>>12848038You rest your face on your hands in shame. You felt weak to admit this, but you couldn't lie to such a sweet pony. After all she's done for you, all she's done with you, it'd be utter betrayal to lie at this point.
"Look Applejack. You know what hospitals are for, right?" you ask her, avoiding eye contact. She makes that task difficult as she stares up at you, placing a hoof on your chest. Her sincere gesture causes your heart to skip a beat.
"To heal, Anon. They're here to heal," she whispers as realization creeps into her composure. You could see her hoof begin to shake as her mind races. Her beautiful green eyes dull in cold calculation. Sparing her the trauma, you take her hoof in your hands and explain.
"Applejack, I'm not getting any better. The doctors... they're unsure if I'll ever recover." Applejack takes a step back. You feel horrible, driving a mare to cry. Applejack whimpers as a tear falls from her eye.
You start to adjust yourself to slip out of bed and leave Applejack, but a hoof grabs your arm. You look up at Applejack. She sniffs and tugs your arm, pulling you into a hug.
"A-Applejack? What are you doing?" You try to pull away, but Applejack holds you tight. At first her sobs are hard to interpret, but eventually she can form words.
"Anon, m-ma-ma-mah..." she stutters. It was a good try, but she's in hysterics. Even if you were terminal, nobody would act as she was at the moment. Unless there was something else...
You pry Applejack off you and hold her shoulders with your hands, forcing eye contact. "AJ, what's the matter?"
She finally bursts. "My parents! You remind me of my parents!" Your heart stops. Wait. You never remember seeing her parents online...
Applejack tells you her story, the story of her parents. Her parents died when she was a young filly, right after her sister was born. At her age, she didn't quite understand the finality of death, but one thing haunted her.
"I never got to tell them I love them..."
7/x
