Faded Gem: A Story About Overcoming Anorexia

Chapter Sixteen

   Applejack and her friends burst into the hospital more frantic than they had ever been before. They rushed over to the receptionist's desk in a hurry.

   "Where is she?!" Applejack exclaimed. 

   "I'm sorry, Miss," the receptionist said. "You'll have to start from the beginning. What do you need?"

   "We're here to visit a patient," Applejack snapped, impatiently. 

   "Look, I know you're having a hard time, but do not get snippy with me, young lady," the receptionist told her. "What's your name?"

   "We need to---"

   "What is your name?" the receptionist repeated, firmly.

   "Applejack!" she exclaimed. 

   The receptionist quickly typed it into her computer. "What are the names of the other visitors?"

   Applejack restrained herself from losing it even further as she gritted her teeth and told the receptionist their names, "Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. How much longer is this going to take?! Our friend is dying!"

  "I'm trying to make this as fast as I can," the receptionist told her. "I'm sorry that you might have to lose a friend, but I can't just let you in to see her immediately. I need some identification. Only friends and family are allowed to see the patients."

   "Do school ID's work?" Sunset Shimmer asked. 

   The receptionist nodded as Applejack quickly reached for her wallet in her pocket. She pulled out her school ID and quickly gave it to the receptionist at the desk. 

   "Okay, she's on the second floor," the receptionist said. "Then you'll have to ask a doctor if they can let you in."

   "We need more approval to see our friend?" Applejack growled. 

   Fluttershy set a comforting hand upon Applejack's shoulder. Applejack took a deep breath and gradually began to calm herself down. "Okay."

                                                                                                 *** 

   After the girls had reached the second floor, they ran down the hall in search of a doctor. They finally ran into a doctor with bright orange skin, cerulean blue eyes, and round glasses he consistently had to keep pushing up his nose. 

   "Hello there, sir," Sunset Shimmer said. "May we please see our friend?"

   "Depends," the doctor replied. "What is the name of the friend you're seeing?"

   "Rarity," Sunset Shimmer answered. 

   "Er... well... you can," the doctor said. "But she's not awake yet."

   Hearing this, the girls burst into tears again.

  "We'd like to see her anyway," a tearful Sunset Shimmer insisted. 

   The doctor sighed. "Alright, just follow me." 

   The girls silently followed the doctor down the corridor to their friend's hospital room. When the doctor finally turned and opened one of the room doors, they saw what they had feared the most ever since they found out about Rarity's disorder. 

   Rarity was lying in a hospital bed, wires hooked up to her body. There was one with a needle on the end. The needle was injected into her arm and producing a strange clear liquid that went into her body.