Author's Note: Wow! I finally got a chance to update this.
If this is your first time reading this fic and for some reason skipped to this chapter, you may want to at least read chapters 2,3,5, and 8 to have some understanding of what Amy's body has been through.
Chapter 12: The Nightmares Come True!
Sonic started sweating bullets, but his order was very simple. Some fried rice, some noodles, sweet and sour chicken, and mixed vegetables. But on top of all that was a living nightmare. It was nothing more than an ordinary shish kabob stick with four pieces of beef stuck to it.
Rogue noticed Sonic was just staring at the shish kabob. She also noticed that he was sweating badly and was starting to turn a slight pale green! "Sonic what's the matter with you? It's not going to a bite you or anything. It's just four pieces of meat on a wooden stick. Hello? Anybody there?"
Sonic was completely deaf to her words. He immediately began to recall everything from his nightmare earlier. Before his very eyes, each piece of meat suddenly transformed into the gruesome bodies of his friends and he could still hear them screaming. Finally he snapped out of his gruesome trance and heard Rogue's words but still ignored them.
Sonic quickly got up, "I . . . I, uh . . . I'm not exactly in the mood for Chinese food right now. I think I'll stick with chilidogs instead." He got out of his seat and ran out the door before anyone protested.
"I don't think he's coming back here anytime soon, "Rogue commented.
"Oh well," Shadow didn't seem to care at the moment, "no use letting his food go to waste then." He reached over and grabbed Sonic's plate, then dumped the food onto his own plate and continued eating.
Knuckles got up, "I'm following him. I don't want another incident like last time. I think I have a hunch about where he went." He then quickly up and ran out the door and then in the same direction Sonic went. Rogue managed to stop him just in time to tell him about her observations on Sonic while they were eating and then Knuckles nodded and continued on his way.
Luckily, it didn't take very long for Knuckles to find him. Just as he figured, he found him at a chilidog stand just a few blocks away from the restaurant. When he got closer, he noticed something that seemed out of the ordinary for Sonic.
"Hey Sonic! Why'd you run off like that? I've heard of 'eat and run' but you just simply ran."
Knuckles noticed Sonic seemed very deep in thought and was playing with his chilidog in front of him.
Knuckles continued, "uh, Sonic? How many of those chilidogs did you order?"
"One," Sonic simply stated.
Knuckles found this simple situation to be very strange. Normally Sonic would buy a dozen or so chili dogs without showing any signs of being full. He also noticed that the one chilidog that Sonic ordered was only half eaten! Knuckles knew that something was very wrong in order for this to happen. He looked at Sonic again and noticed that he was once again deep in thought, but also seemed somewhat alert. Obviously something or many things were on his mind.
"Hey, uh Sonic," Knuckles sounded a bit concerned, "Rogue told me what she saw about you back at the restaurant. I actually caught a glimpse of you too, but I thought you were just shocked to see that other foods exist besides chilidogs. But she even told me that you grew very pale and that you were about to throw up on the plate or something."
"It's nothing much," Sonic replied, "I guess I'm just so used to chilidogs that my stomach can't handle anything else."
He was about to get up and leave a half-eaten chilidog! Knuckles knew that this was just not like Sonic to do that. Knuckles quickly stopped Sonic before he could get up.
"Sonic, what's the matter with you? Since this morning, you've been acting strangely. Heck, you've been acting strangely ever since the accident."
"Really, it's nothing serious," Sonic's voice indicated that he was obviously in denial.
"Sonic, don't give me that. I'm not sure why you're acting so unusual lately. Is it because of those nightmares you been having?"
"It's nothing I can't handle," Sonic still had a strong sound of denial in his voice.
"Look Sonic," Knuckles became very insistent, "I may not be a psychologist or something, but I want to know what's going on. You can start by telling me about these nightmares that you've been having."
Sonic sighed deeply, "all right, but don't blame me if you end up having nightmares yourself."
Sonic then told Knuckles about his nightmares with as much detail as he could remember. Obviously, Knuckles was very surprised by shat he said, but at least Sonic had finally talked to someone about it and he was starting to feel a lot better.
"Don't mention any of this to the others," Sonic insisted, "at least not now, especially to Tails. I don't want him to suddenly have any nightmares as well."
Knuckles returned to the others while Sonic decided to go back to the hospital and spend a little time with Amy, maybe even talk with her. (Even though she can't speak or respond properly, in fact her voice is actually getting worse and worse). Every time Sonic visits her, he would usually just sit down and watch her attentively, something that he never thought he would ever do. He could never come up with anything to say to her.
When he finally arrived at the hospital, and then to Amy's room, he saw that Amy was awake and alert and decided to speak to her. It's been a year and a half (or two months after she awoke from her coma) and she has never heard him speak to her once. He would start by at least apologizing for causing all of these situations. But for Sonic, this could be very difficult. Amy might have played a part in her own injuries by not moving out of the way in time. But it's still very reckless and a danger to Amy and other people on the road by stopping a car in the middle of a highway.
Sonic noticed that the others haven't returned from the Chinese restaurant took a good look at Amy's current form. She was in her bed, but she was awake and alert, sort of. Sonic walked up to her bedside and looked at her head. He began to visualize the big chunk of metal that impaled her head at the accident scene, thereby damaging her brain and causing a whole chain of physical and mental problems.
Sonic then took a deep breath, "Amy? I-I don't know if can understand this but, I . . . I, uh . . . have something to say before it may be too late."
(This part may be a bit depressing. If it makes any of you happy at all, there's nothing really graphic this time.)
He took another deep breath and then opened his mouth to try and apologize. But before he could say anything, Amy suddenly stiffened up like a wooden board and her face was immediately full of agony. To her, it felt like a bunch of knives were stabbing her relentlessly from the inside! She immediately started screaming at the top of her lungs (lung actually, since she only has one right now) which alerted a bunch of doctors and nurses to her room. Knuckles and the others, who were just outside the hospital at the moment also heard Amy screaming and they rushed in.
Dr. Renoltis was talking to Dr. Carbana and they also heard it. But Carbana still had to stay on the bed, so Renoltis agreed to check it out. On the way to Amy's room, he ran into Knuckles and the gang and they all entered the room together. As Dr. Carbana lay in his hospital bed and continued listening to Amy's cries of pain, he looked straight up at the ceiling.
"Oh no! I hope my medical predictions aren't coming true again. Oh Emily, I . . I hope that I don't fail again. I feel so useless in this bed. I guess I'll just have to put my trust in Dr. Renoltis until I fully recover."
Sonic just stared, wide-eyed and completely surprised. He had no idea what just happened. He was about to ask what was happening when Knuckles and the others entered the room along with Dr. Renoltis. Amy continued to squirm and scream in pain. She also started flailing her arms around and was clenching her teeth so hard that the doctors were afraid that they could break.
The doctors and nurses had no choice but to strap her down on the bed or else she could hurt herself or anyone around her. They also managed to squeeze in a rubber mouthpiece so that she doesn't accidentally bite off her own tongue. Even with the mouthpiece her muffled screams were just as loud. They also managed to place a neck brace to keep her from moving her head so much, otherwise she could end up spraining or breaking her own neck.
Just then, while Sonic stared on, he had a very startling realization. While watching Amy in her bed and seeing the pain that she was in, it quickly reminded him about his nightmares. Sonic immediately started going pale and started hyperventilating. It's like he was experiencing his nightmares again, but this time in real life! He then held his head and started groaning. He felt like his sanity was leaving.
Dr. Renoltis noticed that the room was getting crowded and he ordered the doctors and nurses to leave the room except for one doctor and a couple of nurses. Knuckles noticed that Sonic was holding his head like he was having a huge migraine and Knuckles realized what was happening. Shadow and Knuckles helped him out of the room into the hallway where Rogue and Tails were waiting. They could all still hear Amy screaming and crying, despite having a rubber mouthpiece.
Sonic was still holding his head and groaning. Tails was horrified to see him like this. "Hey, what's going on?" Tails was almost hysterical, "what's happening with Amy? Why . . . why's Sonic acting like this?"
"It's . . . it's just like in my nightmares," Sonic stated suddenly, almost as if talking to himself.
Shadow grabbed him and shook him a bit to bring him back to reality. "What's the matter with you? What's this all about?"
Sonic continued, "it's just like in my nightmares! The way she's strapped down on the bed. Even the way she's screaming!"
Tails was very hysterical, "Sonic, please stop! What's this all about? Is this about those nightmares that you keep refusing to tell us about?"
Rogue also agreed, "yeah, I noticed that he keeps denying that it's nothing. But I could always tell by the sound of his voice that he was hiding something."
Knuckles decided to tell everyone what Sonic said about his nightmares. He figured that it's now or never and they need to understand what's happening. Surprisingly, Sonic agreed that now's the time.
Meanwhile, inside the room, Amy continued screaming and wiggling slightly despite her restraints. (At first, the doctors didn't bother restraining her legs since she was paralyzed below the waist, but Renoltis ordered it to be done just to be safe). Renoltis told the nurses to stand by for any assistance. He told the other doctor to find a sedative to help calm Amy down and hopefully remove some of the pain. Renoltis walked up to Amy to talk to her and possibly take her mind off the pain. He noticed that she wasn't screaming much, but she was breathing in and out very loudly. (She's acting almost like giving birth!)
"Amy?" Renoltis spoke as calmly as possible, "Amy, you can make it through this, okay? You're a very strong girl and there's no way that you can survive this long if you weren't, all right? I'm about to give you some medicine that should really help."
"Dr. Renoltis!" The other doctor spoke quickly, "which sedative should I use? I mean she's not exactly human."
Dr. Renoltis quickly replied, "we can't risk using normal sedatives. Just get the universal sedative for now."
Renoltis administered the sedative, though it was tough because every muscle in her body (at least above her waist) was completely stiff and he had to be careful since he was only using a normal needle.
"Stupid thin and fragile needles," Renoltis muttered to himself while injecting the sedative, "luckily the government is giving us newer and better kinds."
The sedative almost immediately had an effect. Amy's pain disappeared and she became very relaxed. She became so exhausted from the ordeal that she quickly fell asleep. The doctor and the two nurses removed all of Amy's restraints including the rubber mouthpiece. Renoltis, the other doctor, and one nurse left the room while the other nurse stayed behind to watch over Amy in case anything else unusual happens.
Out in the hallway, Knuckles had finished telling everyone about what Sonic said about his nightmares. Sonic also told them as well to confirm what Knuckles said. Not too surprisingly, they were all shocked and dumbfounded. They knew he was having nightmares, but they never knew that they could be like that. Just then, Dr. Renoltis walked pass them and Sonic stopped him to get some answers.
"Hey doc," Sonic sounded quite concerned, "what just happened in there? That completely freaked me out! She looked calm one moment and just a second later she's an emotional mess. Did she have some kind of a breakdown?"
Renoltis simply replied, "no, it's not emotional, it's actually more physical. Basically she's in severe chronic pain. Ever since she was first admitted to this hospital, she's been receiving constant dosages of painkillers."
"Wait a second," Tails interrupted, "it's been a year and a half since she first came to this hospital. How could she still be in pain after all this time? I mean she should have been mostly healed by now, right?"
Renoltis replied, "you're forgetting that her entire body is just completely out of whack. For some reason she's experiencing constant pain. Since we know very little about your physiology, we can only make crude assumptions. If you recall, Sonic's own blood was used to replace Amy's severe blood loss. We couldn't risk using human blood because we had no idea what effect that could have on her. It could probably kill her instantly!"
Rogue decided to speak up, "what about all the medication that she's taking? Didn't you do some research to figure out which one to use?"
"We did some research," Renoltis answered, "but that could take years and Amy's body can't wait that long. Therefore, in the meantime we're using some special universal type medication. This medication is designed to work for almost any living thing. However, they may not always be very effective, so using them is still somewhat risky."
"So what just happened right now?" Sonic still seemed quite confused.
Renoltis replied, "like I said, the medicine that Amy's using are universal type. Surprisingly, they have been very effective since she first came here. Even the universal painkillers have been effective, . . . that is until now."
"What about now?" Tails felt a bit worried for asking that.
Renoltis continued, "Amy's starting to become immune to the painkillers. In other words, the painkillers are having less and less effect."
"Can't you just give her more of the stuff," Shadow simply stated.
"We can't," Renoltis replied, "she's suppose to receive a dose every twelve hours. But it's been only four hours since her last dosage. Plus she's receiving maximum sized dosages and if we give her any now she'll overdose and die or lapse into another coma. Even the sedative that was just used is universal and there's no telling how effective the sedative will be if used repeatedly."
Renoltis and a crew of several pharmacists worked for several days to figure out which painkillers are best to replace Amy's now defective painkillers. During that time, Amy was kept sedated in order to avoid any chronic pain. Renoltis also talked to Carbana to get any opinions. Despite being in a hospital bed, Carbana insisted on studying Amy's charts and body scans. He had a very strong hunch that needed to be resolved.
While Renoltis was taking a short break in his office, Rogue knocked on his door. After being let in, she had a curious yet important question to ask him.
"Why is Dr. Carbana so interested in Amy? He always seems overly concerned with her. Don't take this the wrong way, but most doctors I know act in a pretty cold manner towards their patients. They don't seem to show any significant feelings. Once in a while I sense a bit of sympathy, but Carbana seems overly sympathetic, especially for a doctor."
"That's all right," Renoltis replied, "we get that impression sometimes. But I do admit that Carbana does seem more concerned with Amy than any of his other patients." He paused for a minute, "what I'm about to tell you is very personal. You see, when Dr. Carbana looks at Amy, he's not just seeing Amy but he also sees Emily."
"Who's Emily?" Rogue seemed even more curious.
Renoltis replied, "Emily is his wife. She died six years ago."
Rogue was slightly surprised, "I'm sorry to hear that. But what's does she have to do with Amy?"
"Unfortunately, I don't know all of the details," Renoltis said regretfully, "you'll have to talk to Carbana for that."
Just then there was another knock on the door. There was a doctor's assistant, "Dr. Renoltis? Dr. Carbana wants to see you, it's urgent."
"He's not supposed to be making requests in his condition," Renoltis was a bit frustrated because of that, but agreed to find out what's up. When he arrived at Carbana's bedside, he saw him holding up some x-rays and body scans in the light since there were no adequate displays in his room.
"You know, you're not supposed to be doing that. You still have few days to go and then you can start staring at those things."
"Never mind that," Carbana said insistently, "take a look at these. I have a very bad feeling about this and I want you and the other doctors to try and confirm this."
The next day, after more body scans and tests, Dr. Carbana's hunch was correct, to everyone's dismay.
"How can this be?" Renoltis was totally shocked, "she's being constantly monitored. How could have this happened?"
Renoltis now has no choice but to tell Sonic and the others that Amy was now beginning to show signs of heart and kidney failure!
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Just a little spoiler: There's still a couple more things that will happen to Amy in this fic.