I'm really happy about the positive reception this story has gotten so far, especially because this is something I intend to continue. All the reviews are really encouraging. Thank-you! And take a seat guys because it gets sadder before it gets happier.
The silence between them stretched out long and awkwardly. Infinite righted himself on the bed and resumed staring at the ceiling, very deliberately ignoring Gadget. The red wolf fidgeted, alternating between rubbing at his elbow and twiddling his fingers. He thought about leaving, in fact he thought it was probably the smart thing to do right about now. He had done the righteous duty of convincing Silver to bring Infinite to hospital and save his life, he told the doctor he would stay the night and give Infinite a summary of how the surgery went, he even slept on the floor on a blanket like a dog just to make sure Infinite's life had actually been saved. He had done everything required of him and then some. So he could leave now, yes?
No.
Even though his brain kept consciously repeating 'yes, yes, yes' the subconscious part kept saying 'no'. His legs were shaking, torn between his mind telling them to leave and to stay at the same time.
"If you're that scared of me, just go," Infinite said, startling Gadget out of his thoughts.
"Sc-scared? I'm not…"
"You're shaking in your boots."
The jackal pointed to his knees with his eyes. Gadget looked down and his cheeks went almost as red as his fur when he realised that his knees were nearly knocking together. He grabbed his kneecaps, trying to keep them still.
"I'm not scared of you!" he protested forcefully. Well, he kind of was but he wouldn't let Infinite know that. "Who'd be scared of someone in a hospital bed?"
As soon as it came out Gadget immediately regretted it (whether he regretted it more than joining the resistance would be determined by whether he died today or not). Infinite clenched his teeth and his lip curled. But he didn't say anything.
"Sorry," Gadget mumbled, standing up straight. "I'll just... I'll tell them you're awake."
Finally his legs agreed to turn and take him out of there. He ran down the hall to the nurses' station, ignoring a passing nurse snapping at him to walk. His body itched all over with adrenalin but alas the nurses' station wasn't far enough and he was there too soon to really clear his whirling thoughts.
A deer nurse behind the desk was speaking to a human woman with long black hair dressed in scrubs, exchanging notes and updates on the veterinary doctor's clipboard. She had to bend down low to reach the desk since it had been built with the much shorter anthropomorphs in mind. There were quite a few more humans around in anthro dominated areas in the wake of Eggman's invasion and vice versa. Everyone was spreading out to help repair and rebuild the world in any way they could and Gadget was glad to see so many people cooperating with each other. It was sorely needed. Gadget approached the desk with the intention of waiting since the medical professionals were clearly quite busy but his red fur must have really stood out because the vet turned to him as soon as he got close.
"Hey, red wolf," she said to him. He blinked but then opened his mouth in a little 'o' when he realised who he was talking to. This was the same vet who'd treated Infinite the day before. Her name badge read: Dr Simone Hai. She'd asked if they were friends and he'd fibbed a little bit and that got him his stint as the designated bearer of bad news. "I'm about to do the rounds on my patients. How's your friend?"
"He's awake," Gadget reported, "but he's kinda grumpy."
She blew out a frustrated puff of air. "He must be a stubborn one. Most patients are too woozy from the drugs to get tetchy straight away."
Gadget chuckled nervously. "He's a lot hardier than most people."
"Apparently. You can let him know that I'll be there soon."
Suddenly an alarm on the nurse's desk began to beep. The deer glanced at one of the screens of her computer. "Doctor, it's your patient in bed 13. His oximeter readings have dropped to zero."
Gadget's heart pounded in his ears. 13 was Infinite's bed—he'd seen the number on the file holder. But he'd seemed fine when the wolf left.
"He just got his priority bumped up," Simone muttered, taking her clipboard and files and hurrying at a brisk walk down the corridor to the coronary care ward.
Gadget trotted just behind her, worrying about where he could have possibly gone wrong. Did Infinite have a heart attack in the short time that he was away? Should he have stayed behind and simply pressed the nurse call button? As they entered coronary care two more nurses (a cat and a bear) hurried in, summoned by the same alarm. Simone threw back the curtain hiding Infinite's bed. Gadget peeked around her, a little bit afraid of what they'd find.
Infinite stood beside the bed, too woozy to stand up without holding the bed for balance and trying to pull his oxygen cannula over his large ears. The nurses charged him immediately. The bear lifted him right off his feet and wrestled him back onto the bed while the cat put all of the wires back. Infinite struggled against the bear's iron grip on his arms, kicking and snarling.
"Let me go!"
Gadget sighed in relief. "Thank goodness, you were only trying to do a runner."
"Doing a runner is nothing to be casual about," Simone said, giving him a stern look. "He's still in a fragile condition."
"It's a lot better than what I thought was happening," he mumbled.
Simone stared at him for a couple of beats with an unreadable expression. Suddenly she smiled and patted him on the head. "You're such a sweet friend."
She walked over to the bed without taking in the offended frown on Gadget's face. He wasn't a pet, one couldn't just pat him on the head whenever they wanted.
"Mr Jackal," she said, putting her clipboard down on his bed table. Gadget snickered upon hearing the vet call Infinite such an ordinary name. It was the name Silver apparently gave when he dropped him off, seeing as nobody in the resistance was sure that 'Infinite' was actually his real name and identifying him as a world-dominating criminal probably wasn't wise. "How are you feeling?"
"Go to hell!"
Simone just hummed in response, looking over him with critical eyes before lifting up her clipboard, turning to a particular file and writing something with the pen she'd had clipped in with the paper. "One a scale of one to ten, how much pain are you feeling?"
"Shut up! I don't need your help!"
She just nodded. "What if I touch you here?" she asked, poking him in the middle of his chest over the bandage. He yelped. Simone noted that.
"Leave me alone!"
Gadget looked on in awe as Simone continued to ignore him. The bear nurse seemed to have Infinite under control so she asked the cat to go and fetch a medicine with a name that Gadget would never be able to remember after hearing it once. While the cat did that, Simone took the chair tucked away against the wall and sat down beside the bed.
"Mr Jackal, I'm sure your friend was able to fill you in on the really crucial things but there are a few things I need to inform you about since you were unconscious when you came in."
Gadget's eyes moved shiftily and he bit his lip. She didn't need to know that he wasn't all that successful at getting through to Infinite.
"I also need to confirm some things with you. First of all, a concerned citizen brought you into ER sixteen hours ago. You were suffering from arrhythmia and faulty valves from an unknown heart condition and a tear in your inferior vena cava. We had to perform emergency surgery to repair your heart and stabilise your condition. It was an open heart surgery so the recovery time is going to be extensive and you'll be required to remain here as an inpatient for up to seven days or so."
"Well that's fucking peachy," Infinite growled but he'd gone still. It appeared from the rapid rise and fall of his chest that he was already out of breath.
"We investigated your medical history as best we could and found that a jackal matching your description, also without ID, had undergone another procedure at a different hospital for a suspected heart attack although there was no evidence of the usual cause for a heart attack. Can you confirm that that was you?"
Infinite stayed silent. Gadget stared at him, also wondering if it was true. It would explain how Infinite had already known about the problems he was suffering. It's not like Dr Eggman would have told him during his employ—that would've been suicide for the mad scientist.
"Could you at least give me a name, address, phone number, or any other kind of ID?" Simone asked.
Again, Infinite maintained silence. Simone sighed disappointedly. Instead of pursuing further questioning she took down the results showing on the oximeter. As she was doing that the cat nurse returned with a small bottle of clear liquid and a needle and syringe individually wrapped in plastic. Infinite's eyes followed the nurse setting the items down and going through drawers beside his bed for a cotton ball, a bandage, small electric shaver and an alcohol swab.
"Don't you dare touch me with that!" Infinite threatened but the nurse was well aware that there was nothing he could do in his condition and shaved a small square off his arm anyway.
"What exactly is that?" Gadget asked, watching the nurse fill the syringe with the mystery liquid.
"It's the medicine I asked for earlier," Simone replied, then spoke to Infinite. "It'll help with the pain and allow you to get some sleep."
"I don't need it!" he shouted, trying to struggle away but it was no use. The cat nurse gripped his arm tightly and delivered the injection. It only took a few seconds and it started to work rapidly while the nurse bandaged the cotton ball over the puncture. Infinite's eyes became unfocussed and his movements got jerkier and more random. "Leave me..." he slurred. "I'm... fine..."
The bear sensed that it was okay to let him go and did so. He immediately tried to roll out of bed but was disoriented to such a degree that he only got a little way onto his side before falling onto his back again. The nurses put the bed rails up to stop him from rolling out of bed by accident.
"Is he going to be okay?" Gadget asked.
"He's fine," Simone answered. "This is what the medicine is supposed to do." She faced him to show a reassuring smile and caught the expectant look on his face. "Oh, you meant long term, didn't you? That'll depend on how he cooperates during his recovery and how well he adheres to his healthcare instructions once he's discharged. It may be a bit much to ask you since you're not a relative but could you take care of him while he's healing?"
Gadget's eyes widened in uncertainty. Him, a member of the resistance, caring for Infinite during his time of ill health? That would take some explaining to the others.
"It's not doctor's orders or anything, you can say no. It's just that you've been so willing and supportive so far—you seem to care about him a lot—and I'm getting the vibe that he's not going to give himself the due care he needs to recover to his maximum potential. Plus, it's helpful for there to be at least one other person who has the details on his medical requirements in case of future emergencies."
The colour of Gadget's ears darkened a hue at the insinuation that he cared for Infinite. He had come all this way and spent hours by his bedside in the hospital, his brain reminded him. Gadget chased out that embarrassing thought to latch onto something Simone had mentioned.
"You said 'maximum potential'. Is that another way of saying fully recovered? As in, back to normal."
Simone frowned sadly. "The current prognosis is that a full recovery is unlikely."
Gadget's ears and tail drooped. He caught the drift in her tone that 'unlikely' actually meant 'impossible'. The consequences Infinite had to suffer were like a battle, one that wouldn't end in victory but could very well end in defeat. A small part of him that was still bitter and scared over the war said Infinite deserved this. No conventional punishment like a prison was going to be good enough to make him pay for (understand, he forced himself to think) all the pain he inflicted on the world. However, the bigger part of him pointed out that no one should be left to fight alone. Wasn't that what his last four months were all about?
Decision made, Gadget went to the side of Infinite's bed opposite to Simone, the side where the oximeter was placed. Infinite looked like he was about to fall asleep any second now. He shook his head from one side to the other, trying to fight the sedative. His head turned left and his eyes caught Gadget's gaze by accident. He stopped thrashing and glared at him. At least Gadget thought it was a glare (he looked so sleepy it was hard to tell) with the only hard evidence he could point to being the mad twitching of his eyebrows trying to make an expression but being too tired to muster it. Other than that he only had a vague sense that Infinite was over boiling with anger that had no proper direction or outlet. Gadget slipped his left hand into Infinite's. The jackal squeezed briefly but let go out of weakness. His thumb barely fluttered over the back of Gadget's hand, feeling like a caress rather than anything violent. And maybe this was naive but he took it as a sign that Infinite wasn't angry with him; he wasn't truly interested in hurting him anymore. The pause in motion made Infinite even drowsier. He tried to blink to stay conscious but he only managed two. After that his eyes stayed shut and his face relaxed. Only the oximeter readings gave any indication that he was still alive.
"I'll do it."