Chapter 9: Out of the way, I’m a doctor!
Finally we reached Fluttershy’s cottage. I almost stumbled two times. Fortunately I was able to hold balance both times. I didn’t even want to know what could have happened if I actually dropped her.
When I wanted to open the door, I was suddenly attacked by a little white rabbit. He tried to...sort of...punch my legs, but I didn’t even notice it.
I supposed that this was Fluttershy’s pet bunny, Angel.
“Calm down, little one. Fluttershy is hurt and needs help!”
The little rabbit startled as he saw his owner, lying on my back, bleeding.
“Angel, please...she’s hurt...she needs our help.”
Angel glared at me, seeming not to be sure what to do. Then his facial expression became more resolute. He kicked the door to the cottage open and pointed me to come in. I made sure that Fluttershy’s head wouldn’t hit the door, when we entered.
I walked towards the couch, where I lifted the wounded Pegasus with my magic and carefully placed her on the sofa. Then I wiped the sweat from my face. Carrying somepony is more exhausting then you would think.
“You need to...first aid kit...” Fluttershy stammered, then lost consciousness.
I was shocked. What should I do? I never vetted anypony. I was confused and scared and was already about to run away, when something poked my leg. I looked down and saw Angel, hopping up and down nervously. He obviously tried to show me something. I kneeled down, to get at eye height with the rabbit.
“What is it? What do you want to show me?” I asked.
He bounced up to the wall and pointed at something, he couldn’t reach from the floor. I recognized it as a first aid kit.
I quickly grabbed it with my magic, placed it on the floor in front of me and opened it.
“What now?” I asked Angel.
He pointed at Fluttershy’s preliminary dressing. By gesturing he told me to remove them.
I wasn’t really sure about it. Then I saw that blood was already coming through the canvas. I pulled myself together and started to remove it. It was disgusting. The canvas was soaked with blood and adhered to her fur. Then I uncovered the cut...and nearly vomited. I won’t describe the details. I don’t even think I would remember them.
I looked back at Angel what to do. He didn’t seem to be as disturbed as I was. I supposed he was used to such views. He pointed me to wait, hopped into the kitchen and came back with a wet sponge. I took the sponge and started cleaning the wound, which was crusted with blood. It didn’t look that horrible then, but it was still bleeding, although not much anymore.
I looked back to Angel to see what to do. He pointed at a small glass bottle with some sort of liquid in it and at something that looked like cotton. From his gestures I supposed that this was some kind of germicide. I poured some of it at the cotton, until the rabbit pointed me to stop. Then I took a deep breath. This wouldn’t be delightful for Fluttershy.
“This is going to hurt a little bit.” I whispered, although I knew she couldn’t hear me.
Then I started to slowly dab the wound with the cotton. Fluttershy winced a little when the germicide touched the cut. After some time angel pointed me to stop. He brought me some bandages, which I carefully wrapped around Fluttershy’s waist. Finally I finished and fastened it. I hoped it wasn’t too tight and looked at Angel. He seemed satisfied with my work and gave me an approving look. I felt a little proud of myself.
“And now?” I asked.
Angel just shrugged. Then he hopped on the couch, curled up to a ball and started dozing. I thought of leaving and informing a doctor, but what if something happened in the meantime? As long as she was still unconscious it would be better if I stay in range. I lay down on the couch next to her, just to watch her in case she needs help again. She was breathing steadily.
“At least she seems okay now...”
I always thought her to be a bit of an annoying Pony. With all the shyness and her disability to make her own decisions, it wouldn’t be easy to interact with her. Well, that’s what I thought... In fact the yellow Pegasus had proven that she had...well...true grit... As I looked at her I realised that she actually was...sort of...pretty. Her long pink mane and the soft cyan eyes...
“Stop it!”
I quickly banned that thought from my head. After all she was still with BigMac, who isn’t really the kind of stallion you want to have as an enemy. Moreover I had just broken up with Twilight. This wasn’t the time for such thoughts. It was probably just because I felt guilty for bringing Fluttershy in this situation. It certainly wasn’t real affection, just sympathy...right?
After some time, I got a bit tired. Moreover I was lying in an uncomfortable position. I tried to lie down in a different position, but couldn’t as I would have to move Fluttershy then, and I didn’t want to wake her up. I levitated a pillow from a chair, so I could at least lay my head somewhere.
“Just for resting...no sleeping!”
I tried not to be overwhelmed by sleep, although my eyelids were getting heavier. In the end I couldn’t resist anymore. I drifted away into slumber. Not a very peaceful slumber, though. I thought of Twilight again...
I don’t know what time it was, but after a while I woke up. I noticed that my cheeks were all wet, indicating that I had been crying while sleeping. I felt a little embarrassed. Then I noticed something else. Someone’s head was resting on my head...Fluttershy’s head! I blushed and tried to back off. She was still asleep, so she probably didn’t even realise the situation. I thought of a way to get out of this situation without waking her up.
I used my magic to levitate my pillow. I tried to place it under her head so wouldn’t notice a difference. Unfortunately...this finally woke her up. She slowly opened her eyes, with a dizzy expression on her face.
“Just another minmnmnm...” She mumbled and snuggled against my flank again.
Then she realised what she was doing.
“EEEEEEEP!”She squeaked and jumped back.
Now we were both blushing.
“I- I’m so sorry, I-...I didn’t mean to...” She was looking for words.
I quickly made a calming gesture.
“No need to apologize, you were asleep.”
I tried to change the subject.
“How’s your wound doing?”
Fluttershy looked at the bandage, then back at me.
“Did you...I mean...you...vet...me?” She asked.
I scratched my neck and tried to avoid eye contact.
“Uhm...sort of...with the help of Angel.” I tried to sound humble.
“Where is that little guy anyway?”
“Uhm...thank...you...” She mumbled and looked down.
I gave her an encouraging smile and eventually she smiled back. Just a little bit, but she smiled.
“So anyway, now that you’re awake we should...sort of...see a real doctor...I don’t know if I did that...” I pointed at the bandage. “...properly.”
“You’re...right...maybe.” She muttered.
So we left the house and headed for the town’s hospital. There we had a short talk with an Earth Pony stallion named Doctor Horse (god, all these references are making me sick). He examined Fluttershy’s wound and said, that, although it wasn’t a severe injury, it was good that we took care of it so fast. He also added that the bandage looked like it had been arranged by a professional.
I never felt that proud again.
“Would an additional doctor’s cutie mark be too much? Probably yes...”
Doctor Horse changed the bandage again and we could finally leave. I felt relieved that she wasn’t injured too bad and accompanied her on her way home. I didn’t exactly why I did it. Maybe I just wanted to be a gentlecolt, or I just enjoyed her company. We talked about different common things on the way. Nothing special, just Smalltalk...or maybe more like...flirting. I quickly drove away the ridiculous thought.
“Stop it! You just like her as a friend. There’s nothing wrong about that.”
But still... I had this strange feeling, that it was more than simple sympathy, I felt for her.
I just wanted to say her goodbye, when she offered me to come in and have some tea.
I didn’t know what to do. On the one hand I wanted to leave as fast as possible, because i didn’t seem to be sure about my feelings for her, but on the other hand it would be impolite to turn her offer down. She obviously wanted to thank me for helping her and I still felt bad, because after all it was my fault that she got hurt.
I thought if I should tell her that it was me who destroyed the tree and was indirectly responsible for her injury. But what would I tell her?
“Hey Fluttershy, you know what’s funny? In fact I’m the guy who blew up that tree and nearly killed you, but now that it’s all over we can laugh about it, right? No, that’s probably a bad idea...” I tried to imagine the situation.
So I followed her inside. She disappeared into the kitchen and started making tea. I sat down on the sofa and waited. After a few minutes Fluttershy came back with two cups of tea. We started Smalltalk again and actually I thought it would be sort of awkward, but it actually wasn’t. Then after some time I brought up a question that had bothered me since I found her in the park.
“What were you actually doing in the park? I mean you were alone and hid behind a bush.”
She looked down and said nothing. At first I didn’t understand why, but then I saw a tear running down her cheek.
“Oh god, what have I done?” I panicked.
“I’m..I’m so-sorry Fluttershy, i didn’t mean to...hurt you or...” I stammered.
Fluttershy didn’t say anything. She just sobbed and then suddenly...she hugged me! She hugged me and started crying. I was stunned by her sudden emotional outbreak. What could it be that made her so troubled? I didn’t know what to do so I started patting her back to calm her down.
“Geez, Fluttershy, what happened?”
She sobbed again and started whimpering:
“I-I-It’s BIgMac...me...and him we...we broke u-hu-hup.” She began to cry again before even finishing her sentence.
I suddenly felt much closer to her now. Finally, somepony who had to go through the same crap as I had to. I felt that I could tell her. I felt that she would understand me, and that I would finally have somepony to share my emotions with.
“Fluttershy?”
“Mhm...?”
“There’s something I need to tell you...”
Then I started telling her about my relationship with Twilight. To be exact, how it had been before we broke up. It felt good to finally tell somepony about my feelings. Fluttershy didn’t interrupt once. She just patted my back and dried my tears with her wings.
“The Element of kindness at her best...” I thought.
After I finished my lament, Fluttershy started with hers.
Apparently she and BigMac had had problems for quite some time. She wanted him to be more open and sensitive, while he wanted her to be less...well...whiny. Sounded like casual partner problems to me, but as Fluttershy was more sensitive than most Ponies she was also hurt more.
Eventually the yellow Pegasus finished and looked at me with her sad, cyan eyes. She was just TOO cute, right now.
“Uhm...Xenos...I...wanted to...I...thank-“
She didn’t get any further, because I silenced her by pressing my lips on hers. She didn’t even resist, but rather returned the kiss. She tasted a bit like mint and...then I realised WHAT THE FUCK I WAS ACTUALLY DOING!!!
I quickly backed off blushing.
“Eeeeep!” Fluttershy squeaked and hid her face with her mane.
“Oh gosh, Fluttershy I’m so- I mean, I didn-“ I stammered, looking for words.
She said nothing. She just shivered.
What had I done? I didn’t know what to do, but it wouldn’t get better if I just stayed here. So I decided to leave. I was still blushing when I exited. Then I heard the screams...
END OF CHAPTER 9
Author's note: Sorry, that this one took so long, but as you can see, it's kind of a long one and I lacked enthusiasm...whatever...