Pony Tales - Clover - Day 20

The last thing she remembered. Was the crashing of the gate as the old oak slammed into them. It was a horrific sound, metal groaned, bolts sheared from their hinges and the gates crumpled down to the ground in a heap as blackness closed over the walking form of Clover, her consciousness torn from her in one fell swoop.

Then the area was completely silent save for the howl of the wind, the monsoon-level rain, and the distant thunder as the storm continued to roll over the area. It was not often they got a storm like this. It had been years since this particular area had gotten such a strong storm. They'd known it was coming. The barn had been locked down at every corner and several of the more at-risk ponies in older parts of the barn were housed inside the mansion in the maid's quarters. There had certainly been some complaints from the maids about that.

But the maid's feelings were irrelevant. It was all so everyone would be safe.

Everyone except the one who'd decided to return.

20 long minutes passed as Clovers form lay face down in the mud, eventually, a pair of blazing white headlights appeared down the laneway and a vintage-looking car trundled down the lane, with Hayley at its wheel. She brought the car to a quick stop, staring at the crumpled gates, the huge oak laying across the area, and to the prone blonde-haired form beneath it all. Her face paled as she wrenched her door open, rushing to the girl's side.

"Clover? Clover?!" She cried out, turning the girl's head slightly so she wasn't face down in the mud, the blood running from the open cut on her head raising as much concern as the pool of red in the large puddle forming around her. The girl was breathing, but she was not conscious.

"Shit shit shit." Hayley tore a walkie-talkie from her waist and opened up the emergency channel which would broadcast to every radio connected to the network.

"Aria, You're going to want to get to the front gate immediately! Christoph, we need your excavator and power tools here NOW and bring Victoria with you. I have a feeling we're going to need her."

A crackle came through the radio, it was the sleepy voice of Victoria, "What's goin----"

Hayley cut her off, "Just shut up and get up here now!"

She threw the walkie-talkie to the side and sat there with Clover. They hadn't had an accident at Tall Tails in a very long time and to say this was scary for her was an understatement. To her credit, Hayley didn't leave Clover's side once before anyone else arrived, constantly checking the girls breathing and pulse.

*******************

As darkness closed over her. Alexandria found her world dissolving in a sea of multi-colored bubbles spiraling into blackness. She'd had a brief moment of pain, and then there was nothing. No feelings. No sounds. Just nothing.

~Am I...dead? What's going on? Hello?~

Of course, no voice responded to her. She was in her own head. Protected by her brain's self-preserving functions.

~Maybe I shouldn't have come back. Why do things always have to be so against me? Why can't I just be happy?~

Her thoughts spiraled out of control until they faded into nothing more than mumbles and cries, wondering if she'd ever see the light of day again.

*****************

Three long days had passed since the incident at the gate. Since Clover had made her journey back to Tall Tails. Aria had done her best the keep any rumors under wraps and while she was extremely disappointed with Clover, she did make sure she was ok. She'd given clear and concise instructions to her staff but had, for the most part, remained in her office and bedroom for the better part of the three days, awaiting any sort of news that might come of the girl.

Upon being freed from under the gate, Clover had been immediately brought to Victoria's clinic. The woman, while she was called a vet. Was in fact, a licensed doctor. She was the highest-paid individual on the farm. She had most of what was needed to help Clover and make sure she was ok. Minus the Portable CAT-Scan which was airlifted in from a nearby hospital at Aria's expense. For the most part, Clover had gotten roughed up pretty hard. The hit to her head had split the right side of her head open and stolen her consciousness. They weren't sure if she'd wake up. But based on the scans, if she did wake, she'd be ok. Beyond the head though, she'd gotten quite a few 'pokes' from the many branches of the oak. She had a star pattern of stab wound through her back right side and an ankle that would be several weeks to heal.

"It could have been so much worse." Victoria had explained to the exhausted Aria, Christoph, and Hayley sitting on a bench at the side of the room, all of them still soaked in a mixture of mud, water, and blood from the rescue of the small formed female.

"She'll survive. But what state she'll be in when she wakes, I can't say. Do you want her to remain here, or in the recovery room in the house?"

"Is it safe to move her?" Asked Aria.

Victoria nodded, "With the new path to the house, the trip by hospital bed should be a smooth one."

"Then in the house. It's more comfortable."

They all nodded in agreeance and after Victoria had fixed up Clover to the best of her ability and fitted her with a wide-bore IV in her hand along with several monitors, she was wheeled up to the house to rest.

And that's where she'd remained for three long days. The four who knew of her did periodically check on her, most prominently was Hayley and Aria who was often at the house.

Aria had remained in her quarters most of the time. Part of her was upset with Clover for doing something so stupid and reckless. But part of her blamed herself. She'd known the storm was coming. She'd guessed the girl would come back. Why hadn't she simply made other arrangements? Kept tabs on her. She was frustrated with herself as much as Clover. But being who she was, nobody else needed to know that. She occasionally checked in on the girl, brushing her hair away from the 28 stitches across her scalp. She hoped the hair would grow back properly, Clover did have a lovely mane.

It was, however, on the third day that what they'd hoped for had come to reality.

Hayley was sitting in the corner of the white-painted recovery room with a magazine open in her lap, idly flipping through the pages. Not that she was reading it so much as trying to distract her mind.

Against the far wall was the hospital bed holding Clovers form. A thick blanket was laid over her and she was propped up on soft white pillows. The constant beep from the EKG she was hooked up to, letting Hayley know she was ok. But at that moment, it wasn't the EKG noise that demanded her attention...

...It was the soft groan.

Clover elicited a soft groan as her brain tugged her consciousness back to reality. It had decided it was time to wake up.

Upon waking, Clover was flooded with a dulled but painful sensation. The IV in her hand had been pumping her gradually with painkillers, so luckily upon waking she didn't get overwhelmed. Her eyelids fluttered slightly and for the first time since she'd come back, her green eyes were exposed to the dull light in the room. She winced at the light, which Hayley was quick to turn down and hurry over.

"Welcome back to the land of the living Clover. Just relax, you're safe." Hayley said simply, tugging a walkie-talkie from her belt and turning it on.

"She's woken up. Aria and Victoria to the recovery room."

***********************

Clover had eased her eyes open slowly. The drugs coursing through her system did a good job of not letting her get overwhelmed by pain. The rest of her senses however were a different story, Hayley had to place her hand along Clover's forehead to kind of shield her eyes from the light until Aria and Victoria arrived. Victoria dimmed the lights slightly before hurrying over to go into doctor mode, checking Clover's faculties and making sure they hadn't lost more than just some blood and hair in the accident at the gate.

Aria crossed her arms and stood back from the pair as Victoria did her thing. Hayley sidled off as well coming to stand beside Aria who was staring intently at the blonde-haired female as Victoria flashed a flashlight in her eyes several times to check her pupils reactivity.

"I told you she'd come out of it."

Aria nodded and kept silent. She was happy Clover had come back, but she was also upset with her for taking such a silly risk. She should have come the following morning or even the afternoon. Instead, the girl had foolishly risked her own life, The cab driver's life, and put all of them at risk when she was in need of rescuing. Of course, Clover couldn't have known what was going to happen and Aria hadn't had the foresight to warn her about the storm should she opt to return. But she'd been so deadset on letting Clover making the conscious choice to return that safety had taken a backseat, and the last time safety had taken a backseat...

She glanced at the redheaded Daydream, curled up in an XL-sized pet bed in the corner sleeping peacefully. The last time safety had taken a backseat, more than a few of them had ended up hurt. She knew that it would be prudent to wake Daydream up. The redhead had not left the room from the second she'd learned of Clover's return and accident. It would seem she had grown more than a bit fond of the blonde-haired female and Aria was glad to see it. It had been much too long since Daydream had opened up.

"...Aria."

Aria was snapped out of her train of thought by Victoria motioning her over, "She seems to have recovered well. No lasting damage as far as I can tell. She's back, in all her faculties."

Folding her arms across her chest and glancing at the still partially sedated Clover watching all of them, "Your recommendation going forward?" She asked Victoria.

"Give her long enough for her stitches to be removed. Then ease her into things slowly, just in case there's any lasting concussion. Beyond that, she will continue to be monitored. We can start weaning her off the drugs this evening." Victoria gave Aria's shoulder a gentle pat. Aria was not one to typically showcase her emotions, but she knew she'd been worried. So she offered the reassuring pat before she collected her kit, adjusted Clover's IV drip, and then headed out of the room to tend to a pony at the barn who'd taken a bit of a spill in the mud earlier.

Hayley didn't say anything, for now, she understood this particular moment and without a word, she slipped from the room to let the two have a moment.

As she heard the door close softly, Aria turned her intense gaze on Clover who was looking up to her. A gentle hand nudged the girl back into her pillows before Aria pulled over a chair and slid into it, giving Clover's hand a pat, "You're an idiot. You know that, right?" She said bluntly.

Clover dropped her eyes downward quickly and nodded.

"Why on earth wouldn't you have waited until morning? Or at least until the storm broke you silly, blonde-haired creature? We could have lost you if Hayley hadn't followed her intuition and tried to answer you at the front gate." Aria kept her intense gaze on Clover.

Clover's voice croaked slightly as she spoke. Her throat was a bit dry and the drugs didn't make it easy for her to stay hydrated, "I..." She paused for a long moment as she considered her words before continuing, "I knew. If I didn't come back immediately. I might not come back. Look, outside of this place. You don't know me. It took all my nerve to come here the first time and every inch of nerve to make the conscious choice to turn around and come right back. I have a hard time, pursuing things even if they're good for me. As my friend puts it...I tend to run away from things that make me happy, for fear of losing them. I know it sounds stupi--"

Aria pressed a finger to Clover's lips as she rambled on, "Just relax. I understand the reasoning, but that does not excuse you from making a poor decision to return to us on the tail end of the biggest storm this area has seen in a very long time."

Aria understood more than she'd admit. She'd been in that same position, faced with the decision to continue as a pony, or leave it all behind. The difference was, she'd chosen to leave it all behind for the betterment of others. In a way, she saw Clover as the stronger version of herself. Having been willing to make that decision, to do what made her happy. To be a bit selfish in that moment and chase that spark that filled her up with warmth.

Clover nodded quietly in understanding.

"As for your injuries. You got away cleaner than you should have. Twenty Eight stitches, ruining that lovely mane of yours. And more than a few stab wounds from the tree branches. You're lucky they didn't hit any vital organs. I want you to understand, how lucky you were and take a lesson from that..."

Aria's gaze hardened again suddenly, "...And never. Do something that irresponsible again. Am I making myself clear?"

Clover looked down at the suddenly harsh words. She hadn't expected such a harsh dose of reality the second she awoke, but she did understand the need for it and nodded, "Understood."

"Understood what?"

"Understood, Miss Aria."

Aria nodded and stood up, turning her head away. There was a hint of a tear in one eye and she was determined not to show that to Clover, "I am glad though. That you came back, and that you're ok. Now rest and we will talk tomorrow if you are able. Victoria is going to wean you off the painkillers so you may be a bit out of it and sore until you are." Aria offered a curt nod and then headed out of the room without further words. She'd said what needed to be said, and hadn't let her emotions go all over the place.

Outside the door was Hayley who sighed a little, "Shall I stay and watch over her for now Mistress Aria?"

Aria turned away from her and quickly wiped her eyes, "No. I saw Daydream stirring in the corner and Victoria will be back soon. We need to talk." She motioned for Hayley to follow and the two of them headed down the main hall towards Aria's private office on the first floor.