Day Five, Prompt: Debris/Pinned Down
Surely his leg remained intact, however, it's hard to tell with what he hopes is adrenaline is what is keeping his pain at bay. Knuckles is kind of panicking and he doesn't want to hurt his friend. Sonic simply needs him to keep his composure.
Damn it.
DAMN IT.
Chaos, he should've paid better attention to where he was going or a matter of fact his timing. He thought he could get out of this unscathed but no, no his leg just had to get stuck beneath the rubble of the tunnel they had tried to escape from.
Sonic and Knuckles were out at Sunset Heights when suddenly, a loud implosion occurred beneath the streets of the city and it began to crumble beneath like a sinkhole. The two attempted to help free the trapped, creating an opening so that they could find their way out. They knew the rubble was unstable and it could happen at any second that a single piece of debris could wobble and the whole tunnel would fill in.
Knuckles warned him to hurry but Sonic needed to make sure no one else remained. He would never forgive himself if he left behind someone he knew he could've helped simply because he chose to save himself.
Sonic went further than he should've when another loud band was heard further down within the tunnel. It triggered the current debris to become unstable and come crashing down. Knuckles yelled his name, voice cracking as he did so.
Sonic was standing in the middle of the tunnel, he turned behind him when he heard that second bang and to his horror, the ceiling was folding in on each other at a very fast rate. With that, he's running.
He should've been paying more attention but he grew very wary of how fast the place was crumbling and his head was turned over his shoulder the entire time which proved to be a terrible mistake as he tripped over a pothole causing him to trip. He has no time to try to stand up before he feels a sharp pain made into numbness in his leg.
Civilians lined around the crevice all the while Knuckles made his way down the tunnel, taking careful steps at each rock making sure he wouldn't accidentally cause another tumble. He's yelling his name but he's not sure if Sonic's hearing him.
He doesn't think Sonic's gone just yet. No, that hedgehog is too damn stubborn to die like this. He knew damn well this was not the way he wanted to go.
He gets to where he saw Sonic last and he starts to dig. It's fast and effective with the use of his large boxer gloves. He's digging so far down to the point where he thinks he is looking in the wrong place so he shifts to a different spot before he hears a small whine from afar.
"Sonic? SONIC?!"
A pause.
"KNUCKLES!"
Sonic's voice echoes further down into the tunnel and farther than Knuckles thought he originally was. He chooses not to walk over all the piles of rubble so he glides over it high enough to separate himself from the ground. The tunnel is dim but he's looking for any clue of where Sonic is. Then, he spots a hint of blue and he's quick to stomp down and make his way over.
Upon arrival, Sonic is found lying on his stomach and there are splatters of blood found mostly throughout his head and face. Knuckles thinks he could be concussed, he'll have to take a look at that once they find their way out. But no, that's not what makes Knuckles' face pale. It's when he looks to his left that there's a large piece of the ceiling pinning Sonic's leg down beneath it. Smaller debris surrounded him and they most likely hit his head in the process.
"Chaos Sonic. How bad is it?" Knuckles kneel.
Sonic huffs, "I- uh- I don't know. I can't feel it."
Knuckles tries to inspect by putting his head against the floor but no luck. "Okay, I'm going to move it alright? Stand by."
Sonic chuckled at that. Stand. Ha!
Knuckles gripped the bottom of the heavy rock but before he lifted it, he felt a slick thick substance seep into his mits. He pulls one out and his face goes white.
Blood. Bright Red and the Metallic smell itches his nose.
When he doesn't feel any pressure being lifted off him, Sonic turns to face Knuckles whose eyes remain fixed on his hand, "Heya, Knux, What gives, come on."
No response.
"Knuckles?" He tries to turn further back to try to shake him but a sharp pain runs up his leg and he can't suppress a loud wail spilling out of his mouth.
It seems to have just done it because Knuckles is snapped out of his thoughts and he turns to Sonic now worried.
"S-Sonic I can't."
"What?! W-What do you mean -chaos- you can't?!"
Knuckles shakes his head, expression frozen on his face, "I'll hurt you. You're you're-"
"Hey Knux, don't freak out on me, please? You panic and then I'll panic and then we all panic. J-just come on. You can do it."
Knuckles wants to do something but his body won't let him. He's just stuck. He's frozen in place and his hands are quivering from nerves. Had he tried to help Sonic he thinks none of this would have happened.
His trance ceases when he feels the same dreadful liquid flowing underneath the rock that still keeps Sonic's leg held start to seep into his leg. He wants to throw up right there but he doesn't. Sonic's right. He's just panicking. He's not sure why, maybe the fact that he has long-established thinking Sonic was untouchable was proven to be false by the fact that there is bodily fluid spilling out of him as if he didn't need that to survive. Oh, Chaos.
When Sonic goes quiet is what makes him snap out of it. This wasn't about him and Sonic shouldn't be the one to be comforting him during this. It should've been the other way around. So he swallows hard and despite how much he hates the feeling, he slips beneath that rock again. His palms this time were completely soaked. Sonic's losing too much blood for his liking, they can't spend another minute here anymore. Sonic needed help.
The rock was heavy, more than he's used to carrying. Knuckles is using all his strength and he's trying real hard. Sonic's shrieks and whimpers aren't helping if anything makes him wince every time something comes out of his mouth.
Knuckles finally manages to move the boulder off of him and sets it aside. When he finally moves it aside he has to slap a bloodied palm over his mouth when he sees what is beneath.
Sonic's leg was completely soaked with blood covered all over. He's not sure of the extent of his injuries but needs to try to at least control the bleeding.
"I'll be right back, stay here. Please stay awake," he asks, desperately.
Knuckles returned to the surface. Faces of civilians face him alarmed that he returned without the hero. Even more alarming that he's drenched in Sonic's blood.
"Does anyone have a rag!? Towel? Blanket? ANYTHING?!"
The crowd begins their spur, some simply offer ineffective ways to help. A mother looks down at her child in the stroller. She takes the child's blanket, promising her baby a new one, and holds it up, "I got a blanket you can use!"
Knuckles' head turns to the sound of the voice. He walks over to the mother, takes it, and thanks her.
"Save him, please. He's done so much for us it's the least we can do."
He nods and he's off. He's practically shaking at this point. Knuckles is so afraid that when he returns he'll find a dead Sonic from blood loss. Chaos, he needs to stop thinking.
When he's finally seated back next to him he doesn't wait to start locating the source of the stream. There were two breaks noticeable by the way his leg was bent. Up near his thigh was a skin break where a small part of his bone peaked out. Knuckles looks away briefly and eyes his friend. Sonic's trying so hard to not let his lids slip him into a slumber.
"Good. You're doing so good just hang on a little longer okay? Just until we get home alright?"
He rips the blanket into four long strips. He uses one of them to tie around his upper thigh where the exposed bone is. He knots it tightly and he needs to hold Sonic's leg down to keep him from moving. The other two strips are used for reinforcement and the last one is used to at least try to clean the blood that remained on him. It wasn't perfect but he didn't want blood all over him either. His hands were enough.
Once he deems it to be enough, he's careful to carry him. Sonic's head falls against Knuckles' crest. He focuses on Knuckles' heartbeat, the only thing keeping him from falling asleep even if he appears that way with his eyes closed.
Well, at least he thought he didn't. Because the next thing he knew he was waking up to find himself on the couch of his living room. He tries to sit but flinches, forgetting about his injury. He looks around and sees it heavily bandaged. He thinks it might've been slightly overdone but he doesn't mind.
Knuckles walks up with two cups in hand and hands one to Sonic, "You're awake."
Sonic stares, "Yeah, thank you by the way for that."
"Mmhh," Knuckles seems unamused, he drinks his tea from his cup.
They sit in silence, no words exchanged between them. It's awkward if anything.
"Are you in any pain?"
Sonic shakes his head, "No, no not at the moment."
He sets the cup aside and they sit in further silence. Sonic already thanked Knuckles however there's still a burning question floating around in his head.
"Knuckles, what happened to you out there? You just froze on me. You made me worried."
Knuckles swallowed, 'I- I don't know. I honestly don't. I guess seeing you hurt like that, just caught me off guard." He sips the rest of his tea.
Sonic's head twists in bewilderment, "Why? I mean I'm fine now but you just blanked in the moment."
Knuckles sighed, "I'm sorry. It's just- I guess I got so used to you coming out of these things just fine and intact I guess when I saw all the blood I just, I don't know, it was out of the norm."
"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I panicked, I thought you were untouchable but I know you're not. You're like the rest of us. You can still get hurt. Blood flows through all of us equally. I honestly just don't know why I had that mindset. For that, I'm sorry Sonic."
Sonic pursed his lips. He felt that he disappointed Knuckles by showing his vulnerability but at the same time, he felt a sense of frustration. He was used to people seeing him like he was some God but the truth was, he isn't. He never wants to be, he wants to be treated like everyone else. He wants to live his life the way he pleases just like everyone else. He hates being seen differently simply by the fact that he's the world's hero. He felt a sense of betrayal from Knuckles.
"Sonic?"
He sighed, "Look, I get it. People think that about me all the time. I'm used to it. I guess, I don't know, I was hoping you wouldn't think the same thing. I'm a being too. I'm not superior to anyone nor do I try to be. I wish people would stop treating me as such."
A sense of guilt filled Knuckles' heart, "I'm sorry. I didn't know you felt that way. I should've never reacted the way I did"
Sonic shrugged, "Like I said Knux, I'm used to it. It is what it is." Knuckles notes how he waves off his apology.
They once again find themselves in silence. Sonic lays against the side of the couch.
"Sonic?"
"Mmh?"
"I'm sorry I panicked."
He thought Sonic was upset but he's not. Sonic finds himself smiling, "It's okay. Just try not to for next time. I think the blood spewing out of me was enough for me to worry about."
Knuckles scoffed, "Next time?"
And they laugh.
Trying to not get behind on any Prompts. I know the second I don't post one day I will not be able to catch up -ugh- so we'll try to keep up. Also, I was on the crapping train to go to college and then I saw the one person I've been trying to avoid and I tried to play it off but nah bro, I FAILED. THEY SAW ME NOOOO.
