Author's Note: I found that this chapter was originally too short. This is because I accidentally left out some material. I've just revised this chapter.

Chapter 7: She's Awake!

"Dr. Plaskip, are you absolutely sure about this?" Dr. Carbana was very nervous and very pale while getting a second opinion from the other doctor. Dr. Plaskip is one of the greatest neurological experts. He knows about the brain and nervous system inside and out.

"Dr. Carbana," Dr. Plaskip replied, "in this field of work, there is no such thing as a sure thing. But based on the damages to Amy's brain and nervous system, I'm almost certain that your predictions will happen. Now that Amy is regaining consciousness, more tests will have to be done to make perfectly certain about her condition. Once the tests are complete, you'll receive the results right away."

"So, what do I tell her friends?" Dr. Carbana didn't like where this news was going.

Dr. Plaskip pondered for a moment, "I guess all you can do is tell them everything. But when you do, I suggest running for cover once the news hits them!"

"Once again, it looks like I'll have the unfortunate job of breaking the news to them." Dr. Carbana was starting to feel depressed. Never in his entire long career had a situation like this ever appeared.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Rogue were busy celebrating at a fast food restaurant. They were all very happy that Amy was finally awake after such a horrifying incident. Dr. Carbana gave them his pager so that he could call them when Amy is ready to be visited. They all waited almost impatiently at a nearby apartment for the pager to go off, but it wasn't until about 8 o'clock in the evening that they finally got the reassuring signal. Sonic was so excited that he was out the door and halfway to the hospital before the others got up!

"Ooh! I hope she looks all right. At least now I get to apologize to her for what I put her through." Sonic arrived at the main door of the hospital, but noticed that he was alone. He decided to wait for the others despite being very excited. It just wouldn't be fair for him to see Amy without the others accompanying him. He figured that she would like to see them all at once. After a few minutes of waiting very anxiously, he finally spotted them coming over.

Tails and Rogue were both flying as fast as possible, and Knuckles was running as fast as he could. (Knuckles isn't nearly as fast as Sonic, but is quite fast nonetheless, at least by human standards!) They were all very excited to see Amy alive AND awake after so many months.

Dr. Carbana watched them outside his window, he was feeling sick to his stomach. "I feel like I'm leading them into a trap. An emotional trap that is!"

Dr. Plaskip walked into the room, "Dr. Carbana, the results of Amy's tests should be ready in a few minutes. Have her friends arrived yet?"

"Absolutely," Dr. Carbana answered, still looking out the window, "they just entered through the main door."

"Great timing. Go greet them and tell them to wait in the hallway until you receive the test results." Dr. Plaskip exited the room while Dr. Carbana continued to stare outside the window.

"Should I tell them everything?" Dr. Carbana was thinking nervously to himself, "if I hold back any information, it just wouldn't be right. But I just can't bear to see the looks on their faces when I tell them. This isn't fair! All of the trauma patients throughout my career had at least the dignity to die peacefully after their body has been badly damaged beyond help, but Amy is totally different. It's as if death itself is keeping her alive just so it can torment her further!" He finally snapped out of his trance and left the room to greet them.

Sonic and the others ran inside the elevator, nearly running into a few nurses along the way. As soon as the elevator doors opened on Amy's floor, Dr. Carbana was standing right in front of them. They were surprised that the doctor would greet them so quickly.

"Hi there Doc," Sonic said cheerfully, "how's Amy? I heard that she's finally awake! We all rushed here as soon as we heard the news!"

Dr. Carbana looked very pale and was sweating heavily, he seemed to be on the verge of throwing up! "Well hello everyone, Amy's awake in her room. The doctors are running a few more tests and I should be getting the results at any minute."

They all walked to Amy's room and waited just outside. Sonic and gang were starting to feel concerned for the doctor, he looked like he was about to faint or something.

"Uh, doctor," Knuckles asked, "are you all right? You're starting to freak us out."

"Don't worry about me so much," the doctor said reassuringly, "I'm just very tense right now. Amy's injuries are just so unusual that it has taken almost all of my attention. Seeing her, or any patient like this always gets me uptight."

A few seconds later, an assistant walked up to the doctor with a new clipboard. "Dr. Carbana, the test results are complete, here you go." He handed the doctor the clipboard and left.

"I want to check her files before we enter," the doctor said nervously," there's something I want to check first before we see her." He started to hesitantly read through the clipboard, he almost seemed afraid to look at it.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Rogue all looked at each other strangely and just shrugged their shoulders. They thought that it's part of the procedure, so they didn't complain. However, they had trouble holding in their excitement. They can finally see Amy alive and conscious after so many months. Sonic especially could hardly wait.

What happened next startled them completely. Dr. Carbana let out a loud, frustrated yell and threw the clipboard on the floor so hard that it actually cracked! He then punched his fist into a nearby wall, almost breaking his hand!

"Doctor," Rogue said in a shocked voice, "what was that for? What's wrong?" The others also stared at the doctor, wondering the same thing.

Dr. Carbana noticed that his hand was bleeding slightly from punching the wall. He simply walked to a nearby medicine closet and pulled out a large band-aid. While placing the band-aid, he turned to them and said a simple, but very emotional statement. "I have some good news, some bad news, . . . . . . and some VERY bad news." They immediately started to feel uncomfortable again because of those words.

"I think it's best that you hear the good news first," the doctor said, "because once I mention the other two, the good news isn't going to sound very promising anymore. Now let me tell you the good news.

The first one is obvious, she's finally conscious. Duh! That's what you came here for. Another good news is that despite severe brain damage, she doesn't seem to show signs of memory loss! One final good news is that during her many months in a coma, most of the injuries she had when she first arrived here have been repaired. Both of her arms and legs are normal, her rib cage has healed, even the damage to her skull has miraculously healed. As far as I know, that's all the good news."

Knuckles asked nervously, "so, what's the bad news?"

The doctor swallowed hard, "during Amy's stay in here, I've been studying many charts and body scans to monitor her condition. While looking through all this information, I've made a few rather disturbing predictions about the long term affects to Amy's health. Every time I made a prediction, I'm always hoping in my mind that none of it will come true. Unfortunately, after looking through that clipboard, all of my hopes have been shattered."

"So doc," Sonic asked, "what's the VERY bad news?" He was almost afraid to ask.

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I wonder what the VERY bad news could be. I mean, things can't get any worse, or can it?