Once again, she was in a room with strange smells and strange ponies. Only this time, she could hardly move, any movement was impaired by something soft and taut. There was something on her face.. oh Celestia, they were all over her; she started hyperventilating.
Undenounced to Caedes, Cross woke up and signaled for Vein to do her job. A clip clop of hooves came closer, the pony invisible as Caedes could not move her head. Wishing for anything, she locked her joints, freezing on the bed.
Except, it was not Empathy, but it wasn’t Tracker either. It was some pony she’d never seen before who had tied her up, and stuck something in her and placed strange, moist things all along her body. She was absolutely terrified.
"Oh hello," the monster said. "How are you doing?" Caedes swallowed in silence, waiting for something to happen. "Yep. Oh key dough key low key." Nothing. "Well that one usually gets some sort of response, but here," she removed the warm rags, "I’m just going to replace these with fresh ones. You’re in the castle right now," she wrung out the old water in the rags into a waste bucket, "We found you, you know, when that happened, so we got you here and now you’re all good to go; well for the most part."
Vein placed the rags back on Caedes who didn’t even notice how warm she was until the cold water had cooled her off. "Yeah, that’s the most part. You’re kind of sick. So just let the doctors and nurses take care of you okay?"
An instilled fear crept up to the surface. Doctors and nurses were never anywhere except.. "Am I in a doctor’s office?"
Vein laughed, alienating Caedes further into her fear, "Nope. You’re actually in the hospital inside of the castle. Pretty cool, huh?"
It was definitely not cool and potentially hostile. Never, not once did she ever visit a doctor, not even when she fell down from standing on the book case when Tracker had urged Empathy to take her to the hospital but she denied. Instead, they had given her a splint, created by Tracker from his guard’s first aid training.
"Nnnoo." She rolled over, oddly easy when she couldn’t extricate herself by moving off of the bed. "You’re all bad ponies!" Clearly, if they had never gone to the doctors, there was something wrong with them, especially since Empathy and Tracker talked in hushed tones about it, ‘protecting’ her from the truth.
"Hey, wait, stop!" She held a hoof to Caedes to stop her rolling. "We’re not bad ponies, we helped you."
"No, go away!" She batted Vein’s hoof holding her down.
"Dang it." Damn it. "Stop it! Empathy’s gone, we’re only trying to help you."
"What?" She paused her struggle, trying to rationalize Empathy being gone. There was no way, there was nothing keeping her from coming back. The only thing that even made sense was it being a lie. "No! You’re just giving me back to Empathy!"
"Ugh – Cross, I need you help. She’s getting wild enough to start pulling her cords again, and I don’t want her to hurt herself if we hold her back down with magic." Of course Red Cross came, she had taken an oath of patient safety and ethics when she became a nurse.
"I’ll get her hooves, you get her midsection and head." They nodded, letting Caedes struggle with her soft but firm ponies restraining her. Magic, while very effective, was a very fickle force. You could grasp a pony, but the field wouldn’t bend or curve unless something dire happened. Having a patient throw themselves with everything they had against something as effective as a concrete wall was dangerous, so instead they restrained by hoof, much softer and less dangerous to the patient – even if it meant getting kicked sometimes.
"You little bit—"
"Hey, she’s kicking me too! There’s no need for language in front of a filly."
"I just want her to stop already."
"She looks pretty worn out, I’d say we just giver a minute more and she’ll be fine." Vein was rather pleased at the thought.
Finally finished, Caedes was breathing heavily against the two mares. "Please," she choked with tears, "Don’t give me back to Empathy!"
"Oh, I just.. I want to.." Vein finished lamely, "Hug." Knowing better, she left Caedes wrapped up under the cloth restraints and bent down to squeeze her. "We won’t give you back. Empathy’s gone."
"Promise?"
Vein nuzzled her, "Promise."
"I just can’t." Evershade petted his mane down. "After watching that. Alcohol. Lots of it. I feel like less of a stallion from watching that hug."
"Don’t worry, you can have a hug too."
"A hug from a cute mare.. wait, cute? ...Alcohol, lots of it."
"Forget them, Caedes, they’re not cool like me." They both giggled a little. "In any case, Empathy is gone, but I can’t let you leave because you’re still sick."
She accepted that fact until she realized that she couldn’t move very well. "Why," she gestured, or at least tried too, "this?"
"Do you remember what happened the last time you were awake?"
Caedes nodded ever so slightly, she had been planning something of the sort a second time right around when Vein had turned around to face the strange, fluffy, dark pony.
"And that’s why. Unless..." She tapped her a fore-hoof on her chin, "Unless you promise not to do that again or run away."
Caedes perked, "I-I promise."
"Wonderful," Nurse Vein clapped her hooves. "Now I can untie these straps." She started by removing the thick one that held the tips of her hind hooves down onto the bed. "Wait." Vein crouched down, to look at her. "Do you mean that?" Caedes said nothing. "Do you really promise?" Caedes wouldn’t look at her.
"Look at me, now." Caedes still wouldn’t move her head, so Vein did it for her. "Do you promise not to do that again or leave?"
Caedes sniffled, misting eyes staring into Vein’s eyes. "I, promise..." Her ears folded back.
"Okay!" Vein used her magic to slowly untie each of the clasps on the side of the bedframe, releasing the straps so as to not give Caedes a friction burn. She also gave her a parting hug before returning to her usual job.
Caedes curled up under the sheets, with her strange cord trailing out.