Chapter 5
The sky turned a scorched red as the sun was setting.
The hospital doors swung open as Applejack walked through the entrance. The nurses and doctors bustled past her, attending to their rounds and many, many patients. A plethora of ponies of all shapes and sizes sat in the waiting room with various ailments together, waiting for their turn to see a doctor. AJ had an appointment, however, and all she needed was the name of the ward she was looking for. Past the row of ponies grumbling of rheumatism, cholera, and cutie pox sat the information desk where nurse Redheart was ensconced with a clipboard, checking off the order of the rounds. Applejack stumbled backward for a moment as she rolled out of the way of a cutie pox victim who was barreling down the hallway on a unicycle as he sang the Equestrian National Anthem while eating fire. Avoiding him, Applejack made her way up to the desk with a saddlebag on her back. Inside was the flier she had seen at Sugarcube Corner. She had wanted to tell Big Macintosh about it, but first she had to visit Applebloom in the hospital.
The doctor needed to have a talk with her.
“Good afternoon!” said nurse Redheart with an upbeat attitude, a necessary tool of her trade.
“Evnin’ miss.” said Applejack. “Could I trouble ya’ for Appleboom’s ward?” The nurse rolled her chair toward the chart on the wall labeled, “Ward Occupants” and searched for AJ’s sister.
“Applebloom…Applebloom… where could she be… Ah! Here we are!” the nurse exclaimed. “Wing C, for children, Ward F, for fillies, Row 2, Bed 4.”
“Thank ya’ kindly.” said Applejack with a smile, despite the sad look on her face. The nurse returned the smile brightly with a look of saintly sympathy as she wrote down the directions to the ward on a scrap of paper and handed it to Applejack. She walked through the white halls of the hospital hearing groans of agony and grief. She shut her eyes and folded her ears, not wanting to think of whether Applebloom was going through something similar. Applejack had gotten news that her sister had woken up from the coma, but there was something that needed her family’s immediate attention. She caught sight of the Black letter “C” hanging over a wide set of double doors leading into a gridded, small world of beds that contained bundles of heartbreak:
The Children’s Wing.
Going within earshot of those halls made any soft-hearted foal burst into tears at the sound of the young and innocent in pain and agony, crying for their mothers. Only those experience souls of nurses and doctors were able to keep straight faces for the sake of maintaining order and precision in their work. One nurse passed Applejack, who couldn’t detect any emotion in the medical pony’s face. It was a façade all of the staff had to put on. However, Applejack was pretty sure they all cried inside.
AJ found the door marked “F” leading into her sister’s ward. She pushed it open to find a room with many small beds lined up in neat rows with white sheets. It shocked Applejack how white the room was for the sake of hygiene. The floors, doors, walls, beds, and even the curtains around the cots were as purely white as snow. The pillows were colored with the heads of young fillies that were resting on them, peeking out from under the sheets. Not a soul stirred. The patients in the ward were either sleeping, or staring quietly into space. Applejack caught sight of a doctor standing over a bed labeled “2/4”, taking down notes while another red stallion stood beside him.
Big Macintosh.
A searing heat flared up in Applejack’s stomach at the sight of him as she winced in pain. The guilt was acting up again. But AJ stifled the feeling and trotted over to Applebloom’s bed. She had a bandage over her head with her trademark bow protruding from it. Her eyes were open, but were without life. She was awake, but didn’t seem to react to any stimulus around her.
It was as if she lived as one already dead.
“Good, you’re here.” said the doctor, looking up from his clipboard. “I wanted to inform you all of your sister’s state.”
Applejack rushed closer when she saw the look, or rather the lack of a look, on Applebloom’s face.
“Applebloom? Applebloom! You all right?” Applejack waved her hoof two inches in front of her sister’s face, but got no reaction. AJ’s eyes widened in fear.
“She can’t respond.” The doctor said. “She’s recovered from her coma, so she can hear and see you, but she can’t speak.”
“Wh-why?” asked Applejack with tears welling up. Big Mac looked down and sighed. The doctor pulled out a section of Applebloom’s file that appeared to be a sketch of her cranium. The picture showed red markings around her brain that made no sense to Applejack, who was hysterical at his point. The doctor continued and pointed to the various red, ominous markings. He went on about trauma and the meningeal veins that neither Applejack, nor Big Macintosh understood. The only words that Applejack really absorbed were when the doctor uttered the words, “Brain Aneurysm,” and “An operation will be necessary.” Applejack let her head fall to her chest and sobbed in hysterics while Big Mac rubbed her back in an effort to comfort her.
“How much does an operation cost?” asked Big Mac, hoping for the best. The doctor sighed again, as he knew how short on cash a farming family would be, especially for an operation of this caliber. The means of allaying the effects of a critical brain aneurysm didn’t come cheap. The doctor tried to explain all the steps and materials that were needed that cost an Apple Family Fortune. Once again, the medical jargon didn’t register with brother and sister until the doctor bluntly uttered, “…around ten thousand bits.” The words hung in the air like a death sentence as AJ looked down at her sister who heard everything, and probably wanted to cry out in supplication to her siblings for help. Panic would have been prevalent in the filly’s glazed and blank eyes if it were possible. The doctor simply took up his clipboard with his horn. He couldn’t dwell on the problems of every single patient he had. He headed towards the door went out without another word other than some more details of keeping Applebloom on life support, leaving Big Mac and Applejack alone with their sister in the ward with the other fillies with nothing to say. Big Mac, always the one who knew what to do, now had a defeated look on his face. He looked at his sister.
“What are we gonna do AJ?” he asked, worried. Applejack perked up and grinned optimistically at him.
“This!” she said as she slung her saddlebag off her back. She opened up the clip and pulled out the slightly crumpled flier and unfurled it. It read, ANNUAL APPLEOOSA RODEO RACE in huge western ranch style lettering. Under the title was a sepia picture of a dark stallion with a hat similar to Applejack’s running against a small herd of cattle on a beaten dirt path. Under the picture the flier continued:
ATTENTION! Wanna prove your skills? Ready for an evenin’ of family fun? Dyin’ to win some prizes? The Grand Appleoosa Rodeo is now featuring a new event! The Runnin’ of the Cattle! It’s the biggest earth pony herdin’ hollerin’ rodeo race this side of Equestria! Remember t’bring all your family and friends one week after the Running of the Leaves in Good ol’ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPLEOOOOOSSA!
Applejack rolled up the flier and put it away in her saddlebag. Big Mac remained silent.
“Well?” she asked. “This could be it! Think of the prize money!” Big Mac sighed.
“We’ll talk about it when we get home.” he said despondently. Applejack was taken aback as her brother walked out of the ward, leaving her alone with Applebloom. She looked into her blank, staring eyes which only stared back from the locked abyss of her mind.
“Don’t worry Applebloom.” whispered Applejack with tears still rolling down her face. “We’re gonna win that race, and you’re gonna get your surgery. I swear it!”
She kissed Applebloom’s forehead and drew the curtain around her bed. She looked outside and saw the rain that began to fall out of the night sky starting to pitter patter on the window. The winds began to howl.
“Storm be damned.” thought AJ. All that ran through her mind was the race. The Glory! The Honor! The Thrill! The Competition against all those tough ponies! Maybe she’ll even see family while in Appleoosa. Caramel, Fritter, Crumble, Big Macintosh…
Her heart skipped a beat. He would be competing against her. Her stomach twisted into a knot and jumped into her throat. The winds slammed against the window violently as lightning flashed and thunder shook the panes. She stood in silence for a moment, her world falling beneath her. She looked one more time at Applebloom’s curtained cot as she walked slowly toward the entrance. She looked back at the cots, all silent as the ticking of the clock in the room was drilling into her mind. Her sister’s time was running out. How many of the fillies in those cots were really sleeping? How many had heard a final tick of the clock and felt a final beat of the heart?
Applejack shut the door and walked home in the stinging, cold rain.