“I really don’t need this, you know. I feel fine.”
Lex ignored Nosey’s protests, focusing his attention on House Call. “Treat her as best you can,” he instructed the medical stallion, who – by now used to Lex’s brusqueness – accepted the orders with a resigned nod. “Also, make sure to examine her overall condition, not just her injuries. I’ll be back shortly to hear your diagnosis.”
He turned away then, heading toward where Sonata was waiting outside the medical tent. He still doubted that the doctor would find anything unusual, but if there was even the slightest chance that Xiriel’s possession was having a lingering effect on her- “Hang on a moment.”
He glanced back at House Call, who, upon seeing that Lex had stopped, stuck his head deeper into the tent, calling for a nurse before he turned to Nosey. “Would you mind going ahead and getting settled? I have to go over a few things with Mister Legis.” He didn’t wait for an answer as a mare stuck her head out from deeper inside the tent, immediately issuing instructions to her. “Could you please wait with Miss Newsy in one of our examination rooms? I’ll be there in a moment.”
Nosey’s eyebrows rose slightly at the transparent dismissal, her eyes making a circuit from House Call to the nurse to Lex before settling back on the doctor. “…sure.” With one last look at Lex, she turned and disappeared past the sheet that separated the reception area from the rest of the makeshift building.
Once the pair were gone, House Call’s polite smile fell away, and he stepped closer to Lex. “Listen…” He paused, trailing off uncomfortably as he tried to think of a polite way to voice what was on his mind.
But Lex was in no mood for politeness. “What is it?” he demanded, tension audible in his voice. It was clear that the doctor had immediately noticed something that had caused him concern, and that was more than enough to put Lex on edge.
House Call bit his lip for a moment before plunging ahead. “I need you to tell me: did she make a suicide attempt?”
Caught off-guard at the unexpected question, Lex didn’t answer, and House Call plunged ahead. “She has bruises all over her neck, as well as several other scrapes. That’s not precisely consistent with Block Party’s wounds, but it is close, and, well…I heard that she was there with him. You know, when it happened?” His ears folded back as he contemplated what that must have been like for her. “Since you didn’t seem to want to tell me how she got those injuries, I thought that maybe she’d tried to do the same thing.”
“It wasn’t a suicide attempt.” The doctor’s misunderstanding should have put Lex at ease. Instead, it had just the opposite effect, making him remember how fragile Nosey had been after what had happened. True, she was acting much more stable now, but he suspected that was because Sonata’s magic was still keeping her calm. If it wore off and she reverted to her previous state…
“Then what happened?” House Call cocked his head to the side, giving Lex an inquisitive look. “The more I know, the better I can treat her.”
For a moment, Lex wavered. Maybe he could just tell him that Nosey had been assaulted, and provide no further details…no, that wouldn’t help. It would simply result in everypony knowing that someone had been attacked here in camp. Worse, when the populace realized that the supposed assailant was still at large, it would cause unrest and suspicion. The only thing to do was continue to deny that there had been an altercation, at least until the situation could be stabilized to the point where the truth wouldn’t cause a panic. “…just do what you can.”
An unhappy expression crossed House Call’s face at that, but he didn’t push the issue, sighing. “Right.” Lex moved to leave then, and House Call quickly spoke up again. “Actually, there are several other things that I need to bring to your attention.”
Gritting his teeth, Lex turned back to the doctor, the expression on his face making it clear that this had better be important. “Go on.”
Faltering for a moment at the angry look, House Call cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Yes, um…we’ve all been taking turns watching him, but we’re not sure what to do with Spit Polish. His injuries are mending well, but he’s still in no shape to be walking around. He’s also displaying acute anxiety about what’s going to happen to him.”
That last part was spoken in an expectant tone, but Lex simply snorted. “Good. Maintain the situation until I’m ready to deal with him.”
“Can you at least tell us when that will be?”
When their aren’t multiple crises demanding all of my attention and energy, you imbecile. “No. What else?”
House Call sighed again, but didn’t voice any complaints, instead moving on to the next issue. “A few ponies have spotted the large mass of bits you dumped on us, and we’ve been getting some questions about them.”
Lex’s eyes narrowed at that. “And what did you say?”
House Call shrugged nervously. “We, you know, we told everypony the truth: that you dropped them off and asked us to look after them.”
That was enough to give Lex pause. Cloudbank’s ill-fated mission hadn’t been a secret; he hadn’t told her not to tell anypony, knowing that she’d need to speak to quite a few individuals in the course of putting her team together. More than that, everypony knew that he’d gone after them earlier in the day…which meant that, in addition to knowing that they hadn’t survived the trip, the public was now aware that he’d retrieved the funds Cloudbank and the others had originally been sent to procure. But how would everypony react to that news? I’ll need to tell Sonata to include this in her statement. “Alright. What else?”
“We’re running dangerously low on medical supplies. Gauze, swabs, band-aids, and generic painkillers to name a few. Also, there’s quite a few drugs that we could really use a resupply of. We have almost no penicillin left, for instance, and we’re running low on metroclopramide and-”
Lex held up a hoof, causing House Call to instantly fall silent. “Write down what you need. When I return to check on Nosey I’ll retrieve the list from you and take care of it.” He’d need to go back into Vanhoover and hope that the local pharmacies or the hospital still had what they needed. Otherwise he’d need to get in contact with Tall Tale and have Ribbon arrange for more supplies to be sent…which would be exceptionally difficult now, without an easy way to renew his spells. “What else?”
“Um…I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but I really need to check on your recovery. The damage you suffered yesterday was extensive, and for you to be up and moving around this soon is-”
“Your advice has been duly noted.” Lex’s voice hardened, making it exceptionally clear how little he cared about that particular topic. “You may consider yourself to have done your medical due diligence in this regard. What else?”
House Call wavered for a minute, before straightening up. “I respectfully ask that you reconsider.” Before he could think better of it, he kept going. “I know you’re more concerned about everypony else, but right now it’s my job to be concerned about you. If something happens to you, if you develop a complication or collapse from exhaustion somewhere with no one around to help you, the consequences won’t be yours alone. Everypony here is counting on you-”
“I don’t need you to remind me of my responsibilities to everypony here,” hissed Lex, remembering that House Call had expressed this same sentiment yesterday. It had been irritating then, but now it brought with it a wave of guilt that he had to struggle to push down. It was because he’d decided not to push himself – listening to Sonata and House Call – that he’d delegated the task of going into Vanhoover to Cloudbank! If he had simply ignored that advice, if he had pushed through the pain and the fatigue and gone into the city by himself, then those ponies who’d left in his place might still be alive now! It was a mistake that he would NOT make a second time! “Is there anything else?”
“Please, be reasonable! We don’t even know the full extent of the damage you suffered! If-”
“Is. There. Anything. Else?”
Sighing, House Call slumped in place, knowing that there was nothing more to be gained from pushing this issue. “Just one thing. Nopony has eaten since you conjured all of that food yesterday, and, well, we’re all getting pretty hungry.” He didn’t say anything else, not wanting to recommend that Lex create all of that food again, knowing that was what had injured him so badly the first time.
Lex turned away from him then, already moving on to the next order of business in his mind. “I’ll take that money I dropped off here to one of the farming communities located nearby. The food I’ll purchase there should be enough to last for a little while.” Even as the words left his mouth, however, he was already sorting through the logistical problems that would entail. The money needed to be properly counted, and the food it bought would need to be rationed and inventoried. Transportation would be an issue, since he’d lost both of the extradimensional receptacles he’d possessed, which meant that carrying both the money and the food would be difficult. Not to mention storage would be a prob-
“WHOA!”
The sound of Sonata’s raised voice immediately drew Lex from his thoughts, and despite the ache it caused him he forced himself to dash the last few feet to the tent flap, heading outside. “What’s happening?!” he yelled, half-expecting to find ghouls already starting to overrun the camp, even though the sun hadn’t set yet.
But to his relief, there wasn’t an undead pony in sight. Instead, his girlfriend was staring into the sky, her eyes directed due east. Several other ponies were looking that way as well, and whispers and concerned voices could already be heard. Turning, Lex peered in the same direction as everyone else, trying to see what they were looking at.
Although the late light was beginning to darken that portion of the sky, it took him only a moment to find what had captivated everypony’s attention. Hanging in the air, the shape at first defied categorization, being nothing more than a small, thin line in the sky. But it was quite clearly moving, its position changing as it seemed to grow slightly larger, and Lex realized that whatever it was, it was headed directly for them.
“It’s a bird!” cried Sonata dramatically, drawing a few incredulous looks due to how obviously wrong her guess was. A moment later, she glanced around with an expectant grin on her face. “C’mon! I said, ‘it’s a bird!’ Anypony?” When no one answered, she tilted her head in mild disappointment. “Aw, for realsies? Nopony’s gonna say ‘it’s a plane!’”
“What’s a plane?” murmured a nearby stallion. Next to him, a mare shook her head, keeping her eyes on the sky.
Huffing, Sonata rolled her eyes. “Okay, look, I’ll do the whole thing, okay? Ahem.” Standing up on her hind legs, she pointed dramatically at the odd shape, now noticeably closer. “Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s S-”
“Severance,” spoke Lex with a sigh of relief.
“No, that’s not the line,” huffed Sonata, glancing at her boyfriend in mild exasperation before looking upward again. “It’s supposed to-, hey, wait a minute.” Her eyes widened in realization. “It really is Severance!”
A moment later the scythe completed its journey, floating downward until it hung directly in front of Lex, returned at last.