Annie's POV

"All right you two, just like we taught you." Dad said. We were outside in our backyard because Mom and Dad thought it would be nice to do some family training. Mom taught me to use my hammer to launch my dad and my brother into the air. Dad taught Flash to spin dash and spin in place.

"Okay," I told them while I held my weapon up in hammer mode. "Flash?" I asked him.

"Yeah." He span in a ball in place. I gripped my hammer and looked over at a spot in the tree line. We had done this same exercise so many times that day. Okay, back straight, knees bent and… swish. I shifted my weight as I swung my hammer down, smacking Flash into the air. Dad went after him and caught him just over the tree line. Our aim was still off.

"Perfect. We'll work on aiming more next time." Mom said as she clapped her hands.

"Okay Mom." I said. I looked down at my wrist. Still no call.

"Again, again!" I heard Flash say.

Dad chuckled. "Maybe tomorrow, Bud. We need to get ready for lunch."

There was a beep. It was coming from Mom's gadget.

She looked down and said, "It's Sandy." We gathered around her in an instant. I remember, my heart pounding against my chest, hoping that it was good news. She pressed Ms. Sandy's photo on her gadget. "Hi Sandy, what's up?" Mom asked with a sad smile.

"He's talking! Connor's talking." Ms. Sandy cried.

We gasped. I felt my heart swell up and I started to cry happy tears.

"Really Ms. Sandy?" I cried. Mom bent down so I could see the screen on her wrist.

"Really. The doctors are doing some tests, but it looks good. He might come home next week."

"Remember, be gentle." Dad reminded me as we walked through the hospital to get to Connor's room.

"I will, I will." I said, too excited to whine or sigh. I just wanted to see my friend again. I just wanted to talk to him.

When I made it to his doorway, he was sitting up in his bed, his leg wasn't in a cast anymore and he was talking to his mom. She was holding him almost like he was baby. Looking at Ms. Sandy and Connor, I started to cry again. I was so happy that he was awake, and he was talking. I knew he could do it. I just knew it. I wiped my eyes.

"Annie?" When I heard his voice, I think my heart skipped a beat. When I looked at him, and he looked at me, I saw that he was happy and tired at the same time. He was looking at me, he knew me, he recognized me. I knew he wouldn't forget me.

"Connor!" I cried out to him while Dad held onto my shoulder before I could take a step. I'll admit, I was ready to tackle him and hug him.

"Hi." He said as he waved at me.

"Hey." I said with a smile.

"Hey there Connor. Glad to see you're up and talking Buddy." Dad said as we took steps towards Connor.

"I'm glad to see you too Mr. Sonic. Are Flash and Ms. Amy coming too?"

"I'm just dropping Annie off before I get them." Dad told him. "Everyone's excited to see ya."

"Dad, please let go now." I was calm enough to not hurt Connor and I really just wanted to give him a hug. "I'm not going to crush him, honest."

"Crush me?" Connor asked.

"She's stronger than she looks." Dad shook his head. "Those arms are strong enough to squeeze the life out of anyone, just like her mother." I looked up at Dad and put on my cute face. I didn't get to use it to too often because Dad spent most of his time with Flash and there really was never too many times when I really wanted something that I couldn't have.

"Pleeeease, I promise I won't crush him."

Ms. Sandy giggled.

Dad sighed, "Be gentle." He looked at me with… stern eyes that honestly, were kind of scary. Dad doesn't do stern. Mom does stern and this… was just wrong. I felt a shiver. "Like holding a Chao, Annie."

"I'm not that delicate Mr. Sonic, I can handle a hug."

"See?!" I exclaimed.

"Sh…" He shushed me. "We're in a hospital remember?"

"Right, right, sorry." I told him, feeling impatient. A twelve-year-old should not have to go through all these hoops just to hug her friend.

"Let her go Sonic, she and Connor need to catch up." Ms. Sandy told Dad. He slowly let me go, like he was putting one of Mom's glass angel figurines back on the shelf.

"Thank you, Ms. Sandy." I said as she walked with my dad out of the room.

I looked at Connor and he smiled at me. He opened his arms out, I smiled and then I hugged him as gently as I could. I was happy to hug him but he felt… smaller than normal. Less solid, I guess. When I let him go, I saw that his golden fur and light hair were dull and his hair was messy. His face was smaller somehow. I hadn't noticed before, I guess, how much he changed while he was in the hospital bed. I wanted to remember him as he was before the accident, not after. I wiped the tears off my face as I tried to get a hold of myself.

"Mom said you came at least three times a week."

I sniffled. "Yeah, I… I really wanted to see you wake up. I'm sorry I wasn't here when you did."

He looked at me sadly and tried to smile. "It's okay, don't worry about it. I'm just glad I remember you. From what the doctors said, I'm lucky to be up and talking like this. I was really scared that I wouldn't remember anyone. Hey, can you tell me something?"

"Yeah," I started crying a little.

"Does our whole class know?"

"Mm-hm." I nodded and sniffled again.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he reach over on the tray at the side of the bed and grabbed the box of tissues. "I'm so sorry I worried you guys."

"Fine." I squeaked as I took some tissues and started dabbing my eyes. "Fine. Just…" Everything washed over me and everything came out. "I was so scared. You weren't waking up. A-and the doctors kept saying you were healing but…" I shook my head. No. He was up, he was okay. "I… missed you. And when you opened your eyes… you recognized me right? The first time." I asked, suddenly.

"You mean right now?" He tilted his head to the side.

I shook my head. "No, you opened your eyes like two days ago."

"Oh…" He looked down. He shook his head. "I'm sorry Annie, I don't. I don't remember."

My heart sank at his answer. He didn't remember… but that didn't mean he didn't recognize me. It just meant he didn't remember that moment. He recognized me and no one was going to tell me otherwise.

I blew my nose and grabbed more tissues. After I cleaned up my face, I told him, "And you don't have to be sorry. You were the one in the coma."

"I know. But still… None of us deserved to go through… any of this." He gestured his hands towards the sky. "I really wish you didn't have to see me like this." He gestured towards himself.

"I really wish you were home." I thought out loud.

"Heh, me too. At least then, I wouldn't be surrounded by strangers who may or may not die in the next hour. Or nurses and doctors, poking and probing and asking me a bunch of questions."

"I'm sorry you have to go through all that." I said as a shrunk in my seat. I hated seeing him hooked up to those machines, and I hated when the doctors came, and we were shooed away for them to do their thing. But then I remembered what my mom told me. "But they have to do their job. You wouldn't be here otherwise."

He sighed. "Yeah, I know, I just… hate sitting here and not being able to do anything. I can't walk on my own Annie."

"Yeah…" I looked at his left leg. He wasn't in a cast anymore but his doctors said he might have trouble walking. Even the leg that wasn't hurt, he might have trouble controlling too. "I wish I could magically fix your leg."

"Oh, wouldn't that be wonderful." I jumped at the sound of Ms. Sandy's voice. She walked in and walked up to Connor. She ruffled his hair and kissed his head. "It's not forever you two." She smiled at us and then she turned to Connor. "You're going to come home soon, your leg will heal and then everything will be back to normal." She kissed his head. "I promise."

My parents and Flash showed up not long after that and we all talked. We helped Connor catch up with everything that's been going on. I wanted us to video chat with Marigold and Finn but Connor wanted to wait to see them until he was home. I was disappointed but there was nothing I could do.

I video called Caleb that night before I settled in.

"Hello Annie." He said with a half-smile.

"Hey, guess what?" I asked him excitedly.

"Well, you're in good spirits so I'll say, Connor is awake." He grinned at me.

"Yes!" I exclaimed.

"I'm glad to hear that, Annie. When will he be coming home?"

"Hopefully by the end of the week." I told him. "I can't wait."

"I suppose this week will be my last visit for a while."

"Wait, what?" I asked him like he was crazy.

"Well, now that Connor's awake, you'll assist in his care. You won't have the time and I do not want to interrupt your time with him."

"Caleb, you won't be interrupting anything. I already made sure I get Tuesdays to myself so no worries, okay?"

He stared at me for a few seconds and tried to smile. He nodded and said, "I can manage every other week, if that's acceptable to you Annie?"

"Yeah, totally, that sounds great."

Yay, he's awake. The poor dear. Still, there is a lot of recovery to do, and we'll see bits of it. Caleb still has something to tell Annie. Annie has no idea what he's been hiding. And there's still the matter of mysterious robots attacks.

Happy reading.