House call.
Nurse Redheart carefully reviewed her patient’s medical charts. Or at least she was trying to, but the constant giggling of her coworkers was quite distracting. They were currently on break, drinking coffee during the lack of patients in need. She did her best to tune them out, gritting her teeth in irritation.
“What about you?” A sweet, sugary voice cut through her thoughts like a scalpel making an incision. Nurse Redheart shook her head and sighed, turning her attention back to the medical charts before her. She tried her best to ignore her colleague, but words just kept cutting through the air like a hail of bullets, smacking her attention away from the task at hand.
How do any of these ponies ever get any work done around here? I swear… It’s like everypony just wants to be a chatterbox the exact moment things need to be done.
Redheart couldn’t ignore the tiny, pestering whispers in the back of her head as her companion continued to talk into her ear. “What about my what now?” Nurse Redheart looked up from her desk with gritted teeth, casting a death glare at the figure standing above her. Nurse Sweetheart was in front of the desk, looking down at her with a smug grin.
“Your love life,” Sweetheart elaborated. “Snowheart has been telling us all about her’s.” Sweetheart cast an irritated glare at Snowheart and grumbled. “Practically wouldn’t stop talking about it. Don’t you think you should spill the beans too? Give us the gossip, Red. Maybe it’ll balance out some of Snowheart’s rambling.”
“That would be quite unprofessional.” Redheart tapped on the mountain of files in front of her. “I don’t have time to be unprofessional right now.” She pointed to the mountainous stack and smirked. “Unless you two would like to help me sort this all out and catalog it? Then you can be as unprofessional as you like.”
Sweetheart leaned over the desk, continuing to probe the busy nurse. “Sure you do.” Sweetheart patted Redheart on the head and swept the paperwork aside. “It wouldn’t be fair for me to be the only one blabbing. C’mon, tell us something juicy! I know you’ve got to have all sorts of good stories with how attractive you are and all.” Sweetheart winked as she sat herself on the front desk and giggled to Snowheart across the room.
Redheart clicked her tongue in irritation. “No, no,” Redheart insisted, shaking her head. “Why don’t you tell Snowheart about your love life? You haven't said anything yet about yours.”
“I have a filly. I don’t need to say anything.” Sweetheart snickered. “Having a foal doesn’t just ‘magically’ happen. You’re a nurse, you should know this.”
Redheart shrugged. “Then why don’t you talk about married life?”
“Because that’s no fun!” Sweetheart pouted her upper lip outward and whined, placing her forelegs on the desk and stretching. “Don’t get me wrong; I love my family. But hearing about someone else’s love life is much more fascinating.
“Well… I can’t exactly talk about what I don’t have...” Redheart sighed, lowering her gaze back to her work. A small pressure tightened in her chest. Regret.
“Really?” Sweetheart was taken back, picking herself off the desk. “Not even a little crush?” She adjusted, leaning her head on a forehoof in curiosity.
“I.” Redheart stammered and blushed, her face turning a light shade of pink. “I don’t know what you mean...”
“She does,” Sweetheart giggled. “Tell us. Who’s the lucky stallion?”
“What makes you think it’s a stallion?” Snowheart called out from across the room, sipping her coffee afterwards. Redheart shifted uncomfortably. “You see that? That’s the sign of somepony that’s been found out. My money would be on a mare. A certain mare who comes in here a lot.” Snowheart gave a teasing wink.
“This is very inappropriate...” Redheart stood up and cleared her throat, picking up her chart in preparation to leave.
Sweetheart stopped her, placing a hoof on the chart and pushing it down. She leaned towards Redheart, nearly touching muzzles. “A mare?” Sweetheart poked Redheart on the snout, smirking. “A certain blonde mare? A gray pegasus, perhaps?”
Redheart leaned back, uncomfortable with her co-worker invading her personal space. “I don’t know what you’re implying.” She pushed Sweetheart back slowly with her forehoof, her face an intense shade of red.
“But I think you do.” Snowheart smiled, trotting toward the desk and swaying her hips. “You know who I’m talking about. The cute one who’s always getting into accidents. She has- Why, Nurse Redheart, I do believe you’re blushing. And rather deeply at that. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a shade of scarlet so vivid in a paint can.”
“Nonsense.” Redheart’s blush spread to her ears.
“You can tell us.” Sweetheart poked Redheart again and gave her a sympathetic smile. “If it’s only a crush, then what harm is there in telling? It’s not like we’re going to run around and spread it everywhere. Girl talk never leaves the group. Besides, holding in your feelings isn’t good! Tell us!”
“Maybe,” Redheart murmured.
“What was that, dear?” Sweetheart smirked and leaned in closer. She cupped a hoof over her ear as if trying to hear some imperceptible sound floating on the wind. “You’ll have to speak up.”
A young mare walked in through the double doors. Nurse Redheart sighed in relief at the welcome interruption, but blushed again once she saw her. The mare had a cool grey coat with a marvelous sheen, her thighs were slender, her clumsiness was just adorable, and her wing hung at an awkward angle.
Nurse Redheart stepped around the desk and rushed over to Ditzy, stretching out the left wing.
“You just take care of her then.” Sweetheart took position at the front desk. “I got these charts.”
“Ditzy...” Redheart prodded at the loose joint. “What in the world happened? Did you crash into the scaffolding around town hall again?”
“Nothing.” Ditzy scrunched her face.
“Town Hall?” Redheart pressed again, this time giving Ditzy a disapproving look. “You know how many times you’ve been told to stay away from there. You always lose it on that right turn…”
“Town Hall,” Ditzy admitted, turning her head to the side. She bowed her head in shame, extending her injured wing outward so that Nurse Redheart could get a good look at it.
Redheart took a closer look at the base of Ditzy’s wing. There was only slight swelling, but the joint seemed off. “You’ve dislocated it, Ditzy.” Redheart’s eyes narrowed as she frowned with concern. “You really need to be more careful, Ditzy… I don’t want to have to see you in here every other day with a brand new injury.”
“Is that bad?” Ditzy tilted her head in confusion as she gazed into Redheart’s eyes for confirmation. After so many different visits and injuries, they all just seemed to blur together into one constant stream of pain. She couldn’t remember which ones were important or concerning anymore, just that her wing hurt and felt really uncomfortable. Ditzy gave a dull whine as she tried to flex her wing to get the tenseness out.
She continued to stare at the nurse, pleading for her to give some sort of good news. Redheart’s heart skipped a beat in her chest as the faint whimpers and steadily forming tears began to toll on her. “Not too bad, Ditzy.” Redheart placed a hoof on Ditzy upper back, not wanting the mare to be distressed. Again. “Do you have any severe pain? Did you hit your head when you had your accident?”
Ditzy scratched her head in confusion as she struggled to remember the accident. “I don’t think so...”
“You think?” Redheart squinted suspiciously at her. “Or do you know? This could be really important, Ditzy. If you hit your head at all during the accident, you could have a concussion, or worse.” Redheart frowned at Ditzy while gazing into her unsure amber eyes.
“I don’t know. I-I don’t think I hit my head, but I can’t really remember it all that well. It all happened so fast, and I couldn’t turn… The only real pain I’m noticing is in my wing.” Ditzy sighed as she shuffled on her hooves nervously.
“Alright.” Redheart sighed in resignation as she watched Ditzy fidget. The mare never could remember her accidents well. “We can just keep you overnight for observation to make sure everything checks out. We wouldn’t want to send you home with a severe concussion. That could cause some serious… issues.” Redheart shivered at the mere thought of what might happen if that occured.
“Overnight?” Ditzy’s eyes narrowed. Her gaze shifted from Redheart and to the floor, avoiding the nurse at all costs. “I-I don’t think I can do that.”
“Is there a problem with that?” Redheart questioned.
“It’s just...” Ditzy rubbed her hoof across the floor tiles. “I don’t want to sleep in a strange place. It makes me feel weird, and uncomfortable, and unsafe.” The mare scrunched her muzzle as she continued to stare at the floor in embarrassment. “It’s scary.”
“Isn’t that just precious?” Sweetheart’s whispers flitted about the air before resting themselves firmly in Redheart’s mind.
Nurse Redheart watched Ditzy rubbing her hoof on the floor. She blushed a light pink as she noted how adorable the mare’s scrunched muzzle and abashed behavior were. Redheart glared over her shoulder to silence Sweetheart and turned back to Ditzy, shaking her head as she did so. “Do you think you would be more comfortable if I just made a house call?”
“I guess. Yeah, that’d be really nice of you.” Ditzy smiled at her.
“Subtle. Real subtle, Redheart.” Snowheart chortled into her hoof. She gave an all knowing smirk to the now severely blushing Redheart. Redheart found herself glaring over her shoulder again, causing Snowheart to stifle her giggles even more..
“Miss Nurse?” Ditzy asked. “Can you fix my wing now? It’s getting really uncomfortable...”
Redheart blinked at her and eyed her wing once more. It was dislocated, but it would be easy enough to simply pop it back into place. “Yes.” Redheart began walking and waved her hoof as a gesture for Ditzy to follow. “Come with me. We’ll get a room.”
“I was about to suggest you two do that. All this lovey-dovey hallmark goop is making me sick.” Nurse Snowheart laughed and stuck her tongue out at Nurse Redheart. She made smooching noises and pantomimed a kiss as Nurse Redheart stared in abject horror..
Ditzy stepped into the examination room and glanced at Redheart. “What did she mean by that? It sounded like she was making fun of you.” Ditzy frowned as she sat herself down on the patient bed in the center of the room.
“Just that I should get in here, and...” Redheart’s eyes shifted around the room, settling on the wall behind Ditzy. She did her best to give the illusion of eye-contact as she spoke.. “And just do my job. Yep. That’s it. She only meant that I should be fixing your wing!” Nurse Redheart shouted the last words with a little too much emphasis, causing Ditzy to tilt her head in confusion.
“Then why was she laughing?” Ditzy asked, a slight amount of irritation in her voice.
“That’s just how Snowheart is. She’s all weird, and flirty, and stuff. She likes to be weird. It’s her thing. Eeyup!” Redheart nodded her head frantically, trying to draw attention away from herself.
“She is a little weird.” Ditzy cast a suspicious glance at the spasming nurse in front of her..
“Of course.” Redheart placed her hooves on Ditzy’s wing. “Now hold still. This might sting a little.”
Ditzy’s eyes opened wide. “What? What do you mean sti—”
Redheart shoved the wing back into the joint as quickly as possible. She winced as the wing slid back into its socket with a sickening ‘pop’.. Ditzy’s eyes uncrossed from the pain as she bit her bottom lip, stiffling a scream of pure agony. She whimpered, and tears welled up. Redheart stroked Ditzy’s mane to comfort her, whispering soothingly in her ear..
“It’ll be okay. The pain will subside relatively quickly, just… keep it still. I have to secure it in place. Otherwise you might damage it again.”
“Ok.” Ditzy muttered as she tried to paw at the aching spot on her back..
Redheart placed a sling around the wing, and secured it around Ditzy’s body with straps and buckles.
“Let me get you an ice pack. That should take a bit of the sting off, and then you should be good to go.” Redheart gave Ditzy a small smile, her lips quivering in nervous as she gazed at the beautiful mare in front of her.
“Thank you.” Ditzy tried her best to smile, managing to raise her upper lip upwards in a half-curl.
Redheart walked out of the room, and down the hallway. She opened up the freezer in the corner room, and pulled out an ice pack. She saw a blue face when she shut the door.
“Hello, nurse.” Colgate greeted her from the doorway, giving the two mares a small wave and a smile..
“Hello, Colgate.” Redheart shook Colgate’s hoof and tilted her head in confusion. “What brings you here? I haven’t seen you around here in a while.”
“Just running low on Lidocaine,” she explained, “I thought I would see if you guys had some to spare.”
“Nurse Sweetheart is in charge of our supplies. You’ll have to talk to her about it. I’m sure she’ll let you borrow some though. Key word being ‘borrow’. You know how she can get.” Redheart sighed exasperatedly and rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. And I already did.” Colgate placed a foreleg around her neck and pulled Redheart close. “She told me that you had something juicy to tell me? Something really juicy?”
“Now why would she say that?” Nurse Redheart blushed. “I never have anything juicy to tell anyone.”
“Oh, but I do. My date went awesome. Like, super awesome. I must have run across like fifty bases last night.”
“I don’t think the metaphor works that way...” Redheart shifted uncomfortably as Ditzy sat watching with a confused frown on her face..
“No metaphor, we just played baseball.” Colgate took her foreleg off her shoulder and set it down. She shifted her weight off of her other shoulder and hissed at the soreness. “What did you think I meant?”
“Nothing...” Redheart blushed and rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment. She did her best to change the topic as quickly as possible. “So, it went well?”
“Better believe it.” Colgate smiled. “I already have a couple name picked out for us. ‘SweetTooth’. What do you think?”
“Lovely.” Redheart deadpanned.
“All right, all right. No need to be so judgemental about the nickname… What about you, huh?” Colgate smiled as she jabbed Redheart’s ribs playfully. “How’s the love life of the hottest nurse in Ponyville?”
“Same as it ever was,” Redheart admitted.
“That bad?” Colgate whistled, and pantomimed an explosion. “Hey, wanna hear a joke?”
“Not really,” Redheart said in exasperation.
“How do you ruin a date?” Colgate smiled, and paused for effect. “By being Nurse Redheart.”
Redheart sighed.
“Hey, I was just playing,” Colgate objected, “I didn-”
“I have a patient to care for,” Redheart interrupted, her voice full of venom, “If you want to talk about ‘that’ then I am certain that your ‘SweetTooth’ will be happy to oblige.”
Colgate sighed and nodded, stepping aside for Redheart to pass by.
Redheart tended to her patient, icing the sore muscles under the sling. Ditzy bobbed her head to an unknown rhythm to pass the time. Redheart held her breath, not wanting to embarrass herself with a blush if she took a whiff of Ditzy’s scent. She always smelled of muffins. Redheart, contrary to popular belief, loved muffins. Her flanks just didn’t show it.
Ditzy watched with a single eye as Redheart disposed of the ice pack appropriately, as per regulations. She scrunched her muzzle before asking, “Can I go home now?”
Redheart exhaled slowly before turning around. “Yeah, I suppose you can. You need to sign a document showing I treated you, if that’s alright. Standard procedure.” She lifted a clipboard and gave it to Ditzy. The pegasus picked up the pen with her mouth and signed it with her messy signature.
Redheart gulped. She always found Ditzy cute when she wrote. And when she scrunched her muzzle. And whenever she ate. And when she bumped into walls because her eyes weren’t properly focusing. All in all, the mare was adorable. Redheart loved that.
“Here.” Ditzy mumbled as she handed the clipboard back. Nurse Redheart filed away the sheet appropriately before opening the door. By the mare’s side, Redheart led Ditzy through the hospital. Sweetheart giggled and Snowheart waved them past as they went through the hospital doors.
Light blinded Redheart momentarily, having spent all day inside. She shook her head and allowed Ditzy to lead the way. Redheart knew the address, having access to public records, but allowed Ditzy the comfort of leadership. It also gave her a nice view of Ditzy’s fla-joy of leaving the hospital.
Their walk was short, but dragged on for the embarrassed nurse. Redheart kept her head low as ponies stared at her and stifled their snickers. They tried not to make a show of it, but a single mare belted out into laughter. Ditzy, oblivious as always, skipped ahead of the treading nurse.
Redheart’s crush had proliferated even before she admitted it to her coworkers. Nopony brought it up, but the evidence was always evident on their amused expressions. Sometimes she wished she was more bashful; revenge pranks would be therapeutic for her nerves.
There they were: in front of Ditzy’s home. It was a cozy cottage, red bricks and all. One story, most likely two bedrooms if Redheart’s estimate was correct. As a nurse, Redheart knew Ditzy’s condition didn’t allow anything taller. It was a wonder how she could fly. Then again, Town Hall constantly showed Ditzy’s less-than-stellar results.
Ditzy trotted to her front door and began fumbling with her keys, trying to unlock it. Redheart impatiently tapped her white hoof on the ground. Ditzy dropped her keychain, forcing her to pick it up with her mouth. She jiggled the keys, trying to find the right one to take in her mouth. Redheart rolled her eyes when Ditzy dropped them a second time. She placed a hoof on top and slid them over, taking them and unlocking the door in Ditzy’s stead. Ditzy gave a curt nod, grateful for the gesture.
Walking in front, careful to remove anything hazardous in Ditzy’s path, Redheart took in her first sight of the interior. It was a relatively small house, with just a kitchen, living room, and adjoining bedrooms. A few closets also dotted the walls, though Redheart’s primary focus was on the mare next to her.
Ditzy shuffled nervously as she watched Redheart clear a path for her in her home. “Uh… Thanks for that! A-are you hungry at all? I could make us some bagels or muffins or something if you are!”
Ditzy’s awkward enthusiasm caused Redheart’s cheeks to flush red. The faintest hint of a smile formed on her muzzle as she watched the grey mare stumble over her words. “No, I’m good. Thank you for the offer though.”
Redheart noted the relatively messy nature of the house, with various things such as forks, clothes, and even a ball of yarn strewn about the floor. “So, what do you normally do in your spare time here, Ditzy?”
“Not much really… I just usually play some games by myself. Sorry for the messiness. I don’t really have a lot of visitors over, and it’s kind of hard for me to clean.” Ditzy’s muzzle scrunched in embarrassment as she observed her living room. Her efforts on cleaning showed.
“It’s perfectly fine, Ditzy. Anything you want to make you comfortable?” Redheart asked as she batted the ball of yarn to the side. One of Ditzy’s eyes followed it like a hawk.
Ditzy looked up and scrunched her muzzle again, a nervous flush spreading on her face. “Can I… can I have a bedtime story?”
Redheart shot her a bemused look. “Ditzy! it’s hardly mid-afternoon.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Ditzy.” Redheart looked around the living room. “I know that cleaning is hard for you-” She lifted up an empty can of peas. “-But this is just unsanitary.”
“That was my lunch,” Ditzy explained. “I thought-” She sighed. “I thought I actually got it into the trashcan.” She turned her head toward the trash can beside the couch.
“I understand.” Nurse Redheart tossed the can away. “I’ll take care of it, no worries.” She patted Ditzy on the head. “I’ll take care of this mess.” Her eyes scanned the room. “Where are your cleaning supplies?”
“Right over there.” Ditzy pointed at the closest closet to the kitchen.
Nurse Redheart opened the closet, and considered the jumbled heap of cleaning supplies inside. She found a dustpan brush buried beneath a jug of indeterminable fluid.
“Alright.” Redheart assaulted the couch with the brush, knocking crumbs to the floor. “Have a seat.” She patted the couch with the brush, gesturing Ditzy to sit. “Or lay down, rather.” She smiled at Ditzy. “I got this.”
“But-” Ditzy blustered as Redheart guided her onto the couch, using her head to push. “I don’t think I should let you do that.”
“We’ll just call it a favor.” Redheart stepped back over to the cleaning closet. “Friends can do favors for each other, right?” Yeah, friends… She examined the clutter in front of her. She would have to organize it before she could do anything else. “Ditzy, what’s this?” She raised up a jug of pale yellow fluid.
“That’s for scrubbing the floors.” Ditzy explained from the couch. “I added water to it, because it was almost empty.”
“Oh,” Redheart mumbled as she emptied the cleaning closet. “This mop head is old” She looked back at Ditzy. “If something smells like this, then you need to throw it out.” Redheart tossed the mop head into the trash can. “It could make you sick.”
Rummaging through the closet proved to be a difficult task. There were plenty of cleaning supplies, but many of them were worn down to the point of uselessness. Redheart sighed as she looked over what remained: a broom, a brush, a dustpan, a gallon of nearly useless cleaning solution, a brand new mop, and some cleaning rags. Redheart smiled to herself. Time to get to work.
Ditzy watched Nurse Redheart from the couch. She didn’t want her to leave, for some peculiar reason. Redheart had always been so kind to her, and she always made her feel special despite her ‘weird’ eyes. Watching Redheart was the most enjoyable thing she had ever done in the past week. Ditzy bit her lip, wondering why she watching the nurse so attentively. The ball of yarn wasn’t going to play with itself, but the nurse captured Ditzy’s attention
Redheart’s lean muscles worked the broom handle hard. She had such a high level of focus that Ditzy could not help but feel amazed and somewhat envious. One of Ditzy’s eyes locked onto her, just watching her clean and tidy the room for an entire hour. Her cheeks blushed when Redheart leaned down to scrub the floor, her tail swishing back and forth. Ditzy grabbed a blanket from off the back of the couch, and used it to cover her red face.
“I think that’s it.” Redheart’s sweet, sugary voice cut through Ditzy’s thoughts.
“What’s that?” Ditzy lowered the blanket, and looked up at her.
“I’m done cleaning.” Redheart placed the mop back in the closet. “Is there anything else you would like to do?” Redheart pulled the band out of her bun, allowing her mane free. She ran a hoof through it. “Anything?”
“We could…” Ditzy considered what two mares alone might possibly do. “We could…” She still had no idea. “We could…” It was like asking somebody where they wanted to eat. There were so many choices to consider. Ditzy looked up at Redheart, who was fluttering her eyelashes at her. Ditzy thoughtfully rested her head on her forehoof. “We could…” Redheart leaned in closer. Ditzy pondered a little deeper. “We could play board games.”
“Board games?” Nurse Redheart’s face fell. “Board games? As in board games?” She sighed, and looked up at Ditzy’s hopeful face. “Sure.” Redheart agreed weakly. “We can play board-games.” Saying no to that face was impossible..
Her energy drained and her emotions low and discouraging, Redheart glanced at the clock and noticed it was finally time for bed. She trotted to Ditzy, now playing with the ball of yarn like a cat, and nudged her healthy shoulder. The cross-eyed mare tossed the ball away and shot a grin at the nurse, teasing a small twitch into a smile from the nurse. “Come, Ditzy. Time for bed.”
“Aw phooey…” Ditzy whined as she rolled over onto her belly. With the nurse’s help, she got on her hooves and headed for the bedroom with Redheart in tow.
Redheart kept her head low as she entered the bedroom, several thoughts streaming into her mind. Most were innocent, but the occasional steamy image galloped through her mind’s eye.
Ditzy waddled to her bed and crawled in, wiggling into her sheets. She scrunched her muzzle as she pulled the covers to her chin. Once snuggled in, she turned to her healthy side and faced the nurse with a mismatched gaze. Redheart bit her lip as she approached the mare.
“Um… about that bedtime story…” She turned away for a moment and breathed, then faced Ditzy once more. She could do this. If she could perform wing surgery on two stallions simultaneously, she could talk to a pretty mare.
“Yes?” Ditzy asked, biting the top of the blanket with her lips. She nibbled at it, watching Nurse Redheart stare. Redheart shook her head and cleared her thoughts.
“N-nevermind. Good night, Ditzy.” Redheart nodded, turned around, and pushed the bedroom door open to leave.
“Wait!” Ditzy cried. Redheart turned around to see Ditzy holding her forelegs out. “My wing itches.”
Redheart sighed and walked over to the bed. She did a quick examination of the injured wing. Nothing appeared out of place… She found the source of the irritation: a single feather was out of place and stuck in the bandage. Preening was a common practice in her profession, she bent down without a second thought and plucked the feather.
Redheart froze as she felt a wingtip poke her chest. Slowly, she brought up her gaze to Ditzy’s. The two held their gaze as each turned red.
“...” Redheart couldn’t find words for the wing under the blanket. She let out a tiny bleet.
“Uh.” Ditzy shuffled in place as her wing stiffened. “I can’t help it.”
Redheart’s mind raced at the implications. Of course, the wing was the obvious stimuli for a pegasus in certain ‘activities,’ but a simple preening didn’t mean she was into mares. She let out a sigh, releasing her tension. No longer on the clock or bound by the rules, she let the moment take her away.
Redheart placed her front hooves on the side of the bed and leaned up. She placed her white lips upon Ditzy’s forehead. Her heart forcefully beat against her chest as moments passed. Redheart sighed as she pulled away and looked down at the blushing pegasus. The further stiffening wingjoint was revealing enough for the nurse for one night.
“Goodnight, Ditzy.”
“G-goodnight N-”
“It’s Redheart, dear.” Redheart smiled and backed off the bed. Her smile was filled with a warmth she had been lacking the entire day; a warmth that spread to Ditzy.
“Goodnight, Red!” Ditzy perked up and beamed, painting Redheart’s face red for the final time that night.