Chapter 4: The New Job
Fillydelphia General Hospital
It had been the most stressful twenty minutes of Redheart’s life. Even in nursing school, at the worst she had only watched a patient undergo surgery from beyond a glass window. But being in the thick of it was enough to make her heart race as if she had galloped a marathon. Sure, it had only been the aftermath to take care of, but that hadn’t been any comfort. And now her mane was frayed worse than before, if that was even possible. It was the mask though, that bothered her the most. It was scratching at her nose constantly, and had been during the whole procedure. Not to mention the condensation that had built up in it, which was now dripping back onto her from its surface.
As the other nurses left the room into the Hospital’s halls, their masks floated off quickly in various colors of magic, as if they didn’t have a care in the world. They trotted down the sleek tiled floors, lost in hushed conversation as they headed for the break room, and none of them stopped to invite her along.
“You can’t blame them,” A muffled voice said from behind her.
Redheart turned back to find Doctor Zimmer exiting the room, leaving only the unicorn, Mayweather, inside.
“For what?” she asked, hating how her own voice sounded from behind the mask.
Zimmer peeled off his own in a shroud of green that matched his eyes, and gave her an empty smile. “That bunch have known each other for almost as long as I am old. They’ve given up on making new acquaintances. You just get used to the same ugly faces I suppose.”
She bit her lip, wondering if she was supposed to laugh. But had it been a joke? It was impossible to read his face. “They don’t look that old,” she said. Or ugly.
Zimmer gave a snort for a laugh. “They’re not. But they studied together through the same school. We got lucky enough to pick them fresh out of the water. Top grades, even for unicorns.”
“Oh,” was all Redheart could think to say.
The doctor strolled away down the hall, heading in the opposite direction of his staff. Just when Redheart thought their conversation had ended, he looked back over his shoulder at her. “You got somewhere to be?”
“I— no, I don’t think so,” she said, trotting after him to make up the distance. Stupid, of course he expected me follow him. She waited for a harsh remark, but it never came.
Instead, the doctor continued down the hall, the traces of grey in his orange mane now more pronounced under the stark fluorescent lights. “So, how does an earth pony like yourself find her way into the medical field?” he asked, casually.
It was a question she had been expecting since she walked in, though not from a surgeon she had just helped after an operation. It wasn’t illogical, but maybe a little rude. Had she done poorly during the procedure? If he was comparing her to the unicorns, than probably. But how much worse? “I like helping ponies,” she said a little lamely. “I know I’m a bit underqualified, but I do my best.”
“Indeed,” he said, and took a left at the end of the hall, passing a pink nurse with a floating clipboard.
Indeed? Was he agreeing that she did her best, or that she was underqualified? She tried not to dwell on it, but the decor of the emergency wing was still about as exciting as a yawn, and not nearly as distracting. “Are there many doctors here?” she asked. If there were, at least she would still have the chance to impress somepony else.
“Besides myself?” Zimmer asked, pausing at a door very close to where Redheart had first entered the wing. “There are five others, but I very much doubt you will be seeing many of them, especially Doctor Melongrad. He’s been on sick leave more days than he’s worked. Isn’t that hysterical? A doctor who can’t cure his own cold...” he looked at her expectantly.
Redheart laughed in which more air came out than sound. It is kind of funny I guess, she thought. Then again, none of her family had much of a sense of humor, so maybe it wasn’t? Stop overthinking it!
But Zimmer seemed satisfied. He nodded curtly, a smirk still stuck on his face as he slipped through the door and held it open for her. The sign next to it read: “Office, Zimmer M.D.”
Shouldn’t I be going back to find Miss Shale? Redheart thought, glancing at the doctor and wondering if she should speak up. No, I can’t do it! The door closed softly behind her as she walked into the unfamiliar room. Half-shuttered windows filtered in light from the far end, leaving white lines across the floor and desk under them. Zimmer trotted over to the big-backed chair behind the desk and settled into it with a sigh.
“Have a seat, Nurse Redheart,” he said, making a vague gesture to the small stool opposite him.
Redheart remained up against the door, the situation suddenly very much reminding her of the night before, and the streaky black paint that would have been where the doctor was sitting. “Shouldn’t we turn on the lights?” she asked, her hoof absently drifting toward the switch.
Zimmer made no effort to stop her, but kicked his hooves up onto the table. “I would rather keep them off. When you stare into bright lights all day, you tend to prefer the dark.”
“Oh.” Her hoof slid off the light switch.
“Please, have a seat and relax. You’re not in any trouble,” the doctor explained. His horn flared up and procured a pitcher of water from a mini-fridge beside his desk. He poured some into a paper cup and left it beside the stool.
For one absurd moment Redheart thought it might be poisoned, until Zimmer poured a cup for himself. So she walked over to the stool, and with extreme caution, picked up the water between her hooves and took a sip. It washed down her throat cold and crisp, the perfect refresher after sweating for longer than normal.
The doctor emptied his cup in one swift gulp, then refilled it, all in one fluid motion of green magic. “It’s no Chardonneigh, but it’s the best we have,” he said, laughing and downing the second cup. “Now let’s get down to business.”
Redheart sat stiff in her seat as the doctor slid his legs off the desk and leaned forward, his face suddenly very serious.
“You told me you took this job because you enjoy helping ponies, correct?”
Redheart nodded. She had no idea what he was getting at, or why he invited her into his office in the first place. In the back of her mind there was a perfectly good break room somewhere with nice casual roundtables and lots of ponies around to not pay attention to her.
The doctor smiled kindly, as if reading her thoughts. “I don’t mean to alarm you, I just thought you should hear some advice that I wish somepony had given me at the start. Working at a hospital can be a very stressful job...” he poured another cup. “...and a rather thankless one too. But if you’re serious about helping ponies, then you’re in the right place. So no matter how hard the work is, never give up on them. At the end of the day it’s always worth it, understand?”
I don’t see what’s not to... “Yes?” Redheart said. I think so?
Zimmer chuckled and fell back into his chair, swallowing the third cup of water with a smack of his lips. Then with his legs back on the desk, he floated the pitcher away and returned it to the mini-fridge again. “Don’t worry, you are about to be relieved of my company. Do try to enjoy the show,” he said, winking.
Redheart was about to ask what he meant when she heard the clatter of hooves from the hall. Her head had only just turned enough to see the door when it slammed open against the wall.
Miss Shale stood rigid in the doorway with her nostrils flared. “DOCTOR ZIMMER!” she roared before marching forward, her clipboard pointed menacingly at her prey. “What in Celestia’s name do you think you’re doing with my nurse? Have you any idea of the repercussions for detaining her in your office without informing anypony? Do you ever think—” she scooped up his paper cup and hurled it at his head, where it bounced off and tumbled to the floor. “—about what you’re doing before you actually do it? You are a surgeon, for Celestia’s sake!”
The doctor rubbed his head were it had been assaulted. “I apologize if this meeting inconvenienced you in any way...”
Her clipboard slapped against the desk like a crack of lightning. “Don’t you dare pretend like you didn’t know exactly what my response would be to this little charade! I told Mayweather, I told her to come right back after the procedure was finished.” Miss Shale’s eyes were sharp slits of deep blue. “And I know that she had to have passed on that information to you.”
“I understand your concern, Shale. It’s only natural,” Doctor Zimmer said, retaining his good humor as he placed the weaponized cup back onto his table. “But I assure you I had only the best intentions.”
Miss Shale stared him down, and Redheart could almost feel the magic the nurse was holding back. It was like a static charge waiting to be released. “If I ever catch you alone with her again...” she let the threat go unfinished. Spinning around, she stomped over to Redheart. “Let me return that for you.”
It took Redheart a minute to realize that she meant the second paper cup, which was now crushed between her shaking hooves. “Oh... yes, of course. Thank you.”
The moment the cup was out of her hooves it was tossed back at Zimmer in a flash of bright blue magic. It just missed his ears and clattered against the windows blinds behind him.
“Up you go,” Shale told her. “We are extremely behind schedule, so I’d appreciate if you hurried.”
Redheart didn’t need to be told twice. She stumbled off her stool and obediently hurried for the door. One glance over her shoulder showed the senior nurse in hot pursuit, while the doctor still sat smugly where he’d been when the Shale storm began.
The door was slammed shut behind them almost as loudly as it had been opened. And before Redheart could blink, Miss Shale had marched her out of the emergency wing. There wasn’t much for Redheart to do but follow the nurse’s swinging blue tail down the now bustling halls. A buzzing chatter had spread through the hospital between the nurses, patients, and visitors that milled about. Amid their words she picked up some darkly muttered lines from Miss Shale, such as; “her first day, of all the nerve,” and “lucky I don’t file a harassment complaint,” which resonated with Redheart’s mixed emotions.
She still did not fully understand why the doctor had taken a special interest in her, though she doubted it was what Miss Shale believed. A part of Redheart was thrilled to be included so quickly into these uncommon events, but also more nervous than ever because of them. What if she had upset the wrong ponies? It was unlikely that she would ever see Doctor Zimmer and Mayweather again, or any of the other ponies that were at the procedure for that matter.
“Here we are,” Nurse Shale sighed, stopping at a waiting area similar to the one Redheart had first arrived through. “You will be leading ponies to their checkup appointments today. Call their names when their turn comes up, and make sure they don’t bring more than one friend or family member back with them. I will help you with the first few.”
Redheart gazed out over the waiting room filled with restless ponies of all colors and sizes shifting uncomfortably in their seats. Her ears drooped a little. The excitement was finished, but her day was far from over.
“And Redheart.” Nurse Shale leaned in closer. “It should go without say that I expect you to make a special effort to avoid Doctor Zimmer in the future, understand me?”
“Yes, Miss Shale.” That, Redheart understood loud and clear.