Star vs the Forces of Evil: The Ballad of Earth-Mewni

Episode 35: Arduous Aftermath

"Miss Butterfly...?"

Star, ever so slowly, opened her eyes. Her blurry vision only conveyed to her that she was lying down in a bed and was residing in what appeared to be a hospital. Following the bout with magic and the confrontation against Manfred, Star's body was pushed to its absolute limit, forcing her loved ones to quickly take her to the hospital and preemptively undergo the heart surgery she was scheduled for the following week. The procedure was long and rather arduous - the physical damage Star sustained from both her time working on Mewni since Toffee's defeat and the ensuing bout with Manfred, and that's not including the damage done by her emotional trauma as well - but finally, the surgeon was able to successfully close the large hole in Star's heart, allowing it to pump normally. While this was a positive step forward, it now meant that Star was going to spend some time completely bedridden in order to allow her body to recover from the trauma of the surgery, an aspect she was not looking forward to, especially after several months of a heavily-mandated "staycation" set up perpetuated by her loved ones.

"W...What happened?" Star asked the doctor hovering over her bed, a raspy voice emanating.

"You went under the knife." She responded.

"W-W-Wait, I-I wasn't..." Star groaned; even just trying to shift her position on the bed proved to be problematic. She put a hand on her chest only to realize that her torso had been wrapped in medical bandage. "I wasn't supposed to have the surgery until..."

"Next week. That's correct. But your loved ones brought you in after an emergency. They said you collapsed."

Suddenly it was coming back to her. "Oh yeah...on the...on the cornball field, I..."

"It was a long procedure. You had quite the large hole in your heart, but we were able to suture it up, and now it should work completely normally."

"So no more chest pains?"

"Assuming we did our jobs, yes."

"T-That's great." Her attempt to sit up elicited a loud moan of pain, causing her to lay back down. "Ow..."

"You must take it slow, hon. You're going to be laid up for a bit."

"Bed rest?"

The doctor nodded. "Exactly."

It was an inevitable revelation that Star wasn't looking forward to, but one she reluctantly accepted given her condition. She sighed. "I was afraid you would say that."

"Why? It's standard after an operation of this stature."

Again, Star sighed. "It's nothing, just...my family's been keeping on a "staycation" sort of schedule. Lots of bed rest, meals in bed, clear schedules..."

"Yes, we've been speaking to your loved ones, and to your therapist." Star had to chuckle at that; of course they'd be talking to them. "We understand you've been formally diagnosed with some forms of mental illnesses, correct?"

Star meekly nodded. "Y-Yeah...like Depression, Anxiety, Post Tormented Stress Disorder..."

"You mean Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."

"Yeah...that..."

"Well, no need to fret any longer. We're going to start you on some medication to curb those issues."

This news brought a faint smile to Star's face. With her heart now fixed, it looked like there was a light at the end of the tunnel for her emotional issues. Though that didn't stop her from bringing a question up. "But why did it take this long? If there's medicine that can help my depression, why didn't someone prescribe it to me sooner?"