Seeking A Quiet Afternoon

by Tired Old Man

Ch. 1-6: A New Recovery

Mender had decided to rest his head for a bit. Meeting Rainbow Dash, as nice as it was, tired him out immensely. He needed real sleep soon, but he had to stay up for one more matter to deal with.

Soon, he heard a voice outside the door. He couldn't make out the words, but the tone in the voice suggested it was a mare. He lifted his head and looked towards the door as it opened, confirming his suspicions as a near-white mare with a light pink mane held in a bun shape entered the room. She wore a nurse's cap with a red cross, four hearts resting in the inside corners of the cross. An odd thought crossed his mind as his eyes saw the same symbol on the hat as the mare's cutie mark. Who wears clothing that has the same symbol on it? Doesn't that seem redundant?

"Ah, Mister Mender. You're finally awake, I see," she spoke. Her voice was smooth but refined, a clear sign of her care and compassion she's no doubt had caring for the many patients in this hospital.

"Yep. These injuries do love to remind me I'm still alive with regular intervals of pain as I breathe, miss." A few coughs came from Mender, and he winced in pain at each, further illustrating how bad his injuries were.

A small smile formed across her face, happy to see he had some humor in him after his ordeal. Laughter may not be a cure, but it couldn't harm him in here, at least.

"I'm not surprised at this. I've seen your x-rays. You had 5 fractured ribs, and 3 more were broken as well. Your body was badly bruised, and that cut on your nose didn't help things either. You're lucky miss Rainbow Dash got you here as fast as she did, otherwise you would have been in some serious trouble."

"Heh, don't I know it. She came in from that window over there," gesturing to the window as he spoke, "She wanted to congratulate me on surviving an assault from those Crusaders. I'm not so sure my body thinks that as a victory, though...actually, speaking of the Crusaders, are they in here?"

"No, but I have them waiting just outside the door."

"Ah. Would you mind bringing them in for me? I need to speak with them about...well, this." Mender pointed to his bandages.

"Of course." The nurse walked over to the entrance and stood there. "He's ready to see you all now."

Twelve hooves clacked against the floor as the Cutie Mark Crusaders entered the room. Instead of the fast pace he remembered, they moved slowly across the floor. Guilt was still visible in their eyes.

"Oh come now, there's no need to look so somber. This is a hospital, not a graveyard." Mender smiled genuinely, and it lifted the moods of the fillies noticeably.

"So...you're not mad at us, mister?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Nah, if anything I'd say you three made great ghost hunters...or at the very least, bouncers."

"Cutie Mark Crusader Bouncers?!" Scootaloo's eyes glimmered at the idea, despite not knowing what a bouncer was.

"Mister Mender," spoke the nurse, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't share bad ideas with these young fillies."

"Oh, right right...um, ignore that suggestion I made, Crusaders. You don't want to be bouncers. You'd be doing, well, what you did to me to other unruly ponies, only intentionally."

Their ears all shrunk at that thought, and their eyes fell upon the bandages wrapped around Mender's body.

It was Sweetie Belle who spoke next. "Yeah, we don't want to be bouncers if we had to do that...and speaking of that, we all wanted to say we're deeply sorry about causing you so much pain."

Mender's grin widened at the apology. "Oh, don't worry about at all anymore. That's all in the past, and I don't like holding onto past errors and mistakes like that."

He lied. Mender knew damn well that wasn't true in his heart, but he didn't want to cause any further worry and concern from these fillies.

It seemed to satisfy them, though, so he continued. "Just be careful coming around to my home next time, hm? The last thing I want is to come back here again after another Crusader activity." Mender chuckled, but coughed again as pain came from his lungs again.

"Sure thing, mister Mender!" Scootaloo's eyes lit up with purpose and determination as she turned to face the other fillies. "Alright Crusaders, time to move out!" In a renewed storm of vigor and youth, the stampeding fillies left the room. The nurse wisely stood away from the door as they left, then came back to the room and stopped near the bed.

"You know, you're better with children than I took you for, mister Mender."

"Comes with the line of work I do. I'm sure you have an idea of what that is after seein my cutie mark, miss...?"

"Redheart. Nurse Redheart...and yes, I'm aware of that mark you carry. You're a medic, aren't you?"

"It's that obvious, huh?" Mender scratched the back of his head and spoke. "Yeah, I was a medic that served under Princess Celestia's army for...about 30 years, if I recall correctly."

She blinked her eyes blankly at his statement. "I see...but, you said you were a medic. Does that mean-"

"Yes," Mender interrupted, "I was discharged from her service."

"Honorably?"

Mender bit his tongue. "...no."

Silence stayed in the room for 30 seconds. Mender broke the silence. "If you're looking for an answer as to why, my horn should tell you enough of what I did...what I tried to do."

She didn't have to ask anything else, not now at least. Redheart didn't want to bring up the problem with his horn...not like this. She had seen other horns like it from some of the other patients she had over the years, and from what they told her...no, he couldn't have done that, could he?

Mender broke her train of thought. "Nurse Redheart? Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine. You need your rest, so I'll leave you be." She shuffled out of the room at a fast trot.

Mender didn't have to ask why. He knew why she was so shaken up the instant he told her about his horn. That was...inevitable. She was a nurse, there was no sense in hiding the truth from her. She would have seen through it as plainly as Applejack would have. He sighed, bundled up under the covers, and slept once again.

No dream haunted him this time. It was a good rest, heck, one of the best he had in years.

----------------- Two weeks later -----------------

The treatment Mender received was nothing short of top-notch in quality. Ponyville Medical sure knew their way around the block. This was nothing like the field hospitals he worked under, where everything was carefully rationed.

Rehabilitation concerning his lungs was notable to him, especially. Nurse Redheart taught him some breathing exercises so he could breathe better without putting unnecessary pressure on his ribcage during his recovery. He had a feeling these exercises would be useful elsewhere, perhaps in cramped spaces or in areas where air was thin or in small quantities.

"Mister Mender! Focus on your breathing for a moment longer," Redheart said.

He winced slightly as his lungs pressed against his ribcage. He took slow, controlled breaths of air in carefully, and the pressure subsided. He would have sighed in relief, had he not known that would reapply pressure again.

"That's much better. Excellent work, mister Mender." She was satisfied with the rhythm of his breathing. His progress was remarkable...well, it would have been if he wasn't a prior medic.

"I take it I no longer need my hoof held through this?" he inquired.

"No, not now. I'm very certain you can handle yourself outside of the hospital now."

Smiles were on both the stallion and mare's faces at this time. Mender enjoyed Redheart's assistance through his recovery. He even made enough progress to have most of the bandages removed...with the exception of the cut on his nose. Now a small cross bandage was all that remained.

The fillies also stopped by many times during his recovery. A small headache came every time they showed up, but he learned to tolerate them enough to find their apparent nonstop energy...entertaining.

Nurse Redheart didn't share his sympathy since they always made a mess every time before leaving. It was funny, seeing her frustrated like that. He didn't think she would get so frazzled, but he thought better on it considering what those same fillies did to him when he was caught off-guard. He tried to suppress his laughter during such moments, mainly due to his recovery...and also to avoid the glare the nurse gave him every time he did laugh at her situation.

However, he was slated to be released today at the request of Nurse Redheart. She apparently had some great confidence in his recovery, and Mender understood this. He didn't want to take up any more of her time, not when she had more patients that needed her assistance more than he did.

The goodbye between them was brief. She led him to the waiting room at the entrance and helped him finish the forms at the desk. He waved goodbye as she trotted off to resume her duties.

Satisfied that his business was concluded here, he walked to the front door and exposed himself to the fresh air outside. He took a deep breath, then winced slightly.

A few slow, steady breaths later, he began to walk back to his home at last.

Author's Note:

Hiya folks! Old Man here.

Yep, used another time lapse again. Didn't feel too comfortable with the thought of clacking out two weeks worth of fluff text to keep Mender busy during his recovery period. I figured that would sound boring most of the time...well, with the exception of Crusader antics during their visits, I suppose.

Also, it has come to the attention of my editor/proofreader/best friend that I may be dropping too many hints in here concerning my story development. I'll try to keep such things contained from now on, I don't want to spoil all the fun before I get there.