Disclaimer: All non-original characters are property of SEGA, Egmont and/or their respective creators.
Inescapable Past, Act 5: A Time for Tears
Hershey's fist stopped short of the minivan's horn as a black sedan pulled out into the space that'd opened in front of her. It was hardly the first time she'd encountered inconsiderate driving on King Sebastian Boulevard, the eternally congested thoroughfare into downtown Station Square. Hell, in a nimbler vehicle, she might even have made the same move herself. Alas, working for Sally meant driving whatever the boss lady chose.
There had been no shortage of driving so far today, and it wasn't even noon. Hershey had been up and down the Boulevard three times already this morning, all of which had no doubt shortened her temper. The current vibe inside the minivan wasn't helping either. The cat snuck a glance at her rear-view mirror. Seated two rows back, Amy Rose was still gazing interminably out of a side window.
Conversation with the kid had been sparse since Hershey broke the news about Vanilla. It'd been yet sparser once she'd convinced the hedgehog she wasn't withholding any details about the rabbit's condition. After they'd set off, talk had ceased completely. The cat could only hope Amy's reticence didn't have anything to do with the forced change of wardrobe.
The instant Hershey realized what the red spots on Amy's camisole and leggings were, she'd shooed Rotor back inside and grabbed the nearest clean clothes to hand. Such was the way the pink hedgehog had ended up in a purple gingham dress. It seemed Vanilla had shopped in advance when buying Cream's Alicia Acorn Academy school uniforms. There'd been dresses in that pile which wouldn't fit the bunny for years.
Several miraculous minutes of slow but steady movement followed. When Hershey pumped the brakes next, she glanced out of her own side window, curious to see what Amy might be looking at. The cat grimaced. On a billboard attached to a building overlooking the intersection was a fourteen-foot-high portrait of Antoine. The coyote had clearly tried to affect an air of stern authority. At best, he looked like he'd just caught the photographer trying to steal his wallet.
Turning back to the road, she reminded herself it could be worse. For one thing, it could be Geoffrey up there. He was Antoine's main opponent was for the mayoralty of Station Square. As things stood, she could see herself sitting out the vote. Somehow, choosing between her ex-boyfriend or a Mobian she'd known when he was still a gibbering aristocrat who couldn't find his ass with both hands didn't feel like a choice worth making.
A left turn later, their destination finally came into view. A 29-storey octagonal tower clad in reflective glass. The King Maximilian Acorn Free Hospital, known to most Squarians as The King Max. Turning into the hospital's driveway, Hershey drove up the lane usually reserved for ambulances. The minivan continued past the ER and round to a small walled-off parking lot behind the tower.
They parked in front of a plaque on the curbside that read 'Reserved for Elias Acorn, Founder and CEO'. Amy maintained her vow of silence as she followed the cat round to the hospital's main entrance, trailing a few steps behind. After the relative tranquility of the drive, the cacophony of crying infants and overlapping cellphone calls in the hospital's atrium took Hershey by surprise. On the plus side, the hubbub did help drown out the dull slap of Amy's flipflops rebounding against her heels.
She proceeded to the main reception desk, a semicircular island at the center of the barely-ordered chaos. She scrawled their names on a clipboard a bespectacled otter handed her. Then, disregarding the big arrow above the desk directing visitors to turn right for the elevator lobby, Hershey led Amy off the left. On the far side of the atrium, they arrived at a door guarded by a burly capybara in an ill-fitting security uniform.
Hershey disentangled a lanyard from beneath her blue neckerchief. The capybara promptly opened the door. Beyond was an elevator lobby reserved for hospital employees. While they waited for the bell to ping, the cat glanced around at the unfurnished lobby's exposed cinderblock walls. Yet another place the work crews still hadn't gotten round to decorating.
Inside the elevator, Amy watched intently as her chaperone pressed the button for the 15th floor. Her green eyes darted between the control panel and the directory above it until she figured out they were heading to the ICU. Her ignorance about what that meant almost moved the pink hedgehog to break her silence. She didn't, mostly because it felt seriously awkward after blanking Hershey for so long.
"Amy!" squealed Cream, lurching forward to throw her arms around the unsuspecting hedgehog before she'd even stepped clear of the elevator.
"Hey, Cream," muttered Amy, halfheartedly ruffling the fur between the rabbit's ears as she gently steered her onto the beige vinyl floor of the elevator lobby.
While the cuddly six-year-old nestled against her waist, Amy looked down at the rabbit. Cream was wearing a purple gingham dress identical to the one Hershey had insisted she change into. The hedgehog frowned. If the bunny was in her school uniform, whatever it was that had happened to Vanilla must've been really sudden.
"C'mon sweetie, let the poor kid breath," said Bunnie, stepping forward to pry the second-grader off the preteen.
Giving Amy one last squeeze, Cream relented and shuffled backwards. Just then, the six-year-old's face lit up, her bloodshot brown eyes widening like saucers as she looked her regular babysitter up and down.
"You're dressed like me!" she squeaked, beaming at the hedgehog, even as Bunnie gently ushered her into the elevator. "See you at school!"
Taken aback by the joyous outburst, the doors rolled shut on the manically-waving Cream before Amy could correct her. Then again, would she have?
"What's this about seeing you at school?"
Amy whirled round to see Sally Acorn approaching her and Hershey. The pink hedgehog managed a weak smile as she pinched the skirt of her gingham dress and curtsied. It was an old joke.
"I bug you for months and only now do you turn up dressed like that," said the chipmunk, acknowledging the curtsy with a customary nod.
Straightening up, Amy shrugged. "Hershey made me wear it."
Sally's cerulean eyes looked to her feline assistant. "Remind me to give you a raise."
"I'd settle for a coffee," said the cat, ruffling Amy's braided quills before she headed off down a different hallway to the one Sally had approached from.
Amy watched Hershey until she disappeared round a corner. When she turned back to Sally, it would've been hard to believe there was a smile on the same face mere seconds ago.
"What's happened to Vanilla, Sally?"
The chipmunk emitted a heavy sigh, as if disappointed the hedgehog had cut to the chase so quickly.
"Honestly, we don't know."
Amy looked blankly at the former princess, feeling thwarted. If Sally didn't have the answer, who did? Lapsing back into silence, she allowed herself to be taken by the hand and led up the brightly-lit hallway towards a sign suspended from the ceiling that read 'ICU Observation Rooms'. Passing under it, they came to a corridor whose whitewashed walls were lined with windowless light-grey doors. Leaning against a wall outside one of them was Espio.
Amy could've sworn she felt the chameleon's golden eyes tracking her as she and Sally approached him. She didn't dare to look up, even when he straightened up and held the door open for them. The boxlike observation room was nearly as featureless as the corridor, but for a few details.
For one thing, most of the vinyl floor was covered by a royal-blue rug embroidered with the outline of a golden acorn. For another, there was a burgundy couch against one of the whitewashed walls. At present, the slumbering form of Vector was sprawled across it, his tail hanging limply over an armrest. Finally, on the wall opposite the couch was a large flatscreen television.
Before Sally could stop her, Amy pulled free of her handhold and approached the television. Stopping in front of it. the pink hedgehog let out a sharp gasp. Onscreen was a grainy image of Vanilla tucked up in a hospital bed. Apparently asleep, the rabbit had some kind of transparent plastic mask over her mouth. Amy's heart sank. She didn't know what the mask actually did to know it couldn't be good.
Sally lunged forward to prop the preteen up as her knees gave way. Without a word, Amy turned and buried her face in the fur of the chipmunk's right shoulder. Then, she broke down. For several minutes thereafter, the former princess held the bawling hedgehog in her arms. She gently stroked her braided (and vaguely moist) quills, offering the occasional shush whenever the kid's shoulders quaked too hard.
It began to feel like a bittersweet throwback to when an eight-year-old Amy had still been settling into life in Knothole Village. Oh the tantrums she'd had in those early days. Sally snapped out of her daydream when she noticed Vector's half-open yellow eyes glaring up at her from the couch. Grateful for an excuse to get away from the television, she gave the horizontal crocodile the slightest of nods and delicately steered the sobbing hedgehog out into the corridor.
"What…happened?" asked Amy between loud sniffles, the flow of tears finally starting to subside.
The chipmunk pressed the hedgehog's face against her chest, propping her chin atop her head. "C'mon, let's go somewhere more comfortable."
So saying, the two of them walked back the way they'd come hand-in-hand. Seeing a handful of Mobians milling about in the elevator lobby up ahead, Sally insisted on detouring via the stairs. Eventually, they came to a small café three floors down. The eatery was almost deserted. Even so, more out of habit than anything, Sally parked Amy at the table furthest from the entrance for maximum privacy.
She stepped away to fetch food and drink. The teenaged barista, a meek-looking possum, behind the counter needed to be persuaded being related to both the hospital's namesake and founder didn't entitle her to freebies. Upon her return to the table, she presented Amy with a blueberry muffin. It was gone before Sally had finished stirring her latte.
"Did someone skip breakfast?" asked the chipmunk, taking her first sip of coffee.
Still chewing, the hedgehog nodded vigorously. Flashing a warm smile, Sally pushed the plate bearing her own muffin across the wooden tabletop. Looking up in endearingly genuine shock, Amy gestured her thanks before chowing down.
"Can you tell me about Vanilla now?" asked the hedgehog flatly once she'd gulped down her last mouthful.
"There isn't a whole lot to tell you. She was already unconscious when Vector found her."
"Was Cream-"
The chipmunk shook her head. Amy's shoulders seemed to slacken slightly as she swigged from her cocoa.
"She was at school until Bunnie picked her up. Nicole is helping the doctors with their tests. That ought to speed things up."
Amy nodded passively as she drank. "So what were Rotor and Hershey doing at Vanilla's place?"
"Cream's going to stay with Bunnie for a couple of days. Rotor wanted to make sure she'll be as comfortable as possible, bless him."
"Is she still going to go to school?"
"Unless she says otherwise," said the chipmunk, smiling faintly. "She's convinced Vanilla wouldn't have it any other way. Hershey thinks she's worried she'd to explain why she missed school when Vanilla wakes up."
Amy smirked. Vanilla had certainly gone the extra mile to instill the importance of education in her daughter's mind. On the days Amy picked her up from school, the bunny refused to even watch TV until she'd finished her homework.
"Now, can you tell me where you got to this morning?" asked Sally after draining her latte. She frowned when the hedgehog suddenly started gnawing her lower lip. "What's the matter?"
"There's someone else counting on me right now but I need to ask a favor-"
"Take a breath and I'll be back in a minute," Sally cut in, jumping up.
The barista took less convincing the second time around. On her way back to the table, the chipmunk smiled for the benefit of an off-duty nurse trying to snap a surreptitious photo of her. Then, between more mouthfuls of muffins, Amy gave a selective account of the last twelve hours or so. She downplayed the violence of the 'visit' GUN paid to her apartment and omitted her own visit to Sonic's place entirely. When she finished, Sally was still stirring her coffee like she had been before she started.
"So, what? Shadow's up at Emerson's Point right now?" asked Sally, snapping out of her bemused daze.
The hedgehog nodded.
"Can't you just bring him here?"
The hedgehog shook her head.
"You don't know what it took to get him to come at all. He was like…well, it was like he would literally rather die."
Sally blinked in alarm.
"In that case, I'll…"
The chipmunk trailed off as something behind her seemed to distract Amy. She glanced over her shoulder to see Hershey standing just inside the café's entrance, wringing her hands. When she looked back round, fresh tears were already streaming down the hedgehog's face.
"I'll get you whatever you need," said Sally, willing to say and do just about anything to bolster Amy's spirits as she got up and offered the weeping preteen her hand.