Everything She Loves

by FeatherB

Chapter 3

Chapter 3: A Rough Start

Fillydelphia General Hospital

---

Redheart stumbled through the hospital’s revolving doors, shaking and out of breath, even though she had only galloped from the street corner. Immediately the atmosphere changed from the blistering, biting chaos outside, to a surreal calm.

The lobby of Fillydelphia General was immaculately clean. White walls were decorated by paintings of serene landscapes and hidden by lush plants that rose out of their ornate pots. The benches were placed between them and contained a small assortment of ponies that kept a generous amount of space between one another. On one side, a record player was creating a soft melody that most of the patients only seemed to be half listening to.

Not wishing to waste any time, Redheart trotted over to the welcome desk where a pleasant looking unicorn was watching her.

“Um... hello, I’m here for the new nursing position?” Redheart told her, shifting back and forth on her hooves.

The unicorn’s face wilted and a sad smile crossed her lips. “I’m so sorry, but we already filled that position.”

“No— no I meant that I am the new hire,” Redheart said with a twinge of annoyance.

“Oh, so you’re Redheart! Well why didn’t you say so?” The mare beamed as if she had just been given a present. “I’ll call up Miss Shale. She will be happy to get you started.”

The secretary’s horn sparkled a minty green as she lifted a corded phone to her ear and punched in a number. While it rang, she sat, grinning. Her obsessive stare made Redheart’s cheeks flush, so she studied the tiles at her hooves to avoid the mare’s gaze.

“Hello, Miss Shale? This is Cotton Pop.” There was a pause, and the secretary let out a bubbly laugh. “No, but I have that new nurse here for you... yes, she certainly looks like a good one.”

Redheart glanced up at those words to find the secretary winking at her.

Why didn’t I fix my mane! She fretted, not able to shake the feeling that Cotton Pop was probably making fun of her.

“Great! Thanks so much.” The phone clicked back into place. “Miss Shale will be right down to fetch you.”

“Thank you.” Redheart tried to smile back, but Cotton Pop was grinning so widely it made her jaw hurt just looking at it. “S-should I sit down?” she asked.

“You don’t have to,” Cotton Pop said, with her horn flaring up again. A tiny wrapped candy floated up to Redheart’s nose. “Mint?”

“Oh, uh, no thank you,” Redheart said, already backing up from the desk. “I think I’ll just...” she turned away and found a place to sit in the corner.

No sooner had she climbed onto the bench, did a nurse enter the room from the hall. She was a unicorn, like the secretary; but unlike Cotton Pop’s brightly colored coat, the nurse was a deep grey with a navy blue mane that clashed with her white uniform. Her dark eyes scanned the room for a moment before finding Redheart. She waved her over with a hoof and pulled out a clipboard that she had been levitating behind herself.

Redheart’s breath quickened as she trotted over, somehow more anxious now that Miss Shale was looking at the clipboard instead of her. Only when she approached did the nurse look up.

“You’re Redheart?” Shale asked in a bored monotone.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Shale circled around her and glanced at her flank. “Cutiemark matches up,” she muttered, making a few marks on the clipboard with a pencil. “It’s procedure, you understand.”

Redheart wasn’t sure if it was a question, so she just nodded. It was getting really warm in the hospital now, and she started tugging at her overcoat sleeves.

“You will need to take that off, of course,” Shale noted, while trotting the rest of the way around her. “I’ll take you to the staff room first so you can change,” she said, already headed back down the hall by the time she had finished talking.

Before Redheart could stop herself, she looked over at the welcome desk, as if the secretary could help her. But Cotton Pop only bobbed her hoof in a little wave, looking slightly ridiculous with a piece of candy puffing out her one cheek.

Redheart’s face flushed again and she hurried after Miss Shale, whose short-cropped tail was already halfway down the hall.

“This isn’t a place for sightseeing,” Shale said, still writing on her clipboard.

“I’m sorry, Ma’am,” Redheart stammered. Please don’t let me ruin this job!

“And you can stop calling me that. It makes me sound twice my age. It’s Miss, or Nurse Shale to you and everypony else.”

Redheart bit her lip. Of course she’s not that old. She doesn’t look old. Why do I have to be so nervous? “I’m really sorry, I didn’t know.”

Miss Shale ignored the apology. Instead, she stopped in her path and pointed to a door on their left. “Through here.”

Redheart stepped through the doorway and heard Shale shut it behind them. The nurse hurried forward, weaving between the small dining tables that were spaced around the room, and to a set of cabinets at the far side. She opened one and lifted out a nurse’s smock and hat with her magic, dropping the set at a table near where Redheart still stood.

“Put those on,” Shale told her, while taking yet more notes. “And you can leave that jacket here.”

“Should I—”

“Anywhere is fine,” Shale said, waving a hoof at her.

Feeling a bit vexed, Redheart struggled until she had removed her overcoat and placed it in a rumpled heap next to her uniform. She was almost glad there weren’t any mirrors in the staff room, because her mane now felt as if it had gone completely out of control. Thankfully, the nurse’s uniform was a bit easier to handle, as the top was light and loose fitting, and the hat miraculously stayed atop her head after the first try.

Nurse Shale didn’t once glance away from her clipboard during the whole process. She just flipped through its pages with mild interest, her eyes flickering over lines of notes.

Redheart coughed to draw her attention, in what she hoped was a polite way.

“Wonderful,” Shale said, without the slightest conviction. “Now if you will follow me, I’ll show you around.” She trotted past Redheart, opening the door by magic, and nearly hitting her with the floating clipboard as she went.

Redheart followed the nurse back into the hall, doing her best to keep up. She barely had enough time to track her surroundings as one bland hallway blurred into the next. Now and then they would pass a room which Miss Shale would tell her about in muttered monotone. Inevitably Redheart learned almost nothing about those places, but she was too afraid to ask her guide to repeat herself.

They also crossed paths with a few other nurses on the way, any and all of which looked far more pleasant than Miss Shale. Redheart tried giving them reluctant smiles, but more often than not they seemed in too much of a hurry to notice.

Just when Redheart was losing all hope of the tour ending, they stopped in front of a pair of double doors set with wired windows and a bright green sign over the top.

“This is the Emergency Wing,” Shale said, the neon glow reflecting in her eyes while she stared at it. “There shouldn’t be any reason for you to go in here.”

“Oh.” Redheart felt her stomach flop with a mixture of disappointment and relief. She knew from her training how hectic the ER could be, but in light of the vastly exciting tour she had just received, she couldn’t help feeling a bit let down.

Miss Shale walked away without another word, and Redheart wondered why they had even bothered stopping in the first place. That was, until she saw the flicker of movement through the glass panes.

“Uh, Nurse Shale...”

The grey mare spun around just as the doors were flung aside, emitting another nurse who skidded to a halt before them. She was breathing heavily, with sweat trickling down her face. But unlike the other nurses, this one was wearing faded green medical scrubs, complete with covered hooves and a surgical mask that made her eyes stand out. They were the color of maple leaves, traced with thin black eyeliner, and when they turned to Redheart, she quickly glanced away.

“Great timing—” the nurse gasped, her voice muffled through the mask. “Miss Shale, I need to borrow this nurse. Doctor’s Orders.”

Shale looked as if she had just swallowed a bug and was trying very hard to get the taste out of her mouth. “This is her first day here, Mayweather. I won’t have her running errands for Doctor Zimmer because he’s bored. Find somepony else.”

With a shimmer of orange magic, Mayweather removed her mask, breathing a little easier. “He wanted the first nurse I could find,” she explained. “It’s for a procedure.”

Redheart felt the heat drain from her face. An operation? I’m not ready for that!

“Then definitely not!” Shale snapped, voicing Redheart’s objections. “He already has a team of surgeons and this nurse is hardly qualified.”

“Relax, it’s just some cleanup work,” Mayweather assured her, before casting a smirk at Redheart. “Bunsen is acting a bit off today and we only need a quick fill in.”

Shale muttered some choice description very different from those on the tour, before stuffing her clipboard into her uniform pocket. “Fine, send her back as soon as it’s done, or I’m filing a complaint against the Doctor.” Then she turned on a hoof and left.

“Always a pleasure, Miss Shale!” Mayweather called after her.

The grey nurse only flicked her tail in response and disappeared around a corner.

“Don’t mind her, she’s always in a mood,” Mayweather said, still looking at the spot Shale had disappeared. “But we should really hurry back.”

“Are you sure there isn’t somepony else more qualified?” Redheart asked, her hooves glued to the floor.

Mayweather paused halfway back through the doors. “Well of course there is, but beggars can’t be choosers,” she grinned as if it was a joke, then trotted away.

Redheart only just made it through the doors before they shut, and was once again rushing to keep up. The only notable difference in the Emergency Wing was that it was even more bland than the rest of the hospital. No pictures hung on the walls, only monitors or safety signs, and the very occasional cushioned bench provided any kind of seating. The oddest thing, however, was how quiet the placed seemed to be. No other nurses traveled the halls and most of the rooms they passed were vacant. But almost at the end of the hall, Mayweather stopped before an open doorway.

“Doctor Zimmer?”

Redheart warily walked up aside her as she spoke, staring into the dark room which was lit only at its center, where a bright blue stallion was lying on a surgical chair with a set of medical instruments dancing about him in green magic. Next to the chair was an aging Doctor, his horn glowing the same color green, and casting his pale grey coat in a sickly color. His ears perked at his name and he made one last movement with a tool before turning his attention to them. At first he said nothing, his eyes twinkling as they passed between Mayweather and Redheart.

“Let me guess,” he spoke in a deep, nasally voice. “First day?”

She opened her mouth, but came up short on words and quickly nodded instead.

The Doctor glanced at Mayweather again, and she smiled in some unspoken agreement. “So what’s your name, rookie?” he asked. “I have to know what to shout when all I need is a bloody scalpel. Celestia knows, some ponies can’t even handle that.”

“Redheart,” she said, hoping her voice wasn’t shaking.

Doctor Zimmer returned his attention to the stallion before him, his tools swirling into action again. “Well, pull up a chair and buckle in, Nurse Redheart, because you’re in for one bumpy ride.”

She didn’t even flinch at his warning. A beautiful thought had formed in her head. Nurse Redheart, she beamed despite herself. I could get used to that.

Author's Note:

Not the most exciting chapter ever, but here it is. The next one probably won't be published until January, because of the holidays. Hope you all have a wonderful week and a merry Christmas.