=Chapter 12=

Amy was in complete darkness when she started regaining consciousness. The first thing she became aware of was how warm it was. She felt heat emitting from her back. How very strange. Then the sakura hedgehog heard the sounds of electronic beeping. Next, Amy felt someone holding her hand rather tightly. She started stirring from being comatose for God knows how long. A hand stroking her muzzle and a soft hushed voice began encouraging her to come out of that state.

"Wake up, little one..."

Finally, the cherry-pink female slowly cracked her jade eyes open. As blurry images morphed into one clear view, she saw Shadow lowly looking down at her. A little smile stretched on her face, but all too soon confusion made Amy lost again.

"What...happened?" she asked softly, her voice being very raspy.

"You were a little roughed up and exposed to the elements for quite a while so Blaze had to treat you." Shadow explained.

"Well...I kinda know that. But..what happened to...?"

"You needn't worry about it love. The important thing now, is to get you better."

Amy attempted to sit up when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her right arm.

"Ow! What the hell is...oh."

She looked down and saw two IV tubes going into her arm. Then Amy felt Shadow run a hand over her forehead.

"Relax Rose, don't overexert yourself." he scolded softly. His ruby eyes narrowed as he made a discovery. "And you're running a fever."

Shadow got up and began searching for a thermometer.

'No wonder I feel like crap.' Amy thought.

The ebony hedgehog came back with a digital thermometer and sat back down on his chair.

"Open up." he told the sakura hedgehog.

Amy opened her mouth and Shadow gently placed the instrument inside. A few seconds later, it beeped and Shadow took it out and read it.

"You have a fever of 102." he announced.

"Great." Amy complained before coughing a little harshly.

"Easy."

The crimson-splashed male patted her back to help clear her lungs. Amy let out a moan.

"This sucks..." she whined.

"Shhhh. Just relax little one." Shadow cooed.

Amy laid back with her groom-to-be holding her hand. A few minutes later, she started moving around again.

"Um...I kinda need to use the bathroom." the cherry-pink female said shyly.

Shadow got back up out of his seat and pulled away the blankets that Blaze had placed in her earlier. Then he carefully scooped her up while he had her hold onto the rolling IV stand and carried her to the bathroom.

"Do you need any help?" the midnight clad hedgehog asked.

"No, I think I can do this." Amy replied.

Shadow gave a nod and closed the door to give her some privacy. A few seconds passed when Amy started to shudder uncontrollably. She managed to use the bathroom, but she was shivering terribly.

"Oh Gooood!" she cried feeling really icy.

"Is everything alright, Rose?" Shadow called out.

"Y-yeah. It's j-just it g-got s-s-so c-cold.."

The crimson-splashed male narrowed his blood-red eyes again. She must have a little case of the shivers. Amy came out with her frame trembling harshly, her teeth chattering, and her legs looking as if they were about ready to buckle underneath her. Quickly, Shadow scooped her up again and carried the shivering female back to her bed. He turned the heating pad an octave higher and gently laid Amy into the bed, pulling the blankets back over her to cover her up.

"This r-really s-s-sucks." Amy whimpered.

Shadow got back on his chair and scooted very close to Amy to wrap his arms around her. The sakura hedgehog then received a series of nuzzles and kisses with the crimson-splashed male purring. Amy with her ears folding back nuzzled him back.

"I realize you're not well, my flower." Shadow said. "But try to remain somewhat cheerful for me."

Amy smiled and nestled into his arms as he butterfly and vampire kissed her neck.

XXXXXXX

In the days that followed, Amy recuperated from her flu and other ailments. Shadow had never left her side for a moment, not even to do official business. Soon, the cherry-pink female was relieved of her flu, but still had a sore throat and a cough. Wedding plans after being abruptly post-poned, had resumed. Everything was pretty much in order from flower arrangements to formal attire. Now the only thing left was to rehearse for the ceremony. The abbey was nearly ready for the event. It would have been ready a bit earlier had Sonic, Tails, and the Chaotix decided to fool around with the chairs brought in which were stacked. The blue blur had ran up to one towering stack, jumped onto it, and tipped it over. While everyone was laughing at his clowning around, Rouge nearly had fit. Amy on the other hand was having a lot of fun during the rehearsals. Between the guys screwing around and practicing reciting her vows to Shadow kept her smiling from ear to ear every step of the way. Soon she quickly forgot her ordeal with Mephiles. With Shadow, even as the mood at Castle Mobius had relaxed after the Mephiles incident, he did not let down his guard around Amy. But she really didn't mind having him hovering around her as she normally would.

The next wedding event was the Bachelor and Bachelorette parties. All the guys had finally decided on going to the Laser Bar, while the ladies planned on going to a well-known and popular clubs. That was kept a secret from Amy as one last surprise. Excitement poured into Castle Mobius' halls. Only Shadow wasn't so excited. This would mean that he'd have to leave Amy's side for the duration of the two parties. Another thing about the event that got Shadow's quills into a knot, was that since that very same night was the right before the wedding. Meaning that both Amy and Shadow would have to spend the night separately. Something that the ebony hedgehog was not too pleased with.

"Don't worry so much about it, Shadow." Rouge told him. "I'll make sure that nothing happens to Amy. You trust me don't you?"

"...Somewhat." Shadow grumbled.

"Why Shadow, that's insulting!"

"Alright fine!"

The crimson-splashed male left the room with Rouge snickering to herself. Meanwhile Amy was having issues of her own. She had been trying to figure out while her bridesmaids were taking her to for the Bachelorette Party. Even Cream wouldn't tell her where they would be taking the sakura hedgehog, no matter how hard she tried getting it out of Cream. Blaze was no go either. So Amy went to library on her own to vent out her irritation and frustration. She didn't even think about going back to Shadow like he asked her to because she was so full of steam. When the midnight clad hedgehog saw that Amy delayed in returning to the computer lab, he began searching for her with the security cams and eventually found her fuming in the library. Letting out a sigh, he got out of his chair and headed for the library. He found her sitting at her usual spot reading a back a Anger Management.

"Are you upset, Rose?" Shadow asked pointedly.

"...a little..." Amy growled lowly.

"Something about your party?"

"Well...at least you know where you're goin' but the girls won't tell me where they're taking me. It's supposed to be a surprise..."

Shadow made a little smirk as Amy continued to pout. He sat down beside her and took the book she was reading from her hands. Then he pulled the cherry-pink female into his arms and cuddled her. Amy let out a little growl as Shadow nuzzled into her neck.

"Let them surprise you, little one." the ebony hedgehog said.

Amy let out another groan and lightly gasped when she felt him bite her neck, placing another territory mark on her.

XXXXXXX

Later on that day, the team went to the abbey to rehearse again. It would be the last rehearsal before the ceremony. The honored guests that were made of mostly close friends and family would be arriving soon. Everyone took their positions before they began. The guys of course were up to goofing around, which nearly sent Rouge into having a major shit fit, if Knuckles hadn't been there to keep her on her toes and tell most of the guys-except Shadow-to just shut the fuck up and get on with it. Amy had gotten a little excited and started giggling at Vector and Charmy uncontrollably. Blaze tried to calm her down, but ended up laughing herself which sort of irritated Sally as they were starting to waste time. Finally, after a good 15 minute delay, they straightened out enough to perform the rehearsal. Despite attempts made by Sally, Rouge, and Knuckles to keep things serious, there were a few laughs along the way. The only one, who was able to keep a straight face and posture, was Shadow. But even he cracked a small grin after seeing Amy giggle. Truthfully, he couldn't resist feeling warm inside whenever he saw his lover so cheerful like this. When they finished practicing reciting their vows, the pair passionately embraced.

"Alright, alright, you two." Rouge intervened. "Save it for the real thing."

That night, Cream's mother, Vanilla, along with Marine the Raccoon and the Babylon Rogues, came to Castle Mobius as part of the 'Honored Guests' List' to take residence at the mansion for the wedding. Wave the Swallow was invited to join the Bachelorette party as well as Jet the Hawk and Storm the Albatross for the Bachelor Party. Wave was let in on the secret of the location for the Bachelorette Party and was also sworn to secrecy which further annoyed Amy. Sonic and Knuckles staged a 'meet and greet' party outside where most of the guys with a case of beer horsed around with their skateboards. The ladies socialized upbeatedly indoors while simultaneously making sure the guys didn't go too out of control since book was involved. Around midnight, everyone retired fir the night to rest for the festivities occurring the next day. Shadow, like a prowler went straight to Amy's side and took her back to his dorm. Amy was absolutely exhausted from all the stuff that happened during the day, that she was practically too tired to walk, prompting the ebony hedgehog to carry her the rest of the way. When they got to his dorm, the sakura hedgehog started coughing rather harshly.

"You alright?" Shadow asked in concern.

"Y-yeah." Amy rasped. "My throat is just scratchy."

Shadow went into the bathroom and got out some cough syrup. He wasn't going to take chances with that.

"Take this." he told Amy.

She nodded in spite of not liking the bitter taste. Then they both climbed into bed with Shadow pulling Amy close to him and wrapping himself around her.

"Goodnight, my flower." Shadow whispered.

"Night Shadow." Amy tiredly replied.