//------------------------------// // Did I Save You? // Story: Blonde Moments // by FamousLastWords //------------------------------// Spike opened his eyes again. And things were starting to get a bit clearer now. Yeah, that quick blink definitely helped get his head straight. “Uhh…” Spike groaned, blinking a few more times just to clear the mist from his vision. “Wait, where am—” He slowly got a bearing on his surroundings. This wasn’t his bed. He didn’t remember having a poster of the female… Hold up. “Oh crap. I’m getting surgery today, that’s right.” “Oh good, you’re awake.” “Huh?” Spike twisted his head to the side and noticed Dr. Shavargo standing there, jotting something down on a clipboard. “Oh, doctor. I closed my eyes for a few seconds, but I think I’m ready now. Can’t we just get this whole surgery thing over with? I’d really rather not wait much longer. I do have a life… or at least I hope I will.” She looked from her clipboard with a smile. “Actually, we’re already done. Congratulations Spike, the surgery was a success.” Spike had to pause for a moment. The news he just heard…. Hold on, there’s no way it was that simple. Was it? “S-Say again, doc?” She set the clipboard down on the nearby counter and briefly patted his claw. “We’re all done, Spike. The operation was a success.” Spike twisted his head back into a comfortable position and took a moment to just look at the ceiling. “I… I don’t know what to say. Just, I did it! Or, well, you did it. Thank you. Thank you!” Spike immediately tried to sit up to give her a proper claw shake, but a sharp pain in his chest squashed that goal, forcing him to lay back down. “Ouch! Well, that was unpleasant.” “Yes, Spike, you’ll be quite sore for a few days. You’ll wanna take it easy and lay down as much as possible.” The doctor gave him a stern look. “So that means nothing that involves rapid movements, over-excitement, and stressful labor. You want your body to have an opportunity to heal.” The dragon averted his eyes from her and looked at his chest. There was a rather nasty-looking scar running diagonally over the center of it. It had some kind of stitching holding it together as well some medical tape. “Oh great,” Spike said. “If I wasn’t ugly enough before, this’ll sure send the kids running. Heh, I guess that makes me a little more dragon-ish at least.” She rolled her eyes. “Every storm cloud has a silver lining.” “You betcha,” he replied with a weak thumbs up. “But doc, I have to ask, how the heck did you even, well, cut me open? Dragon scales are like the toughest material known, at least as far as organic stuff goes.” “I had to return to the dragon lands for a reason,” she replied. She walked over to a nearby case she had sitting on the ground and pulled out a disturbingly large blade. “This is a special tool we use for operating on dragons. Its blade is thin enough to slip through the small spaces between your scales and sharp enough to cut through the tough skin underneath. After that, our biology is relatively similar to that of a pony.” Spike shuddered upon looking at it. “That is going to haunt my dreams for at least another two weeks.” The dragon gulped. “But, just out of curiosity, what else did you do? Like, what was the process?” She let out a small chuckle. “Well, it was quite simple, actually. We had to reposition your heart for a brief moment, just enough for me stitch part of your blood vessels back together, and we also added another layer of stitching on a separate part of the same vessel that was becoming weakened.” She rubbed her chin. “But, I suppose it wasn’t all easy. Trying to do stitches on an aorta is like trying to sew two pieces of wet toilet paper together. It got very messy.” “Ah!” Spike said, putting his claws over the scar. “Okay, enough of my curiosity. I’m just glad I’m still here. Thank you very much, Dr. Shavargo.” “Of course, Spike. I’m simply doing my job.” She grabbed her bag and clipboard and headed toward the door. “I have some work to do, so I’ll be taking my leave, but a nurse will be in here shortly to go over some details. However, I’m going to be staying here in town for the next two days in the event that something goes wrong in the healing process. But, hopefully, this will be the last time you see me.” Spike smiled and nodded. “Yeah. This is probably the happiest goodbye I’ll ever have.” With a quick wave, the doctor left the room. Spike was still smiling ear to ear, taking a moment just to stare at nothing in particular. He took a deep breath of air, letting the cold, musty scent of overly cleaned counters and fresh bed sheets overtake him. He loved every second of it. A short time later, Nurse Redheart opened the door and trotted inside. “Nurse!” Spike called out upon seeing her. “I’m alive!” She giggled and nodded. “I can see that, Spike. I’m very, very happy that everything worked out. They say professional distance is part of the job, but I couldn’t help but root for you the entire time.” “Thanks, Redheart,” he replied. “I’m pretty happy, too, to be honest.” She smiled at him once more before producing a clipboard. “So, just because it’s a requirement, we’ve got some paperwork and information to go over, okay?” “No problem. Do your worst.” “First of all,” she began. “You’ll be prescribed some pain medication for obvious reasons and an antibiotic to keep any infections away during the overall healing process. I imagine the doctor already told you, but don’t do any physically taxing activities for the next few days and make sure take it easy on yourself for at least a week.” Spike sighed. “Yeah, I get it. Continue.” “Drink plenty of water and stay away from carbonated beverages for the next week. It’s highly unlikely, but a strong enough burp might loosen some of the stitching. Better safe than sorry. Also, you’re going to want to keep the wounded area from getting wet for the next couple days. So, don’t take any showers or baths in that time.” “Oh great,” Spike said. “So I’m gonna have to stink too for the next few days?” “Not necessarily,” Redheart replied. “If you have a pony that you’re close enough to that could give you a sponge bath in the meantime, that’d work.” Spike grinned with a devilish smirk. “Looks like me and Starlight are about to get a lot closer. Oh, guilt-infused payback is such a beautiful thing.” Nurse Redheart shook her head and giggled. “Do what you will, Spike. Just take care of yourself. Anyhow, the last matter is payment.” “Ahh, yes, we’re all ruled by the almighty bit.” “Unfortunately,” she replied. “The bill will be mailed to the Castle within one business week. Okay?” “Got it,” Spike replied. “Can I go now?” She shook her head. “Sorry, but we’re going to keep you here for the rest of the night, just to make sure everything is going according to plan. But, assuming it’s all alright, you’ll be released tomorrow afternoon. Okay?” Spike frowned and slumped into his covers. “Mmm, alright. Wait a second. Rest of the night? What time is it?” “About nine o’clock.” “Nine?”  Spike moaned. “Great, there went my entire day. I thought the surgery was only supposed to take a couple hours?” She shrugged. “It did. It took you the other five hours to get patched up and then wake up. You’re not exactly a light sleeper.” He chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve been told that. But, either way, this sucks. I’m not exactly looking forward to being stuck alone in this room all night.” Nurse Redheart grinned at him. “Well, I do have something that might cheer you up, however.” Spike smiled. “Oh, is it one of those suckers? I hope you guys have the blue ones this time.” She shook her head. “Sorry, no sugar or caffeine either.” “Well, this day just keeps getting better…” “But, I was able to make a special accommodation, given the circumstances.” She got up and trotted to the door. “We normally don’t allow visitors in the room post-operation, but since you’re gonna be here for a bit, well…” She opened the door. “Alright, Derpy, you can come in now.” Spike had one of those smiles that we all get sometimes. The ones where you’re not really trying to smile, but it becomes an instinctive reaction, instead. Where your lips are pretty much quivering with excitement. As Derpy walked into the room, his smile only increased. Her mane was messy like before, she looked exhausted like before, her fur was matted like before, and she was the most beautiful pony he’d ever seen. “Spike!” She cried out, her voice cracking from the emotion behind it. Tears were flowing from her eyes as she approached the bed. She immediately took his claw in her hoof and leaned over, carefully planting a kiss on his lips before pulling away. “Sorry, the nurse said I’d have to be gentle with you but I couldn’t help it.” “You won’t hear any complaints from me,” Spike said. “I’m… I’m so happy I got to see you, again.” She nodded, her lips spread into a wide smile. “Me too. I’m so, so happy.” And the tears broke free again as she leaned over and nuzzled his cheek, planting kisses everywhere she could reach. Nurse Redheart made a point of clearing her throat, getting the attention of Spike and Derpy. “So, Derpy, the doctor did give you permission to stay the night here, if you wish. However, we do want to inform you that the nursing staff will be periodically checking in on Spike. Is that alright?” She readily nodded. “Of course. Actually, if you just had a chair I could sit on for the night, that’d be enough.” “Of course,” Redheart replied. “I’ll be right back.” The two were alone together, not speaking, just looking into each others’ eyes. Things were… Things were gonna be okay, and Spike couldn’t be any happier. He gripped her hoof just a little tighter as he thought about it. “You know, Derpy,” Spike said. “What is it?” “All that stuff I told you before? About wanting to spend the rest of my life with you and all that. Well, I meant it. And I wasn’t just saying that in the heat of the moment or because I was getting emotional.” He gulped. “I really meant it and I kinda hope you meant it, too.” “Heh… Hehe…” Derpy cracked out a couple nervous laughs, still smiling wider than she ever had. A few tears dripped down from her cheek and onto Spike’s claw as she bobbed her head. “Yeah. I meant it, too.” “I love you.” “I love you, too, Spike.” Their moment was cut short however when the door opened up. Redheart came in, bringing a modestly sized chair with her. “Here you are, Derpy. It’s not perfect, but it should do.” She turned toward her and smiled. “It’ll be great. Thank you so much.” She nodded. “Now, Derpy, please let Spike get some sleep tonight. We’re gonna turn the lights off for the night now.” “Mhm, I will,” she replied with a curt nod. “Great,” the nurse said. “Again, I’m so happy for you, Spike. Get some rest and we’ll be checking on you from time to time.” With that, she flicked off the lights and cracked the door, leaving just a thin stream of light running through. Still holding onto her hoof, Spike let out a small yawn. “Oh man, the whole rest thing actually sounds pretty great.” Derpy let out her own yawn. “Yeah, you’re definitely right. I haven’t slept well in days.” “Hehe, sorry about that.” She shook her head. “It’s alright. I can actually get some sleep for once… with you here.” “Yeah, and I’m not going anywhere.” He gently stroked her hoof with his claw. “Oh, do you want me to get you any water or anything?” she asked. Spike shook his head. “No thanks. The last thing I need is to have to get up and go to the bathroom all night. That’d be a disaster waiting to happen.” She giggled. “I can imagine. But, I’ll try to wake up every couple hours if I can to make sure you’re okay, alright?” “Are you sure?” Spike asked. “You need your sleep, too.” She shook her head. “Don’t worry. I have to wake up early to deliver mail all the time. This is nothing.” He just nodded. “Okay, sweets. Thank you.” She moved away for a second to pull her chair up to the bed and sat in it. She leaned over a bit to rest her head on the mattress and took his claw in her hoof again. She rose up just enough to plant one last kiss on his lips before resting her head back down again. “Good night, Spike.” “Good night, Derpy.” Opening her eyes was the most unpleasant feeling she could imagine at this point, but she forced them open. It was still dark in the room, so daylight hadn’t quite reared its unwelcome head yet. Thankfully. She had made a promise to check on him during the night, after all. And Derpy never wanted to break her promises. She lazily lifted her head up and looked over the dragon in the bed. It was dark, so she couldn’t make out every detail, but she could still feel her face heat up and heart beat more and more rapidly as she looked at him. She still had a hoof under his claw, so she gently nudged it, hoping to wake him up. “Spike,” she whispered to him, gently shaking his claw. “Spike, are you awake?” No response, of course. From the couple nights he stayed over, she knew just how heavy of a sleeper he was. She didn’t want to hurt him, though. The poor thing must’ve been really sore. She slid her hoof out from under his claw, watching it flop onto the bed. She chuckled lightly and used her other hoof to gently nudge his shoulder. “Spike, are you there? Do you want me to get you some water now? Or something from the snack machine?” No response. “Spike?” She nudged him a bit harder this time. Her voice grew a bit louder as well. “Are you alright? Wake up.” Still no response. “S-Spike?” She rose from the chair and leaned closer to him. She pressed her muzzle to his cheek, nuzzling him slightly before nudging him. “It’s time to wake up, Spike... Please wake up.” After she nudged him one more time, his head fell limply to the side. “N-No… Spike!” She immediately backed away, stumbling over the chair as she did. She fell to the ground with a hard thud. She tried to pull herself up off the ground before tripping over her hooves and falling again. Stupid clumsiness! “D-Doctor! Doctor!” She struggled back to her hooves and raced out the door and into the hallway. “Doctor! Somepony! Help!”