The tapping of hooves rang through the nearly empty room. The mare's hooves ached, but that did not stop her from trying to were a trench in the wooden floor. A gentle hoof rested on her shoulder. She stopped pacing for a moment and looked at the tall, dark stallion. "Birdy," His voice was soft and full of concern, "you need to sit down, you've been pacing for hours." She blew air out threw her nose.
"But He hasn't come back yet.........I'm worried, you know how he can get Clock." She let him lead her to a chair and sat down. "What if hes gotten hurt again?" Clock rubbed her shoulder a bit and then dropped his hoof to the floor.
He shook his head and replied softly "I don't know Bird Song. But if it makes you feel better I'll-" He was then interrupted by the familiar ring of the telephone. Clock Work rolled his eyes and walked over to the land line. He levitated it up to his ear with his magic and proceeded to answer with a disinterested "Hello, this is Clock Work, how may I help you?" The conversation ensued with a series of grunts, yes's and no's from the stallion and ended with a simple "Thank you, we'll be right over." Bird Song titled her head and gave him a confused look. She gestured with her hoof to urge him to explain. He cleared his throat and walked over to her, siting her back down. "Birdy, I know where Birch is, but you aren't going to like it." Bird Song narrowed her eyes and Clock Work.
Slowly the pale blue mare rose to her hooves and walked over to the dark brown stallion. She gazed up at him with a serious expression. "Where is he Clock Work, and don't you dare sugar coat it." Clock Work took a step back from his friend.
"Hes in the Ponyville General Hospital right now. He stumbled in there with serious head trauma and collapsed. They only knew to call us when they found our business card in his coat pocket." With that he turned and took down a black winter coat off the rack and placed a black fedora onto the top of his head. Bird watched him in a daze. This was the worst yet. Usually Birch just came home with a bad bruise or sprained leg, or even a small laceration on his side and needing a new coat. "Come on Birdy, we need to get going." Clock said gently, handing her a fuzzy tan coat and grey beanie.
She stood there for a moment, and began placing on her coat. "Please, tell me your joking. Please." She said with a slight catch to her voice. Clock Work shook his head and opened the door, beckoning her out. She followed slowly and watched her hooves as she walked. The pair traveled in silence the whole way, both lost in their own thoughts.
Eventually the familiar sight of the hospital came into view. With a rush of air from the sliding glass doors Bird Song and Clock Work were inside Ponyville General. The scent of disinfectants and cleaners hung in the air, while an an air freshener of unknown scent tried in vein to mask it. The cream walls with their simple decorations and warm lamp light made the hospital seem almost homey. Bird Song was jolted out of her thoughts with the small ding of the bell on the counter top. A nurse with a pale pink main and kind blue eyes hurried over to meet them. "Yes, how may I be of service?" she asked in a sweet, yet professional voice. Her name tag read Nurse Red Heart.
"Hello, we spoke on the phone Miss. Red Heart. We're here about our friend, Birchwood." The nurse nodded and ducked under the counter and brought out a clip board.
"Yes, of course, I assume your Clock Work then?" she asked politely, also drawing out a pen. Clock nodded in response. "Alright, well I'll need you both to sign in and then I can take you to him." she told the pair, sliding the sheets towards them. Both signed in and followed the nurse down the hallway. The halls were a stark contrast to the welcoming waiting area. With very sparsely furnished walls and plain colors it felt more like a prison then anything, at least from a visual point. Bird Song almost ran into Clock Work when he stopped, but managed to stop just in time. Nurse Red heart opened one of the plain steel doors and gestured for them to enter. Bird Song faltered when she saw her friend lying in the bed.
The top part of the stallion's head was wrapped in white bandages, an IV was attached to his arm and the heart monitor beside him was beeping in a steady, but unnerving rhythm. His peachy coat was all but hidden by the pale green polka doted hospital robe and the stiff white bed sheet. She walked up slowly to his bed side and took one hoof in hers. She was not expecting this. Her friends eyes were firmly shut and every so often a slight whiny escaped his lips, bringing a small smile to her face. "We had to sedate him after the initial procedures." The nurse told them. "After we treated his wounds and preformed a CT scan to insure his brain had not been damaged and moved him to his room he woke up in a fit. He was extremely volatile, screaming and flailing his limbs. We sedated him with a sleep spell, hes been out since."
"And was there any damage?" Clock Work asked as Bird Song gazed at Birchwood. The nurse shook her head.
"Luckily there wasn't." Clock Work nodded and moved closer to the bed, gazing calmly over his friend. Birchwood began to stir. Bird Song dropped her friends hoof and looked at him hopefully. Birch blinked his eyes open wearily and looked around the room. His eyes fell onto Bird Song and Clock Work.
Bird couldn't contain herself and threw her fore legs around him. "You big goof what were you thinking! You have no clue how worried we were!" Birch blinked in confusion and did not return the embrace. He gently pushed her off. "Birchwood?" she gave him a confused look.
"Is that my name? I...I'm sorry I can't remember." His brow furrowed.
"W-what?" Bird Song said in a voice barely above a whisper. "D-don't joke like that Birch, its not funny." She took a pace back. Clock Work moved closer to Birch.
"Do you remember me?" he asked in a soft tone. Birch thought for a moment and shook his head.
"Should I?" he asked confused. Clock Work let out a sigh. Nurse red heart gestured to the two ponies.
"Please would you two go wait in the lobby, I'll call you when you can come back." She walked over to the bedside table and pressed a number of buttons, her voice then rang through the entire hospital. "Would Dr. Strong Heart please report to Room 324. Dr. Strong Heart to Room 324." Bird Song was about to argue that they should be aloud to stay when Clock gently, but firmly, began to guide her out of the room.
"Thank you. We'll be content to wait, please do what you can for him." Clock called over his shoulder before shutting the door.
Bird had returned to pacing back and forth, despite the objections of Clock. She stopped when she heard someone clear their throat. She flung her head around and saw a tan earth pony with a brown, kept main, and white lab coat standing before her. His name tag read Dr. Strong Heart "Are you Bird Song and Clock Work?" he asked the pair.
"Yes. Yes we are." She replied quickly. "How is Birchwood?"
Dr. Strong Heart cleared his throat. "Please follow me, I believe it would be better if we talked about this away from prying ears." He said in a strictly professional tone. Bird sighed and walked close to Clock as they followed the doctor through the halls.
The doctor's office walls were lined with books ranging from The Study of the Effects of Medi-Magic to How to Handle an Emotionally Distraught Patient. He motioned for them to take a seat in one of the brown wooden chairs while he sat down behind his desk. Clock spoke first. "So Dr. Strong Heart, whats happened to Birchwood?"
The doctor took a deep breath and placed a pair of black rimmed glasses on his face. "As you already know, Mr. Clock Work, your friend suffered a rather severe head laceration, as well as several abrasions on various other areas of his body." Clock nodded, taking this in as if it were a business deal.
"Go on." he prompted.
"Yes, of course. Now I regret to inform you of this news, but it appears that your friend has amnesia." Bird song felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes.
"No." she whispered.