My Blue Sky My Sunset
Chapter 8
Suicide Hangover
The lights from the club flashed in her eyes, and the music's bass made her ears pulse and throb. Shelly sat in a corner booth, absently listening to her friends giggle and point out hot boys.
The Depths, was an underground teen hangout built into the cliffs of Apotos The entrance was located in a old sewer plant, which wove its way through old tunnels till opening up to a cave underneath the city, with a killer view of the ocean ahead, and with an equally killer drop. Formally an illegal bar that was once infamous for serving drinks and drugs to minors, the bar eventually reformed into a fun place for the youth of Apotos, albeit alcohol still made its way down now and then.
Shelly was there with her gal pals, checking out boys and getting some groove on now and then.
Shelly had to be dragged there.
She had just broken up with Donavan, her ass of an ex, three weeks ago. He had been a immature, stupid college student and she had no intention of hooking up with a dumbass like him again. Hence her not wanting to come to the club, where her friends hoped for her to get a potential hook up.
"Hey gorgeous,"
Shelly twisted her head, not really giving the porcupine in front of her, her full attention. He was older, considerably, but it wasn't uncommon for cougars of men and woman to come down to The Depths for a chance at a younger love. Shelly just had never been interested in that sort of thing.
"May I help you?"
"I hope so," the man smiled, he leaned against her table, ignoring all of her friends giggles for attention, "A beauty in a dress like that is hard to ignore."
She glanced down at her dress, then back up, "You use that pickup line on all your woman?" One of her friends pinched her in the back, a subtle warning to let the man have his way.
"No baby, just you." He smiled again, "Name's Mike, by the way. What's yours?"
"How old are you 'Mike'?" She asked, ignoring his question.
He seemed momentarily thrown for a loop by her indifference, but quickly recovered. "Old enough to buy you a drink, if you want sweet heart?"
"Hmmm, shame I don't drink," she stood up, and slid past him, moving to the dance floor.
Mike wasn't far behind, "But you sure can dance,"
She twisted around, "You lay in on there kinda heavy don't ya?"
Mike shrugged, "The guys thought it would hook you," he jabbed his head towards a group of clearly drunk men, "But I can tell you are a woman of much more depth."
"Listen Mike, you're a cute guy and all," Shelly danced around him, "But I just got over a break-up and I really am not ready to get in with some other guy."
"And idiot who dumps you is a pretty sad being," Mike said, expression serious, "And I mean that."
"I'm just not ready right now,"
"I can wait, if you're willing to start as friends."
She paused, "I'm listening,"
"We'll have a few dinners, maybe move on to some dates, and if it works great, if it doesn't then that's how the cards deal."
"Do you gamble?" she asked, curious with his choice of words.
"Sometimes," he smiled a genuine smiled, "So what do you say," he extended a hand, "Want to dance with me?"
She stared at his hand and back at him. Then Shelly smiled, "Ah what the hell, couldn't hurt." She grabbed his hand, "Nice to meet you Mike, my name is Shelly."
There was a strong smell, a vile smell.
Shelly peeked open an eye and groaned at the rich red light that invaded her vision. Why couldn't she ever wake up before the sun was up? Or what about noon, noon was a good time to wake up too. She slapped her hand around, reaching for the clock she knew was close by.
Grabbing hold of the blasted piece of machinery, she lifted it up to her face, squinting and blinking as she tried to read the digital font. 7:42
P.M.
She gasped and dropped the clock, it clattered to the floor. 7:42 p.m.! What was she doing in bed so late? She jumped-no- leapt out of bed, blankets flying as she made a mad dash for the door. She had to get her bearings straight! But nausea worked its way up and Shelly gagged, immediately changing course for the bathroom, realizing what the source of the god awful smell was.
She stumbled out a few minutes later, the events of last night-was it last night? - bubbling up in her mind. The bridge, the rain, Sonic, he was there. And a toilet, there was a toilet at one point. She licked her chapped lips, wincing at the taste of the nasty bile.
Collapsing on the bed Shelly wrapped herself up in the warm blankets, "Oh why me?" she mumbled miserably. Damn her for thinking crazy, damn the bridge, damn her, and damn the rain. Groaning again she buried her face into her pillow and drifted off to sleep.
Sonic raced up to Eva's hotel at the speed of sound, slowing only at the door, entering casually as if had walked the whole way. She heard him coming of course, when you move faster than sound; you can occasionally be louder than it too.
"Evening Eva," he said with a cheery smile, pleased with his little rhyme.
Eva looked up from her sewing, her eyebrow lifted, "Salutations Sonic," she replied, playing along with his little game.
Sonic laughed, "Good one Eva,"
Eva nodded, "How are you doing this fine night my dear? Did everything in Empire city go well?" she asked as Sonic made his way over to the key box for all the rooms.
Sonic shrugged, running his fingers through the keys as if trying to play a tune. "Everything was cool. Eggman made another retreat, but there are some buildings damaged. G.U.N. will probably blame me for most of the collateral damage, even though Eggman got there first."
"Are you feeling alright?"
The cobalt hedgehog smiled a weary smile. It's true contents cleverly hidden from all without a trained eye, "I'm fine Eva, he only hit me a few times."
` Eva sighed, "Well you are welcome to take a room if you don't wish to keep to running."
He winked, "I'm always wanting to run, but thanks for the offer." He glanced upward, "How is your patient doing."
"She has a fever, she might have gotten up a few minutes ago, she hasn't awoken in four days, so that's a good sign." Eva said. "I do believe I heard the sink running."
Sonic pointed towards the stairs, "Can I go see her?"
"I'm sure she'd like that," Eva smiled.
Sonic grinned, and after giving Eva a quick squeeze on the hand, made his way up the stairs. Eva smiled, watching him go, before turning back to her sewing.
Sonic tapped on the door, "Hey, Red?" he whispered.
No answer. Maybe she didn't hear.
"Red?" he called a little louder.
Nothing.
Using Eva's master key, he stepped unlocked the door and stepped inside. In the dimly lit room Sonic's eyes scanned the area till they fell upon a mass of blankets, sheets and pillows. The only thing visible was one frail arm hanging out and a mass of thick red hair pooled about the pillow.
She is still asleep. Sonic thought. Backing away slowly he made his way back to the door, only to pause as Shelly's ear twitched.
The female lifted her head, looking at him with sleepy eyes. "Blue?" she asked.
Sonic smiled and walked over, "Hey Shell, how are you feeling."
She blinked, slowly, processing his question. He waited -hard as it was- as she blinked again, then, "Do you really want to know?" Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Shelly sat up, "How long was I asleep?"
"About four days,"
She was suddenly wide awake, "What! Four days, I slept for four days!" she attempted to scramble out of the bed, "Ah hell. It was only quarter to eight a few minutes ago!" She got one foot down and buckled immediately.
Sonic quickly stepped forward and caught her, glancing at the clock, it was only eight now, "Shelly you've only been asleep a few minutes you just fell back to sleep is all. But before, you were out cold for four days according to Eva. You still have a fever, you need to take it easy."
Shelly groaned and gripped onto his shoulders with surprising strength, given her delicate state of mind. Her unchecked nails digging down into his skin. "God I feel awful," she hissed.
"Here," Sonic gently placed her on the bed, "Let me get you a drink,"
"The last thing I need it a drink,"
He rolled his eyes, "Not that kind a drink, water."
"Oh,"
Sonic walked over to the kitchen section of the room, and quickly filled a glass with cool water, "Do you remember anything that happened?" he asked, as he walked back and handed her the drink.
Shelly took a sip, "No not really. It's pretty blurry, I only remember fighting with Mike, then everything just sorta went black," she paused, slowly pulling the glass from her lips staring blankly ahead.
Sonic tilted his head, "Hey Red, are you alright?"
She reached out suddenly, grabbing his wrist, "I almost killed myself!" she whispered.
"You didn't know what you-"
"I knew what I was going to do," her voice getting louder, she looked up at him, eyes full of horror, "I wanted to kill myself. I wanted to die." she shakily set the glass down, "I almost did to..."
Sonic kneeled down in front of her, "Don't think about that,"
Her eyes went blank, for a moment, staring at him devoid of emotion, "If you hadn't been there..." The masked cracked, and tears began welling up and her eyes became pools of water, "If you hadn't been there, I'd be dead."
"Hey," Sonic said gently, "Mike just pushed you over the edge, kay? That jerk got on your nerve and you weren't thinking clearly."
"But I knew better," Shelly hissed, tears running down her face, "God I was so stupid."
"No you're not."
"Have you ever tried to jump off a cliff?" She asked.
Sonic paused, "Well I did once-"
"Well it's a bad idea I don't recommend it." Shelly fell backwards, coming to a stop on the soft blankets, her fingers wrapped loosely around the glass.
Sonic stood, looking down at her. She was solemn, still wrapping her mind around the recent turn of events. The want to die was gone, but the will to enjoy life had not returned to her either. Shelly had become a hollow husk, devoid of the will to neither die nor live.
It would take a while to help her back on her feet. But Sonic was willing wait.
No matter what.
"So anything else come to mind?" Sonic asked, trying to help her fit what was missing and what not.
She couldn't recall much, and frankly she didn't want to, but Shelly answered anyway, "I thought I fell," she mumbled, looking solemnly at the glass, she tipped it side to side gently, watching the water swirl. "But I think I just imagined it."
"Yeah?"
"Well you caught me," Shelly snorted, "So honestly I couldn't have fallen off the cliff."
She heard Sonic pause, "You...Were pretty close."
Shelly lifted her head and glanced at him, "How close was close?"
"Well I had to go over the railing and-"
Shelly held up her hand, "Good enough, I didn't fall as far as I thought I did." She set the glass down, and moved to the window.
"Red you really should be resting."
" I need air." Shelly yanked back the curtains, blinking slightly at the light in the room. No longer was it a harsh red light from her haze earlier, the sun actually was blanketed behind thick clouds. The whole of Apotos was dark and a grey. The ocean was nearly black, the buildings and streets covered in a wet sheen as rain still drizzled down from the skies. She cracked open the window slightly, breathing in the air, "It's still raining?"
"Hasn't stopped." Sonic replied. His tone was casual, she was pretty sure he knew she was avoiding the fever/ suicide conversation, but he allowed it. "It should help things cool down,"
"What about Eva's roof?" she asked.
"We have a tarp over it; a friend of yours stopped by and helped cover it. The hole will be fine till the rain leaves."
"A friend?"
"He said his name was David, do you know him?"
"Well kinda, he works like twenty jobs around town, and goes to college; I don't really know him that well."
"Well apparently when the rain started coming in, he bought a tarp and came to help Eva, he asked how you were doing,"
Shelly stiffened, "What did you say? What does he know?"
"I wasn't here, Eva said you were resting and that was that."
She turned, and wearily walked back to the bed, "God I feel so stupid," she fell onto the mattress,
Sonic handed her the glass of water again, "You're not stupid, you were scared."
"You've never tried to kill yourself,"
Sonic said nothing, just glanced quietly out the window, after a moment, "Can I get you something to eat?"
Shelly scrunched her nose and looked at the toilet, "Erm, I'm not sure I-"
Her stomach let out a growl so loud, Sonic's ear's twitched.
She looked at her stomach, "Yes, I'll have toast, or crackers, yes."
Sonic grinned, "Cool, I'll be right back," he stood and hurried towards the door, glancing back, "Try and rest, kay?"
"Kay,"
He smiled, then closed the door gently behind him with a click.
Shelly sat there, looking at the pillow and feeling too miserable to rest. She grabbed the TV remote, cringing at how badly her hands shook. The old TV, came on with a hiss of static, the screen clearing onto a soap opera.
Shelly hissed at the kissing couple on the screen and jammed her thumb on the channel button. She stayed there, surfing through the channels until she settled on the eight o'clock news.
"...With extremely rainy skies for the next few days, be sure to have your umbrella's folks, it's going to be a wet one. But expect sunny days next week, with temperatures not as high as before, as you can see..."
Shelly glanced out the window, briefly recalling the Mike has smashed her good umbrella two months ago, not like she would have gone back to get it if she had.
"...And now for our latest story. Empire City almost faced complete destruction Wednesday, when Dr. Robotnik, arrived with the largest robot from his arsenal yet. Calling it the Orb Resonator, this destructive weapon left catastrophic devastation in its wake, leaving thousands in residential areas without homes, and billions of dollars in property damages."
Shelly turned her attention to the photo on the screen, of a large imposing man, with the body shape of an egg, and the most absurd mustache she had ever seen.
"The attack was deliberately aimed at G.U.N. and their supposed Adamantium metal supply. Though later than expected, Mobius's famed hero pulled through, shortly after the arrival of his team..."
Shelly watched the replay footage of the battle, finding it hard to focus on all the blue blurs, and explosions. Then her jaw dropped.
"Sonic the Hedgehog, disappeared shortly after the Doctor's defeat, and hasn't been located since. The head of G.U.N. division however is claiming this act to be suspicious and that the True Blue's late arrival, was quote "Not good for the well being of the people." He then of course, went on the claim the majority of the property damages on Sonic, though eye witnesses claim G.U.N. had its fair share of damages..."
Shelly stared at the screen wide eyed. She turned towards the door, the back at the TV, then back towards the door.
"Later on tonight, Alien Invasion, and how you, can be prepared..."
"SONIC! ! ! !"
Okay, no more of this one for awhile, my muse just kicked in.
Next Time on MBSMS:
"Sonic?" Shelly asked.
"Hmmm?" He looked away from the ocean,
She looked at him, taking a deep breath.
"I think I'm ready to go home now."