Chapter 26
Rated T
You can't have everything; Where would you put it? - Steven Wright
Sally wasn't sure she had heard him correctly. "Come again?" She asked. Dr. Anderson nodded. "I'm sorry. I'd like to do an Ultrasound to see how extensive the damage is."
"Wait." Sally shook her head. "You already did that once. Wouldn't something like this have been picked up the first time?" She asked.
"Well, yes. But it's not uncommon for complications like this to pop up farther on down the road. For all we know, he could've been born with this, it may have been the drug use. I don't know. But, by doing another Ultrasound, we'll be able to see how bad it is and if it's not too extensive, hopefully we can repair what damage has been done."
Sally couldn't believe what she was hearing. Yesterday, they had been a normal couple, now he was in a hospital bed, fighting for his life. "How soon can they be done?" She asked. Dr. Anderson looked at his watch. "It's three right now. I'll put a call to Ultrasound and see if we can get someone up here to do it right now. But if not, he'll have to wait until six at least." Dr. Anderson closed the folder.
"So, just going by what you know right now," She stopped long enough to swallow the lump in her throat. "What're his chances?"
Dr. Anderson looked through the folder he was carrying. "Going by these numbers-"
"Sally!"
She turned around when she heard her name and she saw Knuckles poking his head out the door. "He's awake." Knuckles said and quickly drew his head back in the door; Sally and Dr. Anderson rushed back in the room. "Sonic!" Sally exclaimed as she rushed over to his bedside and sat back down in the big sleeper chair and took his hand. When she sat down, he smiled and squeezed her hand. "Hey." He said. His voice was quieter than it normally was and he was still weak after the defibrillator shocked him earlier, but he was awake. "What happened?" He asked, looking around.
Dr. Anderson stepped forward. "Good to see you're awake." He said. "How're you feeling?"
"Good, at least that pain's gone." Sonic said. "How long was I out?" Sally looked over at the clock on the wall. "About two hours." She said.
"So you're not in any pain now?" Dr. Anderson asked. Sonic shook his head no. "That's good." Dr. Anderson said, writing something down in the chart he always seemed to be carrying around. "So what happened?" He said looking at Sally. Dr. Anderson looked up from his chart. "You had a heart attack. Pretty massive from what we can tell." Dr. Anderson said.
Sonic's eyes glanced downward for a few seconds as his brain processed the information. "*Heh* Guess that explains all that pain I was having then." He said. He tried to shift around and get a little more comfortable, but he was still a little weak and only managed to squirm around. "So what'd we do from here?" Sonic asked. He took that well. Sally thought. "Right now, I'd like to schedule you for an Ultrasound; after an attack of that scale, we need to see how extensive the damage is, and if necessary, we'll do a heart cath again."
Sonic nodded. "Oh. Okay then. Better safe than sorry." Sonic said. Everyone was amazed how coolly he was taking it. Most people would've been freaking out about it or bawling their eyes out. But not him. Sonic took it, like everything else, with dignity. "When can we get it over with?" Sonic asked.
"The tech gets in at six, so we can start it around seven." Dr. Anderson said. Sonic nodded. "Cool." Dr. Anderson wrote down some more in the chart and closed it up. "Okay. Right now, I'm gonna get some more samples of your blood and start you on Lysomix and some fluids. Your last test said you were a little dehydrated. So I'll put in for the Ultrasound and get those samples from you."
"Thanks." Sonic and Sally said at the same time. Dr. Anderson nodded and gave the others a small wave and left.
"You had me scared you know." Sally scolded him. "Don't blame me. I'm not the one who decided to freak out." Sonic said, pointing at his chest.
Later That Morning
While Sonic was having the Ultrasound done, the others stepped out to get something to eat while it was being done. "So how long is this gonna take?" Sonic asked as Dr. Anderson laid the mattress flat. "Shouldn't be too long. About ten minutes." He said. The tech had already dragged the machine in the room and was setting it up. "Go ahead and take off your gown." Dr. Anderson said. Sonic complied and pulled it down to his waist and lay back down. Meanwhile, the tech had finished setting the machine up and it was ready. He grabbed the wand and put a generous amount of the gel that Sonic hated so much and reached over and plopped it down on Sonic's chest.
"Ngh!" Sonic grunted, expecting it to be cold. Instead, it was warm. And the tech that was operating the machine wasn't bearing down as hard as he could either. He was gentle with it, only pressing down when he needed to and even then, he wasn't rough with it.
"Hell, this is a lot better than the last guy that did it." Sonic said. The tech flipped a few switches and Sonic's heart finally showed up on the screen. Dr. Anderson watched it intently, monitoring it like a hawk and giving the tech occasional instructions. Sonic couldn't see the screen, but he could see Dr. Anderson's face, which gave him an idea of how it was going.
After watching the screen for a minute, Dr. Anderson turned to the tech and said, "go to the infrared." The tech complied and hit a switch, and then they went back to watching it. "Go to the side." Dr. Anderson said a minute later.
"Bring up sound." Dr. Anderson told him. The tech hit a few more buttons and a switch, and then the machine started making a whooshing noise. "What's that?" Sonic asked. Dr. Anderson looked over at him. "That's the sound of the blood being pumped through your heart." He said, then turned back to the screen.
Dr. Anderson and the tech watched the screen for a few more minutes, and then Sonic saw something that worried him. Dr. Anderson, who had an intense look on his face for the past few minutes now looked like someone who had been fighting a war and suddenly realized he'd lost. "Turn it off." Dr. Anderson said, his head shaking slightly. The tech nodded and handed Sonic a towel. Sonic wiped the excess gel off of his chest and he handed the towel back to the tech, who laid it on the machine and pushed it out the door.
Sonic didn't have to be a mind reader to know that Dr. Anderson had found something serious. "What is it?" Sonic asked.
Dr. Anderson took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. "I'm gonna be honest with you. It's not looking good." He said. "Your heart is... shutting down." Dr. Anderson's voice was quiet.
Sonic was silent for a moment. Did he just say... "Say that again?" Sonic asked.
"The Ultrasound showed that your heart suffered massive damage to the point that it can no longer keep beating on it's own."
"So I'm going to die?" Sonic asked blankly.
"I'm afraid so, yes." Dr. Anderson said. As Sonic took this new information in, he asked Dr. Anderson one final question. "How long do I have?"
"My best guess, three months, maybe four if you're lucky." He said. Sonic nodded slowly. Dr. Anderson watched in amazement as, unlike other patients whom he had given the same type of bad news to before, Sonic didn't break down or; lash out at him like a few of them had in the past. Sonic simply asked his questions and that was it. There was no showing of emotions. It didn't mean that Sonic didn't feel anything at all. He had seen patients whom he had told them they were dying, did exactly as Sonic did, then lose control or the opposite, accept it with dignity.
"And is there anything you can do to fix it?" Sonic asked. Dr. Anderson cleared his throat. "Unfortunately, no. Normally, we'd insert a pacemaker in you that would keep your heart beating in normal rhythm, or if that were to fail, a heart transplant. Unfortunately, the transplant wouldn't work since your heart isn't strong enough to survive the operation. The same applies for the pacemaker option. The best we can do at this point is give you medication to manage it."
"And how long would that give me?" Sonic asked.
"Another month at the most." Dr. Anderson said. Hmm. Four, maybe five months... "I'm sorry that there's nothing-"
"It's ok." Sonic said, cutting off Dr. Anderson and giving him his trademark smile. "You did your best. That's all I could ever ask of you or anyone." Sonic said. "But I want you to do one thing for me." Sonic said.
"And that is?"
"This is just between you and me. I don't want Sally or any of the others to know about it." Sonic said. "If they have to know, I'll tell them."
Dr. Anderson nodded. "All right. If that's what you want, this'll be just between you and me." He said. "Okay. So what happens now?" Sonic asked.
"Well, I'd like to start you on Clornol. It'll take some of the workload off your heart and make it easier. And I'd like to get a blood test from you while you're taking it in here, just to be sure it's not going to affect your kidneys or cause blood clots, things like that." Dr. Anderson said.
Sonic nodded. "Sure." He said. "Okay. I'll start you on the Clornol today and if your system can handle it for a couple of days without any problems, I'll go ahead and sign your release." Dr. Anderson said. "Sounds good." Sonic said. He reached over and grabbed the water pitcher off the rollaway table and filled his drinking glass up and took a drink. "Any questions?" Dr. Anderson asked him.
"Not right now." Sonic said. "Okay. If you do, you know how to reach me." Dr. Anderson turned toward the door, Sonic thanked him and he walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. When he was gone, Sonic leaned back against his pillow and went through the conversation in his head.
So, I'm going to die?
I'm afraid so, yes.
Those words kept repeating in his head over and over again. He didn't want to believe it, God how he didn't want to believe it. But, he was the one who had put himself in the position he was in. He had no one to blame but himself. If only you'd sucked it up instead of being a coward. He thought. You just couldn't ask for help, could you? No. Sonic hated himself and as the reality of his situation began to sink in, he felt the all too familiar sting of tears begin to form, but just as he started to lose it, he heard the door opening.
"Well you shouldn't have eaten so much then." It was Sally. The others had come back up from the cafeteria. Sonic quickly gathered himself and quickly wiped that few tears away that had started to escape: luckily for him, no one noticed. As they walked in and sat back down, Sally took her place at his side.
"They already do the Ultrasound?" She asked. He nodded.
"Yeah." He said. "What'd they find?" Tails asked as he unfolded one of the blue metal folding chairs and sat down. "Let me call him back in here. He can tell you better than I can." Sonic said, reaching over and grabbing the call button.
"Sonic, have you been crying?" Sally asked. His eyes had started to turn red and it was pretty noticeable. "No. You know when you yawn sometimes and you cry a little? That's what happened." He said. "Oh, I hate that." Cream said.
Sonic pushed the button. "Yes?" A voice asked. "Is Dr. Anderson available?" Sonic asked. "What room are you in?" The voice asked. "28." Sonic replied. "I'll let him know." The voice said.
A few minutes later, Dr. Anderson walked into the room. "Hi everyone." He said as the others greeted him. "So what did his Ultrasound say?" Sally asked. He hated lying to the families of his patient's, but if a patient was sane and able to make the decision, he had to do what they wanted, even it they refused life saving treatment.
"Well, we don't know what caused him to have the heart attack, but for now, everything looks clear." He said. Sally and the others breathed a sigh of relief. "So, just as a precaution, I'd like to start him on Clornol. It's a cardiac medication and keep him here for observation for a couple of days and if nothing further happens, I'll go ahead and sign his release." Dr. Anderson said.
That following day, everything seemed to return to normal. Dr. Anderson had kept his end of the bargain and told the others nothing about Sonic's true condition and Sonic did his best to keep them in the dark. The last thing he needed on top of everything was everyone else worrying about him and crying. He hated seeing them like that and he vowed to keep it to himself for as long as he could. He might not have been able to reverse the damage he caused by selfishly running away from his problems the first time, but he swore he wasn't gonna let it happen again.
Dr. Anderson came in that afternoon with the results of his blood test that they took after he had his first Clornol injection. "Well, so far, I haven't seen any problems with your kidneys; liver came back ok and no signs of blood clots. Have you noticed anything strange? Pain, numbness, chest pain? Anything like that?" Dr. Anderson asked him.
Sonic reached over to the rollaway table and grabbed the small pitcher of water and filled the glass up they gave him and downed it in a second. "Just been thirsty all day." He said. Dr. Anderson nodded and wrote it down in his chart. He looked over at the pitcher, which was a good two quarts and noticed it was empty. "How many of those have you drank today?"
"Hmm..." Sonic thought. "About four." He said. Dr. Anderson wrote that down too, then he put the chart back. Dr. Anderson knew that drinking that much water in a day is a warning sign that something was wrong, but Doctor/Patient confidentiality prevented him talking about it in front of her. "Okay. That's all I need for now. We'll continue the Clornol tomorrow and if everything still comes out ok, I'll go ahead and sign his release orders Friday." Sonic and Sally both thanked him and he left the room.
Later That Night
"Shit!" Sonic exclaimed as he opened his eyes. Sally was sleeping in the sleeper next to his bed, but she had just started to nod off when Sonic's sudden outburst shook her back awake. "What is it?" She asked, sitting up. Sonic frantically patted around the bed for the call button. He was breathing heavily and she could see the fear on his face. She saw it and pushed the button quickly. "Can I help you?" The voice asked. "Can... can't..." He tried to speak, but he couldn't catch his breath.
"He can't breathe." Sally said. "He needs help!"
"Hang on." The voice said. A minute later, a nurse walked in the room. "What's wrong?" She asked, then she saw Sonic. "How long have you been having trouble?" She asked, walking to the side of his bed. Sonic shook his head. "Don't know... woke up... woke up..."
"You woke up like this?" She asked. She reached over and pushed the button on the wall. "Send Dr. Anderson to 28." She said, then released the button. Sonic nodded.
There wasn't much anyone could do until Dr. Anderson walked into the room, which he did a minute later. He walked over to the side of the bed the nurse was standing on. "How long have you been having shortness of breath?" Dr. Anderson asked. "He said he woke up having it." The nurse replied for him. Dr. Anderson took of his stethoscope and placed it on Sonic's chest. He raised an eye and quickly pulled it away. Then he pulled the sheet Sonic had over his legs and pressed on his shin. When he took his finger away, there was an indentation left in the skin. Oh, dammit. Not this. (The following is taken from personal experience.)
Dr. Anderson slung the stethoscope over his neck and looked over at Sally. "I don't want to alarm you, but there's a massive amount of fluid on his lungs."
"What?" Sally asked. "How the hell-"
"I'll explain in a minute." He turned to the nurse. "Go down and get 50cc's of Furosemide and 10cc's of potassium." He said. The nurse nodded and ran off. "Is he going to be all right?" Sally asked.
Dr. Anderson once again had to put his skills of deception to the test. "He's going to be fine. After a heart attack, some patients generally have a backup of fluid on their lungs. It's highly uncommon for it to happen, but it does happen." "Why didn't you tell us about this before?" Sally demanded. "There's no test to screen for it or else we could've been prepared for something like this." Dr. Anderson said. Sally nodded and turned her attention back to Sonic. When he got to speak to him alone, he'd tell him what was really going on.
"Here you go." The nurse came back into the room, carrying two syringes in her hand. Dr. Anderson laid them both on the bed and uncapped one. "This is the Furosemide." He said, sticking the needle into the rubber porthole on Sonic's IV and slowly injecting it. "It's a diuretic, which means it's going to clear out all that fluid very quickly." Dr. Anderson finished the injection, then grabbed the second needle.
"And this is just a potassium shot, to replace what potassium is lost when the Furosemide starts to work." He finished both injections, capped the needles and handed them to the nurse, who tossed them in the biohazard container on the wall. "Can you get a couple urinals as well?" He asked the nurse. She nodded and went to go get those as well.
"So how long until it starts working?" Sally asked. Sonic nodded. He felt like everything inside his chest was floating.
"About five minutes, but it may happen quicker with what's built up inside him." Dr. Anderson said. The nurse came back carrying two plastic urinals and set them on the rollaway table. They resembled square pitchers, with the top portion bent at a 45° angle and a handle jutting out of the side.
Dr. Anderson thanked her and excused her. "And this'll flush everything out?" Sally asked. Dr. Anderson nodded.
Suddenly, Sonic's breathing began to return to normal and he took a smooth, easy breath and smiled. "You have no idea how good that feels." He said. "That means the fluid is off your lungs, then." He said. Then, suddenly, he sat up. "What's wrong?" Sally asked. "Feels like someone's squeezing my chest." Sonic said through clenched teeth.
"It's ok. That's just the fluid that's built up being flushed from around your lungs." Dr. Anderson said. The squeezing got more and more intense with every passing second, but the only thing Sonic could do was endure it. Then to his surprise, he actually felt everything get flushed down toward the exit and he grabbed one of the urinals off the table. Dr. Anderson knew what was going to happen next and he turned around and drew the privacy curtain.
Sally watched as Sonic opened the urinal, threw the blankets and his gown back, pulled his penis out and proceeded to fill the plastic jug the second he had clearance. Sally watched in amazement as Sonic kept going and going. Since he was sitting up in the bed, the urinal was almost flat and he had to stand up to keep it from spilling out onto the bed. "Is that normal?" Sally asked Dr. Anderson. He simply nodded and waited for Sonic to finish.
Sonic finally stopped and capped the urinal, which could hold a liter of urine, was almost full. To her amazement, he set the full one on the table and grabbed the empty one and kept going. Sally sat aghast as he started to fill up the other one. He only managed to fill that one 3/4 full and set it on the table. "Done?" Dr. Anderson asked. "Yeah." Sonic said, getting back into bed. Dr. Anderson turned around and slipped a pair of gloves on and took the urinals into the bathroom, dumped them and washed them out.
"Feel better?" Dr. Anderson asked as he hung the empty urinals on the bed's railing. "Oh, yeah." Sonic said, nodding slowly. "I didn't know someone could hold that much in them." He said, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Now that that's over, it shouldn't be a problem anymore." Dr. Anderson said. He asked Sonic a couple more questions, then excused himself out of the room.
"That was scary." Sonic said. "The breathing?" Sally asked. "No. I didn't know someone could pee that much. Now I know what an orange feels like when you squeeze the juice out of it."
"Well, that's over. At least you won't have to go through that again." She said.
*knock knock* Dr. Anderson came back into the room. "Sally, we need you to go down and sign a few papers." He said. "For what?" She asked. "Whenever we give a patient medication like that, we need something that said we were given consent to do it. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes." Dr. Anderson said.
She nodded and got up and walked out. When she walked out of the room, he quickly walked over to the side of Sonic's bed. "I only have a minute to tell you this, so listen. That wasn't a one-time thing." Dr. Anderson said. "Because your heart isn't working at full capacity, fluid is going to keep backing up on your lungs because it can't keep pumping everything out like it used to." "Any questions?" Dr. Anderson asked.
"Can I still exercise?" Sonic asked. "Yes, but take it easy. No marathons or anything like that. Running is out, but lifting weights, light cardio. That you can do. Just take it easy and if you have pain or something like that, then stop and take a break."
Sonic nodded. "What about sex?" He asked.
"Well, sex does put some strain on your heart, so before you have a go of it, try masturbating a few times. Masturbating is a good way to see if your heart can handle the stress. If after four or five times you don't have any chest pain or shortness of breath, then you should be ok. And try to be on the bottom. That way your heart had to work less."
Sonic nodded again. That's good. He thought. "Let's see." Dr. Anderson continued. "Try to cut down on how much fat you eat. Uh... do you drink?" He asked Sonic.
"Not really." Sonic said. "Good. Alcohol isn't good for your heart. Drink water, no caffeine, and no salt. Do you drink sodas?" Sonic nodded. "If you drink any, make sure their clear." Dr. Anderson jotted down a few more things in Sonic's chart, then closed it up. "Anymore questions?" Dr. Anderson asked. Sonic thought for a few seconds. "No." Sonic said.
"So is it going to kill me or what?" Sonic asked. "No, no. Nothing like that. I'm going to prescribe some Furosemide for you before you leave. Only take it if you're having trouble breathing or your legs start to swell. Other than that, it shouldn't be a problem anymore. I'll have this on your discharge papers before you leave, but from now on, take it easy on how much you drink."
Sonic nodded. "Got it."
When Sally came back to the room, Dr. Anderson had already left. "You'd think they'd have what I needed to sign when I got there." She said, sitting down.
The next few days passed without incident and since Sonic's blood work had come back clean, Dr. Anderson decided to sign his release papers. When Sally went down to pull the car around to the front, Dr. Anderson came in to see him out along with a nurse pushing a wheelchair. "Well, Doc, it's been fun." Sonic said, extending his hand.
Dr. Anderson shook it. "I wish I could say the same. Just take it easy and you should be fine." Sonic nodded and he sat down in the chair and she took him out of the room and down to the elevators. Dr. Anderson watched as Sonic got on the elevators and as the doors slowly closed, Dr. Anderson chuckled. For someone who's going through what he's going through, he's taking it pretty well.
As they drove back home that afternoon, Sonic asked Sally if she could pull into a store so he could get a few things for himself. She agreed and found one just outside of town. He had been reviewing his discharge orders. Since Sonic had requested that his true illness be kept between them, Dr. Anderson had written two different versions, one for his eyes which he had already stuck in his pocket and one for Sally. They both had the same things written on them, but her copy had a few details removed, such as his true diagnosis and things like that. But Dr. Anderson had written down what his new diet would be on both of them so she wouldn't become suspicious, which he was reading over again. Little or no salt, limit his caffeine, sodas and liquids in general; he also had to keep up with his exercising, something he had no problem with.
He also had to monitor most of what he ate. That meant cut down on fat and load up on veggies. Translation: No more ChiliDogs. As he stuck the paper back in the folder, he had a mission on his hands. If I'm gonna have to start watching what I eat, then I'm gonna have one hell of a last hoorah. He thought. Sally parked the car and shut the engine off. Luckily, she had his wallet in her purse and he took it out. "You sure you want to do this? I mean, he did say you're supposed to stop eating all that stuff." She said.
"I know. But I just want to have it as a last meal of sorts. One final hoorah before I can't have that stuff anymore, you know?"
She smiled and nodded. "I guess I can do that. For you." He would've gone inside, but he was still in the hospital gown and jeans, so Sally elected to go in for him. "How much should I get?" She asked, knowing they wouldn't be eating alone that night. "I don't know. Enough for three for everyone I guess." He said. She had a puzzled look on her face. "Three? Are you sure you're feeling ok?" She asked. Normally, he could put five of them away easy, but that was before. "Doctor said I have to watch what I eat, remember?" He said. She nodded and shut the door and walked into the store. She came out ten minutes later, with three bags full of stuff.
On the drive home, Sonic made the call to the others and invited them over. It was a kind of 'second' homecoming'; everyone agreed and he told them to be there around seven. They pulled up to the house and after Sonic had helped her unload everything, he went into the bedroom and took off the hospital gown he had been wearing and threw it on the ground. God, I hope I never have to see one of those again. He thought as he grabbed a shirt out of the closet, new pair of boxers and a pair of pants. He completely stripped down, grabbed the dirty clothes he had been wearing in one hand and his change of clothes in the other and headed for the shower. He needed one after spending that long in that hospital room.
Since he had been a cardiac patient, he had to stay hooked up to a monitor the entire time and couldn't be unhooked from it, even for a few minutes so he could shower. "Sally?" He called out from the bedroom door.
She was already in the kitchen putting the groceries away. "Yeah?" She answered back. "I'm gonna hop in the shower." He said. "K'." She replied. Sonic walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Flipping on the light, he threw the dirty clothes he'd been carrying into the hamper, and laid the clean ones on the bathroom counter. When he saw his reflection in the mirror, he noticed that the spots on his body where the electrodes for the monitor hooked up on him, there were little rings of dirt and lint where they had been placed on him.
He touched one and it still had a little stickiness to it and he sighed. Every time. He thought as he walked over to the shower and turned it on. He stepped inside and began to rinse off, which felt glorious. The dirt rings left by the electrodes proved more than a little stubborn, but he managed to get them off with a little scrubbing.
When he stepped out, he felt like a new man. He toweled off, dressed and walked back into the kitchen where Sally was already getting dinner ready. "Starting already?" He asked. "It's only five." He said.
"I know." She said, turning around. "I want to get it done and out of the way when they get here so I'm not stuck in here like I was last time." She said. Sonic sat down at the breakfast bar and opened the bag with his medications in it. There were five bottles: Furosemide and the potassium supplement for his fluid build up, Clornol and Betapace for his heart, and the Melonax for any sudden chest pain.
Again, Sonic was the only one who knew what they were really for. Sally had read the 'fake' discharge papers and assumed they were supplements and vitamins; the real names of his medications were written on his real papers, along with the names of the vitamins they had been labeled with so he wouldn't get confused. Sonic also asked Dr. Anderson if he could change the names of the meds on the bottles just in case she got suspicious and decided to research them. (I don't think Doctors can actually do that, but oh well.) He had to take the Clornol and Betapace once a day, so he decided to get started on it. He opened the bottles and took one of each and swallowed them down with a glassful of water. "How many of those did he tell you to take?" She asked, picking up one of the bottles off the counter.
"Two of them once a day." He said, sticking them back in the bag. The other three he'd have to hide from her. The irony wasn't lost on him that he was forced to hide pills from her once again, but this time, it was for a different reason. Sonic took the Furosemide, potassium and Melonax and stuck them in the drawer of the nightstand next to his side of the bed in case he needed them. Damn childproof caps. Sonic thought as he struggled to open the bottle of Melonax. Sonic took one of the pills out, which was the size of a pencil eraser and stuck it in his pocket.
Just in case. He thought, closing the drawer and going back to the front of the house. He sat down on the couch and flipped the TV on. He laid a hand on his pants and he felt the outline of the Melonax tablet underneath the fabric. He hoped he wouldn't ever need it.
Two Months Later
"That sounds good." Sally said as she, Sonic and Cream sat around the table. They were back to the process of planning the wedding and were just finishing up the final details. By now, everything had returned to normal, or Sonic's new normal. He had gotten used to taking pills every day and had even become used to taking the Furosemide when he had the swelling in his legs. It wasn't as bad as when they gave him the shot of it in the hospital and everything was flushed out in five minutes. In the pill form, the excess fluid was drained over the course of a few hours, which was much more manageable. Also, he had been fortunate in the fact he hadn't had any serious bouts of chest pain. There had been some, but luckily for him, it hadn't been severe enough to warrant taking one of the Melonax tablets. It came and went quickly and had been light so far. But he always carried one with him, just in case.
The wedding plans had been coming along nicely. Sally and Sonic had already made all the major decisions. Her dress, the food, color schemes. The major details had been decided along with some of the minor ones and now all that was left were a few final minor details. It was the middle of July and the wedding was now only three months away.
"Let's do it around five. The sun should be down by then and it'll be nice and cool by then. No one'll have to sit in the heat." Sally said. Cream nodded and wrote it down in the notepad she used. "Okay. Now the last part is music and vows." Cream said.
Sonic and Sally looked at each other. "Anything in particular you want?" Sonic asked Sally. She leaned back in her chair and thought it over. Out of the many things they had in common with each other, music was one of them. Whatever she said, he'd be comfortable with and vice versa.
Sally began listing songs and after a minute, she had a good size list built up. Sonic looked it over and nodded. "I have one request." He said. Cream and Sally looked at him. "And that is?" Sally asked.
"Faithfully by Journey©™" (If you haven't heard that song, go and listen to it even if Journey's not your thing. I believe it ties in pretty close with Sonic's feelings for her.) Sally nodded in agreement and Cream wrote it down. "And I guess we could do our own vows." Sally said. Cream wrote that down, then closed the notebook up. "And we are finished." She said, sticking it in her purse. "I believe that's a new record for planning a wedding." Cream said. "It helps when you know what you want." Sally said. They all talked for a few more minutes, then Cream left.
Later That Night:
Sonic sat up on the side of the bed, breathing heavily, heart racing and covered in sweat. Fuck! He yelled out in his head as he quickly reached into the drawer in his nightstand and grabbed the bottle of Melonax and quickly popping one of the pills in his mouth. He chewed it up and quickly swallowed it, ignoring the bitter taste in his mouth. He put the bottle back in the drawer and waited for it to take effect. Come on! He thought. If the pain didn't subside in five minutes, Dr. Anderson had told him to go into the hospital and they would be able to give him something stronger for it. Fortunately, that didn't happen this time. The pain began to subside and Sonic felt a tremendous relief begin to lift of his shoulders.
God I hate those things. He thought as he got up to get a glass of water to wash the bitterness out of his mouth. His heart had begun to slow down, but he was still sweating so he decided to jump in the shower and rinse off. As he washed the sweat off of his body, he began to realize that things were getting worse. The pain had started happening more and more frequently. Going from every once in a while with very little pain, to sudden outbursts at night. Luckily, Sally had either been gone or asleep when they hit and so far she was still clueless to the truth.
Sonic stepped out and dried off and he started to go back into the bedroom, but he knew he wouldn't be able to go to sleep so he went into the kitchen and grabbed a soda and sat down on the couch and flicked the TV on. He always did the same thing every time he had pain that woke him up at night. Get up; watch TV then go back to bed when he felt tired.
He turned on the set and cracked his soda open and went through the channels, but finding nothing on, he settled on SportsHub, one of those channels that ran sports highlights and scores 24 hours a day. He set the remote down on the coffee table and saw Sally had left her notes about the wedding out. Sonic picked it up and flipped through it. It was pretty detailed. Every decision she made, even the one's she had decided not to go with were still written down. She's really looking forward to it. He thought as he went through it. It even had the other ideas for the suit Sonic was going to wear. Suddenly, he closed it up and wiped a few tears away and tossed it back down on the table. Every time he woke up with chest pain it reminded him of his condition. But this time, seeing that notepad with her ideas about the wedding made this night extra painful. Seeing that, he realized that he might not be around for they're wedding.
He had been out of the hospital two months and by Dr. Anderson's calculations, he had another month left. Why the hell does the wedding have to be in October? He asked himself. It was July. Even with the extra month, there wasn't any way he was going to see October. "Sonic?"
Sonic turned his head and saw Sally standing just inside the dining room and she started walking over to the couch. "What's wrong?" She asked, sitting down next to him.
"Woke up sweating. Had to jump in the shower." He said. She nodded. "It is a little warm. I thought you were having another nightmare." She said.
"I don't think there're coming back ever again." He said. He reached down and picked up her notebook. "I noticed you left this out again." He said. She smiled and took it. "After you went to bed, I was going through it, seeing if there was anything I wanted to change."
"I am glad you didn't make me change my suit." Sonic said. "I thought about it a little more, but you do look good in red." She said. "I just wish it wasn't so far away."
"What's stopping us?" He asked. Sally looked at him, a confused look on her face. "What're you talking about?" She asked.
"I love you. I know you wanted to wait until October, but I don't know if I can wait that long. What do you say to moving it up?" Sonic asked. Please say yes. Then he reached over and took her hand.
Sally turned away from him and didn't say a thing. Oh God, why didn't I keep my mouth shut? He asked himself. Like all men, sometimes he had a knack for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, but this time he had a good reason behind it.
Then, slowly, she turned back toward him, a smile growing larger as her eyes came into contact with his. "Okay." She said, laughing and crying at the same time. This time though, they were tears of joy, which suited her better. "Let's do it." She said.
When she agreed, another huge weight lifted off Sonic's shoulders. Until now, he wasn't sure if he was going to live long enough to see the wedding. Now, God and his body willing, he was going to see it. He had wanted to ask her to marry him for a long time, even before his life had taken that wrong turn a year ago. Now he was going to see it come true. *Heh* "So when did you want to have it?" She asked. He hadn't even thought that far ahead. He hadn't even expected her to say yes; he was just happy she wasn't mad at him. Sally had been looking forward to their anniversary as the wedding date, but when she said yes, he realized she had been looking forward to it as much as he was.
Now that she had agreed to move it up, he thought about if for a minute. "How about next week?" He blurted out. "Next week?" Sally asked. "Is that gonna be enough time?" She wondered. "I don't think it's even possible to pull a wedding together that quickly. I mean, it took a good three months just to plan it." Sally argued.
Sonic figured she would start to freak out. "We'll just call Cream up in the morning and see what she can do and we'll go from there. She's done a great job so far and if she can't get everything together, we'll work from there." Sonic said.
Sally nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak out on you like that." She said. Sonic leaned in and kissed her. "It's okay. I'd probably be doing the same thing if I were in your shoes." He said. They both stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds then started making out. A minute later, they got up off the couch and quickly made their way back to the bedroom.
Later
Sally lay in his arms, asleep with a small smile on her face. Sonic lay next to her, heart racing, hoping it didn't start to freak out on him again. Luckily though, it returned to normal and he began to relax. It was always a gamble every time they had sex. So far, he had been fortunate at the fact the only problem he had so far was his heart raced for a few minutes afterwards, but nothing more serious would follow. But if he thought if he refused, he thought she might get suspicious and start asking questions. So to keep it a secret, he went along with it like nothing was wrong.
Thank you God. Sonic thought as the pounding in his chest subsided. He hadn't really been in the mood, but he couldn't say no to her. If he did, it would've seemed suspicious. But being a guy, once he got started, there was no turning back. Dr. Anderson said to try going solo and if there were any problems with that, then he had the all clear. After making sure he wasn't going to have any problems, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
That Morning
After their morning coffee, decaf for him, they called Cream and told her that the wedding had been moved up and she came over right away. She sat down with the two of them and looked over what they had planned out. Cream flipped through her notebook that she kept. "You two already have your suit and dress. I think everyone else can pick up what they need in the next couple of days."
She went over everything again. It turned out that Cream and Sally could get everything they needed in four days; the fact that there would be only ten people attending made it much easier. So taking that into consideration, the only thing left to do was pick a date. "How about next Friday?" Sally asked. "Thursday's good." Sonic suggested. Sally disagreed. "How about Sunday?" She said. Sonic thought about it for a few seconds. "Okay." He said.
Cream wrote it down. "Next Sunday it is. Are you two still going to write your own vows?"
"I completely forgot about that. I guess we should get around to it then." Sally said. "Shouldn't be too hard." Sonic said.
"Well, I guess if we're doing this in a week, we should start looking into getting everything together." Cream said, sticking her notebook back in her purse. "Right now?" Sally asked.
"Sure. If you're not busy, of course. I just thought we should do it as soon as possible." Cream said, getting up from the table. "Sure." Sally said, doing the same. "Couldn't hurt to get started now." Sally went into the bedroom and came out a minute later, purse in hand. "You coming?" She asked Sonic.
Sonic shook his head. "Nah. You ladies go have fun." He said. "I'll be back soon." Sally said to him, giving him a kiss. "Love you." "Love you too." Sonic said. He walked over to the window and watched as they both piled into Sally's car and drove off. Now that they're gone...
Sonic picked the remote up off the coffee table and went through the satellite's channel list until he came across the channels that played music 24 hours a day for background noise, then walked over to the desk in the living room and sat down. Since he had a good stretch of time to himself at the moment, he decided to go ahead and write his vows for the wedding and get them out of the way. Going through one of the desk drawers, he found a tablet of writing paper and set it on the desk and grabbed a pencil.
After staring at the blank paper a minute, he started to find the words and he began writing what came to him. He started writing from his heart, the feelings he had for her. It all came pouring out. Just as he was starting the third page, *ring*
"Dammit." Sonic muttered as he got up to find his phone; he hated being interrupted when he was in his groove. Sonic looked at the screen; it was Tails. "Hello?"
"Hey, Sonic. Heard you and Sally moved the wedding up."
What the... "How'd you find out?"
"Cream just told me. So what made you guys move it up?"
Sonic paused for a second. "I got tired of waiting."
"Sounds like you. I guess we have to have a bachelor party for you or something."
"*Heh* 'Bachelor party?' I've been living with her for three years now. We've been practically been married the whole time. Now it's just a matter of making it official."
"Yeah, but it's tradition. We hafta do something. Get a stripper; go to a strip club. Something like that." "I don't think you're old enough for that yet. And besides, I'm pretty sure Cream wouldn't like that too much." Sonic still felt odd whenever Tails talked about sex or anything like that. He might've been fifteen, but Sonic still thought of him as the eight-year-old kid he had found seven years ago. "But having a guys night does sound pretty cool."
"Well, we have to do something... Ah, we'll figure something out. Anyway, I guess I should go. I'll call up Shadow and Knuckles and see if they have any ideas."
"Sounds good."
Tails hung up and Sonic put the phone down, then went back to writing. After another ten minutes, he had four pages total, and he began to go through it, cleaning it up and taking out what didn't fit. After editing it, he had two pages, which he went through one last time. "That should do it." He said. "Guess I still have it." He was a little surprised that he managed to hammer out his vows in such a short amount of time. He took the pages he had just written them and folded it up and on the back he wrote 'Vows'. *Eeee* The sound of squeaking brakes came from outside and when he looked outside, he saw Sally pull into the driveway.