Sorry for such the long wait, I've had some computer problems as of late and then I've been ill as well. Ok! Excuses out of the way you are now free to read chapter 3! Thank you all so far for all the reviews! Also, sorry if this chapter is short, I plan on working to make them longer from now on.

Satisfied that the emerald was still quite safe Knuckles made his way down the old steps once more. He wasn't being paranoid; experience had taught him long ago that when everything seemed to happen at once something always happened to his emerald. At the moment he wasn't willing to go all over planet Earth chasing after emerald pieces. Although generally when that happened Eggman wasn't that far behind, more then once he had been the reason for the trouble! It wasn't completely true that he felt like that because Shadow was in his home either. He refused to shift the blame to someone who could be dying. That and he didn't shift the blame to anyone else anyways; if it was his fault then he acknowledged it and moved on. He was just tired of having to go back and forth all the time and then there was all the constant worrying of the emerald. All of that tended to be a very heavy weight that he alone had to shoulder.

Quietly he walked back into his house and went straight to his room. Shadow hadn't moved any from where Knuckles had laid him down. On the brighter side, it looked like the black hedgehog's breathing had become more stable. It was a good sign, yet then again it could easily mean that there was worse to come before Shadow was out of the woods. It wasn't that easy to tell these things, one often had to wait things out a lot of times.

He was a little annoyed at the way that at the way his throat closed up on him when he thought of Shadow in an even worse condition then he was now. Sometimes, Knuckles thought to himself, it wasn't always good to have such strong emotions. That was what had gotten him in trouble time and time again. Without truly thinking of what his body was doing, Knuckles pulled his chair closer to the bedside. He had to wonder though at why he wanted so badly to see Shadow well again. Insistently he narrowed his eyes as he heard a noise, although he couldn't pinpoint it. His eyes widened as he realized that Shadow was coming around.

The world was grey and fuzzy and surrounded him with crippling pain. His body seemed to be on a fire that couldn't be put out. Struggling, Shadow opened his eye and looked into the most beautiful Amethyst eyes that he had seen.  Recognition hit him as he realized that this was the echidna that Rouge had forever been complaining about. Knuckles, wasn't that the name that Rouge had called him? It didn't matter, he was one of Sonic's friends and that spelt all sort of trouble for him.

"Are you ok?" Knuckles actually sounded worried and concerned. Shadow wondered why.

"I'm fine; it's none of your concern." Shadow managed to get off the bed and roughly pushed aside Knuckles. He saw now that he was in a bedroom, more then likely Knuckles'. Without a second thought he made his way to the door.

His body protested venomously though. The pain that he had woken up too now was ten times worse after taking his first step. Not able to take his weight his ankle collapsed underneath him, unable to hold him up any longer. He tensed up, preparing for another hard slamming to the ground. He shut his crimson eyes in painful anticipation and after a few tense seconds opened them again, wondering why he hadn't fallen. Then he noticed the strong red arms around him, supporting him. The action confused him deeply, why was Knuckles doing this?

"Look I understand if you don't trust me, that's all fine well and good but you can't expect to get anywhere in your condition!" Knuckles said quietly.

Shadow found that he couldn't argue with that logic. He felt like he had been dragged everywhere on Earth and then some. Knowing that there was nothing else he could do, Shadow nodded his head. He allowed Knuckles to led him back to the bed and help his sit down on the bed before the red echidna went rummaging in his closet. After a few moments of searching he pulled out a first aid kit.

"You're welcome to stay here as long as you need and want." Knuckles said as he wrapped up Shadow's swollen ankle gently. Shadow was silent and looked out the window.

"And where is here?" Shadow's tone wasn't nasty, yet it wasn't warm and friendly either. It was a more neutral tone really.

"Angel Island, my home. Rest now Shadow, you need it." Knuckles stood back up and put back the kit.

"I don't understand you, why help me?" Shadow muttered as he fell into a dreamless sleep.

Knuckles watched Shadow's chest rise and fall slowly. Indeed, why was he helping Shadow? He didn't know the first thing about this midnight black hedgehog. How did he know that this wasn't some trick that Eggman had come up with to get his hands on the Master Emerald? It wouldn't have surprised him any, the mad doctor didn't mind putting others in danger to get what he desired, even if it was his own partners. Simply put, he didn't know, yet oddly he felt he could trust Shadow. That was something he had never been able to do, to trust someone so quickly like that. What was it about Shadow, someone who had once been an enemy, that made him trust him so well?  Knuckles sighed and shook his head, as if to clear away all his troubled thoughts. It didn't make no sense to worry so much over something that was already done.

It was too late to change what had happened, now all that Knuckles could do was hope that his actions wouldn't come back to haunt him in the long run.