Trauma Center: Equestrian Opinion
Chapter Two: Farewells and Greetings
Location: Ponyville Medical
The lounge room was typically one of the least-used rooms in the hospital, only ever occupied by doctors and nurses taking a quick break between appointments, or those too busy to leave for lunch. The bland, off-white walls and worn furniture of the room would have been a source of complaint elsewhere, but the doctors and nurses were glad for the break it provided from the typical sterile white coloring and rigid, uncomfortable seating.
The room was used most during the night shift, by the few ponies remaining at the hospital who were only there in case of an emergency. Tonight, however, the room was almost filled to capacity by nearly all of the staff of Ponyville Medical. Just inside the main doors of the room, Redheart stood next to another nurse, a red Pegasus mare whose black mane was done up in a bun. Direct had never bothered to learn her name, but she had been selected to take Redheart's place as head nurse. The red mare had caught an unsuspecting Redheart before she left for the night, and brought her to the suspiciously darkened lounge. Now, Redheart was recovering from having her coworkers jump out at her in a typical surprise party fashion.
"After almost two decades of dedicated service here at Ponyville Medical, we felt you deserved a proper send-off," the nurse smiled broadly as she gestured to the room, which had been sparsely decorated for Redheart's going-away party. The most prominent of the decorations was a large banner hung across the length of the room, proclaiming "Farewell Redheart!" in large letters. Somepony had also tied up a few of the colorful helium baloons that were given to any foals who ended up in the hospital. Finally, the center table was home to a number of treats, purchased from a local bakery.
Finally recovered from her initial shock, Redheart took in the room, noting the decorations and the many familiar faces. Everypony was smiling at her, despite their sadness at losing a longtime coworker and friend. Redheart smiled sincerely, "Thank you, everypony. It means so much to me that you would go to all of this trouble just for me."
A chorus of replies sounded, followed by everypony laughing over the fact that none of them could be understood over each other. With that, Redheart and her escort entered the room proper, and the party began. Redheart wound her way through the lounge, saying hello and farewell to everypony she had come to know over her many years at the hospital. At last, she found herself speaking to Doctor Styles.
The young stallion had been patiently waiting for Redheart to finish talking to everyone else, taking the opportunity to think out what he would say. Finally, the two were standing face to face, and all of Direct's planning went out the window. "So... This is it. Your last day here."
Redheart nodded, "Yes, I leave for Manehattan tomorrow."
"I... see," Direct's gaze dropped to his hooves as the full weight of the situation hit him. Redheart was the only nurse he had worked with so far, and whether she knew it or not, she had had a huge part in helping him gain confidence in his abilities as a surgeon. And now, she's leaving. I might never see her again... The thought of losing one of his mentors, and, dare he say it, friends, so suddenly was enough to overwhelm him, effectively ending the conversation as the young doctor felt his recently obtained confidence recede, replaced with his former insecurities. Can I even keep operating without Redheart helping me? He had really gotten comfortable working with her, which had allowed his inner talent to shine. However, it came at the cost of near dependence on her help, and he doubted if he would be able to work with anypony else.
Redheart seemed to hear his thoughts, lifting the doctor's chin with a hoof so their eyes met. "Direct, I've said it before and I'll say it again: you've come a long way from the nervous, insecure wreck you were before, and I have absolutely no doubt that you'll continue improving your skills and making ponies feel better. Even without me."
Redheart dropped her hoof, and Direct's head turned aside, eyes squeezed shut. A few seconds later, he turned back to her, eyes now shining with tears. "R-really?"
"Absolutely." Redheart said without hesitation. "I might have been rough on you before, but I had to if I wanted to help you improve. And look how well it worked." It was true: A few days after he had started working with Redheart, Direct had stopped coming to work late, and his confidence in the O.R. had skyrocketed since his first operation.
Direct opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the arrival of Doctor Stables, pushing his way past the other partygoers to get to them. "Sorry I'm late, Redheart. Lost track of time doing paperwork."
Redheart giggled lightly, "If I didn't know better, I might guess you'd fallen asleep at your desk again."
The doctor raised a hoof in mock defeat. "Guilty as charged," he snickered. "Guess Doctor Styles isn't the only one who spaces out occasionally."
Direct rubbed the back of his head with a hoof sheepishly. "Aww, c'mon guys. I'm right here..." he trailed off as the other two continued their banter. Wow, I've never seen them this... Relaxed before. They're entirely different after hours.
Pretending not to notice the young doctor, Doctor Stables continued, "I hope he doesn't start coming to work late again now that you're leaving. You were the only one keeping him in line."
Rolling her eyes and deciding that Direct had had enough teasing for now, Redheart changed the subject. "Well, I'm sure my new replacement can handle him. Speaking of which," Redheart took another look around the room, "where is she? She was supposed to have been here hours ago."
Not a moment later, a voice called out over the noise of conversation. "Excuse me," came the voice of an elderly stallion, "but is Miss Redheart here?" Most of the noise in the room ended as almost everypony turned to look at the white stallion just inside the door. He was tall for a Unicorn, certainly the tallest in the room, and his lack of body bulk gave him a stretched appearance. His very light grey mane and tail were long, but precisely maintained. He wore a set of glasses over his grey eyes, which quickly found his target. He strode into the room, his slow, occasionally rigid movements exposing the age of the otherwise healthy-looking stallion. The crowd parted as the pony advanced towards the trio, giving him a respectable distance as he passed, but returning to their previous activities once he had.
Doctor Revered Healing may have been the Director of Ponyville Medical, but he preferred being seen as a friend instead of a boss, and so went out of his way to get to know the entire staff. This, almost ironically, ended up further increasing their respect for the former world-class surgeon. However, there was one member of his staff that he hadn’t gotten the chance to get to know yet; the young blue stallion standing next to the nurse he needed to speak to.
Meanwhile, Direct, unfamiliar with the Director’s kind, almost grandfatherly nature, was having a bit of a mental freak-out. Walking right towards him was not only one of the greatest surgeons in recent history, but also his boss: the pony who, as far as Direct knew, could fire him at any moment and for any reason. His irrational fear quickly took full control of his mind, rooting him in place looking like a deer in the headlights.
The Director noticed Doctor Styles's behavior, and sighed mentally. The young ones always had the most extreme reactions. Still, he didn't have time to chat with the new doctor at the moment. Instead, he focused on the mare he had come to see. "Ah, here you are. The mare of the hour, it seems."
"Yes, sir," replied Redheart with a nod. Looking around with a smile, she couldn't help but add, "I still can't believe that everypony would go out of their way to throw me a farewell party."
"Well, I for one have long considered you one of the most valuable members of our staff, Miss Redheart."
The nurse's pure white coat did nothing to help disguise the light blush that came to her cheeks at the compliment. "Thank you, Doctor Healing. I only wish I could have stayed longer and continued learning from you."
The Director shook his head, a small smile appearing on his face as he did. "I'm afraid you've already learned everything you can from me; Doctor Stables surpassed me as a surgeon many years ago."
"As much as I'd love to debate that claim, Director," Doctor Stables butted in, "I was wondering if you had any word on Miss Redheart's replacement. She's not here yet."
As if on cue, the doors opened again. "Sorry I'm la-" The pink Pegasus mare at the door cut herself off when she noticed that everypony in the room was staring at her, having once again turned to see who had entered. She tensed up under all of the unexpected attention, green eyes wide and flitting back and forth across the room. Her coat was a bright pink, and her long blonde mane was tied up in a ponytail behind her white nurse's cap. Her Cutie Mark was a golden Caduceus symbol with white wings.
The room was silent until Doctor Healing spoke up. "Ah, you must be Miss Temperament. I'm glad you didn't get too lost."
Anypony who was paying close enough attention might have seen her cheeks turn a darker shade of pink as she allowed herself to relax a bit, even smiling. "Yes, that's me."
The crowd once again parted as the Director strode to the front of the room, pausing only to motion the group of three to come with him. When he reached the pink Pegasus, he shook hooves with her as he introduced himself, then stepped to the side and waved a hoof at the three with him. "And this is Doctor Stables," he pointed at the doctor in question, "our Head Surgeon. He will be helping you for your first few days at least, and all of your reports will be sent to him. This," he pointed next to Nurse Redheart, "is Nurse Redheart. I understand she was very eager to meet you before her departure, so it seems you arrived just in time." Redheart smiled and nodded before shaking hooves with Nurse Temperament, whose own smile grew. "Finally, this is Doctor Styles," the blue stallion waved nervously as he was pointed out, "your new partner."
Up close, Direct could see something about the nurse that surprised him. Namely, she looked to be around his age, if not a year or two younger. His brain warned him that what he was thinking might not be the best first impression that he could make, but his mouth had already gone on ahead. "Are you sure, Director? She seems a little, you know, young..."
Direct's brain could only give his mouth an 'I told you so' as it trailed off, visibly seeing Nurse Temperament's temper rising. Behind him, Redheart and Doctor Stables facehoofed, but it went unnoticed as the new nurse got up in the young doctor's face, her wings flaring out behind her. "I'll have you know that, on the way to catch my train from Canterlot, I witnessed an older stallion get run over by a runaway cart. I took him all the way to Canterlot General, and the paperwork took forever to fill out, so, yeah!"
By the time she was finished, she seemed to have changed from outright furious to simply upset, her wings returning to their position folded against her sides by the time she was done, and even she didn't seem altogether certain what she was justifying with her story. Nevertheless, Direct had learned his lesson. He cleared his throat, then set about trying to make his new assistant not mad at him. "I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have assumed anything just because of how young you are." He winced slightly at his own stupidity. "We really got off on the wrong hoof." Straightening up and dropping his sheepish expression for a more professional, but still friendly, one, he held a hoof out to shake. "I'm Direct Styles."
The Pegasus inspected him for a moment, then adopted her own mask of pure professionalism as she shook his hoof. "Angelic Temperament, and I accept your apology." Gone were the smiling and cheerfulness that had held through the other introductions, replaced with a face that seemed to say 'I haven't even gotten to know you, but I already dislike you.'
The tense staring contest between the two was broken when Redheart glanced at the clock hanging on the far wall and realized how late it was. Apologizing to the partygoers and explaining that she had an early train to catch, Redheart departed. Without the pony for whom the party was intended, it quickly fell apart. One by one or in small groups, everypony left. Seeing Redheart leaving, Doctor Styles said a quick goodbye to Doctor Stables and Director Healing, gave a hesitant nod to Nurse Temperament, and followed her out into the hallway.
"Redheart?" He called. The nurse stopped and turned around, cocking her head in confusion.
"Doctor Styles?" Redheart had been working with the young stallion for a while, but she had never seen him so nervous before. "What is it?"
Direct was silent as he slowly caught up to the older mare, but at last he no longer had an excuse to not speak his mind. "Redheart... I, um, well..." If only the blood rushing to his cheeks would flow to his brain instead, maybe he could actually think of something to say!
"Yes?" Redheart didn't want to be rude, but she hadn't been lying when she'd said that she had an early train to catch, and it was already very late.
The blue stallion seemed to be debating internally for nearly a minute, head down and lips moving silently, and Redheart was just about to say something when he finally spoke up. "I just... I just wanted to say... Thanks. Thanks for everything." Redheart was about to pipe in, but his eyes rose to meet hers as he continued. "You said it earlier, I was a wreck when I started working with you. I know I wasn't making it easy on you, but no matter what you never gave up on me. I just had to make sure I told you how much that means to me." His head faced to the floor again as he added one final comment, so quietly she hardly heard him. "You wouldn't have been the first to decide I wasn't worth the effort."
For several seconds that felt like an eternity to the two ponies, they stood there in silence, each with moist eyes. Finally, Redheart took a step towards the doctor, closing the already short distance between them. Direct brought his head back up to see what was going on, only to have a face full of pink mane as Redheart enveloped him in a hug.
It was quick, and Direct had just realized what was going on when Redheart released him, stepping back to their previous distance. Awkwardly, the nurse cleared her throat, cheeks blazing red. "Thank you, Direct."
Tilting his head in confusion and blushing deeply himself, he could only respond with "What for?"
Redheart took a while to answer, but when she did, it was with a light giggle. "For saying thank you, of course."
Redheart went from a light giggle to full-on laughter as Direct tried to tilt his head even further sideways at her confusing response. Eventually, he gave up, shaking his head. Mares. Refocusing his attention on his former assistant as she finally stopped laughing, he found that he only had one more thing to say. "Well, good luck, Miss Redheart."
Smiling, she nodded. "Good luck to you as well, Doctor Styles."
As he walked back to his modest apartment, Direct found himself reviewing the events of the party. As much of a confidence booster as his talk with Redheart had been, meeting his new assistant had been quite a trial. He wasn't sure what exactly had caused such an extreme reaction, but he supposed that he could understand her frustration at having somepony doubting her as soon as he met her. Well, he thought with a grim humor, At least work tomorrow won't be boring...