A/N: Before I start this story, I want to take the time to explain myself, the origins of this story, and my reasons for making it. Please do not be offended by anything I say, for it is my opinion and should not matter to you unless you make it matter. I do not target people and try to bring them down, I do not use any racial slurs with malice, and I do not intend to hurt anyone with my words. I aim to try to alert people and open their eyes to the messed up things in this world. Now that we have that settled, I shall start explaining.

In the world we live in today, tragic things happen to people whose lives are a perverted twist of the reality; who see the world and the people in it for what they truly are, the despicable black-hearted and the angelic pure souls alike. Unfortunately, the latter is few and far in between the crowds of populations around the world. Instead, we substitute them with people who have the lesser amounts of black in their hearts, the gray areas, the ones who aren't clouded as much with the evil shadows in the street. I would like to try to explain to you, through this story, just what the world is really like. I will try, with what little taste of it I have had, to send that message through to you.

If you don't like sad, tragic stories, then you probably shouldn't read this.

This came one day, as I sat in my Law Comprehension class (damn class! I want to get out of it!) and read through the later sections in the textbook while I was supposed to be doing classwork. (Don't ask about my grade now) I do this a lot, because I can't help but be curious, and since I read faster than most I can go ahead of everyone else in reading. So, I was looking through it, and I read about rape and other such heinous crimes. I started to wonder how it would be like, to be a victim of such a…despicable act, to have to wear that burden on your shoulders every day of your life. So, I got to work on exploring that concept.

Now, you shall see the result of such brainstorming. In these pages (or webpages, if you will), you will find what I have come up with on the idea of someone's experience with something like this. It may not be the best, it may not be the most detailed, and it may horrify you or make you sick to the bottom of your stomach. But, it's supposed to be that way; this is a raw piece of the real world from my eyes trapped in my fingers, which transferred into the keyboard and onto this Word Document.

I hope you enjoy this story as much as you can enjoy a tear-jerker.

The bits of lyrics I put in the beginning of these things have something to do with the chapter, so think of it as a mini-spoiler for what's to come.

Key: 'blank' thinking

"blank" talking

italics First POV, diary entry, lyrics, book, etc. (a bunch of things)

bold time-skip

(blank) special change of scene or POV

The Fallen and the Broken

'Do you feel like a man, when you push her around?

Do you feel better now, as she falls to the ground?'

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, 'Face Down'

(start broken angel)

The pain…

It hurts…so bad…

I could feel the blood dripping down…down…off of the bed and pooling onto the floor…

I knew I was injured. I knew that was the source of the bleeding. My legs, arm, sides protested against my nerves…

But that wasn't what hurt, so, so much.

Above my waist, where my chest heaved, wet with salty tears, was the pain.

I could feel it.

A sharp pang of cold that didn't penetrate the skin; hidden deep in my untouched flesh – that was where the hurt lay. My heart was broken, but it didn't cry tears of blood like any other wound.

This was a wound not of the flesh, but of my mind, and my soul.

(tender)

With a sigh, the red fox walked dreamily out of his room in the hotel. He had had quite a good day; not only did he get the chance to flirt with the maid that came in to clean his room, but he got to watch a swimming team doing their laps in the pool on the first floor. He had gotten a glass or two of Captains (you know, an alcoholic Coca-Cola mix) and relaxed in his suite for a while before deciding to get himself something to eat. All in all, he had a lot of fun.

He stuck a piece of gum in his mouth as he began to walk down the hallway, thinking to himself what it would take to get a date from one of the swimmers, before he noticed something different. The door across from his was left open a crack, enough that the door wasn't able to close and lock. Anyone could just waltz in there and say 'hello' or do something else to whoever was in there.

'Wait a minute…' He frowned as he chewed thoughtfully on the gum. That door wasn't supposed to be open; that was the room that his cousin and his cousin's girlfriend were staying in. And his cousin always hated it when someone left his door open. So…that meant his cousin wasn't in there. But, then why was it open? Maybe his girlfriend was in there. But why would she leave it open? Maybe it was hot. But, there's air-conditioning, right? In the end, there was no logical reason. So, he decided to investigate.

In case his feline cousin was in there, he quietly crept over to the door and listened. He did not hear Dawn's music playing, so he definitely wasn't inside. Sighing, he opened the door all the way to see what was going on.

He nearly choked on his gum.

It all seemed to be played in slow motion. Blood pooled on the ground like puddles of rain as it dripped from the red-soaked blanket of once snow white. It was like looking at the scene of the crime of a homicide; a leg that had been snapped off of one of the chairs lay forgotten on the floor, with the blood of its victim splattered all over its tarnished wood. The sheets seemed to try to constrict around the trembling form of a black feline, who raised her head slightly to stare at the cousin of her boyfriend. Her face was tear-stained with streams of salty-water mixing with the blood on the cuts of her face, which ought to have smarted badly. The blanket badly covered her naked body, showing a gash on her shoulder that looked rather deep and several other minor cuts around her neck.

Time finally returned to its regular pace when the wounded feline fell unconscious and toppled over.

Snapping out of the stupor that seemed to last for centuries, his eyes widened and he shouted in panic, "Shadowpaw!"

(and the fallen)

The nurse at the desk sighed and glanced over at the red fox sitting in the waiting room, watching irritably as the fox tapped his fingers on the glass table beside him while he read a magazine from the table. The way he sat there, though, told anyone who looked hard enough that he wasn't really focused on the words in front of him; he was troubled by the bloody feline he had carried to the hospital in his arms with only the red-stained blanket to cover her. He had made quite the picture, really, running down the street and shouting for people to 'get the bloody hell out of his way'.

When his tapping didn't stop, the nurse sighed again and said, "Sir? Can you please stop that?"

The red fox looked up for a moment, his red eyes clouded with thought, before he looked back down, ignoring the request. The nurse scoffed and grumbled under her breath, before a ringing sound interrupted her as she picked up the phone. She talked for a moment, agreed to 'send him in', and hung up to look back at the impatient fox. She rolled her eyes when she noticed him 'looking' through the Victoria's Secrets magazine, but she asked him, "Are you Sly?"

He looked at her again and gave a curt nod, and she told him, "You may go in to see her." She pointed down the hallway, instructing, "She'll be on the fourth to the right, room 307."

He thanked her and went off at a brisk pace, careful not to run but too agitated and worried to walk calmly. He dodged oncoming waves of doctors and nurses and patients before slipping into his destination and quietly closing the door behind him before turning to look at the feline. His eyes softened with pity and worry as he looked her up and down, seeing the bandages under the hospital dress that almost completely covered her usually lithe form. Now, she looked so abused, so lifeless, so…broken. A moment of anger overtook his eyes before they hardened with determination. Whoever had done this to Shadowpaw, who he had welcomed and considered as part of the family, was going to pay dearly.

He carefully walked over to the bed and took the chair that sat right beside it. He crossed his arms over his maroon chest and cleared his throat slightly to get her attention, which worked after a moment where she slowly looked up at him. He nearly flinched at the lost look in her eyes, as if she didn't know why she was there. She was so…out of it, it was scary. She was usually so full of fire, and she would smack him upside the head whenever he was his usual perverted self. But now…

"Hey, Shadowpaw, how are ya doing?" He tried to smile at her, but it slowly slipped away when she did not respond in the least. She didn't even blink at him. He sighed and scratched the back of his head. How was he supposed to get her to talk? Put on a grass skirt and do the hula? Actually, she dared him to do that once…but after he said that he'd only do it if she did it in a bikini and in a tub of chocolate pudding, she dropped the dare.

All joking aside, how was he going to get her back to normal again?

He was saved the trouble of figuring it out when the door opened again to let in who he presumed was the doctor. He turned his gaze to examine the 'trespasser', his eyes narrowed suspiciously, before they widened in surprise and recognition. Soon afterwards, he grinned and stood up to walk over and greet his 'old friend'…

"Kussia! Or, should I say, Dr. Windokin!" Sly gave him his usual friendly pat on the back and mischievous grin, to which was returned with a frown and a sigh. The gray squirrel looked at his old college roommate with weary blue eyes, as if he didn't want to have to deal with his antics right now. Sly, however, had another idea as he grabbed a hold of his arm and pulled him outside, saying to Shadowpaw, "We'll be right back, after we catch up a little bit!"

As soon as they were outside of the room and the door was shut, though, Sly's demeanor changed completely. He went from his normal good-natured-self to something more serious, his smile dropping to reveal his real emotions; worry, anger, and even a bit of helplessness and confusion. Kussia was surprised by this, but he didn't let it show for long before he cleared his throat and said, "I assume that you want to see her medical records."

Sly nodded, but not before joking half-heartedly, "Although assuming makes an ass out of you and me." He waited as patiently as he could while the squirrel unclipped the folder from his clipboard, and then he took it with a 'thanks' as he flipped it open and scanned it.

After a while of silence, where Kussia stared at Sly's face to see his reaction, he witnessed one of the few and rare times that Sly let his mortality catch up to him; usually he acted 'above the world', and bad things that happened didn't seem to be able to touch him. But now, as he looked through the contents of the vanilla folder, his old roommate could see the anger bubbling up into his eyes. It seemed the fox did, indeed, see red when he looked up at Kussia and said questioningly, "Bruised ribs? Several long and deep cuts? Fractured foot? And several other such injuries?" His tone, although as cold as the Northern winds, was filled with the anticipation of molten lava oozing from an erupting volcano.

Kussia nodded, his lips in a tight grim line, and added, "The police haven't been able to find your cousin, either. We've tried to get a hold of him, but it just goes straight to his voicemail." He sighed and shook his head. "I don't know what to tell you."

Sly gritted his teeth and spat out, "What do you mean, 'it goes straight to his voicemail'? He always answers his phone!" He raised his fist, but after a moment of hesitation, he just slammed it into the wall, earning the attention of several of the nurses. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he leaned against the wall, going over everything in his mind. It was silent between the two once more, and the gray squirrel glanced over into the room where the cause of all of this worry and tension came from. He watched as the feline leaned back to lie down, and flinched when she winced and seemed to hiss in pain. Tears welled up in her eyes, and he had to tear his eyes away so he wouldn't have to watch her in such pain and sorrow. Sly had a right to be angry.

"How long?" Kussia looked at his friend questioningly, wondering what he meant. "How long until she leaves?"

Glad that he was still keeping his cool, the squirrel answered, "Well, she'll have to stay in the hospital for at least a few weeks for the ribs, but she'll need to have a cast for at least three months for her foot. We can't deal with that, unfortunately. She shouldn't walk around, not even with crutches. It's not a funny matter to heal bruised ribs, especially if they aren't treated right."

Sly, still with his eyes closed, thought over the matter for a while, weighing the possibility of her going home. 'What home?' She virtually lived with them, since her family was poor and couldn't support all of their children. Their oldest didn't live with them, but it was still too costly. That was why when Dawn offered her a place to live, she just couldn't refuse. That way, Shadowpaw's mother, father, other older sister, and younger brother could still afford to live in their house together. It was one of the things she gave up for her family. Now, in her time of need, her boyfriend was nowhere to be found. 'What must she be thinking, I wonder? Is that why she is so silent?'

"Alright," Sly opened his eyes and nodded at his friend. "She will stay here. But you better make sure nothing happens to her when I'm not here." He didn't even need to say that, though; he knew that she was in good hands.

"What?" Kussia gave a small smirk as he raised his hands defensively. "You don't trust my medical skills?"

"Oh, I trust your skills." Sly returned the smirk with a mischievous glint in his eye. "It's your intentions with beautiful young maidens that I doubt in."

"Hey," Kussia pointed a finger at him, "I'm not the pervert here. You are."

"Now, whatever makes you say that?" He laughed and shook his head, turning to walk into the room again. Before he went in, though, he made sure to grab the rear of a passing nurse, earning an 'eep!' in return as she tried to slap him. He slipped away, however, and the nurse gave an indignant 'hmph!' before trotting off, and the entire scene made Kussia chuckle and shake his head. He muttered to himself, "What will I ever do with you, Sly?"

He watched as the red fox approached the injured feline again, and his smirk softened into a small smile as he observed his friend's antics at work. It was amazing, really, how a person that could be so perverted sometimes could also be so wise and worried about someone. Shadowpaw wasn't even technically family; I mean, sure, they were anticipating that she will be one day, but as of now she was just the girlfriend that had stuck for more than a year. Of course, she was so close to everyone in the family, which was why she was invited to come onto their little Thanksgiving Vacation with them. And then…this had to happen. What a way to ruin a holiday.

As he looked in through the glass, he saw a dark reflection standing beside him, but he could have felt his presence anyways. Although he was only an intern, he was still skilled, and he had this feeling around him that made people want to avert their gaze. He always had this aura of importance around him, much like Kussia's, but more arrogant, if not confident. Not to notice him was an insult.

This 'lovely bunch of roses' was a black hedgehog with red streaks on his bent spikes as well as his wrists and legs. He had his arms crossed over his white furry chest and that frown of disappointment that he usually had on as his crimson eyes surveyed the scene. Unlike the interns that normally came to this hospital, he did not carry around a clipboard and bow his head to scribble down notes. He was more of a 'watch while standing silently in a corner' or an 'assist the nurses without looking at them' kind of guy. He stayed there to 'work' for twelve hours straight, from five in the morning to five in the afternoon, and as soon as he was done he disappeared without a trace. No one questioned him.

Not one to beat around the bush, the hedgehog asked, "What's this one's story?"

Kussia sighed. "This is my old buddy's cousin's girlfriend. It seems that, while his cousin was out somewhere, someone came in and beat her with the leg from one of the wooden chairs. Something sharp must have cut her, too, to give her that nasty thing on her shoulder." His gaze slid over to his companion's reflection as his aqua blue orbs grew icy with cold malice. "Personally, I believe I smell a rat in this whole mess. My CSI senses tell me this isn't just a random event."

"You make it sound as if you're Spiderman," his cold companion scoffed. He slowly glanced over towards the squirrel and taunted, "And you haven't been a part of the CSI for a while now. You might be growing rusty."

"Maybe, Shadow," Kussia nodded his head towards the room they stood before, "But I can tell a malicious intent on revenge when I see it." He left him at that, turning away and walking off to see his other patients. He did have an important place in the hospital, after all; being one of the top doctors wasn't all fun and games. As he walked off, though, he couldn't help but wonder about the feline laying in her bed with her eyes closed, oblivious to Sly's comforting words. 'Who did that to her? It didn't look like some guy just picked some random room to drop into and beat the shit out of someone.' He clenched his fists as his pace turned brisk, determination lighting a fire behind his icy orbs.

He was going to find out what had happened to Shadowpaw, semi-retired CSI or not.

(broken and the fallen)

Shadowpaw glanced up as the door opened once more. It was the day after she had come in, and people had been going in and out of her room for a while now; it seemed that all they wanted to do was check and make sure that she was okay. Would you like some tea? How about a massage? I have a cup of hot cocoa for you right here, Miss. She sighed, getting thoroughly annoyed by all of the people, and looked back towards the television without even bothering to see who it was. If it was Sly, she was going to –

"So, how's the little Buttercup doing today?"

She groaned. 'Sly! I'm gonna strangle him!' Instead, though, she grumbled, "Who gave you the right to call me 'buttercup'?"

Sly sounded extra sweet as he answered, "Oh, but Butterfly, your mother used to always call you those sweet little names!" He even dared to pinch her cheek like a grandmother would their grandchildren, but she shook him off and made to bite his fingers. He was too fast for her, however, and so she gave a 'hmph' and crossed her arms, wincing when she felt pain shoot up her back. She didn't complain, though; if she did, Sly would be all over her like butter on a biscuit. 'Eww, scratch that; that sounds wrong.' She grimaced and wondered where she had thought of that, but then remembered that anything sounded wrong around Sly. So it was his fault.

But, anyways, back to the metaphor; as soon as she even looked like she was in pain, Sly would immediately jump on the chance to start treating her extremely nice. Oh, do you need an icepack? Nurse! Dammit, woman, bring this girl an icepack! She would just die if that happened. Again. Even now, Sly was looking at her as if she was going to die if he blinked, and she sighed and said, "Yes? Can I help you?"

Sly grinned at her. "No, I believe the question is: Can I help you?"

Shadowpaw grimaced. "I'd rather not, thank you!"

The fox laughed at her and said, "Oh, but Cupcake, I didn't say anything!" He continued to laugh at her until, suddenly, she grabbed him by the collar jerked him forward so that they were eye-to-eye, nose-to-nose. She growled, "If you call me another nickname one more time, I will personally make sure you never have kids. Understood?"

Sly gulped and nodded quickly to show he could comprehend what she meant, and when she pushed him away he saluted her and said, if a little shakily, "Yes, ma'am. Aye aye, captain!" He chuckled nervously at the glare she sent him, but his smile quickly disappeared when she shut her eyes tight with a slight intake of air. The atmosphere grew tense with worry, regret, and grief.

She gulped, her throat feeling dry, and she croaked, "Can you pass me that mug of hot chocolate?" In a pathetic attempt to cover up her pain, she half-joked, "That damn nurse keeps coming in here to check if I drank it."

Seeing how hard she was trying to seem perfectly normal, he relented and handed her the cup, and warned her, "Careful, it's hot."

She rolled her eyes and mumbled as she lifted up the mug, "That's why it's called hot chocolate, Sly." She took a sip, but then she spluttered and held the mug away from her, wheezing, "Ho-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ot!" She then proceeded to try to cool her tongue by fanning it with her hand as Sly chuckled at her misfortune. He said in a sing-song voice, "I told you!"

"Thut up," she growled with her tongue still sticking out, making her look pretty immature as she put the mug down and glared at it, crossing her arms. She seemed to be trying to send the mug a look that said 'I hate you', but…it didn't seem to affect it too much. As some famous guy once said, 'never fight an inanimate object.'

Sly sighed, seeing that she was at least back to her stubborn self, and turned to the person who Shadowpaw hadn't seemed to notice yet. He had just stood in the corner, watching them, and it didn't occur to the fox until now that maybe he shouldn't have called her all of those names in front of him. It might have conveyed the wrong message…

"Well," the red fox turned back to the oblivious feline, a slightly nervous look on his face, and said, "I must be going, you know; got important things to do, places to see, people to meet." At the stressed word 'people', Shadowpaw glanced at him with a look that said 'what kind of people?', but he just chuckled and ruffled her head-fur. "Don't get into trouble while I'm gone!"

"What trouble can I do in a hospital bed?" She grumbled it rather sourly as the fox exited the room, but it wasn't long until she heard an 'eep!' and then the expected 'smack!'. She sighed and shook her head. "He's at it again…" She grumbled on about 'perverted foxes' and their 'wandering hands' as she closed her eyes and leaned back into the elevated bed. It was positioned so it was like one of those 'lazy boy' or 'lay-z-boy' or whatever-they-were chairs, so she could lean back without hurting herself too badly. In all reality, everything hurt, just…some things more than others. Still not noticing her 'company', she gave a deeper, more relaxed sigh as she tried to ignore all of the busy noises of the hospital. Stress did strange things to a person, like making Shadowpaw completely oblivious to people in the same room.

He watched her with crimson orbs, not saying a word to see how long it would take for her to feel his presence. When the fox had been here, she had been distracted, and so that was an excuse. But now, when no one else was there, he thought that she would have at least looked at him by now. He was getting a little irked by this, not liking being ignored (even though it was unintentional), but he kept his silence as he watched her, analyzing everything she did; every sigh of weariness, every stiff movement that showed fatigue, every wince and hiss of pain. It was all memorized and locked away, filed into the back of his mind for later use. She did not lay on her right side; rather, she preferred to only put any type of pressure or stress on her uninjured shoulder. He immediately disapproved of that; if she did not at least stretch the muscles, they would get stiff and sore. Another thing he found wrong was the way she would occasionally use her toe to try to scratch at her cast. He gave a mental nod towards the firm-but-not-too-tight bindings around her midsection, which he could see bulged ever-so-slightly in back of the accursed hospital dress. Kussia had made sure that no inexperienced staff entered this room, obviously. (A minor compliment towards himself hidden not-too-discreetly there)

He nearly sighed when, once more, her socked foot rose to rub against her leg, as if the cast was irritating her. 'It's not a scratching post, and it won't help in the long run if she keeps it up.' He was going to go over there and stop her himself when she froze up, tension evident and building up behind her muscles as she slowly opened up her eyes. Shadow couldn't help but think, 'Finally.'

Her foot stayed frozen slightly in the air as she glanced around the room, the prickling on her neck bothering her until she spotted him standing there, watching her. She blinked a couple of times, as if expecting him to be a figment of her imagination, but when he didn't disappear she frowned at him. Irritated that she hadn't heard him enter, she asked him, "What are you doing here? To give me a massage?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes and thinking of how annoying the hospital was, when –

"I'm not here to serve you," he sneered, dislike already growing towards the feline. 'How dare she suggest such a thing? Me, stooping as low as that?' He would watch her like Kussia asked. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Oh…" Shadow nearly sneered again at her obvious statement showing her surprise, and he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall to get comfortable. They sort of just stared at each other for a while, with the feline not knowing what to do and the hedgehog not wanting to do anything. His pose was indifferent, yet relaxed, and his unrelenting gaze slowly began to creep her out. He just kept staring, barely blinking, and he didn't move from his position. With one shoe up to rest the soles on the wall, he was calm, but detached, looking as cold as an ice-cube. 'I wouldn't be surprised if he was cold-blooded,' Shadowpaw joked with a half-dead humor.

Finally, she couldn't stand the silence anymore. The first thing that came to mind was 'can I help you?', but she didn't want to be repetitive, so instead she asked, "So…what are you here for?" She didn't care if he was the Grim Reaper waiting to reap her soul; she just wanted him to stop staring!

"Watching." He said it as if it was normal to do that. He didn't even blink as he said it. 'Does she really expect me to be here for another reason?'

Shadowpaw, already tense and stressed as it was, scoffed and rolled her eyes. "No, really? I hadn't noticed." She went to roll over on her side, as if to escape from his stare, but a sharp pain in her side made her stop as she let slip a small gasp. She tried to clutch where the pain was to make it stop, but when her shoulder twitched it wouldn't move any farther without it stinging. She hissed, "Dammit…" Slowly, after taking as deep of a breath her ribs would let her, she reached her uninjured arm over and clutched her shoulder. It burned, but she just scrunched her eyes shut and held it tightly in an attempt to squeeze the pain out of it. She made sure not to breath too deeply as she calmed her wounds down, much like a woman would calm her fussing child. After a while, her shoulder went to a dull throb, and she let go and sighed. Thoroughly pissed by her pain and weakness, she muttered, "Shit…" This was not what she was supposed to look like. She was a strong, independent feline who took no shit from anyone. But, after…

Her eyes snapped open when she heard the door open, and at first the sight of white made her blood run cold. Her heart-rate sped up and she almost started to panic. But, when her vision focused and she saw who it was, she was barely able to groan, "Oh, no –"

"Big sister!" The feline was engulfed in a choking hug from a white blur, and she gasped and croaked, "Ack, oww, pain! Pain!"

After a moment, she was released, and the white feline who had grabbed such a tight hold of her grinned at her and chuckled, "Aww, stop being such a baby! You can take a little hug, cantchya?" He was her younger brother, of course, and shared the same pair of brilliant golden eyes with her and their father. The only other thing that he didn't get from his mother (like most of his fur) was a patch of black on his forehead in the shape of a diamond, which is (as his mother jokes) 'a little patch of his father's spirit' on his son. Speaking of her father, another cat, this one male and black with a white tail-tip, entered the room with a smile on his face as soon as he saw his daughter. Shadowpaw's face brightened as well, and she said with slight surprise, "Star, Dad! You're both here!"

"Yep!" 'Star' (his nickname; his real name was Shane Jr.) was moving from foot-to-foot, being as energetic as usual as he smiled at her. Her father explained, "We came as soon as we heard, but we had to leave your mother and Lucy home." He seemed bit sad at this, especially when he added, "Scarlet had…other things to attend to."

Shadowpaw's mouth twitched slightly, but it went unnoticed (for the most part; at least, by Star) as she nodded to show she understood. She knew exactly what those 'other things' were; she had just gotten married and had been trying to settle down for a while now. She was a bit disappointed, but she knew that her sister had a lot on her plate and was still as worried as her parents and brother were. Besides, it's not like she was hoping she'd come; she'd already known it wasn't likely. So it wasn't as bad as it could be, or at least she told herself that. Inside, maybe the more selfish part of her, thought that she should have dropped everything and came as fast as possible to see her.

Then, the brother pounced. He jumped onto the bed, landing on Shadowpaw's stomach and knocking the air out of her lungs, and started talking at the speed of light, "Are you okay, are you dying, what's that on your shoulder, oh my God, is that a cast, what did you –"

"Shane Snow Starlight Fur Jr., get down this instant." The firm yet calm tone of their father's voice, and the pained look on his sister's face, made him leap off immediately and stare at his feet, embarrassed. He was often like this, getting out of control and panicking and such, but now wasn't a good time to start acting up like this. His father reminded him, "You said you were going to be on your best behavior." He mumbled a quiet 'sorry', shuffling his feet and keeping his gaze on the ground.

Shadow watched the entire thing with slight disdain. She had someone who would rush over to give her a hug, to see if she was okay, to be there when she needed them. He almost felt jealous, but then he reminded himself, 'This hedgehog is never jealous of anyone.' So, instead he just scowled as he went to looking out of the window, watching the nurses and doctors that walked by hurriedly.

Shadowpaw gave a weak smile even as she breathed a bit raggedly, and she assured them, "Don't worry, I'm fine, really. Just…just a little scratch, is all." No matter how much she tried, though, she knew they wouldn't believe her. Even now, as she looked at her father and brother's matching eyes, she could see the doubt and worry in them. She was hoping they wouldn't, but then Star naively asked the dreaded question:

"What happened?"

Silence invaded their ears for a moment, leaving the hedgehog wondering what caused the color to slightly drain from her face. It was surprising how quickly the atmosphere in the room changed, freezing everyone to their bones. Each person, even Shadow, was looking at her expectantly; Shane had his mouth set in a thin, grim line as if afraid to know the truth; Star's eyes were wide with naïve innocence tinted dull with worry; even Shadow straightened up slightly and rotated his ears to listen to her better. Shadowpaw's eyes traveled around the room, looking at each face in turn, and then returned her gaze to her father's. She sighed, looking as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders, and she closed her eyes and tilted her head down. "I'd rather…" She winced slightly, and then continued quietly, "I'd rather not talk about it right now."

Her father, although looking as if he wanted to force the answer out of her now, understood that it might be uncomfortable for her to talk about, and (which he dreaded) she didn't want her brother to hear.

It would be a talk between father and daughter alone.

In order to get the attention off of her for a moment, Shane looked down at his son and asked, "Would you like to get some ice cream from the machine down the hall?" He smiled softly as the white cat jumped up and down excitedly, and when Star started to pull him out the door he chuckled and said, "Hold your horses, son!" Then, as an afterthought, Star stuck his head back in and asked his sister, "Would ya like anything, sis?"

Shadowpaw put a hand on her chin, faking deep though, and said, "I believe one of those chocolate-éclair-ice-cream-thingies would do nicely!" She smiled as her brother giggled and ran out after his father with a 'wait up!', and she sighed and mumbled to herself, "He's such a dork, I swear…" Feeling a little better that her family (well, part of her family at least) had come to visit her, she laid back down only wincing slightly as her ribs ached in protest and settled down as if to go to sleep.

Unfortunately, the hedgehog still in the room wouldn't let her rest without his curiosity being satisfied.

"That was your family?" A stupid question to ask, but he needed to start with something. Besides, he wanted to hear it from her own mouth. He watched as she frowned, as if she had been hoping that he had gone, and she opened one eye to glance at him as she answered bluntly, "Yeah…" She looked a bit wary, as if wondering why he cared (which he didn't), but eventually when she thought that he was done she closed her eye again and got herself comfortable. But he wasn't finished with her yet.

"You have a sister?"

Sighing exasperatedly, she opened her eyes and sat up so she could stare at him at the same level. With him around, she obviously wasn't going to get any rest. Not caring if he saw how annoyed she was, she replied, "Two, actually." Then, knowing that if she explained in-depth that he would have less questions, she added, "Lucy lives with Mom, Dad, and Star, while Scarlet is off in her own house with her husband. She's expecting, too."

Now having his eyes on her, he looked satisfied that she was cooperating, as if he had expected nothing less, and he continued with his interrogation with pleasure. "So only your father and brother came to see you?"

"Yes," she almost hissed it at him, as if him saying it made her remember the fact. She seemed a little agitated about that piece of information, and so he delved into the subject to learn the reason. "Why?"

"I don't know why." Now she was really irritated. "Scarlet has her own stuff to deal with, and Mom has to take care of the house." She narrowed her eyes at him, but her eyes looked a little glossy as if she wasn't really glaring at him. She grumbled, "I don't know about Lucy, and I don't really care." Then, she blinked as if coming back to reality and crossed her arms while continuing to glower at the hedgehog that was bothering her. Now mostly just talking to herself, she muttered, "Sly's off to do his thing, and my other friends are all the way back home." She glanced at the window to her right, thinking deeply as she stared at the hallway. "They're all busy, too." She sounded as if she was trying to reassure herself.

A bit disappointed that she didn't sound as much of the spitfire that Kussia had said she was, the hedgehog went to look out of the window as if bored with her. "And they were too busy to even give you a call…" Since he wasn't looking at her or her reflection, he didn't see the way her head snapped back to glare at him, but he was able to hear how furious she was when she hissed at him, "What the hell do you know, you damn prick?" His attention now back on her, his eyes went to her reflection as she spat, "Get the hell out of my business!" She looked absolutely livid, and the way her amber orbs burned like two suns made him actually blink in surprise. He hadn't been expecting her to snap like that after seeming so meek, and so he could only stare at her reflection, examining the way she was glaring at him before two blurs of black and white came across his field of vision. He looked away from the door as her father and brother came back in, Star skipping over to his sister and handing her what she had asked for, oblivious to her fury. Then, after his father came to stand beside him, the little kid tilted his head and followed her eyes to see the hedgehog standing there with his arms crossed, looking as if he didn't notice anyone else was in the room. The white cat then leaned over to whisper in his sister's ear, "He's scary."

After a moment, Shadowpaw blinked and looked at her brother, looking a bit surprised that he was there, as if she hadn't noticed they had come in. Then, after registering what he had said, she smirked and turned her head to reply quietly, "I don't think he'll be hiding under your bed, so chill." As he giggled and her father blinked in confusion, Shadow glanced over to see her smirking at him, her eyes twinkling with some inside joke. He quickly looked back out the window, avoiding Shane's gaze as he examined the hedgehog he hadn't seen earlier. Puzzled, he turned to his daughter with the intent to ask her about him later, and began to do casual conversation with her, trying to keep this day as normal as possible for her.

As the family went on around him, Shadow realized that, while she had been mumbling about the people she knew, she hadn't even mentioned her 'boyfriend' that was missing at the moment. Frowning, he planned to investigate a little bit further, not because he cared, but because he was curious as to what happened that day in the hotel room to leave that much blood pooling on the ground.

Six days later…

Shadow sighed as he walked down the empty sidewalk to the hospital downtown. It had been a week since that cat had entered the hospital, and he was slightly later than he usually was since he went to the closest open café to get a cup of coffee (he really needed it; he had nearly no sleep the night before) and that was a bit out of his routine route. A bit irked that his weariness was affecting his pace, he took another sip from the cup and picked it up a bit until he was power-walking. In no time at all, he turned around the corner to find the front doors, as well as someone else, staring him in the face.

Well, actually, that someone else's back, to be precise.

"Dammit," he heard the stranger mutter, and he slowed his walk so he could silently creep up behind him. At first he thought of that other feline's younger brother, but that was immediately cast away at the sight. He examined the snow white feline with a bit of anxiousness, a feeling in his gut making him question why the cat was holding a beer bottle in one hand as he lurked at the entrance.

Drunk, and shaking with some type of contained emotion, the feline yelled with a slur in his voice, "Open the goddamn door, assholes!" The tremors in his body seemed to worsen as the nurse inside looked at him nervously, unsure of what to do, and he shook the bottle threateningly and snarled from behind the glass, "You bitch, open the fucking door!"

Fortunately for the nurse, Shadow stepped up and announced his presence. "You," he addressed the stranger, who in turn whirled around to face him with the bottle raised defensively. Not fazed, the hedgehog inquired coolly, "What are you doing here, harassing the hospital staff?"

His blood-red eyes narrowed dangerously when the cat mumbled, "None of your goddamn business, you fucking prick." Then, the nurse couldn't take it anymore and opened the door to let in the angry drunk, and the feline shoved her to the floor as he went past while he grumbled darkly about God-knows-what. He went to the entrance to the stairs and slammed open the doors, and they swung shut behind him as he (fortunately) left them standing there staring after him.

Sighing and noting how that the longer he stayed the crazier the people seemed to get, Shadow entered the hospital with a silent nod towards the distressed nurse getting herself up from the floor. Walking into the elevator and pressing the '5' for his destination, he pondered on whether he should ask Kussia about the feline visitor. When he arrived at the floor and the doors slid open, though, he was surprised to see the feline trudging down the hallway, bottle still in hand. Wondering how a drunk could walk up the stairs so fast, Shadow finally decided to follow the feline to see where he was going. After that 'prick' comment piqued his interest and reminded him of what that black cat always called him, he wanted to see just what this drunkard's problem was. Making sure that he wasn't noticed (for once), he quietly tailed behind the intruder at a distance in case he grew violent. Not that he was scared, but he'd rather avoid a confrontation entirely.

He was surprised after a while to notice that he recognized this hallway. Soon enough, surprise turned into uneasiness as he realized who this feline possibly was, and what he may be dealing with.

Sure enough, he led him to room 307's door, but to his astonishment the cat lifted his leg and slammed it into the wood. Shadow looked into the window and watched as the feline inside started to stir at the second bang, and when she sat up and looked out she saw only the hedgehog at first and her frown showed her confusion and displeasure at being awakened. But, when the feline kicked the door a third time and she finally noticed him, a look of pure horror and terror came across her face, and she sat up quickly and leapt out her bed, which proved to be her downfall as pain and her ankle made her fall to the floor. Just as she hit the ground, the feline finally kicked the door open and entered angrily, waving the bottle furiously.

Shadow found this as the proper time to act; he quickly rushed in and grabbed the feline from behind, moving his head to narrowly avoid being smacked by the swung bottle. It flew and hit the bed, exploding into thousands of pieces and barely missing the feline on the ground. As he kept him subdued, the feline resorted to yelling at her. "You bitch," he hissed and then tried to elbow the hedgehog, but when he failed to hurt him he growled and repeated, "You bitch!" He desperately tried to escape the intern's grip, but Shadow held him strongly and slowly pulled him away from the fallen cat.

But, no matter how powerful he was, he couldn't stop him from talking.

"You fucking bitch!" He just wouldn't shut up. "You tried to run! You bitch, you tried to run from me, to escape, didn't you?!"

She only managed to choke out a 'no' before suddenly the intruder was taken from Shadow's grip and slammed into the wall. Angry red eyes glared into furious icy orbs as the gray squirrel said lowly and calmly, "I don't know what the hell is going on, but my patient is hurt, I'm pissed, and someone has disappeared for a week without warning anyone." The hands gripping the drunk's shoulders squeezed harder, and as the hedgehog and feline watched a red lizard in a police officer's uniform rushed into the room, Kussia nodded at the newcomer before returning his attention to the feline. His eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I want some answers."