Trauma

"It's alright, bud. Your gonna be okay." you told the young colt as he continued breathing heavily, tears running down his face. You were in the back of the ambulance, the siren wailing above you as it made it's way down the road. It wasn't an extreme emergency, but it was better to be safe.

When you say it wasn't an extreme emergency, you mean that it could have been a lot worse.

The young colt lying on the gurney had broken his leg. At least, if your assessment was anything to go by, that's what it looked like. And you'd been doing this for the past several years, so you were pretty sure of your judgment.

"It hurts so much!" the kid wailed out. You knew broken bones hurt (having broken a few yourself), but his hyperventilating was not helping you and your partner out at all. It's not that you hated kids, it's just that they often had a tendency to overreact to things like this. Yeah, it was a broken bone, but still.

"I know buddy, I know." you said to him, trying to get him to calm down. "But I need you to keep still. We don't want you doing any more damage to your leg than what already happened." That didn't do much to calm him down. Telling him that he could do more damage to his leg by moving probably wasn't the best thing to do. But, at least it got him to stop moving.

"Ponyville General, this E-Response 2." You heard your partner say over the radio, "We have a Code 2. Subject a male pegasus." You didn't really pay attention to the entire dispatch, having heard it copious amounts of times. It was always code 1's or code 2's, maybe once in a blue moon you'd get a code 3.

Codes one's were all too common. Just small problems that weren't an emergency. Code two's were rare. That often meant, while not an extreme case, it was very important. And a code three... well, that was the worst of them.

That's the thing about small towns, not a lot happens in them as far as emergencies go. Not that you were complaining.

"He's gonna need to get it checked out, get the X-ray room ready. Two out." You heard him finish relying the message. "How's our little soldier doin'?" He asked, turning his attention to the kid.

"It hurts." he whimpered weakly.

"Well kiddo, that's what happens when you try to show off in front of your friends. Jumping out of a tree when you can't fly is hardly a smart idea. You're just lucky it wasn't worse."

You smiled, letting out a short sigh. He was always better at dealing with kids than you were. But really, with two of his own, it wasn't surprising that he was.

After a few short minutes of riding, you arrive at the hospital. That was at least the fun about about code 2's. Where as you couldn't speed down the road, everyone got out of your way. When the two guys in front of you stopped the carriage, the doors to the back immediately opened.

"Alright, let's get him out." You heard one of the other workers say.

No sooner said then done, you and your partner pushed the gurney out of the back, allowing the wheels to drop down. Once it was outside, you and him began pushing it inside. It wasn't a rush, but you move with a fair bit of quickness. The double doors the emergency entrance opened up, greeting you with that all too familiar feeling.

"Paging Doctor Patella. Doctor Patella, please report to radiology." you heard someone say over the PA system. When you got inside, you were immediately greeted by two nurses. One male, the other female.

"What do we have here?" the male one asked. Just as you were about to answer, your friend gave you a nudge.

"Go ahead, I got this. I called it in, it's my responsibility." he told you.

"You sure?" you asked, double checking.

"Yeah man, don't worry about it." He said to you reassuringly. He then proceed to walk off with the two nurses, telling them what the young boy did, what you two did to help him and a whole bunch of other things you had run down during a debriefing.

Letting out a long sigh, you wiped the sweat off you forehead with your hoof. It's was a hot one, that was for sure. The start of summer and you already had kids getting into trouble.

Taking a seat on one of the many benches surrounding the receptionist desk, you leaned your back against the cool wall. On boy, did that feel good. You lifted your hoof up, unbuttoning the collar of your EMT shirt. You then pulled at your under shirt, allowing some of your body heat to be ventilated.

It was times like this that you really wished you didn't have to wear those uniforms.

You allowed your eyes to drift close, quietly dozing there as you allowed the cool air of the hospital to do its work on your body. The only thing you were really paying attention to was the radio on your shoulder. You knew that you could be called any minute, but really hoped you that you wouldn't be.

As you continued to relax there, you felt something touch your leg. And it was sure cold.

You opened your eyes and looked down, noticing that it was a styrofoam cup filled with ice water.

"Days been pretty busy, huh?" heard a voice say. You look up, and smile at the source of the voice.

It was Nurse Redheart, one of the many nurses that worked at the hospital with you. You smile to her before picking up the cup.

"Well, it isn't too bad." You said before taking a drink. "I swear though, these kids just keep getting into more trouble year after year. And thanks, by the way."

"Not a problem at all." she said, trotting over to the front desk. "Wouldn't want you boys getting dehydrated out there, now would we?"

"Well, we got plenty of IV's in the ambulance. I don't think that would be a problem." she simply smiles at your poor joke, knowing that you intended for it to be bad.

You stood up, downing what was left the water and taking a few of the ice pieces into your mouth. After chewing them, you threw the cup away in the near by trash can and walked up to the front desk.

"So, how have things here been treating ya?" you asked her.

"Oh, you know how it is." she said with a smirk, "Putting bandages on scuffed knees, taking ponies temperatures, scaring foals with shots. The usual." The two of you shared a small laugh.

"Yep, sounds like a good day so far." you said, continuing the conversation. "I hope the doc doesn't have you working too hard. Hate for you to have to visit the psych ward."

"Oh, and look who's talking." she retorted, "Mr. I'm always on duty."

"What, it's true." you said in a feigned defensive tone, "Even when I'm off duty, I gotta be prepared to react at any time. Unlike you, who gets to sit in a nice hospital all day tending to runny noses."

"Oh please." she said, rolling her eyes, "Like you do much better. Going to school sporting events encase someone gets hurt. Taking naps in the back of the ambulance when your not being called. Oh yeah, your job is so much more exciting than mine."

The two of you just smile at each other, than break out into a short burst of laughter. You two often engaged in these jabs at each others jobs. You often knocked her for not being an actual doctor, and she always took a stab at how your job wasn't even real medical practice.

Needless to say, you two had good relationship.

After your chuckling spree was over, you looked up at the clock that was over the desk. And you noticed that it was just after noon.

"Hmm," you say, getting her attention, "It looks like it's about that time. What do you say you and me go for a code seven?"

"Okay, sorry if I don't remember all your fancy codes, but what?" she asked.

"Lunch break, smart mouth." You say with a grin.

"Ha ha." she mocked, "Thanks for the offer, but I just got back from lunch with my stallion."

"Oh, alright." you say, trying not to sound disappointed.

"What is it?" she asked, catching your tone.

In all honesty, you could have cared less about lunch. What was really eating you, was the fact that she was still with that colt of hers. Now, you knew it wasn't your business to be telling her who to date, but he was just absolutely no good for her at all.

For starters, guy didn't even have a job. He had a job, but was fired. For another thing, from what you heard, he wasn't always on his best behavior around her. You had no proof, but thought of it just made you sick.

"Please don't tell me this about what I think it is." she said to you.

"Look, I know I've beat this to a pulp." you said, getting serious. "But I really think that he is the wrong one for you."

"I know how you feel, alright." she said, slight irritation in her voice. "But I don't need you to protect me. I'm a grown mare, and I can take care of myself. Besides, we're working things out. We may not always agree with things, but we always find a middle ground."

"I'm not trying to protect you, alright." you said, "I just don't wanna see you get hurt. Your my friend, and I'm not trying to ruin things. I just think you deserve a lot better."

She took a moment to look up from her papers, looking you in the eye. In her face, you can see a cross between gratitude and minor annoyance.

"Thanks." That was all she said before turning her attention back to her work.

You really didn't know how to respond to that one. She was either just trying to get you off of the subject by being gracious, or she was just getting rubbed the wrong way and wanted you leave her alone.

Regardless, you didn't get a chance to ask.

"Attention all units." you heard your say from your shoulder, "We have a call for an ambulance. Sugar Cube Corner, child having trouble breathing."

You reached to your radio, "This is two, we're on our way."

"Copy that two."

You look back to her. "Sorry gotta take this."

"It's alright. You go do your thing, and I'll be here when you get back." she said, waving you off to do your job.

You nodded to her before turning tail and jogging to door. Just as you made it to your ambulance, you saw your partner just coming out.

"Where you been, poky?" you ask, mocking him.

"Do I look like a unicorn to you?" he asked, climbing into the back with you, "Besides, I was busy. That's kids mom wouldn't stop asking me questions."

"Excuses, excuses." you said, closing the doors. You turned the siren on again, and the two guys up front took off down the road.

Even with you now engaged in work again, you still found yourself thinking about Nurse Redheart. Yeah, it wasn't your place to look after her... but still.

You didn't want her to be hurt. You didn't want her to be with someone that didn't appreciate what she did. But what could you do? She was already with someone. May not have been a good someone, but it was someone none the less.

It left a bit of a pit in your heart, but you just hid it. It wouldn't be good to be acting like that in front of kids.