Chapter 3

Dilemma

Sitting in the waiting room in the local clinic with Sonic and Knuckles, Tom only looked ahead, staring at the wall on the other side of the room. All he could think about was how he had split up the argument between Sonic and Knuckles before all three of them whipped their heads when they heard the high-pitched scream from the other side of the rock wall that they were near. Realization for Tom then hit that his youngest and Ozzy were both absent. Breathing deeply, Tom remembered that he had sprinted towards the location of where he heard his youngest yell, knowing full well that Sonic and Knuckles were going to be behind him. Looking down at his shirt, the sheriff saw that the shirt was stained in red, from where Tails had gotten bit. Tom squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to process everything that had happened within the last hour…

"Boys, how many times do Maddie or I have to split up you all's bickering?"

Tom had just gotten off the phone with Maddie when he heard his two oldest bickering about something to do with Ozzy. He hadn't noticed that Tails and Ozzy were gone.

"Sorry, Donut Lord." Knuckles said.

"That's not what I asked, but apology accepted," Tom replied.

"Sonic, Knuckles, I think you both owe each other an—"

"AHHHHHHH!"

All three of them turned their heads as soon as the scream reached their ears. That was when Tom finally realized that Tails was nowhere to be seen. Sonic immediately began to panic while Knuckles was still relatively calm; after all, it was in his nature as an echidna warrior to remain calm in bad situations. Noticing that Ozzy was missing also, Tom bolted in the direction where they had heard Tails' yelp. Sonic and Knuckles weren't far behind. In fact, Sonic sped past Tom and around a boulder, skidding to a stop once he spotted Tails and Ozzy. The sight of Tails struggling to get up told Sonic that something was wrong. Seeing that something wasn't right with the fox's arm, and then collapsing to the ground, Sonic rushed over to his friend's side. Right then, Sonic saw that blood was trickling down Tails' left arm. And it didn't help that it was really swollen.

"Tails, what's wrong?" Sonic asked, his voice just an octave above a whisper.

All Tails could do was cry out in pain. Sonic gently lifted the fox's arm up, and gasped. That was when he realized that the blood on Tails' arm was darker than normal, and with the kit crying out louder was the factor for Sonic to finally know what had happened to Tails.

"Oh my gosh… Dad!"

By then, Tom and Knuckles were by his side. Tom's eyes grew wide as he took it all in; his youngest's arm was swollen. And Tails' chest was rising and falling, panic filling his young diamond-blue eyes.

"Tails, can you hear me? Tails?" Tom asked the injured fox.

All Tails did was cough and whimper, eyes slowly closing in the meantime. Tom placed a hand on the side of his face and began rubbing it in an attempt to keep him awake.

"Dad? Is he gonna be alright?" Sonic asked, panic slowly creeping its way into his voice.

As soon as the words escaped Sonic's mouth, Tails closed his eyes and let his head drop into Knuckles' hands.

"Tails! No! Stay awake! Stay with me! Stay with us!" Tom shouted.

Knuckles at this point, shook Tails' body, not even getting a response from the kit. Then as quickly as the little fox fainted, his eyes opened up wide, panic filling them yet again.

"Sonic… *cough* Sonic… Knuckles… Tom… *cough*..." Tails started to say, but choked as his throat began closing up and his heart started racing.

"Tom… I can't… breathe… *cough*... Tom…!"

"Tails! Listen to me, kiddo." Tom said, having untied the bandana around Tails' neck and tying it around the kit's flesh wound.

"Look at me. Breathe with me, okay? In and out through your nose."

Tails whimpered, sweat popping up on his forehead. Closing his mouth, the kit let his next breaths go through his nostrils.

"No no no no. Not too fast, little guy." Tom said, taking note of how fast Tails' chest inflated and deflated.

The fox's eyes, at this point, were half open. Something about the way Tails was looking at him told Tom that the fox was still freaked out about being bit by the rattlesnake.

"Shh, you're okay. You're okay," Tom reassured him. Tails' breathing had slowed by that point, but not enough to be relaxed yet.

"Sonic," Tom began. "I need you to call Maddie. Knuckles, I need you over here to keep Tails calm."

Tom by then had dial 911 on his phone. Luckily for the four of them, they were in an area of the trail park where phone signal was not an issue. Relaying the situation to the 911 dispatcher on the other end of the line, Tom motioned for Knuckles to pick Tails up, albeit, gently and carefully.

"Knuckles… Ozzy… get Ozzy outta here…" Tails said, his voice barely a whisper.

The echidna silenced the fox when he placed a gentle hand on the side of the kit's face. He could feel Tails' body shake in his arms. Knuckles silenced him more when Tails' whimpering picked up.

"We gotta take Tails to the med center." Tom said as he just got off the phone. Taking the fox from Knuckles' arms, Tom too felt Tails shake, the kit whimpering in his delirium.

"I'm… sorry… Dad…" Tails cried, "I… didn't mean to get bit… I was… just tryin'… *cough* Ozzy…"

"You're okay bud, you're okay, you're okay little guy." Tom whispered back, filled with emotion. He tried to shake it, due to the dilemma they were in. He didn't know if it was because Tails had just called him dad for the first time, or was it because the little fox was in a life-or-death situation.

Thankfully, the walk back to where they had parked wasn't too far from where Tails got bit. Once the four made it, Sonic had zipped into the bed of Tom's truck. That was when Tom had tossed the fob to him.

"Get in the seat now."

"Dad, you're sure?" Sonic questioned.

"Sonic, you're the only one fast enough to get us there without Tails dying." Tom answered. "Just don't wreck the truck."

Tom then got in the back and took Tails from Knuckles. Afterward, Knuckles hopped in the truck bed with Ozzy. Once on the road, Tom was actually surprised that Sonic, who was usually emotional, was relatively sane and calm behind the wheel. Tails moaned loudly the whole ride to the local clinic. Having safely made it after a minor traffic jam on Main street, the staff had had a gurney and paramedics ready the moment they pulled up. One paramedic took a hold of Tails the moment Tom got out of the truck, getting Tails on the gurney and placing an oxygen mask over the kit's muzzle. His arm had swelled up real bad by the time they had finally made it back into civilization. After watching the paramedics take Tails to the emergency room, Tom, Sonic and Knuckles followed a nurse to the waiting room…

Inhaling rather quickly, Tom opened his eyes and still found himself in the waiting room. Sonic was currently sitting in his chair, looking all uncomfortable and tapping his foot. Knuckles looked emotionless as he sat in another chair. Tom rubbed his temples.

'Gosh, how did I not see this coming?'

Tails— the one who was, out of the three boys, the most careful, had just got bitten by a rattlesnake within the last hour or so. A freaking prairie rattlesnake. The only venomous snake in the state of Montana. And his youngest had somehow taken a strike for Ozzy. Tails had weakly told him everything that had transpired on the way to the medical center, although through labored breathing. Tom felt like he was on the verge of tears when the nurse walked into the room with Maddie behind her. Seeing the state her husband, and two oldest were in, she chose to sit down in the chair next to her spouse. Feeling that someone had placed a hand on his back, Tom was pulled back into reality.

"Did they give any updates on Fluffer?" Maddie asked.

"No." Tom replied. "Did they give any to you?"

Maddie took a breath. "No. The nurse told me everything that you told the receptionist when you all showed up earlier."

By the time Maddie stopped talking, Sonic had sat down in the chair on the other side of Tom. Knuckles had sat in the chair next to Maddie. All things considered, besides the elderly couple that were waiting to be called in, they were the only ones in the enclosed waiting area. Of course, just around the corner was a larger waiting area full of people. But luckily the nurse had placed them in the smaller area. Maddie placed a hand in Tom's while the sheriff wrapped an arm around Sonic, who looked as if he was about to break down at any moment. Knuckles seemed to be unstirred.

"Do you think that Tails will be alright?" Sonic asked, his voice low enough to make sure that it wouldn't crack.

"Sonic," Maddie began. "If he could take a couple missile blasts from Robotnik, and pull through that, then he'll definitely pull through this."

"But that was different," Sonic protested. "Plus, I knew deep down that he'd be alright. And now, with him barely clinging to dear life, there's a chance that he could… could…"

"Sonic, just relax." Tom replied. "Tails isn't going anywhere. Sure, he may not have the physical stamina that you and Knuckles have, but he's a fighter."

"Plus, the nurse told me that it looked like the snake didn't inject too much venom into him." Maddie told him.

"But isn't any amount of venom enough to kill anyone?" Sonic asked.

"True," Maddie answered. "But with the proper care, he'll survive."

A tear trickled down Sonic's face as he soaked in Maddie's words. His ears pricked when he heard a familiar voice on the other side of the wall behind him, Knuckles, Tom and Maddie. The more he listened, the more he recognized whose voice it was. Knuckles put a small smile on as he looked up and towards the entrance to the room. And in walked a certain Green Hills deputy, carrying two cups of coffee, and some lunch.

"Wade," Tom chuckled. "You came all this way just to bring us some coffee and lunch?"

"Yeah, sorta. But I heard about the little fox," Wade replied. "How's he holding up?"

"No updates since they admitted him," Maddie told him. "But from what we've heard, the rattler didn't inject too much venom into his system."

"Ah, that's good," Wade sighed. "But just asking, what happened?"

Tom went through the whole story with Wade, and all the deputy could was brush a hand through his hair.

"Darn, that shucks. I hope he pulls through." Wade said.

"Wish I could stay longer, but I promised my mother, and Wanda that I'd spend the weekend with them."

Tom took a look at his phone. "You better get going before dark. Boise's a long drive from here."

"Yeah, just ask Knuckles that." Wade said.

"Anyhow, I just wanted to stop by and see how you all were doing, and to bring you lunch. Oh, one more thing, tell Tails to get to feeling better."

"Will do Wade," Maddie said.

As Wade left the room, the nurse from earlier came in just as Tom took a sip of his coffee. The four of them stood up from their chairs.

"Any news?" Tom asked.

"Yes, we just finished up on him. The doctor will be here in a moment to give you all full details."

Sonic stretched in his seat as the nurse left the room. Knuckles took a bite out of his sandwich while Maddie sat back down. A few minutes later, a knock was heard, and once again, all four Wachowskis stood up as a man dressed in dark gray scrubs walked in.

"Thomas and Madison Wachowski?"

"That would be us," Tom said.

The doctor took a breath before he started to relay to them Tails' condition.

"The kid's fairly lucky," he began. "As we hoped, the snake didn't inject a huge amount of its venom into Miles' arm. But to our dismay, the child, unfortunately, isn't out of the woods yet."

"Wait, doc? What do you mean by that?" Maddie asked him.

"Miles suffered a lot on the way here, according to your husband, and as a result, is not doing good and is feverish. We have him sedated right now. And yes, you can see him, but I'd advise that it only be two people at a time."

"Thank you. We appreciate it," Tom said. The doctor only nodded his head before telling them what room Tails was in and leaving the waiting area.

"Who should it be?" Tom asked Maddie. "You and Knuckles, or Sonic and I?"

"Dad."

Tom looked down to find that Sonic had returned to his chair.

"Let Mom and Knux go first. I can wait." Sonic said, his voice in a soft tone.

"Sonic, you sure, sweetheart?" Maddie asked.

"I'm sure," the hedgehog replied. "Plus, I need to wind down before I see him."

"If that's what you want bud." Tom said. Sonic only nodded his head.

After watching Maddie and Knuckles leave the waiting area and down the hall towards the patient infirmary, Tom sat back down in his chair and wrapped an arm around Sonic, who only seemed to lean his head into Tom's chest and finally let it all out, sobs and tears.