Chapter three: Awakening

     Gust had not been awake for much of the trip back to the Crystal Empire. When he was awake, the pain was like nothing he had ever endured. Being in a state of limbo, he only remembered small bits and pieces of the journey. The makeshift bandage was thoroughly soaked with blood, now dripping down his side. He felt lightheaded, like he would not be able to stand on his own. The pain was to the point that it all blurred together and numbness set in. Compared to what he had been feeling, this new numbness was blissful.

Coal Dust's flapping wings and the rush of the cold air were suddenly replaced by a semi-soft stretcher bed. He started coming out of his trance as the doctor looked him over. His eyes lay half open, and his breathing was burdened.

Voices echoed far away, almost inaudible and definitely not understandable. In fact, they were standing over him. He felt a slight jolt as the stretcher began moving. The fog had lifted a bit, enough that he could see lights sailing past above him and a greenish stallion's face looking down at him.

"Where am I?" He weakly gasped.

     "Don't worry, you're in good hooves," Said one of the voices.

     The lights continued rushing past in a steady rhythm. The numbness had worn off largely, and the pain came back with a vengeance. Gust's eyes watered, and he bit back the urge to moan. The stretcher must have had a flat spot in the wheel, the slight bumps it made as it went down the hallway agitated the pain. The procession went through a set of double doors, down another hall, around a few more turns, through another set of double doors, and stopped under a large and very bright light. Gust looked around the room. There were lots of machines with strange implements attached to them. Several ponies stood around a small table in the center of the room, right next to the stretcher.

     Hooves grabbed him on "Ready? One, two three!"

     The words sounded far off, almost inaudible to the wounded stallion. Hooves lifted Gust up to the operating table. The hard metal felt cold under his back. The attendants, wearing surgeon's masks and protective clothes, circled around. Gust felt them attaching things to his chest, but didn't bother to look at their work. His side was hurting too much for him to think about much else.

"Son, would you lift your head up for a minute?" said a distant voice. Gust did as he was asked. A mask with a tube running from it was fitted onto his muzzle. "Okay, you can relax now." He did note that the mask smelled of cotton candy. In addition to the smell of candy, he noticed that his hearing was really trailing off now. He could barely hear anything happening around him, and anything he noticed seemed to echo. His vision started acting up too now. Ripples formed at the edges of his eyes, gradually working their way into the center of his gaze until he could barely see anything.

"That's funny. I've never seen ripples in my eyes before," he thought. Now he noticed that he couldn't feel his extremities anymore, and the pain was now dull and distant.

"Shimmer, would you hand me the anesthetic-thetic-thetic?" resonated a very distant voice. A dull burning sensation raced up Gust's foreleg, and then black.

***

       A beep echoed through Gust's head. He cracked open his eyelids just enough to see a little bit of light and a few fuzzy shapes. The light strained his eyes, so he decided to shut them for the time being. He quickly drifted back off to sleep.

A few minutes later, he awoke again. There's that damn beeping again. He shifted his body a bit and opened his eyes, groaning at how heavy all of his limbs felt. An attendant came walking over when he started moving.

"How are you feeling?" The attendant had a cheerful note in her voice, and her orange hair bounced a little when she spoke. Gust just glanced over at her.

"Where am I?" he asked weakly.

"You are in the hospital!" she exclaimed. Her enthusiasm was refreshing, but still seemed out of place in a hospital. "Well, to be more specific, the recovery room. You just had surgery!"

Geez, I never thought you could be so happy about a hospital. He smiled at her.

"Well, now that you're awake, we can take you down to your room!" she said a bit too excitedly. Her smile seemed oddly large, almost as if it hurt her to grin so widely.

Gust sighed. He felt like he had been run over by a train, and his brain was in the middle of a fog bank. He sank down into the pillow as the overly joyous nurse wheeled him down the hallway. The lights on the ceiling rolled past in rhythm again. Okay, you're in the hospital. Tough luck. Focus on the positives. This bed was much more comfortable than the stretcher he was on earlier. No thumping from a bad wheel was another plus. Also, his wound was not overly painful now. Gust smiled a little, chuckling at the thought of how commonly he was giving himself little mental pep talks these days.

The bed turned again and entered a room, shifting to the side and coming to a stop. Gust lifted his head and sized the room up. It was small, just big enough to fit a small group of ponies. Windows with the blinds closed stood on his left side, and the door was on his right. Another door sat closer in on the right, probably a bathroom. A table sat next to the bed door contained a vase with some flowers in it. More machines sat in the corner between the window and the bed.

"Are you comfortable, hon?" said a new and southern sounding voice.

"Yeah, I'm doing fine. Thank you," he grumbled. His eyes felt like there were barbells hanging from the lids.

"Okay, we're just gonna get a few more things situated an we'll be out of yer hair." Some shifting around and a few beeps from a machine later, the two nurses walked to the door.

"If you need anything, there's a call button on the wall behind your head. Goodnight!" chimed the zealous nurse. The two nurses turned and walked out the door, shutting off the light and carefully closing the door behind them. It only took moments before Gust dove back into a slumber.

***

Pellets of sleet beat on Gust's face. The wind howled, and the clouds hung heavy and low. It was sharply cold. Gust looked at his other team members as they walked through the snow, all of them trying to protect their faces from the stinging sleet. Gust tried to keep trudging on until a scream rang out. It was the type of scream that sent shivers down your spine.  A black cloud had descended on Flash Point, tearing him apart systematically. The cloud only spent a brief moment on top of Flash before it moved on to Greenfield. He kicked out one attacker before he too was overtaken and shredded. They ran, desperately fleeing the certain death coming in behind them. Fire Chaser went next, and then Coal Dust was torn to shreds only a few feet away. Gust ran until he couldn't breathe any more. He collapsed and looked to his fate, while the faces of hungry Changelings rushed in.

***

Gust broke from his nightmare in a cold sweat. He was shaking, from the cold of the dream that still felt so real and the terror of being killed by a mob of hungry Changelings.  He rubbed his eyes and looked over at daylight streaking in through the windows. He felt stiff and achy all over, but above of all of it was the gentle sting still creeping from his side. A few birds chirped and flew by the window.

"Ugh." Gust sighed. He laid his head back into the pillow and stared at the ceiling. What am I gonna do now? I don't want to sit here in this damn hospital forever!

The latch clicked and the door swung open. "Mornin' sleepyhead!"

Gust turned and looked at the bright yellow mare standing in the doorway. She was slightly heavyset and had a few freckles on her nose, her face was warm and gentle, and her smile seemed to brighten the room. He yawned, "Good morning."

"How are ya feeling this mornin', hon?" She was carrying a tray with several items on it.

"Better I guess, but still like I got hit by a train."

"Aww, most of the time after a big surgery ya feel like that. Anyways, I'm Goldie Apple an I'm yer caregiver for today. Yer name was Gust right?"

"Yeah, yeah sure," he replied blankly as his gaze drifted to a bowl she was carrying. The smell of cinnamon and butter filled the room.

"Goodness, I bet you're famished! You've been eyeing that oatmeal since I walked in!" she said with a chuckle. She gave the bowl to Gust, who took it quickly. Usually, Gust was not a big oatmeal eater, but at this moment food was food, no matter what kind of mushy texture it had.

"Thank you."

"No trouble at all! I'll let you eat in peace," Goldie said as she walked to the door. "Be back in a few minutes, now."

He watched her close the door and then threw all etiquette to the wind. He stuck his nose into the bowl and wolfed down several big bites before he noticed that he was already getting full. What? I've never filled up this fast before! I'm only half done with this for crying out loud!

Gust pushed the bowl to the side and tried to roll over, but failed to do so with his side messed up. He groaned, pissed at the thought of not being able to sleep on his side now. The door opened again. The doctor stepped in.

"How are you doing, son?" he asked cheerfully, yet seriously at the same time.

"Good. As good as I can be!" Gust said sarcastically. Barely being able to eat what he usually could and being confined to laying on his back had quickly changed his mood.

"Glad to hear it," he doctor hadn't noticed his patient's sour disposition. "Now I just want to do a follow up exam after that surgery. It wont take long at all."

"Sure."

The doctor fumbled with a few things and produced a clipboard and a pen. "Okay, how would you rate your pain on a scale from one to ten?"

"Five or so." The doctor scribbled something on the clipboard.

"Do you feel lightheaded at all?

"No. Just a little sore."

"Good, that's all normal." The doctor lowered the clipboard to the table. "Can you turn over on your side for me, please?

"No, I already tried rolling over. It didn't turn out so well."

"Okay, can you at least lean a bit to the side? I need to check the bandage."

"I'll try." Gust pried up his left side just enough for the doctor to see the bandages. The doctor only needed a second or two to check the bandage.

"So doc, how long until I can get out of here?

"I'd say at least a week, maybe longer. Just depends on how fast that, uh, injury heals." The doctor was busy with his clipboard and didn't pay much attention to Gust's last question.

Gust recoiled at those words. "What?! I cant wait a week! I need to get out of here!" Gust yelled as he started struggling to sit up.

The doctor noticed Gust trying to move and snapped away from his charts. "The only place you'll be going if you move now is into the ICU, be still!"

"Come on, I can't sit in the hospital for a week! I'll go insane!"

"Well if you tried to get up now you wouldn't make it to your hooves!" The doctor was getting somewhat annoyed by Gust's frantic nature now.

     "I'm fine! When can I get my discharge papers?" asked Gust.

     The doctor, fed up with Gust's antics, ran a hoof down his face. "Gust, you have a large piece of your side missing. The shot penetrated almost all the way through you. It punctured one of your lungs and missed your heart by half an inch for Celestia's sake! You have to understand that you cannot try to move around for at least the next few days, you'll only hurt yourself and end up in here longer." Gust frowned and laid back, his pride somewhat hurt.

     The doctor walked over to the door. "I just want you to relax. Read a book, take a nap, see if you can get some visitors in here. I'm sure that you can find something to keep yourself occupied. I will come back later to check up on you again. Just remember not to move that side too much." The doctor latched the door behind himself.

Gust turned and looked through the window. Outside, the residents of the Crystal Empire were going about their daily business, some working, some playing, some shopping. It was shaping up to be another wonderful day. The sun shone brightly, birds flew with the gentle breeze, and  several carts rolled past on the road outside. Gust had been a part of this tradition since he transferred here from Baltimare two years ago. Since that transition, he found that he loved living in this beautiful city compared to the skidrow he had come from back in his hometown. Sure, the military barracks weren't all that great compared to the splendor of living in the Crystal Empire, but he couldn't complain about having a bed to sleep in and a roof over his head.

     He sat there, gazing out that window for a good stretch of time until the door latch clicked.

     A small tan mare stood in place of the door as it swung open. Her flowing red mane was tied up neatly into a ponytail.

Gust was surprised to say the least. "Rose?" Gust asked in a daze. "Is that you?"

She walked across the room and stood a few feet from the bed. "Gust," she whispered softly. Tears welled up in her eyes. She ran across the final few feet separating her from the bed. She wrapped her hooves around his neck gently, so as not to hurt his wound, and buried her face in his shoulder.

Gust was still in a bit of a daze. As Rose embraced him, he looked around confusedly for a moment before returning the gesture.

     "Rose... It's okay."

     She looked up at him. "Oh Gust, I've missed you!"

     "I've missed you too," He said softly. "Where have you-"

     She suddenly pushed away from his embrace. "You almost died!" She had tears streaming down her face, and she almost looked angry. "The doctor told me everything. Damnit Gust! You scared me to death!" As quickly as she had come in, she ran out of the room.

"Rose, wait!" he yelled after her. The latch clicked again, and she was gone. Gust looked up at the ceiling and shook his head. "What just happened?" he asked himself out loud.  He had wanted to talk to her, but she ran out before he could even really get a word in. He laid his head back, wincing at the pain in his side. He shut his eyes, trying to clear his mind and get some rest, but to no avail. The latch clicked again. What now? A familiar black Pegasus stood in the door.