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// Everything Hurts... 
// Story: The Number One Patient 
// by RushyFiction 
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Feeling something nag at his mind, Shaggy the bat pony slowly and painfully opened his eyes. He had spent a long and busy night performing his duties as a Lunar Guard and had been looking forward to spending the day in bed, but... but what? He was so sleepy, he didn't even know.

Oh, somebody was tapping on the door. Shaggy snarled slightly. I should be allowed to sue guests after 5 AM, he thought. But rather than voice that rather grumpy and unfashionable opinion, he called out "COMING!" and dragged his worn body out of bed. 

Still yawning, the bat pony pulled the door open to reveal three mares: yellow, pink and green. All three had their manes tied up in a similar bun at the back of their heads and wore a nurse's cap with the iconic red cross. Shaggy recognised them immediately as Redheart's colleagues.

"Hello, Nurse Tenderheart, nurse Braveheart..." his voice tapered off slightly as the name of the last pony slipped his mind and he conceded by simply nodding. "Um..." The bat pony's head cocked to the side, his ears twitching. "What's up?" The three of them looked distinctly uncomfortable, already putting him on edge.

The green mare spoke up in a whispery, contained voice: "We're here about Redheart. There's no easy way of saying this so I'll just say it - she lost a patient, a young colt at that."
Shaggy gasped involuntarily. Thanks to the magic of harmony, Equestria wasn't like most lands, where disesase and death were rampant. It was usually a given that if one had the strength to make it to the hospital, one could be cured.
Usually.

"What happened??" Shaggy asked, shocked to the core.
Nurse Braveheart lowered her head in sadness: "A stupid accident during surgery - but Redheart bonded with the little one quite a bit and..." she fell silent.

Shaggy pushed on. "... and?"

"... well, ever since we all got the bad news, she's been cooped up in one of the unused wards. She won't talk to anyone and she won't work or even go home. We thought... you might be able to help her."



Shaggy had visited his marefriend in the hospital countless times, so he knew his way around. All he needed the other nurses for was finding the ward where Redheart had shut herself in. The bat pony took a deep breath, bracing himself for what's to come and quietly slipped in. 

The room had been converted into a break room for the nurses - the three beds inside were a bit messy, there was a bowl of candy on a nearby table and the window had dark plastic over it to cover up the sunlight. It was a place to take a quick nap and right now, it was pitch black.
Fortunately, that was not a problem for a thestral. Shaggy scanned the room with his superior vision and immediately located the curled up white mare that he loved on the bed furthest from the door. He cleared his throat to announce his presence. "It's me." 

Redheart stirred, but only a little. When she didn't say anything, Shaggy trotted to her bed and poked the back of her fuzzy neck with his nose. "Hello."
She sighed and craned her neck in an instinctive reaction. 
"Can you hold me?" she whispered. 

Shaggy nodded before remembering she was turned the other way and couldn't see him.
"Yes." he said and climbed onto the bed. Redheart made room for him, letting the bat pony take the spot she'd just warmed up. Shaggy took his place as the big spoon and weaved his furry hooves around the petite mare's form, draping his left wing over her just the way she liked. Discovering her fondness for sleeping under his wing had been Shaggy's highlight of the month. 

"There's home..." Redheart had hummed peacefully, her light voice muffled underneath Shaggy. "... and then there's your wing."
Shaggy giggled in romantic delirium. "If y-y-y-ou keep-p-p complimenting m-me, I won't be able to get any work done at all!" he stammered.
"You're too comfy to work." 

Shaggy had to force himself not to beam proudly at the memory and instead focus on Redheart at the present. Having wrapped her up within himself, he could sense tremors passing through the mare. Something about his presence had unsettled her even more, and he didn't like that. 
"Redheart?"
Suddenly, without warning, Redheart wiggled around under the makeshift cocoon of his wing and buried her muzzle into his chest fluff. She didn't sob or make a sound, but he could feel the icy wetness from her eyes reach his skin underneath. Shaggy nuzzled into her stringy, tired pink mane lovingly, just another reminder of his presence. 

Finally, a voice gasped out: "I told him he was going to be okay..." 
"Yeah... well, you thought he was. Not your fault he isn't." Shaggy said clumsily. He was completely out of his depth, and the words floated around awkwardly like unwanted chunks of ice rather than the healing balm he'd wanted them to be.

For a moment, there was another period of silence, and then Redheart whispered: "C-Crimson..."  She'd never called him by his real name before. "... I don't think I can be a nurse."
Shaggy's eyes widened. "What?!"

Her voice hitched. "I just... I..." as the lump in her throat silenced her, Redheart's hoof snaked out from under Shaggy's wing to grab the nurse's cap discarded on a nearby pillow and toss it to the floor. "I want to get out of here."



Shaggy was devastated as he escorted Redheart out. She seemed a different mare to the one who'd gone to work today just like any other day, with a smile and a sandwich. The new Redheart kept her eyes firmly on the floor and seemed dependent on the bat pony to function at all, sticking close enough for their sides to touch at all times, even though they stumbled several times as a a result. 

When they finally got back to their shared house, the two headed to bed wordlessly, both worn out. Just as the two began to snuggle, Redheart chuckled mirthlessly. "So much for me taking care of you."
"What do you mean?" Shaggy asked. 
The mare waved her hoof around vaguely. "Well, look at me. You got so worried over being good enough... and I'm the one who winds up useless and unemployed."
This sent a wave of red-hot anger coursing through the bat pony's body. How dare she say something bad about herself?!? How blind could a pony be?! "You're not unemployed." Shaggy growled. "You just need a break. And then you're going back to the hospital."

"No." Redheart said sternly. "I can't. Shaggy..." she moved closer to burrow under his neck, but the bat pony pushed her off and gave her a pissed look. And with burning red eyes like his, it was pretty pissed. 
"We are settling this right now." He said, biting his lower lip. "You are gonna rest up and then you're going back to the hospital."

The white mare snarled: "I'm not. This isn't a debate, I don't want to go back there. I can't go back there. I can't lose another patient like that..." Her ears drooped and flattened against her head. "I am no nurse..."

Shaggy pulled her up into a sitting position with his hooves as if she was a foal and sat her down on his lap. "You are a nurse. Now you tell me - what sort of nurse wouldn't care about losing a patient? Besides..." he patted her thigh victoriously. "... it's your cutie mark!"

Redheart sunk into the bat pony, mumbling: "Your cutie mark's a star. Shouldn't you be an astronomer or something?" She felt Shaggy stiffen a little around her, but only for a moment.

"I just... want you... to be happy." Shaggy said slowly, getting to the bottom of things. "If you really want to stop being a nurse, then I won't bother you about it after today. But..." he kissed the back of her right ear. "... you're not gonna stop me from thinking what a brilliant nurse you are." Using his strong, but fluffy hooves, he began to knead Redheart's taut, stressed back. "Caring about all those hundreds of ponies who go into that hospital. You might make a new record for most amount of friends ever!"

The white mare smiled faintly, a little bit of her old enthusiasm glinting through the wall of grief. "... okay. I'll try and go back next week. If we can snuggle now." She held out her hooves in opposite directions and pulled Shaggy's wings around her. Together, the two collapsed onto the bed, neither needing a blanket.

Shaggy kissed her ear again, making it twitch. "I'm proud of you." he whispered.
A moment passed.
"I love you." Redheart declared, making the bat pony's heart leap. A quick joyful shiver went through his body. "I l-love you too!" he stuttered. 
"Thank you." The nurse closed her eyes, safe in her cocoon and drifted to sleep.