//------------------------------// // The Nurse // Story: Punch-Out // by Poetic Justice //------------------------------// You knock on the door of the infirmary. You knew it was stupid, knocking on the door of a public clinic, but habit got the best of you. "Come in?" Someone said behind the door. You knew that voice very well, it was the same nurse that had to shove your bones back in place after the fall you took when you first arrived in Equestria. -X-X-X-X-X-X- There were bandages over your eyes, you assume because with the existence of Cockatrices, and other things that can harm ponies just by looking at them, they didn't want to take any chances. Even though you were in a hospital bed, you were very restrained for the first two weeks. You were strapped down by the waist, arms, and legs. The two weeks you spent were very quiet. The only voices you heard were guards taking places watching your room, and the occasional scientist coming in to either examine your body or ask the same questions as the last. "What are you." "Where are you from?" "Where are you now?" "Do you mean harm?" It became systematic, just giving them the same answers every time they came in. There were times you would hear one come in, and you just gave the answers to all the questions before they were able to ask them. If you had a firm grasp on time, you could swear that multiple came in the same day. One day, you heard the door open, and you heard something that you haven't heard anypony say before. "Hello." You had to mentally close your mouth. It just caught you off guard. You assume that it was new scientist that actually cared about the things they observed. You figured once you gave it time, they'll sound like everyone else. "My name is Nurse Redheart. They transferred me here to take care of you." "I-...Um...Thank you." "So, they didn't tell me your name when I came in." "They never really asked for it." You said, almost laughing. "I see. I apologize for the lack of empathy the staff shows here. I'll be sure to fix that over time." You're surprised with the determination in her voice. Maybe this pony was more than some poor intern who had this dumped on her. You ponder for a moment, you've heard some of them say each other's names. They seem to be adjectives or objects, rather than the kind of names you're used to on Earth. The silence lingered in the room for a few minutes, not that you were aware of this. "May you please tell me your name?" The nurse asked. "Oh, I'm sorry, I was just lost in thought." You tell her your last name, and only that. "That's an odd name." "Yes, well. 'Redheard' or 'Starburst' isn't exactly common." "What kind of names are common, then?" "Oh, I don't know. Jesse, Luke, Marc, Chris." "Those are very odd." The nurse says again. The nuse stayed and spoke with you for, what you assume was, an hour. Questions went back and forth. Since you black out almost instantly after the fall you took, you had no idea what the people looked like, what was normal, and how things worked. "All-right, I think I am done here." The nurse stated after the conversation died down. "Done? With that?" You ask. "I had to deliver a morphine shot in your arm. Within two days, we are going to re-locate the bone back into your arm." "Wow...I-I really didn't feel anything." "Because you weren't expecting it." "Thank you, nurse." You hear the door creak open. "Nurse, wait." "Was there something else you needed?" You took in a deep breath. There was one question you didn't get to ask. "Be honest...I'm different here, aren't I?" "Very much so. Why do you ask?" "Be honest. When I get out of here....if I do....will I be experimented on?" You heard the nurse hold back a giggle at your question. "I assure you, that won't happen." -X-X-X-X-X-X- You opened the door to the main room of the clinic. Nurse Redheart was the only pony in the room. Either all of the other nurses were attending to patients, or it was that slow of a day. Her face lit up when she saw you. She stood up from behind the counter to greet you. You quickly saw the bags under her eyes. The assumption that it was a slow day quickly left your mind. You hold your hand up, non-verbally telling her to stop. She gets the hint and sits back down in her chair. She rubs her eyes in her hands and looks back up to you. "I just got out of a 24 hour long surgery." She says. "Geez. What happened?" "It was supposed to be a simple heart transplant." The nurse rubbed her fingers against her temples. "I-I don't want to talk about it." "Okay, I'm sorry to bring it up. Where are the other nurses?" "It was only me and two others today. The two of them are asleep in the break room. After an hour. I wake one of them up and we swap places until sinrise, when we can go home." "I'm sure the pony that was under surgery will kiss the ground you walk on when they find out." The nurse actually smiled when you said that. "That's why I still do this." She said. "Would you like me to get you some coffee or tea?" You ask, but she was quick to wave her hand in a dismissive way. "I don't drink coffee, I don't handle caffeine very well. Don't worry about me, I'll be okay." "If you say so. So, why did you need to see me?" "Oh! Right! There was a physical examination done on you while you were here a few months back. It's finally been processed and you can read it whenever you like." You're not sure why this mattered, but you figure you might as well look it over. "Where is it?" "I gave it to Captain Shining Armor to compare with the health of the trainees that come in." "Oh...joy...." You mumble. You don't think that Nurse Redheart picked up on what you said, or she was just too tired to press it. You thank the nurse and exit the clinic, trying to find an excuse to not go see Shining Armor. You don't know what it is, but there has been friction between the two of you since you first met. He was the one who escorted you to the room Celestia provided for you in the castle. It was the top floor of one of the lesser busy wings. On the way there, when alone in a hallway, Shining Armor backed you into a wall and made it very clear that he will always see you as a threat. You shrugged it off at the time, remembering the saying, "People fear what they do not know". As you approach the door to the Captain's office, your heart grew heavy in your chest. You heard the voice of a woman in the office, they were talking about something personal. It was fairly obvious it was Shining Armor's significant other. You grew anxious. You had no idea how Shining Armor will treat you with his wife around. You hoped he wasn't the type to be overly-aggressive. There was already bad blood that didn't need to be boiled. Taking in a deep breath, you put your hand on the door and push it open.