(Note: When Sonic brings his son Turbo to the hospital for an important operation, Turbo gets scared and runs away).
~Face Your Fears~
Sonic sat in the waiting room of the hospital, along with Amy and his seven year old twins, Speedy and Turbo. Why was he in the hospital with his family, you ask?
Well, a few days ago, a kid who was sick with the flu had been in Speedy and Turbo's class. During gym, the kid had accidentally sneezed in Turbo's face; the young hedgehog thought nothing of it until two days later when he started complaining about his throat hurting.
Turbo had said his throat was incredibly sore and it hurt to swallow his breakfast, so Sonic and Amy decided to make an appointment for the doctor to find out what was going on.
"Mr. and Mrs. Hedgehog, the doctor will see you now", said a nurse sitting at the reception desk.
Sonic stood up with his family and walked into one of the examination rooms, where the doctor was waiting for them. The doctor was a female Mobian deer with sandy brown fur with white spots and dark brown hair; she wore a crisp white lab coat, a pair of round glasses and a stethoscope around her neck. Her name was Dr. Fauna.
"Hello there, everyone. Good to see you all again. So, we ran some tests and it turns out that Turbo has tonsillitis", said Dr. Fauna.
"What's that? Is it serious?", Amy asked with concern.
"Tonsillitis is an inflammation of the two oval-shaped pads of tissue at the back of the throat. Tonsillitis is usually caused by a viral infection but can be from a bacterial infection, he may have gotten it from a child at school who might've had a cold or the flu", explained Dr. Fauna.
"Well, there was a sick kid in our gym class the other day and he sneezed on Turbo", said Speedy.
Turbo groaned as he glared at his sister, "So...how do I make it go away?", he asked though his voice was extremely strained due to the soreness of his throat.
Dr. Fauna pulled up some images related to tonsillitis on her computer, "Thankfully, this isn't a serious illness and it's very easy to treat. Usually, I'd recommend antibiotics but from the sound of it, the inflammation seems to have gotten to the point where that won't be enough...", she trailed off.
"So, what do you suggest?", asked Sonic.
"A tonsillectomy. Basically, it's a surgical procedure in which both palatine tonsils are fully removed from the back of the throat", Dr. Fauna explained.
Turbo's eyes suddenly went wide with horror, "S-S-Surgery...!", he croaked.
Dr. Fauna smiled reassuringly, "Its alright, the surgery will be performed under general anesthesia, while you are sleeping. The surgery usually takes twenty to thirty minutes. You will not feel any pain while we are removing the tonsils.
"Then you'll spend the next two weeks here for the recovery process, pain is common and may get worse three to four days after the surgery. This pain is often worse in the morning and may last up to two weeks, but with medication it will dissipate.
"As for what you can eat after the surgery, a key to recovery is making sure that you drink enough fluids. Soft and/or cool foods often are easiest for about one week, but you should still avoid hard and spicy foods. Now, do you have any questions, Mr. and Mrs. Hedgehog?", she said.
Sonic and Amy looked at one another before nodding in agreement, "No, we're fine. So when can you perform the procedure?", said Amy.
"I don't have any other appointments scheduled for today, so I can schedule it for this afternoon. Go and wait in the waiting room while I go speak to the pediatric surgeons", said Dr. Fauna.
The hedgehog couple nodded but before they could leave the room, Turbo suddenly stood up with a panicked expression on his face. "Wait...surgery?! As in, you're gonna stick needles into me and then cut me open?!", he croaked in fear.
"Turbo, sweetie...", said Amy.
"The surgery is perfectly safe, son. And you'll be asleep the entire time after we give you the anesthesia--"
"No! I don't wanna! Can't you just give me some nasty tasting medicine instead?", Turbo attempted to scream but it came out more like a raspy gasp.
"Come on, son. It doesn't sound that bad, and when it's done, your throat won't hurt anymore", said Sonic.
Turbo's eyes widened even more as he shook violently with fear, "NO! NO! NO!", he screamed, which made his throat hurt more. Suddenly, as a male nurse that was called over by Dr. Fauna came up to try and help calm him down, Turbo changed into his werehog form and bit the nurse on his hand. As the nurse screamed in pain while holding his hand, Turbo leapt out into the hallway of the hospital and bounded away on all fours.
He ducked and weaved away from any doctors or patients who were in the hallway, though he did knock over one nurse who hadn't seen him coming. Finally, as he turned down another corner, Turbo approached an elevator.
He punched the open door button with much desperation, not wanting to be caught by his parents or the hospital personnel; the elevator dinged as the doors opened, Turbo launched himself into the elevator and quickly shut the door. Not caring where the elevator would take him, Turbo just pressed any random button.
It turned out this button was for the hospital's basement, three floors down. The elevator stopped at the basement, the doors opening to let Turbo off; he cautiously looked around and saw no hospital personnel, just some signs along the marble white walls. One read "Laundry Room", so Turbo walked in the direction the sign was pointing to.
He then came upon the room that the sign was talking about, he opened the door to find a room filled with metal shelves holding piles of folded white linens, various washing machines and dryers. There were also large wheeled carts filled with piles of more white linens and laundry shoots hanging from the ceiling.
Turbo hopped into one of the carts and nestled himself beneath the pile of linen sheets and blankets, it seemed as though they had just been cleaned since they were still warm, implying that they had just been taken out of the dryer. Turbo curled up into ball, now that his fear was dying down, he had lost his previous rush of adrenaline and now felt very tired.
"I think I'll just take a little nap here, they won't be able to find me anyway...", he murmured softly. With a yawn, he nestled into the warmth of the linens and fell asleep.
[Time Skip]
Back upstairs, Sonic was standing outside of the hospital, using a payphone. Inside, Amy and a few hospital personnel were trying to find Turbo but weren't having much luck; Speedy had even offered to help by changing into her werehog form and trying to sniff out her brother, but even she couldn't find him.
So, without any other options and because he wasn't allowed to change into his own werehog form due to him possibly scaring the patients, Sonic got on a payphone and started calling the one person he knew could help him.
"Hello?", said a voice on the other line.
"Shadow? It's me, Sonic", said Sonic.
"Why are you calling me from a payphone, Faker? Don't you own a cellphone?"
"Sorry, I left it at home. Anyway, are you busy today? Because I really need your help".
Shadow let out a soft laugh, "Of course you do. Luckily for you, I have the day off today and have just been here at home with Silver and Maria since I don't have anything else to do. What's the problem?", he asked.
"Come to the hospital downtown, I'll explain everything to you then", said Sonic.
"Alright then", Shadow said as he hung up.
[Time Skip]
When Shadow arrived at the hospital, Sonic explained the whole situation to him. How he and Amy brought their son to the hospital to see why his throat was hurting so much, how the doctor explained that he had tonsillitis and needed to have a tonsillectomy.
Then Sonic explained how Turbo freaked out and changed into his werehog form, bit a male nurse and ran off. Now he was hiding somewhere in the hospital and they needed to find him.
"And we know he didn't leave the hospital because he would've been spotted by everyone in the main lobby. So I need you to help me find him", said Sonic.
"Its obvious that your son is absolutely terrified at the prospect of having surgery", said Shadow.
Sonic gave him a deadpanned glare, "Yeah, Shads. I kinda figured that was the case when he freaked out and ran off", he said sarcastically.
Shadow laughed, "Anyway, here's what we'll do: you go search the upper levels while I search the lower levels. If I find him, I'll bring him to you", he said.
Sonic nodded as he went to go find Amy so they could search together, meanwhile Shadow got on the elevator and went down one floor. He would've used his Chaos Control to teleport to other parts of the hospital but he didn't want to scare any of the patients.
As he searched the first and second floors, Shadow was beginning to get a sense of deja-vu; he had remembered being in a similar situation with Maria, not his adopted hedgehog daughter, but the other Maria, his friend whom he lost all those years ago.
He remembered a day on the Ark when he had to help Professor Gerald look for his granddaughter because she needed to get a vaccine but ran off due to her fear of needles. Now, while walking around the hospital trying to find Sonic's son who had basically done the same thing, Shadow was experiencing both a happy and sad feeling of nostalgia.
"If Turbo is anything like Maria, he would've gone and hidden himself somewhere no one would think to check. Somewhere that seems safe...", he whispered to himself.
Shadow then walked back towards the elevator, stepping onto it and pressing the button for the basement. He rode in silence before the elevator stopped on the basement floor, he got off and then looked up at the signs on the wall.
"Laundry Room? That sounds like the perfect place to hide, almost like when Maria hid in the storage room on the Ark", Shadow said as he slowly approached the door to the room.
Inside the laundry room, Turbo was still sound asleep inside the pile warm laundry when his sensitive werehog ears caught the sound of the laundry room door opening and closing. The sound made him stir from his slumber and looked around in confusion, until he heard something heavy being dragged along the floor.
This finally sent alarm into his head and Turbo was now wide awake, his body shaking with fear because someone had found him.
"Alright, Turbo. Come on out, I'm not going to hurt you or anything. I just want to talk".
Turbo suddenly stopped panicking when he heard an unexpected yet very recognizable voice, he slowly poked his head out of the pile of linens so he could see who it was that found him.
"Mr. Shadow? What are you doing here?", he asked.
"Your father called me here and told me what was going on, he asked me to help him find you. And don't think about trying to escape, I used one of these carts to block the exit. Also, you're just a child and you won't be able to overpower me, even with your werehog form. Plus, I don't want to fight you anyway, so please just give up", said Shadow.
Upon hearing this, Turbo had a defeated expression on his face. He crawled out of the laundry cart and sat on the floor, tears falling from his eyes as he silently cried. Shadow, feeling sympathy, walked over and sat next to Turbo.
"I'm so scared, Mr. Shadow! I know I'm sick and the surgery is the only way to fix it, but I'm so scared of the fact that they have to cut me open! What if something goes wrong? What if I bleed to death?! I...I don't wanna die!", Turbo shouted as he cried a little harder.
Shadow sighed as he gently pulled the young hedgehog into a comforting embrace, "You know...I knew someone else who was just as scared as you are right now", he said.
"You did?", asked Turbo.
"Yes, my old friend Maria. One day, she needed to take a vaccine to help her with her condition but she had a phobia of needles. She ran off and hid somewhere on the Ark, so Professor Gerald asked me to help look for her.
"I found her in the storage room, just like I found you here in the laundry room. She was also crying, saying that she was scared of the vaccine giving her an adverse reaction. I pulled her into a hug and told her that it may seem scary but that its beneficial in the long run.
"Having a tonsillectomy may sound terrifying but think of this way: that awful pain in your throat will go away and you'll never have to deal with it again. Also, you won't have to face it alone, your family will be watching over you while it happens and they'll be there for you when its over", said Shadow.
Turbo took in what Shadow had said, wiping away his tears. He was still scared at the idea of being operated on, but the thought of his family being there for him while it was happening did give him some comfort. Turbo slowly changed back to his normal self, Shadow smiled as he carried the boy in his arms and walked towards the door.
He pushed the cart out of the way of the door and exited the room.
[Time Skip]
Back on the fourth floor, Sonic was sitting in the waiting room with Amy and Speedy when Shadow suddenly stepped off the elevator while holding Turbo in his arms. The young hedgehog climbed out of Shadow's arms and walked over to his family.
"Turbo! There you are, son!", said Sonic.
"Oh sweetie, we were all so worried about you! You really gave us a scare!", said Amy.
Turbo glanced down at his feet with a guilty expression before looking back up at his parents, "Um...I'm sorry for freaking out and running away, Mom and Dad. I was just really scared of having surgery", Turbo said.
"Son, it's alright. I can see why being operated on would be scary, most grown ups find it terrifying so it's totally understandable that a kid like you would freak out. But don't worry, buddy. Me, your Mom and your sister will be here for you during the whole thing", said Sonic.
Turbo smiled as he followed Dr. Fauna so he could be prepped for surgery; with Shadow's help, Sonic was able to convince the doctors to let him and his family stand by Turbo's bedside until the anesthesia took full effect.
Sonic looked at the terrified look on Turbo's face as the anesthesiologist injected him and then placed the oxygen mask over his face. He decided to think of a way to calm him down before the anesthesia knocked him out.
"Hey kiddo, did I ever tell you about the time I got locked in a broom closet with Tails?", said Sonic.
"No, how'd that happen?", asked Turbo.
Sonic let out a laugh, "Okay, so I went over to Tails' place to help him modify the X Tornado. He told me to get something from the closet but I couldn't find it, he came in after me and accidentally locked us in!
"We were stuck in there for almost an hour, it was so boring and Tails had to pee the whole time. I suggested spin dashing into the door but Tails didn't want me to break it. Finally, we managed to get the door open because it opens on the inside by pushing but Tails was pulling it the whole time!", he said.
Both Sonic and Turbo laughed at the funny story before the anesthesia finally took effect and the latter slipped into unconsciousness. Sonic looked at his son with a loving smile before planting a kiss on his forehead.
"Sweet dreams, son. We'll all be here waiting for you when you wake up", he whispered in Turbo's ear.
[Time Skip]
After the operation was over, Turbo was wheeled into the recovery room where his family was waiting for him. "The surgery went very well, he's going to be asleep for several hours but he'll likely wake up tomorrow morning", said Dr. Fauna.
Sonic thanked her as he looked towards his sleeping son, Amy walked around the bed as she sat down and gently stroked his quills. Speedy walked over to sit down and hold Turbo's limp hand, "If I hold my brother's hand, maybe he won't be so scared when he wakes up", she said.
"That's very sweet of you, honey. I'm sure your brother will really appreciate that", said Amy.
Sonic looked up to see Shadow standing by the doorway to the recovery room, he walked over to him. "I can't thank you enough for the help, Shads. You really helped quelled Turbo's fears", he said.
Shadow smiled, "Glad I could help. And besides, I've had experience with this in my life so I knew how to handle it. Also, you should've told Turbo that after a tonsillectomy, he can have all the free ice cream he wants while his throat heals. That definitely would've eased his fears", he said.
This made Sonic laugh, "Yeah maybe...you know, hindsight really is a jerk but I guess it's not so bad. After all, the most important thing is that my son remembers that his family will always be here for him", he said.
[The End]
