//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12 
// Story: Octavius 
// by Master Koschei 
//------------------------------//

	A few days later, the pair was out in the lobby of the hospital, Ditzy in a wheelchair for her leg while Octavius had to keep his right arm in a sling.  Pinkie had tied some balloons to the arm of Ditzy’s chair and insisted on decorating Octavius’ sling with ‘pretty stickers’ while they waited for David to come pick them up.  Dash had taken Scootaloo out again, and Vinyl had fallen under the weather, though nothing severe.
David walked in through the big sliding glass doors, smiling at them and holding a wrapped box in his hands.  Octavius wheeled Ditzy over to David, who placed the box in her lap.
“I got you a present, Ditzy,” he said with a grin.  “Since you were so brave here alone.”
“I-I wasn’t a-alone,” she said, smiling back at the brown haired man.  Octavius noted that he was once again in a blue suit and tan trench coat.  “I h-had Tavi with m-me.”
David looked up to the cellist appreciatively.  “Thank you, Octavius,” he said.  “You did so much for her while you two were here, even with your own injuries.”
“It wasn’t a problem,” Octavius replied, waving his good hand dismissively.  “It was really my pleasure to spend some quality time with miss Ditzy here.”  He looked down to the woman, who was opening her present.
When the wrapping paper was pulled away, a new camera was sitting in Ditzy’s lap, waiting for her to use it for her memories.
“Why don’t we make the first picture you and Octavius leaving after getting all better?”  David took the box and opened it, pulling out a very nice looking silver camera.  He powered it on and pointed it at the pair, who smiled at the lens.  The flash went off, the shutter clicked, and David lowered the camera with a grin.  “Fantastic!”
He handed the camera to Ditzy, who held it in her hands as if it were the most important thing in the world.  “W-what happened t-to my other one?”  She looked up at David inquisitively.
David’s smile cracked slightly as he cast his gaze down.  He sighed.  “It was broken in the wreck,” he muttered, not looking at the blonde.  “We couldn’t get it fixed; the damage was too extensive.  But,” he said, looking back up at her, smiling once again.  “This new one is pretty much like your old one, just a little nicer.”
“Ok!”  She grinned at him, clearly not bothered by her camera being broken.  “Thank y-you, Doctor!”  She aimed her camera at him, and he smiled as she took his picture.  “There,” she said, lowering it.  “N-now I h-have a picture of y-you too!”
“That’s wonderful,” David smiled and took Octavius’ place behind the blonde, pushing her towards the door while the cellist followed them.
Stepping outside, Octavius noted how much significantly colder it was than a week ago.  He shivered slightly, grimacing as his broken arm twitched.  As they approached David’s car, he caught a glimpse of himself in the side view mirror.
His black hair was disheveled where he’d been in bed for a week, and there was a nasty little scar from his left eyebrow to his scalp.  He’d need to find a way to cover that up until it faded more.  He had a black sling covered in stickers holding up his right arm, while his left hung by his side.  He had on a red tee shirt that Dash had brought him a couple days ago, and a pair of blue jeans as well.  Luckily, the injury to his legs hadn’t too severe, and the glass cuts had healed nicely.  Lastly he glanced down at his feet, which were resting in a pair of plain black tennis shoes.
He cast his gaze to Ditzy, who David was currently helping into the back seat of his car.  She was in a simple gray dress, one without sleeves.  She didn’t want to put anything on her arms; she complained that it hurt too much.  She also couldn’t wear pants, considering her broken leg.  The doctors had all agreed her coordination was too poor for crutches, so they’d given her a plain black wheelchair, which David was removing the balloons from.  Octavius smiled at the memory of Ditzy’s face lighting up as Pinkie had tied them on.  David handed the balloons to Ditzy, who gratefully accepted them.
Octavius smiled as he opened the passenger door and sat down, pulling it shut behind him.  He looked back at Ditzy, who had her leg laid across the back seat.  He smiled at her, and she smiled back.  “You excited to go home?”
“Yeah,” she answered happily.  “I m-miss my r-room and my b-bed.  But m-mostly,” she said, more to herself.  “I-I miss the D-Doctor.”  She looked back up at him with those big, bright yellow crossed eyes.  “I c-can’t wait to g-go home!”
Octavius smiled as he turned back around in his seat while David got into the car, putting his keys into the ignition.  He looked at his passengers with a grin.  “Ready to go?”
The pair nodded, David backed out of his parking space, and they were on their way.
As the car travelled though the small city, Octavius kept hearing a shutter clicking, and smiled when he looked back to see Ditzy snapping pictures of everything she saw.  He turned his attention to David as a thought struck him.
“Excuse me, David,” he started.  “I don’t mean to be rude here, but where will I be staying?  That hotel was only good for that night, and I’m not exactly from around here.  Plus, my car is totaled.”
“That one should be obvious,” he grinned.  “Dash offered to let you stay at the diner, and Vinyl will be staying there as well.”  He cast a quick glance at Octavius.  “The two of them’ll take great care of you, don’t you worry.”
Octavius wasn’t sure, but he could’ve sworn he’d heard Ditzy giggle from the back seat.