Okay...I may be a little excited. Here's an early update!

Amy dragged his body to shore, feeling weaker in the knees as she walked. He became a lot heavier because he, and she, was drenched in water. When her body could take more, she released her grip on him for the first time since she jumped from the Tornado, and collapsed beside him.

Sonic made no sign of moving. The sand around him stained red with his blood, running pink before disappearing as the water came up and washed it away.

"Sonic..." she whimpered.

He doesn't reply.

All of her body functions decide to shut down right down, failing her when she tried to get back to her feet. From down a long tunnel, she could faintly hear Tails' screams, like she was jumping out of the plane again.

And then her body went absolutely still.

She woke some time later, but she wasn't on the beach anymore. She lay on a much softer surface, and had a killer headache.

"Ow..." she muttered dryly, reaching up to cup her head, but realized that she had an IV attached to her arm. What the...?

Soft, relieved laughter that obviously wasn't hers, as well as a few sighs of relief had Amy do a double take.

There, surrounding her bed, were none other than Cream, Rouge, Blaze, and Sally. Cream, sitting the closest, had redness around her eyes and Amy realized with shock that she had been crying. Rouge didn't bat an eyelash - pun intended - but her lips twitched. Blaze's eyes glistened but she did not shed a tear. Sally, standing at the foot of the bed, had her arms crossed over her chest ( wonder who she got that from ) and wore the same expression as Blaze.

"You're awake!"

"How long have I been out?" Amy pushed herself up into a sitting position, being embraced by the rabbit soon after.

"Three days," Sally answered her.

"But you've been in and out for a while," Blaze added.

"Three...days..." Amy's head suddenly snapped up. "Sonic! Where's Sonic? Is he okay? Is he safe? Did I get to him in time? I have to go find him!-"

Just when she started to get up, four arms lunged forward to keep her down.

"Sonic is...fine," Blaze treaded carefully, all three of them watching her face carefully.

"What do you mean '...fine'?" The rate of her heartbeat was shooting up, and they all tried to calm her down.

"Big Blue isn't looking so well, honey," Rouge explained, and Amy's eyes began to well up with fresh tears. "Fox Boy found you shortly after you pulled him to shore. He told us everything and we rushed to get you both to the hospital."

"He felt so guilty because he thinks if it weren't for him, then you and Sonic would be okay..." Sally added quietly.

"You were holding up really well, but Sonic hadn't woken up since. He's...banged up pretty bad. His legs got burned in the explosion, and the left side of his ribs are bruised and broken."

Amy's heart stopped.

"And he's got head trauma..."

She started to shake her head, rapidly when they kept going on and on about what had been done to him. And his legs...his legs. The most vital part of him that kept him going. It was his legs that continued to do what he loved. To run. And...he might not be able to run again.

All because of Eggman.

Her fingers clenched around her sheets, knuckles white.

"Don't beat yourself over this, Amy. If it weren't for you, it could have been a whole lot worse," Blaze shifted so Sally could sit. "Sonic wouldn't have been able to survive that fall. Barely. You saved his life."

Amy breathed in slowly through her nose and out through her mouth, calming herself a bit at Sally's words.

"Who else is here?" she asked, desperate to change the subject as she wiped a stray tear away.

"Everyone."

"Everyone?"

"Everyone," the girls chorused.

"Tails," said Cream.

"Knuckie," Rouge added.

"Shadow," Sally said.

"Silver," Blaze piped up.

"The Chaotix and Tikal."

"Cream's mom."

"Everyone!"

"The boys are with Sonic."

"They refused to leave-"

"The Chaotix are in the waiting room with everyone else because they only can allow so much of us up here."

"They didn't even allow us up here!"

"Sally and Shadow took care of that-"

"Yeah, I think the nurse at the front desk pissed his pants."

"I enjoyed watching him squirm..."

"Sal!"

"What?"

"What did you do?" Amy cut in for the first time, her brain still on the 'waiting room' part.

Sally shrugged a nonchalant shoulder. "Scared him."

"How?"

"You know how Shadow glares at Sonic all the time?" Blaze said.

"Yeah...?"

"Double that and add blue eyes," Rouge finished smugly.

"Ooh," Amy winced, and they all nodded.

"Yeah. Not pretty."

"How are you feeling, Amy?" Cream asked her gently, touching her arm.

"Honestly? Like my hormones are everywhere and I gotta pee. Where's the bathroom?"

"On your right," said Sally.

"Thanks..." She felt their eyes on her as she got up and took her time in padding over to the bathroom.

Rouge looked over her shoulder and fought a snort. "Nice booty."

"Don't look at it!" Amy covered herself, practically making a sonic dash to the bathroom.

:~:

She gasped.

Tails and Knuckles were her next visitors. The kitsune automatically burst into tears and apologies, and Amy sobbed hysterically. Knuckles stood by awkwardly, not knowing if he should initiate a group hug or-

"I-I don't b-b-blame you, Tails," Amy sniffed as she held him, shutting her eyes. "I love you, okay?"

"I love you too. I-I'm so s-sorry!" Tears ran down Tails' muzzle as he clung to her desperately.

"Yeah, still here," Knuckles grunted.

Amy lifted her head, outstretching a hand. "C-C'mere."

"Uhhh I'll leave you two to-"

"Oh just get over here!"

:~:

Shadow was the last to visit, but by then it was nightfall. He found her leaning as far as she could out of her bed, resting her cheek against her palm as she stared blankly out the window.

"You can jump, you know."

His voice didn't even startle her. "I just wanna get out of here..."

"You have until tomorrow." Amy lifted her palm from her cheek, turning around to lay on her back; body propped up against the pillows. "But something tells me you'll come running right back."

"Sonic..." she started.

"He's fine."

Amy growled. "I've been getting that all day."

"It's true. Even if he looks more hideous than he normally does."

She shot him a look.

"They patched him up really well, so you don't have to worry about that. He's in good care."

"But-"

"Rose..." he warned, and she pressed her lips in a tight line. "What happened that day was heroic. What you did in order to do that makes it stupid and reckless. Guess you two really are meant for each other."

"Shut up." She was fighting a smile now.

His red eyes twinkled in amusement.

"So..." Amy smoothed her hands down the thin sheet that covered her from the waist-down. "You and Sally, huh?"

"...What did you hear?"

"Did you seriously make a poor nurse pee in his pants?" Her voice quivered as she forced the giggles down.

He actually smiled. And darkly. "I simply walked up to the desk and asked what room you were in. I didn't like his answer. Sally came up at some point."

Amy couldn't help it. She giggled. "I would have loved to see that."

"I'm not sure you would've wanted to be on the receiving end of that, Rose." His eyes softened uncharacteristically. "It's better that you didn't witness any of it. There was madness everywhere. Arguing, yelling, tears...I've never seen Shorty so heartbroken. Knuckles felt extremely guilty because he was the one who told her that everything was going to be okay. He felt like he cheated her. Everyone was so tense and Sally-"

He grew quiet then.

"Sally what?" Amy leaned in intently.

"She...She was so strong for everyone. Holding anyone who needed to be held while they cried, giving words of reassurance..." Shadow lowered his head. "I caught her alone in the hallway. Her back was to me. Her body was stiff. Too stiff, rigid...like a statue...

I didn't say anything. I just...I watched her. It happened so quickly that I barely registered the tears.

She was in my arms.

I did the only thing I could do. I held her, just like she did with everybody else. A person can only be strong for so long and she just...crumbled. We sunk to the floor, and she fought against me. Demanding, wailing, "What happened?" over and over again. It was hard to keep her down, but I did, and she finally gave up and slumped against me.

I just held her.

"She didn't mention it, did she?" Shadow caught Amy's tear with his thumb.

"No," Amy croaked. "I mean, I knew you all were...but I didn't know that..."

"Yeah. There's a lot of things people won't tell you." There was a double meaning behind his words.

She grasped his hand before it could fall. "You're a good friend, Shadow. You're more than you give yourself credit for."

Shadow slowly stood, then leaned down and kissed her on the top of her head. "Get some sleep, Rose."

He left her room before she could object.

:~:

"How is she?"

"Fine. How's he?"

"Broken."

Shadow's eyes narrowed. "You know you didn't have to...-"

"I know." Sally hugged herself. "I-I wanted to."

"You had to."

She nodded. "Yeah."

Shadow headed down to the waiting room, but he knew she was following right behind him.

:~:

The gang took up the entire place, ranging from worry to boredom to fatigue. The Chaotix were in one corner, fast asleep; Tikal was with them, her head tucked in Espio's shoulder. In the other was his team, Rouge and Silver, their shoulders touching; Blaze was leaning against Silver, their tired golden gazes on the floor, but their fingers were laced together on the armrest. Rouge looked as sleepy as they did, but her eyes were on Knuckles, who sat across from her with Tails and Cream. Cream, who had been watching Tails' saddened face for a while now, leaned away from her mother to curl against him instead. Tails leaned his head against hers and sighed.

Shadow felt a slender hand grip his own for subtle support.

He lets their fingers intertwine.

No Sonic in this chapter! Will he appear in the next? Hmm, I don't know ;)

Guess you'll have to wait again to find out, won't cha? Reviews are always welcome!