Shadow

6 o`clock on a Thursday evening. The lobby of the Station Square Municipal Hospital was quiet, save the T.V. in the waiting area playing out old reruns of mediocre sitcoms.

It had been a slow night so far—only a few minor admissions—so Shadow, alone at the hospital reception desk, used this ample amount of free time to finish up the last bit of sewing that Sonic had left. It was an old red t-shirt with a worn seam in the armpits (Shadow had to wonder where their professor acquired these tattered clothes—were they just sitting in a closet, waiting for students to mend them?).

Initially, he was concerned that the two of them may be called out for not equally sharing the work if he finished it on his own, but the clothes Sonic mended were obviously distinct from the rest. Their professor would be impressed enough to see he even did anything.

His eyes flicked down to Sonic's pile of clothes that Shadow had folded neatly beside him. Some of the colors of thread were mismatched from their garments and the stitches were crooked at best. His sewing was haphazard, spaced oddly and almost tangled in some places, but at least the gaps in the fabric were closed, so that was something.

Normally, Sonic's shoddy craftsmanship would induce an eye-roll and a slow simmer of annoyance that heated his chest. But, today, he couldn't manage it.

Call it exhaustion, call it resigned apathy, but Sonic's crude work was almost endearing—childlike in its quality. That look of pride and amazement Sonic had upon completing even a single stitch flicked through his mind. Maybe it reminded him of a young Maria, grinning as she pecked away 'Mary had a little lamb' on the piano from memory for the first time.

Or maybe he just felt a twinge of sympathy for the kid after yesterday's display. He felt his mind drift without his explicit permission, lingering on thoughts of what would have melted Sonic's "way past cool" persona enough to cause a mini-breakdown.

He had gone from… bizarre, to happy, to having a panic attack in just one session of sewing. It seemed that Shadow's backhanded critique of trust-funders had struck a chord with Sonic. Perhaps the kid was finally starting to fall to the pressures of adulthood. It isn't easy coming into your own. For anyone.

It's a shame to see someone so bright faltering beneath the weight of reality…

Shadow shook his head, pulling his gaze back to his own work. Better to let sleeping dogs lie and just let this semester pass so he could get on with his usual Sonic-free life. It's not like he was trying to be the kid's friend or anything. They just needed to get this project done.

He could almost hear Rouge's giggle in his head, an imaginary response to his oddly Sonic-centric thoughts. "Oh hon-ey, I know you're used to fretting over everyone else constantly, but worrying about our favorite blue miscreant? That's an interesting development."

Shadow visibly frowned. Inner-Rouge, bluntly honest as always.

He let out a breath as he finished pulling the last of the thread through, tying it off. He thought of Sonic's wounded eyes. His hand in his. The weight and the warmth.

He folded the shirt neatly into the pile. Best not to think about it.

He put the clothes back in his bag, hoping the "out of sight, out of mind" philosophy would apply here. He glanced back up at the empty lobby before him, praying for some sort of work, some sort of task to distract him.

...Nothing. Just another Chao in Space 3 preview playing in the commercials between decades-old shows.

"Uh, cheow?" the alien Chao said on screen.

Shadow remembered some vague controversy about the new-age design of the Chaos for the movie—odd proportions and weirdly hyper-realistic textures. Shadow rolled his eyes. The classic 2D design of the Chao would never translate well to 3D. He felt like he read something about the studio changing the designs due to the "response from the passionate fanbase," but Shadow wasn't holding his breath. They should have just stuck with the hand-drawn animation of the first movie—why fix what isn't broken?

It looked like the kind of high-budget blockbuster schlock Sonic would probably enjoy.

Shadow froze. Nope. No, no, no. We are not sparing any more thoughts on that kid.

His phone pinged from beside him. A text from Sonic.

Well, there went that effort.

He swiped and was met with a burst of messages coming through one by one.

"hey, just wanted to say sorry about all that mess the other day "

"it's been a weird couple of weeks"

Well that much was obvious.

Shadow thought for a second, thumb hovering over the keyboard in the pause between Sonic's texts.

"Are you alright?" he typed out.

His brain caught up with him. He immediately backspaced.

Luckily, his aborted message went unnoticed as Sonic plowed forward with more texts.

"anyway thanks for all the help with the sewing and everything. i owe you one."

"let me make it up to you. you drink coffee, right? let me get you something from the place on campus."

Shadow frowned. Coffee? An invitation to consort outside of their project?

"You're breaking our one texting rule," he replied, hoping this would curtail Sonic's attempts at further correspondence.

And of course it didn't.

"yeah, i know, but let me get you some coffee as a thank you anyway!"

"plus, we need to talk about the next assignment anyhow, and if we have to do that, then this is technically a text about homework and i'm not breaking the sacred rules. plus, free coffee."

Shadow let out an obstinate breath. He guessed Sonic was technically right. "Just because you found a loophole doesn't mean I have to say yes."

"hmmmm…"

"i'll throw in a baked good of your choice if that'll sweeten the deal."

"get it?'

"sweeten?"

Shadow wanted to bang his head against the desk. "If I agree, will you stop making terrible jokes?"

"i might…"

Shadow put his chin in his hand. At least Sonic was taking the initiative to work on the next assignment before it was due. "Fine. I concede."

"sick! how's tomorrow afternoon? After class?"

While he didn't have any classes after Home-ec, he usually spent his Fridays cleaning or doing laundry, since he rarely had time to do it the rest of the week. That, or he'd have work.

Shadow closed out of his messages and checked his work schedule for this week. He had to work at 5:00 tomorrow, so he could work it in…

"Hey Shadow, got a sec?"

Shadow jumped, putting his phone down. His supervisor, a middle-aged duck named Horatio, walked up to the front desk.

"Yes, sir," Shadow answered, hoping he wouldn't be scolded for having his phone out.

"So, the receptionist that works the night shifts says she has to leave town ASAP. Family emergency. Can you take her place Saturday night," he asked, looking through a clipboard. "This means you'll work a double shift that day, morning and night, so you don't have to come in tomorrow."

Shadow looked back down at his phone. He didn't have any plans for this saturday… or most Saturday nights in his life, to be honest.

He let out a quiet sigh, "Yes, I can work Saturday evening. Will I have to come in on Sunday as well?"

"No, someone else can fill in on Sunday. Sorry to rain on your parade, kiddo," the aged duck gave Shadow a sympathetic smile, before heading back to his own work.

"It's fine," Shadow whispered to himself, before letting out another sigh. This wasn't the first time he'd been asked to cover someone else's shift. And, like always, he'd said yes without even hesitating. He'd probably be compensated for this, and the extra money never hurt. Though, with his part-time morning shifts running from 8-1 and the night shift from 10-4, that left him little time to himself. He'd probably end up staying at the hospital all day…

At the very least the extra work meant he could continue to keep himself busy…

Idle hands are the devil's playground, I suppose.

He leaned back in his chair looking up at the ceiling. He breathed-out, closing his eyes, attempting to remove any trace of tension in his body with it.

I need some time with Maria…

*Ding*

Shadow sat up, looking to the phone in his hand.

"is that long pause a yes? i'll call it a yes. see ya tomorrow shads!"

Placing his phone face down, Shadow laid his head on his desk, resigned that his life was fated to be filled with suffering.

If I can find any silver lining to this week, I suppose free coffee and pastries will suffice.