My Blue Sky, My Sunset

Chapter 4

A Blessing From Heaven

Toast.

I smell toast.

Shelly opened her eyes, and stared at the lovely ceiling light above her head. She squinted her eyes, now that cannot be right. Mike doesn't have-

Oh.

That's right.

The previous day's events came rolling back to her one by one. The fight with Mike, Sonic coming in, dinner, pointless chit chat, she frowned, where was she again? Ah yes, at Mrs. Zertuche's hotel. Sonic had dropped her off last night. She didn't remember falling asleep, but what did she care. With all that sleep, she felt much better anyway.

Okay, not really.

Shelly groaned, as the light peeking through the curtains hurt her eyes. Her head was pounding and her jaw was sore. And for Pete's sake why does she keep smelling toast!

She opened her bedroom door and peeked out into the hallway. Hmm, she could smell toast, eggs, and was that bacon she smelled? Now why- right, Eva said she would make her a breakfast.

She closed the door again and hurried to the bathroom, her stomach announced how hungry it was and she was not going to keep it waiting.

The shower was soothing, and washed away the dirt and blood. (She had not bothered to shower last night) However, as she stepped out of the shower, and whipped the mirror clean of fog, she sighed sadly, the shower could only help with so much.

The bruise from yesterday had now taken its full effect and was dark purple and black, running along her right cheek and down to her jaw line where Mike had punched her. Shelly stared at her reflection, loathing the person who stared back. The reflection was bruised and scarred, haunted eyes, and unsure posture..

She hated it all.

She stared at the mirror in loath and despair till the remaining steam of the shower covered the reflection. But the effect was still there, behind the fog, etched in her mind, the image of a miserable creature.

She stared at her cloths in the full body mirror before she walked out, "Hmmm, might have to go shopping for new clothes. If I had cash that is." The outer top was dirty (white so it was completely dirtified), so she threw it off, the dark blue tank top was okay. Her jeans were ripped, but that didn't look as bad. She brushed off the dust and went downstairs.

The aroma of delicious food was stronger down here and Shelly followed the scent to the diner section of the hotel, it was relatively quiet, dead quiet actually. No one was in there.

"Mrs. Zertuche?" Shelly called, "Are you in here?"

"In the kitchen dear."

Shelly looked around and found two stainless steel swinging doors with foot wide circular windows. She peeked inside and saw Mrs. Zertuche busily flipping eggs and frying bacon on the burner. The elderly woman looked over and smiled, "Good morning my dear, sleep well?"

"Like a rock," Shelly said stepping inside, "Best night's sleep I've had in months."

"Good to know darling," Zertuche smiled, "I hope you're hungry, because breakfast is ready"

I'm famished, thanks for making some food for me,"

"Anytime."

"Here let me help you,"

Shelly helped load the piles of food onto two plates and followed the kind old woman out to one of the many vacant tables in the dining room. "Kind of quiet huh?"

"Oh?" Zertuche asked, before nodding, "Oh yes, it's the lazier time of year for the tourists. This part of town of Apotos is broken off from the rest of the town, small and quiet. Guests only come here when the main part of the city is crowded and full. But right now, most of the tourists are in Spagonia, at the university, or sightseeing the art the city is famous for. And those who aren't at Spagonia will be at Empire City. But I do get sailors, they're all just out a sea at the moment."

Shelly nodded, and nibbled on her harsh browns, "Mmhmm," she closed her eyes savoring the flavor. "You're cooking is amazing."

Zertuche smiled, "Thank you my dear."

Shelly started to dig into her egg, as she glanced up slightly she couldn't help but notice Mrs. Zertuche to be staring at her cheek, her eyes full of questions and worry, she looked about ready to point it out, but the look went away and the woman went back to eating.

Shelly shifted, "So, uh, thanks for letting me stay here."

Mrs. Zertuche nodded, "A friend of Sonic my dear, is a friend of mine. And even if you weren't I would have welcomed you in anyway."

Shelly looked down, "Thank," she paused then looked up again, "So uh, how much do you know about Sonic the Hedgehog, is like a celebrity or something? Because there was this chili-dog vendor we went to, and the man running the vendor seemed really eager to get us food."

"Well, everyone in town knows him, he stops by every few months or so. The first time he came here, robots were attacking the city. It was many years ago, he was only about 15."

"Robots?"

"Yes," Mrs. Zertuche said, "Nasty things, created by a horrible man. Anyway, one of the robots was attacking my hotel, when Sonic showed up and stopped the robots."

"He….stopped the robots?"

"He stopped all of them. There were dozens of them, all over the city, and he took out every single on of them."

Shelly coughed, "Tougher than he looks."

The woman nodded. "Yes, of course he wasn't done. The town was a mess after the robots were destroyed, so he stayed and helped everyone with their problems. Found their lost children, helped rebuild their homes. He was friendly to the children and polite to everyone, and he soon won everyone's heart." The woman sighed.

Shelly leaned in, "But…" she paused, "It's something more personal for you isn't it?"

Mrs. Zertuche glanced at her and Shelly stiffened, quickly putting up her hands, "You don't have to tell me!" the she shrunk down, "If it's too personal, I won't make you."

The woman smiled, "Oh, it's fine." She looked out the window, "Sonic helped me like all the rest, helped fix my home. Then he was gone, he came back to visit, about eight months later, just to see how everyone was." She laughed at the memory, "And he could remember everyone's name's too. Such a sweet boy," she looked down, "That's when he really helped me."

"…" Shelly remained silent, waiting for her to continue.

"You see, he took particular interest in me, because I was struggling to get by." Mrs. Zertuche said, "My husband was sick with cancer you see."

Shelly gasped, "Oh, I'm so sorry."

Mrs. Zertuche shook her head, "Don't be it isn't your fault. Anyway, a woman of my age then , 62 , I was having issues with my hip, from a injury I had when I was younger. I couldn't run the business as well without my husband." She gestured around, "And the place was falling apart. We were going to lose everything." She smiled, "And that's when Sonic arrived."

"He stayed with me for over a month, helping me with everything. Running the business, fixing the house, keeping things clean. When he first arrived offering his help, I said he didn't have to. He was young so full of life, I pointed out he shouldn't be wasting his time with an older woman such as myself." Mrs. Zertuche smiled, "But he insisted he do it, and then he said the sweetest thing to me."

"He said, that he remembered when he first met me. How kind I had been to him, how kind it was of me to bring him pancakes when he was fixing the house next door, hungry and tired. When my husband brought him bandages and medical supplies after his fight from the robots, and how my husband and I had offered him a place to stay while he cleaned up the town. He said he never forgot that. He said he remembered how happy I was," Mrs. Zertuche's lips quivered a shaky smile, happy tears in her eyes, as she looked out the window remembering the memory, "He said, how he wanted to see me happy again, he wanted to see me smile. He wanted to help so I would be happy. Me, a silly old woman! He wanted to see me happy."

Happy.

Shelly stared in shock, as the woman sniffed and wiped the tears away, "And he did. He stayed and helped until the place was up a running again. And he even paid off all the expenses for the medical bills. I was so happy when he did that." She smiled, "And even after he left he still visits every month or so, to check up on us. To see how the place is doing, and check on my husband. He's so busy, but he always finds time to see me."

"That's why I don't charge him when he stays here. Because he's helped me so much," Mrs. Zertuche explained, "He pays the medical bills, fixes my home, and I can't thank him enough for that. He's my blessing from heaven, and I'm thanking him in the only way I can."

She sniffed and rubbed her eyes one more time, before gesturing to Shelly's plate. "Are you done my dear?"

Shelly looked down at her empty plate and nodded, "Uh, yeah."

A blessing from heaven. So maybe what Sonic said was true then. Maybe he did want to make her happy. Just like, he did with Mrs. Zertuche. Was that the reason he showed up when he did? Was Sonic he, blessing from heaven?

Mrs. Zertuche took the plates and took them into the kitchen, leaving Shelly to her thoughts.

Yay! More pointless chit chatter. But maybe it's not so pointless, since we kinda have a back story of how Mrs. Zertuche got to know Sonic a bit. And maybe her story might help Shelly trust our Blue Hero a bit more.

Anywho, see ya soon!