Dr. Amora was busy working at her desk filling out some paperwork. Her desk was always stationed just outside the medical wing so she would always be near by even when doing paper work. She would probably be done with it already if it wasn't for one thing...Princess Cadance. She caught the alicorn three times trying to take care of Shining Armor in some kind of nurse's outfit she got from Celestia knows where. But that wasn't the odd thing, oh no, the odd thing was she kept trying to move him out of the room bed and all.
The last time she saw her, she gave her a firm warning about how all this commotion was probably only going to make his health even worse. Dr. Amora was confident she got through this time because Cadance even left her nurse outfit behind. And now, at long last, she could focus on her paper work.
*SQUEEK*
"Tell me I didn't just hear that..."
*SQUEEK*
She let out a loud sigh as her eyelids lowered halfway. "Put him back!!" she said loudly enough for her 'intruder' to hear.
"But..." came a quiet voice.
"JUST...Put. Him. Back!"
Dr. Amora got up out of her desk, grumbling something under her breath which sounded like "I swear these two are going to be the death of me."
Into the med wing she found Princess Cadance behind Shining Armor's bed looking quite sheepish. Shining Armor was still in the bed snoring blissfully ignorant of the goings on.
"Really Cadance? Again?"
"Sorry...But I just know he'd be able to recover faster if he was in a familiar environment.... Like his room?"
Dr. Amora shook her head, the Princess was acting like a teenager who just took her parents chariot out for a joy ride without their permission. Most likely hoping not to get another ear full, pity it didn't work.
"Oh you 'know' huh? I spent twelve years in medical school but I guess I just don't 'know' about these things!"
Cadance visibly shrunk.
"I am the medical official here, so I think I know about his healthcare needs better than you! Understand?!"
"Yes, Ma'am." Cadance hung her head like a child being scolded by their parent.
"Listen, 'Your Majesty'..." Dr. Amora sighed. "I'm starting to get worried about you too."
"Huh?"
"You're starting to show the same symptoms Shining Armor did when he came in for a check up. Seems you've also been effected by this little wager you've set up." She started to circle Cadance, examining her. "Although definitely to lesser degree...hm...you're less pale than he was for starters and unlike him you're actually up and about. However, the level of stress is still there without a doubt and..."
"Um excuse me?" Cadance cut in. "But I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Stress, Hon. Your constant chasing him around never gave him a chance to relax and now he's paying for it. And by the looks of things it seems like you're having the same problem. Honestly, the two of you need to learn to just take a deep breath and calm the buck down."
This new information came to Cadance as quite a shock to say the least.
"Wait! Are you trying to tell me that he got sick...because of me?!"
"Well..." Dr. Amora paused in thought, trying to see if she could find the right words to put it delicately. "More or less." so much for delicately. "But it isn't like he helped."
"Then don't you see?" Cadance put her hooves on Dr. Amora's shoulders. "I have to be the one to nurse him back to health!! It's my fault!!"
She opened her mouth to retort but closed it when she saw a guard poke his head in to the room.
"Um Ma'am...you have some new patients."
"Sigh. Let me guess, more victims of that hug tackling trend?"
"Yes Ma'am."
"Figures. Alright, How many of them are there?"
"All together, there's twenty four."
"TWENTY FOUR?!"
"They came in groups of two Ma'am."
Dr. Amora facehoofed, which was actually hurt quite a bit considering she had hooves not hands. "Of course they did." Even though her eyes were closed she could feel Princess Cadance grinning at her ear to ear with hope.
"Grrrrr...ALRIGHT!" she turned quickly to the princess. "FINE! You can take care of him, but only because I'm going to need every bed I got just to treat these new patients! Get some guards to carry him on gurney up to his room while I tell you exactly how you're supposed to treat him."
Outside Shining Armor's door, Cadance was mentally prepping herself for the task ahead. Dr. Amora had told her exactly what she needed to do and even gave back nurse's hat saying something about how 'less is more'. However, Cadance was still feeling guilty over the fact that Shining Armor had gotten sick because of her.
"But that's okay." she said to herself. "Because I am going to set everything straight..." she started to open the door. "Starting right now."
"LOOK OUT A CHANGELING!!" Shining Armor shouted.
Cadance only had a fraction of a second to duck as Shining Armor's alarm clock soared over her head and out through the window.
"My poor Darling is delirious!"
Shining Armor squinted his crusty eyes. "Cadi? Is that actually you?"
"Yes, but please don't worry!" she said quickly. "I'm not here to flirt or anything like that, I"m just here to help."
Shining Armor stared at her, as if trying to figure out if it was a trick or not. After a moment he laid back down on his pillow. "Okay, but I'm still not going to marry you, because if I do then THE DRAGONS WILL COME AND KILL EVERYBODY!!"
"Dragons? What? Never mind." she started to wheel in a cart filled with towels Kleenex boxes and various other medical things. "Just try and relax."
She took a towel and wiped some of the sweat off of his face.
"I don't want to live in a crystal palace either." he announced. "I mean with the exception of diamonds, crystals are actually pretty fragle...fragger...fragiiiine...they break easy."
If she wasn't so concerned about him she might have found his slurring humorous. She started to dampen a washcloth in the bathroom sink giving him a nod to continue. He was sitting up now to try and emphasize his point, well at least he was trying to sit up, he was slumping forward leaning to the left.
"I mean what if somepony decided to throw ROCKS at it?! We...we'd be homeless...that would suck!"
She left the bathroom and forced him to lie down. "I could handle any trouble so long I had you by my side." She placed the cloth on his forehead which must have felt nice he started to smile.
"Why did you have to be so lovely?"
She returned the smile. "Because I had a wonderful stallion in my life."
"...wait...did we just flirt?"
"No Shiny, you complimented me and I flirted."
"Oh...well that's okay then."
"Now get some rest and I'll make you some soup."
"Tomato soup?" Shining Armor asked with hope in his voice.
"Vegetable soup."
"Aww..." his ears dropped back in disappointment.
"Sorry, Shiny. Doctor's orders. For now, try to get some sleep."
As she got to work on his soup her thoughts couldn't help but go back to Shining Armor. She couldn't help but feel guilty, he was sick and it was her fault. The very least she could do was try to help him get better. Yet as she put the finishing touches on the soup, she felt as if she were his wife or something, a thought which put a smile on her face.
She came back in to the room carrying the soup but there was no Shining Armor to be found.
"Oh no!! Shiny disappeared!! Even when he's sick he's a ninja."
"I did not disappear!!" cried Shining Armor.
Cadance searched the room for her patient but he simply didn't seem to be there. "Shiny? I hear your voice but I don't see you..."
"That's because I'm on the floor! I...I fell out of bed."
She went to the other side of the bed and, sure enough, there he was. His arms were spread eagle and his chin was resting his head on the floor, his right leg seemed to be tangled in a twist of the bed sheets. She placed the soup down and started to help him up.
"How did this happen? I left you laying down!" She asked as she helped him back in to bed.
"Well I sat up to see what you were doing and then the whole room started to spin and...Ah-Ah-AHCHOO!!!" Cadance wished she hadn't been within range when he sneezed but the sad fact of the matter was she all too close. A string of snot was connected from his nose to her hair.
"Sorry..." he said sympathetically.
Cadance failed to stop a full body shudder of repulsion. "Don't worry about it." 'Nopony ever said love wasn't going to be messy. Memo to self, see if a spell exists which can protect one against germs and other bodily fluids.' "Now lay down and I'll bring you your soup."
At first he did as instructed but when Cadance tried to spoon feed him he sat up. "I can feed myself Cadance."
"Fine then." Cadance said perfectly calm. She placed the bowl on his lap and waited patiently for him to begin.
Shining Armor made a grab for the spoon...and missed entirely. Looking at the piece of bed he just grabbed he commented "That's not it." He made another grab for the plastic spoon but his hoof ended up on the other side of the bowl while his target continued to be placed on the center rim of the bowl.
"Would you like some help?" Cadance offered.
"One more chance." his voice cracked. "The spoon is white so it blends in with the sheets. Now that I know where it is, I have a better chance of getting it."
He reached his hoof out just as his head started to swim, he thought his arm might have went too high but he knew he grabbed on to something. As his head started to clear he saw he had a firm grasp of Cadance's nose.
He took his hoof off of her quickly. "Sorry!" he blurted out.
To his surprise her only response was giggle which for whatever reason made him blush.
Shining Armor was not stupid though, it was stupidly clear that he needed help. And no matter how much pride he had as a captain, he always made sure he had the ability to swallow it just for occasions like this."
"Cadi..." he averted his gaze away from her. "Would you mind...feeding me?"
"Gladly." her voice seemed to radiate a peaceful aura which for the first time Shining Armor found to be soothing.
After that she spoon fed him his soup with her magic. Neither saying a single word during the feeding. When the soup had been successfully consumed she laid him back down on his back.
"Now that you've eaten your soup, you have to get a good night's rest. The Doctor says as long as you do that then you might be better in the morning."
Shining Armor at first didn't say anything, Cadance assumed it was because he looked like he was about to doze off, but as she started to leave she heard him say "Cadi?" She stopped in his doorway. "Thank you."
Smiling she closed the door behind her, only to let out a loud sneeze.
Omake
Outisde Shining Armor's bedroom, laying in a heap on the ground was none other than the ruler of the Changelings, Queen Chrysalis. A large bump was starting to form on her head very nicely, it was already threatening to become longer than her own horn. And while she was starting to see birds and stars circling her head in the sky, on the ground was Shining Armor's alarm clock completely smashed.
It was supposed to be a simple recon trip. Infiltrate Canterlot, find sources of love, then move back to hive and start a plot to invade. Naturally she had heard of the commotion going on between Captain Shining Armor and Princess Cadance so she deemed it worth looking in to. However, when she went to investigate... WHAMMO!!! She took a flying alarm clock to the melon, courtesy of Shining Armor. Only one question raced through Chrysalis' mind.
"How did he know?!"