37. Eyes

The blue hedgehog worked silently and carefully, not even sparing a single syllable to ask her to stop holding her arm, or sit up a bit straighter, or even raise her chin when he needed her to. All he had to do was let his arm travel towards the respective cut, bruise, or wound, and she instantly did as he would have instructed, letting him either wrap it in a bandage, or heal it with a quick chaos incantation. He never thanked her for the quiet obedience, and she never said anything about it either, mostly because of two things.

Firstly, her throat was sore and as dry as dry could be, and she was sure that if she spoke more than a few syllables at a time, she was going to choke on her own tongue. And secondly (and most important), she could tell—just from that far off glare—that he was not happy.

She didn't blame him for it one bit, of course, since… well, it was sort of was her fault. Okay, so it was totally her fault, but hey, it wasn't like he hadn't put her in that exact position before! Sonic was reckless all the time and he never got this kind of "punishment," so why was it okay for him to give her the guilt-slash-silent treatment the one time she tried something anything? And hey, when she sat down and thought about it, she hadn't even done anything that crazy! Well, maybe it had been a bit insane (she sort of had to be to enter Eggman's base without Sonic's help), but she had found one of the emeralds, right? Right?

Justification did little for an angry hedgehog though, and knowing that, Sally sighed. The action did more harm than good, though, and she found herself coughing a few seconds later, her ribs and lungs burning each time she hacked.

Though the fit didn't last long, it left her shaking and feeling worse off than when she had began, which was seriously saying something. She felt like passing out on the spot, and if it hadn't been for the drink Sonic had offered her at that moment (where had he got that, anyway?), she probably would have.

She took long gulps from it, her throat being flooded with a cool soothing touch that instantly relieved the dryness. Once she had downed the contents of the cup, she placed it carefully on the ground next to her, looking up at the hedgehog with a very cautious gaze. The instant she met his eyes, she cringed.

The look in his eyes wasn't particularly malicious or mad, but rather… stormy. There was something raging in those emerald greens—maybe anger or sadness, or something else she couldn't quite put a finger on—that scared her. It wasn't a look that he shared often, but when she saw it, she knew that she was in for it. Sonic wasn't one to lecture, but when he did… boy, it made even Sally's rage seem like a walk in the park.

So, hoping that she could find a way to avoid it, Sally swallowed once again, glancing off to the side as she spoke. "Are… are you mad?"

He didn't speak for a long time. When he did though, he sighed a heavy breath, shaking his head before he hugged her tightly. Rather than answering her question, though, he whispered quietly to her, "Don't you ever even think of scaring me like that again, Sal."

She didn't know what to say, so instead of speaking, she simply hugged him as tightly as she could. To be completely honest, she wasn't exactly against breaking that promise…

Sonic may be reckless, but that doesn't mean that he likes it when Sal is...

Thanks to ShadowEmpress76, brave kid, Thomas Holmes II, and Parker 117 once again for the reviews! :) I'm glad you guys liked that last one! ^^ That one was one of my personal favorites...