Loved and Lost
Prologue
Two days. They had been doing this for TWO. STINKIN'. DAYS. Scourge the Hedgehog watched his wife, Amy Rose, struggle to bring their first child into the world.
He could see her getting weaker by the minute, and knew she couldn't hold out much longer. He couldn't even feel his right hand anymore because she'd been squeezing it so hard. "Alright Amy, one more push, and you'll be done." Scourge stroked her quills with his left hand, saying," Come on, babe! You can do this!" Amy pushed with all her might, and finally relaxed. The sound of a newborn baby's cry filled the room. The nurse took the baby, cleaned it up, then handed it to Amy. "Congradulations, it's a girl!" Scourge smiled at his daughter. She looked like Amy, but she had lime-green highlights in her quills and bangs, and she had blue eyes.
He put his arms around his wife and daughter and held them both close, being careful with his right hand, which was just starting to get feeling back in it. He leaned back on the pillows with them in his arms. Looking down into her beautiful jade green eyes, he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by joy. He whispered," You did so good, Beautiful." She smiled weakly. "Thanks, darling." He leaned in and kissed her, slowly and deeply, then pulled away and said, " Why don't you get some sleep, baby? I'll watch over you and Asterisk." Amy looked confused. "' Asterisk?'" she asked. Scourge replied," That's what i want to name our daughter." Amy thought for a moment, then said," How about Asterisk Bernadette? You know, after your mom." He smiled. " Asterisk Bernadette Hedgehog it is." He kissed Asterisk and Amy on their foreheads, then relaxed and soon fell asleep. He was awakened several hours later by Asterisk's crying.
He half-opened his eyes and saw that Asterisk was squirming and crying in her mother's arms. Scourge picked her up and rocked her for a few minutes before she fell back asleep. He put her in the newborn crib by the bed and got back in with Amy. He put his arms around her and noticed that she was cold.
Scourge's heart skipped a beat. He picked up one of her hands; it was limp. He checked her pulse. Nothing. He checked again; still nothing. He checked more times than he could count; it didn't change anything. Amy was dead. She'd died, in her sleep, in his arms.
Asterisk started crying again, but Scourge didn't hear her. All he could do was cradle the dead body of his wife as he felt his heart shattering and his world crashing down around him. On that day, he swore that he would never love again, because it wasn't worth the pain.
Little did he know what was in store for him in just a few short years...
