One and A Half

It had already been a week since the car accident. Her welcome to Ponyville General Hospital had been more than gracious. The second day, her first day at Ponyville General, was spent entirely with Rainbow Dash at her side, talking up a storm with her and sleeping whenever they weren’t. On the third day, she got a massive card from the school, signed by every single student in her class, presented by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. The next day, Rainbow ran an errand to Twilight’s house and came back with a copy of The Princess Mare, which was a fantasy about a unicorn who fought with a sword, a blonde Pegasus stallion with a black mask over his face, and a giant earth pony stallion who all went on a massive adventure to rescue a mare from certain unhappy arranged marriage. She couldn’t remember the names of the ponies, but there were a lot of funny lines within the story that she would remember fondly. The fifth day was a bit boring, since Rainbow had to go to work and Applejack had Apple Bloom working on the farm with her, and was spent mostly with Nurse Redheart helping her and doing stretches and some basic exercises. Sweetie Belle was at home with Rarity that day, too, so she spent some time watching the movies and reading the books she lent her, which she was thankful to have.

The sixth day, which was a Friday, Rainbow came in and told her that she overheard the Nurses saying they wanted to give Scootaloo a wheelchair for a while, to give her some freedom of movement and build up her strength. Rainbow also brought in her guitar and started playing for her, and she instantly knew that she had to start to learn how to play. That day was spent learning the basics for the most part, and on the seventh, which was today, Nurse Redheart came in with a folded wheelchair in her hand. Rainbow looked over to Scootaloo and winked at her, smiling as she looked back to the nurse.

“Scootaloo, I’ve got some good news for you.” She had a soft and warm smile on her face, and it seemed genuine and kind. It made Scootaloo smile brightly. “We’re going to give you a wheelchair to give you a bit of freedom of movement, and also we’re giving you these special gloves. Put these on whenever you’re in it, it’ll keep your hands from getting cut up.”

Scootaloo threw off the covers off of herself, seeing her bandaged stump again. She hadn’t fully accepted it just yet, but she was a lot more used to the fact now than she was when she had woke up the first day. She took the gloves from Nurse Redheart with a simple nod as her thanks, putting them on and flexing them to make sure they fit properly. After adjusting the strap on the back to make them fit tighter, she hoisted herself over to the side of her bed, using her right leg to shift her off so she was sitting on its edge. “Rainbow, can you help me into the chair?”

Rainbow reached forward and grabbed Scootaloo’s hands, standing up with her and letting her get her bearing for a couple seconds. This had been the first time she had stood since the accident, and she was noticeably a bit wobbly. “You got it, squirt?”

“Yeah.” She hopped over a step to in front of the chair, sitting down a lot quicker than she had expected to. Her right leg had almost given out in the action. “Whoa.” She looked up to Rainbow and chuckled a little, thought Rainbow didn't seem to share in her enthusiasm.

“You alright? That was a lot quicker than I thought you’d sit down.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. My leg almost gave out, but I’m good.”

“That’s why we’re going to start you on some different exercises, too. All the different positions we had you laying in were to make sure that you don’t have a hard time with the physical therapy.  You’ll do some balance and basic walking exercises first, and then we’ll move you up to some agility training, too. You’ll be completely independent if all of it goes right by the end.”

Scootaloo hadn’t really been paying attention, she was already doing experiments of her own, figuring out how to turn the wheelchair in different directions and simply nodding once she was done talking.

“When you’re done with the exercises and actually start walking, we’ll send you home with a prosthetic. That most likely won’t be for at least another couple weeks, though.”

Scootaloo groaned, her head lolling backward as she shut her eyes tight. She felt Rainbow’s hand ruffle her hair, and she looked up to her.

“At least you’re not gonna be in here as long as I was when I broke my ankle. And you got a wheelchair, too! Wheelchairs are so much more awesome than crutches. I wish I had one when I broke my ankle. It was a pain in the ass to get around with ‘em without my arms hurting after like… 5 minutes.” Rainbow ruffled her hair again, a reassuring smile on her face.

Scootaloo fixed her purple hair for a second before she smiled up to Rainbow. She was right. Looking back over to the nurse, she turned the chair towards her and stopped it, making the chair move forward and back a couple inches. “So, what kinds of exercises are they? What am I going to be doing?”

“Some of them will have you lying on your side and stretching your leg as far back as you can, others will have you using your body weight and your stump to build more strength for walking with your prosthetic. Have you been lying on your stomach like we asked you to?”

“Yup! I’ve been reading my books doing that. I’ve spent a couple nights on my stomach, too. What does that do?” Scootaloo’s head tilted to the side a bit as she asked her question, still rolling back and forth.

“It helps prevent muscle contracture. It’s a really fancy way of saying that the muscles in your leg tighten and make physical therapy much harder than it needs to be. But since you have been doing that, we don’t need to really worry about it. So, just for today, we’re going to have Rainbow take you out around Ponyville for a while so you can get used to rolling around.”

Scootaloo looked up to Rainbow Dash excitedly, and Rainbow looked equally so. “We need to go to Sugarcube Corner and see Pinkie! I need ACTUAL food!” She told her, turning towards Rainbow and using the chair to bump into her leg incessantly. “And we have to go see Apple Bloom! And Sweetie Belle! And get my clothes! And-“

“Okay, okay, Scoots, we’ll do everything you want to do, alright? Today’s all about you.” Rainbow smiled and used her foot to stop one of the wheels and prevent Scootaloo from bumping into her anymore.

Nurse Redheart suppressed a small laugh, and she smiled. “Before you go, Scootaloo, we’re going to have to replace your bandages.”

“Do you have to wrap them around my stomach still? It makes it hard to breathe sometimes.”

“No. After today, we’re only going to be wrapping your leg.”

“Oh thank God.” Scootaloo let her head loll back and she laughed, looking up to Rainbow. “I’ll be out in a couple minutes, okay?”

“It might take a bit longer than usual. We’re going to have you try wrapping it, so this way you can learn how. Rainbow, you can stay in here, if you want.” Redheart corrected Scootaloo, who seemed a little surprised. After a couple seconds, Scootaloo realized that if she was going to be independent that she couldn't have someone looking over her shoulder and making sure her bandages were correctly wrapped.

“Alright, I’ll sit over here, okay, Scoots?” She pointed to the chair off to the side of the room, sitting in it so she was out of the way.

Scootaloo nodded, and she got back into the bed with the help of Nurse Redheart, laying on her right side like she always did when she had to have her bandages changed. After about half a minute of unraveling, all of her old bandages were off and disposed of.

“Okay, so, I’m going to start you off and show you how to do it. Can you hold this bit over here?” Once Scootaloo did, Redheart started wrapping the bandages. “When you’re wrapping, you need to make sure it’s a little tight. Always follow the bandages with your hand right behind it to make sure there’s no slack. It doesn’t need to be super tight, just tight enough to where it’ll stay once you take your hands away.” After one circle of her leg, she changed spots with Scootaloo and let her start to do it.

Scootaloo did exactly as Nurse Redheart told her, following the bandages as she unrolled them with her hand. Once she came to the bottom of her thigh, she looked a bit confused. “How do I go around the bottom?”

“Make one more circle, and then aim it down this way.” She used her pointed to show the direction she needed to go. “After that, go back up to here, and then work your way back.” She pointed to the middle of Scootaloo’s thigh, watching her make another circle and wrap it around the bottom of her stump.

“Like that?” Scootaloo moved her wrists out of the way so the Nurse could see.

“It’s a little loose. Can you try again for me?”

“Okay.” She unwrapped it to a certain point, wrapping the bandages up to the cylinder they were in before, trying again. It was much tighter this time around, she could feel it. “How’s this?”

“Much better. You’re getting the hang of this! Keep going until there’s nothing left, and then we’ll get a fastener for you.”

Scootaloo smiled to herself and kept wrapping the bandages around half of her half-leg like the Nurse told her to, and she looked over to Rainbow as she was getting a fastener. Rainbow gave her a quick thumbs up with a big smile, and it made Scootaloo chuckle a little. Once the wrappings were fastened, she was helped back into her wheelchair. After a short race to the elevator, much to the protest of Nurse Redheart, they went to the receptionist to get the paperwork done.

Once everything was all set at the front desk, Scootaloo and Rainbow moved out of the hospital and into the open. The warm spring air greeted her, running through her hair and down her back. The sun felt amazing on her skin. She couldn’t have asked for a better day to be with her sister. “It’s such a beautiful day!”

“It absolutely is.” Rainbow smiled and took in the weather for a moment, taking in a deep breath through her nose and letting out a content sigh. “Okay, squirt, where to first?”

“Who’s the closest to here?”

“That would be Pinkie.” Rainbow looked down to Scootaloo, seeing the eager look on her face. “I’m guessing that’s where we’re going first?”

“Yeah! I’m starving!” Scootaloo wheeled alongside Rainbow towards their first destination, her stomach rumbling loudly to validate her statement.