Demotion [Private][Dated]

[Stormcloud]

Nov. 18, 0900

Stormcloud slowly woke to a not-so-dark tunnel. She was at the mouth of a lighter tunnel, with a bit of scaffolding here and there built to serve as houses. It was a free town, she theorized, existing to carry out things that were illegal, before and after the war. As she began to stand, she winced, her right side giving her a lot of trouble, and her left wing contorted in an odd way. "Well, that doesn't bode well.." she mumbled in an annoyed tone.

Slowly but surely, she made her way into the Undermarket, glancing every which-way for the home of a doctor. Still armored and full of bolts, she attracted a few stares from the morning-goers in the steadily crowing 'streets'. It was then that she spoke in her full-on authorative tone, loud and clear, for all to hear: "Can someone direct me to a doctor of some sort?"

[Mercy Heart]

Mercy was roaming the streets when she felt it. A pony in some deep pain. It was almost incomprehensible that one pony could be in that much physical pain. She began to gallop around looking for the pony when she heard her. She was asking for help and sounded surprisingly strong for someone in that much pain. She trotted to the pony and gasped. 3 bolts to the back, one in the wing and the right side seemed completely mangled. "Sweet Celestia, I'm a doctor..." She saif regaining her compuser after a few moments. "How are you still conscious she asked."

[Stormcloud]

Storm glanced to the arriving pink pony, who claimed she was a doctor. She seemed psychologically shaken by her injuries, but Storm decided to brush that off and simply care that she was a doctor. As the mare asked her question, Storm simply gave a half-smile and shook her head. Her expression suddenly darkened. "I want to be," she said in an equally dark tone before she winced again, nearly falling over onto a nearby pony, but simply staggering instead, her spear keeping her some measure of balance. She was still in full-armor, and had not changed since the previous night. Having slept in the sewers, she must of had some sort of infection, as well as quite a bit of blood loss. She looked up at the mare now, speaking again. "Goddesses damn it all, help me..."

[Mercy Heart]

The headache from the pain was already forming. "Oh Gee...Let's see...we need to get you to my place and stat." She said calmly, moving to her right side. "On the count of three, your going to put your hoof around me, alright?" She asks. "One...Two...Three."

[Stormcloud]

Storm winced as she moved her right foreleg, in compliance to the mare's request. She gritted her teeth, attempting to accept the new position, but it just so happened that Mercy's spine rested right over the break, amplifying her pain. She merely put on a half grin as she did so, trying not to burst out screaming, and crying, from the pain.

[Mercy Heart]

Mercy felt the pain almost blind her. She used a quick spell to transfer some of the pain to herself, but not even close to all the pain this poor creature was in. She helped her hobble along the streets, slowly making their way to her clinic.

[Stormcloud]

Storm gave a half-grin, trying to ignore most of the pain from the limping. In reality, her teeth were being gritted to the point of breaking; however, she kept on going, despite the pain. She hoped she'd arrive at the clinic soon.

[Mercy Heart]

They finally got into the clinic. She put the poor Pegasus on a makeshift stretcher, her back facing upwards. She began to wheel the mare to an empty room and tool the time to assess her injuries. She had 3 bolts in her back, and a bolt in her wing. The bolts seemed to have missed any vital arteries, thankfully, but open wounds this long in the undermarket enviroment wasnt good. The f thing she did was apply some alcohol to the wounds, hopefully to stop other infections from spreading in them.

She knew that the pain was elsewhere as well, since 4 bolts were painful, but it was more to that. Her right side seemed to pain her while they working. She may have a few broken/bruised ribs, which was easily guessed. There may be a few more broken bones in the foreleg. She got the pony to the room, and began to apply some morphine to dull the pain. However the bolts had to come out soon. She knew pushing them through wasn't an option, if they were barbed. They'd certainly rupture the stomach or intestines then, and then she'd have a bigger mess on her hooves. "How did you get like this?" She asked dumbfounded.

[Stormcloud]

Storm's breathing became raspy as the mare began to work, the morphine helping this as it dulled the source. She nearly passed out on Mercy, but the question snapped her back into consciousness. She shifted herself slightly, her left wing pinned in an awkward position, as was her right foreleg. She'd much rather curl up into a fetal position right now than lay here and feel pain. However, she was still willing herself to persevere, which may not have been the best idea. Regardless, she began to respond.

"Well, it was a dark and stormy night... last night, in fact," she began, her voice subdued and controlled, assisted by the morphine. "Some griffons came in and tried raiding my house... Then a whole damn team came up. They destroyed the house, and I barely escaped," she continued, her pupils constricting ever-so-slightly. "They were hunting me... And they had crossbows. I landed. They fired, and I barely escaped... Got me to crash, too," she said, her left wing twitching in it's contorted shape.

[Mercy Heart]

Mercy nodded. "You have any clue if there barbed tipped?" She asked. Ave needed answers to questions so that she can approach from the right angle. Otherwise it might make things worse.

[Stormcloud]

Stormcloud shifted again and let out a pain-infused moan. The bolt in her wing had pierced completely, and the tip was visible. Storm glanced over to it, shifting the wing, pinning it against her back, which hurt. "You tell me," she said; the bolt was indeed barbed.

[Mercy Heart]

"Damnit..." She swore simply. The tip was piercing her other side, on her wing. They were barbed, which made this job loads more complicated. Instead of simply pulling them out, she now had to cut around the bolts, and take them out, hoping to not cut any vital nerve endings. She gave the mare another anesthetic, one that would knock her out. She needed the rest.

[Stormcloud]

Storm relaxed her wing, allowing it to fall back into the awkward (albeit less painful position). She gave a half-smile as the syringe punctured her flesh, the plunger depressed and the solution pouring into her circulatory system, relaxing her. It took a few moments, but Storm eventually succumbed to the effects of the anesthetic- whatever it was, it was strong. It acted on this mare relatively quickly. What was odd was how peaceful Storm looked while sleeping; even though so much blood had stained her coat, she was still sleeping, somehow, in a manner akin to that of a small child. It was beautiful, yet disturbing at the same time.

[Mercy Heart]

Mercy quickly pulled off the armor, and assessed the wounds further. The bolts were deep. And no surgery could reach those without holes in her back. So, logically there was only one thing to do. She braced herself and looked to the arrows. She took the wing arrow first and pushed it through. It would be much less damage on the poor wing, at this point, since the head was already protruding. Next she looked to the back arrows.

She sighed and pulled them out, each coming with a bit of muscles, and plenty of blood. Each left a wound in the ponies back. She tossed each arrow away, and made sure her utensils were steril. She cleaned every wound to prevent further infection and switched each wound together, after shaving around each one. She then addressed each site, and focused on her right side.

She took some make shift stints and placed them on her back and foreleg. She could.do nothing for the ribs at that point and time except let them heal. She delicately flipped her patient, on her back, and looked at her work. It wasn't her best but it would suffice for the time. She'd probably have scar tissue for the rest of her life. And there was a good chance of an infection at this point. She kept her eye out to identify which disease, when and if it popped up.

[Stormcloud]

Four hours later...

Storm awoke to the feeling of gauze on her back and wing, and something braced against her right foreleg. Her right side still pounded, but she didn't mind all that much. For now, she opened her eyes, still finding herself on the makeshift stretcher, suspended from the ground only slightly. She let out an exasperated sigh, enraged with the fact that she was confined to the bed. She could stand the pain, but she knew that if she stood, she would hurt herself. Thus, she remained in the stretcher, angry with the fact that she was confined to it.

The only thing she could focus on right now was her pain. On her right side, in the places where the bolts were. For now, her existence was a painful one, and she could only hope the doctor would assist with that. So, she did the one thing she could: she let out a rather pain-laced exhalation, and a loud one too. After that, she decided to look around the room, finding standard surgical fixtures among it. She also tried to lift her head, and felt incredibly dizzy. So, she let it back down, pissed off with the fact that she would have to stay there for a time period perhaps spanning days.

[Mercy Heart]

Mercy was walking back, when she heard the exasperation. She sounded in pain, and possibly frustrated from her situation. In fact she could feel it was the case. She rushed to get something to numb the pain. She ran off and came back with some pain relievers. She opened the door and handed the patient some pills and a glass of clean water. "How are you feeling?"

[Stormcloud]

Storm gripped the glass in her jaw, tilting her head back as she let it's contents slipbinto her mouth and down her throat. The water lacked the taste of rot or contamination; Storm assumed this meant the water was sterile, like everything else in the clinic. When the glass was empty, she lowered it, releasing it, hoping Mercy would take it in her telekinesis. With a frown and a scowl, Storm replied to the question, albeit quietly. "Like shit... In a lot of pain. I feel faint, too."

[Mercy Heart]

"Well let's hope we can have you in less pain, and better soon." She said with the cheerfulness of doctors. "As for feeling faint that's natural. Your going to need lots of rest and sleep before you start feeling like your old self." She said and thought maybe the old one wasn't as different as the current one.

[Stormcloud]

"No.. It's like.. the three-pints-of-blood-loss kind of faint. That, and I feel sick," she said, relaxed but still glaring. The cheerfulness of the mare was beginning to annoy her, as it was uncanny. How can you be in such a profession and be so... cheery about it? Storm decided to shrug it off, to ignore it. She just wanted to be healed, so she supposed she should listen to this doctor.

[Mercy Heart]

"Yes blood loss can make you faint. Know the best way to recover from that? Sleeping and eating. And plenty of liquids for the sicknesses. You can't roam around the Undercity long with open wounds, without getting some kind of infection." She said, knowing that symptoms were already going to set in soon.

[Stormcloud]

Storm inhaled after Mercy had finished her statement, letting out a coughing fit that she tried her best to stifle- it lasted for five seconds. After that, she looked over at Mercy, a panic in her eyes. She was legitimately afraid of death under her care, as she didn't trust her like she trusted some of the medics from the Guard. As she reached with her left foreleg to wipe away the mucus generated from said fit, she felt a tug, finding that she was hooked up to a few I.V. bags. Suddenly, she felt a lot more safer. She chose to relax a bit, sinking into the stretcher. "Right..."

[Mercy Heart]

"Alright now open wide." She said having a popsicle stick heading towards her mouth to check her throat.

[Stormcloud]

Storm complied, opening her mouth and allowing the sanatary, disposable piece of wood restrain her tounge to the bottom of her mouth, allowing Mercy to peer into her throat. What lay inside Storm's throat was not too normal- a bit of inflamation and a lot of mucus, combined with just a bir of blood. It was a miracle that Storm was not on her knees begging for release from the pain.

[Mercy Heart]

"Appears you have bronchitis and possibly a secondary infection. I'll go fetch some antibiotics for you. Your goingto have a fun filled few weeks by the time you get through with this." She said jokingly and ran off to get some of the antibotocs.

[Stormcloud]

Storm gagged as the stick was removed from her mouth, rolling her eyes at the joke. This was promptly followed by a severe fit of coughing, in which a bit of blood-filled mucus escaped onto the gurney. It was then that Storm placed a hoof over her chest, panting a little bit. She wondered slightly why she was still in an operating room.

[Mercy Heart]

Mercy came back with a few needles. "Sorry about the room...I'm tight on space at the moment." She said and took Storms forearm. "Alright now if you hold still I can inject you with something to help beat that cough...and help with the infection."

[Stormcloud]

Storm nodded, allowing Mercy to take her foreleg. She gave a half-smile, her voice growing raspier still as she spoke. "It's alright. It's probably my fault- I slept in the sewers all night, anyway," she said as she held as still as possible, which wasn't very hard- she hardly wanted to move.

[Mercy Heart]

"How anyone can sleep in your condition is beyond amazing." She said. "Id guessing your mixed up in some pretty rough business." She said prepping another syringe and putting the liquid inside her. "Dont you have some friends that could have helped with...whatever your up to?"

[Stormcloud]

"No, I don't," she said as the solutions of isotonic liquid and drug were injected into her. "I don't want anyone else to be involved in my hell." With that, she winced as a slightly larger bore syringe entered her flesh. "Goddesses.... am I allowed any painkillers?" She asmed, wincing as she tried to move her splinted leg, but failed horribly. With the swelling, infection of her wounds and lungs (possibly other things), and broken and/or bruised bones, she was in pain that would make another pony scream. Thus, she probably needed some.

[Mercy Heart]

Mercy nodded. "Yes. Some pills here." She said getting a glassful of water and some pills. "Alright. Open your mouth." She said planning on popping the pills in and then the water.

[Stormcloud]

Storm quirked a brow, complying and opening her mouth, swallowing the pills. "You've got nothing stronger? Morphine, maybe?" She asked, remembering the painkiller well and fondly from the med-tent.

[Mercy Heart]

"Sorry. A bit low on supplies at the moment." She said, not mentioning the recovering drug addict a few rooms over.

[Stormcloud]

"That sucks," Storm said as she winced out of the pain from her wounds. "So, how long is my recovery time going to be?"

[Mercy Heart]

"Well, I'd say 1 to 3 weeks if your lucky, but thats if you fight the infection off quick enough. Otherwise you'll be stuck her for a while fighting it." she said, being blunt.

[Stormcloud]

"Weeks?!" She asked, in the angriest tone she could muster, her face growing into a scowl, but then shortly after growing more accepting. "D-damn," she murmered, stuttering out of pain. "Will I have food, water, and company?"

[Mercy Heart]

"Food? Yes. Water? Most certainly. I cannot guarantee company however. I do have quite a few books you could read." She said optimistically.

[Stormcloud]

"Books... yeah, alright. So long as they're good books," she said with a frown on her face, most likely from the pain.

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