His brittle quills had been clipped short to prevent accidental breakage and to promote the growth of new ones to replace them. Dark felt unusually timid when the naturally twisted spines that decorated his head were reduced to stubs. At least they way it had been done drew attention away from his bald patches, but all the same, it make him appear even smaller than he normally was.
His white patch of fluffy fur on his chest was asymmetrical now, having to have a tuft of it removed due to an unruly snarl that had worked into it, while the rest was easily savable, much to his relief.
The more unsavable fur and quills removed, the more noticeable his underweight body looked. Dark drew his legs up into the examination table with him, wrapping his arms around his knees, tucking his tail close to himself and trying to hide that fact as much as possible.
"Geeze, didn't he feed you at least?" Shadow commented during the examination, Dark pulling his arm away from the doctor quickly once he heard that. "I don't think bones are even that thin."
Dark's face flushed a deep hue of red.
"... I just didn't eat most of what I was given..." Dark mumbled, looking at floor. "... I either didn't like the choices, or I wasn't sure what was in it..."
"How can you be picky if-! Oh, right..." Shadow caught himself. "... You're a vegetarian..."
"... Even if I was starving, I wouldn't touch it..."
"Well, considering that..." Thizon made a note on the clipboard. "And that we need to increase your protein intake to promote healthy weight gain to bring you back to your ideal body mass index... I suppose the best option then is nut based..."
"... I like nuts..."
He didn't really understand the strange reaction he saw from Shadow, who looked like he was trying hard not to laugh.
"Well, that's a start, then. If you like them, then you'll be more willing to eat if that's an option." Thizon nodded approvingly. "There's currently a peanut based nutritional supplement that requires little preparation, and is used to treat severe acute malnutrition in... Younger individuals such as yourself." Thizon knew enough by now that Dark highly disliked being called a "kid" or a "child" to his face, so he steered around it to avoid angering Dark, who could very well snatch the clip board out of his hands and deck him across the face with it before he even knew what he was doing. "It's a bit like peanut butter itself, and you can eat it anyway you want, even by itself."
"... How long until..?"
"Varies among cases, but quickly enough." The doctor assured. "Usually, regimen lasts two months, so in less time it took for you to get this thin, it'll have brought you to the ideal weight for someone of your stature."
Dark smiled feebly, as if embarrassed about all of it.
"... I'd very much like that..." He said in a soft voice, nodding slowly. "... Would... Uh, it'd stop my quills from breaking, too... Won't it..?"
"If you continue to maintain a proper intake of nutrients even after the regimen is completed, that would be the first step." The doctor nodded. "I would also suggest practicing better care to them, and work on reducing stressors, as that can be a factor as well to brittleness, breakage, splitting and falling out."
Dark curled his fingers against the table, looking down again. He wasn't very good at maintaining good routines, and it would be difficult to get into such a habit. Prior to the time when his quills and fur started to reflect his poor condition... They simply were perfect without needing to try, because he reflected Mephiles' appearance... Before he managed to become an individual separate from the hedgehog.
Not anymore, it seems. He was going to have to learn how exactly Mephiles managed to keep his fur and quills so well groomed and fluffy...
You're not supposed to be fluffy! That second voice in the back of his head snapped at him.
... Can't help it if I look like Mephy... He countered back smugly, smirking on the inside. ... Better fluffy than bald...
A shrill shriek echoed down the currently empty halls, followed by another, then another just the same, perhaps shorter than it's company.
Upon hearing the sound, a nurse on the overnight shift quickly scanned her eyes across the monitors for any signs of vitals being in severe distress from an inpatient, but everyone, even the child hedgehog in a coma, checked out alright.
Another screech reverberated off the walls, and the fluffy white cat realized she recognized that particular tone, having heard the owner of it during one harrowing night in which nearly all the staff present in the building had heard the scream for help prior to one of the worst accidents to ever occur in the building... The pre-earthquake version, at least. She herself had tended to the patient before on countless occasions including that one, so she was well accustomed to identifying him among the numerous other regular patients at the Westopolis City Hospital.
The nurse, named Silvia, headed for room one-nine-six and immediately realized the situation. The one nearly identical to the child in a coma, was having what appeared to be a nightmare, or it could even a night terror.
Recalling what had been reported as to why Dark had been admitted to the hospital in the first place, and what had occurred as the related events... It was not a great surprise if Dark was indeed having parasomnial disturbances. She was well aware of Dark's general high and mighty attitude coupled with his general dislike of all things medicinal and scientific, as well as his extreme loyalty to the poor hedgehog in a coma... And what was rumored to have happened to him in the recent months would be enough to shatter even the toughest facade.
However, Dark was known for having claws that rivaled even the sharpest of scalpels, and teeth that could easily chew clear to the bone, and worse yet... Was known to use either one of them when he was greatly upset and desperate to get away. And those psychic shadow powers he possessed were not to be taken lightly, especially when they were controlled by emotion most of the time.
It would be far easier to calm a rabid Tasmanian Devil, and perhaps safer, even. At least you might still make it out with your arms still intact...
But, as a nurse, Silvia was both contractually and morally obligated to assist any distressed patient, no matter how dangerous their natural defenses were. It was all part of being a Mobian, after all, to have natural defenses. Hedgehogs and porcupines had stiff quills and, like armadillos,could curl into balls, cats had claws and teeth, the dwindling echidnas had sharp digging claws and enhanced strength... And Dark could do all of that as well...
Turning her head cautiously to look back at the counter area where the computers and communication devices were located, she considered at the very least calling for help from her colleagues, likely taking a break in the lower floors. Dark was highly likely to react primally at this, as he never seemed to handle stressing matters very well...
Stepping over carefully to retrieve the two way handheld radio from the desk, she paused and realized the cries had calmed down considerably, if not for a few whimpers. Hand still grasping the walkie talkie, Silvia walked back to the doorway quietly, and leaned in, seeing Dark still sound asleep, but features more relaxed and less upset, as if he had settled down on his own.
Perplexed at the seemingly resolved issue, the nurse still held onto the device in case it escalated again, watching the child carefully before returning back to the monitor out of sight of the room to observe the other overnight patients' vital readings.
Once the room was left alone, Dark started to stir again, moaning weakly in distress as his face scrunched into an expression that clearly said his nightmare was returning slowly. Before the sound of his cries could even become loud enough to be heard beyond the open door of the room, a hand gently placed itself on his head, lightly stroking it, causing him to quiet down and subconsciously react by leaning towards the source of comfort, exhaling softly.
A week had passed, and though there was promising signs of improvement in Mephiles, he had yet to even flutter his eyelids.
This was quite the troubling fact for Dark. He knew that every second the hedgehog spent unresponsive... A minute at most would be spent later in a state of post traumatic amnesia. Dark was very well aware of the general pattern of after coma recovery time... Not to mention the raising possibility that certain simple function skills would have to be relearned, or that certain thing may never be the same, the longer Mephiles spent under like that.
... Maybe his healing abilities would even the odds in his favor..? Dark hoped desperately, turning the page of the book he was hardly even reading anyway as he sat in a chair beside the bed.
"Oh, you're still here..?"
Dark looked up to see Shadow in the doorway.
"... Yeeeeessss..." Dark dragged the word out through his teeth as if to suggest that it would be foolish to think he would be anywhere else at this time.
"... It's just that... You've kinda been sitting there for hours, and you haven't bothered to even eat anything."
"... What time is it?" Dark closed the book with his thumb still in between the pages he had left off at, and looked a little confused.
"Almost three."
"... I've been sitting here for five hours, then..." Dark blinked. "... Strange, I didn't even notice..."
"You can't expect to get any less frail if you keep skipping out on your food." Shadow shook his head, looking behind him for a moment out of the room.
"... I haven't been hungry..."
"I honestly find that baffling..." Shadow raised his eyebrows.
"I don't eat much to begin with... And as of late, I'm finding it less of a priority than... Well..."
"You'll have a heart attack if you keep that up, y'know?" Shadow directed his attention at Dark's book. "Starving yourself like that, running yourself ragged... You're putting a lot of stress on your body..."
Shadow could have sworn he heard Dark mumble: "... What do you care..?", but Dark quickly shook his head and opened his book again.
"... I'm not leaving him alone..." Dark said aloud instead, not looking up, but ears drooping slightly.
"I could watch after him for you while you do."
Dark closed the book and looked up again.
"How old do you think I am?" He frowned, having disliked the ton the previous words had been said in.
"Well, I know that you're not much younger than Meph... And he's about eleven." Shadow shrugged, smirking slightly. "And I know exactly when your 'birthday' is-"
"It's not a birthday!" Dark shouted over him, suddenly appearing livid. "There was nothing joyous about that event! I was not 'born', I was thrown into existence in this world by an unstable reaction! It's not a birthday! It'll never be a birthday! I do not have a birthday and I never will!"
"..." Shadow blinked, lowering his arms he had brought up as soon as Dark started shouting. "... Then how in the world do you expect us to properly gauge how old you are if there is no day to count from?"
Dark stared blankly before gritting his teeth.
"It's not important. It's not like anyone would even care about a birthday if I had one. Let's just agree my birth year is nineteen-ninety-six, and do the math from there. I'm eleven. No more. No less. Just eleven."
"And I'm over fifty. Do I look it?"
"... Uh... No... Not really..."
"Good. Now go eat something."
"Y-you can't tell me what to do!" Dark shouted angrily, surprised that he was being practically being commanded.
"Actually..." Shadow had that slight cocky smirk he often had when preparing to one up someone, and was leaning against the doorframe with a finger pressed to his cheek in mock thought. "As far as anyone is concerned or knows of, Rouge and I are essentially your legal guardians according to our laws here, so technically, I can tell you what to do if it's in your best interest..."
There was a long hesitation from Dark before he managed: "... B-But... Mephy..?" Looking at said hedgehog apprehensively.
"He'll be fine even if you leave him for a few minutes."
Dark was still hesitant. He gripped the book tighter, almost bending the hardback cover.
"... But what if he wakes up, and I'm not here for it..?"
"... You honestly think we wouldn't tell you right away?" Shadow blinked in confusion. "I can't be that cruel, am I?"
Dark shook his head slowly, biting his lower lip anxiously before hesitantly standing up from the chair and awkwardly stepping passed Shadow, looking back at Mephiles at least twice before he got out the door, clutching the book in his hands tightly.
Once Dark was out of sight, Shadow took the chair by Mephiles, having to snort faintly to himself over what just happened.
"... Dunno what it is about you..." He shook his head and muttered to the comatose hedgehog, half aware that it was likely his words were falling on deaf ears anyway. "... But you can really change someone's heart, Meph... He's hardly anything like he was half a year ago..."
Smiling faintly, Shadow placed a hand on the unconscious hedgehog's forehead.
"... You're missing out on some neat things, y'know? You need to wake up soon, we all miss you..."
Twenty minutes later, Dark was back in the doorway, appearing startled beyond a reasonable doubt, as if he had just crawled away from something unscathed. He was leaning against the frame and staring blankly ahead as well.
"Good lord, what happened to you?" Shadow stood up, realizing Dark was trembling, pale and sweaty, holding the book still in his hands, but the cover was now bent in half. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"
Dark flinched, as if he just realized Shadow was there. Then he slowly lifted the book in front of him, laughing weakly as if he just couldn't believe whatever luck he stumbled upon.
"... The stairs..?"
"Yes..?"
"... You know the stairs, right..?"
"Yes..." Shadow said slowly, wondering where Dark was heading. "What about them..?"
"... Decided to take them over the elevator... Claustrophobic, remember..?"
"Okaaay..."
"Made it down to the cafeteria after a while... Wasn't too bad..."
"... That's good, isn't it..?"
"Not finished. Let me talk." Dark frowned before continuing. "Tried to walk back up... Slipped halfway. Fell..."
"Are you alright?" Shadow said quickly, recalling Dark's last tumble down a set of steps while at this hospital. The last thing anyone needed right now was for Dark to injure himself again, especially seriously. "I didn't hear you shout or anything! When-!"
"Let me finish!" Dark snapped back before continuing. "Fell... And this thing shielded me... Every step! Hah... Imagine that! Lucky! Me? What's the chances?"
Dark continued to snicker faintly, rolling his eyes upward and to the side, dragging a hand down his cheek, genuinely tickled by such an idea.
"..."
"... You can talk now..."
"... Well, then. Uh... That's fortunate for you to not get hurt..." Shadow blinked, rubbing his head and wondering how that all happened without the slightest bit of noise.
"... I-I'm gonna go lie down now..." Dark nodded weakly before dropping the book at his feet and sliding to the floor, still giggling. "... Right a-after I s-sit down here f-for a while..."
"... Why didn't you take the elevator, then?"
"... No one else was on it... Felt too small..."
Shadow was about to question it, before remembering that Dark was claustrophobic as well. The more he thought about the situation, the more he felt like he probably should have just gone with him instead of sending him to the cafeteria on his own. But, then again... who was going to stay with Mephiles while that happened? Rouge was at work today, and Dark had fussed over the young hedgehog being left alone, so this had been a tough choice to begin with...
"... Next time, just tell me what you want, and I'll just pick it up for you."
"... What..? Think I can't do it by myself..?" The faintest of glares were worked into Dark's features.
"Naw, not that... It's just that that could have ended a lot worse than it did." Shadow shook his head, frowning. "... We don't need you in a coma, too."
"... I'm so shaken by that slip, that I can hardly think of a clever snap back at you..." Dark snorted, looking up at Shadow with half closed eyes, one drooped more than the other. He bit back an awkward grin. "... I'll just assume you were merely commenting on a concern for my safety... How lovely..."
"... Y-yeah... Just... Watch out, next time..."
It was now week two of the waiting for Mephiles to wake up. Even though Dark was given the okay to be taken back home with the promise of weekly check ups until completely recovered, Dark refused to the point of actually physically fighting back on account of him not wanting to leave Mephiles alone.
When Shadow and Rouge both arrived for the daily visitation, they found a bluish colored cat with lighter blue paws, lighter blue tipped tail, a white chest and a pale cream colored muzzle curled on the bed beside Mephiles, arms stretched out and reaching across the white chest fluff, and head resting on it as well. The right ear was torn as if bitten into.
Aside from the obvious telltale colors... The thin appearance and patchy fur gave away that it was Dark, and that he must have used Tape's shadow to gain this form.
"What are you doing?" Questioned the hybrid hedgehog.
Bright green eyes revealed under the eyelids as they lifted lazily to the voice. Stretching and yawning in such a way that only a cat could, Dark pulled away from Mephiles, hopped onto the floor, and in a puff of purple mist... He was sitting on the floor in his normal the same way he had as a cat, looking disgruntled at having been awakened.
"... It's easier to sleep there..." He mumbled, stretching his legs out from the crouched position to sit normally as he lifted an arm above his head to stretch those muscles as well, trying to stifle another yawn. "... I'm close... I can hear him... I can sense everything being alright..." He relaxed a bit more and looked up at the bed. "... They go 'way 'round him..." He added quietly.
"What does what now?"
"... Not really important..." Dark shook his head quickly. "... Still tired... What time is it..?"
"It's half after noon." Rouge said, setting a bag down on the countertop surface by the door. "How long were you asleep?"
"... Probably a couple of hours, then..." Dark nodded lazily for no real reason. "... Couldn't sleep last night..."
It was obvious that Dark needed the sleep anyway. Even with it being the second week since being rescued, he had yet to catch up on it adequately enough, and though the darkness under his eyes had gotten a little lighter, he still had a long way to go.
"... We could come back later if you like."
"... No, no... M'fine... M'fine..." Dark mumbled, waving his hand halfheartedly, and then attempting to pick himself up off the floor, only to start to wobble unsteadily halfway up.
"We'll just come back later, you need to rest." Rouge pointed out, her and Shadow both standing by in case Dark started to topple dangerously.
Dark caught himself and managed to lower himself back to the floor to sit, leaning against the bed, and blinking slowly.
"... Huh..?" He looked up at them in confusion. "... Didn't hear that... Ears got all muffled allovasudden..." The last set of words slurred a little from lack of effort to annunciate them properly.
After much convincing to get him to do so, Dark finally, though half asleep doing so, agreed on the request and shifted back into the cat form, stretching his paws up lazily in a weak effort to jump back onto the bed from the floor, as he didn't seem to possess the cognitive skill at the moment to perform such a simple task. A feeble feline cry issued from him as he peddled his back feet, but couldn't seem to get the springing action that cats could do.
He didn't seem to object to being lifted off the floor, feet and tail dangling by simple gravity as he was set on the bed next to the hedgehog.
Without even bothering to look at the visitors, cat Dark flopped on his side, twisting his body around until he was on his back, paws curled to his chest, tail and back legs stretched out leisurely, and head resting up against Mephiles, purring quite loudly once he was comfortable.
Maybe it was their imaginations... But one could easily swear they saw the faintest of twitches in the comatose hedgehog's cheek...
Two days later, Mephiles' eyes lifted open just halfway, appearing as if he wasn't even focusing at all on what was in front of or around him.
It reminded Dark so much of when he had gotten the head injury from the robot that had attacked them... When Mephiles' eyes were open, but not seeing anything at all...
Dark quickly felt sick at the memory, and shakily excused himself from the room as the hedgehog's reactive reflexes were tested, to find the restroom on account of feeling like he had at least a seventy-five percent chance of puking as a response...
Trying hard to counter it, he filled a sink with cold water and splashed his face with it, panting roughly as he tried to calm down.
... If there was ever a good time for Iblis to show up... Now would be it...
Dark trembled, bracing himself against the sink. He couldn't understand why his body was reacting in such a way.
... It's supposed to be a good thing that he's started to open his eyes... He tried to reason with himself, gripping his hands behind his ears, digging his fingers in. ... But why am I so scared..? At least he's alive, and it shows that he's recovering... Oh... Oh, God...
Dark's face paled more than normal, pupils shrinking as his eyes opened wide, a hand flying to his mouth as his cheeks puffed, moaning weakly as sweat started to coat his shivering body...
Shoving away from the sink frantically, he spun around and managed to make it to the toilet to throw up, body shaking feverishly now after he was finished, the shadow gasping harshly to catch his breath.
Wiping his mouth on the back of his hand, he stumbled to his feet and back to the sink to rinse his mouth to rid the foul aftertaste from it, grumbling under his breath about how ridiculous it was for him to be overreacting like that. There was nothing to worry about, Mephiles was being taken care of, and everything was going to be fine...
He's going to hate me for hurting him! He's going to hate me for hurting him! He's going to wake up and he's going to hate me for hurting him!
This had quickly blared through his mind without a second's pause. He fought the strong urge to bash his head into the mirror to block it, knowing that once it was found out as to what he did to himself, he'd be put under closer surveillance than normal, as if they'd assume that he was trying to purposely injure himself just to stay at the hospital...
Feeling an uncomfortable knot make itself known in his stomach, he slid to the cold tiled floor, tilting his head back and slumping against the wall.
A sharp knock on the door made him jump, instinctively drawing himself into a half curled shivering ball as he stared at the door with wide eyes.
"Hey, you okay?" Shadow's voice sounded off (presumably he was there because Rouge wouldn't be able to do much, being of a different gender, therefore Dark was able to hide in a bathroom from someone like her). "You kinda disappeared there when they started to check his reflexes..."
"... F-fine..." Dark lied pathetically, not sounding at all convincing.
"You didn't look fine." Shadow's voice sounded like he wasn't fooled. "In fact, you looked more like you were going to-"
"Fine! You got me!" Dark shouted over him angrily, voice echoed a little from the room he was in. "I felt like I was going to vomit, and you know what! I did! I just did! Happy now!"
A pause of silence, followed by a loud CLICK! and then the door was pushed open carefully, a red striped, black spiky quill covered head peered in cautiously.
"... Geeze, you're not kidding... You look pretty sick..." Shadow pointed out carefully, surprised at how fast Dark had gotten ill in a matter of minutes.
"Oh, really? I couldn't tell!" Dark snapped irritably, feeling rather uncomfortable and not in the mood to keep himself and his rudeness in check. "I mean, I thought so after I just puked up the food I ate earlier, but I figured, naw, I might have been over thinking things a little! OF COURSE I'M FEELING SICK!" Dark shouted the last part, before paling again, quickly clapping both hands to his mouth as his pupils contracted and he groaned loudly in discomfort, trembling again.
Sensing the reasoning was not because of a virus, nor was it something that didn't agree with Dark's stomach, Shadow quickly concluded that it must be because the creeping realization of the state Mephiles was in, and that it would long well enough before things were even remotely back to normal... That, or something about seeing the hedgehog in an unresponsive trance really shook Dark to his core...
"... If he's starting to open his eyes, it means he's starting to regain awareness around him..." Shadow tried to reassure, knowing that Dark, brilliant mind that he was, could easily debunk that statement right away with cold hard fact anyway. "... It's more than it's been for the past two weeks, at least. He doesn't respond to his name or questions yet, but the only thing that seems to get even the slightest reaction is your name."
Dark stiffened, pulling his hands away slowly, before muttering with a slight glare: "... Why... in the w-world would you t-test that... Using m-my name..?"
"Because all he fretted about the last two and a half months was you. If he's going to be having some amnesia about what happened, he's going to still be worrying about where you are." Shadow explained, cringing at the annoyed look Dark gave. "... As far as we know, he could still think you're still being held captive, if you're right about him possibly having no memory of what happened to him when he first wakes up. Every time he checked in with us when he was with Sonic, he would take up most of the conversation musing about you and how you must be, having been that long and far away from him. You were on his brain a lot..."
"Sh-shut up!" Dark snapped in harsh tone, voice cracking and eyes glistening as he gripped behind his ears again, rocking slightly. He whimpered in a softer voice, but still sounded equally upset. "Just... Sh-shut up... It's not making me f-feel any b-better... Oh, Chaos... Oh, God... I sh-should have tr-tried harder..." His voice raised several pitches, as if strained and cracked now. He curled inward more, and would have been a ball of quills, had he actually had enough to spread out.
He uttered a sound of aguish, trembling and dragging his claws down the side of his head, breaking skin in a few areas, and causing thin trailing dribbles of blood to slide down behind his fingers. He showed no indication that he was even aware that he was doing that.
Awkwardly caught in the middle of this, Shadow bit his lower lip, trying to figure out how to help counter a possible freak out. It was no hidden thing by now that Dark experienced bouts of what could only be described as "tantrums", and not necessarily the temper kind, when distressed.
Anything could happen.
The lights above could explode.
The room could shake.
He could start screaming at the top of his lungs, SpinDashing into furniture, tearing apart the wallpaper with his bare hands, grabbing and throwing any and everything he could get his hands on, maybe even tear it in half as his pent up energy his body made caused him to be a living live wire, his Aura exploding in a fierce barrier around his form, unable to be grabbed and comforted until he wore down and calmed on his own.
Or he could simply drop to the floor in a heap, wailing like his heart was breaking, flailing and writhing at any touch that made contact with him, inconsolable to anyone other than Mephiles himself.
Shadow hesitated, waiting to see what direction this would follow. Instead, much to his relief at the simplicity, Dark merely collapsed in an exhausted pile of hedgehog shaped shadow creature, having seemingly fainted from the nerve wracking stress he was under. Good... At least he wasn't blindly attacking anything that came near...
Crouching down to be more level with him, Shadow cautiously reached over to nudge Dark's shoulder with a hand, trying to determine the level of consciousness enough to decide whether or not he needed to carry the young element back to his room, or if he could simply instruct him to get to his feet and be led there.
When his hand made contact, Dark just moaned discontentedly, halfheartedly pulling away, but otherwise seeming like he didn't care.
"Hey? Can you stand?"
Dark didn't respond beyond reaching up to shove the hand away, grunting weakly with his eyes still closed.
"If you can hear me, I'd like you to try to stand so I can take you back to your room..." Shadow tried again, but Dark didn't bother to try. "... Alright, then... If you get mad, it's your own fault..."
Several minutes later, he met up in the hall on the way back with Rouge, who had wondered where the two of them had gone off to. Looking at the listless form in the hybrid hedgehog's arms, she inhaled sharply, wondering what had happened, as she could clearly see that Dark was pale and sickly again, as well as several clawlike scratches were visibly under his thin and clipped quills.
"... What happened to him?"
"... Not quite sure, even though I saw most of it..." Shadow admitted, stepping towards the room. "... If I had to take a wild guess, I'd say he just freaked out pretty badly."
"He looks like he could be sick at any moment..."
"He already did." Shadow looked away awkwardly, stepping into the room with Rouge walking beside him. "... That's why he ran off in the first place. I don't think he could handle seeing Meph like that for very long..."
"I did notice him looking like it was bothering him..." The bat nodded in agreement as Dark was carefully placed on the bed, rolling over on his side and curling up. "... Why was his head bleeding?"
"He kind of clawed himself when he was freaking out." Shadow explained briefly. "I don't think he realized he was actually doing that, though, so I doubt it was intentional. How did the rest of the reflex tests go?"
"... He's still a ways away from waking up completely. But when they tried to pinch at his fingers, he did pull back just a little to try to get them free." There was a hint of a smile in her voice. "So at the very least, he can feel a little again."
"Really? That's great!" Shadow grinned back. "I can bet that his healing ability is part of the reason this is going on so fast compared to to other people's comas."
In the middle of the night, Dark had snuck back into Mephiles' room, taking the cat form again and nestling between the space of the hedgehog's body and arm.
The room next door felt so empty and lonely at night, just wide open enough to let bad dreams find their way to him, and cruelly rob him of the comforting rest he desperately wanted. He hated the bad dreams. Often, they were surreal, but occasionally, they'd seem real enough that when he woke, he had to force himself to realize that the world is still alright around him. It never happened... It was just his brain playing terrible games with him.
Even if Mephy was still unconscious and unaware that he was there, at least he could take solace that the both of them were not all by themselves at night in an otherwise silent and seemingly empty sounding hospital.
If the hedgehog suddenly regained awareness in the middle of the night, the shadow wanted to be sure that the hedgehog did not feel lonely, scared, confused, and upset to wake up in a dark room that was clearly not home. He was determined to make sure that didn't happen...
Besides... He could sleep better when he was near Mephy. He couldn't explain it, but something about being near the hedgehog created a barrier for bad dreams and thoughts around them. Maybe it was because he felt safer around Mephy, or maybe it was because he could rest easy knowing Mephy was right where he could find him...
... I just wish you'd be alright soon... Dark thought to himself, shifting to rest his head against the hedgehog's body. ... If it's possible, I really miss you, even though I see you everyday... He nudged his head against the hedgehog gently. ... And whatever you do... Don't hate me... It wasn't me who hurt you so badly...
It wasn't long until that cat woman, Shela, had gotten wind of the state the two boys were in. Dark immediately dreaded the impending "visit", as though a sort of doom was encroaching worse than he had seen before.
"Hello, Dark... It's been a while since we've last seen each other..."
Yeah... When you made sure I was handcuffed to the bed to keep me from running... Dark wanted to say, but instead, he bared his teeth and growled dangerously.
The cat drew back only a little, still keeping that falsely sweet smile on her face.
"I'd like to ask you a few questions about what happened to Mephiles, if that's alright with you..."
"No."
"Excuse me?"
"No, it's not alright." Dark folded his arms and continued to glare. "In fact, I'd like it very much if you closed the door... from the other side."
Shela blinked and leaned forward to be able to say in a lower tone: "Listen. If you can't explain what happened to him, or how it couldn't have been you-"
"Go ask Shadow or Rouge! They know it just as well as me!" Dark snapped, feeling harassed. "The last thing I want to do is even think about it! You have no idea what I went through!" He flipped a chair to the floor between them, creating a makeshift barrier between the cat and the shadow. "And you! You'll just take things out of context and use it against me! Get out of here, now!"
"Well... Someone is feeling a bit aggressive today..." Shela's eyes seemed to glitter at the thought. "How often would you say that happens to you-?"
"No! I refuse to answer any of your questions while no one else can see us!" Dark barked, taking a step back, towards the bed the hedgehog was in. "You've had it out for Mephy and me since you met us! You're just convinced that we're crazy and need to be put away!"
Dark's shouts of anger did not go unnoticed.
"How did you get in here?"
This was probably the second to best time Dark had ever been so pleased to see Shadow. Dark glanced at Shela and smirked faintly.
"She won't leave me alone..." Dark explained, sounding partly distressed. "She wants to ask me about what happened with Mephy... And I don't want to even think about it..."
"I have to agree with him... It's not exactly something anyone wants to discuss this soon after..." Shadow nodded slowly, looking at the cat. "We have the situation under control, and everything is being taken care of."
"And what do you plan on doing about tha-?"
"I'm right here, y'know!" Dark interjected angrily. "If you must use a pronoun for me, use 'he', not 'that' or 'it'!"
"If you mean what we are going to do with him, we plan on taking him back home with Meph when he wakes up." Shadow gave his well known glare.
"Are you sure it's wise to keep them together after they both have seriously injured the other already?"
"Now wait just a-!" You guys know the drill... It's two consecutive ones this time. "-Minute!" Dark snapped backed furiously. "Mephiles has never hurt me before! He would never do that! And I did not do this to him!"
"Unless you can prove that your claws do not match the wounds-"
"You know, ma'am, I believe this could count as harassment." Shadow pointed out. "First off, he's a minor, so he doesn't have to answer anything without having someone present who is his guardian. Secondly, I believe it's not a good idea to make him have to recount any of that this soon after the event. And third... This is not the first time you've cause trouble with him."
"I'm merely doing my job. He's the one who insists on making it difficult."
"I don't like you." Dark stated bluntly, annoyed that his quills were too short to bristle effectively. "Usually, one can tell of I dislike anyone in any way, but you... I feel like I have to say it to drive it further. I. Don't. Like. You."
"I'm gonna have to side with him on that one..." Shadow nodded, stepping over to be on the side of the room with the other two hedgehog creatures. "I suggest you leave now before we bring this to someone else's attention..."
"I wonder how long you can keep this up..." Shela added with a serious undertone. "... Before something worse than thathappens?" She gestured to the unconscious laying in the bed. "They are clearly a danger to each other, and it's only a matter of time before the danger either spreads out or worsens."
"Lady, you have no idea what you're talking about." Shadow said calmly before Dark, who was sputtering angrily, could. "The real danger is separating them, because they depend on each other in ways impossible to explain. Have you even bothered to take a look at their conditions? The one you're heckling has been forcibly isolated from both the one laying in that bed and the rest of the world for a little over two months."
"... Shadow..?" Dark now sounded like he was asking desperately. "... Just drop it..."
"I'm only going to run down a stripped outline of things..." Shadow didn't even look at him. "If you recall, that influence from Dark Gaia was attacking selected people, and he was one of the unfortunate ones. A little monster in the back of his mind, with complete access to his brain, his thoughts, his memories, even the way his brain processed information. Like a computer virus, but designed for the brain."
"Are you suggesting that he had not control over the action?" The cat said skeptically. "Because, if I recall, that was your explanation for when the other one attacked him instead."
"... Shadow, seriously... Just drop it..." Dark wanted the conversation over before they treaded into territory that really unnerved and upset him.
"I've seen the little monster that caused this. And I can describe each one of it's spines, the color of it's eyes, the material of it's claws, and the tone of it's voice." Shadow half closed his eyes and folded his arms. "All down it's back, purply, nail-like and high pitched and annoying. Last I checked, Dark doesn't fall under any of that."
"And did you witness the event yourself, then?"
"Eh, no..."
Dark felt like his heart had dropped and settled like a lead weight in stomach. He knew that Shadow would not have been able to argue his case to begin with, and had wished for the discussion to have ended before it had gotten two sentences in.
"Then how can you be certain that 'creature' is responsible?"
Shadow reached into his quills and pulled out what appeared to be a shiny piece of plasticlike paper. Dark frowned in confusion. How was that going to help matters..?
"Because there was a witness. And while Meph was with Sonic..." Shadow waved the paper between them. "They had a camera. It was specially designed and modified by a particular Professor from Spagonia... Pickle, I believe... To extract little creatures like the one that infected Dark. And, because of this being a camera, it was able to obtain a snapshot of the exact moment the creature was being extracted from Dark."
Dark himself stiffened. He had no idea about the image, nor was he aware that it had been kept for the past two weeks plus... And why it was kept in Shadow's quills, he could not bend his mind around that strangely convenient fact.
He couldn't hear what was being said, however, as his hearing suddenly started to sound muffled. At first baffled by this, it was a slight familiar buzzing sensation in his head that tipped him off as to what was starting up. Darting his eyes instinctively to the colorful flickers of light in his vision, he quickly concluded to himself that a migraine was about to make itself known.
... Now..? Really..? Will they ever go away..? He asked himself grimly, long since sick of the ailment. ... At least I have an excuse to get away from her... Oh, Chaos... Hate this part...
Dark, who had steadily grown paler in a matter of minutes, quickly clutched a hand to the left side of his forehead, stifling a cry of discomfort as he leaned against the bed frame to catch himself before he had a chance to collapse.
It was not a particularly horrendous migraine, and certainly not the worst he had experienced before, but it stung all the same, making him feel as if he had just stood up too quickly from the floor and knocked his head into an open drawer or cupboard door above him.
Shadow noticed this first, seeing that Dark's face was scrunched up in some form of pain, and was quick to announce to the cat: "I think it's time you left." before he stuffed the picture back in his quills, and attempted to reach out to Dark to escort him to the other bed in the the room, as it seemed almost cruel to have to force him to walk the short distance between the rooms to get to his own, having to pass through the brightly lit hallway to do so.
Dark would have been grateful for the consideration, had he not been concerned with the single, simple thought of "... Don't move... It'll only get worse if you do..."
Not entirely sure of how much time passed before he realized he was curled up on a bed, Dark simply tried to take comfort in knowing that he was going to be left alone for the next several hours.
... How oddly convenient...
Another week passed before anything worth noting had happened.
Dark had been in his now used nearly everyday cat form, resting on his back, nestled close to the hedgehog, when it happened.
A shift of the arm muscles, causing something to brush against the fur.
Dark snapped his eyes open and lifted his head, and found that the hedgehog's arm had moved to rest the hand against his own chest.
Dark wasted no time in hopping to the floor and taking his normal form beside the bed, half excited and half terrified.
He was extremely joyous and relieved that this had happened. It meant that Mephiles was going to wake up soon, and he was starting to absentmindedly move around before then.
On the other hand, Dark was also nervous and apprehensive. No one knew to what extent the extended time under was going to have on the hedgehog's brain, as well as the clarity of his memories and whether or not he now believed that Dark had injured him so badly, as Dark's face was among the last he saw before he lost consciousness.
... He could either wake up happy to see me... Not knowing who I am... Or scared out of his mind at the sight of me... Dark shuddered at the thought, feeling a chill slide down his spine.
It was probably a long, tense hour until he was granted an answer to the musing. It was at least a half an hour before Shadow and Rouge were going to show up, as it was nearly visiting hours, and Dark wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing that he was going to be the first one Mephiles saw.
Dark braced himself, ready to jump back as far as he needed to if the hedgehog started to scream in terror, but stayed close enough that he could quickly wrap his arms around him carefully if he appeared overjoyed to see Dark again...
Dark could swear his heart skip three beats total when the eyes fluttered open with more clarity than they had done so the week previous. Mephiles was clearly aware that he was somewhere, as he stared upward at the ceiling, no doubt baffled by it, as he had yet to become familiar with the new hospital building.
"... I don't know this ceiling..." He whispered in a soft voice.
Dark couldn't help but snort a little in amusement at the non sequitur response the hedgehog gave upon finding out about his new situation.
Mephiles' ears twitched at the sound, and his eyes found Dark before he could turn his head fast enough, still trying to regain muscular function.
Dark froze, eyes wide, heart beating quickly, breathing pattern becoming rapid. This moment was going to decide just how things were going to be...
Dark found himself cowering, stepping back and away from the hedgehog. He had weighed his outcomes, and a lot of it seemed to bank on the less pleasant ones happening more than the good ones.
"... I-I understand if you h-hate me now..." Dark stammered quickly before he could stop himself, looking at the floor instinctively, trembling a little as his eyes stung and vision blurred. "... I-if you th-think I d-didn't tr-try hard enough... Or th-that I might have j-just given up... I underst-stand..."
"..."
"..."
"... Why would I hate you..?"
Dark looked up quickly enough that you could almost hear the bones in his neck pop.
"... B-because I c-couldn't st-stop him..." Dark stuttered, cursing inwardly at the dribbly nose he now had.
Mephiles tried to sit up more properly, but was still too weak to support his own weight. He remained as he was, and the annoyance at that was clear in his expression briefly.
"... He was just too much for either of us to handle..." The hedgehog stated plainly, not seeming the least bit resentful of his "brother". "... He was a horrible little monster... Not you..." Seeing that the shadow had tears sliding down his cheeks, he added with a concerned frown: "... Why are you crying..? We're alive... He's gone... It's over... What's wrong..?"
"I-I don't know!" Dark's voice lost the growl again, and he sounded very conflicted on the inside about all this. "I mean, I'm h-happy you're alright now, and you d-don't hate me, and-! And-! And I-I been here all month w-waiting for you t-to wake up! But-!" Dark wiped at his nose and eyes quickly. "I st-still feel like it was m-my fault in th-the first place! And-! And-!" He couldn't seem to finish his words, but was continually tapping his fingers over his left eye as if to try and indicate something.
Hesitantly, Mephiles reached over to his own eye, the one that he recalled had been slashed at, and felt his fingers along the skin surrounding it, feeling a slight depression in a near vertical line from the top to the bottom, like there was a scar there now.
Right away, he realized part of why Dark was so upset. A lasting mark had been made quite visibly on the hedgehog, and by the shadow's own claws, no less! Dark wouldn't be able to look at him without having such a reminder now...
"... If it helps any..." Mephiles tried his best to be supportive, as he pulled his hand away from the mark. "... I know just how you feel about that..."
"How could you possibly know! You've never-!" Dark was quick to respond, but froze when Mephiles gestured to a particular area on his own side to correspond with the place he wanted to indicate with Dark, as well as his ear.
"... You seem to forget that I chewed the crystals off your ear..." Mephiles said slowly, biting his lip, eyes watering a little. "... And before Iblis got your side like that... It was my claws that were forced to make the first slash into it..."
"... But you can easily avoid looking at them when talking to me!"
"... I always remember that they're there..." Mephiles shifted his ears back. "... I remember when I found you laying in a puddle of your own blood in our living room, barely breathing, paler than paper, you fur matted with the stuff, and red dripping off my fingers... I remember that every time I really take a moment to realize the wound is there..."
"I'm sure I would have noticed that before!" Dark snapped back.
"... That's because I counter the memory with a single, happy fact that can usually push it away from my mind for a while..." Mephiles smiled faintly. "...'He's alive, and standing in front of me'..."
"..."
"..."
Dark almost dissolved into unintelligible babble at hearing this.
"... I don't understand how you can still not hate me for all that!" He shook his head once he was able to form clearly pronounced words.
"... It's because I love you, Dark..." Mephiles' smiled broadened a little. "... You're one of my friends, you're my brother, you've saved me countless times, you understand me a lot... I just love you..."
"I don't even understand how it's me, of all people..."
"... You don't really get to choose who takes up a special place in your heart, it just happens..." Mephiles giggled softly. "... I suppose it's the same reason you care a lot about me..."
"... I thought you were going to be scared to see me after what happened..." Dark's ears swiveled back.
"... I knew it wasn't you attacking me the whole time..." Mephiles blinked in astonishment. "... I knew from the moment he took over. He didn't talk like you, he didn't move like you, he didn't have the same look in the eyes, which didn't look like yours either... It was clearly not you..."
Dark lowered his head and stared at the floor, not wanting to keep eye contact.
"... You look better..." Mephiles added faintly, in an attempt to try and perk up the obviously torn up inside shadow. "... The darkness under your eyes is going away, and you're not nearly as thin anymore..."
"... I'm almost bald, though... More than half my crystals are gone..."
"... It'll grow back..." Mephiles held back another grin simply because he didn't want Dark to think he was laughing at his expense. "... Just like last time... By then, they won't be so brittle..."
"... That'd be nice..." Dark looked up a little, smiling weakly.
"... Good... Now, we have a little problem here..."
"... What..?" Dark was instantly worried. "... What kinda problem..?"
"... I've been out of a coma for nearly a quarter of an hour..." Mephiles said with the straightest face possible. "... And you haven't once tried to hug me."
Dark's mouth hung open, and an eyebrow cocked up.
"... You're serious?"
"... I'd go over there myself, but I appear to still be regaining full function of my ability to move properly." A smile crept on the hedgehog's face again. "... I'd already be hugging you right there if not for the fact that I'd probably hit the floor because I won't be able to stand yet."
"... What if I squeeze too hard..?" Dark hesitated. "... I could end up hurting you more..."
"... I trust you won't..." Mephiles gestured for him to come over and held his arms out. "... Trust me... It'll be fine..."
"... Actually, I have a better idea..." Dark smiled a little. "... I learned a new trick, in fact..."
Mephiles watched as Dark changed his shape into that of a familiar cat, with merely cosmetic differences that were clearly Dark's traits, and within seconds, the cat was up on the bed with him, leaning and rubbing his head against the hedgehog's furry chest. Mephiles blinked twice.
"... So that's what was leaning against me earlier..." The hedgehog raised a hand to carefully pet the cat's head. "... Wow, you even can get rid of the crystals... What's that like, anyway, to have natural hands and feet..?"
Dark mewed.
"... I guess you can't talk in that form, can you..?"
A slight head shake.
"... Hmm..." Mephiles mumbled before adding: "... Still better than what I can do... Very impressive..."
A purr exploded from the blue cat as the green eyes squeezed shut.
"... I hear you're not the only one to be changing shapes, though..." Mephiles raised his eyebrows. "... 'Shu'..?"
Dark's eyes shot wide open and the purring stopped immediately.
"... Oh, don't worry... He explained everything while I was out of it..." The hedgehog snorted lightly, smiling. Seeing that Dark's furry kitty face went from horrified to confused, Mephiles explained further. "... From what I figure, all three of us can access each other's deep state of minds every now and then... You know how that works... Anyway, he explained everything about what went on while we were separated, and all that..."
The look on Dark's face clearly was begging for more details.
"... It's okay... We're all cool now..." Mephiles patted the cat's head. "... In fact... We got something figured out to work with for now, so you can still see him without having to be too secret about it... But only the three of us are supposed to know who he really is... Okay..?"
The small cat crawled up onto the white fluffy chest and rubbed his face against the hedgehog's cheek.
"... I'll take that as a 'Thank You'..."
Dark slid off and hopped back to the floor, changing back in a puff of purple mist, and standing up to sit in the chair next to the bed, looking as though he was trying to hide how much he was wanting to grin.
"... He's not really such a bad person, just misguided like I was..." Dark nodded, leaning forward. "... He just thought you were trying to take me from him, so that's why he targeted you so much..."
"Yeah... He set the facts straight there, and explained his side of the matter." Mephiles nodded back, starting to sound less out of breath now. "And honestly, I can see why he'd be a little angry with me at first. He tried to keep you shielded from whatever he could, and I just show up and you latch onto me, and want to get as far away from him as you could... In the state of mind he was in, it just made sense that I was the root of you hating him, because it seemed to happen around the time you got close to me." Mephiles managed to sit up a little and scoot back against the pillows to prop himself up. "So really, a lot of it's just a big misunderstanding and some unlucky turn of events..."
"... I never really hated him... I just hated what he was turning into..." Dark lowered his head, looking at his feet, which hung several inches from the ground.
Before anything else could be said, a sound at the door caught both of their attentions and they both turned their heads to look.
With hardly enough time for either one to register what happened next, Mephiles found himself caught up in the arms of a white bat, who got to him first before the black hedgehog.
"Geeze, kid! Don't ever do that to us again!"
"... Hi, Rouge..." Mephiles blinked, and grinned while he squeezed back.
"Is that all you have to say after all that!"
"... Um... Well... No... Not really..." The young hedgehog blushed a little and folded his ears back as he was let go... Only to be pulled into another hug by Shadow. "Hey! I'm still a little sore! Be careful, please!"
"That was the second time since you disappeared that I thought you were almost dead!" Shadow snapped back at him. "I'll show my gratitude how ever I dang well please!"
"... Well... I feel so loved..." Mephiles blinked yet again, arms pinned to his sides. "... It wasn't Dark's fault, by the way..."
"We already got that sorted out. He's not in trouble."
"Hearing that from you sounds so weird..." Mephiles looked up at Shadow. "... What happened with you and Dark while I was out?"
"..." Both Dark and Shadow were silent.
"They're starting to see more eye to eye." Rouge answered for either one of them, smiling a little.
