//------------------------------// // Chapter 43: The Good, the Bad, and the Deceptive // Story: Through Crimson Eyes // by Level Dasher //------------------------------// “I’m sorry, Crimson, but we need to keep you on the chemo for a little longer. The good news is that it seems to be working, but the obstruction isn’t completely gone,” the doctor said. “I’m sorry about the mouth sores, but there’s really not much we can do about that. You need to just keep trying the ice chips. I know it’s uncomfortable, but we can’t give you any other pills for them— it would likely just cause more problems, and we don’t want that, obviously.” I put a hoof on my forehead before I laid my head in my hooves. At least things were working, but it would have been nice if they worked faster. The sores were driving me nuts. I really hoped for some better news, particularly if it included taking the tube out and letting me eat. So much for that. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I’d hoped they would take that thing out. I guess not,” Mom said. “You’ll just have to deal with it for a little longer. I’m sorry,” Gramma said, stroking the back of my mane. I didn’t feel like talking. The sores would have just made it annoying. I— wait. I sat for a second and just thought, then I clearly asked, “Gramma, what did you just do?” She replied, “I was just stroking your mane, sweetie. I thought it would make you feel better.” I grinned from ear to ear and responded, “You bet your flank it did!” I closed my eyes and concentrated. After a second, I swallowed and put a hoof under my nose; I felt exactly what I wanted: nothing. I focused on my foreleg, then checked: nothing. I let out a whoop. “I did it!” Everything else—heart monitors, blood pressure cuff, all the annoying stuff—I could just rip all that off, so I did, and it felt great. I knew where I was, so ripping the stickers off didn’t hurt. I got out of bed and walked straight out my door, ignoring Mom’s and Gramma’s calls. As I walked down the hall, heading for the elevator, I concentrated as hard as I could. When the elevator made the ding sound and the door opened, it was empty. I groaned and turned around, then I noticed the large windows right across from me. I smiled as another thought crossed my mind. I narrowed my eyes at the windows, and the glass disappeared. I flapped my wings a few times, then shot straight out the open window. If I couldn’t make him appear in the elevator, maybe I could find him somewhere else. I flew for my house, taking in the scenery. I hadn’t been outside in months, and even though I knew I technically wasn’t, it still felt great: the wind in my mane, the sun directly on my back, ponies walking through town… just a regular day. I missed those. I landed at my doorstep. Instead of just barging in, I knocked and yelled, “Anypony home?” “One second!” I could hear the unmistakable voice from inside. After just a moment, the door opened, and there he stood. “Heya, Champ! Whatcha doin’ here? Why aren’t you out cru—” I just smiled and grabbed onto him. “Dad, it’s you! I… I just wanted to say hi. I know it hasn’t been that long, but I still can’t believe it happened.” I could feel a tear dripping down my cheek. “What, you didn’t hear the good news?” He said. I picked my head up. “Huh?” “You should be awake for me to tell you.” “Wait, what?” “Yes, I think it’s only fair that Crimson be awake for me to tell you.” High Flyer stood at my bedside as I opened my eyes. “Ah! Perfect timing!” I groaned as I stretched a little. It upset me that I had just woken from one of my first lucid dreams that I could actually remember controlling. I patted the top of my head to make sure: nothing. “S’ut?” I asked, still a little groggy. Fortunately, I’d remembered the sores were there. “Well, which do you want to hear first— the good news or the bad news?” I groaned again; the fact that there was any bad news didn’t particularly encourage me, but at this point I should have expected it. I just shrugged. “The ‘ad.” High Flyer asked, “Really? Okay, well, that works.” I cocked a brow as he said, “Well, the bad news is you’re going to have to deal with those mouth sores for a little longer…” I groaned again and planted a hoof on my forehead. “…they take a while to go away after treatments end.” I shook my head for a moment, then I lifted it and darted a look at him with furrowed brows. “And that leads into the good news. Your scan results came back, and the obstruction…” He took a hoof and slid it horizontally across his neck. “Oh, thank Celestia!” Gramma said. I laid back against my pillow with relief; finally, things were looking up. “Yep. We’re stopping the chemo, so those sores should go away in a few days— hopefully no more than a week. Sucking on those ice chips really would help if you want them to go away faster, y’know.” He wagged a hoof at me, and I rolled my eyes. “Your mane should also start coming back in, but it’ll be slow.” Well, there goes my lucid dreaming cue. I’ll have to think of another one… “Oh, I’m guessing you’ll want to hear about the bonus news, too.” I looked at him and asked, “‘onus?” High Flyer shrugged. “Well, since the obstruction is gone, your gastro tract should be up and working again, so to test it out, you’re getting some dinner tonight, bud.” I pumped up a victory hoof. “Okay, let me unhook this sucker…” He took one of the bags off my PICC. I recognized the line as the one they used for my chemo treatments, but he left the other one alone. “We’re just going to leave the nutrients up until we know you can eat again. Same thing with your meds— you’ll get them in fluids in the same line until we know you can take ‘em per ora. You remember what that means?” I nodded with a little smile. “Good. Okay, I’ll be right back— I need to get one of the other nurses.” I turned and cocked a brow at him. “Huh? Ho uht?” High Flyer smirked. “Well, we usually prefer to have unicorn nurses take the NG tubes out.”