Pandemonium

CHAPTER II

Beep. Beep.

“Unnhh…”

The pain was still there, just not as bad. The sharp pain in her head had dulled into an occasional throb, and her foreleg no longer burned. Actually, it doesn’t hurt at all! she thought. She grunted as she sat up straight. Her stomach still hurt, she noticed with a grimace. She finally opened her eyes.

White light filled her vision for a few seconds, her pupils dilating and contracting to adjust to the light. As the room slowly came into focus, Spectrum gasped. She was in a hospital room, hooked up to a heartbeat monitor and IV line, just like last time. Beep. Beep. She looked over at the window, hoping to figure out where she was. All she could see, however, was the sky. She grit her teeth and tried to get out of the hospital bed. Beep beep. Beep beep. She put her hind legs on the floor, sitting awkwardly in her bed. She tentatively placed one foreleg down on the floor, trying to steady herself.

CRASH!

Spectrum’s vision went black for a second as the pain registered. Shouting filled the hallway outside. The door banged open and a doctor followed by two nurses charged in. One of them, a Unicorn stallion, immediately grabbed her in his magic. “Please, stop fighting us!” he pleaded, trying to force Spectrum back into the bed. The other two doctors were trying to still Spectrum’s thrashing legs. “Please, you’ll pop your stitches!”

Spectrum ignored him, her pain-filled mind delirious and paranoid. She was incapable of rational thought at that point, and she was dimly aware of a small burning feeling in her gut. “No! You can’t take me! I won’t let you!” she cried, much to the confusion of the doctors.

“Please, stop! You’re only going to hurt yourself!” shouted one of the nurses, a Pegasus mare. Spectrum lashed out, hitting her in the jaw. The nurse bit her tongue, stifling a curse. The burning sensation suddenly grew stronger. Spots filled her vision and she coughed. Something thick and sticky dribbled out of the corner of her mouth. She was dimly aware of the other ponies frantically rushing around. “We’re losing her!”

“Prep the table, stat!”

“Just stay with me, okay? Don’t leave me!”

Her world went dark, and the noise faded to silence.

~ ~ ~

Beep. Beep.

Spectrum groaned weakly as she opened her eyes again. Her stomach burned hotter than before, and her legs were sore. Except for her right foreleg. That didn’t concern her, though. Nothing did. Aside from the aching and burning, she felt wonderful. Happy, even. She looked around the room, looking for anything that might prove entertaining. She saw the Unicorn from earlier sitting in a chair near the door reading what appeared to be a magazine. “Hiya,” she said brightly. The doctor looked up, startled.

“Ah, good. You’re awake!” he said with a smile. Spectrum giggled a little at the funny way the stallion spoke. “You speak funny,” she said with a smile. The doctor frowned for a second, then smiled. “That, my dear, is because  I come Neighppon originally. My family immigrated three generations ago.” Spectrum giggled.

“I still think you speak funny.” The doctor smiled patiently.

“The anesthetic will wear off momentarily. Then we can actually discuss your situation.” The doctor frowned. “We do have some serious business to discuss.”

The doctor was right. Spectrum was slowly becoming more aware of her environment, as well as the pain in her stomach. She blanched as she realized what just happened. “Oh, no…” she whispered. “Did I just giggle like a little filly?” she asked, blushing in embarrassment. The doctor nodded.

“As I said, the anesthetic is wearing off. This is good, because you’ll be able to talk with me. Now, your name is Spectrum, correct?” he asked as he stood up to open the blinds. Light flooded into the room, allowing Spectrum to get a clearer look at her doctor. He had pale green eyes and a blue coat. Spectrum nodded dumbly, still embarrassed. The doctor’s smile faded. “And you are a soldier, correct?” he asked. Spectrum nodded again, unsure of what the doctor was implying.

“Doctor, may I ask you a question?” she asked suddenly. The doctor looked up from his paperwork.

“Of course,” he responded. “Anything you want.”

Spectrum frowned. “Why don’t I feel any pain in my right foreleg?” she asked, her voice laced with worry. The doctor froze. He looked up at her, his eyes full of sadness. “Spectrum, I don’t know if you want to know the truth.” Spectrum’s veins turned to ice when he said this. “Tell me. Now.”

The doctor sighed and  put on some glasses. “You had several fractures in your radius, large metacarpal, and your first phalanx. Not only that, but several lacerations to your foreleg severed your common digital extensor muscle and your deep digital flexor muscle. If not for the quick treatment by the hospital staff, you’d be dead. As it is now, gangrene had already set in… and we were forced to amputate. I’m sorry, Spectrum. You might never walk again.”

Spectrum listen quietly and stared down at where her leg had been. Now it was just a stub. She stared down at it, feeling as if she would throw up. She felt awful, knowing that she might never run, let alone walk again. A dim memory brought a spark of hope. “What about prosthetic limbs? My aunt had one, why can’t I?” she demanded. The doctor grimaced. “I’ll address that afterwards. Anyway, your pancreas was also injured. You were bleeding internally when you were admitted to the hospital. Between your leg and your pancreas, your projected chance of survival was about twelve percent. You truly are lucky to be alive, Spectrum.” Spectrum listened wordlessly, thinking about the past however long it had been.

“How long have I been here, in this hospital?” she asked suddenly. The doctor’s grimace slowly melted away to a smile. “Only four days. You’re recovering much quicker than expected. In about a week you’ll be able to begin physical therapy.” Spectrum’s eyes widened. Four days? But what about Wavelength? she wondered.

“What about my sister? Does she know?” she asked urgently. The doctor nodded.

“Yes. Miss Wavelength has already come by to visit you. You were still recovering from surgery and were unconscious.” He smiled. “She’s such a sweet filly.”

She felt a pang of sadness when she heard that Wavelength had already been by. “I wish I could have seen her. I’ve missed her so much,” she muttered sadly. The doctor smiled gently. “She said she would visit every Tuesday as long as her schedule was open. If she can’t make it, she said she would send a letter.”

“What day is it today?” Spectrum asked. The doctor checked his watch. “Thursday. Sorry,” he apologized. Spectrum sighed. “Almost a week. Now, what about the prosthetic?” she asked, bringing them back to the subject. The doctor looked out the window sadly. “Our technology isn’t advanced enough to replace an entire leg. Only the lower part, from the small metacarpal down. We simply aren’t advanced enough scientifically or magically to replace the joint itself, let alone the entire leg. Only an Alicorn would have enough magical power to bond the prosthetic with your elbow joint.” Spectrum stared at the doctor, crestfallen. “Oh. Then I won’t walk again?” she asked in a depressed tone. The doctor was silent for a few moments.

“I’ll tell you what. How much do you want to walk again?” he asked. Spectrum thought about it for a minute, then answered. “I want to walk more than anything else right now. What does that have to do with anything?” she asked in confusion. The doctor took off his glasses and polished them. A sign of nervousness… she thought.

“Because you’re in the military, you get added bonuses, such as new options in the field of medicine. To help wounded veterans and amputees, we’ve developed a mechanical leg, far stronger than the natural limb. The only problem is, it hasn’t been tested before. We need a team of seven unicorns to bond the fake leg with the recipient’s body, making a kind of biomechanical limb. We’ve dubbed it ‘Peg Leg’, as a reminder of the old pirates and heir pegged legs.” He paused. “Spectrum, if you want to walk, this is your only option. This experimental procedure could either allow you to walk, or doom you to a wheelchair for the rest of your life. I’ll give you some time to think about this,” he said quietly as he left the room.

Spectrum sat in silence, thinking about her options. It seemed too unbelievable. Hurricane, her leg, the hospital. All of it seemed like a dream that wouldn’t end and progressively got worse. She laid there in her hospital bed thinking. And in a moment of truth, she knew what she was going to do. She looked at the heartbeat monitor, which had steadily been making it’s constant beeps, and pressed the button that called the doctor. Whatever the risk is, I have nothing to lose, she thought. The door opened, and the doctor walked in.

“What’s your plan?” he asked. Spectrum closed her eyes and sighed. “ I've decided,” she started slowly, “to go for it. Anything that might help me is worth taking the risk.” She smiled. “When will the operation be?” she asked. The doctor checked his paperwork. “On Wednesday. You’ll be able to see your sister before the operation.”

Spectrum smiled at the thought of seeing her sister again. “And until then?” she asked. The doctor shrugged.

“I can bring you books if you want, or a radio. There’s not much you can do until we know if your operation is successful.” Spectrum shrugged.

“Just bring me a copy of Daring Do, The Art of War, and any history book concerning Roaman military.”