The quiet beep, beep, beep of a heart monitor rouses me from my slumber. At first, my eyelids are too heavy to open, and instead, I try to take a mental checklist of myself. Emphasis on try; it's hard to feel anything. I'm pretty sure I have a sickeningly large tube shoved down my windpipe, though.
It doesn't take long for my addled mind to realize I'm in a hospital of some sort, but I can't remember how I got here. The last thing I remember is checking in to my hotel in Las Pegasus. I was here for... something. A Wonderbolts performance! Yes, that was it. How did I get from a hotel to the hospital? Was there a fire? I decide to figure that out later, and instead make a second attempt at opening my eyes.
A soft light washes over me. I'm in a clean, white room, with yellow sunlight filtering through a single window. A lone potted plant sits in the corner, accompanied by a chair currently occupied by a cyan pegasus with a striking rainbow-colored mane.
Rainbow Dash.
The name floats into my conciousness, unbidden. I don't know where it came from, because I can't remember meeting whoever this is, or even seeing them at all. Yet, something about her tingles the depths of my memory, teasing me with meaningless tendrils of recognition. That same rainbow colored mane whipping across her face as she flies by me. Her magenta eyes, staring into mine...
Wait a minute, she's had her head in her hooves this entire time. I've never seen her eyes before now. What's going on? Is this a dream? Where did she come from?
...and why is she crying?
It was hard to hear, before, but as I swivel my ear in her direction, quiet sniffles make themselves known over the soft beeping of the heart monitor. Did she mistake me for somepony else? Is she some long lost relative I never knew I had?
I try to shift my position, but my limbs feel like lead. I can hear my heartbeat slowly start to rise as the beeps happen faster and faster. Ok, I'm in a hospital. This is bad. Then again, I'm not dead, which is good. I struggle to ignore the giant tube shoved down my throat. Just... deep breaths, deep breaths...
"Oh thank Celestia, you're awake!" Rainbow Dash, assuming that really was her name, flew over to my side. "The doctors... didn't know if you'd ever wake up. I—I—" She stumbled over her words, then lapsed into silence. I was terribly confused. Why was this mare I didn't know so concerned about my well-being? Not that it wasn't appreciated, but...
"C-crap man, I-I'm so sorry." She finally managed to choke out. She sounded awfully close to bursting into tears again. "I just... I didn't know. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry!" The dam finally broke, but she had no tears left. She simply started sobbing pitifully, her hooves dangling over the bed protector, her head lying against my side.
Jeez, what was she crying about? I was here, now, right? It couldn't have been that ba—
A surge of adrenaline rips through me, and my heart hammers against my chest. The heart monitor begins beeping frantically as I start counting my limbs.
Beep... Beep... Beep...
One...
Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep
Two...
Beep Beep Beep Beep
Three...
BeepBeepBeepBeep
Four...
beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep
No! My eyes widen. I struggle to cry out, but I'm being suffocated by this tube. I try to lift my hooves, try to get the tube out of me, but I can't lift them. I look over to the side of the bed, but Rainbow Dash has already left. Left me alone to die in this hospital bed, trapped in bandages. The world begins to fall away as I struggle to move limbs I can't feel, trying to look underneath me, trying to ignore the hot tears that are forming in my eyes.
One thought reverberates through my head, over and over, roaring in my ears. I can't hear anything anymore. Terror grips my heart. I barely notice Rainbow Dash return with a small army of nurseponies, barely notice as they stab a disturbingly long needle into my hind leg. There is only fear and confusion. Even as the beeping of the heart monitor begins to slow, and I feel myself being pulled back into the darkness, the thought echoes through my rapidly fading conciousness...
Why can't I feel my wings?
Why can't I feel my wings?!