The sound of the nurse's support sneakers clicked across the hospital's linoleum floor, and the snapping of Rouge's slightly heeled boots trailed her closely. She took a deep breath to steady herself. She hated hospitals. They made her viscerally uncomfortable; the mechanical noises of electronics, the smell of disinfectant, and the chattering of doctors and nurses as they went about their day made the entire experience feel surreal. It felt like the walk to Shadow's room was taking forever. She wanted to see him, as ever since yesterday, her head had been spinning from . . . well, it felt like everything. The revelation that Shadow was fake-dating Selena, witnessing the "prank" that was pulled on Blaze, watching Shadow collapse in pain at the coffee shop, riding in the ambulance, watching her best friend being wheeled down the hospital hallway while she stood there helplessly . . . it was all so much. She could hardly focus at school today and was glad she had an excuse to leave early.

After what felt like another year of walking, the nurse finally stopped outside a hospital room. She knocked on the door and a split second later opened it, peering into the room.

"Mrs. Ultima? You have a visitor, a Miss Rouge Stone."

"Oh good!" an older woman's voice came from inside the hospital room. A moment later, she appeared at the doorframe. She was a fairly tall woman with black fur, sandy markings, freckles, slight wrinkles, and a simple put-together look. She gave Rouge a grateful smile.

"God, Rouge, it's good to see you here. I never got to thank you for getting Shadow to the hospital the other day. I can't express how grateful I am. According to the doctors, he was at most an hour away from a ruptured appendix and possible peritonitis, which could have been life-threatening." She grabbed Rouge and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you so much, Rouge. I was scared shitless. Thank you for being such a good friend for my boy."

Rouge smiled and returned Mrs. Ultima's hug. "Of course, Mrs. Ultima, it was no problem at all," she said in response.

Mrs. Ultima shook her head. "Rouge, we've known each other for a decade now, and you're almost an adult. Please, call me Kim."

"Oh, uh, sure," Rouge agreed. "Is Shadow available?"

Kim nodded. "He's been spending most of his time recovering. He had to get an exam earlier today, but other than that, he's just been recovering in his room. He'll be glad to see you," she told Rouge, smiling.

Kim turned back into the small room, and Rouge followed. The room was pretty compact. On her way in, she passed a whiteboard containing Shadow's info and a vitals sheet. There was a small, unopenable window and a door leading into a small bathroom across the room from the main entrance. In the center of the room was a hospital bed, adjusted to a sitting position, and directly behind it was valves for oxygen (these were currently not in use). Shadow was in bed, dressed in a hospital gown, lounging on his back, and holding a pillow to his abdomen. Rouge noticed a drip IV in his arm, with a label on the IV bag reading "ceftriaxone for intravenous use." He was watching a movie (Rouge had never seen it) on a ceiling-mounted TV across from the bed. Next to him was a small stand bearing a cup of water, a Styrofoam bowl of white rice, an empty carton of strawberry yogurt, a TV remote, and medication bottles (a bottle of ibuprofen, a tube of mupirocin ointment, multivitamins, probiotics, and fiber supplements). Shadow looked over as he heard Rouge and his mother enter, and he perked up immediately.

"Oh, hey Rouge," he said, smiling.

"Hey dude," Rouge began, the tension leaving her body upon hearing Shadow speak. "How're you doing? Are you doing better?"

Shadow nodded vigorously, his eyes widening. "So much better," he replied. He glanced down and eyed two items in Rouge's hands: a folder and a paper bag. "Whatcha got there?" he probed.

Rouge smirked and handed him the folder. "Your absentee work, my liege," she said in a faux posh voice.

Shadow rolled his eyes and took the folder. "Well, I was feeling better," he corrected, emitting a small snort. Rouge and Shadow's mother laughed.

"And these are donuts," Rouge continued as Shadow briefly skimmed the contents inside the folder. "I wasn't sure what you're allowed to eat, but in case you can have these, I brought 'em."

"Well, technically, I can eat whatever I want," Shadow explained. "But my stomach just sorta feels upset. Like, sensitive. I've been eating bland foods." He eyed the bag. "Though . . . something other than suspicious hospital rice and dry toast is tempting."

"Shadow, you said you almost threw up this morning! Is it really a good idea to partake in a greasy, fatty, sugary pastry?" his mother challenged, giving her son a knowing look.

Shadow sighed in resignation, not even trying to challenge his mother. Rouge snickered.

"Oh yeah, just as a heads up," Shadow said, changing topics. "I've been instructed to not do any heavy lifting and to take it easy on my abdomen. Meaning . . ." he said, looking Rouge directly in the eye. ". . . I should avoid laughing whenever possible. So, I know you have uncontrollable sass, but you need to try not to make me laugh." Rouge pouted.

"But that's the best part about being friends," she whined. "I'm gonna be so bored!"

Shadow rolled his eyes again. "You're impossible, Rouge," he said. Rouge gave him a knowing look but then dropped the joking act. "I'll do my best," she said.

Just then, a nurse entered the room, bearing a small, wheeled cart. "Vitals check," she announced, nodding at Rouge. Rouge backed away from the side of the hospital bed and let the nurse check Shadow's temperature, blood pressure, and pulse oximetry. Shadow barely even acknowledged the nurse, presumably because he had been having those frequently during his stay. Once the nurse was done checking his vitals, she turned to Shadow's mother. "So, I've been informed you're needed in billing to go over coverage for everything, as well as discharge information. Is your husband on his way?"

"I believe so," she replied, pulling out her phone to check. "Yep, he is."

"Okay, so we'll meet up with your husband in a moment then." The nurse turned to Rouge. "Visitor bathrooms are down the hall and to the right. All we ask is that you don't wander around or use Shadow's bathroom, okay? If you need anything, the call buttons are on the side of the bed."

"Okay, thank you," Rouge said. The nurse hung the vitals sheet on the board and left the room, leaving the door open.

Rouge pulled up a plastic chair in between the lounging chair for overnight visitors and the bedside table. She sat down, produced a glazed chocolate donut from the bag, and took a bite out of it. "So, how are you really doing?" pushed Rouge, making direct eye contact with Shadow. Shadow grabbed the TV remote off the table, muted the movie, and placed it back down. He scratched the back of his head.

"Dude, seriously . . . I'm so much better. I'm tired and nauseous, I've got a needle in my arm, I'm taking like seven pills a day, and my gut is a bit sensitive, but it's way better than the alternative." He shook his head. "Appendicitis was some of the worst pain I've ever felt in my life," he recalled.

"What did it feel like?" Rouge asked.

Shadow thought for a moment. "It . . . It's hard to describe. It's just searing, horrible pain. It felt like someone stabbed me in the gut with a red-hot knife, and every hour or so, they would push it in deeper and twist. There were a couple times I thought I was dying for a few moments."

"Shit, dude," Rouge said. "No offense, but like . . . why didn't you go get it checked sooner if it was that bad?"

Shadow looked away, embarrassed. "Yeah, I fucked up there. I thought I was just constipated or something. I didn't want to leave school and go to the doctor's or an urgent care place only to be told, 'oh yeah, you just have really bad gas' or something." He looked back at Rouge. "I don't know what force out there made it so that you were at Mystical Melodies at the same time as me yesterday, but I'm super glad you were there. I would have much rather ridden in an ambulance with you over anyone else there."

Rouge sighed, rubbing the back of her head. This was the opportunity. "Yeah, uh, about that . . ." she started, eyes on the white tile floor. Shadow looked at her curiously. "How's, uh . . . Selena?"

Shadow sighed, this time out of frustration. He picked up his phone, turned it on, and showed Rouge the screen.

Selena (523 unread messages, 98 missed calls)

Rouge felt her eyes go wide. "Jesus Christ . . ."

"I . . . I haven't had the energy to deal with her," Shadow admitted, ashamed. "And, I'll be honest, I don't want her trying to come to see me."

There it is. Got him.

"But why?" Rouge quizzed, cocking her head to one side in a confused manner. She took another bite out of her donut. "She is your girlfriend, after all. You did choose to date her, meaning you must like her and want her around, yeah? I mean, if it's not that, surely you can tell me what's going on, right?"

Shadow blinked, looking caught in the act. "Well . . . see, it's complicated . . ." he halfheartedly started. "You see, she and I—"

". . . Are in a half-baked, totally unfair arrangement where you quote-unquote date Selena to keep Selena, Alysha, and Fiona from bullying sophomore Blaze Katba," Rouge finished for him, a small smile on her face.

Shadow's draw dropped open ever so slightly. "H . . . How did you . . ." he stuttered, utterly baffled.

"I may or may not have overheard a certain conversation by the cafeteria bathrooms discussing the terms and conditions of a certain agreement, along with plans for a certain date at a certain small coffee shop," Rouge said slyly, giving him a proud grin. She popped the last of the donut into her mouth.

Shadow blinked in amazement and then let out a short, controlled laugh that sounded more like an exhale. "Goddammit, Rouge!" he exclaimed, trying not to laugh. He sat back, clutching his abdomen pillow tighter for support, and failed to contain his laughter. "I should have fucking guessed you would've tried to figure out what was going on between us!" he exclaimed, exasperated. "Ouch . . ." he muttered, wincing in pain. He started squeezing the pillow on his abdomen tighter.

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry, dude," Rouge hurriedly, suddenly feeling very guilty. Shadow waved his hand dismissively.

"I'm fine," he reassured her. "Not your fault."

The two sat in silence for a minute or so, not sure what exactly to do about the elephant that had suddenly made its way into the tiny hospital room.

Shadow was the one to break the silence first. "Okay, yeah, I know what I did seems really stupid, but I have a legitimate reason as to why-"

"Dude, stop a sec," Rouge interrupted. "How come you didn't tell me?!" she yelled, suddenly very annoyed. "God, fuckin . . . you always do this," she said. "You try to tackle everything on your own without any help. And then you get yourself into all sorts of shit. You did that with the fucking appendicitis, and now you've done it with this whole Selena situation." Shadow looked ashamed, not making eye contact with Rouge. She could tell by the way he was looking that he knew she was right.

"Why, dude? Why the smoke and mirrors?" Rouge didn't get it at all. "Like, I met this Blaze girl. She's very nice, but like . . . why date one of the worst people I've ever met just for her? And why not tell me about it?"

Shadow looked back at Rouge. "She was being bullied," he explained. "I couldn't just let it keep going. They're utterly cruel to her. I tried to do what I could to get them to leave her alone, and it worked for a time."

"Okay, but . . . You've never done this for anyone else before. You're super nice, but like . . . you've never gone the extra mile like this. Why be the hero now? And you didn't answer my other question!" she retorted.

Shadow didn't answer. Rouge looked at him silently, trying to peer inside of his head and read his emotions. Then, it hit her like a train.

Rouge gave a teasing grin. "Oh, I get it . . . You like her, don't you? You chivalrous dumbass!" She clapped her hands together and laughed victoriously, having fit all the pieces together. "You date her bully, so she doesn't get hurt! I mean, that's a fucking stupid plan for so many reasons, like holy fuck, but that's it, isn't it?"

Shadow averted his eyes. "Well . . . It's, uh . . ."

"Complicated?" Rouge finished in a mocking tone. Shadow shot her an annoyed look.

"I swear to God, Rouge, I will push all of the buttons on the side of my bed and have all the nurses on the floor drag you out of here," he said, sounding irritated but wearing a big smile. "Just . . . Give me a second to explain, please," he requested, shaking his head. Rouge resisted the urge to sass him more and remained silent.

Shadow exhaled through pursed lips, making a "wooshing" sound. "So . . . I guess the best way to describe it is . . . Agh, I don't know. I guess I just feel . . . drawn to her. There's something about her that just piques my curiosity and wants me to get to know her better. And I was. She seems really sweet but is super shy. And she still managed to stick around for me. She's fascinating. We actually live across the street from each other. She dances jazz, plays video games, and is a huge sci-fi geek."

Rouge nodded, an uncontrollable smile creeping its way onto her face. "But do you like her?" pushed Rouge.

Shadow inhaled and bit his lip, pausing. "I . . . I'm not sure what's going on with me, but I think . . . I think I might."

Rouge clapped her hands together. "Haha! I knew it! It's written all over your face. Tell me, dude, do you think she's cute or what? Tell meeeeeee!" she begged.

Shadow suppressed the forming color in his cheeks. "I swear to fucking God . . ." he said, shaking his head. "Okay! Fine! Yeah, she's cute . . ." he admitted, the end of his statement trailing off into silence. Rouge cackled, going limp in her chair as she held her aching sides. Shadow watched, shaking his head.

"So, now that your little secret is off your chest . . . now what?" Rouge said, regaining her composure. She sat back up and put her hands in her lap.

"I . . . I don't know," Shadow admitted. "I tried to date Selena so that she and her friends would leave Blaze alone. I was hoping they'd eventually give up, and then I could break things off. However, as expected, Selena is a two-faced, backstabbing liar and said that Alysha and Fiona 'weren't a part of the deal,' even though she never clarified that. So, honestly, it's pointless to keep dating Selena. I should have never trusted her with holding true to an agreement."

Rouge nodded, head resting in the palms of her hands. "So, Selena broke off her end of the agreement by letting Alysha and Fiona prank Blaze. Please tell me you're gonna leave her nasty ass behind."

Shadow gave Rouge a disappointed look. "Dude, how long have you known me for?" he reminded her.

Rouge rolled her eyes. "Well, apparently, some shit has changed since the last time we've had more than a passing conversation. You're trying to play 4D chess for some random sophomore I've literally only ever met once. You've done some shit in the past week I never would've seen you doing at any point, ever. So, pardon me for being skeptical."

"Fair enough," Shadow relented. "But yes, I am going to ditch Selena. Whenever I go back to school, I'm breaking up with her," he said, determination in his voice.

"Yes king!" Rouge whooped. "That's my dude! Go get your girl!"

"Woah, hold on!" Shadow said, holding up his hands. "I never said I was gonna date Blaze!"

"Why not?"

Shadow opened his mouth to retort but couldn't think of a good reason right away.

"I . . . I dunno. Uh . . . I guess it's cause she's probably mad at me for dating her primary bully. I don't know if she'll even want to talk to me anymore, let alone start a relationship with me. Besides, I don't want to cause any more drama by breaking up with Selena and immediately jumping ship to another girl."

Rouge gave him a look. "Dude, it's a little late to prevent drama. If you didn't want that, you shouldn't have dated the most popular girl in the 10th grade."

"It was for a good reason!"

"Regardless . . . Look, I still think you should go for it. Maybe it could be a way of apologizing?"

Shadow nodded, thinking.

"Or . . ." continued Rouge. "You could talk to her and explain what happened and then make your move."

"I should probably do that," Shadow mumbled, scratching an itch on his shoulder. "The explanation thing! Not necessarily the asking her out thing," he quickly clarified.

"But why not?" pressed Rouge.

Shadow sighed. "I . . . I dunno. Look, a part of me wants to do it. A part of me doesn't. I guess I need a bit more time to think."

"Okay, fair enough," Rouge relented. "How much longer you gonna be stuck here anyway?"

"Not much longer," Shadow replied. "The in-hospital recovery time for appendectomies, especially laparoscopic ones, is very brief. I should be released tomorrow evening, provided everything goes well and checks out."

"Would texting her be easier than talking with her in-person?" Rouge asked.

"Significantly, I think. Why?"

"Well, I think I know who I can get in contact with to give her your number. You know, if you wanted to start that convo sooner than later."

Shadow sighed. "Yeah, doing it asap is probably a good idea. Who you gonna give it to?"

"You know that silver hedgehog that works as a barista at Mystical Melodies? He's one of Blaze's friends. I can swing by there after I leave and give it to him. He should pass it along to her."

"Sure," said Shadow, who was pretty sure he knew who Rouge was talking to.

"Great! Then it's settled," Rouge concluded, satisfied.

Shadow shifted into an upright sitting position, an amused look on his face. "Fun fact," he started. "During the surgery, they stuck me with a probe that inflated my abdomen like a balloon so the surgeon could maneuver the surgical tools correctly." Rouge gagged at the thought.

"Dude, ewwwwww! Why would you tell me that? You know I'm squeamish!" Rouge shrieked. Shadow laughed.

"Wanna see my stitches?"

"Ew, no."

"They're still kinda red and meaty . . ."

"NO!"

Shadow snickered into his needleless hand while Rouge pouted. "You're the worst," she said saltily.

Just then, Shadow's phone began to vibrate noisily against the other end table. Shadow groaned, grabbed it, and turned the screen on. It was Selena's 99th call to his phone.

"So, uh, Selena has your number. That's awkward. I doubt blocking her will stop her from messaging and calling you obsessively," Rouge commented.

"Two steps ahead of you," Shadow replied. After he let the call go to voice mail, he unlocked his phone, swiped to the next screen on his phone, and tapped on an app with a green phone on a white background.

"I didn't want Selena to get my real number, so I got a Google Voice number," he explained. "She's been none the wiser. And I'm done getting all these calls," he said matter-of-factly. He went to the settings, scrolled down to the "delete my number" option, and reentered his password. The app then logged out. The number was gone.

Rouge's eyes went big with surprise, and she laughed. "You clever bastard!" she hollered joyfully. "Selena isn't gonna know what hit her!"

"Told you I had everything figured out. I didn't fly into this with at least some of a plan."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Rouge brushed off, rolling her eyes at him skeptically.

Just then, both of Shadow's parents reentered the hospital room. Shadow's father, a pale brown hedgehog with red markings, gave her a nod in greeting. Rouge realized that while she was probably still welcome, she couldn't really get any more info out of or into Shadow with his parents there. Rouge also figured she should probably get his number to Blaze before he changed his mind. So, she stood up and gathered her things.

"You guys can have the donuts," Rouge said to Shadow's parents. "Shadow too, if he feels better. I've gotta get going."

"Okay, well, it was nice seeing you for the brief moment we did," Shadow's father said. "We'd offer you to come back for another stay, but according to the medical team, Shadow should be discharged very soon."

"Well, that's good to hear," Rouge said, smiling. Turning to Shadow, she said in departure, "Text me, dude! Catch ya later!"

"See ya," Shadow said, smiling and lifting his right hand in departure, IV tube slightly moving as he did so.

". . . And don't forget your homework!" Rouge chirped, shooting him one last teasing look. Shadow rolled his eyes and flipped her off, to which Rouge flipped him off back. As she turned out of the hospital room and left, she heard Shadow trying his hardest to not laugh.

Tikal reentered from the back of the shop upon the tinkling of the shop's bell. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the tall, slender, attractive bat dressed like she was headed downtown for a Friday night on the town instead of a late weekday stop at a small coffee shop. Tikal recognized her almost immediately: it was the girl that had helped the teen boy that had collapsed in the coffee shop yesterday. Tikal couldn't help but feel jealous as she saw how put-together this obviously younger teenager looked compared to her. She didn't look at all stressed, despite initially assuming one would be frazzled after witnessing such a shocking event just 24 hours ago. The girl walked up to the counter and gave a bright, polite smile.

"Hi, could I get a large hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream?" the bat asked, her familiar voice reaching Tikal's ears.

"Of course . . . Hey, I have a weird question . . ." Tikal started, tapping the girl's order into the point of sale system.

"You wanna know what happened with the guy that collapsed in your store yesterday?" the girl asked for her as she pulled out her phone to use contactless pay.

"My mom, or well, the store owner anyway, was really concerned about what happened, is all," Tikal quickly finished, feeling slightly embarrassed for having her question so easily guessed.

The girl finished paying for her order, and Tikal turned to quickly complete it. "It wasn't anything too life-threatening. Just bad appendicitis. So, really, really painful, but not yet a full medical emergency. It's out. He's in recovery at the hospital right now," the girl finished explaining.

"Oh, well, that's good to hear!" Tikal called over the loud whirring of the milk frothing machine. "I'm glad to hear it wasn't anything too serious in the grand scheme of things!"

After the noisy part of the hot chocolate preparation had finished, the girl asked, "Hey, is there a silver hedgehog working here today? He's kinda short, white, was at work the same time you were yesterday?"

Tikal felt herself pause in confusion for a moment before the words the other girl said clicked all at once. "Oh! You're talking about my little brother Silver!" she laughed. "Yeah, he's here. Why?"

"Okay, so, I have something for-" the other girl started.

"Hey Silver! There's a girl who says she knows you here to give you something!" Tikal felt herself holler towards the back before she could stop herself. "Sorry," she said back to the girl as she topped the hot chocolate with probably way too much whipped cream and forced the to-go lid on top of it.

Silver emerged from the back, quickly retying his apron. He glanced over at the girl behind the counter, eyeing her curiously.

"Right," the bat said, pulling her purse to her side and starting to rummage through it. "Oh, geez, sorry, I didn't introduce myself," she corrected, looking up and at Silver. "I'm Rouge Stone. I'm Shadow Ultima's friend, the guy who collapsed here yesterday."

Silver nodded slowly. "Yeah, I've seen you around at school," he replied.

"By the way," Rouge continued, "Shadow is fine. It was appendicitis. His appendix got taken out, and now he's just on pain relievers and antibiotics. Anyway, you're friends with Blaze Katba, right?"

"Uh . . . Yeah, why?" Silver asked slowly.

"So, Shadow wanted to talk to Blaze over text, but he doesn't have her number. He said that you might since he's seen you talking with her?" Rouge queried.

Tikal bit her lip. She recognized those names. Oh shit. Silver, dude, bro, please pick the answer I hope you're gonna pick.

"Uh . . . Yeah, we're friends. I can give her his number, or vice versa."

"Good, awesome. I'll just give you his to pass along." Rouge said, resuming digging through her purse. She quickly produced a sticky-note pad and a silver pen. She promptly jotted a phone number down, tore the note off, and handed it to Silver.

"Thanks, man, you're pretty chill. Shadow said he really appreciates it," she said nonchalantly. Tikal glanced over at her little brother, who looked quite stunned and mildly ill, but was trying his hardest to hide it.

Rouge dropped a 10 dollar bill into the tip jar, picked up her hot chocolate, took a sip out of it, turned to leave, and said, "Thanks, y'all have a good day!" The shop's bell tinkled once again, and she was gone.

Tikal turned to look at Silver, who was frozen in place, still looking at the 10 digits on the note as if they were a hex. Tikal was at a loss for words.

"Shit . . ." she finally heard him say. "Whatever it is, surely it's . . . it's . . ."

"Probably not what you want to hear?" Tikal finished softly. Silver nodded, his lips tight.

"Bro, I'm so sorry," she said, taking off her plastic gloves and tossing them in the trash. She went over to hug her brother, and he turned away.

"Well . . . I'm not gonna be able to hide it from her or anything. She's great. She deserves to know what Shadow wants to tell her. I'm sure it's important, or it explains something . . ." he trailed off.

Tikal gave him a sympathetic look and patted him on the back. "That's my selfless brother. I figured you'd know to do the right thing."

Silver nodded mutely, and Tikal watched him unlock his phone and slowly walk into the back, typing. She sighed. She hoped that whatever it was wouldn't hurt him too much.

⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤ END ⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤

A/N: Wow, it's been a minute lmao. Well hey, I'm back! And I've finally got a new chapter for you guys.

(The number of tabs I had open to research appendicitis and appendectomies was insane lmaO, I gotta strive for accuracy no matter what).

Anyway, please enjoy! I appreciate all of you ! c: