Sonic sank to his knees beside Amy. He lowered his ear and listened closely. She was still breathing, but barely. Sonic put the oxygen mask up against Amy's muzzle and every few seconds would take a quick breath for himself. Sonic shook her gently attempting to wake her. Nothing.
He tried again, this time he shook with more force. Still nothing. "Amy! Can you hear me? Amy! Amy!" He kept shouting and still she remained silent. Now Sonic was getting worried. Sonic then noticed the golden emerald in Amy's hand. His eyesshowed amazement.He was shocked that she'd been able to obtain it all on her own, but in the back of his mind he was also wondering what price she would pay for it.
As if on cue Tails and Chris came running towards them, Knuckles soon followed. They'd uncovered the original exit. Chris and Tails both gasped when they saw the condition of their friends. Chris spoke up, "We heard Amy screaming." Tails added, "We thought you guys might be in trouble, as soon as we saw the cave in we started digging." Sonic motioned towards Amy who muttered something incoherently. Knuckles said, "Come on, we better get her home." Tails helped Sonic lift the still motionless Amy.
Luckily, it didn't take very long for them to get back outside. It was still raining but definitely not as much as before, however it was misty and Tails was a little concerned. In the light you could see that both Sonic and Amy were completely covered in a sticky black residue. Compared to them Chris and Tails were relatively clean. Knuckles was probably the filthiest from digging holes for like three hours and resembled the character from Charlie Brown (you know Pigpen, the one always covered in dirt). Sonic climbed in next to Amy and tried to shake her awake one last time. Nothing.
Tails set a course for home and within seconds they were in the air. No one had much to say during the ride home. After a while Chris seemed to notice that Sonic seemed distraught. "What's wrong Sonic?" Sonic didn't look at him for a long moment. Then finally he said, "Hey guys, I think we should take Amy to the hospital." Knuckles glanced at Amy and said, "She looks okay to me, she probably just needs some rest." Sonic was not so sure. He insisted, "Really guys, something's not right." Chris nodded to Tails upfront. Tails nodded in reply and changed their flight destination. Knuckles gave Sonic a funny look. He had never seen Sonic so concerned about Amy before. Sonic could read Knuckles' expression but ignored it.
Soon they were in front of Hopefound Hospital. Sonic forgot about the pain in his leg by now and lifted Amy to bring her inside.When theysawSonicshe was immediately taken into the emergency room. The only thing Sonic could do now was wait. Chris and Tails finally convinced Sonic to sit down, but even in his seat he could not stay still. His hands quivered and his feet were tapping rapidly. It seemed like he would sit there forever until a doctor finally called his name. "Sonic the hedgehog!" Everyone else recognized the name and stared at Sonic wondering who it waswith the emergency. Sonic evaded their sympathetic glances and kept walking. "Hello, I'm Dr. Heinrich." Sonic shook his hand. Dr. Heinrich was a penguin, an older fellow with big round glasses and every few moments would push them above his beak so they didn't fall off. "Why don't we talk in here," he motioned toward a quieter room. He shut the door slowly then turned to face Sonic. Sonic's expression was unreadable. It was a mix of terror, hope and seriousness.
The doctor spoke, "Sonic, we're going to have to put Amy in emergency surgery right away. We've taken some x-rays and apparently one of her lungs has actually collapsed." Sonic's eyes widened a little and heasked, "What's the surgery going to do?" Dr. Heinrich pushed up his glasses, "We're going to remove the collapsed lung and drain any fluid from the other. Now, it is possible to have the same breathing capacity with one lung (I'm pretty sure that's true)." Sonic glanced down at the square tiled floor. He looked up at Dr. Heinrich and nodded. The doctor added, "You may also want to have your wound looked at. You wouldn't want to get an infection." Sonic agreed and the nurse led him to another room. Sitting on the cold metal table Sonic was completely occupied with thoughts. "Geez…what would've happened if I hadn't brought her." The nurse cleaned out his wound and wrapped his leg in gauze.
I'm afraid I have to torture you all with cliff hangers just a little bit longer. Don't fall off the cliff just yet, there's more to come!