(So you know, this chapter replaced the second one I used t0 have up)
Alright Micah, stay calm. Maybe what happened earlier was all a dream. It feels the same as before, but, still, there’s a chance. There is at least something of a chance that I’m on Earth. Whatever happens, this time, don’t freak out. Maybe the medicine the doctors gave me made me hallucinate, Leah has told me that happens sometimes.
Oh Leah, please G-d keep her safe, wherever she is.
Before I open my eyes though, I feel something over my hand. Whatever it is it doesn’t feel like a hand. Not finding any reason to delay this, I open my eyes slowly. Eventually when my eyes adjust to the bright lights I see what is on my hand, and who it belongs to.
My eyes go wide the second I see this pony. “S-Skittles?”
Part of her is sitting in a chair, while the other part is draped over my bed. It looks like she must have fallen asleep. Her hoof is over my hand, reminding me of what Leah would do when I went in to the hospital to get my appendix taken out. Simple operation, but she worries. Rainbow must have been worried as well. That’s actually kind of sweet. I’m not too surprised she’s the one that’s here. I have spent the most time with her after all. Maybe she can tell me what’s going on here.
I move my hand from being under her hoof, and gently pat her head to wake her up. “Skittles, you there? H-Hello?”
She snorts for a second as she swats my hand away. “Mm, ugh, five more minutes mom,” she mutters.
I can’t stop a short chuckle from escaping my lips from the rather odd sound of her snorting. I don’t think I’ve heard her do that before. “C-Come on Skittles, I g-got some really important q-questions I need t-to ask,” I say, this time giving her a shove with my hand.
Slowly, she comes to. She sits up fully in the chair, bringing a hoof to her eyes to rub them while she yawns. Once the yawning subsides, her eyes slowly open. As soon as they do, I swear they go nearly as wide and big as dinner plates. For some reason, right after that she looks at the still shut door, then back to me with a huge smile.
“Um, Skittles, why are y-you looking at me l-like tha-AK!”
In what looked like a flash of some sort, the next thing I knew was Skittles had her legs around my neck, bringing me in for a tight hug. With my head trapped against her neck, she says, “I knew you’d be fine Micah! You always were a tough guy!”
Geez how strong is this pony?!
I press against her grip as hard as I can, but in my weakened state I’m nothing against her. “Sk-Skittles, please, I’m, ugh, I c-can’t breathe!” I’m able to mutter as my face is pressed against her neck.
Upon hearing a gasp from her, she let’s me go and I collapse back onto the bed. “Oh! Heh, sorry about that,” Skittles says as she settles back into the chair. “Other than that time in the sewers, each time I hugged you or did anything I was the size of a toy.”
“At least th-then you didn’t n-nearly choke me,” I say as I rub my now sore neck. “But that’s n-not why I woke you up S-Skittles.”
Her smile is gone in an instant, as a hoof of hers goes to her neck, rubbing it nervously. Her ears lying flat, she says, “Well, um, why did you then?”
It’s probably best to just ask and get it done with. No point in drawing it out.
“Skittles, I w-want you to be honest with m-me. Am I somewhere in S-Seattle, or am I in E-Equestria?” I ask her as I rest back against the pillow.
Her reaction is the opposite of what I was hoping for. She doesn’t even look me in the eye. Instead her eyes are downcast, and she doesn’t say a thing. “Well, you were in Seattle. But now you’re in Ponyville.”
“P-please tell me you’re j-joking,” I say to her, my eyes narrowing. “And if y-you are, this is a r-really awful joke.”
“I’m not joking. I just, we did what we could, but, you were banged up pretty bad,” Skittles says while she puts her hoof over my hand. “We needed to get you to a hospital.”
Not buying her excuse, I yank my hand away from her. “W-why didn’t you t-take me to a n-normal human hospital? They c-could have treated me th-there,” I ask, not lessening my glare.
“Micah, come on, you’re smarter than that. You were hurt so bad that only magic could help you,” she says. “We didn’t have any choice.”
I hate that excuse. So many people say that. But the truth is, you almost always have a choice. It might not be pretty, but you still can choose.
“You d-did have a choice. Y-you knew I didn’t want t-to be here, b-but you took me h-here anyway,” I state as I continue to glare. “Didn’t Applejack tell you?”
“She did,” Skittles says as she keeps her eyes on my hand, not meeting my gaze. “I told Princess Celestia, but she’s the one who made the decision.”
“But you l-let her. I just, I d-don’t understand why you j-just let her do th-that,” I say, and turn away from her, only to be made to look right back at her with her hooves grasping my cheeks and turning me back.
“You’re my friend. You’re awesome. You’re cool. And I didn’t wanna let you die,” she says, her voice slightly choked. “You don’t know how messed up you were. Your arm was all bent, you had bruises, the-the doctor said you had something called internal bleeding, and I, I…”
Wow. I wasn’t expecting something like this from Skittles. If Fluttershy was here? Definitely. Pinkie Pie? Possibly, after she got through her usually shpiel. Rarity might as well, but not Skittles. She’s the toughest pony I’ve met. If she’s this upset over how bad I was…
Not wasting anymore time, I try and wrap my arms around her, pulling her into a hug, earning a short gasp from her. “C-come on Skittles, I d-don’t want you t-to cry,” I say as one of my hands moves over her mane.
But, she seems to be allergic to hugs, since she pulls away at once and my arms fall back to the bed. “I wasn’t crying! I never cry!” she states adamantly as she sits back, trying and failing to go back to her normal mood. “Geez, you humans are weird, thinking that that was crying. You must be a bunch of fillies if you cry like that.”
“Skittles, kn-knock it off. There’s n-nothing wrong with c-crying,” I say, earning a small smile from her. “You d-don’t need to be t-tough all the time.”
“But I am tough! I’m Rainbow Dash! I’m cool, tough, and awesome!” Skittles says as she dashes about the room, leaving a multi-colored trail in her wake before she lands once more on the chair. Upon doing so, she leans in close as she says, “And I never cry.”
A short chuckle escapes my lips from her comment. “W-we all cry s-sometimes Skittles. It’s a f-fact.”
“Yeah yeah, say whatever you want to make you feel better when you start crying,” she says as she waves her hoof dismissively. “So, um… Are you not angry with me now?”
The fact that my smile leaves in a second seems to get across plenty to her, as she looks down to the ground. “Skittles… I d-don’t want to be h-here. I w-want to go home, a-and I’m not going to just p-pretend everything's-fine. But y-you’re not the pony I’m m-most angry with.”
Skittles raises an eyebrow, and is about to speak before the door opens. Looking to the door, I see a white pony walk in, wearing a nurse’s cap. But, as soon as she looks in, her eyes narrow and her ears go flat as she stares straight at Skittles.
“Rainbow Dash… I told you to come get Haywick or myself when he woke up,” she says as she quickly walks towards me. “Are you alright? Any pain?”
“Actually I… Huh. I f-feel none. L-last time I w-woke up I felt l-like I was hit by a c-car,” I say to her, before glancing to Skittles. “And don’t be t-too hard on Skittles here. W-we were just talking, and I’m f-fine.”
Those words earn a grin from Skittles, but the nurse doesn’t lessen her glare towards Skittles. “Well, Micah, now it’s time to eat if you’re hungry. We, um, we know that you eat meat, but we don’t have any of that here,” she says, her voice a little uneasy. “But we have some apples, grapes, and salads, if you’d like them.”
As if on cue, my stomach growls from being empty, and judging by the reactions from both Skittles and the nurse here, they seem almost surprised by how loud it was. “Well, I g-guess that’s a b-big ‘yes’.”
“Sounds good to me too,” Skittles says with a grin as she relaxes in her chair. “Some apples from Sweet Apple Acres would be awesome.”
“They’re not for you Rainbow Dash. They’re for Micah here,” the nurse says. “And, visiting hours are over for now. You can come back later if you wish.”
Skittles’ eyes widen, truly looking surprised. But why? She must have known she couldn’t stay here all day. “What? Can’t I stay a bit longer?” Skittles pleads.
“Rules are rules Rainbow Dash, I can’t break them for anyone,” the nurse says. “You can come back later today if you wish though.”
Skittles looks to me, a hopeful smile spread wide across her face. “So… Would you like that?”
That is one question I am able to answer very quickly. “Y-yes,” I say with a small grin. “But, d-don’t expect me to b-be all sunshine and r-rainbows.”
I definitely shouldn’t have snapped at her like I did earlier. That was wrong. But she certainly couldn’t expect me to just be happy all the time given my situation, right?
“I’ll be back tomorrow then,” Skittles says as she flies off of her chair. “And you better get well soon, big guy. After you beat me in your weird video games, I’ve been itching for a rematch.”
“Rematch? There aren’t any v-video games here to p-play, I think,” I say to her, an eyebrow raised in confusion.
“Oh, it’s not gonna be that. You and I. One on one,” Skittles says, pounding her front hooves together. “Now you get better. I want an awesome sparring match.”
Oh bollocks. That’s just what I need.
I notice the nurse glaring at Skittles for a moment before quickly going back to a neutral expression. “Rainbow Dash? Can you and I speak outside for a moment.”
I’m thinking it might be good that I won’t see this, considering this nurse’s expression.
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“Uh, alright, sure.”
“I’ll be right back Micah, then I’ll ask exactly what you’d like to eat. Try and stay comfortable,” I say to him as Rainbow Dash and I leave the room.
Shutting the door behind the two of us, I quickly scan the hall to see if anypony else is about. Thankfully, for now the hall is clear.
“What gives Redheart? I mean come on, do you really think I’m going to do something to mess him up while he’s stuck in the hospital?” Rainbow Dash asks as she continues to hover.
“Rainbow, do you forget how you acted when you left a book in here? There’s not a lot I’d put past you when it comes to unexpected things,” I say. “I know you wouldn’t do it on purpose, but he’s still in a fragile state. We have to be careful around him, alright?”
“Alright, alright. But I’d never hurt him,” she says as, for some reason, she looks away. “Well… I’d never hurt him on purpose.”
‘Never hurt him on purpose’? Why did she say it like that?
“Rainbow Dash,” I say as I take a few steps closer to her, “What exactly happened when you were away?”
“Uh… Nothing happened,” Rainbow says as she puts on a sheepish grin, and looks down the hall. “Tell Micah I’ll be back to visit tomorrow.”
Before I have the chance to ask anything else, she shoots down the hall and out of sight. She’s lucky there were no ponies in the way; if there were, she would have definitely knocked some of them over.
But now I wonder again, what did she mean by that? She said she’d never hurt him on purpose. Did she somehow cause all these wounds Micah has? If she did… No, no I shouldn’t think like that. Unless I hear otherwise, it’d be wrong to think of her like that.
“Um… N-nurse? I’m k-kind of hungry still.”
And it’s also wrong of me to forget about my hungry patient.
Immediately I go back into his room, seeing him trying to get himself to sit up. I can already see his muscles straining to keep him upright.
“Easy there Micah, don’t overwork your arms,” I say as I quickly get to his side, helping him to sit up. “The more you stress them the longer it will take to heal them.”
Looking at me, he says, “I kn-know that, nurse. I’m n-not an idiot.”
“I never said you were,” I say with a smile. “Now, is there anything in particular you’d like to eat?”
After only a few seconds of contemplation, the young fellow speaks up. “I g-guess pancakes would be nice. But I d-don’t want to be st-stuck in bed when I eat,” he says as he looks towards the door. “I’d prefer to b-be at an actual t-table.”
Well, I didn’t expect to hear that.
“Oh. Well, you know you can’t sit up without help so you can’t walk. So, if we did that you’d have to be in a wheelchair. Is that alright with you?” I ask. But would he be alright with being in the cafeteria? He’d probably have to eat in there.
“If y-you don’t mind wheeling m-me, yeah. I j-just don’t want to b-be cooped up in b-bed all the t-t-t-ugh,” Micah sighs, looking at me, exasperated.
Now that is one really bad stutter. Has the poor fellow had it his entire life? I can’t imagine what going to school with something like that’d be like. That must’ve been awful.
“I understand, it’s alright,” I say with a smile. “I’ll go get you a wheelchair, and I’ll take you to the cafeteria, alright?”
Upon getting a nod from him, I quickly leave to retrieve the wheelchair. Thankfully, as we’ve had many sorts of patients, I know we have some wheelchairs that should fit his size. I wonder if he’s short or tall for a human? Well, I’ll ask him later.
“Oh, there she is. She doesn’t look like she’s scared of it.”
Out of the corner of my eye, a bit down the hall, I see two fellow nurses. One of them being Tenderheart, who has been here nearly as long as I have. The other one is nurse Snowheart. For a moment they look at me, but quickly look away.
I notice their voices get a lot quieter, but not quite enough that I can’t hear.
“But how? You were there when the princess brought it here. It’s freaky!” Tenderheart says quietly.
“I know Tenderheart, it’s weird. Thank Celestia I don’t have to take care of it. I don’t think I could,” Snowheart says, sounding relieved.
Tenderheart’s eyes go wide for just a second before grinning. “Do you remember what the paper said? Do you think we should give it a try?”
“I don’t know… It’s too risky for me,” Snowheart says, looking away from Tenderheart.
Alright, I don’t know what they’re talking about, but I won’t let them go on mocking my patient a second longer!
With a single stomp of my hoof against the tiled floor, I’m able to get the attention of the two nurses, who both look at me with wide eyes. “Snowheart, Tenderheart, get your flanks over here right now!”
They look at each other with a look of dread before walking towards me, their eyes locked onto the floor.
“I can’t believe what I heard. How can two ponies, two nurses, act like this?” I ask them both with a glare, feeling my tail start swishing back and forth. “Snowheart, you saw him. How can you talk like that about a poor fellow who’s hurt so badly?”
“Redheart, come on. You were the one who helped Haywick operate on it. It’s just, it’s so strange-looking. You’ve seen it the most. Don’t you think it’s just weird-looking? How are you so fine being around it?” Snowheart asks, seemingly not thinking she’s saying anything wrong.
“Because he, not ‘it’, is a patient. He’s far away from home. He’s the only one of his kind here. And, from the wounds he somehow got, he’s not exactly about to jump out of bed and try to eat anypony. You’re fear is unwarranted,” I say, my ears laying flat.
Tenderheart speaks up before Snowheart has the chance to say anything else. “But Redheart, what if it’s a changeling spy? What if it’s just waiting for the right moment to strike? It could be-”
“Enough!”
Normally, I’d never raise my voice like that. It’s not right, especially not in a hospital. But considering how Snowheart and Tenderheart both have finally shut their mouths, it seems to have done the job well enough. Not to mention that their ears are flattened against their heads and jumping back a few feet.
“Not one more word out of your mouths. Turn around right now, and report to the head nurse. Tell her what you did, or I will. And trust me, if I’m the one who tells her what you have said, you won’t be able to work in any hospital within 100 miles of Ponyville,” I say with a glare that if I was a unicorn I’m sure would set them ablaze. “Now go!”
And with those words those nasty mares turn tail and gallop away down the hall.
If I ever see those mares treat my patient like that again they’re going to regret it. But, what were they talking about when they mentioned the paper? I’ll deal with that later. For now I better get the wheelchair. I’m sure Micah’s rather hungry by now.