Chapter 8: Waking Up

Sonic noticed an itchiness coming from his chest. His mind was foggy and his vision was blurred, he rapidly blinked to clear his vision. He moved his hand to scratch the unrelenting itch that plagued him. Sonic, still in a daze touched his wound and felt a jolt of pain. His vision was now cleared enough for him to see that his chest bore a gruesome injury, and the wound had been stitched and stapled closed. For Sonic this was quite the shock and he looked at his chest with his mouth aghast.

"Careful." A nearby Nurse warned. "Your body is still healing. You'll need to take it easy until you fully recover. So, how are you feeling?"

"Where… where is Tails? Where am I? What happened to me?" Sonic said in a panic as memories rushed back to him.

"Calm down, you friend is fine, he's just resting in a coma next to you. You've been out for over two days yourself. You still have some anesthetic in your system from the operation which will take a few days before the foggy feeling dissipates. You should rest for a little while longer. I'll let you collect yourself. When you're ready there is a pink hedgehog who has practically moved into the hospital that is eager to see you."

"Sure…" Sonic relaxed into his bed as the Nurse went to check on the other patient in the ICU. She parted a curtain to reveal a familiar twin tailed fox in the bed next to him.

"Will he be okay?" Sonic asked with a voice heavy with dread and worry.

"Your friend, he's... alive. His heart palpitations have been stabilized. We wont know if there was any long term brain damage brought on by the cardiac arrest he went through until he wakes up. He is in a coma for the time being so I can't say much else other than we just need to wait for him to come out of it."

"What are his chances of… '' Sonic struggled to speak. He let out a cough. Then another. He tried to clear his dry throat as he fervently searched for the strength to speak his greatest fear. When he spoke his voice was weak with worry and guilt. "Will he be okay? His mind, I mean? His mind is very important to him."

"Impossible to say with any certainty. It depends on how long it took him to get CPR or other medical aid. Over eight minutes can be very dangerous to long term health and cognitive functions."

Sonic's face stricken with guilt and grief as he stared at his friend. He inhaled, then exhaled, and relaxed into his bed, then opened his eyes with a look of renewed energy, "Well, that's enough relaxation for one day." Sonic said with faux enthusiasm. Sonic then carefully shimmied out of his bed. "I need to find Amy and check in with everyone."

The nurse noticed this abrupt change in attitude and raised an eyebrow. "I highly recommend you wait a bit longer sir. We need to make sure there are no side effects for the blood transfusion you recieved."

"Blood Transfusion? Who'd I get the blood from?"

"Miss Rose, she clearly cares deeply for you judging by the amount of blood she donated."

"Amy donated her blood for me…" Sonic said in awe. He felt indebted to Amy as the realization of how hurt he must have been that Amy would need to donate her own blood so that he might live. A sudden realization occured to Sonic and he spoke to himself under his breath, "It's going to be really hard to keep rejecting her marriage proposals if I keep making sloppy mistakes only for Amy to bail me out." Sonic turned to the nurse, "How much blood did she donate exactly?"

The nurse looked him right in the eye. The nurse's eyes appraised him, judged him, trying to understand what made his life worth its weight in the blood of another. "Twenty Seven." The nurse said matter of fact.

"Twenty Seven- milliliters?" Sonic asked.

"Twenty. Seven. Percent. Understand this, that amount of blood to be donated at once is NOT standard procedure. If it was not both voluntary and an emergency we'd likely have been sued for life endangerment. Like I said, your friend must really care about you. She gave that blood like a champ and in less than an hour she was back on her feet in the lobby worried to death over you. Pardon the specism, but you hedgehogs must be made of something else. If you'll excuse my blunt honesty, as far as I'm concerned you should be dead and she should be in a coma. The fact you're both okay, is to me, a miracle. But that's just my opinion…"

Sonic whistled, "After Amy donated blood to me, you should be checking to make sure I'm not immortal. There's no way in the world Amy's blood was ever going to harm me. I'm taking off now. I've got people to see. Thanks for all your hard work!"

With that, Sonic slowly, painfully, and against the reasonable advice of the Nurse, left the room. Sonic's balance was off causing him to wobble as he walked. A fog of fatigue clouded Sonic's mind. His legs were still numb and his injury itched insistently. His whole body was tired and heavy. He fought the many sensations, as he desperately wanted to see Amy and to thank her. Most of all, Sonic wanted to make Amy smile after all the worry she had surely been through. He could not waste another second. Nearly tumbling, Sonic walked down the hall and found the entrance to the lobby. Before opening the door, Sonic checked himself, making sure his quills were straight and he didn't smell too bad, once Sonic finished making himself presentable he opened the door...

"Sonic!" Amy cried out as she ran over and with excessive tenderness, roughly embraced the blue hedgehog.

"Pain. Pain!" Sonic croaked as he tried to gently push Amy away.

Amy jumped back and apologized profusely after which she began to wipe tears from her eyes. "I've been so worried about you and Tails. It's so good to see you again."

Sonic smiled at Amy and he was about to speak when a voice interrupted their reunion.

"Let's hope my client shares in your good fortune. Pardon my intrusion but I must speak with you Mister… what do you go by formally? Mr. Hedgehog? Or do you prefer the more oriental Mr. Needlemouse?"

Sonic turned to the direction of the voice and saw a Grey Rat that wore a blood red suit, a black tie, and held a briefcase in his hand. "Just Sonic is fine. And you are?"

"I'm Maximus The Rat, Mr. Prowers Lawyer, now yours by extension. You may call me Max if we are going by our forenames. We have important matters to discuss you and I. Might we talk for a little while?"

"Sure thing. I just need to talk to Amy first. I've been dying to see her!"

Amy facepalmed, groaned, and rolled her eyes. "You're lucky I love you."

"You love my one liners… most of the time anyway."

"Most of the time..."

Maximus cleared his throat, "Mr. Sonic, while Mr. Prower is unresponsive, you have power of attorney. As I said, it is very important we talk. If you'll follow me I have procured a small room from the hospital where we can speak in private."

"Allright, allright." Sonic turned to Amy, "I'll be back in a few. Would you mind waiting for me?"

Amy's eyes fluttered as her heart skipped a beat, "Till the end of time."

Sonic blushed for a moment and reflexively took a step closer to Amy, "Well alright then. I promise I wont run off without talking to you first… not that I can run off right now."

Amy took a step closer to Sonic, the two were now less than an arms length away. Amy stood staring lovingly into the emerald green eyes in front of her, she always lost herself in those emerald eyes. After a moment of staring into each other's eyes, a red faced Sonic quickly looked away bashfully.

"You better not run off on some adventure." Amy said. "You'll need to get plenty of rest to recover and if you'll let me, I'll help take care of you until you do. I'll even cook you the best Chilli dogs you'll ever eat."

Sonic chuckled, "Let me guess, the secret ingredient is love?"

Amy pouted, "Of course it is. So what do you say?"

"I don't know Amy. Once Tails wakes up I was hoping we could have a boys night."

At those words Amy's enthusiasm deflated like a balloon.

Sonic grinned and looked back toward Amy, "Though, if you're not there who knows what kind of dangerous stuff we'll get ourselves into. We'll probably eat nothing but junk food and drink liquid sugar all night long. I guess you better tag along so we have someone looking out for Tails and I. Think you're up for it?"

"You bet!"

Maximus groaned loudly in mental anguish, "Mr. Sonic, if you would be so kind as to end my suffering. Daylight wanes. May we please continue onward and conclude our business?"

"Sure. Well Amy, later." Sonic held out a fist. Amy walked forward, ignoring the offered fistbump, and gently hugged Sonic."

Sonic Grinned sheepishly as the two parted. Maximus, meanwhile, was impatiently tapping his foot.

"Lead the way Max."

"Gladely."

Maximus closed the door behind Sonic and took a seat at a table in the middle of the small room.

"Before you start, I must ask. Are you operating at full mental capacity? That is to say, are you of sound mind and capable of holding an intelligent understanding and perception of your actions and choices?"

"I... am?"

"Good. As I stated, you have Power of Attorney for Miles Prower as he is unresponsive and in a coma. Mr. Prower had made previous arrangements that in such a circumstance as this, you would have the legal right and moral responsibility to act in his best interest concerning legal, financial, and Healthcare matters. You are able to access and manage his finances, sign legal documents, and make healthcare decisions for himself in his stead. Etcetera. Etcetera." Maximus ended his statement with a sharp and vitriol tone. His eyes regarded Sonic contemptuously.

"Is… everything okay? You seem a little angry with me?" Sonic chuckled awkwardly.

Maximus's disgust toward Sonic lessened but did not totally dissipate. "It is an irreverent detail. Think nothing of it."

"No, if you are angry with me I want to hear it so we can clear the air between us."

Maximus laughed mockingly, "Really? You're sure about that? You think it would be that easy?"

"I am and I do." Sonic stared back at Maximus, his face deadly serious.

"Very well then." Maximus took out his phone and sent a text. Then he put his phone back inside his pocket. "I don't like you Sonic. In fact, I find you to be, at best, a menace to society. At worst, a ticking time bomb that has yet to explode. If Mr. Prower was a son of mine, I would sue the hell out of you for child endangerment. I don't think you understand how close Mr. Prower came to dying. How close you both did." Maximus glared at Sonic. "Mr. Prower is twelve years old..." Maximus slammed his fist on the table. "TWELVE. YEARS. OLD!"

"How dare you." Sonic glared daggers at the Rat.

"Oh, what is it? Does the truth bother you that much?"

"Tails and I have both saved the world several times. We have never asked for anything in return-"

"-I've read your file. I'm well aware of your exploits. Are you aware, Mr. Sonic, that Mr. Prower has a very expensive life insurance policy and that you are the sole recipient of that policy?"

"What?"

"Oh, he hasn't told you? I find that very hard to believe. It's quite the coincidence don't you think? You take my client on countless so called adventures against a known terrorist and genuine psychopath, Dr. Eggman. Something the largest and most well armed military in the world thinks twice about doing. I find that very interesting, don't you? Perhaps even, dare I say, damning?"

"I recommend you watch your next words very carefully. Tails is like a brother to me. No one is more worried about him coming out of this whole than I am. No one. Now what exactly are you getting at?"

"I'll put forth my theory simply. In my estimation, either you are massively, morally, mentally bankrupt, putting poor Mr. Prower, a mere child, in life threatening situations... Or, you're purposely attempting to get my client killed. So which is it? Are you an immoral fool, or are you a criminal?"

Sonic was seething but kept his anger contained. His words were laced with anger that he released like that of a kettle releasing pent up steam. "I don't need to sit here and listen to this-"

"-Tell me, is it normal for twelve year olds to go on so called adventures and end up diffusing bombs? How many twelve year olds Infiltrate several military bases and get a one million dollar bounty on their furry little heads and narrowly avoid being blown up along with Prison Island? Is it normal for a twelve year old, you, and that red echidna, to almost single handedly attack Eggman's Airfleet at 20,000 feet, jumping from one airship to another, barely dodging death left and right? Does that seem like something an older brother would allow his little brother to do? What do you think? I'm curious. I really am."

"I am leaving."

As Sonic moved to stand up the door to the room opened and Vector, Espio, and Charmy of the Chaotix Detective Agency entered the room.

"Perfect timing." Maximus said, "Sonic was just about to leave. Before you go Mr. Sonic. I have two final questions for you to answer that are of great importance. First, what would you like me to do with the Super Tornado's black box that the Chaotix were kind enough to recover from the crash sight?"

"I don't care."

"Great, last question. If Mr. Prower does not come out of his coma anytime soon, or has catastrophic brain damage, are you for or against pulling the plug?"

"Screw. You." Sonic slammed the door behind him.

After Sonic arrived in the lobby, he found Amy in a comfy corner of the room.

"Sonic! What's wrong? What happened?" Amy asked with great concern.

Sonic sat down next to her. He covered his face with his gloved hands.

"Sonic? Talk to me. What's wrong? What did you two talk about."

"He... he said that I put Tails' life in danger. That I am either an immoral fool or a criminal trying to get him killed."

"No way. He didn't. He couldn't!"

"He looked me right in the face, Amy. He looked me right in the face and accused me, ME, of trying to kill Tails for a life insurance claim!"

"Oh Sonic, everyone knows that's not true. You two are practically brothers."

Sonic still covered his face as his mouth became dry and he struggled to choke back tears. "Amy, Tails could die. That Rat is right about one thing. If he does, it would be all my fault. How many times have Tails come close to death? Was I wrong to have him follow my footsteps?"

"Here. Take this." A new pair of gloved hands held out a cup of warm tea. Sonic wiped his eyes, and took the cup. Vanilla the Rabbit then sat down next to Sonic and began gently rubbing his back. "You know, I often worry about Cream following in you and your friends footsteps. She is only six but she sees more than fun and adventure by being with you all. She sees courage, love, compassion, strength, kindness, countless role models, and so much more. I'd be lying if I said I did not stay awake some nights with worry. I already know what it's like to lose someone you love with all your heart.

Sonic listened in part shock and part awe. Amy's ears drooped slightly at the mention of Mr. Vanilla, whom they had never met.

"I know that when Cream is with you all, she is in good hands. That she is with people who make her life worth living as well as worth fighting for. So, I smile, wave her off, and say, see you soon. This is all to say, I'm sure Tails feels the same way about you Mr. Sonic and Miss Rose. I'm sure he'll see you both soon."

"Thank you, Mrs. Vanilla." Amy said.

Sonic for his part, was fighting to stay awake.

Don't mention it. As much as we may wish for it, we can't turn back time. We must do what good we can with the time we have been gifted. Our love and thoughts are with Tails. Sonic, you must be tired? You can rest easy now. He is in good hands.

Sonic's head was gently lowered onto Vanilla's lap as she gently massaged his head. Sonic suddenly found himself incredibly tired. In a moment he was fast asleep.

Vanilla turns to Amy and smiles, "Your boyfriend is very kind hearted."

"Oh, we're, we're not… he's not my… I mean, I'd like to be, but… we're just friends."

"Take it from an old rabbit. Sometimes slow is best." Vanilla stopped massaging Sonic's head. "I have others I must assist so I'll entrust Sonic to your care."

"Whaaaa?"

Vanilla moved Sonic's limp body into a seated position then gently guided Sonic's head onto Amy's lap. Amy's face turned bright red.

"I'll see you two lovebirds later!"

Ten minutes had passed when a nurse came out to speak with Amy and Sonic. Sonic was still asleep.

Miss Rose?"

"Yes?"

"You requested to hear any updates on Mr. Prower's condition?"

"Yes, I did!"

"There is good news and bad news. The good news is Mr. Prower is awake, sort of. He has been for a little while actually. You are more than welcome to see him now.

"That's great! But, what's the bad news?"

"The bad news…" The nurse took a deep breath, "He has Transient Global Amnesia."

Sonic, having been drooling profusely onto Amy's red dress for several minutes heard the conversation and groggily sat up still half asleep. A line of drool united Amy and Sonic to one another when Sonic spoke up...

"Huh?"