Chapter 16.

Safe.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Sticks, and Tristan all helped each other close the vents up to the Medical Science room. As soon as the last one was all closed up, Tristan hacked violently, then collapsed to the ground in a dead faint. By then, the others fell down to their hands and knees. Tails, being the weakest of them due to having the NIA-1 Virus twice, fell completely down to the ground. He inched his way to where Tristan was and as soon as the fox reached him, placed a hand on his back.

"You… l-little… rascal…" Tristan gasped.

Tails immediately squeezed his eyes shut as he coughed violently.

Tristan continued on…

"... I'm… s-so… s-sorry… for… everything… e-evil… I-I-I… I.. did.. to.. you… please… f-forgive.. m-me…"

Despite the fact that he was coughing violently, tears rolled down Tails' face.

"...I-I.. do.. forgive.. you…. T-Tristan Rhoms…"

Tristan smiled. Then his chest fell with a final breath...

And unfortunately, Tristan Rhoms was no more.

Tails had stopped coughing as he felt a hand grab his. He barely turned his head and opened his eyes weakly and smiled. It was none other than Sonic. And the hedgehog was weakly smiling at him...

"..I-I'm… real… p-proud… of… you… b-b-buddy…"

Then, Sonic and Tails closed their eyes and passed out in a complete dead faint, hands locked in each other's in a brotherly love...

The last thing Amy saw before passing out was the Acadian Military trying their very best to break into the room. She heard General Shay bark orders to use the Jaws of Life to break down the door. Then, Amy Rose passed out, out of exhaustion from having caught the virus…

"On my mark!... 3… 2… 1… GO NOW!" General Shay barked.

Suddenly, four Acadian Military soldiers pulled down on the handles of the Military-styled Jaws of Life. And immediately, the door to the Science room broke down. Suddenly, more Acadian Military soldiers poured into the room, all wearing gas masks, and weapons pointed around the room. Immediately one soldier found where Team Sonic had collapsed in a dead faint. He also found the bodies of Caden Andross and Tristan Rhoms. He immediately knelt down and placed a hand on the hawk's neck, checking for a pulse, he found none. He did the same thing for Tristan Rhoms... nothing. He checked the pulses of each member of Team Sonic, and he found that they all were still alive. He immediately shouted for General Shay. The anthropomorphic jaguar immediately rushed in the room and saw what the young anthropomorphic German shepherd soldier found out. The German shepherd soldier looked down at Tails' body. He looked quite familiar. Then he remembered. He had met him a year ago when he was in the hospital. The soldier was none other than Flynn Baylor.

"Sir! I know the youngest member of Team Sonic! Sir!" Flynn shouted.

General Shay looked his direction and nodded his head.

"Well done soldier on founding the rest of the Task Force!"

Flynn immediately saluted the jaguar. Then Shay barked orders for a team of medics to move in. Immediately, a handful of Acadian Military medics ran into the room with five gurneys. They immediately started helping each other get the members of Team Sonic onto the gurneys. Afterwards, the medics moved out and out to the outdoors. Fara immediately cried loudly when she saw Amy and Sticks on two of the gurneys. Then she completely lost it and broke down when she saw Tails on a third one. Fara tried to run over to Tails' gurney, but Cody immediately got a hold of his twin sister and held her in his arms while she cried bitterly. Chad immediately ran to her and placed her in his arms. Fara tried escaping his grasp, but her husband wouldn't budge.

"Fara, babe… it's gonna be just okay, bare with me on this, please?" Chad whispered.

All the while, Doctor Eggman saw the whole fiasco, and for the first time ever, well at least in a while, he actually felt quite bad for Sonic and his friends, especially Tails. He had heard from a black colored wolf that the kid had had the virus two different times. Eggman mentally swore to himself that if Team Sonic were to perish, he would not take over Bygone Island, or at least, try not to. And if he did, then he would rule with a passionate heart. And in the meantime, everyone else was scrambling around and away from the Medical Biology Facility building. As soon as everyone was at least several thousand feet away, Red hit the detonator that was hooked up to the Perlan bombs. The whole building collapsed as the bombs went off. Suddenly, everyone started cheering, happy that all the chaos was finally over. That the virus was at long last, contained. Or more like, destroyed.

Tails weakly opened his eyes and looked around his surroundings. Where were his friends at? Where was he even at? He felt himself slipping away from life. He felt himself slipping away from everything he had ever loved. His breathing was horrid. His chest felt like it was on fire. Tails only saw black all around him. Then he felt his body being lifted up off the ground and being placed on something higher. As soon as his head hit something soft. Tails weakly smiled. Then he felt something being placed around his mouth and around his muzzle. Then he was all too quickly brought out into a bright light. His head immediately throbbed. His whole body throbbed. Tails soon realized that he was barely alive. The thing he felt being placed on his muzzle was none other than an oxygen mask. And the thing he was laid upon was none other than a gurney. Then Tails started coughing violently again. His lungs feeling like they were about to burst out his chest. He felt extremely and unusually hot. His forehead was extremely warm, sweat pouring down his face profusely. Tails barely lifted one eyelid slightly higher than the other one and saw that he was being loaded onto a Acadian Military-styled medical helicopter. He immediately felt something get jabbed into his left arm. He absolutely hated needles, but he was too tired to care much about that. Plus, it was probably loaded up with life-saving medicine. He felt the morphine snake its way across his whole body, then Tails blacked out...

A few days later…

The very first thing that Sonic found himself in when he woke up was a white colored room. He blinked several times to get rid of the blurriness. Afterwards, he opened his eyes up the rest of the way. The hedgehog then realized right away that from the way the room looked, he was in a hospital. He couldn't even remember all that happened before. He tried to remember, but he just couldn't. Sonic looked around the room and saw that Amy was in the very room, on another medical bed. She was wide awake. The pink hedgehog was looking out a window. Sonic wanted to ask her why they were even here in the first place. Then he looked down at the IV tube that had been injected into his left arm. Then he looked back up at Amy. Amy soon realized that Sonic was looking at her. She sat up in the medical bed.

"I see that you just woke up." Amy said softly.

Sonic blinked his eyes a couple times. "What happened? Where are we? And why? And how long have we been here?"

Amy smiled at him weakly.

"They said that we came down with the virus pretty badly. And we're back in Nova City. And we've been out of it for seventeen days straight."

Sonic only nodded his head and smiled back at her. But then, he began to wonder where the heck Knuckles, Sticks, and Tails were. Were they safe too? Were they even here in the very same hospital? By the time he got himself ready to ask Amy about the other three, she acted as if she already knew the answers to his next batch of questions.

"And if you're wondering where they are, Knux and Sticks are okay. They're in the room on the other side of the hallway."

Sonic asked Amy about Tails. She immediately looked away. Uh oh, this wasn't good. Sonic definitely wanted to know about his best friend. No. He needed to know where Tails was at. And if the fox kid was even alright.

"Amy, where's Tails?" Sonic asked her again.

Amy looked at him again, and when she did, Sonic saw right away that a single tear escaped one of her eyes. Okay, no more of this. Sonic definitely needed to know if Tails even made it out alive, and he needed to know right now!

"Amy, where's Tails?" He repeated himself.

Amy sighed sadly, then she spoke.

"Sonic, T-Tails… is, well… in Intensive."

Sonic was definitely not expecting that at all.

"W-what… happened?" Sonic asked her.

Amy sighed sadly again.

"He came down with the worst of it… and, really bad. Doctor Ram doesn't even know if he'll make it or not."

Sonic wanted to leap off the medical bed and find out what room Tails was in. But then, a nurse came into the room and saw that Sonic and Amy were awake. Sonic wanted to ask the nurse what had happened to Tails. The nurse told him that she couldn't say anything about that. Amy begged her to let them. After several tries to say no, the nurse gave in. She immediately shut the door and locked it, then she eyed Sonic and Amy.

"You cannot tell anyone else that I told you this. If they find out, I'll lose my job, and my medical license."

Sonic and Amy said that they understood.

"Your secret is safe with us." Amy told the nurse.

"Anyways," the nurse said, then she continued.

"Do you know what happens when your body is infected with a deadly disease three times?"

Sonic and Amy both shook their heads.

"First time you get the disease, your body fights it off pretty well, that is, if you have a excellent immune system. Anyhow, the second time you get it, your body acts like it wants to shut itself down, then it immediately fights back, and before you know it, you're all well again. But, if you get the disease a third time, there's no chance your body will fight back. It will slowly shut itself down, and… and, before you even get the chance to even get well, you're pretty much, dead."

"And?" Sonic and Amy asked in unison.

The nurse kept eyeing them.

"That's what's currently happening with your young friend. I'm so sorry."

Both hedgehogs could not believe what the nurse had told them about Tails. Amy thought she saw a tear escape one of Sonic's eyes. The pink hedgehog glanced at him, then back at the nurse.

Sonic barely glanced at the anthropomorphic marten nurse.

"You're gotta be lying."

The nurse only shook her head. "Everything I told you about your friend is true-"

Then she noticed Sonic's lips barely quivering.

"-and like I said before... I'm very, very sorry. I know how much he means to you."

Sonic looked up towards her.

"What about Knuckles and Sticks?" Amy asked.

The nurse barely smiled. "They're both okay."

Amy sighed, whereas Sonic about lost it.

Then the blue hedgehog remembered everything that had happened back at the Medical Biology Facility. Everything. Then he looked back up only to see that the nurse had left the room. He really hoped that he and Amy would be allowed to at least, see and visit with Knuckles and Sticks for a bit. Say no more. The nurse came back into the room. And with a slight smile on her face.

"Doc says that you and your friend here can see your other two, for a short while."

Amy eyed the nurse. "Trying not to be nosy here, but can I get your name, please?"

The nurse smiled a little more.

"Kim."

Amy thanked her, then she gently led herself down off the medical bed. At first, the female hedgehog felt dizzy, but in about a span of twenty seconds, she was able to regain her balance. She and Sonic then followed Kim out of the medical patient room and to the one across the hall. Sonic and Amy were immediately relieved right away when they saw Knuckles and Sticks. Kim smiled when the four of them were finally reunited for the first time in seventeen days, since pretty much, due to them getting the virus -and for the very first time for all four of them- they had been out of it. But then, Sonic remembered that the youngest of Team Sonic was not able to celebrate this mini reunion with them. He really hoped that Tails would, somehow, just somehow, pull through this. But from what Kim told him and Amy told them, it seemed like Tails was very well on his way to his death. Sonic let a few tears slip down his face. Knuckles and Sticks noticed right away.

"Don't worry about that. He's gonna pull through. I know he will." Knuckles chimed.

Sonic glanced at his friend. "I really hope so Knux."

Amy and Sticks looked at the two of them.

"He will." Amy said. "Just gotta have faith."

Sonic just closed his eyes and really hoped for the best...

Tails woke up without any pain in his chest. However, his head still throbbed. He squinted his eyes as he opened them. He didn't expect to find himself in a white room. Then he felt. The medication in the IV tube going into his body, via his left arm. And he felt that something had been stuck up his nose.

'An oxygen feed.'

His head obviously still throbbing, Tails closed his eyes and took a deep breath, but when he did, his chest suddenly started to throb, and rather badly. He soon found himself coughing violently. And before he knew it, a team of doctors and nurses were in the room, obviously trying their very best to keep him alive. Tails then felt it. The fox felt himself barely slipping out of what seemed to him, like a shell. He felt himself slowly drifting away from everything he ever loved- and everyone he ever loved. Tails barely opened his eyes, but the only thing he saw were the faces of the doctors and nurses, everything else around him was surrounded in a black void. The last thing Tails heard was a doctor yelling his name, trying to keep him alive, then everything went completely black...

CLIFFHANGER!

Just had to do that. I know, I'm "evil" like that, am I? Don't worry, Chapter 17's in the works!

God bless 'til then...

JalcoFox.