Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog doesn't belong to me.

Rating: K

Summary: Amy and Sonic's day of hanging out gets put on hold once the blue blur finds Amy poorly on her couch. Unsettled at seeing her looking so fragile, Sonic does his best to take care of his friend.

A/N: Happy New Year! So I've been poorly recently and of course my muse has to run with that and cause me to have this idea. It's developed from 2 simple things that came to me and written as fast as possible. So apologies for any mistakes, I'm too tired to try too hard with this one. I hope you enjoy it, reviews are love! x


Take Care

We can already ascertain that Sonic the Hedgehog is not the most patient hog on Mobius. Being made to wait at someone's front door is just one of many things to cause that speedy foot to tap and his scowl to grow. He knocked on Amy's door again, a little harder than before and resisted the urge to run a few laps around her house while he waited. But after what felt like forever there still wasn't an answer. Staring at the handle and the window in the door Sonic toyed with the idea of just letting himself in.

It's not as if she didn't know he was coming and besides, they're friends, she wouldn't get angry, right? Right?

Pleased with his brilliant flawless plan Sonic grabbed the door handle and let himself in, his impatience disappearing the second he stepped through the door. "Hey Amy, it's me!" he called out as he closed the door, looking around him for any signs of his pink friend. She definitely knew he was coming; he'd made sure of it a couple of days ago. OK, so they weren't going out on a date or anything, but usually when they make plans Amy knows it's as good as set in stone now he's grown up and realized standing her up is a really crappy friend thing to do.

Even if it is just a friendly meet up.

Yeah, just friends.

Because Sonic is too scared to push for anything more.

Shaking his head at his own stupid thoughts he stepped further into the house, listening out for Amy. "Ames, are you here?!" he called again, knowing she wouldn't have left the house without locking her door. At least, he's pretty sure she wouldn't. But then a sound caught his attention and his ears swiveled in the direction of her couch. As he looked over he saw a pale arm with a gloved hand and gold bangle raise above the back of it, the fingers giving some kind of twitching motion that made him curious enough to approach.

"Hey, why didn't you - whoa!" he gasped to a halt, his feet stopping him from coming any closer instantly. "Chaos Amy, you look - ugh, you don't look yourself." he muttered, saving his fur by the skin of his teeth as his mouth almost ran away with him enough to make Amy glare at him. Not very friendly telling one of your best girl friends that she looks like she's been dragging across Mobius by one of Eggman's robots and then run over by his Eggmobile just for kicks. But seriously, had she looked in a mirror today?

Because Amy Rose wasn't looking as cute as he's found himself thinking recently.

Amy barely raised herself up to look at Sonic; her eyes looked glassy and a little vacant. But she was with it enough to spear Sonic with a sharp glare if he dared to tell her how bad she looked. She wasn't stupid, she felt as awful as she looked. Her quills were disheveled, her naturally bright pink fur seeming duller than normal. She wore baggy, creased clothing and surrounding her were tissues bunched up and forgotten, the partner to her sore red nose.

"Sonic," Amy croaked. "If you don't wipe that disgusted look off your face I'm going to get my hammer," Except her speech was cut off by the sudden onslaught of wracking coughs, stealing the breath from her as she spluttered into a tissue. She didn't see it, but it made Sonic take a wary step back. Once she had her breath back and she thought talking wouldn't make her cough again, Amy's sunk even more into her couch. "At least I will as soon as I have some energy again . . ." she sighed tiredly, her eyes drifting shut.

Sonic looked at his dear friend and back to the front door, escape written all over his face as he lifted a foot up from the floor and prepared himself for running out of the germ invested house of Amy Rose and to cleaner air.

But then a shaky sigh and small tear escaping from Amy's eye made his foot automatically set back down as his guilt overwhelmed him. On closer look Amy really did look terribly ill. Clearly any energy she'd had to get her to the couch was gone, she looked so small and fragile curled up shivering like that. As a friend he couldn't leave her there. As someone who cares about the young woman fiercely, he wanted to scoop her up and make her feel better somehow. Looking around him he wracked his mind trying to figure out just how to do that. Whenever one of them is ill it's usually Amy coming by with the warm soup and bag of medicines to perk them up.

Snapping his fingers, a stroke of Tails genius coming to him Sonic tip-toed around the tissues on the floor and approached Amy on the couch. Hearing him come closer she opened her eyes to slits and watched him half asleep. "What are you doing?" she mumbled, barely moving her lips.

"Taking care of my friend," Sonic answered, carefully gathering Amy up into his arms as though she weighed nothing. She unconsciously snuggled closer to his chest, her head nuzzling against his shoulder, her arms loosely wrapped around his neck. Sonic felt the heat rise to his face and didn't dare to look down at her in case he gave anything away. But she's always felt so good in his arms, held safe with him running at top speeds and usually more conscious. Not this slow casual walk holding her even closer than normal.

Carefully he took her to her bedroom. Any other time maybe he would've been nervous about going into her room uninvited, expecting to see all kinds of personal things lying around. But instead as he pushed the door open all he saw was a neat and tidy room, the bed made and a warm glow of the sun penetrating through the open window.

Somehow juggling a cozy and little too warm to be normal Amy in his arms, Sonic managed to get her covers back enough to lay her down. Amy's head went straight on her fluffy pillow and didn't move, even as he settled the blankets back over her and his hand went to brush a few stray quills from her eyes. He told himself if she asked he was just checking her temperature.

"Amy?" he whispered, pretty sure she'd fallen asleep instantly, her deep breathing giving her away. Racing out of the room he went to her bathroom, searching through her cabinet for any medications. When he couldn't find anything there he went to the kitchen, but that was a pointless search too. "How can she not have anything here when she's the one who always has something for someone?" he grumbled, taking only a second to make his next decision.

Leaving her house a lot quicker than he entered, Sonic spared no time running to Tails' workshop and raiding his medicine supplies. Not satisfied with just that though he left there and dashed to Knuckles' hut where he knew Amy left supplies for him just in case the guardian ever needed them. Confident he then had everything he ran back to Amy's house, crashing into her bedroom with a lot less grace than normal. The noise startled her awake, her head lifting off her pillow with a groan.

"What's going on?!" she slurred, looking around, her quills plastered down on one side of her head and sticking up everywhere on the other.

Sonic winced and approached her bed. "Sorry Ames, I didn't mean to wake you. Here," he declared with pride as he dropped the dozen or so different medications on to the bed, spreading his arms wide with a big smile. This hog was proud of his quick thinking. Amy shuffled a hand through the different boxes and packages, picking some up and frowning at others.

"Why have you brought bandages?" she queried, her mind too foggy to try and track Sonic's line of thinking.

This only made him grin bigger though. "For once you've got your energy back and you decide to use your hammer on me," Winking, Sonic gave her his famous thumbs up and then dashed from the room again. When he came back he had a glass of water with him. "So what first?" he asked, sifting through the different meds. Amy's hand tiredly flicked to one of the nearest boxes and Sonic was sweet enough to give her the pills she asked for. "Are you hungry? How about I make you some soup?"

Amy took the pills and flopped back down onto the pillow. "Sure, sounds great, thanks." she tried to smile, but it was more of a ghost of her former self.

Feeling the loss of his cheerful companion, Sonic scooped the boxes up and dumped them on her bedside table before setting off for the kitchen; a new kind of determination soaring through him as he looked through the cupboards for a can of soup. "I am going to make Amy feel better, no matter how long or what it takes," he told himself. It's the least he could do, especially as he was supposed to be hanging out with her today anyway.

Eventually Sonic found the can of tomato soup and got to work heating it up. "How hard can it be to make soup?" he asked himself as he turned up the heat under the pan and dumped the can in, making it splash over the saucepan. "Whoops," he grimaced, grabbing some paper towels to mop up the mess. But he got too close to the heat and it ended up catching fire, the flames licking up the thin towel in seconds. "Whoa, whoa, fire!" he cried, almost waving it around before his senses kicked in and he dropped it into the sink with a hiss as the water hit it. "Chaos," Sonic ran a hand down over his quills and shook his head.

Figuring the soup would take a while he decided he'd be kind enough to go clear up the tissues in the front room so Amy wouldn't have to. Finding a pair of gloves to put over his gloves he got a bag and got to it. Each tissue was picked up at arm's length and placed in the bag like he was holding something contaminated and alive. Then he tossed the gloves and the bag in to the dustbin before he remembered the soup.

"Chaos!" he cried again when he saw the soup bubbling so violently it was like a volcano blowing as it spewed and spat out from the saucepan, coating the hob, the counter-tops and dripping down to the floor. Almost skidding across the floor Sonic turned the heat down and sniffed. Can soup burn, he wondered? Because it smelt distinctly like burning. Or was that from the paper towel catching fire? He wasn't sure, in-stead he looked through the cupboards for something that would mask the scent. Finding a bottle of chilli sauce he tipped a few drops - and a few drops more - into the soup and gave it a stir. Sniffing again he couldn't detect anything burnt so poured what was left of the soup into a bowl.

Carefully carrying the food into Amy's bedroom, Sonic grinned when he saw her try and prop herself up against her headboard. "Lunch is ready!" he grinned, placing the tray on her lap and sitting down by her feet, pride making his chest swell when he saw her smile in gratitude. If helping Amy made him feel this good he wanted to do it more often!

"Thank you, Sonic," Amy rasped, stirring the soup a little before she spooned some up. She didn't have the heart to tell him she wasn't hungry and just wanted to sleep. That she was grateful for his help, but rest was what she needed. Instead she lifted the spoon to her lips, her nose dulled to any smells coming from the weird looking soup. And had Sonic eaten some too, because the bowl was barely half full.

The second the soup started trickling down her throat though, Amy's body erupted into coughing spasms.

"Hot, hot!" she cried, her eyes filling with tears before they overflowed and streamed down her cheeks, color that wasn't there before coming back to them instantly as she fanned her face and tried to get her breath back. Sonic jumped up and handed the glass of water to her, his face going an interesting shade of red in embarrassment seeing her choke after just one mouthful.

"I guess soups harder to cook than I thought," he muttered, taking the tray from her lap.

Eventually Amy was able to drink a little water and breathe without it burning her chest. "What was in that soup?" she croaked, her throat feeling blistered and sorer than it already was.

Sonic winced again, tucking his hand behind his quills, only a tiny bit mortified. "Um, a little bit of chilli sauce. You know, just a few drops . . ." Amy's look of disbelief and shock made him drop his arm, feeling a little defensive. "Hey, I tried!"

"I know, I know you did and I'm grateful, honest," Amy reassured him, trying her best to not edge away from the tray holding the spicy soup in case it somehow got close enough to her to make her choke again. "Thank you Sonic, truly. But maybe you'd better stick with being a hero and leave the cooking to me." she shone her sweetest most disarming smile again, reaching out to wrap her hand around Sonic's arm and giving it a gentle squeeze. It seemed to work - as it usually does - and Sonic relaxed again, shrugging off the wound to his pride.

"Deal," he agreed, reminding himself to clean the kitchen up before he leaves before Amy sees the extent of his poor cooking skills. "Why don't I run you a bath? They always make you feel better, right?" he suggested, jumping back up to his feet again and backing up out of the room.

"Sure," Amy waved, settling back into the pillows. She could feel herself getting tired again, her energy depleting quicker than she could gain it back. She loved a bubble bath normally, but right then the thought of getting in and out of the tub was even more exhausting. But she could see from the look on Sonic's face as he left her alone that he was really trying to make her feel better. Having him just stay by her side for company would do that enough, but she knows Sonic and knows his act of help is to do something.

Action is how he works, not sitting around.

So she tried her best to swing her legs out of bed and be ready for him when he came back to get her a few minutes later. But that was as far as she got her body too weak to stand herself up. When Sonic spotted her his cheerful whistling stopped and he ran over to hover above her. "What are you doing? I'll help you," he frowned, once again scooping her up into his arms before she had a chance to say otherwise. Amy tried not to gasp as she settled against him again, her cheeks warming at being so close to him, more awake and alert this time.

She didn't want the short trip to her bathroom to end and was grateful that Sonic chose to walk it instead of run. The feel of his hard chest against her filled her with so much comfort and happiness, it almost made her want to giggle and nuzzle into him. He was spoiling her with so much attention, she knew that it would leave an ache in her heart when he goes back to just keeping her at arm's length, contact only being minimal again, no more being carried from one room to another.

For now though, she just tried to enjoy it.

When he walked her into the warm, steamy bathroom she was shocked by the amount of bubbles that filled her tub. He must have poured at least half a bottle into the water! "Heh, I didn't know how the stuff works," Sonic shrugged when he saw her expression. Placing her gently down on her feet Sonic hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "I'll just, ugh, be in the living room. Give me a shout if you need, ugh, anything." And he shot out of there like he had an army of robots snapping at his tail.

Just not quick enough for Amy to miss his blush.

Though the look of the bath made her feel like lying on the floor and going to sleep, Amy achingly took off her clothes and climbed in. The second she laid back and relaxed she already felt like this was actually a good idea. The steam was making her nose feel less stuffy and the grimy feeling she'd had all morning was seeping away from her. She sighed with contentment for the first time in two days and closed her eyes.

Out in the kitchen Sonic was doing his best to not think of Amy in the bathroom and any possible things she might need help with. Would he have to carry her back to her bedroom in just a towel? Should he get her fresh pyjamas and slip them into the bathroom ready for her or leave them on the bed? Should he even go through her drawers to find them?! His mind was all over the place and so were his hands as he tried to clear up the mess from the soup volcano, his ears trained to listen out for any kinds of noise from the bathroom.

"Get a grip on yourself, man!" Sonic mumbled to himself, swiping a cloth across the floor before throwing it in the sink along with the rest of the mess. In the end the kitchen was as clean as he was going to get it and he had nothing left to do but wait for Amy to make the next move, no matter how nervous it was making him. Twice he found himself in her bedroom doorway and outside the bathroom and both times he forced himself to walk back to the living room.

Eventually he heard the sound of the bathroom door opening and Amy's slow shuffling footsteps as she went from one room to another. He jumped to his feet to help her, but then remembered she'd only have a towel and his feet stuck to the carpet like they'd been glued there. If she called then he'd go, but she hadn't so he didn't. He started breathing again, a shaky laugh escaping him once he heard her bedroom door close.

Amy had thought about asking for help, she'd come pretty close in fact when she realized the little bit of energy the bath had given her was disappearing the longer she stood in her bathroom trying to decide what to do. In the end she mustered that sheer strength of will she has and took herself back to her bedroom, slow and painfully, but alone. Once she got there the appeal of just falling into bed and collapsing was so tempting she almost stumbled over her feet. But she dug into those energy reserves running dangerously low and somehow got dressed before she gave in to the comfort of her pillow.

She was just about to drop off to sleep when a hesitant knock came at her door. She called for Sonic to enter and smiled when he popped his head around the door, checking she was decent before coming in. "I made you something else," he smiled, placing the sandwich down on her bedside table with a fresh glass of water. "How was your bath?" he asked, another faint blush dusting his cheeks. If she asked about that too he'd just say he was coming down with the same fever she had.

He'd never admit any different.

"It was perfect, thank you for doing it for me. I'm so tired now," Amy sighed sleepily, her eyes already half lidded as she tried to stay awake to talk to Sonic. "I'm sorry we didn't get to hang out, but thank you for taking care of me. I really appreciate it."

The look Amy gave Sonic was so serene and filled with so much affection that Sonic almost wanted to run away. Not because of whom it was coming from, or even what it meant. But that she had the power within her to hold so much of that emotion and it was all aimed solely on him. That was what scared him. That and the way it made his heart race, anticipation and excitement running parallel to the fear in a perfect contradiction of itself. Amy looked so much better, her color was back, her eyes though sleepy were brighter than before and her wet quills lay in waves across her pillow.

She looked perfect to him right then, sore red nose and everything. Sure she looked terrible before, but she also looked delicate enough to rear his strong protective instincts towards her too.

Sonic stayed sitting there on the edge of Amy's bed until he was sure she'd gone to sleep again before he raised a hesitant hand and softly stroked her quills in comfort, just like she's done for him on so many occasions. He hoped it made her feel as safe and peaceful as it always made him.

Deciding to leave he stood over her once last time and toyed with going so far as to place a kiss on her sleeping head. He chose not to after he watched her sigh in her sleep and burrow deeper into the covers. When he kisses her for the first time, even if it's just on her head, he wants her to be awake so he can look into her eyes after. He wants to see the same look she gave him just before she fell asleep.

No matter how long it takes before he finds the courage for it.