Chapter 14
Laying in a hospital bed, Holly yawned. More than anything, she was bored. Like, drop dead at any second from boredom, bored. She had to be hauled away from the fire on a stretcher. She was worried; when she was being carried away, there had been no sign of Toot Toot or Knock Knock.
Holly’s right rear knee was swollen to almost twice its usual size and it hurt to move. The doctors had already taken x-rays of it, and her other legs as well. The hospital service was different for firefighters, or so it would seem. Holly had never experienced such a speedy response.
First fire and Holly had lost all of her gear. She was a bit worried about that. The gear was expensive. Laying flat on her back in the bed, she wondered if she was going to be in trouble for what she had done.
The door opened; Holly turned, expecting the doctor. She saw a sooty, mustached unicorn. Holly grinned, happy to see Knock Knock, he was by her bedside in just a few steps, and the look on his face was one of terror.
“You crazy broad… you ain’t got no brains at all, do ya?” Knock Knock shook his head and tears began streaming down his cheeks. “That was almost a forty foot drop… and you had passengers… what in Tartarus were you thinking? This is my fault, I made a bad call… I made a bad call… that floor was below the fire… it was supposed to be dark and a little smokey… it was supposed to give you just a taste of the danger without putting you in any kind of real danger… are you okay?”
“I feel mostly fine,” Holly replied.
Knock Knock collapsed into a chair beside the bed. As he sat down, there was a knock upon the door, and then a moment later, it was pushed open. A doctor entered the room. An older stallion, the doctor looked at the two firefighters, one in the chair, the other in the bed, and bowed his head for a moment.
“Well, Doc, what’s the news?” Holly asked.
“Your hooves are full of micro-fractures and some substantial cracks. We can fix those with a special glue compound, injecting it into the fissures.” The doctor’s eyebrows, which were big and bushy, angled downwards over his eyes. “Right rear hock suffered a first degree sprain. You’re lucky… no sign of tearing or ripping. It’ll be fine in a week or so, but you’ll need to stay off of it as much as you can. In its current state, with as much swelling as it has, the ligament could tear.”
“Yikes.” Knock Knock grimaced and glanced over at Holly.
“I am utterly baffled by my findings. Even with your earth pony physiology, a forty foot drop should have shattered the bones in your legs. You are either extremely lucky or you are far more durable than the average earth pony. I have always marveled at the physicality of earth ponies… so many perfect physical specimens.” The doctor cleared his throat and then looked Holly in the eye. “But you are not invincible. Really, you must keep your weight off of your hock. As tough as you are, I doubt that your ligament could take any sort of strain at all right now.”
“I get it, Doc. I’ll be good, I promise. I take injuries seriously,” Holly said. She heaved a disappointed sigh. “My house is full of stairs. I don’t know how I am going to get around.”
“You are going to stay in bed… your hooves need to heal too… Holly, you were exceptionally lucky.” The doctor turned his head and looked at Knock Knock. “Is there any chance that you could help her get home?”
“Yeah, yeah I can do that, that’s why I came here. I was sent to look after my dumb, dimwitted rookie… jumping out of a window.” Knock Knock let out an angry snort. “I can get her home and get her inside.”
“Alfredo might be able to help me,” Holly said. “I still don’t know how I’ll get up the stairs… lotta stairs in my house.”
“I’ll get you upstairs to your room if need be.” Knock Knock snorted again. “Holly, you jumped out of a damned window… with two ponies on your back. Are you brain damaged?”
“I dunno.” Holly shrugged. “I’ve hit my head pretty hard a few times now.”
“Well, that’s all sorted out. Another doctor will be by shortly to perform the procedure upon your hooves. Prepare yourself Holly Heartwood, I am told that it is quite unpleasant. They have to soak your hooves in a hot solution to make them soft and spongy, so they will expand. The glue that gets injected is also very, very hot and there will be some pain and discomfort. The local anesthetic will help a little. Try not to panic if they have to drill.”
“Drill?” Holly lifted her head up from her pillows. “What?”
“Sometimes, to reach a deep crack, a hole must be drilled. Glue is injected into the problem area and the hole gets filled with glue as well. In time, it all grows together and heals,” the doctor replied. “The good news is, once your hooves heal up from this, typically they are stronger than they were before. This makes them harden.”
“Still not sold on the whole sticking a power drill into my hoof, Doc.”
“Holly, shut up. You just jumped out of a window. A little drill boring a tiny hole into your hoofsies ain’t nothing no worry about.” Knock Knock reached out and prodded Holly’s shoulder. “I’d tell ya to grow a pair, but I suspect you already have.”
Knock Knock came to a stop in front of 211 ½ on Factory Way Road. He glanced at the rowhouse; it looked like so many others, tall and narrow. Behind him, in his wagon, he could hear Holly giggling. She was doped up on painkillers and anesthetic. The hospital had been forced to tranquilise her after she had spooked when the drill got too close to her hooves. A spooked Holly was a dangerous Holly, a lesson that Knock Knock intended to remember.
“Stay here,” Knock Knock said as he unhitched himself from the small wagon. He went up the steps and knocked upon the front door. It was late afternoon now, and Knock Knock was tired.
The door opened and Knock Knock saw a tall unicorn with a tuxedo pelt. “You Alfredo Noodle?”
“Yes, yes I am… what is the matter with Holly?” Alfredo pushed his way out the door and started down the steps.
“Oh, there is a lot wrong with Holly. She jumps out of windows two hundred feet straight up in the air. Today, she took an almost forty foot drop. Cracked her hooves and got a real bad sprain on her hock. She needs to stay in bed and off of her hooves for the next week.”
“I see.” Alfredo, now standing beside the wagon, looked over at Knock Knock. “You look like you have had a rough day. Would you care to come inside for coffee or tea?”
“No thanks… very kind of you to offer.” Knock Knock listened to Holly giggling. “I have other things I need to attend to. I have a firehouse to keep in order. And Toot Toot is probably going out of his mind with worry.”
“I will look after her, I give you my word,” Alfredo said as he lifted Holly in his telekinesis. “Oh my word, Madam is heavy.”
“Didjoo juss call moi fat?” Holly mumbled.
“Madam is one very solid earth pony, made of muscle, stubborn, and dark matter,” Alfredo replied. He shook his head. “Madam is not fat.”
“Tha’s bettah.” Holly, cradled in Alfredo’s telekinetic bubble, was limp.
“I understand you live here now?” Knock Knock asked.
“Yes, yes I do.” Alfredo turned and looked Knock Knock in the eye. He saw fear, worry, affection. Knock Knock was more than a co-worker, Knock Knock was one of Holly’s friends, and a close one at that.
“You don’t mind playing nursemaid I hope. If you do, we can get an assistant to come—”
“Not another word.” Alfredo’s eyes narrowed. “I am the caretaker of this house, and by extension, all those who live in it. I will look after Holly. Please, put your mind at ease.”
“Thanks.” Knock Knock gave Holly a worried smile. He watched as Alfredo started up the stone steps to the front door. “I’ll be by to visit when I can. I’m getting a few days off.”
“Come by at any time… say goodbye, Madam.”
“Guhbuh Moom!” Holly stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry.
“They had to give her a near overdose level of ketamine to make her calm down… doctors say she’s gonna be dopey for a while… she’ll need lots of water,” Knock Knock said.
Alfredo, holding Holly, realised that she was sweaty, stinky, and she reeked of smoke. Putting her in bed would be a dreadful idea. He stood before the bedroom door, not quite knowing what to do. She needed a bath. Holly was in desperate need of a bath. He turned his head and looked at the bathroom door. He looked at Holly and saw a flash of yellow. She still had the little plastic leg band from the hospital on her leg.
Holly stared up at the ceiling and let out a lunatic laugh.
“Madam, I must do something that troubles me. I shall have to beg your forgiveness later, but I am about to bathe you. I do hope you will forgive me.” Alfredo pushed upon the bathroom door and made his way inside with Holly.
He began filling the tub with hot water and added medicated bath salts. Looking at Holly’s hock, which was twice its usual size, he added a bit more medicated bath salts. He hoped that Holly would not get the wrong idea from this. Holly was an understanding sort, but Alfredo worried.
Holly’s burnt orange pelt was streaked with soot. She was dirty, dirty enough that she would leave behind a dreadful ring in the tub. The tub would require extensive cleaning to restore it to its pristine condition.
“Tub. Tubble bubble.”
“Yes, Madam, I am about to place you in the tub. This would be easier if I had your consent, but you are not in a position of sound mind to do so. My apologies, Madam.”
Cringing, Alfredo lowered the giggling mare down into the hot water, easing her just a little at a time. “Again, my apologies, Madam.” He rested her head on the back edge of the tub, worried about her slipping beneath the water.
Gritting his teeth, Alfredo armed himself with a scrubbing brush. This was a job like any other. This was just cleaning, no different than scrubbing a dirty appliance. He went to work, lifting up one of Holly’s front legs with his telekinesis. She began to giggle as the scrubbing brush worked over her leg. Soap bubbles foamed and dribbled down her legs.
Alfredo soon discovered that there was a serious difference between scrubbing a dirty appliance and scrubbing a dirty Holly; the appliance did not moan. As the brush worked over Holly’s barrel, Holly writhed in the tub, her eyes rolled back in her head, and she let out the sort of moan that—
Shaking his head, Alfredo refused to even think about what Holly’s moaning sounded like. He rolled Holly onto her side, mindful of her bad hind leg, and continued scrubbing, staring ahead at the wall as much as possible while Holly began to make enthusiastic “OOOH OOOH OOOH!” noises.
“I do believe I shall need a nip of cognac once this is done,” Alfredo said to himself.
He rolled Holly over onto her other side, still mindful of her leg, and scrubbed away the soot. The bathwater was looking rather dirty, which bothered Alfredo. Sighing, he pulled the plug to empty the tub and once it was drained, he began to add fresh, clean, hot water to the tub. Alfredo bit his lip and tried to deal with his arousal. It was only arousal. At least it was not growing arousal. Not yet. But if Holly kept moaning, well, Alfredo, for all of his discipline, was still a stallion. He shook his head and promised himself more cognac. To take advantage of Holly in her condition was unthinkable and Alfredo would never be able to live with himself.
There was still one area left to clean on the giggling, moaning mare in the tub. Alfredo drew in a deep breath, tossed his head back to get his sweaty mane out of his eyes, steeled his nerve, wondered how much of his strategic reserve of cognac he was going to have to drink, and then committed himself to finishing the job, no matter how bad it got. He would not put a filthy mare into a clean bed. It violated his sensibilities.
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Sorry to hear about your mother.
Oh Alfredo, you're the stoic sort we all need in our lives. If Holly remembers this, I suspect she's going to rib you mercilessly. Or at least until you make it clear that it really bothers you. Best make that clear right away
I look forward to the next chapter of Holly's tale. It's such a fun, lighthearted romp.
Hug
*sigh* Somehow I have the feeling that's what he's gonna hafta do anyway.
6365035
But she's clean now.
Talk about going above and beyond the call of duty. Anyway a good chapter. gotta love when the drugs kick in
interesting story. I rather suspect that the gas lights in her house are a bit of foreshadowing for something as well.
also, the Static X music video for Destroyer has roller derby in it, and one of the teams is called the Homewreckers.
Deepest sympathies about your mother.
Really enjoying the story.
Ahhh jeez, sorry to hear about your mom dude.
But, awesome chapter well done, full of laughs and good times. Holly is one strong and tough mare, and man oho man, I wonder if she's going to find out about the bath bit?
keep it up man, much love, much love.
*Huggles* a delightful chapter. Thanks Kudzu!
#1 *Big hugs* I know this is really late, but I am sorry to hear about your mom
#2 Poor Alfred, that stallion is just...wow. Holly really made that waaaaaaay too difficult on the poor guy T_T
Not sure if this is an intentional reference, awesome if it is, nice and snarky even if it isn’t.
Also, it suddenly hit me just how long this fandom has been going by now.
Go us!
See! Jumping out of windows is good for you!