Chapter 31: Visiting Hours Are Now Over
When he awoke his initial reaction was one of indifference. The only sounds he could hear were the repeated beep of a heart monitor and the draws of oxygen from the breathing mask strapped to his mouth. He was lying on his back, a position he had not been very accustomed to.
As Bryce's senses continued to awaken, he felt a searing, pulsating pain on his chest and the upper half of his gut. His chest also felt like an elephant had been tap dancing on it. Attempting to move around he felt a prodding pain stick in his left arm. A dry, raspy yelp was all that could escape his parched throat.
Lying still for the moment, Bryce looked down to find a thin paper blanket drapped over his front. He looked to his left to find a clear fluid running through an IV tube down to a hypodermic needle sticking out of forearm. Beyond that there was light blue curtain that dropped from the ceiling to the floor.
Waiting a few minutes, Bryce tried to raise himself up, but was finding he lacked the strength. After struggling for a few seconds he fell back on the bed in defeat, letting out a loud grunt as he did so.
"H- hey, you awake?" Bryce heard someone say from behind the curtain.
He desperately tried to let out a few words, but the only thing he could muster was an anguished moan.
"Hey, Doc," the same voice said, "DOC!"
A blue earth pony mare with a pale green mane and nurse's cap came in through the door across the room. "Is everything alright?" She asked as vanished behind the curtain.
"That fella's woken up."
The same earth pony came over to Bryce's side of the curtain. "So he is. How are you feeling?"
Bryce tried once again to speak but his dry throat prevented him from saying anything remotely audible.
"I'll go get the doctor. Stay here, please."
Bryce furrowed his brow. I can't even sit up... Where the H could I possibly even go?
A minute later, the same nurse came back with a mustard unicorn stallion donning spectacles and a lab coat. He walked up to the human with determination. He levitated a clipboard to his face. "When was he last given a sedative?"
"Last night, Doctor."
"How high was the dosage?"
"The same as any stallion."
"Hmm, we may need to up the dosage. Nurse Tenderheart, prepare a hypodermic-"
Bryce began to struggle. He would rather stay awake and live with the pain than be put under again.
"Doctor Stable, he doesn't appear to like the idea of being put to sleep."
Doctor Stable placed the clipboard back where he'd gotten it. "Sir, I suggest you accept the sedative. From the damage you've received it would be unethical to allow you to-"
Bryce resolutely shook his head at the stallion.
"Alright, suit yourself. Nurse Tenderheart, start him on a codeine drip." Nurse Tenderheart left the room to acquire the necessary narcotics. "Now then, you have been here for the past day-and-a-half. When you arrived you were very near death, but we were able to stabilize you before you could flatline. There are second degree burns running along your chest, midsection, and shoulders, cuts and bruises on both on your superior appendages, and hairline fractures on your sternum and many of the ribs that are conjoined to it; for which we have no medical explanation. We've had you sedated since your arrival so you wouldn't have to deal with the pain, and for reasons unknown, you are refusing it now. Above all, I find it hard to believe anypony would consider wanting to."
By the time the doctor was finished speaking, Nurse Tenderheart had returned with an IV bag and had it flowing through Bryce's veins. The pain slowly easied and left him feeling dizzy.
"Due to the severity and area of your burns you will have to spend up to two weeks here. Is that clear?"
Bryce nodded.
"Nurse Tenderheart, begin applying ointment to the affected areas. Come and find me when you're done so I can check his vitals." Doctor Stables exited the room to tend to his other patients.
With the doctor gone, Nurse Tenderheart pulled the thin blanket down to his waist. Bryce could now see the bandages that he'd been wrapped in. "Okay, you're going to feel a little discomfort while I remove your old bandages. I'll try to be as gentle as I possibly can."
As she did so a few dry groans escaped his throat, which the nurse periodically apologized for.
"I just need to go and get the necessary supplies, please try and relax," Nurse Tenderheart told Bryce as she left the room.
This gave him the time to see the full extent of the burns. His skin was blistered in spots, raw in others. Just the feel of the air on his skin made his whole front sting. If it weren't for the drugs running through his system it would have been unbearable.
She returned shortly after. "Once I properly wash you down I'll apply the ointment. Please tell me if it gets to be too much for you to handle."
Compared to the feel of the air on his burned skin, this felt worse. But he allowed her to continue on since it would be better to go on and get it over with now.
Nurse Tenderheart dryed him off throughly. "There, now I can apply the ointment."
As she applied the ointment the stinging pain left him, replaced with a warm, soothing pleasure that made him moan in delight.
"Well now, you seem to be enjoying this."
"Em... hem..."
She gave a lighthearted laugh at his dazed response. Something began to poke her in the side. "My, uhm... somepony seems to getting... eager... It's okay, it's not the first time I've seen it happen. But don't go expecting anything too... risque." Nurse Tenderheart gave Bryce a sly wink.
After she had finished she promptly wrapped Bryce in fresh bandages. "Now I'm going to go find the doctor and we'll see how well you are, okay?"
As the nurse left a third time, his roommate began to talk to Bryce from the other side of the curtain. "So, how was it?"
Bryce weakly groaned.
"That good huh? Boy, did you see the flank on her? I tell you, once I get outta here I'm just might look her up. Gotta say though, I'm kinda jealous. I mean, you had her all over you, didn't you? I give almost anything to be in your position... minus the burns, of course. Though maybe not; mares do like the rough types."
I don't know, but I prefer the quiet types. Bryce groaned once again.
"Yeah, you have a point. Tell you what, put in a good word for me with her and I'll make it worth your wild. What do yuh say?"
Nurse Tenderheart returned with the doctor. Doctor Stable once again levitated the clipboard up to his face. "Nurse, please remove his oxygen mask."
"Yes doctor."
"Now then... saturation level has improved from previous level... but holding at 84 percent. Don't put the mask back on him, but do give him a nasal cannula."
"Right away, doctor."
"Pulse and blood pressure... still at normal levels." He then levitated a pen over and wrote down some notes. "For the record, please state your full name?"
"B... B..." A glass of water with a bendy straw was held out to him. He quickly drained it down until it echoed empty. Bryce swallowed a few times before he spoke again, in a slightly less hoarse voice, "Bryce... Smales."
"Bryce Smiles, lunch will be coming to you in an hour. In the meantime the only thing for you to do now is to lie back and rest." He left the room.
That was the last thing Bryce needed to hear. It was at this point that he knew his stay at the hospital was going to turn into Hell. Nothing to do but just lie there like a log, waiting until the doctor on charge gave him the okay to leave. To him, this was just a place people were put to heal up and forget about them for a few days. He was regretting not taking the sedative.
"Hey, Bryce is it?" Nurse Tenderheart said, "Don't let yourself get down. The ponies who brought you here said they would be coming back to check on you this evening. So you have that to look forward to, right?"
Well maybe it won't be 'that' bad. Bryce nodded in agreement. I just hope it's not a one time thing.
"While you're waiting, why don't you try and talk with your roommate."
She pulled the curtain aside to reveal the pony lying in the bed next to his. When Bryce saw who it was he took on a galled demeanor.
His roommate was an earth pony with tan fur, a greasy black mane, and had one of his forelegs was encased in a cast. What most drew his eye, however, was the image of a fishing hook on his rump.
They both stared at each other; one with a soul burning glare; the other more scared for his life than he'd been at their previous encounter.
"Now both of you play nice. If you need anything don't be afraid to call for me." Nurse Tenderheart left, closing the door behind her as she left.
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As the time drew on, Bryce grew more and more tired of being laid up in bed. He was unable to move without inflicting the slightest amount of pain, unable to get past that the cause of his current misfortune was lying ten feet away from his own bed, and there was nothing he could do about either one.
Every so often, one of the nurses would come in to check on them both. The last one had came in to tell them both that dinner would be out within the hour. Bryce questioned on whether there had been anyone there to see him, but was met only with the answer he had long dreaded to hear.
Now, with nothing better to do, Bryce bided his time by keeping count of the number of drips from his IV bag, the number of beeps of his heart monitor, and the number of breaths he took from the thing crammed in his nose, all at the same time.
He lost count when Bait-and-Switch sneezed. "Ahh, damn... That was a big one."
Bryce gave him no reply.
"Hey, you know, it's common courtesy to say 'bless you' whenever somepony-"
Bryce's response was to shot the tan stallion a bird.
":... I'll take that as a... bless you?"
Bryce had had enough of this guy, much less that they both had to share the same room. "You're a horrible... dispicable creature... that deserves... to be buried... alive."
"Oh... what would... make you say a thing like that?" He gave Bryce a shit eating grin.
"You know... damn well... why."
""I- I can't think of- of anything-"
"You had every right... to come after me. She had... nothing... to do with it!" His last rant left him wheezing in pain.
"How did you know that was me? You have nothing to prove it was me."
"To prove what?"
"That I was the one who... Wait, you're not going to get a confession out of me. I had nothing to do with that fire."
"What... fire?"
"The fire at the farm."
"Funny... I never said... where it was."
Bait scrambled to find the right words to say. "I- I was guessing... because... you lived at that farm we... Whatever, you have no proof it was me."
Bryce gave a croaked laugh. "Well... at most... I get better... in two weeks. You, on the other hand... have six weeks... until your leg... heals... And as soon as I... get better... I'm going to... break... the rest... of them."
"*Pfft* You believe what you want. Just wait, my uncle's gonna be here any minute, and when he does I'm going to be miles away where you'll never-"
From outside the door, there were sounds of a heated discussion going on.
"HA!!! See, there he is right now."
Just as Bait had said, the middle aged stallion came barging in through the door. He was followed closely by a few of his goons who stood blocking the door. Ponzi Scheme trotted without taking notice of Bryce and drew the curtain closed.
"Heeey, Uncle Ponz, we were just-"
Bait-and-Switch was dumbfounded when his uncle smacked him across the face.
"Wha- what the buck!?"
"What was the one thing I told you not to do!?"
"Wha..." Bait started pointing a hoof at one of the goons at the door. "Hey, that's the guy who-"
Ponzi smacked Bait's hoof away. "I know what he did. I told him to do it."
"But... What the hay!?"
"I told you to drop it, Bait. When I let you go off on your own I expected you to do that. At the same time I had high doubts you would do as I said. That's why I had him follow you, and if need be, make sure you stayed where I could easily find you. By any means necessary."
"Bu- but I'm-"
"I know what you are. I didn't take you in after your mom, my sister, didn't have the guts to raise you on her own. Sure, we might not have been the most model citizens, but at least we never hurt anypony. And when I hear what happened it just pisses me off to no end!"
"I was only trying to send that... thing a message."
"By killing that innocent farm girl!?"
"Ye- yeah... But they weren't really getting along to begin with. I was trying to make it look like he-"
Ponzi bore a hoof down on Bait's injured leg. He shouted over the tan stallion's screams. "DO YOU FEEL THAT, DO YOU FEEL THIS PAIN!?!?!? IF YOU EVER, AND I MEAN EVER, TRY ANYTHING THIS STUPID AND SADISTIC AGAIN WHAT THAT THING DID WILL BE THE LEAST OF YOUR WORRIES!!!"
"AHH!!! OKAY, I GET IT!!! JUST... STOP, FOR CELESTIA'S SAKE, STOP!!!!!"
Ponzi took his hoof away from Bait's leg. "Now I've cut a deal with the family of the barn you burned."
"Deal... What deal!?"
"You're not going to be coming back with me."
"WHAT!?!?!? What the hay!?!?!?"
"Rest up, because as soon as you're well enough you're going to be working on their farm until the cost of their barn is repaid, in full."
"What, no bucking way!":
"It's either that, or you can go out and live on your own."
"Ahh come on. That's too unfair!"
"No, it would have been unfair if I reported you to the guard and let them drag your flank off to prison. Now I'm-"
Bryce's attention was drawn away from their quarrel when one of Ponzi's goons took note of his presence. He gave him a wide mouthed grin. "Well, well... What do we have here?"
Another of his goons joined him. "Remember us you bald ape. We never did get back to you on that little beating you gave us."
"Get ready for the worst night of your-"
By then Ponzi was done arguing with his nephew and had drawn the curtain back. "Boys, what are you both staring at?"
"Hey, Ponz, take a look at what we have here," the first goon said with a grin as he moved aside.
When Ponzi saw what they'd been hiding the color drained from his face. Bryce could see the scar on the side of his face he'd left at their first encounter.
"Boys, wait outside. I want to deal with this personally."
They both did as they were told, brohoofing each other as they left.
"So, it seems I have the upper hoof in the situation now, Bryce Smales."
Bryce smirked, "You have... no idea... how much of a disadvantage... you're really in."
Ponzi smirked back. "True, you are a very puzzling individual, I will admit. Oh, if only I had found you first."
"I'd never... do anything... like you do."
"Maybe so; maybe not. But that is all irrelevant now."
"Say what... you want... to say."
"Straight to the point. I apologize for more than just what happened to you yesterday."
"What... you mean the burns... I've had worse."
"If you say so. No, I must also apologize for taking away the time you could have had with your friends. If it had not been because of me they would have been here to visit you."
"Well... I will admit... I was worried about them."
"Yes, and the little one, the one with the bow, wanted me to give you something." Ponzi reached inside his suit and presented Bryce with a folded piece of paper.
Bryce carefully took it from the gray stallion and looked it over.
It was a get well card. On the cover Apple Bloom had colored the apple orchard, but instead of its usual bright colors it was all gray and dull. The sun even had a frowny face on it. It read: THINGS AIN'T SO BRIGHT WHEN YOU'RE NOT HERE
When he opened it up, the orchard was once again made in bright colors, and this time the sun was smiling. in the foreground he could see caricatures. They included all the ponies who lived on the farm; as well as Ditzy, Dinky, Amethyst, and Corn. Even he was there. They were all running around, having the time of their lives. This part read: HOPE YOU GET WELL SOON, DON'T STAY AWAY TOO LONG. At the bottom it was signed by everypony, save for Applejack. Even Corn had left his paw print on it.
It nearly made him break out a smile.
"Th- thank you..."
"Don't mention. It's the least I could do. Now I take my leave. And I'll be seeing you tomorrow on you decision, Bait."
Before Ponzi could leave, Bryce said, "Hey, I'm sorry about kicking out your teeth."
"Ehh, I never took much care of them anyway. All you did was make them fall out sooner rather than later. Besides, they couldn't hold a flame to these dentures," Ponzi said, giving Bryce a toothy grin.
"Yeah... they look better too."
They both shared a laugh at that last comment.