//------------------------------//
// Chapter 38 
// Story: Eclipse 
// by Hiver 
//------------------------------//

My nose woke up before the rest of me did. I had no idea where I was, but I could smell...

...You know exactly the smell if you've ever been injured. The smell of a hospital.

Oh damn it, what did I do now? I tried to remember. 

Did I startle Sunshine again?

I had been going out for something. Yes, I had been going shopping. Did I get run over by a cart of something? Now that would have been a dignified end. Alicorn Prince, cause of death: Cabbage cart.

Must be pretty bad too, my brain is all loopy. I must be on the good drugs again.

I heard a sniffing sound I recognized and hated. A mare crying.

Forcing my eyes open, I found myself looking at Sparks sitting next to my bed. She had a book with her, but she wasn't looking at it. She was rubbing her eyes with one hoof.

"Hey..."

Her hoof dropped instantly and she spun to me, "Page! You're awake!" she exclaimed and quickly moved closer, putting one hoof at the edge of my bed, "How are you feeling?"

"...not feeling a lot right now," I admitted, "Everything is full of cotton. I'm on the really nice drugs, aren't I?"

Twilight sniffed again and nodded, "You are. What do you remember?"

"I.." I started to answer before I frowned. A memory, just a flash of an image. Wooden shaft, feathers, blood, "Some fucker shot me!"

"Easy, try to relax," Twilight said, putting her hoof on my side, "You're still hurt."

"...How badly?"

"Don't worry about it," she said with a small smile, "The doctor says you'll make a full recovery."

I tried to relax again, finding it really easy to do as my eyes started to drift closed, "...How long was I out?"

"Just over a week. The doctors didn’t want you waking up earlier. Sunset and I arrived yesterday," Twilight explained, "We were lucky, a train had just arrived. Now try to get some more sleep."

"Just going to close my eyes for a second. Tired."

I blinked and when I opened my eyes again, Twilight was gone. Replaced by Celestia. She was sitting and reading a book of poems I recognized.

"Hey Sunshine," I said, my voice sounding a bit raspy. I could also tell I was no longer on the good drugs as my shoulder really ached.

She closed her book and smiled at me, "Good morning, Page."

"Always is when it involves you."

Smiling a bit wider, she leaned in and gave me a small kiss before pulling back, "We've been taking turns sitting with you," she said to my unspoken question, "I just took over from Sunset an hour ago."

"How long since I spoke with Sparks? Is she doing okay?"

"...Eight hours or so," Celestia sighed and then shook her head, "And no, she's not. She's taking it hard that somepony would do something like this. Luna’s taking care of her."

I nodded slightly and shifted my wing. It pulled on something painful and I winced, "How bad is it?"

Celestia hesitated and then sighed again, "I'll leave the details to the doctor, but in of itself the damage wasn't that great. They barely missed your heart and lungs, but you lost a lot of blood quickly. It was a wide arrow head. It had been dipped in Witches Bane."

I knew that, it was a… some herb I think. Something to do with magic disruption?

"Did they catch who it was?"

Celestia shook her head, the temperature in the room seemed to rise a dozen degrees for a second before she answered, "No. Your guard found the crossbow, but nopony in sight. We are investigating but so far the only thing we are sure of is that they were a unicorn and one that knows the teleport spell. We haven’t found any witnesses yet."

"Well, I have pissed off a lot of ponies," I admitted, "Some with a lot of bits. I suppose I should have thought about this possibility. I take it my going out in public privileges are revoked for the foreseeable future?"

Smiling sadly, Celestia leaned in to rest her head against the bed next to mine, looking into my eyes, "I would never imprison you in such a way, Page. But I want you to consider the ponies around you if you get hurt."

"So..." I started with a small smile, "...Hoof cuffs are out of the question then?"

That brought a laugh I recognized and she sat back up with a much more natural smile, "Maybe I can make exceptions at times," she teased.

"If I try to sit up, will you stop me?"

"Most definitely yes," Celestia said with a smile, "And I doubt you could if you tried."

"...Okay, yes. That's very fair," I admitted and relaxed again, "Getting shot sucks."

"I most agree," Celestia said and smiled slightly, "I have, several times. Though admittedly, the last time was before the invention of the crossbow. Not that regular bows make it any nicer."

"...My side is hurting a bit," I admitted, "Any chance I can get back on the good drugs?" I asked hopefully.

Celestia shook her head, "Steady Beat said no. Now when you have started to wake up, he wants you off them as soon as possible."

"Which I get," I said, "But I'm really bucking tired of getting hurt. It wasn't even my fault this time," I grumbled.

"And we are tired of you getting hurt," Celestia said gently and brushed her wing gently against my side, "So please stop it."

"I'll do what I can," I agreed and then smiled at her, "...Read to me?"

Smiling, she nodded and picked her book back up.

It wasn't long before I was back to dreamless sleep.