As I found out on Earth, us Mobians don't age like humans do.
Humans are constantly getting older, as I found out from Chris's grandfather Chuck, apparently this is true of all animals on Earth. On Mobius it doesn't work like that. Us Mobians are born, and then age continuously until a certain age, from then on we stay the same age and remain like that indefinitely. Like Sonic will stay 15 and won't change. As one of the only three medically knowledgeable people in the area I was often asked to test if people had stopped aging by running a few tests, usually just a study of a blood sample would suffice. I had stopped at 8, one of the youngest in history as most Mobians only stop somewhere after 10. Although I'm not alone; Vanilla asked me to test Cream the other day and she has only just stopped at 9, meaning she is now older than me (now that is irritating!). But I was horrified to learn humans could die of old age; how could humans sleep knowing that they only had a limited time in this life? Sure I believe in an afterlife, but I'd like to change this world as much as possible for the better before I go. I know how scary the prospect of dying is; after all my near-misses while with Sonic and nearly being killed off by my genetic tail-mutation I've come very close to death before, and I knew why it scared me so much: the thought of leaving my friends behind, how would they cope? Would they suffer? What about Sonic? After the egg-virus incident back on Earth and how he reacted to that I don't want to think what he would do if I actually died.
I could see my little workshop in Mystic Ruins where Cream and Vanilla said they'd meet up with me. Cheese had disappeared a week or so ago, and I was doing everything possible to console Cream, despite the number of times we had searched for Cheese without success.
I saw Vanilla outside watering my somewhat neglected desert flowers I grew out back, I'd been so busy I had forgotten to water them and they were sagging miserably in the heat, somewhat symbolic of my mood. Vanilla caught sight of me and smiled, but then noticed the limp body of Sonic over my shoulder and gasped. I touched down on the ground, placed Sonic gently on the desert grass and then collapsed in a heap alongside him. I was exhausted; I had never flown for such a distance under that kind of weight and my body was trembling in fear and exhaustion, my breathing was ragged and my fur was matted with sweat and tears. To top it all there was a growing bruise on my rump from when Sonic had booted me out of harm's way, putting himself in the line of fire, making even lying down painful. Strangely, all of this didn't hurt as much as it should do, it was probably shock but I wasn't so sure...
"Tails, what happened?" asked Vanilla, she looked at Sonic's body covered in the syringes and then at me and my pitiful form. "Cream! Quick I need you!" The concerned rabbit quickly checked Sonic's vitals with professional ease, I saw her go through the checklist: pulse: present, eyes: responsive, breathing:...
Ah, I knew that look.
Vanilla quickly rolled Sonic into a recovery position and tried CPR in an attempt to get him breathing. After a painful moment it worked and Sonic sputtered back into life.
"Thanks." Said the Hedgehog said gently before falling unconscious again. Cream rounded the corner of the house.
"Tails! Are you okay?" Cream rushed to my side. My brain, even when tired, took everything in about her: she had been crying again, her eyes ever so slightly red and the cuffs of her sleeve damp from where she had tried to dry her eyes. Crying over Cheese again no doubt. But seeing me the rabbit seemed ready to burst into tears again. She surprised me then, she found my hand and squeezed it softly, smiling through her tears. I'm so lucky to have her as a friend.
Sonic's voice brought me back to the present; he'd muttered something. I rolled to look but he was still out cold. Sleep-talking. I often do it, but I wasn't aware of him doing it, and I should considering we often share a room This did nothing to numb my worry. Wait! There it was again! I leaned in close and caught what he said:
"Amy."
What? Amy? But why would he want her here? He usually spent most of the time trying to avoid her! I needed to ask later.
"What is it Tails?" Vanilla asked. After she looked after me when I had Mobian Flu on Earth I know how caring Vanilla is, I also know that she was only asking for Sonic's sake but somehow this seemed private. I didn't want to betray Sonic's trust.
"I don't know, can't make out what he's saying." I am really bad at lying under the best of circumstances and it never feels good to, but in this condition it didn't sound anywhere near convincing. Oh well, I just hope Vanilla will understand.
"Okay then." she said, apparently unconvinced. "I need to get him inside. Cream, take Tails to his room, he looks like he's done a marathon or two."
"No, I can't sleep, besides, I'm not the ill one. I need to help."
Sonic's breath was wheezy and laboured, the rise and fall punctuating the otherwise peaceful desert air.
"Tails, you are no use to Sonic dead, and at this rate you're just going to keel over."
"Look, I'm the scientist and until we know what's in his system we can't treat it. I'll run the tests first then hand over to you guys."
"Ok, but I'm not happy about it." complained the rabbit "but it will only be me looking after Sonic, Cream's keeping an eye on you overnight; you're almost as battered as Sonic and someone needs to keep an watch on you."
"I agree." Cream chimed "but oughtn't we get Mr Sonic indoors first? It may be warm now, but it's going to get really cold out here soon.". She still calls him that out of habit from she was younger, it's quite sweet really.
"Ok, let's get him in" muttered Vanilla discontentedly. She was concerned about Sonic and kept glancing at his body. I wasn't sure why. Eventually we got Sonic inside and on his bed and we prepared to examine him, but I had this awful feeling in my gut...
...somehow I knew the clock was ticking.