"Gotta say, I've never seen anything like it. Though maybe it's because I've never looked over a human patient before."

Doctor Quack was standing in the middle of the Hospital Wing over one of the beds. Chris was lying fast asleep, almost like a baby. Though the fact that he just barely fit into a Mobian sized bed was something of a miracle. Mina and Antoine were there as well, and they had also brought Sally along for the ride. Mina wasn't sure about bringing her in, but Antoine insisted, and he was probably right. Cream also ended up tagging along, if only to make sure that Chris was alright. And that just left Quack trying his best to look after a patient he only had the vaguest idea of how to care for.

"Look," said Quack, "this kid was unconscious when you found him, right?"

"Yeah," said Mina. "Well, sort of. He was actually kind of running and screaming when we found him, but he passed out after that. I thought maybe it was due to exhaustion or an injury or something."

"If it were an injury, that would be something. But as far as I can tell, he hasn't got a scratch on him. In fact, there's no sign the kid's ever had a real injury. Hell, I'd say he's probably the healthiest patient I've ever seen. And I don't think it's just because he's human."

"Speaking of which," said Antoine, "we still need to decide what to do with him. He may only be a child, but he is still a child we know nothing about. Nevermind that he is human. Which itself is another problem altogether."

"I know." Sally scratched her head, trying her best to make heads or tails of it. "And even if he has a perfectly good reason to be here, we can't just let him go. Not unless we're certain that Eggman can't get our location out of him." She glared at Mina, even if only for the briefest of moments. She knew it wasn't her fault, nor that she could have just let him there. But still.

"Hey," said Mina, "I couldn't just leave him there!"

"I know," said Sally. She sighed as if doing her best to get her priorities in order. "If I'd been there, I probably would've done the same thing. But it still makes things that much more complicated."

"Indeed," said Antoine. "At this point, there are not many options available to us. One is that we take him away from the forest while he is unconscious and trust he is able to manage without our help. Another involves something so heinous that I will not even discuss it here."

Part of Mina knew just what Antoine was suggesting. "Hey, you don't mean—"

"As I said, that is not something I wish to discuss. And the third is to keep him here until Eggman is defeated. Whenever that may be."

"Honestly," said Sally, "I don't know if we really have a choice. We can't let him go, and we can't just leave him to fend for himself. For better or worse, we'll have to keep him here." This was true. On the one hand, they couldn't leave him out there to die, but neither could they risk Eggman getting everything he could out of him. At the end of the day, there wasn't much else they could do.

Cream tugged a tuft of fur on Sally's leg in an effort to get her attention. "Miss Sally, don't you think you're being a bit too hard on him? He didn't do anything wrong! Or at least he didn't mean to."

"I know, honey. I don't like it any more than you do. But we don't have a choice."

"Are you sure, ?"

"Positive. Even though I wish I weren't. Tell you what. If you want, I can have you look after him personally. Make sure he feels welcome here."

Cream's ears perked up at the news. "You mean it?"

"Positive. Whoever he is, he isn't a prisoner. So he still needs to be treated with respect. And maybe someone to keep him company. Preferably his own age or thereabouts."

Cream nearly jumped with joy at, only barely managing to restrain herself. "Oh, thank you, ! Thank you so much!"

Just as Sally was about to try and keep Cream from flying around the wing, a blue blur came bolting in. "Hey, Sal!" Sonic ran over to Sally, sending an updraft throughout the wing as he went. "Heard we got ourselves a new guest."

"Hey, Sonic. And yes we did." She gestured to Chris. She told him all about Chris and how they found him, and what they decided to do with him. "So for the moment, he'll be staying here."

"Tough break. Anyway, when you're done here, how about we head over to Mina's concert? Should be starting in a few hours."

"Oh crap, the concert!" Mina slapped herself on the forehead as though she had completely forgotten one of the most important moments of her life. "OhGaeahowcouldIforgetsorrySalIgottago!" One flash of yellow later and she was gone.

"Well," said Sally. "That was interesting. Anyway, Sonic, I'd love to. Normally I'd be a bit busy, but somehow I figured you'd ask. So I made sure everything else was taken care of."

"And if I didn't ask?"

"Then I'd ask first."

Sonic and Sally each took a step closer, as though there was slowly something building that neither could resist.

"Cool. And maybe after—"

Sally put a finger to Sonic's lips, though she couldn't keep herself from smiling as she did. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Daddy always said, 'Take things one step at a time.'"

"Well, I'm not your Dad, am I?"

"Good point.

Sonic and Sally started holding each other's hands, but before they could go any further, the boy began to rouse from his slumber. He groaned as he tossed and turned before slowly opening his eyes, blinking in wonderment at his surroundings. "Oh, Gaea. My head. What—"

"Easy, son." Doctor Quack held Chris' arm gently, easing him back down as he tried to get up. "Just take it slow."

Chris did his best to do what the Doctor ordered. He took a deep breath, taking a look around as he tried to make sense of it all. "Uh, this is gonna seem like a stupid question and maybe a bit offensive, but are you all Mobians?"

Sally took a step forward, doing her best to remember that this was a child who probably didn't know any better. Probably. "That's correct. I'm Sally, Princess of the Acorn Kingdom. Sort of." She held out her hand, offering it to Chris.

Chris seemed a bit hesitant at first (hiding something perhaps?) before taking her hand and slowly shaking it. "Chris. My name's Chris."

"Nice to meet you, Chris." She introduced him to everyone else in the room before telling him how they found him.

"A 'badnik?' What's a 'badnik'?"

"To be honest," said Sonic, "you're better off not knowing. Nasty little buggers. Though tearing them to shreds is still kinda fun."

Sally sat down on the bed next to Chris. "Chris, have you heard about anything that's been happening on this island for the last couple months?"

"Island? What island?"

Everyone gave each other a brief glance before Sally turned back to Chris. "Chris, you do know what island you're on, right?"

"Sorry. I don't really remember much of anything. Besides from maybe my name."

"Are you sure you do not remember a single thing?" said Antoine.

"Well, I remember what an island is. And I still remember all sorts of stuff. But I barely remember a thing about myself."

"Including how you got here."

"Right. Sorry."

Sally sighed. On top of possibly having to keep a kid hostage, she now might have been keeping hostage one with amnesia. She hoped if anyone was looking down on her from high that they wouldn't slap her in the Abyss for child abuse. Assuming he really did have amnesia.

"Sally," said Antoine, "can I speak with you for a moment?"

"Sure, Antonie," said Sally. "I'm sorry, Chris, but I need to speak with Antoine for a bit. I'll be back in just a minute." She got up from her bed and walked into the hallway outside the main wing with Antoine. Sonic tagged along, no doubt not wanting to be left out of the action. Quack also came along, evidently not wanting any decisions to be made about his patients without his say so.

"Cream," said Quack, "do you think you can wait here for a bit?"

"Not a problem, Mister Quack!"

"Thanks, kid." He turned towards Sally and the others, heading their way as they passed through the door to the hallway.

Much to Sally's surprise, Antoine was the first to voice his concerns."Do you not think this is the least bit, shall we say, fishy?"

"To be honest," said Sonic, "it is kinda convenient."

"Really convenient," said Sally. "Part of me wants to just take him at his word. Especially since he's still a child."

"Same here. But I'd be lyin' if I said everything added up."

"Indeed." Antoine straightened his toupee as though it were a force of habit. "First he appears right in the middle of this forest with a badnik hot on his trail. Then he becomes unconscious for no apparent reason at all. And now we are to believe he has simply lost his memory?"

"I know," said Sally. "It doesn't add up. But until we learn more, there's nothing we can do."

"Hey," said Sonic, "maybe you could have Ebony try and look at what's in there? Maybe jog his memory a bit?"

That wasn't a bad idea. "Maybe. Assuming Chris is telling the truth, she might be able to bring his memories straight to the surface."

"And if she is not," said Antoine, "we can still learn what he knows."

"Hey now," said Sonic. "I only brought it up because it didn't seem like there was any other way. If he doesn't really have amnesia, I don't wanna go digging through his memories without his say so. Not unless we don't have a choice. I certainly wouldn't want someone messin' with my noggin, that's for sure."

"Well," said Sally, "we'll only have to resort to that if his memories don't come back on their own. Or if it becomes clear he's not telling the truth. For now, we'll keep tabs. Cream's already looking after him, but the rest of us can keep an eye on him whenever we're around. Just try and make sure he doesn't catch on."

"Of course." Antoine bowed, making his intentions and sense of duty clear.

"No problem!" said Sonic.

"Hey now," said Quack. "Look, I get where you kids are coming from. I really do. In fact, part of me agrees. But at the end of the day, he's still my patient. And I'm not going to just let you dig into his mind unless there's a damn good reason for it."

"Believe me, ," said Sally, "I don't want to have to resort to that any more than you do. But depending on how things go, we may not have much choice."

"And just how do you think things are gonna go? He's a kid with amnesia. At least as far as we can tell. Even if there's something funny going on, there's not really much he can do right now, is there? Look, you want to keep tabs on him, fine. But unless I give the okay, his brain's off limits. Understand me?"

Sally almost started to question him, but at the end of the day, this was still his medical wing. And he did have a point. "Understood. Anyway, we'd better be heading back in."

The three of them headed back into the wing. Cream had been talking to Chris, doing her best to keep him occupied.

"…and and lived happily ever after. Well, until the war of the Bippity Boppity's, but I don't care much for that part." Her ears picked up as she noticed Sally and the others entering the room, and she turned to face them. "Oh, ! That didn't take long!"

"Hey, kid," said Quack. "Thanks for keeping him company." He turned to Chris. "So. Aside from your memory, everything else looks fine. Normally this would be when I'd throw you out, but from what I can tell, your memory's still kaput."

"Uh, yeah. Still can't remember much of anything. Sometimes I feel like there's something there, close enough I can touch it. But it goes away as soon as I start reaching."

"Maybe you've got something on you that can help jog your memory? A notebook, maybe some ID?"

Chris checked his pockets. There was a small notebook in his right pocket, small enough to fit in his hands. "Huh. What do you know?"

Cream flew up on Cris's bed, peering over his shoulder at the notebook. "Oh! Maybe whatever's in there could help you remember how you got here! Or at least give you a hint!"

Quack quickly shooed Cream off the bed. To be fair, Sally probably would have done the same. "Hey! No jumping on patient's beds in the medical wing! Or flying. Or whatever."

"Sorry, !" Cream floated off the bed, her large floppy ears trailing behind her.

As Chris thumbed through the journal, Sally glanced at the clock up above. It was now 4:30 PM. Which coincidentally was just ten minutes away from Cream's next appointment with Rosie. "Cream, aren't you forgetting something?"

"Hm?" Sally gestured toward the clock. As soon as Cream saw it, she knew just what she was referring to. "Oh." She slowly looked down at her hands and opened her palms, almost as though she were reliving something she wanted more than anything to forget. Sally couldn't be sure what was flashing through Cream's mind, but she had a pretty good idea. Specifically hitting Shortfuse a couple weeks ago. For anyone else it wouldn't have been that big a deal, but for Cream? Not so much.

"Sorry," she said. She turned to Chris. "I'll be back later, okay?" She hurried off, jetting past the others with Cheese hovering right behind.

"Uh, okay," said Chris. "See you later!" He went back to thumbing through the journal, skipping ahead to the most recent entry. And it seemed to be what he was looking for. "Hey, I think I got something! Let's see here. 'October 31st. Finally got to South Westside Island with my dad. It's cool I guess. I mean, I didn't really want to come, but my Dad was working on some big research project or something and couldn't get someone to watch over me, so I guess I didn't have a choice. Eh, who knows? Maybe it'll be fun.' I think that's it.

Sally quickly noticed something was off, as did Antoine judging by his expression. But before they could open their mouths, Quack did so first. "That ring any bells?"

"Nope. Sorry."

"Hm. Well, I don't know what to tell you. I guess we can try some more advanced techniques, but if reading your own journal doesn't help, then it's gonna be a while before we can make any headway. Still, least you've got some idea of what you were doing before you got here."

"I guess. Still doesn't feel like it, though. It's like I'm reading someone else's journal, someone else's life. If that makes any sense."

At this point, Sally still wasn't sure whether or not Chris was the telling the truth, but for now, that didn't matter. If he did turn out to be some sort of mole or agent for Eggman, then they'd deal with him when the time came. But for now, he was an innocent boy who couldn't remember anything but his own name. She still needed to consider he was more than that, but for now, he was in her care. "I'm sorry, Chris. For what it's worth, we'll do whatever we can to get your memories back. But until you do, we're going to need you to stay here."

Chris chuckled. "Fine by me. It's not like I've got anywhere else to go anyway. Or at least anything I remember."

"Hey," said Sonic, "no big deal. All that matters is who you are now. Everything else is just window dressing.

"Well," said Quack, "from the looks of things, it doesn't seem like you're going to get your memories back anytime soon. Sorry about that. But we'll still try to help you however we can. In the meantime, if you're up for it, you might want to take a walk. Stretch your legs some. Better than sitting around here all day."

"Uh, maybe." Chris slowly looked around, still trying to take it all in. "I mean, everything here's new to me. Especially with amnesia. I don't really know where to start."

At that, Sally stepped in. Until the truth came out, she'd still try to help him however she could. Even if there was a chance she'd regret it later. "Don't worry too much about. For now, take it easy. You can take a look around whenever you're ready. And I'm pretty sure Cream will be more than willing to help you when you are." She winked. Chris didn't seem to know what Sally was getting at, though maybe it was better that way. After all, it didn't take a genius to tell that Cream had already taken a liking to him. Even if she didn't quite realize it herself.

"Uh, sure. I guess."

"Actually," said Sonic, "I've got a better idea. We're actually havin' a concert tonight. No reason you can't come along! At least if you're up for it."

Sally wished she had thought of it first. "Actually, that isn't a bad idea. And I'm sure Cream would be more than willing to go with you."

Antoine briefly rolled his eyes at Sally, no doubt indicating that he did in fact think it was a bad idea. To be fair, he had a point. If Chris wasn't who he said he was, then letting him wander freely around the camp, even a part of it, could spell disaster. And yet, she couldn't treat him as anything more than he seemed to be. Not until she was sure. Besides, with any luck, Cream would be watching over him. She didn't want to put anything more on her than she already had, but with any luck, she wouldn't have to tell her a thing."

As for Chris, he seemed to be on-board. "Sure! Always wanted to see a concert. I mean, I probably have. Not that I remember or anything."

"Hey," said Sonic, "it's cool. You just sit tight and we'll get you when the concert's ready. Shouldn't be more than a few hours. Till then, take it easy, 'kay?"

"Okay, I guess. Thanks. Really."

"No problem!" Sonic waved goodbye as he started to head off, with Sally and Antoine following suit.

"Again, let us know if you need anything," said Sally. "And don't go wandering off without someone accompanying you. Understood?" Chris nodded, reassuring Sally that he got the message. As for Antoine, he gave Chris one brief glare, likely still having misgivings.

The three of them walked back out of the hospital wing, now with more questions than they had answers. "So," she said. "What do we think?"

"In all honesty," said Antoine, "I still have my doubt. That journal entry does not make much sense. It gives us the bare minimum, leaving out many important details. Why did his father choose South Westside Island for his research? How exactly did they get to South Westside Island? And just what happened to his father?"

"Hey," said Sonic, "ease up a bit, will ya? Yeah, I know, not everything adds up. But there's every chance he could be who he says he is. Besides, for all we know, Eggman's bots could've gotten his Dad soon as he showed up. Maybe it was too much for him to take or maybe they did something to him and that's why he doesn't remember. I mean, if I was his age and I lost Chuck…" Sonic's eyes started to mist up. No doubt it was due to bringing up Chuck. He quickly wiped it away. "The point is, things happen. We shouldn't just let him do whatever he wants, but we shouldn't be treating him like he's guilty when we still don't know for sure."

"I agree," said Sally. "For now we'll assume he's telling the truth, but we'll still keep tabs on him 24/7. I'll also ask if he knows anything."

Antoine's eyes lit up. From what Sally could tell, he had entirely forgotten about Acubus. "Sacrebleau! I completely forgot!"

"Same," said Sonic. "We've still got him locked up in the brig, right?"

"Right," said Sally. "Actually, there are a number of things I want to ask him. Chances are he knows more than just about anyone else we could've got, seeing as he's a scientist. And call it a hunch, but I think Eggman might be more willing to confide in a fellow scientist than anyone else. Point being that if this is somehow some crazy scheme of Eggman's, he'll probably know something."

"Sounds good! That said, you don't gotta do it now, do ya? Seeing as we kinda have plans."

Well. This was a conundrum. On the one hand, seeing if Acubus knew anything was a priority. She supposed she could have someone else do it, but she would prefer to do it herself. And yet, it wasn't every day that she could see a concert or really do much of anything with Sonic. And lately, Sonic was starting to mean a good deal more to her than just a friend. So the question was, was she going to choose something she had to do but could wait, or something she didn't have to but couldn't?"

She smiled. She had made her choice. Perhaps if she knew there would be another chance, or if she and Sonic had only just started getting closer, she might have stood him up. But instead, she chose the latter. "Don't worry about it, Sonic. I'll get someone else to interrogate Accubus. Or I'll just wait until tomorrow. Either way, he can keep."

"If you wish," said Antoine, "I can interrogate him in your place. After all, it is something I have been trained for. Though I still do not know what you see in that arrogant, sanctimonious—"

Sally put a stop to Antoine's incoming outburst before it began. "Thank you, Antoine! Don't worry, I'll sure you'll do fine." She turned back to Sonic. "Sorry about that."

"Hey, don't worry. It's cool. So, you wanna get somethin' to eat before headin' on over?"

"Sure. Like I said, I made sure everything else was taken care of just so we'd have all the time we'd want to enjoy ourselves."

"Coolness. Ya know, there aren't a lot of people I'd stop and slow down for for something like this. Hell, you're really the only one."

"Well, I could say the same. Just another thing we have in common. Anyway, shall we be going?"

"You bet." And in one flash of blue, Sally and Sonic were off. Leaving Antoine to grumble as he was left behind on his lonesome. Still, it wasn't that bad. He took out a photo from his belt. It had been taken just a week ago. He and Bunnie were sitting on the top of a large tree overlooking as much of Knothole as possible. He smiled. He slowly put away the photo and walked off. Maybe Sally did have someone special now, but so did he. Which was something he never would have thought possible.

What a time to be alive.