Even though she was fully clothed, Porsha still felt a chill from the metal table she'd been sat down on, though the coldness did help to soften the searing pain of her still oddly-angled forearm. The four-and-a-half-year-old shuffled over to the very edge of the surface and draped her legs down, casually swinging them back and forth while she looked around the large, sterile room.

The walls and cabinets were all a smooth, pure white, which only seemed even brighter with the long, fluorescent lights that hung down from the ceiling, and there was a constant but subtle hum coming from all the strange machines and equipment all around her. But then the door - which blended perfectly into the wall - finally opened, and Porsha tensed up a little as the nurse entered.

This pig looked to be around her mother's age - not a year's difference older or younger - and was clad in a plain, short-sleeved light blue shirt, with matching pants and a small white cap covering the top of her head. Though this sterile medical uniform made her look very professional, especially with the clipboard and pen she was holding, she still gave off a comforting, compassionate aura as she smiled at the young child sat in front of her.

"Hi, sweetie..." She finally said, giving a small wave before she looked at the names on her list. "It's uh... it's Porsha, right?"

"Uh... yeah. Hell-OW!" Porsha fought back tears as she clutched her forearm, having instinctively tried to raise it so she could wave back, and she felt her face flaring red as the pig climbed up to get closer to her level. "Sorry, um... y-yeah, I'm Porsha."

"Aw, that's a lovely name. It's really nice to meet you, Porsha..." The nurse said, her emerald eyes sparkling with an almost motherly warmth. "My name's Rosita, and I'm gonna be taking care of you today, okay?"

"Um... y-yeah, okay." Porsha nodded, thinking for a moment as her eyes widened in mild horror. "Wait, but... d-d-does Mommy know where we are? Cause I... I don't want her to go to school to pick me up, and find out I'm -!"

"Oh no no no, don't you worry about that, honey. We called your Mommy and told her about everything, so she's gonna come straight here to take you home..." Rosita said, calmly caressing the top of the pup's head with one hand while gently holding her forearm with the other. "Now Porsha, I'm just gonna need you to hold your arm still so I can take a look at it, okay?"

"Uh-huh..." Porsha nodded, keeping her entire body still - even holding her breath for a moment or two - while the pig inspected her injury.

"Hmm... alright..." Rosita finally spoke up again. "Looks like it's just dislocated."

"What's that mean?"

"Dislocated? Well, it um... it basically means your arm joint's not where it supposed to be... but don't worry, it's not that bad." Rosita said, before noticing the more pained grimace on the wolf's face. "I mean, yeah, it's still gonna hurt. But y'know, considering you got hit with a high-speed soccer ball, honey, you're actually really lucky it's not broken."

Porsha nodded quietly, itching the back of her head with her other hand. "But... b-but you can fix it, right?"

"Well, I wouldn't be that great at my job if I couldn't do that, sweetie!" Rosita laughed, hesitating for a moment while she gently clasped onto Porsha's left elbow. "Anyway, um... totally random question, Porsha, but what's your favourite food?"

"Ooh, that's an easy one! Me and Mommy always used to have French toast back in - ooh!" Porsha shut her eyes tight as she felt a brief but still sharp flash of pain, but after a moment it suddenly gave way to a much more relaxed feeling of relief, and she slowly opened her eyes again. "What, what... w-what happened?"

"Well, I um... I fixed it." Rosita chuckled, gesturing down towards the wolf's now correctly realigned forearm. "See? Good as new."

"Oh... th-that's it?" Porsha raised an eyebrow as the pig nodded. Her arm still ached a little as she lifted it up and clenched her fist, but it was still far less painful than it had been before. "Hmm... well, that didn't seem so bad."

"Yeah, it wasn't, was it..." Rosita mumbled quietly to herself as she reached into the small cabinet on the table, fishing out a small, red lollipop and passing it to Porsha. "And that's for being a big, brave girl."

"Ooh, thank you!" Porsha's eyes lit up as she looked at the tiny but vibrant little treat in her hand, before she noticed Rosita holding her other hand again. "Oh... what are ya doin' now?"

"Don't worry, honey, I'm just doing the finishing touches..." Rosita said while she wrapped some bright blue fabric around Porsha's arm. "I'm gonna put a cast over this so it'll heal up nice and strong."

"A cast?" Porsha tilted her head. "What, like in the theatre...?"

"Theatre...? Oh no no no, not that kind of cast, sweetie..." Rosita let out a small scoff, then finished wrapping up the bandage - tying it off with a small bow right over Porsha's hand - before getting out a more sturdy white fabric and soaking it in the sink beside the table. "So, uh... do you like the theatre, Porsha? Y'know, like singing, and dancing and stuff?"

"My Mommy does, and my Daddy's got a real big one. He's got a hotel too!"

"He does...?" Rosita raised an eyebrow when the little one nodded, then she gave a small sigh as a few older memories resurfaced. "Gosh, I... y'know, back when I was about your age, Porsha, I really wanted to be a singer. Always dreamt of getting on a bus, heading down to Redshore City, and -"

"Oh yeah, Redshore!" Porsha cut in, her excitement almost causing Rosita to drop the cast material she'd made. "That's where me and Mommy came from!"

"Really? Hmm... wow..." Rosita was at least somewhat genuinely awed, though she still exaggerated her flattered gasp as she pretended to bow her head. "Oh forgive me, Ma'am, I had no idea I was serving a celebrity!"

"Oh God... oh God, oh God, oh God!" Stephanie repeated to herself over and over again as she headed up the stairs - since the elevator was taking too long - and barged through the doors onto the main hospital wing, though she managed to slow down her hyperventilating when she ran up to the gazelle sat at the reception desk. "Uh, h-hey, I uh... m-my daughter's supposed to be somewhere here, ya wouldn't know where she's bein' treated, would ya?"

"I'll take a look now, Ma'am..." The receptionist looked to his screen. "What's her name?"

"She's Porsha, Porsha Cryst... ugh... Frangipane, Porsha Frangipane." Stephanie cleared her throat. "Yeah, she's four. Uh, she's a wolf, and... ugh, dunno why I said that, of course she's a wolf, but um... b-but I got a call from her school sayin' she hurt her hand or something."

"Oh yeah, she's being seen now in the emergency wing..." The receptionist said, quickly beckoning Stephanie back before she took off. "I'm afraid you're gonna have to wait for her here, Ma'am."

"For real...?" Stephanie scoffed. "But I'm her Mom!"

"Do you have any identification on you?"

"Well no, not on me right now, but... come on, man, she looks just like me!" Stephanie let out a rather hoarse laugh, but after a moment she simply shrugged in defeat. "Alright... do I just, like, wait or something?"

"Yep. Right there, Ma'am." The gazelle gestured towards the seats on the other side of the room - where several other patients and their relatives were already waiting - and then turned back to his computer.

Stephanie rolled her eyes, taking a deep breath, then calmly went over to it. The two seats at the end were occupied by a pig around her age, who was fully sat on one while propping his seemingly twisted ankle up on the other, though he was nice enough to move it over to the small table in front of him to allow her to sit.

"Aw, thanks..." Stephanie sighed with relief, quickly taking the free seat while it was there. She remained quiet for a good few minutes, listening to the faint beeping of the monitors in the wards and the muffled announcements that coming from the tinny speakers on the corners of the ceiling, before she finally decided to strike up a conversation. "So, uh... rough day, huh?"

"Yeah, fell off my bike on the way to work." The pig winced a little. "Y'know, I was basically praying for something to keep me from going to that office today, but this was not what I had in mind..."

"Talk about a happy accident, huh...?" Stephanie chortled, trying to think of what kind of jobs would actually require her new acquaintance to have an office. "So what, are you like an agent? I mean, not like a secret one or nothin' like that, but like uh... I dunno, a talent one?"

"I wish..." He scoffed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, I work at SFJ. Y'know, accounting. It's not exactly fun, but hey... pays the bills, I guess."

Stephanie nodded, pursing her lips, and they sat in silence again, while her curious ears caught bits and pieces of another conversation some of the trainee nurses were having a few feet away.

"Griswold? Just now...?" The first nurse, a daschund, said. "God... he wasn't even that old, was he?"

"Says here he was seventy-eight..." The other nurse, a fox, answered back as she looked at her phone to read the article. "Y'know, being the Calatonia Kingpin and all, you'd think he'd be killed in like a shootout or something, right...? Instead, he was just hooked up to machines like some sad little vegetable."

"Yeah... hmm..." The daschund hesitated. "Do you think those stories about him killing his wife are true?"

It was at this point Stephanie checked herself out of overhearing this talk - mainly because the subject matter they were bringing up was hitting quite close to home - and she turned her attention back to the pig sat beside her. On the one hand, the wolf had a feeling that her new acquaintance's predicament wasn't any of her business, though after studying the pig's more tired and miserable posture as he looked at his phone - where his employer was undoubtedly asking his whereabouts - she felt the sudden urge to speak up.

"Y'know, speakin' from experience... if ya ain't happy with your lot of life, like your job, or your... y-your marriage, then there's no shame tryin' something new." She said. "Cause believe me, buddy, life is way too short to spend it doin' something ya hate."

"Yeah, well... wish somebody had told me that before I dropped out of law school..." The pig answered back, sighing wistfully. "Probably woulda had my own firm by now if I'd stuck to it."

"Hey, who says ya won't...?" Stephanie playfully nudged his shoulder, though having misjudged her force, she nearly knocked him right off the seat. "Ooh, sorry! Uh... yeah, but uh... but yeah, totally. Ya gotta go for your chances and do what makes ya happy... that's the code I'm livin' by from now on."

"Mommy!"

"Porsha! Oh God, baby, I was so worried!" Stephanie's face lit up as she got down on her knees, letting her little one rush over and jump right into her arms. "Y'okay, sunshine?"

"Uh-huh! This nice nurse lady fixed my hand. See?" Porsha held up her arm, letting Stephanie get a good look at the firm white cast that now covered it. "It's kinda itchy, though, but it ain't too bad..."

The pig sat beside Stephanie watched with a small smile at the mother wolf and her daughter, though he was taken off-guard when he saw the slightly plump but still very beautiful young nurse that had finally made her way over to them.

"Oh hey there, you uh... y-you must be Porsha's Mom..." Rosita was slightly short of breath - having used most of her energy trying to catch up to the excited little wolf - but she quickly cleared her throat and straightened up as she extended a hand for Stephanie to shake. "My name's Rosita, I'm the nurse who treated her."

"Aw, glad to meet ya! Yeah, I'm Stephanie... Frangipane. And uh... well, y'already know Porsha, I guess..." Stephanie chortled. "But uh... but yeah, I really can't thank ya enough for this. Y'know, I've been sayin' this for years, but you hospital folks really don't get paid what you're worth in this line of business!"

"Oh yeah, honey, that's just a matter of fact..." Rosita chuckled, putting her hands on her hips as she pulled a small smile. "But yeah, it... it was my pleasure. You have a wonderful little girl there, Ms. Frangipane."

"Hmm... yeah, I really do..." Stephanie looked back to the little wolf in her arms and gave her a quick but affectionate kiss on the forehead, before standing back up with Porsha still in her grip. "Alright, well... guess I better get this little warrior back home before she breaks the other arm, huh?"

"Dislocates!" Porsha cut in, making Stephanie's eyes widen a little, though she climbed up to look over her mother's shoulder as they headed towards the elevator. "Bye, Rosita! Thanks for fixing my arm!"

"Oh yeah, you're welcome, Porsha! Hmm... sweet kid." Rosita beamed warmly as the two wolves descended out of her sight, before looking back down at the clipboard in her arms to find her next patient. "Alright, let's see here, uh... N-Norman? Is there a Norman here?"

"What? Oh yeah, that's me, I'm Norman!" The other pig spoke up while he clambered down off the seat, wincing a little as he lowered his twisted ankle off the table and limped over to the nurse. "Yeah, that uh... th-that's me. Hi..."

"Oh, uh... h-hello..." Rosita found herself stammering as she froze up, taken slightly off-guard by the handsome young man standing in front of her.

For a good few seconds - though it seemed a lot longer from their perspective - it felt as though everyone and everything else around the two pigs had completely vanished into thin air, and the pair were simply standing in an otherwise empty void as they gazed silently at each other. Until the sudden BEEEEEEEP! of a machine in one of the other rooms finally snapped them out of their smitten trance.

"Ugh... sorry..." Rosita chuckled, straightening herself up again before she gestured to the end of the hallway. "Shall we...?"