Hi! AHeartForStories here with another chapter for 'Married'!

I would like to thank 'TheVideoGamer' and 'alwaysdoubted' for reviewing. ^^

Reviews are appreciated!

Married: Chapter 8 - Bad News

A continues beeping was the first thing she heard when she slowly woke up again and became aware of her surroundings. She immediatly became aware of a numb throbbing that came from her back and lower body.

She slowly remembered the mission, getting caught and those explosions before losing conciousness.

Then another thought hit her.

What about her husband? Did he make it out okay?

"Rouge?" A familiar voice carefully called out to her.

Well, that quickly answered her question.

With a groan, the snow furred bat placed a hand on her head as she tried to sit up, only to feel two hands gently push her back down.

"Shh, it is okay. Just take it easy, everything will be just fine."

"Shadow?" Rouge asked as her eyes slowly opened and met with the sight of a pair of crimson eyes looking back at her in concern.

"You're hurt." She said as she noticed the bandages that her husband wore and tried to sit up, only to wince and carefully being pushed down to lay back down again.

"Burnt wounds, a gunshot and some broken ribs. Nothing I will not survive. And besides, there will not be a trace of any of them in just a couple of hours." Shadow assured her, even though he lied a bit. His fractured ribs would stay a little longer. Internal wounds, like broken bones, internal bleeding, etcetera, always took longer to heal than surface wounds, like burnt wounds or scratches.

"What happened after I blacked out?" Rouge asked.

"Their plan to try and blow us up had, as expected, turned against them. I got us away from there just in time before the whole factory went down. Most of them got arrested and will not be heard from for a long time to come. Their goods are also lost forever and our mission's target was not found either. But fortunatly, the G.U.N Commander does not mind since they do not have their hands on it either. So it is still another mission accomplished for us." Shadow explained.

Rouge smiled. She had been a bit worried what had happened with the mission.

Shadow took a comfortable seat on his wife's bedside and took her hand into both of his own.

The snowy bat's smiled turned into a frown. She noticed that something was wrong with him. He was acting a bit down.

"Are you okay?" She asked after watching him for a bit longer.

Shadow shot her a small smile.

"Do not worry about me, I am just fine. Instead concentrate on getting better." He answered.

Rouge didn't seem convinced.

"Something is wrong, Shadow. What aren't you telling me?" She asked, wishing her husband would just tell her what's wrong instead off keeping it to himself.

"It is none of our concern for now. Just try to get better first. That is our main concern right now." The hedgehog said.

"And besides, our friends have already been here to visit you. Knuckles even left a couple of flowers!" He said, trying to get his wife to talk about a different subject. Rouge smiled. She was a bit amused when she heard the bitter tone his voice took when he mentioned what Knuckles had left for her.

Before the ebony and white mobian even got together, the young woman had a relationship with the crimson echidna. But it was short and, in the end, meaningless. Or so they thought. Judging by the get-well-soon-gift he had left her, maybe there were still some unresolved issues left between the two of them that not even Rouge herself had noticed until now.

"Shadow, tell me, what's bothering you?" Rouge asked, using her partner's arm to pull herself up in a sitting position, despites the said hedgehog's complaints.

Shadow's smile dissapeared and a sigh left him.

"When we got here, the doctor immediatly took care of you and forced me to stay and wait in the waiting room." He started, telling her everything that had happened.

He told her how the doctor didn't allow him with her as they took care of her. He had to wait for atleast an hour or two before they told him any news, while in the meantime making sure his wounds were taken care off and also ignoring his complaints and demands to see his wife.

Rouge was still out when they finally allowed him to see her and it didn't take long before their friends heard the news and came to visit her. Shadow didn't get alot of time with her as the doctor called him away to explain what was wrong.

Fortunatly, the explosion itself had done little harm to her, but it was nothing compared to her fall.

Her wings had taken quite alot from the impact. While one was badly bruised, the other one was broken. Although, it was still going to be as good as new once the fracture had healed up, but her injuries weren't the only thing the doctor discovered

"And?" Rouge asked, wanting to her husband to continue his explanation.

"You have been out for more than just a few hours. And while you were out, the doctor took the opportunity to examine everything. And I mean absolutely everything. They do not exactly have alot of good hope, but they are waiting for the results to return before they will tell us anything." Shadow finished.

He knew for what the doctor had so little hope, but he refused to say anything, not wanting to worry her for nothing in case everything turned out to be just fine.

Rouge laid back down on her side, choosing this position to spare her wings. She liked the fact that her husband was so protective towards her, but she still wished he would tell her what it was that worried him so instead of keeping it all to himself.

Another hour had passed.

The white female bat was close to falling asleep again while the ebony hedgehog was keeping himself busy by removing the bandages after having decided that his wounds got enough time to heal up.

He had just started on the bandages that covered his left shoulder where the gunshot wound should've been when the doctor entered the room. A neutral expression on his face.

"Mr. Robotnik?" The human asked and the ebony hedgehog nodded. Rouge, having heard the doctor enter the room, rubbed in her eyes before watching her husband leave the room.

It took a while before he came back. A saddened expression was on his face as he sat down and took her hand again. The doctor had already left the two of them alone.

"What did he say?" Rouge asked, instantly fearing the worst.

"Rouge..." Shadow started, but paused a little, not sure how to tell her this.

"Remember some of the things we discussed when we were engaged?" He asked and awaited her answer.

"A nice house for the two of us, getting married, stable job, kids... What else?" She asked. She wanted to know where he was going with this.

"Rouge... After a throughout examination, the doctor discovered that you're infertile... I guess we won't be having kids after all."