After stopping at Twilight's to explain to her parents what was going on, and pick up a change of clothes and Spike, the trio of young ladies made their way to Gilda's.
"You know," Rainbow said as she pulled into the driveway, "if you want, I could just drop you off and come back to get Twilight in the morning. That way you two can be... alone... tonight." She grinned, giving a wink.
A small squeak escaped from Twilight as she tensed, a blush forming across her cheeks. Without realizing it, her hands reached down to Spike, clamping around his ears to keep him from hearing the conversation. This got a chuckle from Gilda, which ended in a slight grunt.
"Pretty sure Twi here's not ready for that," Gilda stated. Shifting, she slipped her hand under her sling supported arm, rubbing at her left side. "Even if that weren't the case, not exactly at the top of my game here."
"Isn't that part of the fun though?" Rainbow asked, grinning. "I bet you could get a sexy nurse outfit that would show off Twi's--"
"Rainbow!" Twilight yelled, pulling Spike closer. The blush grew brighter, spreading across her face until it reached her ears.
"What's going on?" Spike asked, blinking as he looked around. "What's happening?"
"Well..." Gilda turned to look at Twilight. "She would look pretty cute."
"Gilda!" Twilight squeaked, her voice cracking.
"Gah," Spike cried out. "Too tight. Can't breathe!"
"Sorry." Twilight eased her grip on the small dog, Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and slowly let it out. It was just some friendly teasing. Nothing about it was too bad.
In truth, the reason it bothered her so much is because she had been thinking about it lately. Not specifically dressing up as a sexy nurse and "nursing" Gilda back to health and being "thanked" for it repeatedly, but what it might be like for the two of them to be... intimate together. What it would be like to be naked in bed with Gilda, feeling those firm, powerful muscles shift and flex. Gilda's rough, calloused stroking along Twilight's skin, exploring sensitive areas only she had ever touched; or places she had not and now enjoyed so much. Their tongues--
The sound of a door slamming snapped Twilight from her impromptu fantasy. The others had gotten out of the car and started toward the house.
Opening her door, she let Spike go and moved to get out of the car.
After a grunt and being yanked painfully, Twilight remembered to undo her seat belt. With a quick sprint, she caught up with the other two.
Gilda opened the door, and the three girls and dog found themselves facing her grandfather. He stood in the living room, arms crossed over his chest. A scowl rested on his face as he glared at Gilda, his good eye narrowed.
"You should still be in the hospital," he stated.
"It's fine, Grampa,"
"It most certainly is not fine. You were in a car crash."
"It's fine!" Gilda repeated, stepping closer. "The worst is a couple of fractures, a few scratches, and a lot of bruising. No brain trauma, no serious hemorrhaging."
"You should still be in the hospital," Gruff repeated.
"There's no reason," Gilda snapped. "Look." She motioned to Rainbow and Twilight. "My friends are here, and they're going to keep an eye on me."
"Your friends are not replacements for trained doctors and nurses, Gretchen. You should still be in the hospital and not out running around in your condition."
Gilda took a step back from her grandfather, eyes wide like she had just been slapped. Everything went silent as an sudden tension filled the air. Neither Twilight, Rainbow, nor Spike could say, and none of them were immediately willing to be the one to break it by speaking up first.
A sigh escaped from Gilda as her shoulders sagged a little.
"You guys go ahead to my room," she said. "We need to talk alone for a minute."
"Sure," Rainbow said with a nod.
"Okay," Twilight also confirmed. "Come on, Spike."
"What was that about?" Spike asked as soon as they were in Gilda's room.
"Rainbow?"
"I don't know," Rainbow answered. "I was actually going to ask you. You're the one dating her."
"But you've known her longer," Twilight pointed out. "She did mention her grandfather showing signs of dementia or Alzheimer's Disease, and it seemed like her entire mood changed when he called her Gretchen."
"Maybe it's her mom's name?" Rainbow suggested. "Could that be an actual sign? Do they actually do that?"
"Hold on." Twilight pulled out her phone and hit the button. "Smarty, will a person with Alzheimer's call someone the wrong name?"
"Searching," an electronic voice said from Twilight's phone. "Collating and cross-referencing responses. Answer: memory loss is an indicator of most types of Alzheimer's. However, as naming errors is common, it is not an effective indicator. The disease commonly affects short term memory first, causing the afflicted to forget entire conversations that have just occurred. As the condition worsens, so will memory, resulting in loss of information such as important dates or the ability to recognize family members."
"So, he might not remember that we're here?" Rainbow asked.
"It's a possibility," Twilight answered as she put the phone away.
Several seconds passed in silence.
"Well, no reason for us to sit in her brooding," Rainbow said as she looked around. "G still has her old console. How about we play a couple rounds of Weapon Warriors: Blood Feud while we wait?"
After playing seven games -- with a five-to-zero wins between Rainbow and Twilight, and a one-to-one between Rainbow and Spike -- Gilda finally showed up, entering the room.
"So.." Rainbow started, raising an eyebrow.
Gilda sat down on the bed and started taking her sling off.
"Gretchen was my mom's name," she stated. "Guess he thought I was her for some reason."
"If I can ask a personal question," Twilight said. "Was an accident how she..."
"No. I don't really want to go into it any further right now."
Getting up from where he'd been laying, Spike moved over to Gilda. He then leaned against her leg, looking up at her and giving his tail a small wag. This got a quick ear scratch in response before she stood up again.
"I'm gonna grab a shower," she said as she headed for the bathroom.
Stopping at the doorway, she turned around and smirked.
"Hey, Twi. You wanna help me out? Kinda hard to get undressed and wash myself like this."
"Okay," Twilight blurted out, getting up to follow after her.