A/N: New Chapter! Enjoy. Sorry it's so short. I really hope the story is ok and that I'm not disappointing my fans. I know it's not my usual style. ^^;
Chapter 11
Rouge was sitting with Knuckles in a lavished waiting room. Sonic had gone finish the meeting with the Furor, he had assured Knuckles he could handle it. Knuckles couldn't deny him, and Sonic knew this as well. It was obvious that Knuckles wanted to be by Rouge's side, and Rouge was determined to wait by the E.R. until she was allowed to see Amy. "Knuckles...what's happening to her...?" Rouge asked at last.
Knuckles looked up at her and sighed. "It's my fault." He said with regret.
Rouge put her hand on his arm. "What do you mean? How could you be responsible?" She asked moving closer to him to reassure her trust.
"The bracelets...I gave them to her..." He felt Rouge's hand rest on top of his. "I should have known better, but I didn't think it through...I didn't do enough research..." he had a bitter grin on his face. "That was always Tails bit anyhow, it's no wonder I made a mistake."
"Knuckles...?" Rouge tried desperately to understand what he was trying to say.
"Tails made those bracelets for Shadow. They were power enhancers. They react with genetic material and instill an alteration that allows more control and power to be at the will of the wearer." He explained. "That was their original function anyway. They enhanced Shadow's powers greatly, but they also affected him in a different way. They seem to make him change as if his new powers made him a new person...the only ones to notice this effect on him were Sonic, Tails, and myself." He sighed before continuing. "Tails mad adjustments and created new bracelets. He made only two new pairs though. it took some effort, but Sonic and I were able to remove the original bracelets from Shadow, and Tails had them destroyed. The new ones he fabricated were very different. They still enhanced Shadow's power, but not as much, and many of the talents that came naturally to him with the old bracelets became skills that he had to sharpen himself, there also appeared to be no side effects. "
"I don't understand Knuckles, if the new bracelets were fixed why would that be a problem now?"
"They aren't fixed."
"But you just said-"
"There not fixed for her." Knuckles interrupted. "I now realize that Tails had the second pairs made specifically for Shadow." He looked at Rouge. "The first pair ever made was created for anyone, but Tails would only trust such power to be tested by one of us." By one of us, Knuckles of course meant only one from the brotherhood. "Shadow volunteered. After the bracelets were a failure, Shadow asked Tails to please try again. He wanted to be stronger. It was all he knew in life at the time. Neither Sonic or I ever requested a pair, but we had assumed the extra pair Tails had created was for one of us should we choose to use them." His brow wrinkled with anger. "It was a foolish assumption. I only recently found out that, they second pair had been Shadow's spares. Tails only entrusted them to me because he feared Shadow might try to wear them all at once."
"So for Amy the bracelets mean..."
"It means that it is a possibility that the side effects from the original bracelets could occur when they are worn by someone else.
Shadow sat beside Amy in the infirmary wing. He sighed as he looked at her. She appeared so gentle in her sleep. He rested his forehead on her wrist. This scene was so familiar to him, he had hurt Amy once before. Of course back then he had directly pushed her into a glass window, but that didn't change the fact that he was as sorry now as he was then. 'please let it be just like back then...' he begged in his mind. 'Let her wake up and smile and insult me...please just be okay...' He put his hand on top of hers. "This is my fault. I never should have let you get involved..."
"Get real." Shadow lifted his head to see Amy looking at him through tired eyes. "You can't do a thing without me." Her expression wasn't like before. She wasn't looking at him softly and there was no humor in her voice.
"Are you alright?" Shadow moved closer.
"Yeah, I'm in a strange place, people want to kill me, I no longer understand my best friend, and I'm currently in a hospital bed. I'm just fine." Her gaze was plastered to the ceiling as she lay there.
"I'm sorry. I wanted to keep you from this." He looked at her deeply. "If only things were different..this never would have happened. We could have stayed the way we were." He dropped his head down unable to continue looking at her. She looked different from the Amy he was use too. She was so distant it was like he didn't know her. Amy turned her view slightly to look at him when he didn't speak again. Her cold stare melted slightly when she saw him. His sorrow melted her anger and the hard feelings she had been harboring turned soft. However she still couldn't bring herself to sooth his worry with words. For some reason she couldn't even find it in her hear to smile. She then realized that he was still holding her hand. She had not made any attempt thus far to return his grip or even to show that she took notice of his touch at all. She looked back at the ceiling and gripped his hand. Shadow lifted his head slightly. He let his eyes fall on their clasped hands. He could see and feel her warm tight grip on his hand. It was such a small gesture but it meant the world to him. In just that grip he could feel her emotions rush into his body. Her sorrow, her pain, anguish, sadness, and he was sure he felt something that was under all this. He was reassured when he was certain he felt a low flame of love radiating to his heart. He looked up at her again, wishing there was something he could say that would make it all okay. "Amy..."
