Sonic's brain finally caught up with the situation at hand as he heard the sound of someone vomiting. The air was still and cool and the nearby smell of pine trees combined with the closer smell of concrete and metal. They were still in the city. Shadow must have used Chaos control to get them out of the hospital, and far enough away from the white lights of the hospital that Sonic could no longer see.

"Shadow? Shadow, you there?"

"Present," groaned the oddly feminine voice of Shadow the Hedgehog, from the same direction as the vomiting.

Sonic hurried out of the street and reached out to try and touch Shadow, hitting him in the shoulder.

"Ow," stated Shadow, pulling away from Sonic for a moment while trying to return last Thursday's lunch to its proper location. She failed; instead depositing it into the trash can in front of her. Stomach #6 – Empty.

"Sorry, dude," Sonic apologized, gently patting Shadow on the back.

"You okay?" grunted Shadow, her seventh and final stomach also threatening to spill its contents, "You fell a long way."

Sonic shrugged. "I just happened to grab some rings before I tried to come visit you. I'm fine."

A long pause. Some more puking. Sonic decided that, although it was hilarious how long Shadow had been throwing up, he should be sympathetic; after all, Shadow had saved his life. Having taken a moment to catch his breath, Shadow spoke again, showing that now he had the hiccups like Sonic had never heard before.

"You came- -to visit me? You were in that tree- -in the first place- -to talk to me- -on purpose?"

Shadow continued to hover over the trash can, just in case.

"Of course! I just, kind of, overshot your room. And then it got dark."

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "You scared of the dark or something?" she asked, turning around and coming face-to-face with the orange hedgehog she had walked home last week; the one that had knocked her out in the hospital lobby; the one that she had often thought about but never followed up on.

"Nah," the orange hedgehog replied in Sonic's voice. "I just can't see very well in the dark. Or at all in the dark, actually."

"You!" whispered Shadow, her digestive system rebelling again.

"Me, what?" asked Sherbet-Sonic, reaching forward to try and touch Shadow again. "Are you okay, Shadow?"

"You're ORANGE!" exclaimed Shadow, taking Sonic's outstretched hand and following his arm up to his face, pinching his cheeks and pulling his ears. "Did I get mind-blowingly drunk within the past ten minutes or am I hallucinating?"

Sonic laughed. "It's probably just the city lights. They're orange- to keep from bothering the wildlife. I can't see it, but I guess you can!"

Shadow stopped abusing Sonic's face and started laughing.

Sonic's ears perked once Shadow let go of them. He could hear police sirens in the distance moving away from the hospital and towards them. What had tipped them off?

Rouge touched down atop a building within view of Sonic and Shadow's location. She was right. They were already on the other side of the city and the police cruisers were following her directions to the letter. Sonic and Shadow were surrounded.

"Heads up, Shadow;" warned Sonic as Shadow's laughing fit subsided. "We've got company."

"What? Where?" sighed a dazed and oxygen-deprived Shadow, looking around a bit.

She had been able to get them about where the bike path connected to the main road, where she had taken Sonic last week when she had escorted him home.

"Police sirens. You hear them? I think we're surrounded."

Shadow took Sonic's hand. "The police don't have bicycles, do they?"

Sonic shook his head in thought. "I didn't think they did… Whoa!"

Shadow started running, dragging Sonic along as they headed up the dirt trail between the trees of the Redwoods National Park, the sirens growing in volume behind them before fading away into the hooting of owls and chirping of crickets.

They had escaped.