Trauma Center: Equestrian Opinion

by Legion222

Chapter Four: Rising Tensions

Trauma Center: Equestrian Opinion
Chapter Four: Rising Tensions

Location: Ponyville Apartments

Doctor Direct Styles sat at the small kitchen table in the small kitchen of his small apartment, reading the morning paper as he enjoyed his breakfast of eggs and haybacon.

Ever since his first operation with Nurse Temperament, he had gotten more and more into the routine of his job, to the point that he didn't even glance up at the clock as he put the paper down, levitating his dishes to the sink and heading out the front door right on time.

As he trotted down the streets of Ponyville, he allowed his gaze to wander and take in the sight of the town in the early-morning light. It was early enough that only a few other ponies were out and about, leaving the streets mostly clear and quiet. It was a rather relaxing scene, Direct admitted to himself, and something he had come to appreciate about the small town after moving there from bustling Canterlot.

Direct's gaze and mind wandered as he made his way to the hospital, occasionally focusing to exchange "Good morning"s with those ponies that he knew well. His thoughts eventually arrived on the dinner reservations he had set up for the next day. He was going to be meeting a couple of very important ponies, whom he hadn’t parted with on the nicest of terms when he’d last seen them. He was, understandably, nervous about the meeting, and wondered if renting a suit for the occasion would help him make a better impression. He walked like this for several minutes, until finally he found himself approaching the pristine white hospital.

Right on time, Direct thought as he entered Ponyville Medical. After pausing for a moment just inside the front door, he began making his way back to his office, waving hello to the receptionist as he passed the front desk. I wonder what Redheart would say if she saw me getting here on time without her help. A wry grin crossed his face as he imagined her reaction. First, she'd probably order a CDT to see if I'd been replaced by a Changeling...

After a few more minutes of walking, his thoughts were interrupted by his arrival at his office. He unlocked the door and entered, shutting it behind him. Everything was in its usual place, he noted with satisfaction, and his desk was clear save for a stack of file folders containing the information for today's operations. He seated himself behind his desk and levitated the stack of folders over, scanning it quickly for his first patient of the day. Let's see... Ah, here it is. Brick, Lego. Extracting the folder he was looking for from the pile, Direct gently placed the rest of the stack into one of his desk drawers.

Turning back to the folder on his desk, he caught a glimpse of something else laying on the desk where the stack of folders had been. Upon taking a closer look, he saw that it was a letter, addressed to him with a return address in Manehattan. Ignoring his work for the moment, he opened the letter and began to read it.

Dear Direct,

It's me, Redheart. Remember me? I sure hope you haven't forgotten me already, though I guess I wouldn't be too surprised, what with your pretty new assistant...

Direct felt himself blushing at the obvious jab. Even through paper, she was still messing with him, though he had to smile, glad that her sense of humor hadn’t changed a bit. He continued reading the letter, in which Redheart mentioned that she had arrived in Manehattan a couple days prior, and already Manehattan Medical had her busy working with a rookie surgeon that reminded her a lot of Direct.

She's a little rough around the edges. Okay, a lot rough around the edges, but I think she has a lot of potential if she would just start taking things seriously like you did. Sometimes I wish I could introduce her to you so she'd get an idea of how a doctor her age should act.

The letter closed with Redheart's best wishes and a request to hear about how things were going for him. Immediately after he finished reading, he pulled out a quill and some paper of his own, and began writing his reply.

As he wrote, Direct found himself reflecting on the time he had spent being instructed by Redheart. He remembered that first operation, how long had it been since then? It felt like it had occurred only yesterday, and yet simultaneously like it had been months since. Redheart had been an excellent teacher, keeping him on track and focused. She always seemed to know when he did and didn't understand what to do, and was very patient and specific with her directions. More than once, she had walked him through one part of an operation step-by-step, then let him exercise on his own when they reached a stage he was already familiar with.

His expression soured and his writing cut off as he reflected upon the last few weeks spent with Nurse Temperament. She’s only been a nurse for a few months now, and already she’s bossing me around like I’m the one who just got out of med school. Not a day had passed since they had started working together in which she had not berated him for one thing or another, be it showing up a few seconds late to a briefing or ‘spacing out’ while she was talking. Her shouting of “Doctor Styles!” had become a commonplace sound around the hospital, to the point that even now it was ringing out in his mind. Wait a second…

"Doctor Styles!" Direct was cut out of his reminiscing when he realized that the sound was not in his head, but that Nurse Temperament was in fact shouting from the doorway. Seeing that she at last had his attention, Nurse Temperament continued, "Come on, you're late for the briefing! Again!" Surprised, Direct looked at the clock, realizing that he had lost track of time and that it was, in fact, past time for the briefing to begin. Nurse Temperament, meanwhile, was attempting to drag Direct out the door with her. "You can finish writing to your marefreind later. Let's go!"

Once the shock of how much time he had lost wore off, Direct hastily stood from the table, grabbed his patient's folder, and took off down the hallway with Nurse Temperament.

---

Doctor Stables was already seated and waiting when a panting Direct and Nurse Temperament entered the briefing room. He said nothing, merely watching in silence as Direct took his seat and Nurse Temperament took her place at the front of the room. After one last check to make sure her charts were set up properly, Nurse Temperament began the meeting. "Today's first patient is one Mr. Lego Brick, a 20-year-old Earth Pony."

"Hey, I recognize that name," Direct cut in.

Doctor Stables resisted the urge to facehoof, but Nurse Temperament had no such reservations, her voice gaining an angry tone that she had used far too often since arriving at Ponyville Medical. "I should certainly hope you recognize that name, Doctor Styles, considering that it was written all over the patient file that I'm suuure you spent ample time thoroughly studying."

Direct's ears folded back at the thinly veiled accusations. "Th-that's not what I meant. I mean, isn't Lego Brick the son of Lincoln Log, the owner of the company that makes that building block toy? I thought they lived in Canterlot."

Nurse Temperament opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Doctor Stables. "Yes, Lincoln Log does live in Canterlot. However, his son Lego Brick currently lives in Ponyville. Now, can we get back to the matter at hoof?"

Both Direct and Nurse Temperament looked sheepish at being called out, and quickly recomposed themselves. "Er, right," Nurse Temperament replied. "A-anyway, Mr. Brick has been diagnosed with a lung tumor, so our goal in this operation will be to extract it using the-"

"Powell Procedure, right," Direct cut in, hopping up from his chair. "Come on, let's go get started."

"Er, yes." Nurse Temperament confirmed, her train of thought clearly derailed for the moment. As Direct made for the door, her mind struggled to respond to the unexpected reaction. "W-wait! We haven't finished going over the operation!"

Direct turned back to his assistant, brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean? I already know how to perform the Powell Procedure, so we don't have anything else to discuss and we might as well get started."

Doctor Stables watched the whole exchange with a bemused expression. Seeing Nurse Temperament flounder for a retort, he cut in. "Nurse Temperament has a point, Direct. You shouldn't be so hasty to begin the operation that you skip over important details in the briefing." Direct's expression sank at being reprimanded, but rose again as Doctor Stables continued, turning to the pink nurse with a thoughtful expression. "However, in this case, there really isn't anything else to cover. Doctor Styles has proven himself to be quite skilled at the procedure, and Mr. Brick's operation is very standard. We might as well head into the Operating Room."

"But, but-" a flustered Nurse Temperament stammered as the two doctors left the room. Once the door clicked shut behind them, she shook herself out of her stupor and quickly made her way out of the room, shaking her head in frustration.

---

The pony occupying the operating table was laying on his back, a patch of his light tan coat shaved away from the incision guideline on his chest. He was surprisingly lanky for an Earth Pony, lacking the usual bulk of his race. His brown mane and tail were long and slightly curly, but otherwise unremarkable. His Cutie Mark, on the other hand, was rather unusual, depicting a red brick with four studs sticking out of the top.

Direct and Doctor Stables quickly took up their positions on opposite sides of the table, staring blankly at the unconscious stallion for a few moments before Nurse Temperament finally entered the room. She quietly retrieved the cart full of medical supplies and brought it over to the table, scowling slightly at the ‘what took you so long?’ look that Direct was giving her.

Taking her place beside the young doctor, Nurse Temperament quietly cleared her throat. "Let's, uh-" she faltered for a moment, but recovered, "let's get started, shall we?" Receiving a nod from each of the doctors, she turned her attention to the patient, prompting them to do the same. "This will be a fairly standard operation, but let's be careful all the same," she remarked as she passed Direct the Antibiotic Gel to disinfect the incision area.

The operation proceeded exactly as anticipated, Direct and Nurse Temperament working carefully under the bright ceiling lights of the Operating Room. Doctor Stables watched on, impressed with how quickly the young doctor and nurse were improving. These two make quite the team, he noted with a quiet chuckle.

Direct scanned the entire surface of the lung with his ultrasound spell, opening the tumors as he found them. Once he finished scanning, he began treating the tumors: draining, excising, and removing each one individually. As he went along, Nurse Temperament remained vigilant, passing him each tool as he called for it, and keeping an eye on the various machines around the room. Before long, the lung was clear of tumors, and the wounds were sealed up in short order.

At long last, the procedure was complete. "That's the last of them," Direct commented as Nurse Temperament hoofed him the sutures. He was interrupted midway through tracing the path for the sutures by a knock on the door. With a worried frown, Doctor Stables gestured for Direct to continue as he went to check the door. Shrugging, Direct returned his focus to guiding the automatic sutures.

It wasn't until the wound had been sanitized and bandaged that Doctor Stables turned back to address them. "Excellent work today, Doctor Styles, but I'm afraid I'll have to leave the rest up to you two. There's a, um, thing that requires my attention right away." Without any further ado, the doctor took off down the hall with the nurse that had come to get him.

Doctor Styles and Nurse Temperament both stared blankly at the door as it slowly swung closed. "Huh," was Direct's eloquent response after several moments of stunned silence.

"I wonder what that was all about?" Nurse Temperament added with a shake of her head.

Direct shook his own head, pulling both of them back to reality. “Anyway, we’re done with the operation, so we might as well transfer him out,” he said, gesturing to the patient.

“Oh, right! Let me just get the gurney-” she turned around to retrieve the bed on wheels, only for it to roll over to the patient, surrounded in a blue magical field.

“Y’know, I can do some things on my own, Mom,” the blue doctor snarked, levitating the unconscious Earth Pony onto the gurney with ease. Trotting past a bewildered Nurse Temperament, he pushed the patient out of the room and down the hall.

What? the nurse stood there, dumbfounded. ‘Mom’!? What the hay does he mean by that? she began to pace as she tried to make sense of the doctor’s statement. And ‘I can do some things on my own’... Well, maybe I am treating him a bit like a foal, but he certainly acts like one! She stomped her hoof in frustration as she mentally recounted all of his shortcomings. He’s never on time, he constantly spaces out during briefings, he doesn’t listen to a thing I say during operations, and he’s always acting like he’s better than me, just because he’s been out of med school longer! The pink nurse was fuming at this point, and punctuated her mental tirade with a swift kick at the supply cart, which sent a number of surgical implements clattering to the ground.

The external noise ringing through the otherwise silent room snapped Nurse Temperament out of her reverie, and with a sheepish glance towards the door to make sure nopony had seen, she began gathering up the spilled tools, setting them aside to be re-sanitized. With a heavy sigh, she mentally filed the doctor's words away to be contemplated later, when she didn’t have a patient to look after.

---

“Mr. Brick?” Nurse Temperament stood by the side of the bed currently occupied by the patient that they had operated on earlier. He had been fading in and out of consciousness for over an hour after the operation had concluded, but it looked like he was finally coming to.

“Murrgwha?” the stallion groaned, his eyes squeezing shut against the bright light of the recovery room he was in. The room was much like the ones for patients who would be staying overnight, but meant for patients who would be leaving on the same day. As such, the bedside tables were replaced with various machines, like an EKG. In addition, all of the beds were light and mounted on wheels, so that the patient could be rolled directly from the operating room to the recovery room without having to transfer them from bed to bed more than once. Both of the white walls running the length of the room were lined with evenly-spaced beds surrounded by privacy curtains hanging from the ceiling down to the tiled floor.

“Good, you’re awake.” Nurse Temperament smiled brightly. “How are you feeling?” The mostly-conscious stallion mumbled something incoherent, causing the male nurse next to her to stifle a snicker. “Good. Now then, it seems you have some visitors, so I’m going to go let them in while Nurse Pond here checks you over one last time, okay?” More incoherent mumbling followed Nurse Temperament out the door of the recovery room.

Quietly humming a cheery tune, Nurse Temperament made her way down the hall to the main lobby, where Doctor Styles was waiting with Lego Brick’s parents, explaining to them how the operation had gone, and what to expect when they were able to go see their son. Clearing her throat lightly, she called the attention of the doctor and visitors. “Your son is awake, Mr. and Mrs. Log-” The two older ponies immediately jumped to their hooves, rushing over to the pink nurse, their mouths running a mile a minute with questions about their son.

Direct couldn’t help but chuckle at the overwhelmed nurse, who was trying and failing to make sense of the barrage of words assaulting her ears. Coming to his assistant’s rescue, he interrupted the worried parents. “Rather than asking Nurse Temperament, why don’t we just go down the hall and you can ask your son himself?” This got them to calm down, and together, the four ponies made their way back down the hall to the recovery room.

Nurse Pond greeted them as they entered the room. “I was just about to come get you myself. Mr. Brick is recovering very nicely, and should be ready to leave in about two hours.” With that, he pulled aside the privacy curtain to allow Mr. and Mrs. Log to enter.

As the parents and Doctor Styles approached the bed, Nurse Temperament locked eyes with Nurse Pond. “Hey, can you cover here until he’s ready to go? We have an appointment in an hour, so we can’t stick around.”

The other nurse shrugged. “Yeah, sure. Doctor Smith’s out this week, so I’m stationed here all day. I might as well cover for you.”

Nurse Temperament let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks Tranquil. I owe you one.” Turning to her partner, who was busy fielding questions from parents and patient alike, “Doctor Styles, it’s time to go get ready for our next appointment.”

Gladly breaking out of the seemingly never-ending round of questions, the blue doctor followed his assistant back to his office. “Let’s see,” he spoke as they walked, “our appointment is with Mrs… Hooves, right?”

Nurse Temperament shook her head with a sigh. “We’re meeting with Mrs. Ditzy Doo, Doctor Styles. Her operation is tomorrow, remember?”

“Er,” Direct grimaced in embarrassment at his mistake as they arrived at his office. “I knew that. I was just, uh, testing you.”

Nurse Temperament’s facehoof was audible all the way back in the recovery room.

Author's Note:

My amazing editor Legofan has done so much to make this story not only readable, but actually decent, and I felt the best way to repay him for his help was to throw a pony representation of him under the knife.

Next chapter coming soon (tm)

Read on,
Legion

Comments

[Legofan]

Hooray! Glad to see the story back alive and lookin' good.

Also, you greatly overstate my contributions...you did all of the work, so you should take the credit.

Keep being awesome,
Lego

[Legion222]

5141344
I suppose that, being an editor myself, I simply have an extra appreciation for the work they do and the contribution they make to the story. Besides, you help me more than you realize.

Write on,
Legion