To: Penelope the panther From: Amy Rose Subject: I'm taking a sick day

I'm very sorry for not giving earlier notice, but I won't be able to come into work today because I have a doctor's appointment and there was no other possible time but 12:30. To make up for the hours I will gladly fill in for one of the weekend shifts.

Thank you for understanding.

Sincerely,

Amy


To: Jim the monkey From: Sophie the cat Subject: Amy

Hey have you seen Amy this morning? She hasn't come in yet and Amy's never this late…I hope everything's alright.

Maybe Sonic got her upset again. That dickhead.

Sophie


To: Sophie the cat From: Jim the funky monkey Subject: Sorry, no

I haven't seen our little Juliet today. What if she's come down with something horrible?

Like Patterson's Disease.

Jim


To: Jim the monkey From: Sophie the cat Subject: You moron (jk)

You mean, Parkinson's disease? I don't think Amy has that.

Sophie


To: Amy Rose From: Sonic the hedgehog Subject: You okay?

Heya Ames,

How ya feeling? You really scared me last night…are you sure you're okay?

Sonic


Journal Entry 11, Amy Rose

3/28/06

6:17pm

I can't believe this.

Okay, I went to the doctor today about the cough which had gotten no better since last night with Sonic. Luckily, I haven't had another sudden attack, now it's just irritating…which isn't really good I guess. I had to wait for like a half hour before even going in the room just to wait another twenty minutes. Honestly, why do they bother sending you to the room if the doctor isn't ready to see you yet? They're just teasing you like a bully stealing a little kid's lunchbox.

When the doctor finally comes in he start's asking me all these questions like, does my cough bother me at night: yes; have I had any recent weight fluctuations: not that I've noticed; have I stopped menstruating: I'm not so sure since I'm not expecting it for another two weeks; and some other annoying questions.

I try to explain to him to the best I can about the cough. I told him how it had started actually like a week and a half ago, but it wasn't so bad and I just shrugged it off as nothing. It wasn't until last night with Sonic that the cough's intensity peaked. My doctor's name is Slavorski, he's a platypus with this ginormous beak…I'm not kidding; it has to be at least like 8 or 9 inches.

I finish describing my strange ailment and then he leads me to a small room down the hall. In it, there's this weird looking machine which is called spirometer or something like that; the thing has one cylinder filled with water on the left and on the right side is this roll of paper where some spastic lines are inscribed. Dr. Slavorski then tells me to breath into the mouthpiece as hard as I can, so I do. I blow until I feel like I'm going to faint.

The doctor examines the pattern of lines that have formed on the paper, by his look I can't tell if it's good or bad, which scares me. He leaves the room for a few minutes telling me he wants a second opinion on something. Now I can't stop shaking and by his implied tone I can sort of tell that he's worried.

He comes back like ten minutes later, still holding my test results. I await my verdict, I'm being very patient actually which is surprising enough. Then the real surprise…the cough which I had brushed off as simply allergies was actually—

Hey, is that Sonic outside?


Normal Pov:

Amy put her sidekick down on the coffee table then rushed over to the door to let Sonic in. Sonic's warm smile quickly vanished when he saw tears in Amy's eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?" Amy wipes her eyes, "Oh…it's nothing I was just…chopping onions." The onion bit was partially true…Amy had been making a salad just a little earlier. Sonic didn't look convinced but followed her inside anyway, "You know what you should've done? You could chew gum, that helps." Amy smiled remembering Sophie mention that the same thing was written on her Snapple cap.

Amy twirled her fingers nervously, "Are you hungry? There are some brownies in the kitchen." The brownies were actually leftovers from an office party which Amy had made. Sonic answered, "Uh...okay."

Amy headed toward the kitchen; she was fighting hard to suppress her coughs. Once safely in the kitchen Amy finally let a light cough escape, being careful so Sonic wouldn't hear. As she brought him the brownie along with a glass of milk there was a firm knocking on the door. Amy handed the brownie to Sonic and walked over to the window.

Pulling back the curtains, she saw that it was her father outside the front door. It was surprising enough when he had shown up with Sonic, but even more so that he actually came by himself…without persuasion. Amy didn't really know what to say and simply muttered, "Oh…Dad…hi." Amy's father nodded, "Hello Amy." In his hand he held a big shoebox, "I, uh…brought this. It's just some of Crystal's things I thought you might like to have."Amy observed the box which appeared to be falling apart. She had never even known her mother's first name was Crystal. Amazingly, she did know that her father's name was actually Frank.

"Oh…thanks." Amy's father then noticed Sonic on the living room couch licking the brownie crumbs off of his fingers. Sonic waved a hello as Frank did the same. "Dad, would you like a brownie?" Amy asked as she quietly shut the door. Her father replied pointing to a doorway, "From the kitchen there?" Amy nodded a yes. "I can get it," said Frank as he handed Amy the old deteriorating shoebox.

Amy sat down next to Sonic, opening the box carefully as if it were made of glass. Hundreds of pictures were in it, some with Amy in them as a little infant. Sonic pointed to a photo and said jokingly, "Nice pj's." Amy blushed and quickly discarded that photo.

Then Amy felt a tingling in her chest, not quite as strong as last night, but painful enough to make her wheeze. Sonic's eyes dawned a new seriousness and he began rubbing her back the same way he did last night. It was at that moment that Amy's father returned to the room. As he came in and noticed her distressed coughing his eyes went bright and open…wide with terror. His ears twitched, he seemed to recognize the sound. He whispered, "Oh no..." His eyes narrowed and he nearly dropped the tiny plate that held his brownie.

Frank spoke again still in a whisper, "I know that cough…" Now Sonic's attention was now on him, "What is it?"Frank was silent for a moment then responded, "The same one that killed her mother…" Now Sonic's eyes were wide with terror and he looked to Amy who appeared almost ashamed, "Amy…" Amy was now in tears. She lifted a pillow revealing a crumpled piece of paper. Unable to speak, Amy handed it to Sonic. The paper read:

Rose, Amy

Age: 17

Gender: female

Spirometer Test Supervised by: Dr. Keith J. Slavorski

Diagnosis: COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)

Sonic glanced up from the paper to look at Amy again. She had stopped crying, and was now sniffling. Sonic asks, "What is this COPD?" (a/n: it is a real disease, but some of the details I give may not be exactly accurate, I'm no doctor)

Amy responds speaking slowly and somberly, "My doctor says it's more specifically chronic bronchitis. It's like my bronchi are swollen and my lungs aren't functioning as efficiently as possible. He told me that I might be lucky though because he did catch it fairly early and it might be possible to prevent its progression. I have to go to a pulmonary specialist tomorrow who will tell me about treatments and stuff."

Amy brings her eyes up as Sonic places a hand on her shoulder. He grins, "Don't you worry Amy. We're gonna beat this…I know we will." Amy didn't exactly know how Sonic meant "we" but she was so grateful that he didn't freak out and run off like she thought he would.

Amy wrapped her arms around Sonic as another stream of tears poured from her eyes. Sonic embraced her lovingly which almost made Amy cry harder. Despite the incessant river of tears, Amy forced a semblance of hope and smiled.