A RESTFUL INTERLUDE

>A warm wet feeling snaked its way inside you and made you yelp in surprise.
>You jumped and ended up on the floor as you fell out of your chair, roused from your nap.
>An energetic voice filled your ears.
>”Wake up silly buns! Break is over!”
>You looked at the clock on the break room’s wall.
>5:30 AM
>You looked up at the form above you.
>Coldheart.
>A rather cheerful pony despite her name.
>You have no idea how she always came to work so… awake in the mornings.
>Still though, you admired her drive.
>She loved her work and loved coming to work.
>Even at this Celestia forsaken hour.
>That’s not to say you didn’t love your job either because you did.
>You just weren’t as...
>Nurse Coldheart was still regarding you with that same warm smile.
>... enthusiastic about it.
“Heh, sorry, I must have fallen asleep.”
>”Hey now, don’t worry about it. And besides, Helpinghoof would have your flank if he knew you were dozing off.”
>She was right, you knew.
“Yeah. Thanks for waking me but was sticking your friggin tongue in my ear really necessary?
>”No, not really. But it worked didn’t it?”
>Of course it worked but that was besides the point!
>...
>You couldn’r really find it in you to be mad at her.
“I guess so.” you replied evenly, taking the diplomatic route.
“So, did you have a deep rest?”
>IF YOU HAD TO HEAR THAT JOKE ONE MOR-
>No, no.
>Calm it, girl.
>She didn’t mean anything by it.
“No, not really. I’m off the clock in about three hours so I should be fine.”
>You wouldn’t be fine.
>You swore you could hear your bed calling your name.
>It’d be a miracle if you were able to stay awake for the whole three hours.
>You eyed the coffee machine miserably.
>There was no more coffee mix in the break room.
>You let out a little yawn and eyed the clock then your food that you had yet to even touch.
>Your break was over.
>So much for enjoying your snack.
>You packed all of it up and tossed it back into the refrigerator.
>You could do this right?
>There were only three hours left.

>You couldn’t do this.
>You were in the process of making sure vitals were stable, checked and logged.
>You’ve just about completed your rounds but there were two problems.
>It has only been about thirty minutes and your were dead tired.
>Anyways, the next patient you were to check on was named Connie Amore according to her chart.
>You pulled the clipboard off its hook and continued reading.
>Just out of surgery for tonsillitis not too long ago.
>She shouldn’t be awake from the anesthetics just yet so you forewent knocking and gently opened up the door.  
>Looking at the machine, you started scribbling on the clipboard.
>BP 122/85
>Oxygen 91 percent.
>Blah.
>Blah.
>Done.
>Checked the cords on the bed and the machine.
>Checked the IV.
>Yada yada.
>Rada rada.
>Everything, like the last few rooms, were normal.
>Which was good despite how it was making you cripplingly bored.
>If things were normal that meant ponies were ok.
>You’d rather be bored than to see a pony die from post op complications.
>Another look at the patient reveal that her blanket had drifted downwards somehow.
>A simple fix.
>You pulled it up over the pink mass and made your way out of the room.
>Next room you did the same thing.
>And in the next one.
>Things were normal, once again, in the next one.
>After a few more rooms with a few more patients you were about to check the last one when a BP alarm went off somewhere down the hall.
>You immediately turned tail and ran towards the source worried.
>That low beeping meant that somepony’s blood pressure was either dangerously high or low.
>When you finally reached the room you saw the door was open and the doctor on staff was already in dealing with with the unruly elderly pony in bed.
>Doctor Hooves or something like that.
>Regardless, the stallion waved you off while explaining the importance of not removing hospital equipment to the old mare.
>You let out a sigh of relief.
>At least you were awake now.
>You made your way back to the the last room and took the clipboard off the wall into your hooves.
>The patient's name was was Miss Eri.
>Female, earth pony.
>19.
>Interesting.
>As you continued to read down the chart the wider your eyes became.
>A few lacerations, blunt force trauma, a concussion, multiple rib fractures.
>The list went on and on.
>What the heck happened to her to get her these injuries.
>The most surprising of which was the reason this pony was in the post OP ward in the first place.
>Apparently she had just gotten out of surgery for a full screfula drain.
>You’ve only ever seen unicorns in here for that if you ever saw it at all.
>The screfula is the organ responsible for storing and releasing magic within a pony’s body.
>To think an earth pony could become so saturated with magic to warrant a full drain was nothing short of mind boggling.
>Let alone all those other injures.
>The patient was to be kept under anesthetics for about a day to keep her from injuring herself.
>Since she was out, it didn’t warrant a knock.
>But you did anyways for whatever reason.
>Upon receiving no response, you entered.
>On the bed lied said earth pony mare.
>You winced.
>You were a nurse and you’ve seen a lot of things.
>Still though.
>The young mare had a breathing tube in her throat and other wires and cords snaking down from the bed.
>There were bruises that you could clearly see through the fur on her face and a large one around her neck.
>She had a black eye that was slightly swollen.
>The rest of her was concealed by the blanket.
>The mare in the bed was absolutely gorgeous despite everything, however.
>What the heck happened to her?
>It was when you saw her the shape of one of the marks on her that things started to click.
>You referred back to her clipboard.
>Admitted by Ponyville PD.
>Taken immediately for emergency surgery. 
>She’d received a rape kit?
>Celestia above, what kind of ponies...
>You looked at the sorry form in bed and shook your head.
>Thanks to medicine and magic she'd be fine in a few days but just to think...
>You took the clipboard and started to record the readings.
>You really just didn’t want to think about what she must have went through...

>Your eyes popped open to the sound of the intercom and an automated voice.
>”Code Blue, fourth floor, room 460. Code Blue, fourth floor, room 460.”
>You sighed.
>Code Blue signalled to medical staff like yourself of a patient needing immediate attention usually due to cardio-respiratory failure.
>Normally there’d be ward designation on the automated alert but considering where the room number put the emergency you could understand why it was omitted.
>That would be the birthplace.
>Some mother must be having complications.
>Poor mare, whoever she was.
>Fuck, you needed to stop falling asleep. 
>You grimaced and glanced at the clock behind your nurse’s station.
>6:58 AM.
>It was almost time to check vitals.
>But the good news was you were out of here in about an hour.
>You decided to get a head start on your rounds to make time move a little faster for you.
>It killed about thirty minutes which was nice but it didn’t make you any less tired.
>All you had to do was stay awake just a little longer for Heartmender to take over for you and you’d be fine.
>You yawned into your hoof and sat back down in your chair behind the station.
>Thirty minutes.
>Just thirty minutes.
>All you had to do...
>Was stay...
>Awake...
>Don’t go to sleep...
>Your eyes flutter and threaten to close on you entirely.
>Just stay awake girl, you can do this.
>Your eyes just closed on you anyways.
>That was ok though...
>As long as you stayed awake you were fine.
>Your eyes resting couldn’t hurt right?
>The intercom spoke again.
>”Code Blue, second floor, Post OP, room 228. Code Blue, second floor, Post OP, room 228.”
>You were already on your hooves and galloping down the hall.
>As soon as you turned the next corner you could hear the alarms of various machines.
>You reached the end of the hall and quickly glanced at the clipboard hanging just outside of the door.
>Miss Eri.
>Female, Earth Pony.
>You threw the door open.
>The window on the opposite end of the room was opened up, curtains billowing slightly in the breeze.
>It wasn’t like that before.
>And was that a flash of magic or was that a glint of light reflected of the window itself?
>Putting that off for now, you moved to the earth pony in the bed who was practically blue beneath her fur.
>Oh Luna, give you strength.
>This wasn’t how you wanted to end your day.
>Blood oxygen readings were zeroed.
>The heart monitor which you heard beeping frantically has since stopped and was sounding an erie single tone.
>Shit shit shit.
>You used your training to reign in your panic.
>You deftly pulled the breathing tube from the mares throat and noticed Dr. Hooves had joined you and was removing the restraints from over her chest.
>With the sheet away Hooves stepped away and allowed you to do the honors.
>There wasn’t time to argue with him right now so you went back to one of the first medical procedures you ever learned.
>The one that earned you your cutie mark.
>You hesitated, if for just a moment, when you saw some of the same scars on her now exposed forelegs that ran down yours as well.
>No time for feelings right now.
>You placed your hooves over her and started chest compressions.
>One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand...

END A (NOT SO)RESTFUL INTERLUDE