I should have been working on this while ff.net was down, but.....I didn't want to. ^_^;;;;; I BEG FOR FORGIVENESS!!!
*hands out cookies as bribes* Hopefully, this chapter will make up for the lateness.....
Oh yeah, check out my site at http://rebecky_mo.tripod.com/warning.html
None of the main characters in this story belong to me. They all belong to Sega, Archie, and whoever else got their hands into making Sonic.
=========================================================================================================
You Never Know What You've Got....Chapter 5 By Rebecky-mo ECCHInda
The Station Square Medical Centre was oddly quiet this night. No wailing sirens signalling an ambulance entering or leaving, no announcements blaring on the intercoms or pagers beeping for doctors to report to surgery. Not even the usual sounds of wheels or squeaking shoes rolling down the hallways towards a room.
It was freaking Sonic out....
He was sitting down in the intensive care floor of the hospital, and he wasn't alone. The moment Rouge had contacted him, he, Tails, and Knuckles had all but demolished the city in thier rush to get here. They had arrived to see Rouge standing outside of Amy Rose's room. An empty room....
Rouge's face was one of surprise and worry as she explained what had happened mere minutes before. The three young men just listened, numb, while the bat told them about how Amy Rose lost conciousness, and had an unbelievably hot fever. A group of nurses and doctors had rushed into the room, and within moments of arriving, they had whisked the ailing young hedgehog away to the IC unit. Rouge had tried to find out what was wrong from one of the nurses, but obviously hadn't been heard.
That was over an hour ago.....
"Dammit, what's taking so long?!?!?" Knuckles growled. His patience had been thinning by the second--they hadn't heard a thing since they arrived, and he could tell the groups anxiety was growing. It's way too quiet. He thought to himself, as he resumed his restless pacing. Tails and Rouge weren't much better than he was, fidgeting in thier seats, trying to find some way of taking thier minds off this. But they weren't the ones he was worried about. Apart from Amy's condition, Sonic was his concern.
The hedgehog had been sitting quietly for the entire time they were up on the floor. He hadn't said a word to any of them after he'd asked Rouge what had happened. He hadn't moved an inch either-- his entire upper body was leaning forward heavily, his hands pressed against his forehead, eyes closed.....totally not the loud-mouthed, ever-moving hedgehog he'd met a few years ago. Knuckles knew that Sonic cared for Amy Rose, and that was why he was so distraught about the whole thing. hell, I probably knew he cared before he did..... he thought to himself.
The guardian's thoughts were cut short as a young doctor came walking down the hall towards the group. The woman was looking over the documents in a plain folder, and may have walked right by the group if Sonic hadn't finally moved and grabbed her by the wrist to get some answers.
"Excuse me doc, but do you know what happened to our friend?"
"Hmmm..." the lady looked at a certain paper in her hand, then turned back towards the four. The expression on her face was none too comforting. "You must be with Miss Hedgehog. Well, to put it bluntly, Amy Rose has gotten an infection. A cold, to be exact."
Rouge the Bat jumped up, disbelieving. "I was in there when she blacked out doctor, and no cold could've caused that!!" The rest of the group were in agreement with her. "It has to be something more dangerous than a common cold!"
Doctor Kensington, as it said on her nametag, sighed and ran a hand through her long hair. "It is indeed a cold, Miss, but it is anything but common to Amy. As I'm sure you know, the patient's form of cancer, leukemia, affects the bone marrow and red blood cells. The chemotherapy she has been on is meant to weaken the cancerous cells in her body. Unfortunately, as a side effect, it can also cause the heathly white blood cells to weaken as well..."
"So? What does that mean?" Tails asked. "I don't get how that makes Amy even sicker."
"The white blood cells are responsible for protecting the body against illnesses and infections, as well as anything else that doesn't belong in the body. As these cells weaken, the patient is more and more likely to become sick with a virus. And without the white blood cells to combat the virus, the person gets much sicker than they normally would."
No wonder Amy Rose is in such bad shape.... Sonic thought to himself. This wasn't fair! She was doing so well in her chemo, and now...."How bad is she?" Kensington's eyes darkened.
"Not good, I'm afraid. We've put her in a special room, where no bacteria is allowed--even visitors must wear suits so no other viral cells can get near her. Hopefully, she'll be able to fight off the virus before it gets too strong...."
"And if-- what if she can't fight it off?" The blue hedgehog almost lost his voice, not really wanting to hear the answer, even though he knew what it was.
"....She won't survive."
****
The night air did nothing to calm Tails' nerves down as he flew home that night. Sonic, Knuckles, Rouge and himself were told by doctors that it wasn't possible to see Amy Rose that night, and that they could return tommorow to visit. Despite the groups protest, they did eventually leave when they realized the arguing was pointless.
His mind couldn't get over the diagnosis he'd heard a few moments ago. It had been hard enough knowing that the cheerful hedgehog would have to go through chemo, but to know that he may lose one of his oldest friends...tears blurred the young kitsune's eyes at the thought.
"Amy and I have known each other for so long" he murmured to himself, not even hearing his vioce over the whirr of his tails spinning behind him. "We've been growing up together." It was true, the two of them had been allies and friends for many years because of thier common ties with Sonic and his adventures. He'd just turned 8 years old when he'd first met her, wearing her old green skirt, puffy white top, and FAR too large sneakers. At the age of ten, she was as big a fan of the heroic blue hedgehog as he was, only in a much different way. She'd glomp him any chance she could, begging him to marry her... He couldn't help but chuckle at the memory, the image of Amy hugging a freaked-out Sonic ghosting across his mind. Sonic could take on anything Eggman threw at him, but it only took one girl to send him running for the hills.
Things changed though, and as he grew up, so did she. After the ARK incident, Amy Rose had mellowed down quite a bit. None of them knew why it happened, but she wasn't as clingy as before. It was a mystery, but whatever it was,it didn't stop her from being cheerful like she always was. She always knew how to make us smile. Amy even got Knux to laugh once when he was still a loner... Tails had never thought about this before. No matter what insane situation they were in, no matter how down things looked, Amy Rose always seemed to make things better....it was people like her, good people, that changed to world in ways Sonic and himself never could. Tail's slowed down a bit, hovering in the air, then finally headed to the ground by a shrine.
He rang the bell a few times, and made a quick wish and said a prayer before continuing on his way. Amy, I hope the Gods see you as well as we on earth do. They may be the only ones who can choose your fate, and consider us good enough to have someone like you here with us... He thought to himself.
****
Time went by slowly at the hospital, and as the days passed, Amy's condition hadn't improved. The doctor's were pumping the antibiotics into her body, to no avail. Each day, one of the young hedgehog's friends were always nearby. Knuckles had been forced to leave after his sit-in the second day to his regret, since the sheild around the Master Emerald had fritzed out. He only left after Rouge swore she'd call him with updates on her condition, and even then, he was hesitant.
Amy Rose spent the hours lapsing in and out of consiousness, not always sure of what was happening. She was very weak, unable to feed herself the tiny amounts of food the nurses insisted she take. At times, she woke to see one of the three remaining allies by her bedside, though she hardly recognized them. Because of her condition, they were forced to wear special suits in the room, and scrub any germs away before going in. It was hard to see thier faces through the masks that went with the suits, and would only know who was who when they spoke. Amy Rose did her best to speak with them, try to strike up conversations, but it tired her out so badly that she always wound up falling asleep again.
Even when Tails and Rouge were staying with Amy, Sonic insisted being there as well. He was almost always the one in the room with her, and would stay for the entire time he was allowed, from morning to night, without going to eat. It looked as though he hadn't slept in days, but he ignored the other's pleas for him to go and rest. He never said a word to them, just simply turned to look at them, his normally bright eyes dark green, and shook his head slightly.
On the fifth day of Amy's seclusion, both the kitsune and the bat had gone off to get something to eat, promising Sonic (who, again, refused to leave) that they'd bring him some lunch. He was in the room with his friend, adorned in the suit which was becoming like a second skin to him as of late. He was just sitting there, his large hand over her small, thin one, eyes closed, reciting a prayer in his head to the rhythm of Amy's weak heartbeat. Sonic wasn't much of a religious guy, but it couldn't hurt....
"Sonikku?....."
The cobalt hedgehog's eyes snapped open at the sound of the voice, to meet up with her own light green eyes. "Right here, Amy." He replied.
"You're...still here?" Her voice was soft, almost too soft to hear. It was an extreme effort for her to speak, and he knew it.
"Of course I am, girl. Think I'd go anywhere now??"
"People need you."
"Tough for them. Right now you're my first, second, and third priority."
Amy couldn't help but smile at that. The corner of her mouth curved upwards slightly. "I always did...come first, didn't I? Took you from people....who really need you...."
"Hey, you needed me too, remember? I couldn't let anything hurt you....I never could."
"I know..." Amy Rose whispered. "Never understood why...I was such a pain back then, but...you put up with me." An odd, scary feeling crept up Sonic's spine. This conversation--it didn't feel right. "You made me feel....special."
"Amy, why are you saying this?" Either she ignored the question, or honestly didn't hear it, he wasn't sure, but she continued what she was saying as if she truely wanted--needed to say it.
"I could never repay you....for that feeling."
The hedgehog opened his mouth, but for some odd reason, no sound escaped him. Sonic's sense of dread began to grow as he watched Amy's eyes slowly drift shut. Finally, he managed to find his voice. "Amy Rose, don't talk like this. You're just tired..."
"....I love you, Sonic...."
With that, Amy's eyes shut completely, her entire body seeming to relax. For a few brief moments, Sonic didn't move, didn't even breathe. The only thing that brought him out of the shock was the annoying whine seeming to echo around the room. He turned to look at the heart monitor--No....
--Only to see a flat green line across the screen.
"AMY!!!!!!"
To Be Continued.....
=========================================================================================================
There! Done!!! Well, what did you think?
Sonic:......you are in so much trouble, Becky.
Me: What?! WHY?!?!? It can't be that bad!
Knuckles: All the reviewers asked...no, begged you not to do was to kill Amy, and you did it anyway!!!! They're gonna burn you at the stake with thier flames!
Oh yeah.... ^_^;;; Well, things happen. And besides, if they wanna see next chapter, they can't kill me!! *evil laughter* Gotta love blackmail... Until next time folks, Read and Review!!!
Oh yeah, check out my site at http://rebecky_mo.tripod.com/warning.html
None of the main characters in this story belong to me. They all belong to Sega, Archie, and whoever else got their hands into making Sonic.
=========================================================================================================
You Never Know What You've Got....Chapter 5 By Rebecky-mo ECCHInda
The Station Square Medical Centre was oddly quiet this night. No wailing sirens signalling an ambulance entering or leaving, no announcements blaring on the intercoms or pagers beeping for doctors to report to surgery. Not even the usual sounds of wheels or squeaking shoes rolling down the hallways towards a room.
It was freaking Sonic out....
He was sitting down in the intensive care floor of the hospital, and he wasn't alone. The moment Rouge had contacted him, he, Tails, and Knuckles had all but demolished the city in thier rush to get here. They had arrived to see Rouge standing outside of Amy Rose's room. An empty room....
Rouge's face was one of surprise and worry as she explained what had happened mere minutes before. The three young men just listened, numb, while the bat told them about how Amy Rose lost conciousness, and had an unbelievably hot fever. A group of nurses and doctors had rushed into the room, and within moments of arriving, they had whisked the ailing young hedgehog away to the IC unit. Rouge had tried to find out what was wrong from one of the nurses, but obviously hadn't been heard.
That was over an hour ago.....
"Dammit, what's taking so long?!?!?" Knuckles growled. His patience had been thinning by the second--they hadn't heard a thing since they arrived, and he could tell the groups anxiety was growing. It's way too quiet. He thought to himself, as he resumed his restless pacing. Tails and Rouge weren't much better than he was, fidgeting in thier seats, trying to find some way of taking thier minds off this. But they weren't the ones he was worried about. Apart from Amy's condition, Sonic was his concern.
The hedgehog had been sitting quietly for the entire time they were up on the floor. He hadn't said a word to any of them after he'd asked Rouge what had happened. He hadn't moved an inch either-- his entire upper body was leaning forward heavily, his hands pressed against his forehead, eyes closed.....totally not the loud-mouthed, ever-moving hedgehog he'd met a few years ago. Knuckles knew that Sonic cared for Amy Rose, and that was why he was so distraught about the whole thing. hell, I probably knew he cared before he did..... he thought to himself.
The guardian's thoughts were cut short as a young doctor came walking down the hall towards the group. The woman was looking over the documents in a plain folder, and may have walked right by the group if Sonic hadn't finally moved and grabbed her by the wrist to get some answers.
"Excuse me doc, but do you know what happened to our friend?"
"Hmmm..." the lady looked at a certain paper in her hand, then turned back towards the four. The expression on her face was none too comforting. "You must be with Miss Hedgehog. Well, to put it bluntly, Amy Rose has gotten an infection. A cold, to be exact."
Rouge the Bat jumped up, disbelieving. "I was in there when she blacked out doctor, and no cold could've caused that!!" The rest of the group were in agreement with her. "It has to be something more dangerous than a common cold!"
Doctor Kensington, as it said on her nametag, sighed and ran a hand through her long hair. "It is indeed a cold, Miss, but it is anything but common to Amy. As I'm sure you know, the patient's form of cancer, leukemia, affects the bone marrow and red blood cells. The chemotherapy she has been on is meant to weaken the cancerous cells in her body. Unfortunately, as a side effect, it can also cause the heathly white blood cells to weaken as well..."
"So? What does that mean?" Tails asked. "I don't get how that makes Amy even sicker."
"The white blood cells are responsible for protecting the body against illnesses and infections, as well as anything else that doesn't belong in the body. As these cells weaken, the patient is more and more likely to become sick with a virus. And without the white blood cells to combat the virus, the person gets much sicker than they normally would."
No wonder Amy Rose is in such bad shape.... Sonic thought to himself. This wasn't fair! She was doing so well in her chemo, and now...."How bad is she?" Kensington's eyes darkened.
"Not good, I'm afraid. We've put her in a special room, where no bacteria is allowed--even visitors must wear suits so no other viral cells can get near her. Hopefully, she'll be able to fight off the virus before it gets too strong...."
"And if-- what if she can't fight it off?" The blue hedgehog almost lost his voice, not really wanting to hear the answer, even though he knew what it was.
"....She won't survive."
****
The night air did nothing to calm Tails' nerves down as he flew home that night. Sonic, Knuckles, Rouge and himself were told by doctors that it wasn't possible to see Amy Rose that night, and that they could return tommorow to visit. Despite the groups protest, they did eventually leave when they realized the arguing was pointless.
His mind couldn't get over the diagnosis he'd heard a few moments ago. It had been hard enough knowing that the cheerful hedgehog would have to go through chemo, but to know that he may lose one of his oldest friends...tears blurred the young kitsune's eyes at the thought.
"Amy and I have known each other for so long" he murmured to himself, not even hearing his vioce over the whirr of his tails spinning behind him. "We've been growing up together." It was true, the two of them had been allies and friends for many years because of thier common ties with Sonic and his adventures. He'd just turned 8 years old when he'd first met her, wearing her old green skirt, puffy white top, and FAR too large sneakers. At the age of ten, she was as big a fan of the heroic blue hedgehog as he was, only in a much different way. She'd glomp him any chance she could, begging him to marry her... He couldn't help but chuckle at the memory, the image of Amy hugging a freaked-out Sonic ghosting across his mind. Sonic could take on anything Eggman threw at him, but it only took one girl to send him running for the hills.
Things changed though, and as he grew up, so did she. After the ARK incident, Amy Rose had mellowed down quite a bit. None of them knew why it happened, but she wasn't as clingy as before. It was a mystery, but whatever it was,it didn't stop her from being cheerful like she always was. She always knew how to make us smile. Amy even got Knux to laugh once when he was still a loner... Tails had never thought about this before. No matter what insane situation they were in, no matter how down things looked, Amy Rose always seemed to make things better....it was people like her, good people, that changed to world in ways Sonic and himself never could. Tail's slowed down a bit, hovering in the air, then finally headed to the ground by a shrine.
He rang the bell a few times, and made a quick wish and said a prayer before continuing on his way. Amy, I hope the Gods see you as well as we on earth do. They may be the only ones who can choose your fate, and consider us good enough to have someone like you here with us... He thought to himself.
****
Time went by slowly at the hospital, and as the days passed, Amy's condition hadn't improved. The doctor's were pumping the antibiotics into her body, to no avail. Each day, one of the young hedgehog's friends were always nearby. Knuckles had been forced to leave after his sit-in the second day to his regret, since the sheild around the Master Emerald had fritzed out. He only left after Rouge swore she'd call him with updates on her condition, and even then, he was hesitant.
Amy Rose spent the hours lapsing in and out of consiousness, not always sure of what was happening. She was very weak, unable to feed herself the tiny amounts of food the nurses insisted she take. At times, she woke to see one of the three remaining allies by her bedside, though she hardly recognized them. Because of her condition, they were forced to wear special suits in the room, and scrub any germs away before going in. It was hard to see thier faces through the masks that went with the suits, and would only know who was who when they spoke. Amy Rose did her best to speak with them, try to strike up conversations, but it tired her out so badly that she always wound up falling asleep again.
Even when Tails and Rouge were staying with Amy, Sonic insisted being there as well. He was almost always the one in the room with her, and would stay for the entire time he was allowed, from morning to night, without going to eat. It looked as though he hadn't slept in days, but he ignored the other's pleas for him to go and rest. He never said a word to them, just simply turned to look at them, his normally bright eyes dark green, and shook his head slightly.
On the fifth day of Amy's seclusion, both the kitsune and the bat had gone off to get something to eat, promising Sonic (who, again, refused to leave) that they'd bring him some lunch. He was in the room with his friend, adorned in the suit which was becoming like a second skin to him as of late. He was just sitting there, his large hand over her small, thin one, eyes closed, reciting a prayer in his head to the rhythm of Amy's weak heartbeat. Sonic wasn't much of a religious guy, but it couldn't hurt....
"Sonikku?....."
The cobalt hedgehog's eyes snapped open at the sound of the voice, to meet up with her own light green eyes. "Right here, Amy." He replied.
"You're...still here?" Her voice was soft, almost too soft to hear. It was an extreme effort for her to speak, and he knew it.
"Of course I am, girl. Think I'd go anywhere now??"
"People need you."
"Tough for them. Right now you're my first, second, and third priority."
Amy couldn't help but smile at that. The corner of her mouth curved upwards slightly. "I always did...come first, didn't I? Took you from people....who really need you...."
"Hey, you needed me too, remember? I couldn't let anything hurt you....I never could."
"I know..." Amy Rose whispered. "Never understood why...I was such a pain back then, but...you put up with me." An odd, scary feeling crept up Sonic's spine. This conversation--it didn't feel right. "You made me feel....special."
"Amy, why are you saying this?" Either she ignored the question, or honestly didn't hear it, he wasn't sure, but she continued what she was saying as if she truely wanted--needed to say it.
"I could never repay you....for that feeling."
The hedgehog opened his mouth, but for some odd reason, no sound escaped him. Sonic's sense of dread began to grow as he watched Amy's eyes slowly drift shut. Finally, he managed to find his voice. "Amy Rose, don't talk like this. You're just tired..."
"....I love you, Sonic...."
With that, Amy's eyes shut completely, her entire body seeming to relax. For a few brief moments, Sonic didn't move, didn't even breathe. The only thing that brought him out of the shock was the annoying whine seeming to echo around the room. He turned to look at the heart monitor--No....
--Only to see a flat green line across the screen.
"AMY!!!!!!"
To Be Continued.....
=========================================================================================================
There! Done!!! Well, what did you think?
Sonic:......you are in so much trouble, Becky.
Me: What?! WHY?!?!? It can't be that bad!
Knuckles: All the reviewers asked...no, begged you not to do was to kill Amy, and you did it anyway!!!! They're gonna burn you at the stake with thier flames!
Oh yeah.... ^_^;;; Well, things happen. And besides, if they wanna see next chapter, they can't kill me!! *evil laughter* Gotta love blackmail... Until next time folks, Read and Review!!!