Chapter 5

Let Go


Two days after…

The mid-afternoon skies were gray, and the sound of the rain could be heard softly pattering against the window of the hospital room. The weather seemed to have gotten the cosmic message on reflecting the mood that Sonic currently found himself in over the past two days. Between Tails almost dying from the rattlesnake the other day and that particular event reopening some old wounds from the past, the hedgehog seemed more mopey than grumpy. Tom and Maddie had noticed it from the start. Knuckles, however, being the way he was, shelled himself into whatever state he was in. Meditating seemed to bring him peace of mind; or at least, he claimed that it did.

Currently, Maddie and the two older boys were in Tails' assigned room at the medical center, and with Tom absent due to work, the three of them just sat in the room. With Sonic occupied by his phone and Knuckles sitting in the chair closest to the medical bed that the fox was confined to for the last two days, Maddie found herself reading the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens. Just as things were beginning to settle down and she got to an interesting article on gardening, there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" She asked.

"Anybody call for Subway?" The person on the other side of the door said.

Maddie rushed for the door, only for Sonic to beat her to it and turn the knob. Maddie smiled as the door opened and revealed who was on the other side.

"Hey babe, what are you up to now?" Maddie asked as she embraced Tom, placing a kiss on his cheek.

"You know, the usual. I'm just checking in on my family," the sheriff replied, a small smile on his face.

"Oh, that would explain why you're not in your uniform today." Maddie said.

"Well, about that," Tom began. "Wade said that he's got everything covered. Told me that I needed to be here for and with you all."

Maddie smirked a bit. "Sweet guy. But whatever happened to him staying the weekend with his mom and sister?"

"He told me that his sister just had bunion surgery and that his mother was down with the flu." Tom told her.

Maddie sat down in her seat. "So he just turned around and came back, and is now actively running around town as sheriff? Kind of reminds me of our own little guy."

Her face grew sad as she looked towards the medical bed where her youngest was currently bedridden, his chest fluttering under the covers. She shuddered at the sight of seeing the breathing tube in Tails' mouth. As she looked on, Maddie began to slowly realize why Sonic was in such a depressed mood the last couple of days. Getting up, she grabbed the chair she was in just a second before and carried it to the side of the bed that was near the window, Tom following her. Sonic joined Knuckles on the other side and placed a hand on the echidna's back while he gently patted the fox's small hand laid limply on the bed.

Maddie studied the kit's face as she did her best not to let the tears that stung her eyes fall. It was obvious that Tails' bangs were unkempt, more so than they were the day he was admitted.

"Miles Prower …" Maddie choked. "If you can hear me, please… come out of this. I know you've been through a lot the last two days, but we want you back. We love you.."

Tom started rubbing his wife's shoulders as she took a breath and ran a gentle hand across Tails' injured arm. Knuckles placed a soft gloved hand on the other side of the kit's face.

It was right then that as Maddie went to place a hand on her face, Knuckles felt a tiny squeeze in his hand.

"Don't squeeze my hand, hedgehog." Knuckles whispered.

Sonic gave him an annoyed look. "I didn't Knux."

"Then who did?" The echidna asked.

Looking up at the kit, Sonic let out a gasp as he saw that Tails' face was making movement. Tom glanced over at the same time and saw that Tails was continuing to squeeze his eyelids. Soon, a smile began to slowly grow on each of their faces. Then, just mere seconds later, Tails' ears perked straight up, his left ear twitching. Knuckles then once again felt his hand being squeezed. He looked down and saw that Tails had been the one squeezing it, not Sonic.

"That's the spirit, fox." Knuckles whispered.

As the words flowed past Knuckles' lips, Tails' eyes barely opened up. Sonic let a deep breath escape, and Maddie finally let a couple of tears fall down her face. The little fox then started gagging as he came to and realized that something was stuck down into his throat. Tom quickly left the room to get the doctor. Sonic and Knuckles had to hold Tails' hands down so he wouldn't reach for the breathing tube and yank it out of his mouth and throat. The door opened when Tom returned, and with the doctor and a nurse behind.

"Good to finally see you awake," the doctor said, looking towards the little fox.

"I'm afraid that you all will need to leave the room for a moment," the nurse told them.

Tom only nodded his head as he placed a hand in Maddie's and motioned for Sonic and Knuckles to join them.


The doctor and the nurse had finally come out of the room. It had really taken a moment, or more like five minutes, for them to do what they needed to do with the kit. The doctor— the same one from the other day, motioned for the sheriff and his wife to join him for a moment. Once over, he began to explain to them what had happened.

"That kid is either lucky or beyond blessed," he began.

"While I was changing his bandages, I took a look at his wound and came to find out. It is healing quite well."

"Then what happened to him that he needed the breathing tube?" Maddie asked him.

"Sometimes, rattlesnake venom will cause patients like him to require a breathing machine, especially if they begin hyperventilating like he did the day he was brought in."

She only nodded her head as Tom gently squeezed her hand.

"So can we go back in?" He asked the doctor.

"Yes, but just know that he's still not all with it yet." The doctor replied.

Tom turned around and motioned Sonic and Knuckles over. As the doctor left, the four Wachowskis walked into the room again, where they found Tails on the bed still, head sunk into the pillows, eyes halfway opened and mouth ajar. Sitting back in the chairs they were in before, the four of them set their eyes on the tired kit. Eyes barely opened, and mouth closed, Tails smiled as he weakly placed a hand in Maddie's, and with his other one in Sonic's.

"O-Ozzy…?" Tails asked weakly, his voice slightly above a whisper.

"He's okay, bud." Sonic answered.

"How are you feeling, Tails?" Maddie asked.

It took a moment before the little fox could answer. Closing his eyes, Tails cracked a small, soft smile.

"Like I… I slept for a year."

Turning his head to the side, Tails cracked an eye and smiled at Tom and Maddie, letting go of her hand in the process.

"Do you want the light above you off or dimmed?" Tom asked.

"Dimmed." Tails said.

Tom then turned the dial on the light switch until it was just dim enough for his youngest to open his eyes more. Straightening his head on the pillow, Tails gave Tom a thumbs up. Then, opening his eyes again, he cracked a small giggle as he looked at Sonic and Knuckles.

"You two look like… you just… saw a ghost."

Knuckles, for the first time since the incident, gave the fox a smile while Sonic snickered through teary eyes. Tails suddenly squeezed his eyes shut as he took a round of rapid breaths, his chest going up and down with each one, whimpering as he felt a sting of pain shoot up his left arm. Tom took a hold of Tails' hand and squeezed it, the little fox squeezing it in return. After a few moments of the fox catching his breath, Tails slowly reopened his eyes tiredly.

"You okay, bud?" Sonic asked.

The little fox took a breath as he weakly nodded his head.

"Um hmm. Just the medicine… kicking in."

Maddie placed a hand on the side of the kit's face. Tails smiled slightly as he straightened his head against the comfort of the pillows. One eye partially shut, and the other slightly opened, the little fox frowned faintly.

"How bad… is it…?" Tails asked weakly.

Maddie then began stroking the side of his face as she answered her youngest.

"Let's not go into full detail right now, but the doctor said that it's healing up well."

Tails' face lit up like a set of Christmas lights as he tried to chuckle, but instead coughed a couple of times.

"Do you need some water, fox?" Knuckles asked.

The kit only blinked twice before he answered.

"Y-y-yeah…" Tails replied softly, eyes closing in the meantime.

Tom then grabbed a glass and filled it up almost to the top of the cup, full of the clear liquid. Grabbing the glass from her husband, Maddie gently placed it to the kit's lips, Knuckles supporting the back of his head as he gently lifted it off the pillows while Sonic let the young tod squeeze his hand weakly. Tails flattened his ears as he took a long sip of the water, his little chest fluttering, and within a matter of seconds, the water was all gone.

Realizing what he just did, Tails laid his head back down onto the pillows and opened his eyes again.

"Sorry about that. I… didn't mean to…"

"It's fine bud, nothing to apologize for." Tom said.

"Hey," Sonic began. "If I had a breathing tube shoved down my throat for the past two days, I would be thirsty like that too."

Tails snickered tiredly. Smiling, the kit stared at the ceiling, a moment of silence filling the room as his eyes grew heavy with a wanting for sleep. However, the smirk on Tails' face disappeared as he quickly squeezed his eyes shut yet again. Chest fluttering, and feeling another round of pain shoot up his injured arm, Tails began whimpering again, this time louder than before. Rolling his head from side to side, Tails' whimpers became yelps. Maddie then placed a hand back on the side of his face while Sonic grabbed a hold of the kit's hand, not knowing that Tom had upped and left the room to get the doctor, and or a nurse.

"Tails, squeeze my hand." Sonic told him…


Tails ceased rolling his head as his rapid breathing slowed. By the time he reopened his eyes, Tom had come back into the room with a nurse behind him. His head started pounding as he tried to gather his thoughts. He looked around the room and besides recognizing Tom's face, the kit saw that Sonic, Knuckles, and Maddie were also in the room. He felt that Maddie had a hand on the side of his face. Closing his eyes, Tails tried to gather his jumbled thoughts, that was, before he felt the familiar feeling of his heart starting to race. A moment later, he felt whatever medicine the nurse had injected into his IV snake its way into body. Tails' eyes opened wide as he gasped for air. Then as he slowly let his eyelids fall, his breathing went rapid again as his chest inflated and deflated. As his breathing gradually improved, the last thing Tails felt was Sonic holding his hand tightly; and Maddie brushing his bangs to one side as she placed a kiss on the top of his forehead. Then with a quick breath of pure exhaustion, Tails let his head roll to one side on the pillow as he closed his eyes.