Chapter 4

Brother's Keeper

By the time Maddie and Knuckles came back from visiting Tails— if one would call it that when the person you came to see was practically in a comatose state, Sonic had finally piped down from crying, Tom drew a breath as he placed his ball cap on. Sonic stood up, a worried look on his face. Today had gone wrong, and with his best friend, and in a way, little brother barely hanging on to a thread of his life. Not that it wasn't the fox's fault, of which it was not. Sonic only wondered what state Tails would be in when he and Tom went to go see him.

"How bad is it?" Tom asked.

Running a hand through her hair, Maddie exhaled sharply.

"Poor baby, he looks extremely exhausted. He looked like he fought Robotnik all over again, but singlehandedly."

Sonic's face immediately became downcast as Maddie's words reached his ears.

"Alright, we'll be back in five minutes." Tom told her. After giving her a kiss, the sheriff left the waiting area, with Sonic right behind him. After being directed where to where Tails was, the two of them eventually made it. Standing in front of the door, Tom noticed that on the clipboard that was attached to it, the kit's name was written on it.

Room 104.

Patient Name: Tails Wachowski.

Gender: Male.

Age: Unknown.

Medical Condition: Crotalus viridis bite.

Parent(s)/Legal Guardians: Thomas M. Wachowski; Madison L. Wachowski.

It seemed like the doctor had written down Tails' name, but everything else was written by the nursing staff. Tom quickly jotted down how old Tails was in the 'Age' category, then knocking on the door, he waited for an answer. Seeing the nurse from earlier about to pass him and Sonic, Tom asked her if anyone was in the room.

"No sir," she replied. "But Doctor Lopez and I just checked in on him shortly after Maddie and your oldest left the room."

Tom thanked her as she left. Placing a hand on the doorknob, he turned it, and after letting Sonic and himself in, gently closed it behind him. Then turning around, the sheriff placed a hand to his head, a strand of hair held tightly in his fist. Sonic, on the other hand, took a deep, shaky breath as he allowed himself to process everything that was in front of him.

Seeing a hospital bed in front of him was a horror to the hedgehog. But what was more of a horror to him was the person laying in it. Sonic shuddered as he walked closer to the bed. The strong smell of whatever medicine they had Tails on made his nose twitch, to the point where he about sneezed.

'Should be me in that bed, fighting for my life. Not him,' Sonic thought.

Tom grabbed a chair from near the window and motioned for Sonic to sit in it. Looking over to the little fox laid out in the hospital bed, the sheriff wondered how the doctor and nurses that helped him were able to put an oxygen feed into the kit's tiny nose. Seeing that there was an IV drip connected from the little fox's arm to a bag hanging from an IV pole, Tom couldn't get over the fact the he was here, and with his youngest, out of his three boys, being the one in the bed, clinging to life with every fiber in his small body. Watching Sonic take a hold of the kit's hand, Tom saw that a breathing tube had been placed in the fox's mouth as he finally realized where the hissing sound was coming from.

'It was that bad? Poor kid.'

Sonic took a breath as he felt tears stream down his face as he looked at the face of the young fox. Tails' pristine white furred chest was cover up by a green colored hospital gown with maple leaf designs all over it. Noticing that Tails' wounded arm was laid across his abdomen, Sonic reached out for it and started rubbing the tips of his fingers.

"Dad…?" Sonic choked. "Do you think that Tails will… *sniff* make it…?"

"We can hope for the best," Tom answered. "But no matter what the outcome, time will tell."

At that, Sonic laid his head down onto the bed and cried.

'This is all my fault. I was supposed to be there for you, but I let you down again.'

Sonic slowly placed a hand back into Tails' free one and squeezed it tight. Then he stared at the fox's face. Tails' eyes were obviously closed; mouth slightly ajar due to the breathing tube in his mouth, his chest rose and fell with each breath underneath the covers. Beads of sweat popped up on the kit's forehead. Sonic slowly started caressing Tails' hand that was laying on his sickbed; or more like, deathbed. At least, it felt that way to the blue hedgehog. Sonic immediately thought of how he could have prevented the little fox on the bed from even being confined there in the first place.

The hedgehog hadn't even seen it coming. He couldn't have known that Tails was even going to get hurt. And now, Sonic regretted not being able to save him from being bit by a rattlesnake. A freaking rattlesnake. And now, there was a very real possibility that Sonic would lose the one thing he absolutely loved; or more like, the one person he absolutely loved.

'Why didn't I see it sooner? I could've stopped it from biting you. Maybe if Knuckles and I hadn't argued with each other, this could have been prevented. I'll admit… I love Ozzy, but sometimes that mutt can be a numbskull. I'm so sorry... I let you down again. And it's all my fault. Not yours. Only if Knuckles and I stopped bickering. Maybe all three of us could have stopped Ozzy from going after the snake. Again, I'm so sorry for not being able to stop this. I'm so sorry... buddy. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry Tails.'

Sonic looked up through teary eyes and saw that Tails' bangs were unkempt, and that little beads had formed on the corner of Tails' mouth. Seeing the kit's little chest flutter, Sonic then stood up, leaned in and touched his forehead with Tails'.

'I'm the worst brother's keeper ever.'

"I'm sorry. Tails, don't die," he choked.

Feeling a hand being placed on his back, Sonic gasped as he lifted his head up. Knowing that it was just Tom, the hedgehog placed his head back down onto Tails' forehead, and started weeping loudly, his tears rolling down one side of Tails' head. Before he knew it, Sonic felt a strong pair of arms wrap themselves around him and hold him as he shook from crying.