"I don't know if we should let this news get out just yet"
"You're right, Tekno," Johnny said, "Robotnik wouldn't waste a moment"
"This isn't good. We both know that this is gonna leak out to the public, and then we really got problems"
"Yeah, I've already talked with Tails and The Flock, and Sally... well, I just told her Sonic was hurt really bad... not much more than that, because she's young, and she might let it slip..."
"Please, please don't tell Tufftee," the canary interrupted, "He tried playing 'hero' once, and if Sonic can't run... we've gotta real problem on our hands"
Amy chuckled.
"Well, we've done ok keeping two dim-wits from killing themselve-"
"NO! NO! NO!" Tekno laughed, "That's all we need! Another 'looovely' Norris Wimple getting himself killed!"
"You're right," Amy said.
There was a pause, then she continued:
"I just... "
Johnny looked at her, Amy, his crush.
"What?"
"What it... what if Sonic... won't ever... you know..." Amy sighed, unable to finish.
"Let's just hope he'll recover," Johnny said, hugging her, "Sonic's a fighter. He's been through worse. He'll get better"
"I hope you're right"
******
Meanwhile, at the Groovy-Train...
"Super, you need to rest," a worried Ebony said.
Super Sonic, who Ebony and her best friend Pyjamas had been hiding, was not doing well. He had started losing energy rapidly, and was unable to replenish it. Super knew that only one thing could keep him alive, and that thing could also turn him back into the monster he used to be.
The sickly hedgehog sat up in Ebony's bed, which he had been practically living in for the past few days. But all the bed-rest in the world wasn't going to help him. He needed chaos-energy, and there was no getting around that.
"It's not gonna do anything, Ebony," Super answered.
He coughed and hacked, then caught his breath. Super's whole body was wracked with the effects of this energy-drain, and now he looked like he had aged fifty years in only a few days. And he didn't dare look in a mirror anymore. The last time Super had looked, he fainted.
Ebony gently thumped her friend's back, and held a tissue to his mouth.
"I wish there was some other way," she said.
"No... I need to do this..." Super replied, after expelling some phlegm from his lungs.
The black cat lay down beside him, and pulled him close to her. She looked into his eyes, and saw tiredness, fear and confusion... like when Pyjamas had wiped his memory... and sadness... Super was like a child... It broke Ebony's heart to see him like this... her friend... that confused yellow hedgehog, dying...
She wiped the sickly hedgehog's tears, and stroked his forehead. Super just huddled closer to his friend, and cried. He had vowed to never destroy another thing, and it looked like he was going to break that vow. That was the last thing he wanted; Super just wanted to lead a normal life, without having to worry about going mad... why did this happen to him? Super didn't ask to be born; he didn't ask for these powers... why?
"It's gonna be all right," Ebony soothed, "I'm not gonna let you die, kid"
The cat paused and listened to her friend's breathing. It had slowed down a little... he was asleep, at peace for awhile...
******
"Ok, sorry 'bout that," Amy whispered, after her excited shouting caused Sonic to wince in pain.
Sonic had a terrible headache, which was from the spinal-tap. The doctors had to remove his spinal-fluid and replace it with something else so they could x-ray his spinal-cord. It wasn't very pleasant for Sonic, especially since they would not give him any asprin for the pain.
Amy bent down and kissed his forehead, and Sonic relaxed a little.
"Thanks," he whispered back..
"You'll get through this," Amy reassured him.
She took off one of her gloves and wet it down with some water from a pitcher that was sitting next to the bed. Then she took the wet glove and set it on Sonic's forehead.
"Better?"
Sonic nodded, with great difficulty.
"A... little..." he managed, every word making his head pound.
Amy helped Sonic drink some water, as he wouldn't be able to eat in this condition. He could only manage a couple sips, enough to moisten his mouth and throat.
"Have to... stop... Robotnik..." Sonic mumbled.
"Shh..." Amy whispered, "We'll get to that. You need to just rest and get better, Sonic"
Sonic nodded, his eyes tightly shut from the awful pain. Amy took his hand and squeezed it. Watching her friend suffer made her heart ache. Please... please let him be ok... please don't let him be paralyzed... Amy thought.
She absentmindedly stroked Sonic's head, and quietly talked to him for how long she didn't know. He couldn't sleep, even though it was plain to see he was tired. The pain was too much, and Sonic could barely even move without making it worse.
Amy tried wetting the compress down again and washing her friend's face. The water was refreshing, but it didn't stop the pain. At least it made him feel a little better. Sonic didn't like swimming that much, but a little water on his face felt so good. It took the edge off the pain.
"You'll get better," she whispered again, taking care not to make any needlessly loud sound that would exacerbate Sonic's condition.
She didn't get up at all. Not even to use the toilet. Amy sat down beside Sonic's bed, and just held his hand and talked to him, as the nurses came and went, checked her friend's medication, administered various drugs and fluid-i.v.'s, monitored his nourishment-drip, helped him with his bodily-functions...
All the while, Amy just sat there, feeling so helpless. Please be alright... please... Then she rose from the chair she was sitting in, and lay down on Sonic's bed, avoiding any sudden movements. She held her friend's hand, and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.
"Amy, we have to leave"
The pink hedgehog woke up to Johnny's voice, and shook the sleepiness off.
"Wha-?"
"Visiting hours are over"
"Oh... crap..." Amy mumbled.
Who decided to designate certain hours as "visiting hours" when patients still needed their friends after those hours were over? Didn't they care how the patients, not to mention the friends, felt? Whoever arbitrarily decided that was about as idiotic as the one who thought children shouldn't be allowed to visit in hospitals, Amy decided. At least the people eventually realized that children should be able to visit. But hospitals were run by a bunch of nutters. There was no ignoring that, she thought.
Amy got up, and realized that she had to use the toilet now, or risk soaking herself on the way back to the Control Tower. As she sat on the toilet, Amy kept thinking about the dire situation. Sonic could be paralyzed... he could very likely never walk, let alone run, again... what could this mean?
When she was done, Amy walked over to Sonic, who was now asleep, and kissed his forehead. Poor Sonic... he was in the wrong place at the wrong time...
"You get better. Understand?" she whispered, before leaving.
As if to answer, Sonic's ear twitched.
"Hmmh..." the sleeping hedgehog grunted.
******
"It's ok, Amy," Johnny said, as he drove her back to Emerald Hill Zone, "I know you like him. It doesn't mean you're some weakling damsel-in- distress. You're just... being you... I don't understand women... I just..."
The rabbit sighed. He was in love with Amy, but now it looked like she was going after Sonic again, and this time, Sonic was welcoming it. Johnny never thought that possible... Sonic and Amy... together... and Sonic wasn't annoyed at all... Then he smiled. There would be others... one day, Johnny would find a girl, settle down...
"I... I'm just worried... I... Johnny, I'm scared," Amy whispered, "Please hold me..."
Johnny put an arm around his friend, and let her rest on his lap. The situation wasn't good, and now everybody was on-edge, including Porker. What would they do, with Sonic out of action? How would they continue to fight Robotnik? Johnny lay awake the whole night, with that horrifying thought stuck in his mind, and finally fell asleep from exhaustion some time after six in the morning.
"You're right, Tekno," Johnny said, "Robotnik wouldn't waste a moment"
"This isn't good. We both know that this is gonna leak out to the public, and then we really got problems"
"Yeah, I've already talked with Tails and The Flock, and Sally... well, I just told her Sonic was hurt really bad... not much more than that, because she's young, and she might let it slip..."
"Please, please don't tell Tufftee," the canary interrupted, "He tried playing 'hero' once, and if Sonic can't run... we've gotta real problem on our hands"
Amy chuckled.
"Well, we've done ok keeping two dim-wits from killing themselve-"
"NO! NO! NO!" Tekno laughed, "That's all we need! Another 'looovely' Norris Wimple getting himself killed!"
"You're right," Amy said.
There was a pause, then she continued:
"I just... "
Johnny looked at her, Amy, his crush.
"What?"
"What it... what if Sonic... won't ever... you know..." Amy sighed, unable to finish.
"Let's just hope he'll recover," Johnny said, hugging her, "Sonic's a fighter. He's been through worse. He'll get better"
"I hope you're right"
******
Meanwhile, at the Groovy-Train...
"Super, you need to rest," a worried Ebony said.
Super Sonic, who Ebony and her best friend Pyjamas had been hiding, was not doing well. He had started losing energy rapidly, and was unable to replenish it. Super knew that only one thing could keep him alive, and that thing could also turn him back into the monster he used to be.
The sickly hedgehog sat up in Ebony's bed, which he had been practically living in for the past few days. But all the bed-rest in the world wasn't going to help him. He needed chaos-energy, and there was no getting around that.
"It's not gonna do anything, Ebony," Super answered.
He coughed and hacked, then caught his breath. Super's whole body was wracked with the effects of this energy-drain, and now he looked like he had aged fifty years in only a few days. And he didn't dare look in a mirror anymore. The last time Super had looked, he fainted.
Ebony gently thumped her friend's back, and held a tissue to his mouth.
"I wish there was some other way," she said.
"No... I need to do this..." Super replied, after expelling some phlegm from his lungs.
The black cat lay down beside him, and pulled him close to her. She looked into his eyes, and saw tiredness, fear and confusion... like when Pyjamas had wiped his memory... and sadness... Super was like a child... It broke Ebony's heart to see him like this... her friend... that confused yellow hedgehog, dying...
She wiped the sickly hedgehog's tears, and stroked his forehead. Super just huddled closer to his friend, and cried. He had vowed to never destroy another thing, and it looked like he was going to break that vow. That was the last thing he wanted; Super just wanted to lead a normal life, without having to worry about going mad... why did this happen to him? Super didn't ask to be born; he didn't ask for these powers... why?
"It's gonna be all right," Ebony soothed, "I'm not gonna let you die, kid"
The cat paused and listened to her friend's breathing. It had slowed down a little... he was asleep, at peace for awhile...
******
"Ok, sorry 'bout that," Amy whispered, after her excited shouting caused Sonic to wince in pain.
Sonic had a terrible headache, which was from the spinal-tap. The doctors had to remove his spinal-fluid and replace it with something else so they could x-ray his spinal-cord. It wasn't very pleasant for Sonic, especially since they would not give him any asprin for the pain.
Amy bent down and kissed his forehead, and Sonic relaxed a little.
"Thanks," he whispered back..
"You'll get through this," Amy reassured him.
She took off one of her gloves and wet it down with some water from a pitcher that was sitting next to the bed. Then she took the wet glove and set it on Sonic's forehead.
"Better?"
Sonic nodded, with great difficulty.
"A... little..." he managed, every word making his head pound.
Amy helped Sonic drink some water, as he wouldn't be able to eat in this condition. He could only manage a couple sips, enough to moisten his mouth and throat.
"Have to... stop... Robotnik..." Sonic mumbled.
"Shh..." Amy whispered, "We'll get to that. You need to just rest and get better, Sonic"
Sonic nodded, his eyes tightly shut from the awful pain. Amy took his hand and squeezed it. Watching her friend suffer made her heart ache. Please... please let him be ok... please don't let him be paralyzed... Amy thought.
She absentmindedly stroked Sonic's head, and quietly talked to him for how long she didn't know. He couldn't sleep, even though it was plain to see he was tired. The pain was too much, and Sonic could barely even move without making it worse.
Amy tried wetting the compress down again and washing her friend's face. The water was refreshing, but it didn't stop the pain. At least it made him feel a little better. Sonic didn't like swimming that much, but a little water on his face felt so good. It took the edge off the pain.
"You'll get better," she whispered again, taking care not to make any needlessly loud sound that would exacerbate Sonic's condition.
She didn't get up at all. Not even to use the toilet. Amy sat down beside Sonic's bed, and just held his hand and talked to him, as the nurses came and went, checked her friend's medication, administered various drugs and fluid-i.v.'s, monitored his nourishment-drip, helped him with his bodily-functions...
All the while, Amy just sat there, feeling so helpless. Please be alright... please... Then she rose from the chair she was sitting in, and lay down on Sonic's bed, avoiding any sudden movements. She held her friend's hand, and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.
"Amy, we have to leave"
The pink hedgehog woke up to Johnny's voice, and shook the sleepiness off.
"Wha-?"
"Visiting hours are over"
"Oh... crap..." Amy mumbled.
Who decided to designate certain hours as "visiting hours" when patients still needed their friends after those hours were over? Didn't they care how the patients, not to mention the friends, felt? Whoever arbitrarily decided that was about as idiotic as the one who thought children shouldn't be allowed to visit in hospitals, Amy decided. At least the people eventually realized that children should be able to visit. But hospitals were run by a bunch of nutters. There was no ignoring that, she thought.
Amy got up, and realized that she had to use the toilet now, or risk soaking herself on the way back to the Control Tower. As she sat on the toilet, Amy kept thinking about the dire situation. Sonic could be paralyzed... he could very likely never walk, let alone run, again... what could this mean?
When she was done, Amy walked over to Sonic, who was now asleep, and kissed his forehead. Poor Sonic... he was in the wrong place at the wrong time...
"You get better. Understand?" she whispered, before leaving.
As if to answer, Sonic's ear twitched.
"Hmmh..." the sleeping hedgehog grunted.
******
"It's ok, Amy," Johnny said, as he drove her back to Emerald Hill Zone, "I know you like him. It doesn't mean you're some weakling damsel-in- distress. You're just... being you... I don't understand women... I just..."
The rabbit sighed. He was in love with Amy, but now it looked like she was going after Sonic again, and this time, Sonic was welcoming it. Johnny never thought that possible... Sonic and Amy... together... and Sonic wasn't annoyed at all... Then he smiled. There would be others... one day, Johnny would find a girl, settle down...
"I... I'm just worried... I... Johnny, I'm scared," Amy whispered, "Please hold me..."
Johnny put an arm around his friend, and let her rest on his lap. The situation wasn't good, and now everybody was on-edge, including Porker. What would they do, with Sonic out of action? How would they continue to fight Robotnik? Johnny lay awake the whole night, with that horrifying thought stuck in his mind, and finally fell asleep from exhaustion some time after six in the morning.