*T.W. for descriptions of injuries but nothing graphic. Also, medical terms, discussion of treatment, and guardianship are mentioned, but though I did some research, most of what is discussed is made up for the story.
Also, have I told ya'll I have a Tumblr? I have a Tumblr littlemelodystitch *
Shadow stoically watches the hospital staff walk past his claimed spot in the hallway guarding Sonic's room like a royal soldier. Housekeepers with their cleaning carts move from one mess to the next (that's me! :D); distracted doctors look over their latest patient reports while nurses and techs go from one room to the next, checking in on their charges.
The hedgehog waits patiently for the doctor taking care of Sonic to finish his discussion with Tails and come out.
Team Dark had arrived hours earlier, dropping off their injured teammate to the medical professionals of G.U.N. just in time. Sonic was quickly carted off by the staff for emergency surgery, leaving Shadow, Rouge, and Omega behind in the waiting rooms. After getting checked up, Rouge and Omega left not long after, as weaponized robots were not welcome to stay in even a government-funded hospital. Rouge had to start the long process of writing down the details of their mission in paperwork.
Shadow was thankful that it was Rouge's turn this time; it allowed him to stay behind and stare at the clock until Tails arrived much later, the fox bursting through the doors just as the surgeon had come to give an update on the blue blur's condition. The middle-aged doctor gladly reported to the wiry fox and subdued hedgehog that the surgery was a success and that they could see Sonic now.
Shadow followed like his namesake behind the fox as they were escorted to Sonic's room. The dark hog remained in the hallway while the doctor had closed the door so he and a few others involved in caring for Sonic could privately discuss the blue blur's situation with his next of kin.
He should have left after that. His rival was in more than capable hands now; Shadow had no reason to stay here after making sure the young hedgehog was safe and his family aware of the situation. There was nothing more he could do, yet he felt obligated to stay.
After finding Sonic the worst, he had ever seen after their unexpected encounter with Eggman, old feelings Shadow had not felt since before being put in stasis resurfaced.
No, he shook his head; this was more than a feeling. This was an instinct, a powerful force that demanded to be listened to, but it had been so long since he had felt such instincts that the dark hog almost felt at a loss on how or if he should listen to them. He had done all he could already in saving his rival, finding him, and delivering the hedgehog to his family and people who could properly care for him.
There was nothing left for Shadow to do.
Still, the Ultimate Lifeform had the unfulfilled urge and obligation that his instincts demanded him to stay, to ensure that Sonic was well cared for, which left him standing here uselessly outside his rival's room.
Just then, the door opens, breaking Shadow out of his reflection. The doctor and a middle-aged woman walk out smiling at the young fox behind them; the doctor quickly leaves while the woman says her parting words to Tails, "Here's my card; let me know if there's anything else I can do for you young man or if you have any further questions."
"Thanks, I appreciate it and will let you know my decision." both nod, and the woman leaves; Shadow approaches the fox with a quirked brow, silently questioning him about the lady in the tailored suit. Tails' eyebrows shoot up when he spots the Ultimate Lifeform, shocked that he was there, "Oh! Hey Shadow! I didn't think you'd still be here."
The dark hog shrugs his shoulders, not having a real answer to that; he tries to make up a plausible reason, "Someone needs to keep guard of the blue menace now that he's down. G.U.N. didn't have anything for me to do since it was Rouge's turn to fill out the paperwork anyway. Who was the woman?"
"Oh! Uh, well...why don't you come in and sit down." Tails stutters, gesturing for the Ultimate Lifeform to enter; he closes the door and takes his first look at the blue blur.
The hedgehog is impossibly tiny on the bed, surrounded by pillows, blankets, and machines monitoring his vitals. Underneath the oxygen mask covering Sonic's face, the hedgehog has scratches and bruises all over; both eyes are swollen and black, his entire right arm and left leg are in casts, and anything else is hidden underneath the blanket and hospital gown. He was so tiny laying there, fragile as a bent flower, that the wind could easily sway.
"So-" Tails drawls, pulling Shadow's attention from his unconscious rival; the fox sits next to his brother's reclining head, leaving Shadow to sit in the chair on the other side. "That was our social worker; she told me the options we could take when Sonic wakes up and is discharged in a couple of days." Tails then abruptly stops there, visibly unsure if the Ultimate Lifeform would be interested in anything else he had to say.
Shadow rolls his eyes at the awkward young genius and gestures for him to continue. Tails does so happy not to have to sit in silence with him. "Ah, right! So um...because of the extent of Sonic's injuries, we'll have to wait until the casts are off before he can start physical therapy. And even then, we don't know if he'll ever be back fully to the way he was."
The last sentence throws Shadow through a loop; he turns to the blue blur and scans him again but sees nothing out of the ordinary from the two broken bones he could see. "What do you mean, fox?" he asks. Tails wrings his hands together, brows wrinkled with concern for his brother. "Have you heard the full diagnosis?" Shadow shakes his head negative, and the fox continues, "When Sonic was thrown from the blast, he wasn't able to curl into a protective ball in time before landing and damaged his spinal cord. When part of the building collapsed on him, that's when he got a mild concussion and broke his arm and leg."
"The doctor says those injuries aren't the ones we need to worry about. It's the spinal cord that's got us in a pickle. Thankfully it was the lumbar or lower spinal cord that was injured. It wasn't severe, so no worries of paralysis, but the nerves were severely damaged, and well..." Tails then leans over, pulling up Sonic's blanket and gown, just enough to reveal the small stiff plastic board secured by bindings underneath the blue blur's back to keep him still and a diaper wrapped around his waist. The sight makes the stoic hedgehog's eyes widen, and Tails drops the fabric, "He's lost all bladder control, he'll have to relearn how to walk, and the area where his tail and back meets is broken and crooked."
Shadow nods his head, all the medical lessons he had taken with the Professor and journals he had read on the A.R.K. fill in the details of how the injuries would impact Sonic's future. Even with all of the P.T., he'll have to go through. The hedgehog will never be able to walk or run properly again. He'll always have a limp or need a cane or brace. Possibly be confined to wearing a catheter always, and any movement from the crooked tail or even just sitting down will cause him pain. Modern medicine had advanced quite a bit since his time, even on the A.R.K., but it couldn't perform miracles.
"Why the diaper?" Shadow questions, not understanding why Sonic was wearing that and not a catheter. Tails runs a hand through his bangs and blows out a sigh, "MML. Mobian Medical Law. Sonic was injured in a human jurisdiction under contract with a human government security force. We're in a human hospital, and Mobian hospitals are far and few. Production for Mobian-fitted medical equipment is expensive, and supply is always low. These kinds of hospitals rarely have the proper medical equipment to treat a Mobian anyway, and by law, no equipment used for humans can be modified to fit a Mobian. Too many accidents and incidents of tampering from a speciesist have happened. Sonic is the size of a human toddler, and there aren't any catheters in his size, only diapers, which makes sense since most toddlers are still in diapers, but that leaves us stuck with this instead."
Despite being a hero of Mobius, he's still subject to prejudice, huh? And medical technology hasn't progressed much for Mobions in the past 50 yrs. Pfft, typical! Shadow thinks, taking in all this information.
"I'm assuming the annoyance will be here until he is stable and you have the accommodations he needs at home?" He asks, and Tails looks away with an uncertain expression, his back appendages twisting and twirling behind him. "Actually, that's what me and the social worker were discussing. Ya, see, Sonic won't be able to come home with me at all even after the doctor discharges him." Shadow's head slightly jerks back in surprise; confusion in his voice, "What do you mean?"
"Sonic and I are both minors. We only have a place of our own because Miss Vanilla allows it. Even though we care for ourselves, we're still under Vanilla's guardianship, at least on paper. Sonic will have a long and arduous recovery, and I can't take care of him no matter how much I want to. There's just too much at stake legally for me to do that. Vanilla would get in trouble and lose her guardianship over us, and we might get separated and placed into different foster homes."
Shadow nods along. What the fox explained did make sense, and he knew Sonic would do everything possible to keep from being separated from his pseudo-little brother. "What about Miss Rabbit?" Shadow inquires.
Tails licks his lips, thinning them into a flat line, "Vanilla doesn't have the space for both of us. We had made arrangements a long time ago to make sure either one of us could stay with her if something happened to one of us, but not for both. We just never imagined a situation like this ever happening!"
Shadow almost scoffs in disbelief that it never occurred to the young genius in front of him that, eventually, his pseudo-big brother's hero work could catch up to him. "You never thought this blue idiot wouldn't get hurt? Or mangled?"
The fox shakes his head, flustered by the misunderstanding, "No, I know Sonic gets hurt a lot! Way more than I care for, honestly." he mutters the last part underneath his breath, "Just not to the extent that he would need more help than I can provide. And to put us in such a bind legally. Me staying by myself while Sonic stays with Vanilla would still bring us the same issues." Tails sighs, combing a hand through his bangs, looking tired and slightly overwhelmed after hours of worrying over this emergency coming down on the fox in addition to legal troubles. "So unless I can find someone we know who can take care of him until he can come home again. Sonic will be placed in a foster home." the fox sniffs rubbing his thumb and index fingers over his tired eyes, "Sonic is not the most compliant patient, and he'll go ballistic if he has to go with a bunch of strangers." he ends going quiet.
Shadow leans back, processing while looking over the blue hedgehog again. The dark hog didn't understand much about guardianship or legal things except that it was sensitive and complicated; growing up with the Robotnicks on the A.R.K., he was much more familiar with medical jargon and the squishy sciences. But piecing together Sonic's condition and what little he did know of the legal system, Shadow could readily understand the complexity of his unknowing rival's situation. Unless a capable adult they knew could take Sonic in, he and the fox were doomed to be separated and be put up with strangers, a very unwanted outcome.
But there were very few adults in their group. Vanilla had her hands full with her own child and now had to take in Tails. Rouge didn't have the space in her small apartment; staying with Big wasn't an option as nobody had seen or heard from the cat in months. Not that the cat would understand the situation anyway. And Vector...Shadow shuddered at the thought of the blue blur, even surviving the night with Team Chaotix in his condition, despite Espio's calm, reliable nature.
And then there was him, physically; Shadow was 15 but mentally had the competency of an adult. (Thank you, Professor, for his accelerated growth factor.)
Even after being released from his birthing chamber Shadow had the mentality of a 5 yr old when Maria was 5 to match her. A few years later, when Maria was 12, Shadow was already fully grown and mentally in his late teens acting as a skilled caregiver for his ailing best friend.
Since the events of the A.R.K., being put into status, released after 50 yrs, and joining G.U.N., Shadow is now in his 20s, fully capable of supporting himself with his own home. So technically, Shadow could be regarded as a more than a capable adult. All of this which Tails knew.
Both Mobians slowly lifted their heads, matching their gazes at each other, coming to the same conclusion and saying simultaneously.
"I could look after Sonic."
"You could look after Sonic!"
"Oh my gosh! That would be perfect!" Tails shouts before halting and shrinking in himself, with guilt for such a presumption, "I-I don't mean to put this on you or force you. You don't have to, of course, or if G.U.N. already has something they need you to do, I'm sure we can figure-"
"Tails stop." Shadow silences the fox's nervous chatter, probably shocked that the Ultimate Lifeform had called him by his name. "You're right. I have the means and the ability to care for the blue idiot. It would be stupid and disgraceful for me to turn you both away in your time of need."
The fox tilts his head in confusion, saying apprehensively as if he wasn't sure he was thinking correctly, "But...but you guys don't like each other."
"We are rivals." Shadow stresses, shaking his head, "We don't hate each other we just like to rial each other up, compete and help better the other. Yes, we get on each other's nerves, but that's the point." the dark hog looks away to keep the young fox from seeing the intensity of the sorrow on his face.
Did the fox really think he hated Sonic? Did everyone think their rivalry was a carefully concealed veil for hatred? Shadow didn't like the implication, and he didn't like to be emotional in front of an audience, even of 1, but if this idea was going to work, he needed the fox to feel comfortable leaving Sonic in his care. The only way to do that was for the Ultimate Lifeform to open up just a crack.
"If I really hated that hedgehog, I would have left him under all that rubble to die. But I do care, and I owe him a debt of gratitude for stopping Eggman's army, even if it was stupid and reckless. I have experience as a caregiver before and am well versed in the medical field; out of your few choices, I'm your best bet. I promise you, fox, that I will do my best to ensure your brother is cared for."
Shadow takes a breath at the end of his ramble, realizing that he'd meant it about wanting to give Sonic the best care he could provide. On one level, such a confession surprises him, yet if his recent revelation that everyone thought they hated each other was correct, this would be the perfect opportunity to prove them wrong. Hopefully, Sonic didn't have the same misunderstanding, but if he did, this would certainly clear the air between them.
Looking over, he can see Tails in his peripheral gaping at him in awe and respect before a small laugh breaks it, "Wow, Shadow, I didn't realize that's how you two saw each other, and you're right. He is reckless. I remember hearing about how you took care of Maria back on the A.R.K. So having you watch over him and making sure he doesn't get hurt that's-that's...thank you." the fox says with all sincerity.
Shadow turns back and nods, coughing back the lump in his throat, and leans back, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, sure, you're welcome. Now, what arrangements do we need to make? And any suggestions for keeping this blue irritation in bed as long as possible?"
Tails really laughs, looking like a weight that Shadow didn't notice there until it was gone was released from the fox's shoulders. Tails stands, "Let me call the social worker and see what we can arrange. I'll also get you a pad and pen. Your gonna need it." Tails winks, walking out, leaving Shadow to watch his big brother.
The dark hog chuckles under his breath and sighs; the next few weeks will be a challenge but nothing beyond his abilities. His mind wanders about the tasks he needs to do to get Sonic set up comfortably in his home.
It was a long ways away, all the way down in Florida, right in the middle of senile city, where nothing exciting happens except at spring break, but the most prevailing thought was on how he was going to teach the blue blur how to be less reckless during his stay.
Oh yes, he couldn't refute that Sonic's actions had saved their skins many times over, but this last mission proved that the blue blur could be less hasty in his world-saving endeavors. A lesson Shadow felt obligated to teach the younger hedgehog.
Watching his future charge breathe, Shadow's eyes float to Sonic's lower area, an idea forming with a sneaky smirk on his face. Perhaps there's something else I could do to help accommodate my new arrival?