Chapter 20: I'm Alive

Day 23

The night before, Shadow didn't sleep at all, too focused on following Casew out of the jungle to get him and Sonic safely out. He was drastically running out of time, feeling the azure hero in his arms shake in his restless coma, as he continued to painfully limp after the dog. He knew that the Malaria by now was utterly destroying Sonic's kidneys and liver, and by his estimate, Shadow concluded that they still had about 20 miles left to travel.

"No need to die. No need to die. No need to die." The ebony hedgehog quietly repeated to himself over and over again with each step he took.

Suddenly, Sonic started shaking violently in his arms, spazzing all over the place. A gurgling noise came from his throat and he stopped breathing as he shook.

Terrified, Shadow sat down on the ground and laid Sonic's head onto his lap, sticking his finger into Sonic's mouth to move his tongue to the side so that he could breathe. He knew exactly what this was. Sonic was having a seizure.

"Come on Sonic, fight it." Shadow hissed quietly, urging his love to pull through. "Don't let the darkness take you. Fight the death. Don't let it take you."

As quickly as it started it suddenly stopped. Sonic peacefully laid on Shadow's lap, breathing with ragged breaths in his deathlike coma, but he was alive, and that's what mattered.

"That's my hedgehog." Shadow smiled, leaning over to gently place a kiss upon the blue's lips.

Shadow once again took Sonic into his arms bridal style and stood up, ready to continue walking. He looked around for his canine friend, but couldn't find her anywhere.

"Casew?" He called in confusion. "Casew?! … CASEW!"

When he heard no sounds made by a dog, Shadow dropped back down to his knees, depression taking hold of him as he came to a realization.

Casew was never there. She was a mere hallucination made by the blood poisoning to send false hope into his mind.

The realization made Shadow begin to cry as he laid down onto the ground, cuddling with an unconscious blue hedgehog beside him.

If Casew was an illusion, then what else was? Were they actually closer to help than they had been a few weeks ago? Was Sonic actually even alive right now? Was he even alive right now? He couldn't tell real from fake anymore, and quite frankly… he didn't want to.

"I'm sorry, Sonic." Shadow whimpered, gently stroking Sonic's quills. "I've failed you. I promised you that I'd get you out… but now I don't think I can anymore. I'm so sorry… I love you."

And with that, Shadow shut his eyes and slept, unsure if he would ever open them again.

…

A voice.

A voice loud in the jungle made Shadow snap his eyes open. He was certain he heard a voice. Was it Sonic's?

The ebony hedgehog looked down at the blue. He was still comatose, he couldn't have been the voice. But if it wasn't him who was it?

Was it another illusion?

"SHADOW!"

There is was again, clearer this time! It was calling out his name. It was looking for him. It sounded familiar and… robotic?

"Omega?!" He called out, his voice barely above a whisper.

"SONIC! SHADOW, WHERE ARE YOU, HUN?!"

Now Shadow knew that voice.

"Rouge!" He called. "Rouge! Omega! Over here!"

Suddenly, another voice cried out through the jungle mixed in with the voices of his friends, but it was human. Instead, they were quick, excited barks.

"Casew!" Shadow gasped happily, relieved that she wasn't an illusion after all. She must've just ventured forward to find Omega and Rouge while he stayed behind to take care of Sonic! "Omega! Rouge! Casew!"

Suddenly, out of the ferns, a miracle came for them. Casew bounded out of the ferns up to them, happily licking Shadow's face as she was followed behind by a red robot and an ivory bat. What surprised Shadow most, was that with his friends, were also Karl and Officer Charles!

"Oh my gosh, Shadow!" Rouge gasped upon the sight of her friends. "What happened to you hun?"

Shadow could only laugh, relieved that help had come for them at last. His laughing turned into violent coughing as dehydration caught up to him once more.

"W-water." He coughed.

Rouge nodded and walked up to him, gently nudging the dog aside as she knelt down to her friend, holding the canteen full of water up to his lips.

Shadow took a hold of the canteen and eagerly drank the precious cool liquid it held, barely gulping what was already in his mouth before taking another mouthful.

"Easy hun, easy!" Rouge gasped, gently pulling the canteen away. "Take it slow hun, or you'll choke."

"What happened?" Karl asked, coming up to them as he watched the ebony hedgehog drink.

Shadow pulled the canteen away from his lips, having had drank his fill. He slowly sat up and laid Sonic's head across his lap, slowly trickling water into his mouth. The unconscious hedgie coughed and sputtered, but more or less swallowed most of the water. He wasn't totally out of it.

"Rapids…" Shadow began. "Destroyed our boat. We got lost. Lost everything. Sonic has Malaria and a broken ankle. I have blood poisoning. Trench foot too. Devil Dragon got me. He's trapped now. He won't hurt anyone again."

"We better get you two out of here and to the hospital." Officer Charles frowned, stepping forward. "You two have suffered long enough."

"I agree, let's go." Shadow nodded, slowly standing up with Sonic in his arms, but the moment he took the first step, he stumbled forward, quickly being caught by Omega.

"Shadow you are not well." The robot announced as he held onto his friend. "You can barely walk and Sonic is unconscious. Let me carry you. You know I can."

Instead of arguing, Shadow merely just nodded, allowing his robotic friend to lift him and Sonic up to carry them both out of the jungle. As they started to leave, Shadow heard a small whimpering sound. He looked towards the source and gently smiled when he saw the dog sitting put, unsure if she should follow or not.

"Casew…" He gently called to her. "Casew, come girl."

With a happy yip, Casew stood up and began following the group, sticking close to the big red robot who held her master.

Chuckling quietly, Shadow looked over to the comatose hedgehog laying across from him, smiling gently at his peaceful face, as if he knew that they were safe. Shadow slowly reached over and gently took Sonic's hand into his own, squeezing it reassuringly.

"We did it, my love." He whispered, uncaring if the others heard him or not. "We made it out. We survived. … We're Alive."

And with those final words, Shadow allowed his eyes to close once more.

A/N: Don't worry. The story's not over yet. More is still yet to come.