyes once again were downcast as he continued. “The same could not be said for you...”

Breathing a heavy sigh, he continued. “You also suffered a number of broken ribs, a slight fracture to your skull and bruising along most of your body. Thankfully the magic of the surgeons and nurses on hand were able to mend those, if not easily, but at least they were not too major. You will feel sore for a while, as magic healing can only go so far...”

Lifting the sheet slightly, Sky Shimmer peered beneath it. His entire body, from upper torso all the way down to the tips of his rear hooves, were wrapped in bandages. Slowly he moved first one rear hoof, then the other, smiling as they gently rose and fell, only eliciting slight pain from the movement, as most of his body was still numb.

Suddenly his ears perked up, as his brain finally caught on to one bit the doctor said: ...as magic healing can only go so far... as well as the realization of a strong lack of feeling in one area of his body.

Turning his head as far as it could, Sky Shimmer looked down at his back.

“We tried everything we could...” the doctor began, as he saw his patient start to turn his head. “The damage was far too great..”

Sky Shimmer's ears heard the words, but his brain refused to comprehend them. His eyes focused on the heavily wrapped areas on his back.

“...between the damage done by what looks like lighting strikes... and the impact with the ground...”

No matter how hard he concentrated. Mind reeling, muscles straining. He could not feel anything.

“... trust me. We tried everything we could imagine.” The doctor continued. “...the damage was just too great...”

His wings.

Sky Shimmer could no longer feel his wings.

The part of him that made him special. What helped to provide the most pleasure and peace within himself, were now taken away from him.

He could see both of them, wrapped up tightly in bandages, the forms beneath not responding to anything he tried.

“... I am sorry, Sky Shimmer. You will never be able to fly again.” The doctor's words died off, grief and sadness clearly in his voice. Tears running down his cheeks.

Still unable, unwilling, to hear the voice of the doctor, Sky Shimmer stared at his back. Mind unable to comprehend the loss of his appendages. Slowly reaching down, he grasped the end of one of the bandages in his teeth, and began to pull back.

Looking up, the doctor saw this, but was too slow to properly react. With a startled cry of “No, don't!”, he moved towards the distraught pegasus.

In one swift movement, Sky Shimmer pulled back, tearing the bandages up and away from his right wing. As the white fabric was pulled off, a broken, mangled and blackened shape that once resembled a wing, slipped out, falling limply to his side.

The feathers had been burned clean off, the hide blackened from the flames and strikes of lightning. Bones could be seen clearly in a few spots, and the joints were twisted, tilting at a gruesome angle, becoming a cruel mockery of the once beautiful wing.

Silence filled the small hospital room, the beeping of the monitors the only sound for a while. Soon, even those began to increase in tone and regularity. The chest of Sky Shimmer rising and falling in rapid succession.

With a incredibly cry, Sky Shimmer's eyes rolled up into the back of his head, his body following suit and crashing back to the bed, in a faint that would make even a pony such as Rarity jealous.

Author's Note:

Ok, it took me a while to write this chapter, but I wanted to do it justice, rather than type out and upload an unfinished section. Though I have not had to endure any truly horrific accidents or spend time in a hospital bed, I know just how scary and eery they can be.

Anyways, I do hope that you enjoy this new chapter, and I appreciate any comments or suggestions you may have.
Now, onto writing the next chapter!

Comments

[DreadedCandiru2]

Given HOW he got her and WHO put him here, I should think that somepony is finally going to deal with a little thing I like to call 'accountability.'