The Birth
8:55 pm:
The double doors open. Amy Rose—wearing a white hospital gown and a bandage on her forehead where the cut is located—is seen laying down on the hospital's gurney with Sonic by her side and few of the hospital staffs in matching scrubs pushing the gurney. All are scurrying to the emergency room as fast as they could. Sonic is holding onto Amy's hand while she continues to scream and cry in agony. She's trying her best to hold on until they get there, though the pain is too much for her to handle. Tears are staining her face like a waterfall.
More blood is pouring out from her. The crimson liquid has already stained the white sheets on the gurney. The amount of blood is also causing Amy's skin to become pale. Almost as pale as a ghost. Sonic gazes at the excruciating Amy. Not only he's afraid of losing the twins to a possible miscarriage, he's also afraid of losing his wife to a possible maternal death.
He begins to shed tears in his eye when looking at her. Sonic prays softly, "You're going to make it, Ames. You're going to make it. Please, be strong—for me, Lavender and the twins."
Everyone made it there. The double doors to the emergency room automatically open after one of the staff pushes the red button. Instantly, they enter. They make it to the operating bed, standing in the very center with all the hospital technology around and other imperative supplies and materials. The doctors carefully transfer her from the gurney to the operating bed.
Sonic wonders why they had to go to the emergency room, rather than the labor and delivery room. He asks one of the doctors, "Why do we have to come here?"
The doctor—a blonde male hedgehog—answers through his medical mask, "Mr. Hedgehog, she's going to have to undergo an emergency C-section."
Amy gasps when she heard it. Sonic stood there in fright and anxiety; fear is increasing with his heart rapidly beating. This is actually the first time Amy is going under a Cesarean section. He's terrified of the doable damage on his wife. The doctor continues, "Her excessive bleeding is a sign of a miscarriage. But at the same time, it's doable that she's in preterm labor. We're not sure which is which. That's why we must perform the C-section. Those twins must come out immediately."
Sonic and Amy panic.
The hedgehog doctor turns back around to face to his staff. Already, Amy is injected with epidural anesthesia and a small dark blue curtain is hanged over her in between her torso to prevent her from perceiving the Cesarean section. Sonic quickly strolls to where Amy's upper body lays. He holds her hand in hope that she will pull through and that the twins will make it out safely.
"Mr. Hedgehog," The doctor informs him, "If you want—"
"No," Sonic impetuously answers without even letting him finish his question. "I want to stay here. She needs me."
The medical staff turns back to their agenda. Amy—all looking disheartened and scared—gazes at Sonic. She returns grasping his hand, tightly. Sonic can tell by the look of her face that she's in deep trouble. She's also worried about Lavender Rose.
"Where's Lavender? Where's my baby girl?" Amy sobs.
Sonic shushes her when he answers, "Don't worry about her. She's back home with Misery. She told me to go without her and she's watching over her."
Amy is relief to hear that. Despite that they just met Misery Severity, Sonic and Amy knew that they can already rely on her. She did save them from losing Lavender to Kimmerie after all. But now—it's not their daughter they should worry about. It's their new son and daughter.
The incision is already made. The medical staff is on their way into saving the twins' lives. The only sounds everyone can hear are one another's orders and the rhythmic beeping from Amy's heart. Seconds felt like minutes already. The smell of blood flows in the air, sickening the poor weak pink hedgehog and the disheartened blue hedgehog.
Finally, after a few minutes of performing the C-section…
A sound of a baby crying is heard.
Sonic and Amy perks their heads up. The blonde hedgehog doctor is holding a tiny baby hedgehog covered in a thick blue towel in his gloved arms. He shows him to the parents.
"Congratulations," He tells them, "It's a boy. And he's still alive."
The two gasps happily. Sonic whispers the baby boy's name. "Cobalt Jay Rush."
The doctor hands the newborn son to Amy. She carefully takes Cobalt Jay Rush into her arms while Sonic happily stares at him in warmth. The two shed tears of joy, both glad enough that he's able to make it out alive and see the world. Cobalt Jay continues to cry, which is something that every parent wanted to hear when they come out to join the world.
"He's so beautiful, Sonic," Amy comments, still feeling weak. "He's just like you."
"He sure does," Sonic comments back. He and Amy enjoy the moment with little Cobalt.
Suddenly—their happiness came to an abrupt end.
Cobalt Jay may have made it out alive, but what about his twin sister? They shouldn't be hearing just one baby cry. They should be hearing two babies crying.
Sonic jumps up with anxiety. He looks up to see the doctors, who are still working on the Cesarean section. Apparently, they're trying their best to save the twin sister. He tells them, "The twins are fraternal; there should be a girl, too. What happened to her?"
Unfortunately, the only answer he got from the medical staff—is silence of sadness.
"Mr. and Mrs. Hedgehog," the same doctor informs, solemnly. Sonic and Amy Rose listen. By the tone of his voice, they already know that it's bad news. They look at him with complete sorrow. The hedgehog informs, "I'm afraid that the female twin didn't make it."
They're traumatized to hear this devastating news.
"What?" Amy hiccups with sobs.
"She's… a stillborn?" Sonic's voice breaks with a broken heart.
"I'm afraid she is. What we just found out is that she was already dead when she was still inside of Amy."
Sonic, after hearing his information, recalls earlier. Kimmerie, who was possessing Lavender, must have clawed her stomach right where the girl twin probably was. Then, she forcibly pushed Amy against the wall. With a closer observation—Amy not only hit her head against it, part of her stomach hit the hard wall… the exact same spot where she was clawed. Sonic already assume that the girl twin was murdered by Kimmerie.
"No…" He mourns in grief for the twin daughter. Amy did the same. Now, Lavender Rose Sparkle is left with only a baby brother and no sister. It would also be complex for Cobalt Jay Rush to understand that he had a twin sister who died in birth when he gets older.
Moments later, Cobalt Jay stops crying. Amy and Sonic looks down to see him. They realize he's not responding anymore.
"Cobalt?" Amy says his name, her voice breaking. She gasps in sorrow and trauma. Sonic carefully takes him into his arms while Amy continues to sob. He, too, tries to get his attention albeit to no avail.
"Cobalt?" Sonic tries again. "Cobalt Jay?" Nothing.
Once the Cesarean section is done and stitches are applied, the hedgehog doctor comes up to Sonic. He tells him and Amy, "He's premature, so we have to take him to the neonatal intensive-care unit."
The couple is speechless. "Don't worry; once we get him into an incubator and have our neonatologists care for him, he will be fine. I can assure you."
Sonic is at first reluctant to give up his premature son. He asks him, "How long is he going to have to stay there?"
"By judging how early he is, I'd say… a month or so."
More silence. The doctor persists, "If we don't take him to the neonatal unit, chances are that he can die."
Sonic and Amy briefly glance at one another before glancing at Cobalt. Then, they both agreed on their difficult, disheartening decision.
Later…
At the neonatal unit, while Amy is resting in the maternity room, Sonic is at the neonatal unit, staring through the incubator's glass. Inside, he perceives Cobalt Jay lying down in a supine position; he has a thick diaper on, his eyes are tightly closed and an oxygen tube is inserted inside his nose. Even though he's breathing again, Sonic tears up at the sight of his new son. They already lost their second daughter, now he's afraid of losing his first son as well.
He meticulously places his hand against the glass, as if he's touching him again. He quietly sobs and pray, "You'll pull through. I know you will, son. We'll just have to stay strong."
He closes his eyes again, allowing himself to cry. Within minutes of weeping…
"Sonic?" A familiar voice says his name.
"Daddy?" Another familiar voice did the same.
Sonic opens his eyes again. He turns to where they're coming from. Misery Severity and Lavender Rose finally shows up, both holding hands. Misery—wearing her cloak with the hood down—is all apologetic while Lavender is slightly perplexed, though really sad. The latter lets go of her hand and then she scurries to her father, giving him a hug when she notices how sad he is. Sonic returns the embrace.
"Daddy…" Lavender coos. The father and daughter broke apart for a little while.
Sonic makes eye contact with Misery. "Why did you show up?"
Misery strolls closer to her, "My senses were telling me that something tragic happened to your twins. And Lavender told me that she saw Kimmerie killing one of them. I had to come here as soon as possible to warn you. But—I guess I was too late and you already know." She pauses, "I'm really sorry for your loss."
"It's okay," Sonic mouths. He returns watching Cobalt in the incubator.
"Daddy, where's my baby brother?" Lavender asks.
He helps her up to allow her to see him through the glass. He points at him, showing her what he looks like. "There he is. His name is Cobalt Jay Rush."
Lavender perceives her premature baby brother. "He's so tiny."
"That's because he came out of mommy too early. He has to stay in there until he's all better."
"Where's mommy?" She briefly glances around, searching for Amy.
"She's in a different room, resting. But she's going to be okay."
Lavender stares back at Cobalt. She has so many questions to ask about the baby. However, she decided to leave them out since she's aware of Sonic's grief. Sonic tells her, "I'm sorry that you won't have a baby sister anymore."
She hugs him, with mutual sadness. "I know."
While Sonic and Lavender Rose are holding onto each other and gazing at Cobalt Jay Rush, Misery quietly strolls behind the duo, joining the mourn. She sniffs whilst black tears are flowing in her eyes. The sight of the father and daughter weeping is bringing her unhappiness. She wipes the mascara-mixed tears off with her fingertips.
Misery gazes at Cobalt through the incubator and her heart aches at the view. He looks so helpless, weak and vulnerable. So much vulnerability in the baby, that a witch-cat with a dark personality cannot even handle it. She wanted to do something about it to make it up for the family.
She's not sure what she's going to do for now. She's aware that she cannot just use her magic to bring health and strength to the baby; it's not strong enough for her. It's best if the professionals do their job in order to make sure he's okay. Although, according to her senses, Misery is sure that Cobalt will make it within a month. By the time he checks out of the hospital all healthy and happy with his family and being able to see the world before his eyes…
She has something in her mind.