Sonic sat on the bed, flicking through the channels on the television. Eggman had requested to have it on as background noise after his first night blind, and he didn't mind it at all. The first night was hard on the man though. Sonic would wake every other hour, finding him shaking and crying, fearful of the silences and unknown. It scared Sonic quite a bit seeing him that way, but he shook off his own fear and stayed strong for him. They finally settled on leaving the television that was in the corner of the room for entertainment to give the room less emptiness. It helped in a way, keeping Eggman in a week daze through the rest of the night; he still woke in fear though.

He had told Sonic that night his deepest fear, the one thing he was truly afraid of. "I…I was always afraid of going blind, even as a young child. To never see the light of day, or the danger that was ahead. I would have rather lose my sense of hearing or go mute then to lose my vision. But…I guess I was meant to lose it." Yet, somewhere inside Eggman's gut, he knew there were something far worse that he feared then blindness.

Tails came in, seeing Eggman missing from the room. He feared the worst, not knowing of his miraculous recovery. "So..."

Sonic turned, smiling. "He woke up last night!"

Tails stepped back one, his eyes grew in amaze. "He did? That is amazing! But…where is he?"

"He's taking tests right now. He…" Sonic took a deep breath, explaining the situation to Tails. There was something that confused the doctors quite a bit that morning. They unraveled Eggman's bandages, and found only a large scar where the gorge once was. He had made a very strange recovery like nothing they have ever seen. Eggman's been hoping his vision would be next to recover, but when he opened his eyes that morning, there was still only a splotchy grayscale. "There is really nothing more they can do with him, now. Besides his vision, he is fully healed."

Tails sat next to him, petting the stuffed dog. "So, they are going to be bringing him home, then?"

"They are not sure…they fear he'll get sick and crumble again." He turned to his two tailed friend. "Say, did you get the Emerald?"

Tails tilted his head, confused. "Emerald, what Emerald?"

Sonic blinked, looking down at his legs. "The reason why this all happened. We were fighting over the Emerald. I tripped in the road, and he pushed me out of the way…" He pondered, growing silent.

"Maybe it is still there; maybe you dropped it when you fell."

"Dropped it…in the road…?" It was as if a light bulb lit it his mind. "TAILS, THAT'S IT!" The fox flinched. "His head must have landed on the Emerald!"

"What about Emeralds?" Sonic turned, seeing Eggman being led into the room slowly by a nurse. "Did you figure out something?"

Sonic nodded, forgetting Eggman's inability to see. "I might have figured out what you landed on." He looked around, smiling. "It was the Emerald!"

Eggman gave a confused look, sitting on the chair he was lead to. "Even if I did, that isn't going to help us. They will be teaching me how to walk, and maybe give me a help dog. After that, I'm free to go." He sighed, staring into nothing. "I am glad they are helping me, to give me a special dog to help me see…but I just want to see again."

"I can help." Tails spoke up, getting off the bed.

"Tails," Eggman looked puzzled, unaware of the fox until now. "When did you get here?" He shook his head. "Never mind that…" He smiled, drawing his gaze to another direction. "It would be nice to have help. It means a lot to me right now."

He stood in front of the man, seeing the fogged eyes. "Can you see light, at least?"

"A bit, I mean, it is a bit lighter right now because the light is on…and it is darker when it's off." He turned his head. "But…I can't tell where the television is or where the sun is up in the sky. My world is just…lighter or darker depending on how bright or dark the majority really is." He waved his arms about a bit. "Like, right now, I am seeing a mix of grey and white and…more grey and white. There is a bit of black, but not so much." He brought his hands down. "Kind of like when you close your eyes. When you close them in light, it isn't so much black, but more of a grayish tone."

Tails blinked, tilting his head to one side. "Can you see a darker blob in front of you at all?"

Eggman shook his head. "It…is like a grayscale painting that was hit with water. They just…blend together. It is really hard to explain." He lowered his head. "I really don't think there would be a way to fully help me see ever again…I understand that. The damage on the key wiring to my vision is to far gone; there is virtually no safe way to fix it. I understand that." He smiled. "But…I respect that you wish to help. I may have become handicapped, but it helped me in the long run."

Sonic blinked. "Helped you? How could going blind help you?" He stopped, looking at the stuffed dog. "I…we set aside our hatred to help each other, hu?" Eggman nodded. "You couldn't stand the thought of me getting hurt…" He nodded again. "You weren't only afraid of going blind…you were worried about my safety…"

He smiled softly, not speaking a word. The doctor came in, asking Eggman a few questions. He answered them all with nods, and small talk. Sonic just watched the stuffed dog, deep in thought. I was afraid of losing him.

The following days were the same. Eggman would walk around a bit, sit in a chair, and eat with his companion. He though it would be easy to walk, but without being able to see, his balance was a little off, and he feared he would run into something at any moment. "It's like walking blindfolded…but your eyes are open." He chuckled; making sure Sonic knew he was not upset. "It needs some taking use to."

At night he would drift slowly, rubbing Sonic to ease him. Eggman slowly grew to realizing that the he really did see Sonic as a son. He did know him since he was only a toddler. All he wanted was the child to have fun, to enjoy his life and to not be scared. He didn't want him to suffer like he did, alone and sad. He found himself gently kissing the hedgehog's forehead at night, like his mother always did to him, wishing him nice dreams and a good sleep. He felt his mother watching over him, smiling at how open he was growing.