Since Thanksgiving is around the corner, here's what I'm thankful for in 2020:

- World is still spinning.
- God is still here (how much he is involved versus sitting on his butt and laughing at us is anyone's guess).
- Sonic came out!
- Deer hunting time! (don't tell Sonic)

Don't forget to read and review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I'd like to work on it though.

Adjusting the light in his hands, Sonic's ears twitched at the quiet that surrounded their group – save for Tom's wheezing. Everything was okay now, so why weren't they talking? It couldn't be a problem to walk and talk at the same time. Well, for everyone whose name didn't begin with 'T'. Silence was overrated, and since he knew that, it was his responsibility to start things off. As he aimed the flashlight forward towards the clustered trees, his mind whirled at 1000 miles an hour. Now was the perfect time to ask some questions and get some answers from the third best friend.

"So, let me get this straight," Sonic began.

"Aim the light a little more to the left, Sonic," Brad interrupted. Sonic readjusted accordingly, but kept talking.

"You've known Tom for whatever number of years –"

"A little more to the left, kid. And it's been almost ten now."

"– you know Maddie and Ozzie and everybody back at Green Hills –"

"Pretty much, kid. Okay, now shift it to the right."

"– you finally met me, the most amazing thing to happen to the guy in years –"

"That is debatable, kid. Wait, hold the light! See that, that white reflection? Off of that dark vehicle? That's our ride!"

"– and you're so busy that you don't drop by, you don't call, you don't write –" Sonic held up a hand and ticked each finger up as he began his list.

"Uh-oh," Tom barked out a laugh. "Sorry, Brad, you're on your own."

"Why me?" Brad whined.

"Because I already suffered through his questioning. He obviously wants to know more about you, and why you haven't popped up before now."

"You tell him."

"I would, but I'm not supposed to talk, remember?" Tom coughed to punctuate his point. Sonic looked back briefly, and stopped for a moment to let the three men get closer to him, continuing on once he got a nod from Brad. He'd have to be more careful about not getting too far ahead of the group.

"You're not supposed to be talking," Mike's voice cut in, flat and disapproving. "Brad, why are you letting the kid back talk you like this?"

"It's…" Brad began, his voice trailing off.

"It's Sonic." Tom chorused with Brad over Mike's groan. The injured man began another coughing spree.

"Give me the twelve-year-old from earlier. At least she was quiet." Sonic's ears perked. He had no idea there were other kids around. Maybe he could meet them?

"She was traumatized. Fortunately her trauma came in the form of silence," Brad responded dryly.

"Way easier to handle than this one. Just look at him. It's like nothing sticks with him. To top it off, he looks like a fuzzball. Not like any normal kid I've ever seen."

"Uh, excuse me!" Sonic turned his head around to glare at Mike. They hadn't even reached the vehicle yet and he was getting flak! "I'll have you know that these aren't fuzzballs. These are obviously quills. Hedgehog quills to be precise."

"Kid, I know what a hedgehog is. You aren't one." Now it was completely quiet. He thought he heard Tom whisper, "Sonic, don't," but he had to respond to that. The gauntlet had been set.

"Oh yeah? And how would you know?" He began to turn around.

"If you're going to talk, Sonic, at least keep the flashlight beam focused straight ahead." Brad interjected with a sigh. Glancing back towards the trees, Sonic refocused the wavering beam of light back towards the shiny object, now looking less like a black, shiny blob and more like a black, shiny utility vehicle. "Good. Keep walking. And Mike, could you wait, man? We get to the UTV first, and then you can rag on the kid."

"I've seen hedgehogs, Brad." Apparently Mike's hearing was malfunctioning. "They ain't blue."

"Well then, you've met your first alien hedgehog that's blue. I know, your mind is blown away by my awesomeness. You're welcome."

"Sonic, chill," Tom cut in before hacking again.

"But I had to straighten him out!" Sonic protested, turning around to look at his human. "Dude thinks I'm not a hedgehog, and he insulted my quills!" Dipping the light beam of the flashlight at the last minute to avoid blinding the three men, he watched as the two on the outside supported the one in the middle, both sets of eyeballs glued to that one's every heave. So what if it looked bad? Try finding him almost dead. This was an improvement.

"I know you did." Tom straightened just enough to meet Sonic's eyes, hacking to spit off to one side. He sounded more hoarse than he had before. "And you made your point. Now let's stick to nicer questions. These guys are our ride, after all."

"Okay." That didn't mean he couldn't shift the target of his questioning.

"Remember, Sonic –" Brad began to interject.

"I know, I know," Sonic protested, cutting him off. "Away from you and towards the shiny vehicle that-a-way." He swung the flashlight's beam accordingly, and brought it again to bear on the dark vehicle. At least it looked closer than it had before.

"So, Mike, what do you do?" He began his attack, trying his hardest to not be snarky or overwhelm the guy with his limitless hedgehog energy.

"I'm EMS, part of the group that's stationed at base 24/7." Based off of the tone he was hearing, Mike was not happy. Too bad. "Basically I went through similar training with Brad, but I chose to specialize in field medicine."

"That's cool," he said.

"Great. Glad you approve." If there was a more apathetic way to say that, Mike had found it.

"How do you survive?"

"What?"

"Since your job isn't as cool as Tom's or Brad's, how do you deal with that?" A solid sigh was heard, similar to the kind of sigh that Tom would unleash when he was trying his patience. Usually that came much, much later, or when he was in the middle of doing something, and normally he wasn't trying to deliver the best burn experience possible. That's for the hedgehog comment.

"Tom, how do you survive this?" Mike's patience had nothing on Tom's patience.

"Just remember that he's a kid." Was it just him, or did Tom sound quieter than before? At least his coughing didn't last for five minutes this time around.

"Most kids aren't this annoying."

"You got one of your own," Brad cut in. "Why don't you deal with Sonic like how you deal with your kid?"

"My kid isn't this obnoxious or chatty."

"Remind me again – how are you married?" Sonic heard Brad ask. He almost choked with laughter, trying to remain silent. Brad was the best.

"You forgetting I'm helping you with your buddy here?"

"Of which I am both humbled and appreciative. However, I'm getting ideas for your next training session."

"Come on, guys," Tom butted in. "Drop it." Everyone ignored him.

"Training session?" Sonic asked curiously.

"Yeah, we have annual training we have to attend every year. Some of which we get to choose, and the rest we get assigned to us."

"Aren't you guys in different departments?" Sonic asked, successfully ignoring the urge to look back. He could see the front and side of the UTV now, fingers itching with the urge to just zoom up to the vehicle and open the door.

"We are, kid, but, long story short – our departments are combined in a certain way where I have seniority over him. That has its perks – like me assigning him training."

"Assign me anything you want, Brad. I can guarantee we don't have training that deals with handling kids."

"Yet."

"Don't you dare."

"I've got a couple ideas, Mike." Another groan from the medic.

"Your ideas are about as well thought out as our midnight rescue."

"But it's not midnight."

"I'm not talking about this rescue."

"Good. Otherwise I was thinking you're jinxing us."

"You don't need my help for that." Sonic paused, waving his flashlight back and forth. Brad had called it a UTV, but it looked more like a shortened truck than anything else. Entirely black from the frame to the rims, it had a protective guard mounted in front of the grill. Glancing in the other direction, he noted a shortened passenger side door and an open tailgate with what appeared to be a silver box bolted down inside and a dark red bag strapped over the top of it.

"Heyyheyyhhheeeeeyyyy, we made it to the vehicle," he said, keeping his flashlight beam focused on the driver's side door handle while looking back at the three men. "Did you lock it, Mike?"

"Nope. No point. There's no one other than us all the way out here."

"Cool." He reached forward for the door handle.

"Open the other one kid, the back one."

"But it looks so tiny." The door was barely larger than his frame. How was Tom going to fit through that?

"Trust me. It's not as tiny as you think. Plus, the back is modified to be similar to a stretcher – easier to adjust and move in tight spaces. He can stay in the most comfortable position for him while we get him to the closest hospital."

"Okay." He opened the door, looking inside dubiously. It was dark, but it still didn't look any bigger. "It's open."

"Good. Grab the red bag from the back, would you? Brad, help me get him over."

"What about getting him to base?" he heard Brad offer as he zoomed to the back. He stood in front of the silver box and looked at the red bag that sat on top.

"Chopper's still out for that couple stranded further downstream. It's going to be faster for us to drive him straight to the hospital." The bag appeared to be strapped down by bungee cords. Too easy!

"True. But we need lights and siren."

"Both available as external attachments in back." As soon as the last strap came off, Sonic rushed the bag over to the medic. He saw that both men had lain Tom down across the back seat. He offered the bag to the medic. "Thanks, Sonic. Would you grab the two attachments I'm talking about? They're at the top of the box, and no, it's not locked either."

"Okay." He zipped to the back.

"Brad, strap Tom down, would you?" That sounded weird, but okay. Mike was the medic. "Anyway, the lights have a magnetic attachment, and the siren runs off a battery." Sonic began to open the lid of the metal box.

"But we should grab a faster vehicle," he heard Brad's voice echo inside the back of the vehicle. He could also hear Tom rasping and coughing in back. It sounded… weird. He couldn't describe what made it weird, but something inside him just didn't like the different sound. His ears twitched in irritation. At least the coughing spells were staying short.

"I'd rather just take this. We can cut across the land a lot faster, saving us time in the long run. Besides, between his injuries and the way he's been coughing he needed to be admitted hours ago." As Sonic opened the lid, he saw two boxes sitting, perched on the closest shelf. Dimly could he tell the other shelves had tools, but that didn't peak his interest. He took both boxes and zoomed back over to Mike.

"I got the boxes," he said, holding them out towards the human, who was currently rummaging around in the red bag.

"What?" Mike looked up briefly and nodded in approval. "Good. Take them out of the boxes. Stick both on top of the vehicle. The magnetic sides will be obvious."

"Okay." Sonic zipped away in a blue blur.

"And DON'T TURN THEM ON YET!" he heard Mike yell at him.

"Touchy, touchy," he muttered, kneeling on the top of the vehicle.

"Where're you planning on admitting him?" he heard Brad ask, feeling the vehicle shift as the man got out and shake with the door slamming shut. He ripped open both boxes and tossed them backwards, more focused on the items within than their cardboard cases. One was cylindrical in shape, see-through plastic containing a bulb of sorts at the top and the bottom being completely black. That one was a no brainer.

"Saint Peter's. It's the closest to the park, and the highway will be clear thanks to the guard." Sonic took a look at the other item. It was a black box, harder to tell right off the bat which side was magnetic, but as he flipped it over and over the third time around he felt a familiar pull. Letting the opposites attract, he let the box connect to the top of the UTV with a satisfying ring and jumped off the top of the vehicle.

"How about we grab his truck quick? We switch him over to it and use it instead. We have to go around the lake anyways." The boy found both boxes he had carelessly tossed earlier and this time tossed them into the tailgate. That way he couldn't be accused of littering.

"Brad, do you even know how fast this thing goes?"

"Not nearly as fast as me!" the hedgehog bragged, zipping over to stand in front of Mike, screeching to a halt to avoid tripping over the items Mike was placing on the ground in front of him. "So who cares?" Both men ignored him.

"Uh… 65? I know Tom's truck can reach 120," Brad said as he came back around the vehicle, standing behind the medic. They both heard Mike snort.

"This is that quote-new-unquote Polaris we got approved for. Its official top speed is 168. I got it to about 185 on one of its first runs." There was no shortage of pride in Mike's voice as he said that. Sonic respected that even as he stared curiously at the items laid out between him and Mike. He recognized the gauze, those looked like bandages, and there was the disinfectant spray and those looked like pills.

"Never mind then. We'll grab Tom's truck on the way back." There was the defib machine (looked like the one Tom carried in his squad), a container of clear liquid, and an empty round plastic thing.

"Thought so." Mike reached into his pocket and withdrew a black plastic fob with a few keys attached. "Here." Sonic saw him toss the keys to Brad. "Start the vehicle. Make sure all the lights are on and the heat is up. You're driving." Sonic looked back again at the items carefully. Something looked weird.

"Sweet! Let me know if I drive too fast for you." Sonic was momentarily distracted by Brad opening the door and popping in. A split second later and he heard the vehicle start. It sounded way nicer than Tom's truck.

"Doubt you could even make top speed," Mike was heard to mutter. "But I guess it's the thought that counts." Sonic spotted it finally, lying between the gauze and the clear, empty container.

"What's a needle doing out?" he asked. He saw Mike pause before looking up at him, and he heard the vehicle creak as Brad got out of the driver's seat.

"Obviously it's to treat Tom," Mike told him, face completely serious.

"Well duh!" Sonic scoffed, gesturing wide. "I'm not stupid. It's just weird. Why would you ever use a needle here?" It was too long to be a sewing needle, and it looked solid, almost like a metal pen. Sure, it had a tip to it, but there was no hole in the opposite end, just a bunch of plastic. And while Mike had never struck him as a chatty type he was clamming up too quickly compared to being his regular, cranky self from before.

"Sonic," he heard Brad call his name, but he refused to look up. Something just didn't seem right. "Sonic, come here. I'll have you sit up front by me." He refused to move.

"Sonic, go by Brad." Mike's voice had always sounded flat to Sonic. The way he said those words, however, he could tell the edge of irritation from before was no longer there. And the look he was being shot was one of pity, one he was used to getting but still never sat quite right with him.

"What are you going to do to Dad?" he asked. All sorts of ideas began to rush through his head, bringing back the fear and panic he had thought he had put away earlier.

"It's all part of treating him, Sonic –" Mike began.

"I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO TO HIM!" Sonic exploded. He saw Mike's eyes widen, and wondered briefly why – until he felt a familiar electrical surge explode throughout his body. Crap. Behind Mike was the open passenger door, and against that he noticed a blue glow begin to grow. He did his best to bottle it up inside, simultaneously wondering why he had to lose it again and yet why was Mike refusing to say exactly what he was going to do.

"Uh, Brad?" he saw Mike call out. His voice sounded similar to before, this time with a note of nervousness attached. "Little help here?" He continued to fight for control as he observed the blue glow on the door dim but not die down completely. Meanwhile, the UTV continued to hum, a good sign that he still had control – so far.

"Hey, Sonic?" He looked up further and saw Brad stand off to the side of Mike, palms outstretched. "Calm down, okay? Everything's going to be fine."

"It's not when you both get all weird and nondescriptive!" Sonic exclaimed. "Why can't you just tell me what's going to happen? And tell me about the needle!"

"It's a decompression needle, Sonic," Mike replied. "It's going to help Tom with his breathing."

"How?" Sonic demanded. "You're going to have him wrap his lips around it to breathe?"

"Well, that's a new one," Brad muttered.

"Needles have one purpose: to get stuck in something," Sonic continued. "So where are you going to stick it?" A weak laugh emanated from inside the back seat area.

"Through my lung, Sonic," Tom's words floated out, almost too faint for the boy to hear. "It's going to go through my lung."

"Dammit!" Mike cursed. "Sorry, Tom. I didn't want you to know."

"It's not going to make it hurt any less, Mike. And yeah, Sonic needs to know about stuff like that."

"He's smart, I'll give him that. But normally I try to avoid scaring kids."

"He's no ordinary kid. And it's better to tell him now than to try to hide it from him. He's the reason the power got knocked out of all of the US that one night, after all." His words were laced with humor and as he started coughing again Sonic saw his electric blue reflection vanish. He silently breathed a sigh of relief.

"I kinda gathered he had a little somethin' simmering," Mike said, never taking his eyes off of Sonic. Ha, Sonic thought fiercely. Dad sides with me. Sucks for you. "Will I be okay to go through with it, though?" No.

"Yeah. Sonic, come over by me. On the opposite side so Mike can stay where he is."

"But Dad," Sonic said, never taking his eyes off of Mike, "he's going to stick you."

"Better him than that crazy guy's drone. I know he at least cleans his instruments." Sonic smiled a little at the inside joke. He took a couple steps back, watching Mike remain frozen in his kneeling position, and then zipped around to the other side.

"Tom, what kind of trouble have you been getting yourself into?" Brad was heard to complain. The sheriff laughed but didn't answer. Sonic grabbed the handle and opened the other back door. He saw a mop of damp brown hair and the head it was attached to shift on the back seat – shift, but not move. He grabbed onto the door with one hand and grabbed at a handle jutting out from the opposite direction and pulled himself up onto the riding board of the vehicle. He didn't understand why there was a handle against the back wall, just above the top of the back seat, but it made it easier for him to get a better vantage point. He looked down and wished he hadn't. Tom's face was whiter than usual, and his breathing was lighter than it had been moments ago.

"Hey, Sonic," he wheezed, cracking open his eyes. "Glad to see you could make it." Eyes shut after he finished speaking, and he began to cough again. Again, it was short, brief. That had to be a good sign, right?

"Well, duh. You told me to," he said, rolling his eyes, trying to hide his worry.

"And that's the way it should stay, especially for what I'm about to say."

"If you're going to tell me I should leave –" Sonic began, eyes narrowing.

"Actually I was going to tell you to sit in the seat in front of me. You'll be out of Mike's way but that way you're still here and I still have you with me."

"Good," Sonic interjected quickly, relaxing slightly.

"Next thing I am going to ask you to do is to focus on a spot in front of you. It doesn't matter what it is, could be the dash, a tree, a rock. I just want you to look at something that isn't me. It's going to be bad enough that you'll hear me groan."

"But I already heard you do all that," Sonic said, brow creasing in confusion. "When we were in the river, remember?" What was the big deal? It already happened. He had seen his dad get hurt too. So what if he witnessed him getting hurt again?

"Yeah, I know. I don't want you to have to watch me go through more pain if you don't have to. That's why I want you looking somewhere, anywhere else that isn't me." That made sense. As much as Sonic secretly didn't want to witness his dad go through any more pain, he also didn't want to be asked to leave. He needed to be present, even if it meant hearing the pained groans/screams of his guardian one more time. At least Tom wasn't trying to keep him away.

"How bad will the needle hurt?" he asked, changing the subject.

"I don't know, Sonic. It's the first time I'm going to be stuck with one."

"Mike doesn't have to stick you with it!" Sonic said, perking up with an idea. "I could grab the needle and keep it away from him."

"Sonic, if Mike has the needle out already, he has it out for a reason. He's a medic. He knows his tools, and he know what he needs when he needs it. He wouldn't have brought it out if he didn't think he was going to need it. And you know it's going to help me breathe."

"Yeah, but it's going to be stuck in you," Sonic protested. I don't want to see OR hear you in any more pain. "You shouldn't have to be in more pain." The pain should've stopped when Mike and Brad found us.

"Yeah, and normally I'd agree with that. But in this case the pain is unavoidable. If it means I can breathe easier, I will take it."

"Sonic." The hedgehog whipped his head around to stare at Mike, hands full of the items he had pulled out of the red bag – including the needle. "Like your dad said, I'm the medic. I've gone through training on how to deal with a lot of situations like this. This is something I hoped I'd never have to do, but I've always prepared for it." He took a deep breath, exhaled, and then continued. "Tom's lung is partially if not fully collapsed. You should be hearing a difference in how he breathes now compared to earlier, if you hadn't noticed it already. His breathing has gotten lighter, he's not coughing as much as he did before, and I've been seeing signs his blood pressure is dropping. Those are all very bad things. If I don't stick this needle in him, his inability to get enough oxygen could cause permanent damage to his lungs and other vital organs."

"But we're close enough to the hospital!" Sonic exclaimed. "You said it yourself! Why not just start driving?"

"The closest hospital I mentioned is still over an hour away, Sonic." The hedgehog felt his heart stop. An hour? That was closest? Sure he had super speed – but without the strength to hold his dad up for a run and a lack of knowledge of the area he couldn't offer up a good alternative. "I'm not confident enough given his current state that he'll make it without this," he lifted up the hand containing the needle, "being inserted."

"There isn't anything else you could do?" Sonic asked, silently pleading for another answer to come out of Mike's mouth. But the medic just shook his head.

"I'm sorry, kid." Sonic looked down for a moment, nodded, and turned back to his parent. He had an idea.

"I'm tiny enough," he began. Tom raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. "If I curl up in between the front and back seat area here, I could hang onto your hand when he... he sti… sticks you." This was it. This was really going to happen.

"Sonic…" Tom's voice was at a whisper.

"I won't watch," Sonic interrupted, shaking his head while steadying his voice, "but I can hold onto your hand so you have something to squeeze when you… you get s-stuck." Tom let out a soft chuckle, so soft Sonic almost missed it.

"Think you're up to it? I might break your hand."

"Ha!" Sonic scoffed. "I'm an alien hedgehog who faced down a bunch of drones, killer machines, ticking time bombs, and an insane doctor AND lived to tell the tale. Nothing broken. I hardly think that your sad little human hand is up to doing anything worse." Tom nodded. Wordlessly, his arm began to rise, trembling from the cold, exhaustion, or lack of oxygen – which it was, Sonic didn't know. He just squeezed himself in between the seats (tighter than it looked, but he wouldn't say anything) and grabbed his dad's hand in both of his, first clasping it with one hand and then overlapping both with the other. He lowered himself into a seated position on the floor, easing the human limb down with him as he did, and looked up at Mike.

"Who am I to argue with a hedgehog?" Mike asked, rolling eyes. "Just keep a tight grip on him, kid."

"Can I continue to sit here in back with Dad after you're done?" Sonic asked. After a short pause, Mike began to nod.

"Yeah. I'll switch the seat around so you can do that. I'll still have to monitor him though the whole time, so I'll be back here too." Sonic looked up at his dad's face, sweaty, pale, and obviously in pain. He hesitated for a moment, then he nodded.

"Okay," he said quietly. Ignoring the squeezing sensation on both sides, the hedgehog curled forward around the hand and forearm, hands still clasped around the solitary human hand but pulling it inwards to hug it against his chest. He stopped only once he heard Tom grunt in pain, and he readjusted his hold accordingly. He still didn't look up, and he heard Mike sigh in obvious relief.

"Brad!" he heard the medic say. "Come here and hold his legs down. I need you to help me keep him as still as you can. I'm going to keep his head still here and insert the needle." Sonic clenched his jaw and hugged the arm tighter as the hand began to squeeze his own.

"We do this and then we get out of here," he heard Mike continue. "God! Stop tensing your muscles, Tom!"

"I can't help it," Tom's voice may have been calm, but his wheezing was getting louder to the point it coated his words with an odd desperation. It sounded so unnatural coming from him. "It's a natural reaction to not being able to move. And I know what's coming. I remember the presentation."

"Shut up or you'll psych me out of doing this," Mike ordered. Sonic secretly wished he would. "And that would be bad for the both of us."

"Sorry, Tom," he heard Brad say.

"Sorry, Tom," he heard Mike say.

"I know. Do it." Sonic stayed stock-still. He never had to guess when the needle started to go in. Once started, the iron grip on his hands didn't let up one bit. That was okay. I'm here, Dad. He clung tighter to the arm as groaning filled his ears.

Brad got into the driver's seat and slammed the door shut. He adjusted the mirrors to his desired setting, double-checked the lights were on and the heat was turned on. He then cranked the heat up a couple notches. He glanced over his shoulder quick.

"Am I good to go, Mike?" The medic finished his adjustments to the seat before stepping outside and slamming the front passenger side door shut. He then entered through the backseat passenger side door, looked around, and slammed the door shut. He looked like he was nudging something on the floor, but he was able to meet Brad's eyes and nod.

"I got everything I need. Go, Brad. Punch it." He braced himself against the interior of the vehicle as he felt it take off. He gazed at the little blue devil, curled up into a ball on the floor, unmoving from his position. "Both are sound asleep, which means I can continue my treatment in relative peace and quiet." He heard a chuckle from the front and glared at the other man.

"You didn't dose Sonic, did you?"

"Tempting." Mike snorted. "Apparently when his quote-dad-unquote got knocked out, he decided it was as good a time for a nap as any. Regardless, I'm not complaining."

"You want me to call the hospital?" Brad offered, but Mike waved him off.

"I'll do it. You're the one going 168 miles-an-hour."

"Well, now 171 miles-an-hour," Brad stated with a smile.

"You're just confirming my point. Drive fast, and don't forget to turn on lights and siren when we hit the highway."

"Yes sir." Brad mocked. Mike eyed him for a moment before turning back to his patient.

"Too bad this doesn't mean I can't get some shut-eye as well," he groaned. To the best of his ability, he stretched out his arms and cracked his neck. "Oh well, at least I finally have my peace and quiet." Unbeknownst to him, Brad smirked and hit a button.

Five minutes later, Mike started, his eyes narrowing with realization. He slowly turned his head around and fixed Brad with his medic glare. Brad smiled innocently enough.

"What?"

"If you don't change the radio station in the next ten seconds, I am putting you out of commission." Brad's grinned only widened.

"Don't threaten me with a good time."