One single heartbeat. That's all it took. And a small mare who was lying dead in the opposite bed would provide it for her.
More surgery and more needles are needed to give the young filly a heart that she so sorely needed. Her body was so tiny. She was so young. One month old and falling into the clutches of deaths embrace. One icy breath away from leaving for eternity.
All that stood between her and death right now we're the few seconds in which they had to remove her heart and replace it. A steady hoof and great knowledge was needed to complete the near on impossible task. They basically had to kill her to revive her.
This was it, the sterile knife carved into the foal's chest to retrieve her old muscle that withered by the second. As soon as they got her chest open, it was go time.
They had to race against the clock now.
It was a very delicate procedure, especially when working with the young Pegasus's miniature frame. The antibiotics were still having a strong hold on the filly, leaving her mouth dangling open in the oxygen mask that, although big, was doing its job exceedingly well.
It's
Her parents knew the risk, but they were prepared to try anything if it meant even a small chance of keeping their daughter with them.
It had just been a whole week of nothing but the foal squealing and squeaking. At first they had thought she was just going through a clingy phase but after a while of restless nights, the two ponies had relented and taken her to the doctors.
Their hearts broke when they heard the news. Their little girl could have been taken from them if it had not been for one blessed soul of whom had moved on to a better place already. As soon as they learnt of this, they booked the surgery immediately.
In the short few days that it took them to make sure that everything was good to go, their daughter took a turn for the worse. One minute she would cry and scream and the next, she would simply pass out. This grew worse and worse till eventually, she stopped coming around and fell into a miniature coma. Luckily by that time, the surgery was ready for the operation.
Their prayers had been answered so far and they were not about to relent now.
The two sat in the waiting room, a handsome stallion who had a thick, wavy mint green hair and grey coat was pacing back and forth nervously, his green eyes scanned the room for a distraction. Not that it would provide him with one though, it always seems so empty in there. No matter how much furniture or how many friends or family surround you, when you find yourself in this position, it seems like the most desolate place on the planet. He was not alone in this land. In fact, his wife sat near to him. She had turned her gaze to the floor, muttering something into the white tiles that supported her husband's relentless hooves. Closing her sapphire eyes, she let a tear fall to join the many others that lay beneath her in a puddle. To call it a long night would be a drastic understatement. Her head hung low to allow her black mane to fall, perfectly covering her right eye. She blamed herself for this. If she had only paid more attention to her hurting child, they wouldn't be in this mess. Her mouth never stopped moving since she had sat down, uttering prayers upon prayers that her daughter came out alright.
Though the couple were still young, they had a stronger love than any force of evil could overcome.
Flow Draught had stopped pacing and looked up to gaze upon his wife. She looked utterly broken. He could quite clearly see that.
Suddenly the lonely mass of desolate land disappeared as the distance between them closed. Bringing a hoof up to stroke her purple face, he lifted her chin forcing her to look back at him. He wanted her to know that no matter what, he was there for her.
He eyes locked with his immediately trying to seek out what little comfort her husband had to give. There had to be something, anything he could say to make this go away. But in the end, reality reared its ugly head as her gaze faltered. It was unfair to look for answers from him. He was just as scared as she was.
Just then, a doctor walked into the room, an emotionless expression on his face. Why did all of the doctors around here always look so,... unreadable. It's like they wanted to feed off of the drama of the answer they were about to provide. A charade of emotion to put on, poker face even, to keep them guessing at their cruel game.
Without a smile or a hint as to what had happened in the operating room, he approached the two lovers locked in each other's hooves.
Gazing at the two he opened his mouth to finally speak what the two had wondered for hours...
Both wanted to know yet not at the same time. If they didn't know, at least they still could hope. But if it was bad news, how would they continue? Love would be drained from their systems in such great masses that it would leave them as empty shells of who they once were.
His mouth moved. The answer came...
"What?" Flow asked widening his eyes to look directly at the doctors face.
The doctors face portrayed the emotion he had held beneath the facade as a large smile crept onto his face.
"I said, would you like to come and see your daughter? She should be coming around soon."
The spouses nodded their heads in quick succession as they were guided down the well lit hallway to the recovery ward.
With light hearts, they turned down the corridor and practically skipped to see their tiny foal where she belonged. With them that is.
As soon as the bed came into sight, they ran over to their daughter who, although covered in bandages and tubes that poked into her grey fur, was alive and breathing. The heartbeat monitor bleeped steady and strong, in complete sync with the two older ponies hearts that had finally reunited with their only child.
This was a memory that they were always going to remember.
The doctor watched as the heart warming scene played out in front of him. This was the reason why he took the job in the first place. To help families reunite stronger than ever before. Though he didn't really want to interrupt, he had a job to do.
"Excuse me ma'am but, it's been a full month since she has been born. Have you thought of a name yet?" The doctor looked at the mare with a smile. He was going to be the little fillies main doctor for a while to check if she was adjusting properly to the new heart. He might as well be one of the first to know the kids name.
Forest River paused for a moment to see if her husband had any ideas as to what the small filly would be called. As she watched and waited for a moment, she realised that the stallion was too busy stroking his daughters mane to think of this sort of thing right now. Her eyes scanned her daughter, still having tears spilling from each corner as she took in her presence still on this earth. She was a darn miracle. Like her family used to say,... wait, that's it.
"Bon Viveur." She said aloud to the doctor causing her husband to look at her in surprise. "Her name is Bon Viveur."
"Well... Bon Viveur it is then. A very interesting choice ma'am. I'll go and see to it that the birth certificate is changed."
She smiled and whispered."Thank you! Thank you for everything!" Her eyes fell on the sleeping foal under the sheets of the hospital bed. Her grey coat and black and white streaked mane made the filly stand out against the pale blue covers they had provided for her. She breathed in and out peacefully, her tiny chest rising and falling in a rhythmic pattern. To go with this action, the steady heartbeat of the slumbering filly brought joy to her parents.
"He he! So,... Bon Viveur, huh?"
Forest blushed and looked at the floor. "Yeah, my family used it as a saying about people who enjoy all of the good things in life.It's sort of a pseudo-Prench as it originates from the actual words bon vivan. I just figured after everything that she has been through at such a young age, we should really appreciate every little thing in life. The actual meaning for the phrase is "one who lives well" so I think that it applies to her situation as well as ours. Do you like it?"
"Yeah, it's perfect! Our little Bonnie."
And just like that a legend was reborn. Little did they know quite how special this little foal was. But they were soon to find out.