"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.
Finally, it was the end of the day. As well as the end of your shift. It was time for the night owls to be on call, and time for you to get headed home.
You and your partner were in the locker room. Having already showered for the day, the two of you were hanging your uniforms up for the evening. And, for some odd reason, he thought it was necessary for him to talk about his personal life with his wife.
"So she's going down on me." he says nonchalantly, "I'm lying there thinking that's the way it was gonna be for a while, but boy was I wrong. She comes off me, crawls up to my face, and says 'Are ready for that surprise I promised you?'. Of course, with my hooves tied and being gagged, I didn't really have a say in the matter. So, I just nodded. She dives back down, and I think she's gonna be doing something with my cock again. Oh, I was wrong. She lifts my legs up, and then she buries her face in my-"
"Eww, dude no!" you said, clear disgust in your voice, "I don't wanna hear about you and your wife's kinky night games."
"Oh, come on. Don't be such a friggin' baby." he said to you in joking manner.
"Look, whatever turns you on, that's fine." you told him, "I'm just saying keep that crap to yourself. I personally find bondage a tad bit frighting."
"You don't know what your missing." he said, hanging his shirt up in his locker.
"I know exactly what I'm missing." you retorted, "A chance to be tied up while a some angry filly whips my ass, and I get no say in the matter. Yeah, sounds like a great time."
"For the last time, we don't use a whip." he said, and then gave you a smirk. "We use a paddle."
"Dude, TMI! I don't wanna know this!" you partially shouted.
"Oh come on, take a joke." he said, laughingly. "Besides, when was the last time you had any fun?"
"Allow me to answer that question, with a question." you retorted quickly, "Why do you care?"
"Well, I think after sharing with you, it would only be polite for you to return the favor." he said, smirking.
"Favor?" you asked incredulously, "That was more along the lines of slow torture. Really, I should see if I can press charges on you for that."
"Ha ha," he mock laughed, "I already know where this is going. But your witty comebacks will only get you so far. One of these day, you're gonna have to answer me."
"Well, if your so sure about that, why hasn't it happened already?" you asked.
"Whatever," he said, brushing off your comment, "The point of the matter is, you need to get laid. And I know who you've got your eye on."
"As if that's a secret." you mumbled to yourself.
"What was that?" he asked.
"Nothing." you responded.
"Come on, you know I'm just having some fun." he said, "And I know you feel about Nurse Redheart. I know you can't stand the guy she's with either. You should probably make a move."
Again, more obvious information. It was already clear to the ponies who paid attention that you did have a... thing for her. But at the same time, she was already taken, and the two of you had a good relationship as friends. You couldn't let her know how you actually feel. That would just ruin things. Besides, it wasn't like you didn't like being her friend. You just sometimes wished the two of you could be... well... more.
You knew he took notice of you drawn out pause. It was never like you to do that. Usually you'd just give a snappy reply, making a joke and shrugging off the situation. You only ever stayed quiet when you knew you were caught, or if someone else came up with something you just couldn't counter.
"Look, I know what your thinking." he said to you, all joking manner gone from his tone. "And your right. I honestly don't know what she see's in that guy either." That wasn't what you were thinking, but you let him go on anyway. "I mean, he treats her like crap. You want my honest opinion? She would be far better off with you. And I mean it."
You turned around to look at him, noticing that his expression was in fact serious. No manner of joking what so ever.
"Thanks." you say, hanging up your uniform. "But it's not my call on who she's with."
"Hey, chin up." he said, "She'll wise up eventually. She just can't see it right now. Mares are like that. They try to do their best to fix things, even when they know it won't work. For some odd reason, they always want to make everything work. I mean-"
"Okay, will you kill the stereotypes?" you said, breaking his rant. "You and I both know that is not how all females behave."
"Regardless," he continued, "Trust me. She'll see it eventually."
"Maybe." was all you could say. You reached back into your locker, pulling out the T-shirt that you had. Sure, it wasn't normal for ponies to be wearing clothes outside of duty, but you rather liked it. It wasn't much anyway, just a royal blue shirt with the letters "EMT" on the front.
"Why do you have to wear that stupid thing?" he asked you, obviously referring to your shirt.
"Eh, you never know." you said, "Gotta be ready for anything. I figured you'd be the subject matter expert with that. You know, consider you unintentionally knocked up your wife twice."
"Oh, you had to bring that up." he said, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, I did." you said, "Gotta do something to keep my mood flowing."
The two of you said your goodbye's to each other some time ago, and you were on your way home. It was still pretty warm out, even with the sun having gone down some time ago.
Even with the conversation having gone by some time ago, you still couldn't keep yourself from thinking about it. What he said, what he actually thought about you taking a liking to her, it all kept replaying in your mind.
Yeah, you had feelings for her, but what were you gonna do about it? You couldn't just break up a relationship. Even if it was not a good one. No, you weren't that type of pony.
Even if you did have a chance, would she even want to be with you? You guys were friends, for sure, but could that transition well into an actual relationship? Did you really want to take the risk of loosing a long time friend?
No, you didn't.
As much as you wanted to, you just couldn't find it in yourself to ruin her current love life. It was probably for the better, with you two being in the same employment and all. You'd heard about other ponies breaking up with each other when they were working in the same job, and never ended well with either of them.
You'd just continue doing what you had been. Being a good friend to her, being there when she needed it. And you knew she would do the same for you. So, you guessed it would be okay. At the very least, the two of you would always be very great friends.
At least... that's what you thought.
Your train of thought was interrupted when heard a loud scream. Your ears perked up, trying to determine which direction it came from. It came once more, this time more clear. You picked up on which direction it was coming from, and immediately started running towards it.
As you sprinted down the road, the thoughts of what might be happening raced through your mind. Judging by the pitch of the scream, it was clear that it was a female. Considering the late hour, it could have been a variety of things.
You continued running, thankful that all the training they made you do kept you in shape. But, after that second scream, there was nothing else. You stopped right in the middle of the road, darting your head around, trying to find the source of the scream. Thankfully, you heard something that helped lead you to it.
"You stupid bitch, you think you can talk to me like that?!" you heard a deep voice say. And you would've recognized that voice anywhere.
You took off in the direction of the voice, already knowing who you were going to be seeing when you got there. When you rounded the street corner, looking down the ally of the nearby home, you were met with just what you were expecting.
There was Nurse Redheart, laying face down on the ground, not moving. A large earth stallion above her, shouting out slurred insults and degrading words to her. He kicked her hard in the stomach, causing her to curl up in pain.
It lit a fire in your chest.
Without another thought even crossing your mind, you charged to the scene. You panted strongly as you ran towards them, causing the stallion to look over at you. If he had been a bit quicker, he may have been able to stop you ramming into him. But, thankfully, luck was on your side.
You pushed him so hard he flew backwards, smacking his head against the wall and knocking him out. That was one problem taken care of, but you had a far bigger problem to deal with.
You turned back to look at her, noticing that she was still not moving. You were immediately at her side, turning her over so you could get a good look at the damage that was done. And you didn't need your medical knowledge to know that it wasn't good at all.
In addition to the uncountable number of bruises that she had on her body, there were also several mark that indecated that she was attacked with something blade like. You glanced over to the wall, seeing the weapon in question. It was kitchen knife, roughly five inches long.
You worried very little about that, for had a far more pressing issue to attend to.
"Red?" you said to her, trying to see if she was at all responsive. "Red, look at me. Look at me." She tried looking at you, her eyes dipped so low that they might as well have been closed. "That's right, good girl." You told her in a hasty tone. As much as you wanted to treat her right then and there, you knew you were gonna need actual medical equipment for this.
You grabbed her shoulders, and then began pulling her out into the open. You hoped there would be enough light to do an actual assessment of injuries. As you got her out into the street, you noticed another pony walking by, a guitar slung over his back.
"Hey!" you called out to him, and he took notice right away. "I need some help!"
He rushed over to you, dropping the guitar on the street. You didn't know who he was, but you were thankful he was there.
"Go call an ambulance and get a first aid kit." you tell him. He just nodded, and then ran off to the nearest home to he can find what you asked for.
You looked back to Redheart and, with the street being well illuminated by the lamppost, you finally got a good look at how bad her injuries were.
Not only did she have bruises and cuts riddling her body, but she was also blue in the face, and her breathing was ragged and labored. You knew that was a sign of troubled breathing, but you weren't quite sure what. You felt around her throat, trying to see if there was any airway obstruction. That yielded no results.
But you couldn't afford to panic. You'd been doing this for far too long to start panicking now.
That's when you the small bubbles forming around one of her stab wounds. That could only mean one thing: Tension Pneumothorax. Or, as everyone else just called it, a sucking chest wound. The blade had pierced the cavity in her abdomen where her lung was, and air was pushing against her lung.
That was not good. You didn't have anything to stop that. If air kept getting in, eventually her lung would collapse. Thinking on your hooves, you just decided to do the best you could with what you had. You pulled off your shirt, using it to cover some of the area's she was bleeding.
After your makeshift dressing was put in place, you looked back up to her. She was looking worse. Her face was starting to loose more of it's color, and her breathing was beginning to slow down.
"Hey, hey, look at me." you said to her, trying to keep you voice calm, "It's gonna be okay, alright. I'm gonna make sure you get through this. Will someone help me, please!" You shouted, looking away from her to try and get anyone's attention.
Just as you shouted, that stranger that you had met before came running back up to you. In his mouth was a box with a large red cross on it. Once he got to you, he told you he called an ambulance and that they would be here soon.
"Thank you so much." you told him. You opened the first aid kit, looking for all the things you would need. You pulled out the gauze, and unwrapped the plastic around it. Now you had what you needed to properly treat that hole in her chest.
You took the small piece of plastic, and waited for her to exhale. Once she did, you placed the square onto her wound. Acting fast, you took some of the medical tape and put a piece on three of the corners. Even though it had been a while since you'd done this, you still remembered to leave one corner open to allow the air still in her chest an exit as the lung expanded.
As you finished applying the last of your field dressing, you noticed you breathing start to go back to normal. But when you looked back up to her face, she wasn't awake any more. The only thing you could think did it was the lack of air.
There wasn't much else you could do for her. As you waited, you took your shirt off of her and started cleaning her wounds as best you could. With the area hopefully clean, you set about applying actual bandaging to her cuts. It was hard work trying to get the bandages wrapped around her body, but you managed.
Finally, after what seemed like a small eternity, the ambulance arrived. As well as several of the local police force.
The ponies in the back cab burst out, and went to you and her without hesitation. You recognized the two of them being the guys who had relieved you not but an hour ago. Of course, they noticed you as well.
"What the-" one of them said, "What happened?"
"It doesn't matter right now!" you snapped at him, "We gotta get her to the hospital! She's got multiple lacerations, severe trauma, and a large opening in her chest that could cause her lung to collapse!"
No sooner after you said it, the two of them went back to the ambulance and got the gurney. With a quick hoist, they got her up and onto the stretcher as fast as they could. When she was loaded on and strapped down, they took her to the ambulance. You were about to follow them, but you were stopped.
"Hold on there, fella." You turned around to see who it was, and you were met with a cops face. "We can't let you go. We have a few questions to ask you."
"Officer, please." you begged him, "She's a very dear friend of mine. I have to make sure that she's going to be alright."
"I understand, son." he told you, "But from what the other witness says, and from what we saw in the alleyway, this is now a crime scene. And, with you knowing the victim, we need information."
You wanted to argue with him, but you knew he was right. If that ass was going to pay for what he did, then you were gonna have to comply. You wanted to go with her, you felt that you neededto be with her after all of that. But you knew she was in good hooves.