Those Cast Aside

Chapter 2

Misguided Kindness

Emergency transports always have the most interesting lingering emotional attachments, happiness and joy for new parents on the way to giving birth, fear and anxiety for those injured not knowing what’s to come, resignation for those that know they’re about to die and are just running through the final motions. Laying as one of the broken taking what I can to supplement repairs, waiting, just waiting to get back to what’s important.

The trip isn’t long and other than the standard medical preparation for emergency treatment, the entrance into the hospital is standard bedlam, made worse for me with the fact I can’t hear what’s going on. Plenty of fear, anxiety, pain, depression, surprisingly not as much arrogance I was used to in locations with highly trained specialists. The horror I felt passing by a few nurses is a good indication of the damage I’m working against as well. For all I can feel going on around me the biggest problem is that I can’t feel her, she hasn’t arrived yet and that does not help me accept the position I’ve been placed into.

Being surrounded by the emergency staff is stifling and unfamiliar, usually we just have a tech look over the damage run the cost/benefit over if our repairs are worth keeping us running then send us off.

We barely slow down until we hit the surgical room, I don’t have time to take in what’s been laid out on the table before I’m moved onto the prepared bed, the lights blinding me for a few seconds until one of the doctors places a mask over my face. With that cue I allow myself to slow down and have the sedative take effect to assist in maintenance. One deep inhalation later and I know I’ll be out for a while.

Repairs are imminent, work can begin after.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Waking with only a small amount of pain is surprising, laying on a bed rather than a cot more so. Moving limbs to gauge responses and confirm my range of motion twinges but does confirm everything is starting to reach operating capacity, the bandages are restricting me more than my body at this stage from initial tests. The fact that I can hear the tones of the monitor next to me and light murmuring of conversation in the background is a good indication of how much I’ve been able to recover auditory faculties.

The sound of a door opening grabs my attention, the immediate surprise when the arriving nurse sees that I’m active is heightened to fear when she also notices that I’m moving

“What are you doing!?, you shouldn’t be moving in your condition”

“Confirming my current functionality.” thought that one was obvious. “Preliminary results are full motion range and reinstatement of auditory systems.”

“No! no,no,no. You need to lie down and wait for us to check you over first, you don't realise it but you were in a bad way when they brought you in here, we don’t want to risk you hurting yourself pushing too hard too quickly.”

No. Repairs are complete, we must find her and help.

They’re just looking for the chance to get rid of us again

“I have duties that must be attended to, please confirm with medical technicians that unit EB-247-D is ready for reactivation into field duties.” why is she getting angry? “The bandages used should no longer be required either, time has passed and enough excess has been processed to repair all superficial surface injuries.”

“Your duties can damn well wait!” That anger is annoying. Unwarranted as well, I’m stable enough to move so they should be happy to see me out the door.

“Lie down now and I’ll let the doctor know that you’re conscious. You’ll hurt yourself if you try too much too quickly. We’ll check you over and work on getting you better slowly.” She must not be used to our types of units, not many local medical facilities were made to deal with us. Surprising how normal she’s treating though, most see us as malfunctioning equipment, not worth the same time and space as their actual patients. It’s actually concerning how much time they may waste being like this, an argument will only cause more delays though. Better to get them out and work from there.

“I will be willing to wait for a final check over to confirm I’m back to operating capacity, however I will not be waiting beyond that, I must return to finding my charge.”

She will supplement any lingering superficial damages over time with how pronounced her state is currently

“We’ll see.” her budding amusement is grating, We are not toys to be played with. No-one would place the health and well-being of a person above us. Unless, they had orders to keep us out of production.

Screw waiting for the tech, once she leaves get up and get out so they can’t find us

This will help find her, we can do nothing hiding in a bed

Easing back to get into a comfortable position. I don’t say anything while she runs her checks, marks my form. She injects an ampule into one of the cannula on my wrist, I immediately start to feel the effects of a benzodiazepine derivative with an imidazole structure enter my system. She really doesn't know anything about us does she? Sedatives break down before they take effect unless we actively allow the effect to take place, be far to easy for outside sources to see what they shouldn't otherwise. I watch as she smirks her amusement growing thinking she's kept me where I am, picking up her files and walking out the door. Once I can no longer feel that damn amusement I immediately start to remove the bandages covering my body, they come off fairly cleanly, which makes me sure that my decision is the right one.

Divested of the restrictive coverings I get to my feet slowly, testing my weight and balance, making sure I can move without further damage. The drawers on the other side of the bed will have a patient gown, walking around naked is not the best way to go unnoticed. Trying to walk out directly won’t work either since they know I’m awake and will definitely notice my door opening, the windows are sealed as well making that a non-option.

Set off a small surge to act as a distraction to help us slip out, remove the tag and slip into a room to find some different clothing to blend in better.

A little fear can go a long way in a ward where the elevated response could lead the entire ward into a emergency state, they won’t be able to pay attention to a single room if they have to check patients in three or four to ensure they’re health and well-being. Focus it on one end and we’ll be able to walk out the other.

Standing at the door I extend out and feel the greatest cluster. That’ll be the way out then, focusing the other direction I pull out from the unit to exude as much as possible without causing more damage than necessary. I hope they’ll forgive me for this, I just can’t be stuck here to let others suffer while I can help. Even if it means making others suffer.

The Vital monitors start to go off, the feeling of panic and sound of rushed activity passes by the door. Stepping out to a cacophony I walk towards the large exit doors and just press the open switch and walk out. Fresher air and the standard type of ‘quiet’ in a hospital is a welcomed greeting. Now I just need to find a room where I can find some clothing and start looking again. I hope this was worth what it just cost.

One day some genius is going to find the scientific formula to wake up not feeling like crap, unfortunately that genius hasn't gotten off their arse yet so we’ll have to stick to waking up regretting everything. Nothing new there and laziness ain’t going to get us anywhere though so c’mon get your fat arse moving.

“I would recommend you stay still until one of the nurses is able to come and check that you are okay to move, you had a bit of a fall on top of the stress from what you went through this evening.”

Crap, screw your eyes shut just a little tighter. That makes us invisible right?

“Would you like me to get the nurse now or would you prefer a drink of water first?”

Why can’t we catch a break, I’d prefer her instead of her sister in this situation. I can’t even be bothered to respond right now, you’re on your own here I’m handing in my notice before dealing with this shit.

“... ‘hm’ very well miss Shimmer, I’ll get the nurse, I’ll be right back. Please don’t move if you can help it. I would also like to be able to talk to you once they’ve confirmed everything if that’s okay.”

Nope if we just ignore her she’ll go away and never come back.

Whoo, that hope lasted over a minute before getting squished, things must be looking up.

“Good to see you awake dear, you’ve been out for a few hours now. Both your teachers were worried about you, must be a very good student to have them so dedicated to your health." Ha! "Do you mind opening your eyes so we can do a few quick checks? I promise to be out of your hair as soon as possible so you can have a chat with your teacher.”

Opening them is the last thing we should have done, hospital lights are not one of the first things you want shining into your retinas after waking up. The good news is seeing spots means we can ignore what’s sitting on the other side of the room whilst our nurse plays with us like a doll. All minor annoyances must end though, can’t keep the major annoyances waiting after all. That would be rude.

“There we go, looks like you’re good to have the doctor come through for a final check. Should hopefully be out of here tonight, good news is that you’ll be able to sleep in your own bed I’m sure it’s much more comfortable than what we have to offer.” Doubt it

Alright girl get ready for the lecture, you’ve gotten very used to them this last week. I swear Luna picks up the slack for her being way too friendly to really raise her voice at the best of times. We did cop it the first day back after Twilight left though… fun times.

“I’m glad to hear that you’re okay Sunset.”

huh? That was not yelling, we going deaf or did the nurse miss an obvious concussion?

“You fainted when the EMT’s arrived, we were worried you had been hurt and not realised it with everything else that you experienced this evening.”

Where’s the yelling? Accusations? Disapproval?

“How are you feeling?”

Oh boy, million dollar question right there. Can I phone a friend, oh yea missing those, hang on. “Confused, tired, sore, weirded out, overwhelmed, hungry. Take your pick and it’ll be right to some extent.” Ooh smartass response, gotta love the classics, let’s see how it pans out for us.

“Ha! Yes I should have guessed, should have given you a few minutes before asking the obvious. Sorry about that”

Buh?!

“Well before I say anything else let me just say, I’m sorry I doubted that you were capable of being that kind of person. A young man is alive tonight because of your actions.”

He did survive, guess she was able to get the EMTs and police sorted after we kinda, maybe, sorta blacked out on them all. It paid off too, guess what we did was worth it huh? Yay us.

“I did NOTHING.” whoa, whoa, whoa. We’re getting praised here! That’s a good thing remember? We like praise, we like respect. We damn well earned it here. “I left him in a crater to die, ran to Celestia screaming for help!” Fine deny yourself the final good feelings we probably ever had the chance to get from Luna before she changes her mind, good job dumbass.

“Please watch your volume in the hospital miss Shimmer.”

Here we go, remember you brought this one on yourself. I take no responsibility.

“What you did, miss Shimmer, is run directly to help. Many would have run screaming as you put it so eloquently, however they would have run away. You however, saw a severely injured person after going through particularly violent and disorientating event, instead of getting away from the scene and to safety like most young ladies and gentlemen your age would, you ran to get help. However you may feel, that deserves respect and I will not be told otherwise.”

See! We’re better than screaming, panicking teenagers. If that isn’t a confidence boost then I don’t know what to tell you.

“Pfft.” Goddamnit! I do not bust my functioning neurons to let you get away acting like a surly rebellious teen! You come back with a proper self deprecating retort right now young lady or so help me!

“So I run screaming for help and save one person. That magically makes up for everything I’ve done and makes us best friends now does it?” Much better! Knew we had it in us.

“Haaah, no miss Shimmer I never said that. What it means is that I admit my thoughts of you were wrong.”

Ooh back to pissing her off and it only took a minute, damn we’re good.

“I’ll take you home once the doctor let’s you leave tonight, come to my office tomorrow after you’ve had a chance to calm down and process what’s happened this evening, you can pick up your confiscated belongings at the same time. I believe you have earned the right to have those back”

Doubt a teachers gonna drop us where we’ve been staying without complaint. “I’d prefer to go home by myself if that’s ok”

“It is not.”

Dammit

“I’ll be waiting outside, once the doctor finishes up and you’re ready to leave I’ll drop you home.”

The least she could do is say it in a bitchy tone so we have justification to hate her for being nice. Sooo as good as it is that we’re getting a free ride home and don’t have to worry about freezing our fat arse off walking home, how the hell are we going to convince her to let us out where we’ve been staying?

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

I lose track of time listening to myself worry about how we’re going to cover where I’ve been staying with Vice Principal Luna, curling up with my head in my arms I just keep going back to how I’m tired of it all. I can’t be bothered to worry about what she’ll say what she finds out, nor about getting my stuff back, nor what my new penance will be. I’m just. Tired.

“As comfortable as that looks I’m sure pillows usually work better, especially when they’re your own.”

Looking up the doctor finishes looking over my charts, I hate the professional smile already.

“I know the nurse already ran some tests, so we should be able to get you out soon, better safe than sorry as they say.”

Same tests Same results. Same small talk. Same.Same.Same. She signs off my discharge sheet and walks out saying the same useless platitudes. Dragging myself to my feet I put on the same shoes before walking out to see the same teacher about to drag me further into tartarus with the same attitude, expecting the same subservience to her demands to take me back to that same place so I can collapse on the same floor to have the same pitiful amount of sleep, wake up in the same place to start the same process. Again and again and again and AGAIN and AGAIN.

As I get into Lunas car all I can think about watching everything start to move is that if everything stays the same, I’ll never get out of the cycle of seeing the same. I’m so sick of the same. Something has to change, I was ready to go back, to disappear. That’s been taken away so I need something else, anything at this point.

I’m sick of everything going back to being the same no matter how hard I try.