Rouge stepped out of her car and turned to face Knuckles' car, which was also pulling into the parking lot near Mystical Melodies Coffee. She watched it pull into a nearby spot and then watched Knuckles exit. When he did, he then walked over to her, arms outstretched. Rouge giggled and ran into them, hugging him. Knuckles kissed Rouge on her head in response.
"Hey beautiful," he said, hugging her back tightly. "What's the plan?"
Rouge looked up at him, grinned, and broke free from the hug. She reached into her purse and pulled out two pairs of sunglasses. She also gestured to a black hoodie and a laptop bag on her arm.
"Simple," she said. "We go in, order our drinks, blend in at the café, wait till 4 pm, and then watch and record our 'couple.'" She made air-quotes upon saying "couple." "We then wait for the inevitable tea to spill, record the convo, and then leak it to the school. Soon, the whole school is gonna know about Selena's bullshit."
Knuckles smiled, shaking his head. "Remind me to never get on your bad side, hun," he commented. Rouge gave a small laugh.
"I doubt that'll happen with my cutie," she said flirtatiously. Knuckles smiled and took her hand into his.
"Let's go then," he said. "Lead the way."
Rouge and Knuckles made their way to the front entrance of the café and went inside. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee and baked goods reached their noses. The coffee shop had a cozy atmosphere, with warm lighting and décor. Hand-painted murals of musical notes and bar lines made their way across the wood-paneled walls. Shelves holding custom mugs and glasses lined the walls, as did bags of various roasted beans, custom art pieces, and chalkboards containing daily specials and the menu. A showcase displayed assorted baked pastries, cake pops, cold bottled drinks, and deli sandwiches. A few other people were seated in the café, filling it with quiet chatter. Behind the counter stood a tall, peach echidna with various ear piercings and a nose ring. A shorter high-school-aged, silver hedgehog also stood behind the counter. Rouge recognized him as the sophomore that had been talking with Sonic outside of the girl's locker room earlier today.
Rouge and Knuckles made their way up to the counter, to which the girl greeted them. "Hi, how can I help you two today?" she asked.
Rouge stared up at the menu for a couple moments before stating her order. "Yeah, I'd like a medium caramel latte, hot, with whipped cream and an espresso shot. If you could also add a couple pumps of chocolate syrup as well, that'd be great. And what do you want, Knuckie? It's my treat."
Knuckles glanced up at the menus. "Uh . . . I'll just take a large berry lemonade," he told the barista. Rouge elbowed him. "Knuckie, seriously? You visit a coffee shop, and you get lemonade?" she teased. Knuckles rolled his eyes. "If they didn't want me to order it, why's it on the menu?" he jokingly challenged. Rouge giggled.
The girl behind the counter finished punching in their order, asked for a name, and rang them up. Rouge slid the cashier a twenty and dropped her change into the tip jar. The boy barista then went to work preparing their drinks, and Rouge and Knuckles found a small two-seater table at the front of the café, just out of view of the shop's front window. Rouge slid into the seat facing into the shop, produced her laptop from its bag, and slipped on her black hoodie.
"Now," she said. "We wait." She passed one of the pairs of sunglasses to Knuckles. "Since you're sitting facing the window, give me a heads up when you-know-who and Bitch arrive. They should be here around 4. Make sure you put on those sunglasses when you see them coming." Knuckles nodded in acknowledgment and took his seat.
The couple waited for a few minutes before she heard the boy barista call out Rouge's name, placing two drinks on the counter. Knuckles stood up and jokingly gave Rouge a small bow. "I shall fetch your drink, madame." Rouge giggled.
Knuckles retrieved their order at the counter and made his way back to the table, where he placed a warm beverage cup in front of Rouge and a light-yellow drink with dark violet swirls in front of his seat. Rouge took her drink into her hands, inhaled the warm scent of hot coffee and caramel, and took a small, cautious sip.
"Mmm," she said. "Why anyone would go to the Starbucks nearby instead of here is beyond me. The coffee here is actually good." Knuckles nodded, then laughed. "Hipster," he said, winking at her. Rouge stuck out her tongue at him. The two hung out for a bit, chatting about school, mild gossip, and about how cute the other was. Rouge was anxiously waiting the entire time for the so-called couple to show up. She needed to see what went down and was absolutely itching to get back at Selena for hurting Shadow.
She did eventually get lost in conversation with her boyfriend, however. But luckily, Knuckles remained vigilant. At almost precisely four o'clock, Knuckles tapped her hand and gestured with his head towards the front windows, slipping on his shades. Rouge quickly nodded, threw up her hoodie hood, slipped on her own sunglasses, and bent over her laptop, acting like she was engrossed in her desktop screen.
Moments later, in waltzed a peppy Selena, closely (and slowly) followed by a reluctant Shadow, hunched over slightly, still protecting his abdomen with his left arm. He quickly slumped into a table on the opposite side of the café. Rouge could practically hear Selena roll her eyes.
"Okay, whatever, be like that," Rouge heard her snark. She turned and marched up to the counter, where she started rapidly firing off what she wanted to the barista. Rouge and Knuckles made eye contact, and Rouge leaned in to whisper to Knuckles.
"Shit, I've noticed that Shadow's been looking sick all day, and it doesn't look like he's any better."
Knuckles quickly glanced at Shadow, slumped in his chair and looking nauseous. He turned back and whispered in response to Rouge. "Yeah, he does not look good. Think it's cause of Selena?"
Rouge shook her head. "No. He looks physically sick. Dammit, I texted him, asking if he was okay, and he left me on 'delivered.' He has a habit of stomaching through when he's sick, and he really shouldn't do that."
"Well, hopefully, he gets Selena sick with whatever he has," Knuckles commented. Rouge couldn't help but laugh but quickly cut it short to avoid drawing attention to herself.
Selena, having placed her order, sashayed back to her seat and started talking to Shadow. Shadow barely acknowledged her there, which made Selena even more ticked off. Rouge listened intently, phone primed and ready to record, but she couldn't make out anything of note.
"Order for Selena?" a male voice called out into the café. The boy barista placed two drinks, a cup of water, and a bag presumably containing various pastries on the pickup counter. Selena turned to Shadow and demanded, "Go get the order!" Shadow heavily sighed and slowly got up, looking especially sick as he did so. Rouge watched him intently as he slowly made his way up to the counter. He slowly took the order into his hands as the barista shot him a concerned look. Neither said anything.
Then, as Shadow was making his way back, he suddenly hunched all the way over, hollered in pain, and dropped the drinks on the ground. They broke open, spilling coffee and ice water everywhere. The pastry bag also fell on the ground, immediately soaking up the spilled liquids. Shadow dropped to his knees, doubled over, gasping in pain. The café all stopped and turned to look towards the sound of the commotion. Shadow then gagged, covered his mouth, and quickly dragged himself over to a nearby trashcan, where he proceeded to hoist himself up and vomit violently into it. The café gasped in shock, and some of the patrons started to get up to help. The baristas behind the counter looked stunned, with the echidna covering her mouth in shock. Selena silently watched the whole thing, horrified.
Rouge felt her heart drop. She had to abandon the plan.
"Shadow!"
She threw off her hood and shades and sprinted over to him, where he slumped back onto the floor, curling into a ball.
"R . . . Rouge?" he asked, his voice shaking. It sounded like it physically hurt him even more to speak. "W . . . What?"
"Crazy coincidence," Rouge quickly said. "Oh my god, dude, what happened?" She placed the back of her hand on his sweaty forehead and noticed he was burning up. "Oh god . . ." she said, feeling her throat dry up. She tried to gently coax Shadow to stand up, which made him flinch harder and yell in pain, coiling into an even tighter ball.
Shaking, Rouge reached into her purse and pulled out her phone, quickly dialing 911. When the operator picked up, she shakily said, "I'm at Mystical Melodies Coffee, near Northwest Avenue and Twin Oaks Boulevard. I need an ambulance right away!"
The entire café was now watching the whole thing unfold. A few people had started to record the event with their phones. An older, silvery hedgehog, presumably the coffee shop's owner, had come out from the back upon hearing the commotion. "Oh my god," Rouge heard her say while relaying information to emergency dispatch.
"Okay, we'll send an ambulance right away," the dispatcher told Rouge. "Dispatch, 11-41, 1407 Northwest. 902 Mary, condition unknown," she said to the emergency crew. To Rouge, she said, "Stay by the patient's side and see if you can get any information out of him. Ask him how long he's felt sick."
Rouge asked Shadow this, to which he responded, "L . . . Late . . . Last night . . . hurts to . . . talk. Like I'm being stabbed . . . "
Rouge, her voice quivering, told the dispatcher this. "Okay," Rouge heard her say calmly. "We're sending an EMS team to your location right now."
"Oh god, thank you," Rouge said. She glanced down at Shadow, who had tears in his eyes from the pain. "It's . . . It's gonna be okay, Shadow. An ambulance is on the way." Shadow didn't respond.
It felt like an hour before the ambulance arrived, but it was probably only about seven minutes before two EMTs came in through the shop door, bearing a stretcher. Rouge stood up as soon as they arrived, and they hurried over to her.
"He's curled himself into a ball, says it hurts to stand and talk," she relayed, feeling her eyes start to well up.
"Okay, thank you," said one of them. Both of the EMTs knelt down. "Okay, we know it hurts, but we need you to stand up so we can take you to the hospital," said the other one. Shadow flinched as the EMTs tried to coax him to stand up. When he only coiled tighter, the other gently took him by the shoulders and tried to uncurl him. He only curled up even tighter, groaning in pain. The two EMTs finally had to lift him to his feet carefully but forcefully, to which Shadow yelled in pain.
"Very sorry about this," said one of the EMTs, assisting him into the stretcher. Shadow started to hyperventilate from the pain, and Rouge felt a few tears escape her eyes. The other EMT grabbed his portable radio and spoke into it, "902 Henry, patient en route."
The two EMTs quickly started to wheel Shadow out of the café, and they were followed promptly by Rouge, who hurriedly explained to the EMTs that she was his best friend. Selena slowly got up and tried to follow them out to the ambulance. When Rouge noticed this, she turned and pushed Selena away.
"Beat it," she growled angrily. Selena looked highly offended.
"How dare you!" she shrieked. "He's my boyfriend!"
"And I'm his childhood best friend!" Rouge hollered back, furious at Selena's gall. "Fuck off! Take an Uber home!" She turned around and quickly clambered into the back of the ambulance. The EMTs quickly lifted Shadow into the ambulance behind her. Selena was red with fury but held her ground as the ambulance doors snapped shut. The engine roared to life, the flashing lights came on, and then it departed.
Once the ambulance was moving, Rouge quickly buckled her seatbelt and watched teary-eyed as the EMTs began to check Shadow's vitals.
"Temperature is 101.7, stable," the first said, dropping the used probe cover into a biowaste bin. The second, sphygmomanometer in hand, quickly recorded Shadow's blood pressure, which was slightly higher than usual. The first then looked at Shadow.
"I'm going to quickly do something called a rebound test," he told a grimacing Shadow. "It's most likely going to be painful," he warned, "But it will start to rule out what's going on." Shadow nodded ever so slightly and cringed, waiting for the pain. The EMT, using his fingers, pushed slowly down on the right side of Shadow's tender abdomen and quickly released it. Shadow let out an extremely loud yell of pain and shock. The EMT promptly did the same thing just above his navel, only to elicit the same results. Rouge was terrified; in all 10 years she had known Shadow, she had never seen him in as much pain as he was in right now.
"Write down probable acute abdomen with inflammation as the cause," he told the second and third EMTs. "Have the medical staff run an ultrasound or CT scan STAT. Could be peritonitis, appendicitis, intestinal blockage, maybe intussusception or hernia. Currently no signs of abscess or septicemia, but not yet ruled out."
The ambulance, about five minutes later, pulled up to the emergency room entrance. The doors opened, and three EMTs quickly lowered the stretcher out of the ambulance. Rouge shakily unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed down, hurrying after the EMTs as they rushed Shadow into the ER and down towards the examination rooms. Rouge stopped at ER reception and stood there shakily as she watched the EMTs rush Shadow down the hall.
"Have a seat, dear," the receptionist said. "We'll have any information out to you as soon as we get it." Rouge nodded, saying nothing, and robotically made her way over to the rows of ER seats. She sat down, her hand and legs shaking. Rouge tried to take a few deep breaths to steady herself, but it didn't really work. She drew her legs up to her chest and laid her head down on her knees, sighing.
Time seemed to pass immeasurably slow. She decided to message Shadow's mom, informing her of what happened. Eventually, a harried Knuckles showed up, almost immediately rushing over to where she was sitting. He sat next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Feeling his touch, Rouge started to cry. More time passed, and Shadow's parents, looking frazzled and worried, arrived at the ER, where the receptionist took them to wherever Shadow was being treated.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Rouge heard someone call her name. "Is there a Miss Rouge Stone here?"
Rouge looked up, and her eyes fell upon a tall duck in a white medical coat, carrying a clipboard. She stood up and shook the doctor's hand.
"Hi Miss Stone, I'm Dr. Quack. I oversaw the treatment of Shadow."
"How's he doing? Is he okay? Do you know what's wrong with him?" Rouge asked hurriedly.
The doctor gave Rouge a sympathetic smile. He looked down at his clipboard. "Well, we ran some tests and scans on Mr. Shadow. We've determined that he has appendicitis."
Rouge blinked. She had heard about appendicitis but wasn't exactly sure how serious it was.
"His appendix was extremely swollen and inflamed on the ultrasound, and his white blood cell count was too high for the medical team's comfort. Luckily, you called for an ambulance when you did. Another hour or so, and it probably would have ruptured, which could have caused a life-threatening infection."
"So . . . What's gonna happen to him?" Rouge asked nervously.
"The only treatment for appendicitis is surgery to remove the appendix," the doctor explained. "We've got him on some medications for his pain, and we're prepping him for emergency surgery as we speak. Don't fret," he said in response to a worried Rouge. "Appendectomies are very simple nowadays. We'll do what's called laparoscopic surgery, which means we'll use a minimal incision and a small camera to assist with the surgery. It shouldn't take more than an hour from start to finish. It's very low-risk, and the recovery time is usually no more than 48 hours in the hospital."
"How . . . How did this happen?" Rouge asked quietly, reeling from the doctor's news.
"Well, appendicitis is random," he told her. "Sometimes, it just happens. There usually isn't any specific or underlying cause. But appendicitis at this stage is easily treatable. Your friend is going to be okay."
Rouge breathed a sigh of relief, many of her fears assuaged by the doctor's words.
Dr. Quack turned back. "Feel free to wait here, or you may leave, whichever you prefer."
"I think I'll stay here until his surgery is done," she told the doctor.
Dr. Quack nodded. "Very well. I'll have someone bring you the results as soon as the surgery is finished." He then left.
Rouge sat back down and was greeted with another side hug from Knuckles. "At least it's not anything serious, right?" he said.
Rouge nodded, exhausted.
Another slow, painful hour passed. Rouge watched the emergency room idly. A few people came in and out, but nothing exciting happened. Rouge ended up nodding off on Knuckles's shoulder after a while. Finally, she felt Knuckles shaking her awake. Rouge stirred, feeling groggy. She looked up and made eye contact with a nurse.
"Hi Miss Stone," she began. "I just wanted to inform you that Shadow's surgery was a success. He's currently in post-op recovery."
Rouge exhaled, the stress leaving her body. "May I see him?" she asked.
"Sorry, not while he's in post-op," the nurse told her. "Only his parents are allowed with him right now." She looked at Rouge, who was visibly exhausted. "I'd advise you to go home and get some rest," she said. "You may be able to see him tomorrow during visiting hours."
Rouge sighed. "Okay, thank you." The nurse turned and left the ER waiting area.
Rouge turned back to Knuckles, who stood up. "C'mon, I'll take you back to Mystical Melodies to get your car," he offered. Rouge took his hand, soaking up its warmth, and walked with Knuckles out of the ER.
Silver, Tikal, and the café's customers stared in disbelief at the scene that had just unfolded. Just as soon as they had arrived, Shadow, the girl that had attended to him, and the EMTs left.
Silver's mother shook her head. "That poor young man. I hope everything turns out okay."
She gave a stressed sigh and looked at her children. "Please, you two, clean up everything, will you?" Silver and Tikal nodded in agreement, still shocked about everything that had happened. Tikal hurried to the back, grabbed a mop and bucket, and quickly started to mop up the spilled drinks. Silver reluctantly grabbed a pair of gloves and emptied the trashcan Shadow had vomited into, doing his best to keep his eyes off the bag.
Once he had disposed of it and replaced the bag, he grabbed a bucket of sanitizing water and wiped down the rim of the can. Once that was done, both Tikal and Silver resumed their spots behind the counter.
A while later, and most of the customers that were there during the fiasco had left. The café went into its dinner quiet (the café never got too many customers after 4:30). Silver leaned against the counter, head in his hands.
"Woah, bro, you good?" Tikal asked, emerging from the back with a dish bucket of clean dishes. Silver shook his head. "Not particularly," he responded.
"What happened?" Tikal probed. "Besides, well, that."
Silver heaved a heavy sigh and spilled what else had happened that day, specifically about how the popular students at school had cruelly pranked Blaze at lunch. Tikal listened, her eyes getting bigger and bigger, and Silver went into more detail about the events that had happened.
"Holy shit!" was Tikal's only response. "No wonder you look beat down."
Silver felt himself get angry all over again. "They're the fucking WORST!" he yelled. "They harass her for no reason, and it feels like I can't do anything to stop them!"
Tikal sighed and patted her younger brother on the back. "I'm so sorry, dude," she said. "And tell Blaze I'm sorry that happened to her as well."
Silver sighed, trying to flush the anger out of his body. He shook his head and continued working, trying to forget about today. It didn't really work, and he was on edge for the rest of his shift.
Finally, the shop closed at 6 pm. While Tikal disappeared into the back to start closing up, Silver reached into his back pocket to check his phone. He saw a text from Blaze and then realized he should probably tell her what happened.
He sighed, leaned back against the front counter, opened his messenger app, and typed out a message to Blaze.
It had been easier than expected to fake a migraine. According to Sally, all Blaze had to do was act like her head was about to explode and act sensitively to light and sound. She had successfully convinced the nurse she was in pain and got to lie down in the nurse's office until her uncle could come pick her up. On the way back, her uncle asked her why she was in her PE uniform, and she quickly explained she had been in PE, which wasn't a complete lie.
Once home, her uncle handed her an Excedrin for migraines (Blaze pocketed this instead of taking it when her uncle wasn't looking) and had her head up to her room. There, she drew her curtains shut and pretended to curl up in bed. Once she was sure her uncle had left, she sat up again and rubbed her eyes.
Yuck, she said to herself. I feel like I need another shower after all that.
Trying her best to block out the memories of what had happened to her out, she headed downstairs, tossed her dirty clothes into the washing machine, and then headed up to her bathroom to shower again. Once she was done, she slipped into a pair of pajamas and headed downstairs to her family room. She curled up in a fuzzy blanket and turned on the TV. She put on her favorite TV show at the moment but couldn't focus on any of it.
She kept checking her phone. Nothing interesting. All her friends were busy, and both her aunt and uncle were going to be home late. She sighed, letting the sound of the TV wash over her as she tried and failed to push the hurt and humiliation out of her chest.
Finally, something interesting happened. A text from Silver popped up on her phone. Her eyes went wide as she read it. Silver detailed how he watched as Shadow was carried out on a stretcher after collapsing in pain at Silver's work. She didn't even know what to think, and despite her wanting to hold a grudge against him couldn't help but feel bad for him.
She sighed, looking up at the ceiling. She was done with today.
⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤ END ⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤