A visit

The nurse looked at Star with a smile. "Your friend is very resilient, he made it just fine, we repaired the damage and cleaned him up the best we could and moved him over a little, he is still in the same room and should be waking up if you wish to see him." The nurse said to Star pointing a hoof to where his room was.

Star thanked the nurse and rushed over to the room where Shadow was. She entered the room. "Sweet Celestia! Are you ok?" she asked.

Shadow looked like before when she came to visit him earlier but now there was more tubes hooked up to him around his heart and the mask on his muzzle was adjusted to give more air as a new tank was hooked up to it as he lied awake looking over to Star. "Doctor says I'll be fine.......Sorry for making you worry like that.....I'm certain you have better things to do than worry about an old soldier like me who has become weak."

Star Sapphire sat down. "You are my friend, of course I'll worry about you." she said. "I care for you. I really do. And I'll do anything I can to make you feel better." She said. "I'll never leave you." Star Sapphire felt a little weird calling him friend. She had only just met him, yet already cared very deeply for him. She had not felt this way about many ponies before.

Shadow looked weaker than before as he was also hooked up to a blood-pack in his leg as well as the IV in his other hoof as he looked over to Star. "You really mean that Star?" He started to tear up a little as he asked, he had never really had a friend in his life that was not just in the royal guard with him, someone he could call a true friend.

Star Sapphire nodded. "Of course I mean that. Every word. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?" She asked, placing a hoof on Shadow. She smiled. "Anything I can do for you buddy?" She asked.

Shadow wiped his eyes as Star spoke...embarrassed of himself for starting to cry in front of his friend. "Thank you Star....You have already done more than I could have asked for." He smiled at her weakly as he still looked very weak from everything that he just went through as the monitor for his vitals was very slow, yet even.

Star smiled. "I'll always be here for you" She said. Star Sapphire looked up at the vitals. "Do you want me to go so you can rest?" She asked, "Or do you want me to stay?"

"Stay..please...I could use a friend right now." He said to her as he laid there smiling weakly to her.

Star Sapphire smiled. "Of course." She said. Star sat down. "Anything you would like me to do?" She asked, concern on her face.

Shadow smiled as Star sat back down saying she would stay with him for now. "I'd ask you for another cupcake, but I feel so weak I doubt I could eat it right now....otherwise I don't know what else there is to do other than talk...unless you have some ideas."

Star Sapphire smiled. "No, talking is fine." She said. "Well, I already asked you a question, so I believe it is your turn. Anything you want to know about me?" she asked.

Shadow laid back as he thought for a moment, "Well how about you just tell me a little about yourself..least what you feel comfortable telling me about."

Star thought about this for a moment. "Well, I was born and raised in Canterlot, my father own a construction company. My hobbies include reading and painting, although I'm not too good at painting." She said and giggled a little. "Well, my favourite kinds of novels are romance, and I'm really interested in relationships." She said. 'Maybe that last part was too much." she thought, and blushed slightly.

Shadow listened as best he could to her as he tried to keep comfortable in the bed, "That's intriguing....relationships huh?...I suppose that makes sense with your profession." He said as she finished talking.

Star nodded. "Ya, its good to know about relationships. Helps with ponies problems and what not." She said. Star Sapphire sighed. "Its funny. I know a lot about relationships, and I have matched up some of my friends, but I have never had a serious relationship myself." She said and laughed slightly. She looked right at Shadow. "So, anything else you would like to know?" she asked.

"Makes sense to better understand so that you can help other ponies like that.............well I know hardly anything about relationships.....never been with anypony either." Shadow looked back to Star as the silence was filled with the beeping of the vital monitors that seemed to pick up in pace slightly as he was recovering a little. "Well how about you tell me how you got into your profession, then after that...I think it's your turn to ask questions to me."

Star Sapphire continued. "Well, I always liked helping ponies, but was never very physical. I'm also good with sorting out emotional problems. So I thought psychologist would be perfect." She said. "And as for my question. I think you saw this coming. How bad are your injuries? Do they always affect you like this?" She asked. "I ask because I care. Not because I'm nosy." 'I also want to know what I'm getting into' She thought.

Shadow Zephyr let her finished talking before he spoke. "That does indeed make sense..................I believe I did, but it is nothing I can hide...well not like when I first got them, doctors were surprised I was even alive when they found me, I had lost so much blood that my heart was barely pumping enough to show I was alive, I did not even know that I was alive everything went black after the dragon in the painting spat me out after I poked it in the eye....apparently I had had been out for almost a week...barely alive even with all the work done to me by some of the best doctors in Equestria.......after i woke up I left the guard on honorable discharge from being hurt in the line of duty.....my leg you saw how it looked, took me months to even be able to move as I can now...my wing was much worse and trying to fly even short distances is challenging as the bone is still repairing itself.....internally I was a wreck I was told as the dragon's fangs were only mere inches from my heart as it had just barely hit my left lung already." Shadow stopped for a moment, then looked over to Star. "Sorry I'm certain that this is hard for you to hear...I should have not went into such gruesome detail."

Star Sapphire shuddered slightly. "It is ok. I can handle it." She said. "And how do these injuries affect you? Are you always having to be rushed to the hospital like this?" She asked. The entire time, Star had been absent-mindedly twirling her mane, something she does when she feels uncomfortable.

Shadow watched her actions carefully...even swimming in antibotics and painkillers he still was able to see her as attention to detail was something in the guard he learned very well, as she twirled her mane and her body language, Shadow could guess how uncomforting this may have been to hear. ".......No, this is the first time i have been to a hospital in nearly a year, normally I'm walking around as best on can on my three good legs, using my fourth sparingly...same with my wing, I can manage short flights if im careful, but I try to avoid using my wing when i can, otherwise I'm fine, I just cannot do as much as I used to when I was younger and in better health."

Star Sapphire smiled. "Well, as long as you aren't always at death's door, then thats good." She said. "I don't think I could sleep at night if you kept on getting hospitalized." She said. She stopped twirling her mane and placed a hoof on Shadow, as comfort.

Shadow Zephyr smiled back to her gently as he was still fairly weak as his vitals slowly improved on the monitors, "Heh an old soldier like me will not fall so easily, but I know better than to take uneeded risks." He leaned into her hoof as his leg was in a cast not able to move much for a while.

Star nodded. "Thats good. Some risks are ok to take, but I don't want you hurting yourself anymore. Got it?" She said, then giggled a little. Star took a bite into one of her cupcakes. They did not seem to bad, but they seemed to be missing something. "So, um, wanna keep talking? Or do you need some sleep?" She asked.

"Nurse said the sleep aid will not kick in for another hour so we can talk if you like............hehehe got it." Shadow said chuckling a little bit.