The habitual beeping of the filly's heart monitor was the only noise that punctured the silence of the bedroom. Familiar colors of pink and red met the filly's eyes as she awoke from her second nap of the day. Her legs immediately tried to kick off the cotton prison that kept her still, but the white hot feeling of pain immediately stopped her. A whimper came from the filly as her legs slowly moved back and forth in order to shift positions. Eventually, she managed to pull herself into a sitting position. Her light purple eyes surveyed her room, before a sigh left her lips. “Daddy is probably out again.” She muttered to herself.
She took a moment to marvel in the simplicity of her room. The ceilings were painted light pink with white flowers, while the walls were adorned in a light violet to accentuate the ceiling. The filly's room held one dresser, a mirror, a television set, and an end table next to her bed. All of the pieces of furniture were pink, despite the extra ten bit price tag on each piece due to the recoloring. A window nearby her bed was open and drafting air into her room at the cost of reminding her the negatives of being unable to get out of bed.
Laughing came from some foals outside as each took part in a game of tag. They ran in circles, diagonal patterns, and no doubt eventually fell from their inability to watch where they were going. However not a single filly cried, they merely got back up and continued their infinite attempts to keep each other “it”. The filly's eyes grew misty before she slowly laid back against her pillow.
“I hear someone is awake.”
The filly would have jerked her head up if the pain didn't exist. She knew that voice. “Mommy.” She uttered as a smile moved across her face.
“Hey Bright, how are you doing baby?” The mare asked as she moved over to her daughter's bedside. She placed her hoof onto the filly's forehead to check for a temperature and moved the blankets down to make sure that her chest was still adorned with the heart monitor's sensors. The mare looked towards the red line that consistently formed hills and valleys in conjunction with her daughter's heart beat. It was a good thing that the monitor was not on her, since she knew that her own rapid heartbeat would worry her daughter.
“I'm doing okay Mommy. It just hurts.” Bright responded, while her hoof slowly moved up to meet her mother's. The two hooves lightly tapped against each other and with the gentle qualities of a nurse, the mother softly took her daughter's hoof in her own. Bright felt the burning sensation moving across her fur as her nerves screamed out to be relieved of the pressure. Her sensitivity to the pain forced her eyes to start watering until her mother pulled back, her hoof moving to her side.
“I know, everything hurts, doesn't it?”
Bright nodded once before she coughed a few times. Her body jerked and the pain made the fountain in her eyes overflow. Tears leaked down her cheeks and her mother wiped them away with the side of her hoof before she planted a small kiss on the filly's head. “Mommy, you said I was going to get better soon. How long is soon?” Bright asked. Her lavender eyes were staring up into the meaning of life and every answer to the universe.
If only that was the case, because Nurse Goodheart did not have a response that she could use to reassure her daughter. “You will get better. I promise.” She said, a smile plastered on her face as she ran her hoof through her daughter's mane.
Bright smiled and closed her eyes. Her body jerked once more and she coughed a few more times. Tears continued to leak from her cheeks as the pain jerked down her spine and in turn, throughout her whole body.
Nurse Goodheart's eyes widened as she looked at the circular droplets of blood that started to soak into the pink bed sheet. In panic, she moved away from her daughter's bedside and grabbed a harness from Bright's closet, one that perfectly fit Goodheart's form. She tied the harness to herself and then looked back to her daughter.
Bright had stopped coughing, but her crying was replaced with another habitual sound. A loud and consistent beep came from the heart monitor and Goodheart's eyes widened before she cried out. Her hooves immediately met under her daughter's cheekbones to test for a pulse. Upon feeling nothing, she applied CPR. Her hooves were pumping and breathing to stabilize her daughter. Tears leaked down her cheeks and onto her daughter's forehead as she pumped.
Thirty seconds passed and Goodheart screamed out as she continued to give CPR. “HELP!” She screamed as her arm muscles recoiled back in pain from the exertion. “PLEASE SOMEPONY HELP ME!”
The parents in the park looked behind them from their park bench. The tears going down the mare's face in the window was the only visual they needed.
~~
“A writer colt was arrested today after he murdered one of his business partners. The suspect stated that his partner blackmailed him with information acquired through the Internet about an affair. The case was cleared by an anonymous detective who was unable to speak to the press. This is Breaking News, Channel 6 News.”
“Hey Pinpoint, are you gonna start it?”
Cerulean eyes turned away from the television in the corner of the room and the colt in question stared at his opponent. Separating the two colts was a large pool table with every ball organized in a perfect triangle. The pool cue was resting between the colt's fore hooves as he leaned against the table. The colt raised an eyebrow before he lowered the cue onto the green field. His hoof was pulling it back and forth a few times to test it. “I don't understand why you intend to rush me.” The colt responded in a flat tone as the cue pulled back.
“A sixty-seven degree angle from the ball will be the perfect hit.”
“Sixty-seven degrees from the center of the ball.” Pinpoint muttered as he shifted along the pool table. He moved to the right of the ball and placed his cue onto the table. He pulled back and then slammed the cue forward.
The white ball ricocheted off of the wall to the left, above, then finally into the triangular formation. The balls emitted a large “clack” sound as they dispersed along the table. Pinpoint smiled lightly at his set up, before he moved away from the table. “Your turn.” He said while he turned towards the television to focus on it.
“Nice set up. One more turn and you win.”
Pinpoint's opponent remained quiet as he moved towards the table and lined up his cue with the white ball. He paused for a moment and surveyed the formation of the balls. A sigh moved past his lips as he placed his pool cue back in the rack
behind him. “I concede.” He said.
Pinpoint looked to his opponent and his smile turned into a mischievous grin as he held out his hoof and levitated the cue over to the rack with his magic. “Don't make bets that you can't win Splash.” He replied.
Swift Splash sighed as he walked over to his saddlebag nearby the room door and undid the strap to open it. His hoof reached into the pile of papers, empty mint containers, and energy drink cans to pull out a bag of twenty bits which no longer belonged to him. He tossed the bag behind him and closed his saddlebag before moving to turn to his friend.
Swift Splash caught a glimpse of himself out of the corner of his eye and he looked to his right to see the damage that was inflicted by a significant lack of sleep. A light yellow pegasus stared back at him in the room's mirror. His own forest green eyes were surveying his body and the significant amount of clothes that covered it. A black turtleneck sweatshirt covered his entire body, followed by a white doctor's lab coat. He noticed that the hospital cranked up the air conditioning in the last few weeks, which facilitated the recent sweatshirt purchases.
The burn that assaulted Swift's eyes made him look away from the mirror and he sighed as his hooves moved towards another energy drink. A small pop was drowned out from the news of the recent Wonderbolt's showing as Swift Splash took another swig. “So, are you going to spend that money right away, or rub it in my face for the rest of the day?” He asked.
Pinpoint turned his attention away from the TV and looked towards his friend. He shrugged as he levitated his own saddlebag onto his back and placed the bag of bits inside. “I figured we could go out to lunch and talk about the latest fight. Then you can come back to the hospital, drink another energy drink, and die at age 40.” He responded as he passed a glance at the mirror.
The split second that was provided to Pinpoint's vision was enough of a view for him. A tan colt stared at him for a split second in the mirror. His blue eyes looked over the features that he would rather not accentuate, such as the lack of a doctor coat or his unkempt black mane. His mane was not long, but was definitely not groomed. His eyes followed down to the significant amount of stubble on his muzzle, before looking even more down. Blue jeans, a white long sleeve shirt, and a black saddlebag covered his form.
Swift Splash opened the door to the recreation room and walked outside while his hoof held the door open for his friend.
Pinpoint walked through the exit and into the hallway of the Manehatten Hospital. Ponies trotted back and forth through the hallway, some in a hurry while others simply wanted to go home. The ponies were walking in the opposite direction of Pinpoint, who was moving with his friend towards the nearby staircase. Each pony moved around the doctor as he descended the stairs, walked down another hallway, and moved down another flight of stairs until he was able to see his objective. The exit door to the hospital was in plain sight. A smile on his face, he started towards the double doors, only to be stopped by the receptionist.
“Doctor Pinpoint, the Dean would like to see you.” She said.
Pinpoint grimaced and then turned towards the white mare behind the reception desk. She was currently pushing papers, filling out appointment information for future visits. “Tell her I'm not in.” He said as his horn glowed a light gray to pull the bag of bits out of his saddlebag.
“She heard, and she doesn't believe you.” A separate voice replied.
Pinpoint turned to find the scourge of his job standing right in front of him. He quickly shifted his grimace to a regular smile.
A light red mare stared into Pinpoint's eyes the moment she was provided with the view. Underneath her right fore hoof was a tan file of papers, no doubt the latest case that he was going to have to solve. Her golden yellow eyes were glaring at him. The mare was Doctor Tender, the Dean of Medicine at Manehatten's Hospital. “Where do you think you are going?” She asked while her hoof motioned the receptionist to pull out a certain pile of papers.
“She was waiting for this. She was ready for you to leave.”
Pinpoint nodded his head passively and then shrugged before his bag of bits disappeared into his saddlebag. “I believe I was about to go to lunch. I do get a half hour according to law.” He replied. Pinpoint turned his back to the mare and started towards the door again. He took one step before a large stack of papers smacked onto the receptionist desk.
“You took your half hour when you decided to show up late.” Tender replied, annoyance in her tone as she threw the file towards Pinpoint.
The papers stopped in midair, caught by Pinpoint's magic as it was levitated over to him. He opened the file and felt his stomach grumble in response to his new job.
“Eight year old filly. Currently diagnosed with Parasprite Fever. Suffered heart failure in bed and was dragged to the hospital.” Tender said as she leaned against the receptionist desk. Her hoof shifted around some papers in the stack while Pinpoint read over the file. “The mother is a nurse from the next city. She performed CPR, stabilized her daughter, and brought her over here.”
“Why are you giving me this case? The child has Parasprite Fever. She is probably going to die before she gets her cutie mark anyway.” Pinpoint asked as he looked back at the hospital exit.
“The mother asked for you.” Tender replied.
Pinpoint's gaze moved back to the file. He was growing more interested as new information popped out at him, but his neutral expression was incapable of showing it.
Swift Splash finally caught up with Pinpoint at the receptionist desk, only to let out a sigh as he saw the file in his friend's hoof. He turned around and walked to the Diagnostics Office. Once he entered, he saw his other two coworkers who were on time and ready. Splash surveyed the room for a moment. Pinpoint must have recently remodeled the room because it certainly felt different.
In the middle of the room sat a mahogany desk with six matching chairs accompanying it. Two chairs were on the length side of the table while the width was populated by only one chair on each side. The wall between the office next door was populated by a large counter with a coffee machine and disposable cups. Swift would be drinking a cup if the current energy drink wasn't rushing through his system. “Who the hell-”
“Pinpoint.” The mare in one of the chairs responded.
“Used the money from the Celestian Health Grant to get this.” A cockneyed accent responded.
Swift turned towards one of the other colts in the room, a pinto colt. He was currently filling out some papers. He leaned back against the mahogany chair with a sigh of relief. “Can't say I blame him. These chairs are comfy.” He added.
The pinto colt looked at his coworker and raised an eyebrow at the look of his mane. “You doing okay Swift? You look like hell.” He asked.
Swift smiled slightly and then sat down at the table. He placed his saddlebag near the chair and placed his energy drink onto the table. “Doing fine Suture. Just a little more tired than usual.” He replied, followed by a yawn.
Suture was the youngest doctor in the Diagnostics Team. Swift distinctly remembered placing the colt's resume on top of all the other ones when Pinpoint decided to hire a team. Suture was slightly taller than Swift with a coat of white and brown that resembled much of the ponies from Trottingham. His eyes were a dark brown, and his attire consisted of the lab coat and nothing else. Since Trottingham had lower temperatures than most of the pony cities, the air conditioning did not bother him. Swift was able to catch a glance at the papers Suture was signing. Having noticed this, the earth pony turned the papers over and started to check his phone for messages.
Swift turned to the mare in the room and took another sip of his energy drink. Doctor Atria, the heart expert of the group, was currently looking through the latest medical journal. The peach unicorn smiled as she turned the page and saw a particular article written by her. She looked up and noticed that Swift's gaze was on her. She raised an eyebrow. “Can I help you?” She asked as she brushed some of her brown locks out of her face.
Swift shook his head and looked behind him, hoping that Pinpoint's arrival would lighten the awkward feeling that was now moving through his stomach. However, this was not the case. “I just noticed that you got all happy from that article. May I see it?”
Atria nodded her head and passed the magazine to Swift, who read the headline. “Hmm.. this is quite the interesting discovery Atria.” He said as he started to read.
Atria smiled at the acknowledgment, but frowned when she saw Pinpoint enter the room. The colt took one look at the magazine article before he tossed a tan file right onto it.
“Too bad that her article selectively avoids bringing up anything new and instead reiterates the history of heart diagnostics for the past thirty years.” Pinpoint replied as he sat down in his own chair.
Suture put his phone away and the three coworkers opened up the file.
Pinpoint continued, “Eight year old filly. Diagnosed with Parasprite Fever a few months ago. Suffered sudden heart failure while laying in bed.”
Pinpoint could see Atria's demeanor soften from the information on the patient but continued as if he didn't. “The filly has a few years left to live, and I was personally requested because the parents want their daughter to be completely cured. Even though they know that Parasprite Fever can't be cured, I have a feeling that the parents are wasting extra money on the more expensive doctors because hope is an idiotic philosophy that takes a back seat to fact.”
The three coworkers paused as they realized that the last part of Pinpoint's speech was not in the files. Atria frowned and placed her fore hooves onto the seat to avoid speaking back to her superior.
Pinpoint saw the action but continued as if he didn't. “We have hypersensitivity to pain, nerve damage, fever, coughing up blood, and heart failure. Go.”
Atria was the first to speak. “Stress stroke? The child has been diagnosed with a life threatening illness and stuck to a heart monitor for the past two months. Surely her shift from a moving world to a sedentary one caused a significant amount of stress.”
“Tell me the last time you saw an eight year old have a heart attack due to stress. Next.”
Suture spoke next. “If there is something wrong with the heart, that means that there has to be something wrong with the brain. Equine Protozoal Myelitis. The kid eats something that she shouldn't have, gets Parasprite Fever and incubation time for the bacteria.” He said.
Pinpoint placed a hoof underneath his chin while his eyes focused on the wall opposite him.
“Two diseases in one filly? I'm not sure anyone would want you to be their doctor. However, it does fit. Run a stress test on the child's heart. Make her-”
“We can't do that.” Swift replied as he turned over some papers from the file. “Every nerve of her body is in pain. If she can't get up from the bed, how are we supposed to run a stress test on her heart?”
Suture was also confused, considering the test was a completely different route from what he assumed the treatment for EPM would be.
Pinpoint glared at Swift, obviously annoyed that he was going to have to jump through another hoop to reach his diagnostic goal. “Inject her with morphine. Make her pain nonexistent for the test, then place her back in the ICU when you are done. If she gets another heart attack, that means that the brain isn't the issue.”
Atria was the next to intervene. “Why don't we just run an MRI? We can see what part of her brain is firing when she is in pain.” She asked.
Pinpoint leaned back against the chair and placed his hooves upon the table. “This is why you are not a brain expert. Shoving someone in an MRI after they are given morphine will not tell us anything since morphine inhibits the spinal cord's ability to send pain signals. If we stress the heart, we can eliminate or highlight it as the cause. Do the test.”
Suture stood up at those words and tucked the file in his own saddlebag. “I'll go talk to the parents.” He said.
Pinpoint smiled slightly as his puppet left the room and he turned to Atria. “Go, heart expert. Shouldn't you be using this opportunity to prove your worth?” He asked.
Atria growled and left the room without another word.
Pinpoint looked to Swift, who watched Atria leave with a little more disdain than usual. Pinpoint levitated the bag of bits in front of his friend and stood up. “Our work is done for now, we have the two guinea pigs doing it.” He said. “Shall we go to Fillyruckers? I love their ice cream.”
“I prefer Applebuck's. Their apple pie is to die for.”
“I'll make sure to save some for our patient.” Pinpoint replied as he walked to the door.
Swift grimaced at the joke behind his friend's sentence and stood up. The two walked down the hallway and moved to an elevator in silence. Pinpoint pressed one of the buttons with his horn and then waited the agonizing few seconds for the elevator to come up. “Three. Two. One.”
“What is the matter with you?”
Pinpoint stole a glance to his friend but kept his eyes on the closed elevator doors. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“The filly has Parasprite Fever. Can't you just diagnose the patient without insulting her misfortune?” Swift asked in a tone of silent anger.
Pinpoint knew that Swift didn't want to make a scene in the hospital.
“Play along with him.”
“Perhaps insulting the patient is the only way that I will be able to focus on the correct diagnosis?”
“You and I both know that this isn't true. Whenever you get the chance to see something that is filled with hope, you just want to smash it into little pieces.”
The elevator doors opened and Pinpoint stepped inside, followed by his testy friend. Pinpoint focused on the ground as he spoke, his mind burdened with the attempt to solve the anomalies in his patient. “Is it wrong to point out the financial burden that these parents are going to be placed under? They have no health insurance for their daughter and they pick me to be the doctor for their child.”
“Is it wrong to want your daughter to spend as much time with you as you can?!” Swift replied, unable to control the anger anymore. “Just because you are never going to have a child, doesn't mean that you need to make fun of those who are losing theirs!”
Pinpoint didn't have a response to that. He felt the inside of his chest start to burn, but he quickly focused on the ground as the elevator reached the bottom floor. He started walking towards the hospital exit, Swift trailing behind him. Pinpoint stopped when he saw a familiar face at the receptionist desk.
Doctor Tender tapped her fore hoof on the ground a few times as she glared at Pinpoint. The other doctor smiled and walked over to the exit. The door opened due to his magic, but it was immediately closed by Tender. “I thought you were going to do your job.” Tender said, another file underneath her arm.
“I have my patient on her way to have a heart stress test performed.”
“That takes less than an hour. You already took your lunch.”
“My stomach says otherwise.”
“My files right here don't really care.” Tender replied as he tossed the file at Pinpoint. “You owe me thirty hours of clinic duty after you forged that last pile of paperwork. Might want to get started on that while you wait for the tests.”
Pinpoint caught the file and opened it. Inside were a group of time sheets that had to be individually completed for each hour of clinic duty. Annoyance flashed across his face as he looked to the mare. She only smiled and walked back to her office.
Swift stole a glance over Pinpoint's shoulder and snagged the bag of bits from Pinpoint's saddlebag. “I'll bring you some chocolate.” He said with a smirk as he backpedaled towards the double doors.
Pinpoint closed the files and quietly walked towards the clinic.
~
“What? No! I'm not going to have Bright do a stress test if she can't even get out of bed!”
Nurse Goodheart stood next to her daughter's hospital bed, in between the two doctors that were trying to explain the situation to her. “She is going to be in too much pain. I can't put her through that.”
Suture looked into Goodheart's eyes as he spoke. The mother was unable to keep her gaze. “This test will help us jump ahead of the diagnosis. If we know that it is either the heart or the brain, then we can treat quicker.”
Bright's eyes slowly opened and she looked at the two new ponies in the room.
Goodheart heard Bright softly shift in the bed and she turned around. “Hey Bright, how are you doing?” She asked as she moved over to her daughter.
Bright smiled and rubbed her cheek into her mother's hoof. “I still hurt Mommy.” She replied as her cheek burned. “When am I going to get better?”
Atria looked down at her papers since she was unable to keep her composure. Suture held out the papers. “We will put her on morphine to minimize the pain. After it takes effect, we will do the test. If she has another heart attack, then we know what the issue is. ” He said.
Goodheart bit her lip as she looked back to the papers.
Bright blinked a few times and stared at Atria. “Will I get better?” She asked.
Atria smiled and looked to the filly. “We will make you better, okay? We just need to do this test first.” She said. Atria felt a part of her heart break as the filly let out a restrained cheer.
“I want to do it Mommy. They are going to make me better.” The filly said. Her obliviousness to her sickness made Atria's eyes water, but she prevented any tears from falling.
Goodheart looked outside towards the many mares, colts, and children that entered and exited the hospital. “Does Doctor Pinpoint believe this will work?” Goodheart asked as she turned to stare at Suture.
The pinto colt nodded his head with an impassive expression. He noticed his coworker started to draw morphine into a syringe. The papers were taken from him, signed, and then placed in his hooves. Suture nodded his head and turned to Atria. “Get her ready for the test, I have to ask about Bright's background.”
Atria nodded as she started to disconnect all of the tubes and machines that were connected to the filly. Within a few minutes, she managed to slowly push the hospital bed out of the room and down the hallway. The door closed behind her and Atria stopped when she felt the filly's hoof on her own. “Miss Atria?” The filly asked as she stared at the elevator ahead. “I'm not going to get better, am I?”
