Day Thirteen, Prompt: Cold Compress/Infection/Not So Good

Sonic's Metal Virus infection has long stopped riddling his body but the after-effects and consequences from running with little sleep and not taking care of himself leave him feeling ill. Thankfully, his brother doesn't seem to have a problem taking care of the stubborn hedgehog.

Dealing with Starline's Metal Virus infection was already taxing enough on his body but having to deal with the consequences from his lack of sleep and his attempts to stay away from anyone as far away as possible to even resorting being outdoors day and night even if the cold winds blew, that was beyond what he had hoped.

The Restoration and its allies have since been able to defeat both Eggman and Starline after a long treacherous battle at resolving the Metal Virus crisis. The fallout is essentially the community across villages and towns trying to get back to their everyday lives, rebuilding and restoring what once was. Everything was right on track to achieving that goal, however, Sonic was nowhere to be found.

It was the middle of the night, far late now. The blue heroine had been having a hard time attempting to fall asleep in the last few days. Everything was a problem. The pillows were too warm. The covers were making him sweat but every time he pulled them off he was shivering. The room wasn't dark enough and he changed positions for every limb yet hadn't been able to find a comfortable stance.

In all, a headache pounded at his temples. It hurt to open his eyes and moving them alone felt sore. His current stance consisted of the covers being half on and off of him. An arm off the side of the bed, face smothered in his pillow. He stayed like that but his body screamed at him to move to a different position so he simply sat up. He was thirsty and his throat was scratchy too. It would do him some good to retrieve a glass of water.

Stalling from his sleep, Sonic pulled away from the covers and slid off the bed with a small creek. His headache felt like it could split in two but he tried to ignore it the best he could. He tiptoed his way out the door and down the hallway. Tails was long asleep, thank Gaia.

The kit had been pulling long nights and wouldn't sleep until very late into the night. Sonic had finally been able to convince him to take a few nights to actually rest. After all, he had a hand in helping stop this virus so he deserved all the rest he could get. Sonic would hate to wake him.

When he got to the kitchen, Sonic didn't bother turning on the lights. His eyes already ached too much. The last thing he needed to do was make them ache even more. He went to a cabinet on the far right and picked a small glass from it. It was too dark to see where exactly he was going so he used his hands to find the pit in the sink. Turning the knob, the cool water splashed into the glass and he couldn't tell when it was full until the glass began to spill over. Sonic closed the knob and drank his water in one go. He set the glass aside and he could feel bubbles of coughs threatening to sound themselves and he tried his best to smother his mouth to prevent any noise. Wet flares raked and it was when Sonic realized just how bad he felt. Getting some sleep would probably do him some good.

Sonic was about to head back to his bedroom when suddenly the lights were turned on, blinding him briefly.

"Sonic? What are you doing up?" asked the young fox.

Sonic squinted at him, "Uh, just wanted some water. I thought I told you to rest."

"Well I was, I just heard some noises in the kitchen. I was just looking to make sure nobody broke in or anything."

"No, no bud it's just me. Now come on, get back to sleep," Sonic moved to escort Tails back to bed, turning the lights off in the kitchen in the process. When they got to the section of the hallway where they would need to split, Tails turned to him.

"Sonic, are you alright? You don't look so good."

So Tails noticed, damn.

Sonic hummed, "I'm alright. Nothing like a good night's rest won't resolve. You go back to bed. I'll be fine."

Tails didn't seem entirely convinced but the look of exhaustion on Sonic's face told him he should probably stop asking questions and let his brother go back to sleep.

"Ok, goodnight Sonic."

"Goodnight Tails."

They left it at that.

Sonic climbed into bed and didn't know how in Chaos' name he was going to get even remotely a wink tonight but he had to at least try. He didn't know how many times he tossed and turned and adjusted his covers and pillows until finally, he fell into a deep slumber.

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The next time he woke up, firstly, he felt hot and sticky all over. Secondly, he felt a whole lot worse than last night's predicament.

Sonic regretted waking up but he was cold and the covers ended up on the floor at somepoint during the night. He tried to reach for them but the more he reached the more he pulled himself off the bed until eventually, he fell off with a thump.

Finding himself on the floor, he didn't want to get back up. His body ached and was racked with shivers throughout. He was so cold yet so hot to the touch. His headache seemed to have only worsened overnight and the rest of his body began to cramp at every bend.

After being on the floor for a few, Sonic finally found the strength to lift himself up and plop down onto the bed with one hand taking ahold of the blankets. He wrapped himself in them and snuggled into their immediate warmth even if he did feel hot, his shivers overrided how hot he felt. It was still early morning and Sonic didn't think Tails was up just yet so he didn't think it would hurt to get a few more minutes of sleep. Surely just a few more minutes.

The third time he woke up it wasn't voluntary. A cool wet compress was on his forehead, a few stray water streams flowed down the sides of his head, and a hand brushed them away. The rag left his frons momentarily, his ears picking up the sound of the rag being drowned in water and dripping as it was pulled out and wrung before being placed back on where it had been before.

As much as he didn't want to, he peeled his eyes open enough to see a yellow figure looming over him. "Hey, are you feeling any better?" the kit asked, genuinely concerned.

Sonic didn't know how to respond, on one hand, his headache had slightly improved but still lingered, and as much as the rag helped some he still felt hot and sweaty. Yet despite that, he was going to reassure Tails he was fine but not before coughs spewed out without warning causing him to sit up with the damp cloth sliding off his face.

The coughs didn't stop and Sonic slightly became panicked when he couldn't get a full breath of air before another round of coughs would ensue. A soft hand pat at his back attempting to get him to fully get out all those coughs. Finally, they stopped. Sonic breathed in deeply afraid more rounds would occur.

A glass of water was pushed into his hands and he wasn't hesitant to let the fluid flow down his throat. When he finishes Tails takes the cup away and sits on the edge of the bed.

"What time is it?" Sonic rasps out.

"It's late noon now. You've been asleep all morning."

Sonic waves off the concern he knows Tails has, "I'll be fine. You don't have to worry about me."

"You say that, but you've been off ever since ridding the Metal Virus infection off you. You aren't well, Sonic."

The hedgehog hates that his brother is right, he has been off ever since that day. He's just so tired. He's lost so many hours and nights of sleep and all he wants to do is sleep for the next three months without having to worry about what's going on in the world. That was impossible though.

Sonic sighed, "Maybe, but you shouldn't have to take care of me. This will pass eventually."

"I know, but that doesn't mean I can't help my big brother get better. I understand that your infection wasn't the easiest to go through," Tails noted.

Sonic purely nodded at that. He'd never felt such exhaustion like this before and hardly ever with the constant running he's been doing in all his years. This was the first in a very long time that running left him this fatigued.

"You've helped me through all the times I've been sick, let me help you too. That's what brothers are for."

Sonic smiled, he knew he raised the fox well despite their close age. He let out another wet cough and Tails helped ease him back to bed.

"Just rest, I'll be right here if you need anything. You'll only get better if you stop fighting against your body's needs."

Tails says something else after that but he doesn't catch it. His senses fade off in the background and at some point during the day, his fever and headache fade altogether.

Tails thanks Gaia for it.

I KNOW IM LATE, I went to the mall yesterday with my friend, and by the time we came back, I was just too tired to post anything. I'll post today's prompt later tonight. I promise.