Sonic:The Last Standing
Chapter 14
Blurs of View
Sally gasped awake.
"Sally, you're awake!" Cream said as she took hold of her hand.
"What...happened?" Sally asked weakly. An IV was in her forearm.
"I'm not sure...all I remember was this really bad noise. Then I woke up about an hour ago." Cream placed her hands on her knees.
"That's right...she couldn't have remembered anything." Sally said silently to himself.
A nurse walked in. She had a needle in her hand.
"Cream honey, I think I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Sally needs some checking up here." The nurse said.
"Okay..." Cream gripped Sally's hand tightly. "I'll see you later, okay?" Cream said, trying to be cheerful.
"Yes, of course." Sally managed a smile. Cream matched it and walked out.
"Hello, Miss Acorn. Or should I call you Miss Miracle?" The tabby cat grinned a bit at her statement.
"I guess I am lucky...or prepared that is..." Sally said, glancing over to the table no more than three feet away, which had a white, bloodied vest on top.
Her bulletproof vest.
"I'm guessing that if I didn't have that on, I'd be dead right now?" Sally asked somewhat absently.
"Yes...you are very lucky, but sadly that vest didn't protect you from everything." The cat nurse sat in a chair next to Sally's bed. Sally thought about sitting up, but she felt...nauseous somehow.
"How...? I have probably been out for hours...on an IV, with oxygen being pumped into me, yet I feel nauseous?" Sally pondered silently to herself.
"Miss Acorn...our first stop paramedics managed to remove pieces of the bullet from the skin of your back." The tabby became serious, "When we examined it, we found traces of poison. A degenerative poison." The tabby paused.
"Poison? Are you telling me that the bullet was coated in-" Sally reacted quickly.
"Now, hold on. This here..." The nurse held up the needle, "This is a temporary antidote. Until we find a permanent cure, this will have to do. Please hold out your arm." She asked. Sally held out her arm as the tourniquet was wrapped around her forearm. The needle pierced into her skin as the nurse kept her eyes downcast.
"Her attitude changed quickly. Sullen. Maybe she lost someone." Sally thought.
"Now, Sally...there is some questions I need to ask you." The nurse said as she wiped the needle and set it aside.
"Alright. Go ahead." Sally sat up, but her arms became shaky. She hid it well as she resorted to leaning back.
After many questions, the nurse and Sally both sat in silence. Sally was sitting up now, staring at the floor in shock. How could she have not noticed? She, back then, knew it probably would have happened...but now?
It wasn't like they were kids anymore. Sonic was twenty one, now, and Sally only one year junior. They had been dating four years, and were always planning their future.
And that future, included the two of them becoming married.
It wasn't like Sally wasn't okay with it...Sonic, long ago, had told her he wanted to marry her, but could never afford a ring. Sonic never brought up the situation again...he felt she deserved a ring, and if he didn't have one, then she couldn't say yes.
And that he had no right to ask.
Everything was anticlimactic since then. Sally shouldn't be surprised.
But she was. Surprised wasn't the word, exactly...but perhaps anxious. Perhaps proud.
"Well...Miss Acorn, against all odds, it's clear. You...you are pregnant. Two weeks pregnant.
And your baby has survived everything."
Tails felt cold. He tried to open his eyes, but the room was so bright. He felt a plastic muzzle being placed on his mouth. Oxygen.
It smelled sweet to Tails. Normally, the ambiance of a hospital was eerie to him, but in this case, it meant safety. It meant he was going to be alright.
Tails laughed softly to himself. Sonic hated hospitals with a defiant passion. Doctor Quack eventually coaxed him to go to one after a battle one day. It wasn't like Sonic had a choice in the matter, though. In the condition he was in, Tails would have dragged him there himself.
The room began to become clearer. The oxygen was working, as the wheezing lessened. Tails blinked and sat up.
"Now, slow down. You inhaled a lot of smoke." The raccoon doctor cautioned.
Knuckles walked in slowly, as if he needed to be invited.
"Knuckles!" Tails said as he grinned sheepishly.
"Hey, don't ever do your projects in the middle of a battle again." He said as he walked over and took a seat next to his bed.
"Yeah...I had no idea it was going to do that." Tails blushed nervously, "I'm actually lucky it didn't explode on me." Tails' ears drooped. He didn't help the battle one bit, only made it worse.
"Hey, look, I know what your thinking." Knuckles placed a hand on his shoulder, "All of us passed out. That noise was everywhere." Knuckles said with a hint of a growl. He hated the fact that he was helpless too.
"Then how did we...win?" Tails asked.
"Sonic and Sally and Clover were awake. Sally made earplugs as a theory. Too bad it never got to us." Knuckles explained.
The doctor busied himself filling out forms.
"I wonder what happened to Sonic..." Tails absently said behind his oxygen mask.
"I don't have a clue." Knuckles shrugged, although you could see the concern in his eyes.
Tails tapped the doctor's shoulder.
"How long do I have to stay here?" Tails asked.
"Just for the remainder of the day, for evaluation purposes. I suggest you stay on the oxygen for an hour more. And to take this with you when you leave." He placed an inhaler in the fox's palm.
"An inhaler? But...I don't have asthma." Tails turned it over in his palm.
"You may need it. Along with the fifteen minuets of oxygen daily, you may need this when you feel light headed." The raccoon explained.
"Okay...but, do you know if Sonic is here? If he got hurt or anything?" Tails asked as he stood. He took the mask off.
The raccoon pursed his lips.
"I'm afraid he got shot. He is in the Intensive Care ward." He let out.
Tails' eyes went wide.
Sally wandered around her room. It was prohibited for her to do so...but she didn't care. The nurse said that her spine was in a tentative condition, on the verge of cracking. The poison wasn't much help either.
But, Sally couldn't stop worrying about Sonic. When she passed out, she saw an already exhausted Sonic running from a bullet.
"Could he have gotten hit? He could be here...he could be-"
Suddenly, the door clicked. Sally jumped in her bed and placed the covers over her legs.
"Quit trying to hide it, Miss Acorn. You had your legs draped over the edge of the bed when I left." The tabby grinned and shook her head.
"Alright, so you caught me. I feel fine." Sally gave up the act and walked to her.
"I still suggest to rest often." The tabby placed her clipboard on the table, "I do hope you are feeling better, however, because I want you to follow me." The cat walked to the door. Sally followed.
"Is...Sonic here? I know that he probably didn't get hurt because he-" Sally began, already dismissing the fact that Sonic could get hurt.
"He is." The nurse quickly said, keeping her eyes forward, not wanting to see her reaction.
Sally's heart sank. Sonic, hurt? Enough to be hospitalized?
There was a pause. They still walked down the white hallways. She came back to reality.
"Where is he, then?! I need to see him!" Sally strode in front of the tabby, placing a stern hand on her shoulder.
"He is in Intensive Care! That's all I know! I was going to check him, and thought you could tell him...the news...when he woke up." The nurse gently took Sally's hand off her shoulder.
"Woke up?!" Sally gasped. It's never been that bad. Sally tried to remember the last time Sonic had been knocked unconscious. Only once or twice. And one of them was due to a sedative.
"Yes, woke up...please just follow me." The tabby's patience was thin. Sally no longer asked any questions, but briskly walked next to the nurse, her stomach twisting in knots.
The two walked for some time until they reached the back of the ICU. Finally, they reached a door.
When the nurse opened the door, she quickly closed it.
"They aren't done." She said, beginning to walk away. Shock was evident on her face.
"What do you mean..." Sally stepped in front of her again, "'They aren't done.'?"
The cat stared at the ground, not giving a response.
"I said-" Sally began.
"Please just come back to your room with me." She stuttered. She grabbed her hand.
"What? No! I want to see him!" Sally wrenched her hand away. As she turned to the door, the nurse stepped in front of her and blocked her way.
"I'm sorry, but you are not permitted to-"
"I was permitted five seconds ago, then suddenly I'm not? Move." Sally narrowed her eyes in defiance.
They stared at each other for a couple of seconds. Sally wondered if she could take her down in her exhausted state. She had lied about feeling fine, but that led to seeing Sonic, and she was fine with that.
After two more beats, Sally darted to the nurse's left, swiftly running behind her towards the door.
She opened and closed the door quickly as the tabby yelled and ran towards her. She caught sight of a chair, then stuffed it underneath the handle.
"Hmph. That was easy enough."She said grinning.
"Let me in there! Sally?!" The nurse banged on the door.
"You're not permitted!" Sally jeered as she spun around.
But what she saw, dissolved her grin in seconds.
Sonic was in the bed, many bandages wrapped around his waist, blood covering them. The cuts on his forehead and arms were bandaged, but bleeding little. One of his eyes was swollen purple. He was unconscious as many doctors whirred about him, sticking needles into his arms, or placing more bandages on his bullet wound.
Sally's eyes went wide as all energy left her. Her knees buckled as two nurses in the room caught her.
"What is she doing here?" One asked the other.
"I don't know..." He said, removing the chair from the doorway.
"Sonic...no..." Sally breathed as they held her up. She felt numb. Her eyes wide, her eyebrows too high, her pupils too dilated.
But then they began to lead her outside.
"No!" Desperation began to well up inside of her, "I need to be with him! You can't do this!" Sally wrenched against the strong arms that held her back.
Sonic's eyes twitched, but were too weary open.
"Please! I need to be here for him! You can't, you can't!" Tears began to form in her eyes.
"Sally, please. Calm down!" One nurse said.
"I will NOT calm down! He is in the worst shape I've seen him! I've got to-!"
But then she felt a needle pierce her neck. The world grew fuzzy.
Sonic's eyes barley opened.
"Sonic...I don't wanna...you can't...all of you..." Sally slurred, the sedative taking over. She took a couple of swaying steps before she fell.
Gale's eyes stung as she folded her wings, diving like a rock towards Shadow.
And the ground. Can't forget that.
She neared Shadow, falling unknowingly to his doom, and reached her arms out.
She gripped his waist and pressed him to her, hard.
Then she let her wings out. The wind hit so hard that she cried out. Shadow stirred and glared up at her. He gave a confused glance as he was in her arms.
Gale blushed and just gripped his wrists instead. He hung on under her. She wondered if it was just her imagination, that she saw Shadow giving the most unnoticeable of blushes.
The familiar jet scream filled the air again. Shadow let one hand go as he aimed at Metal Sonic.
"If he shoots my energy back, absorb it, will you?" Shadow shouted up.
"Good idea, keep him off me! Or we are both falling!" Gale shouted.
"Would you expect any less of me?" Shadow held his palm out at Metal, who was quickly approaching. He fired.
The shot missed. Shadow let out a groan in frustration. He fired again, and this time it hit.
Metal was launched back, and then spiraled in the air as the electricity enveloped him. But then he fired back the electricity at the two.
"Gale!" Shadow yelled, helpless dangling from Gale's hands.
"Got it!" Gale said as she absorbed the energy in her palm. She threw it back.
"Join the club Metal!" Gale bellowed as the robot fell.
She slowed her flight down.
"You've changed." Shadow said from below.
Gale looked down.
"Ever since the chip got taken out, you've just changed dramatically. I've noticed." Shadow said, placing both hands on one of Gale's wrists, leaving one of her arms able to move freely.
"Is it...for the better or worse?" Gale asked.
"Better...Much better." Shadow said.
Gale smiled down at him. Maybe things could come out better than expected.
Suddenly, a searing blast hit Gale's left wing. She cried out and began to fall to the ground. Shadow still kept a tight hold on her wrist. They both began to fall.
"Gale! Shadow screamed as he took hold on both her wrists.
Gale's eyes struggled to open. He pulled her closer.
"I can't...I..." She whispered.
"It's okay." Shadow said.
Gale stared at him with tears.
"This is the end isn't it?" She gasped. Shadow nodded.
But then, Shadow reached his arms around her, enveloping her small frame...
...And kissed her.
The wind of falling crushed them in their embrace. Despite her imminent death quickly approaching, Gale forced herself to enjoy this moment...Shadow kissed her fiercely.
Finally, he let go. His eyes were still closed, his hands still wrapped around her waist.
But then he pulled out a green, glistening, Chaos emerald.
"Got you." He winked.
Gale barely had time to blink before the two disappeared.