Chapter 6: Stress
"Ngh...Aaaaghh!"
"Keep it down!" Shadow hissed.
"Ngh...You try to move with a broken leg and arm." Sonic growled, struggling to sit up.
Shadow lifted him from under the armpits, earning a pain groan from Sonic. "Shut up Sonic you gonna make people think you're actually dying." He growled. He felt Sonic suddenly go limp in his arms. "Sonic?"
"C-can't see...your hand is on a bruise and it really hurts..." Sonic mumbled.
Shadow shifted his hand and lifted sonic into his wheelchair.
"Oh my g-ahh! Gnnn!" Sonic growled. "I think you messed up my arm..."
"You're fine." Shadow growled.
"Whoa whoa whoa! What's are you guys doing!?" Dr. Shea asked.
"We're leaving, every second we spend here is a risk to your hospital we already signed an A.M.A." Shadow growled.
"Sonic I don't recommend this..."
"I know..." sonic mumbled.
"Can we get morphine to go or something?" Shadow asked.
Sonic glared at him.
"It's as a last resort. You don't have to take it, who knows what what will happen after chaos control." Shadow grumbled.
Dr.Shea pulled a card out of her coat pocket. "If something bad happens call me and I'll be there, Sonic's injury is too extensive to be left untreated. After that swelling goes down it needs to be splinted...I'll go get you some morphine pills and hopefully you won't need them." She said softly.
Shadow took the card and smiled. "Alright we'll wait."
She nodded and walked out.
Shadow glanced down at Sonic. "You're okay right?"
Sonic nodded. "My body aches a bit more from being moved but I'm okay..."
Shadow nodded. "Okay...if you're hurting let me know alright."
Sonic nodded and shivered. "I'm kinda cold...you got any blankets?"
"There is at the place we're going."
"Why won't you tell me where we're going?"
"It's better that way, I already told your fox friend."
"Tails is there?"
"If not he's on his way, he said you'd like it and he's probably trying to make it as comfortable for you as possible."
Sonic smiled. "He's a good kid." He murmured, rubbing his collarbone.
"You sure you're not allergic to anything? You seem to be scratching your collarbone quite a bit." Shadow mumbled.
"I don't think I am..." sonic mumbled.
When Doctor Shea returned Shadow asked her to check out the area Sonic was itching. She ran her fingers over the fur feeling small bumps, she glanced at Sonic. "I'm going to need to shave your fur down."
Sonic frowned. "Do you have to? You already shaved a couple patches off..."
She nodded. "Sorry."
Sonic sighed. "Go ahead."
She grabbed a razor and shaved the fur down, not all the way but enough so she could see the rash. She glanced at sonic. "Has this happened before."
"I've had the feeling before...not often."
"Only when you're stressed?" She asked.
Sonic blinked then narrowed his eyes. "It's not what I think it is..."
"It's a stress rash, not much you can do for it besides keep cool, and use nonprescription antihistamines." She said gently.
"Sonic if you were stressed you could've just said-"
"I'm not stressed!" Sonic growled.
"Your rash says otherwise." Shadow growled.
Sonic drew in a deep breath. "Hospitals stress me out okay? You happy now?" Sonic growled.
"I think it's more than that..." Shadow grumbled narrowing his eyes.
Sonic knew exactly what he was referring to and he was right. "Can we not talk about this now.."
Shadow looked like he wanted to say more but refrained from doing so. He sighed. "Fine. But we need to talk Sonic." Shadow grumbled.
"Well I'll be staying wherever you're taking me for a while, we'll have plenty of time to talk just help me stay calm okay." Sonic grumbled.
Shadow grabbed the bottle of morphine from Dr. Shea. "And how am I supposed to do that hedgehog?"
"Just be yourself, and don't say anything...nice."
Shadow snorted. "Seriously?"
"Seriously, when people act different it..."
"It's alarming, I get it. But you have to know we can't treat you normally while you can't move on your own." Shadow said softly.
"I'm just asking you to try your best, that's it." Sonic said raising his eyes to meet the gaze of Shadow.
Shadow saw the exhaustion in his eyes was suddenly filled with an alarming amount of sympathy. Sonic was still in a lot of pain, stressed out, and still putting others before himself.
"Can we go wherever you're taking me..." Sonic grumbled. "I'm not sure how much longer I can stay awake."
"Something wrong?"
"Just tired." Sonic admitted.
Shadow nodded and pushed him out into the hall, sonic laid back in his wheelchair. "We should make a scene."
Sonic blinked. "Really?"
"Yeah so that way word spreads faster." Shadow replied.
"I didn't think you were one to cause a scene." Sonic said with a smirk.
Shadow tried to ignore the overwhelming amount of exhaustion in his voice. "I will if it makes you feel less...y'know."
"Well I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't think it works like that." Sonic said with a small smile.
"Let's just go in the lobby and you do literally anything." Shadow grumbled, pushing him forward.
As soon as they turned the corner an idea sparked in Sonics mind and a mischievous grin crossed his face. "So Shads when are you going to ask Rouge out on a date?"
Shadow felt his face grow hot. "As soon as you ask Amy out." He replied sharply.
Sonic grew quiet. "Not anytime soon then?"
"I was expecting you to say never." Shadow said softly.
"Ugh...whatever..." sonic mumbled.
"You okay?"
"Ughn...I'm just sore..."
"Don't cause a scene then, them seeing you is enough."
"I think I already caused a scene." Sonic said glancing all the people in the lobby. "Can we get out of here I'm not feeling good..."
Shadow nodded and rolled out faster, once they got a safe distance outside shadow used chaos control and teleported to his secret location. Shadow glanced down at Sonic once they arrived. "You good?"
"Dizzy...w-where are we?"
"This is my secret hideout, on the mountain side. We're safe here and you can let yourself relax."
"Easier said then done." Sonic grumbled.
"We are going to sit down and talk. You need to get some things off your chest and open up a bit about your time in the prison." Shadow grumbled.
"I'm tired Shads..." sonic mumbled.
"I can wait but you're going to talk." Shadow grumbled pushing him into a nice rustic house.
Sonic couldn't hell but smile when they entered the house it was very clean and a well furnished place. "You've got a nice place here Shads."
"I'm hardly here but I like to keep it clean." Shadow said softly a small smile graced his lips. "Just to warn you this place doesn't have AC."
Sonic shrugged. "Eh it's fine I'm used to heat."
"You want to lay on the bed?"
"Sure..." Sonic mumbled.
Shadow knelt down and lifted sonic from under the knees and back. And gently set him in the bed and sonic made it known that the action hurt him quite a bit. "Sorry, I'll get an extra pillow for your leg."
"No it's fine..." sonic groaned.
"Your leg needs to be elevated." Shadow insisted.
Sonic sighed and closed his eyes, he tried to ignored his aching body. "Oww..."
"Okay can you lift your leg up on your own?" Shadow asked.
Sonic groaned in pain as he forced his leg up, sending jolts of pain through his body. "Gah! Augh..."
Shadow slid the pillow under his leg and gently pushed Sonic's leg down. "There better?"
"Not really...So I'll let you ask me any question and I'll answer it." Sonic said with a sigh, leaning back into the pillows.
"Why are you stressed?"
Sonic rolled his eyes. "Seriously? You could've asked how it was being imprisoned for six months, that would've answered a lot."
Shadow just glared at him.
"Ugh, I don't know...I mean my leg is broken my arm is broken, my body feels broken." Sonic grumbled.
"I mean in general, like before you...hurt yourself."
"Bold of you to assume I'm stressed often." Sonic said through narrowed eyes.
"You said in the hospital it happened before." Shadow said flatly.
"Uh I mean when I returned from space the weight of the whole world on my shoulders was something worth noting."
"How so?"
"Everyone had such high expectations for me when I came back, they thought they were guaranteed to win the war."
"We did."
"Still it's stressful you know, everyone thought I was fine when I came back..."
"Well you played it off like six months was nothing." Shadow shrugged.
"Well I didn't have time to wallow in self pity, I had to be there for everyone else." Sonic replied.
"You're too good for this world..."
"What?"
"Nothing...get some rest Sonic."
Sonic sighed. "Thanks for doing this Shads."
"No problem." Shadow murmured closing the door as he left.
Sonic glanced at his wrapped leg and sighed. "Please heal quickly." He mumbled and closed his eyes. "And please hurt less."