A blurry, unfamiliar, ceiling hung above, tinted a familiar cyan hue. Blaze felt awful, she had no idea how long she'd slept but it hadn't been enough. Her mouth was dry, her head rang and her eyes felt crusty. Beyond those sensations was a throbbing pain in her right shoulder. An attempt to move it forced a hiss from her, brows knitted as the pain coursed all the way to the tip of her elbow. Awful as it was, the pain had more fully awakened her and made her much more aware of her surroundings...
Blaze didn't recognise the room she was in, but she only had to identify a few minor details to understand where she was. The strong smell of alcohol hand sanitiser crinkled her nose and, from what little she could see, the room was rather barren. Her covers felt thin and papery, cheap yet unused, and her bedclothes had a similar consistency. Everything was spotless and fresh but not in the typical sense, it was all just so clinically clean.
The cat was somewhere in Southern Island's hospital, in a solo room that had plainly been breached by a certain someone. A soft breeze kept parting drawn white blinds, pushing them out from the windowsill in waves. Despite the brightness nearby, what view she managed to snatch informed Blaze that night had arrived outside. The cat had no idea how long she'd been unconscious, and she couldn't even lift her duvet to check her injuries. Someone was in the way.
She'd been trying to ignore the weight of his head on her gut; the figure it was attached to wasn't laid in bed with her as he so often was. Instead, he was sat, slouched forward with his quills obscuring his face. Never before had Blaze seen Silver the hedgehog so uncomfortably sleeping, his eyelids clamped tightly shut and his body rigid even while he was unconscious. Despite that, her one free hand above the covers was currently captured by his one of his.
The prior day's events seemed to blur in her mind, falling out of sequence and fading like dreams. She could recall a fight, some ludicrous Eggman machine, but beyond a certain point her mind was blank. Well, it didn't take a genius to understand she'd been seriously injured.
Cold rationality flooded Blaze, pushing out her tiredness and easing her worry. They wouldn't be here if her kingdom had fallen, this hospital wouldn't have stood. Silver would still be out there fighting if the doctor was there to fight. If the odds had become insurmountable, she'd have awoken next to him on some mountain or far off island he'd rushed them to. Certainly not a place like this.
Still, the state of her people was in question. What had happened, just how had she ended up here? The pain still creaking in her shoulder, owing to damage significant enough to put her here, served as a frequent reminder that things had gone poorly.
It'd been a little after noon, that much Blaze recalled for certain, they'd heard the commotion from their picnic spot on the far side of the town. They'd made it to the beach just as the machine had fully made land, citizens dashing for their lives up the beachfront and for the cover of nearby buildings. It'd been an enormous robotic crab, modified to have four giant claws rather than five with each housing a different weapon. At the centre of its flat top sat the stereotypical glass cockpit used by the mad doctor, an almost too obvious weak point.
From there things became blurred, fire and psychokinesis had torn at steel in rapid succession. Fights were a mess of primal reflexes, it was rare that every blow could be recalled, but in this case so few came to mind. Things had started well enough, a thrown fireball had got the doctor's attention and left him open to a surprise attack. With little raw material to work with, Silver had opted to use swing one of the machine's massive arms, one with claws like serrated blades, toward its own source.
It was then that things became unclear, a flurry of attacks came to mind but none of them stood out. She'd pointed Silver forward, instructed him to do something specific, but, as he'd obeyed, Blaze had noticed someone else, still on the sands. That child's face was burned the brightest into Blaze's memory, a little boy no older than five sat crying on the beach. He'd been in the path of the crab's inevitable assault.
The last thing she could remember was sidestepping in front of the child but still running along the beach, directly toward a canon housed within a giant crab claw. She couldn't remember the flash of a muzzle, nor any immediate pain. Not even the dark of what had inevitably come after.
She'd overextended, gone on offence while simultaneously trying to defend. The result hadn't been some inevitability, it wasn't as though her loss was destined the moment she saw the child in danger, but it suggested she had underestimated their opponent. She should have grabbed the child and rushed out of the way, got him to safety before returning to the fray.
Blaze's stomach lurched as her eyes settled back on the hedgehog's sleeping form. Not only had she worried him, but all her people. She attempted to roll her shoulder, but the pain was too great, and the extent of her other injuries was still such an unknown. Still, it wasn't as though she was screaming or crying. She would heal, things would be okay eventually.
Her eyes flickered to a clock, ticking as it hung on the far wall. It read three but it could only be the morning, visiting hours were long over and yet here he was. The window had undoubtedly been opened by him; he'd surely snuck his way inside. As touching as it all was, she couldn't have him getting himself in trouble. Soon nurses would resume their routes, it was likely they'd check on her early in the morning.
She gently squeezed his hand, finally returning the hedgehog's grasp. "Silver…"
A low groan sounded from his form; behind fallen quills she watched a yellow eye half open. His breath hitched as he caught sight of her, he quickly sat up, "B-Blaze, did I wake you? I-I'm sorry, I just-
She squeezed his hand again, cutting off his rambling, "I don't think you did, my shoulder started to ache. I assume whatever pain killers they gave me just wore off."
It was only now, with his body fully in view, that Blaze could see his damages. There was a small laceration across the hedgehog's muzzle, cutting just shy of his mouth; it had plainly gone untended, but it wasn't especially deep. What worried the cat more was the staining across his body, blotches of dark spattered across his white fur. At first she'd worried that it was his blood, that there were greater wounds untended beneath his fur, but the colouration was too spread and thin. It was her blood, he had carried her here, of course.
"Why are you here? You should at least be resting," The cat calmly asked, already knowing the answer.
"Well it sort of looks like I was doing that," He croaked, straightening himself further.
"Not nearly enough, and certainly not properly," Blaze tutted, trying to inject some levity into the situation, knowing things were set to get more difficult, "You need to get cleaned off and some proper bed rest, I'll still be here in the morning."
"I know, a-and they told me that much," He confessed, still grimacing, "I just didn't want to leave you alone here."
Blaze attempted to match his posture, pushing herself more upright, but the pain at her shoulder kept her lying and made her time traveling companion wince. It was difficult to see in the lowlight, his powers were all that was lighting the room, but there was a redness beneath Silver's eyes. He'd cried himself to sleep, of that much Blaze was certain, but she had to understand what had happened.
Silver was an emotional person, she didn't want him to relive those fresh memories, but Blaze had to know, "Well, since you've been by my side this whole time, I suppose you know all that happened to me. My memory of those last moments is rather foggy…"
"You reached one of the crab's claws, a cannon. You managed to destroy it, but an engine or something inside it must have exploded," He recalled, filling the gaps in her memory, "That was enough to turn the tide, the pieces of the broken claw gave me enough to work with and I managed to quickly see him off, but…" Regret marred his muzzle, "I'm sorry. I couldn't catch him as he fled. I was too worried about you. He got out to sea, using a pod ejected from the crab, and then vanished in a flash of light."
After parsing his words for a moment, another question needed answering, "Was anyone else hurt?"
"No, no one," He quickly promised, eyes full and honest, "There was a kid crying next to you, I brought him here too, but he was untouched. Just scared," Silver quickly explained, alleviating the bulk of Blaze's concern, but then his eyes flickered from her, "I'm sorry."
"You should have gone after him yes, but what's done is done. Besides, the sooner I heal the sooner our defences will be shored. If I'd just been left there, things might have got more dire," She shook her head, "If anything, I should be thanking you."
"N-No. I'm not just sorry for that, I know I should have done that but," He winced, his eyelids clamped shut, but he continued to elaborate, "There are other things. For one, I should have been ready to save you."
"Silver…" She rubbed her thumb against his, "I sent you away, getting hit like that was my own fault. I saw the child and I panicked."
"I should have been ready for something to go wrong though. You sent me after the machine's legs, I reached them just as the claw exploded," He continued, his voice growing horse as he stared into the bedsheets, "I didn't realise anything had gone wrong until I'd knocked it down, I glanced back and saw you on the ground," She felt his grasp tighten, "Then, when I got you here, I messed things up even more."
"Like I said, I made a misjudgement, my injuries are not your fault. I should have planned ahead, I'm the one who sent you away. This is my responsibility, and I won't let you blame yourself, He seemed to struggle to accept those words, despite her serious tone, but Blaze was ready to hammer them in. However, his last raised point had concerned her, "What happened here, at the hospital?"
"They didn't want me to be in the room when they were treating you. They kept trying to shut me out," Words started to fail him, "I sort of… it wasn't really a fight but…"
He hadn't given the full picture, but Blaze could immediately imagine the scene. She'd probably needed stitches, perhaps more thorough work even to mend what had been done. They'd have wanted to move her to a sterilised room, tried to take her from his arms. When they'd finally managed to wrangle her away, he'd surely followed behind only to be blocked off before the surgery room.
Across their past life, no matter the extreme of their injuries, they'd always doctored each other rather than risk relying on others. Whenever he had got burned, she had been the one to bandage him, practically pinning him down so as to keep him from doing anything rash. He had done the same for Blaze of course, often having to barter with her to convince the cat to stay put and fully heal. With time though, as they'd aged toward maturity, those healing phases had become less fraught with debate and insistence. They'd simply looked after each other, cared for each other as only they could.
"I knew the doctors here could help you better than I could, you brought me to them before and showed me that," He explained, "But I didn't realise they'd take you away from me. After seeing you all bloody and hurt, it just made me panic. I started to push and shout and," He swallowed, "I-I didn't hurt anyone, I just sort of," Again, he floundered for words, "I didn't want to leave you."
It was true that he'd only visited a doctor a handful of times. Having grown up in destroyed worlds, healthcare had been so alien to him up until recently. Convincing him to sit in a dental chair had been the first of many great modernising tasks Blaze had saddled herself with, let alone having him endure the gruelling work that had come after.
Then had come a full health evaluation, vaccinations and other such treatments. The hedgehog had been quick to accept that it was all for the best, but it had all been so new and confusing to him. He'd never had a significant surgery; despite the injuries he'd endured across his lifetimes.
"I'm not supposed to be here," He glumly admitted, "Even if I was, it's after hours now, isn't it? People aren't allowed to stay overnight," He gestured to the window, "I'm just so used to us looking after each other and you being taken away, in that state," He finally looked her in the eye again, though his vision was surely blurred by tears, "I just couldn't handle it."
Blaze could tell her silence was weighing on him, but she wasn't sure what to say. Wincing more, she pushed herself to fully sit up and took in both him and the wider room. It was only now, newly positioned, that she was able to see the door. He'd set a chair under the handle and pushed a closet behind it, plainly attempting to bar other's entry in case they came to force him out again.
"Silver…" She sighed, again squeezing his hand, he was lucky no one had tried to check on her in the night, "You're so naïve."
He seemed to follow her eyeline and quickly identify what she'd seen, as evidenced by him turning away and scratching the back of his head, "I was still sort of panicking when I did that, sorry."
Blaze tried to shift closer to the hedgehog, but her shoulder wouldn't allow it. Instead, she finally slipped her hand from his, beckoning him in, "Come closer."
Rather than scoot his chair up the bed, the hedgehog rose and stepped in close before leaning down. All of a sudden, he'd gone from just a little too far away to hold to directly in her face. Snorting slightly at his over-effort, she reached up with her left hand to rub the uninjured side of his muzzle.
"Despite your panicking, not to mention your breaking and entering, I am happy you're here," It stung a little more, but she managed to lean in and push her forehead against that of the hedgehog, "There's no one I'd rather have watching over me."
"I'm just," She felt him lean into her, so very gently, trying not to cause her any pain, "I'm still not used to this, all of this. They didn't want me coming in here, not after I freaked out about them taking you away."
"I know, I know," She hummed, now moving her hand to caress the back of his quills, "I got too comfortable, relaxing at our picnic and then in battle. I need to be more attentive, no more slipping up. This whole situation is my fault, not yours."
"How can you be responsible for me tussling with the folks here?" He questioned, pulling back ever so slightly.
"It's new to you, and it's my job to teach you how to function in this world. You just weren't used to what is truly common procedure," She explained, pulling him back in.
He was quiet for a moment, considering her words, "I'll get better at it. I'll get more used to living here, so I can stay with you properly," Intensity had returned to his tone, "I promise."
"It'll all come with time, I promise too," She relaxed for a moment, simply enjoying his touch, before leaning became too uncomfortable to bear. That did though spark a new idea, "Help me up to a mirror, I need to see the damage."
"Okay, how do you want to do this?" He rose to stand again, taking her in, "Will I use my powers to…"
"I think that would be what's safest, you know what parts of me are injured don't you?" She asked, only to be met with a confirming nod, "Try to brace my right side and just help me walk,"
He did wince at her suggestion, but Blaze was certain he knew what to do. They'd done it before in their last life, whenever they'd had to hurry away and injuries had still been lingering. She trusted him now, as she always had.
With one wave of his hands the covers were removed, folding neatly at the foot of her bed. That change alone gave Blaze some perspective on her current state, revealing a long gown that could be unbuttoned at several sites for easy access. There was no sign of a cast at least, or significant damage on her right arm.
Cyan light came to coalesce around her form, seeking out specific locations to properly manifest. It wasn't like a simple cast of psychic energy, it was more akin to a harness used to redistribute weight across her body and reduce pressure on more pained locations. He seemed to work around her wound, gently drawing across the fur and skin, while spreading a psychic support across her back and down her legs. By the time it was done, she was glowing more than him.
Finally, the cat fully sat up, finding the movement entirely painless. He reached out a hand and she took it, standing was slightly more painful but his brace was doing its job. Soon she was, albeit stiffly, being led across the room.
He waved his free hand toward another door in the room, pushing it open and clicking on the light. While she'd have preferred a full body mirror, something that would let her fully check herself, the en suite he'd revealed would suffice. She shuffled inside, catching herself in the mirror.
It was fortunate that her fur didn't burn, most of her injuries had assumedly been caused by the force of the explosion or maybe thrown shrapnel rather than anything else. There were a few cuts on her face, predominantly on the right of her muzzle, but nothing that looked too permeant. She knew where the true injury resided.
A glance was thrown out the door and in his direction, it took a moment for him to realise her intent and turn away, "A metal plate got stuck in your clavicle, I'm not sure how deep it actually went," The hedgehog relayed.
Using her good arm, she unbuttoned the right side of the long shirt. The injury was as he'd described and as she'd expected. A series of stitches marked the wound's seam, reaching just slightly lower than her armpit but arching some distance up her shoulder. There were other injuries yes, what felt like a nasty bruise near the centre of her chest and another stitched wound near her middle ribs, but nothing too grievous.
"Well," Blaze started to rebutton her gown, "We've seen our way through worse."
"It was pretty bad…" She heard him cringe, "Looked like the sort of thing that would leave you stuck in bed for half a month."
"Modern medicine makes such injuries far more treatable than we're used to," Blaze attempted to relax him, taking on a lecturing tone, "I might even be out of here and walking on my on in a couple of days, as long as my actual bones are okay."
"If you're sure," He said, not sounding at all sure.
She made it back out of the room, still wrapped in her partial psychic exoskeleton, but he hadn't turned back around. Perhaps it was the adrenaline of the whole situation finally wearing off, that or maybe knowledge of her body's state had calmed the cat, but she was only now noticing the position they were in.
He'd spent a fair amount of time in her bedchamber, a few nights sleeping by her, but it was rare that they'd be like this in a different setting. Her heels were gone, she had no idea where they were, and so his relative tallness was now emphasised. Her hair was down, and she wasn't in her long coat. He'd even slipped through her window.
It was a shame about the dry blood staining his front and her present injuries, this would otherwise be an ideal night to slip away and enjoy the serene quiet of the beach at night. Not quite gently, and less than elegantly, she used her left arm to spin the hedgehog to face her. From there, she quickly took hold of his hands.
Suddenly, her confidence faded, "You know, I meant what I said."
He blinked, looking so plainly baffled, "What you said?"
"Don't make me spell it out again," The cat tutted, but his confusion remained. Her gaze dropped to his booted feet, "There's no one I'd rather have watching over me, not one-
A knock at the door halted her momentum, her last word wouldn't have the opportunity to pass through her lips, "Your highness, are you awake?"
She pushed past him and, after raising the curtains and opening the window wider, suddenly understood that they were on the fourth floor, "You need to go. Quickly," She loudly whispered.
Hoisting himself into the air, he caught up with her and set his boot on the open window frame, "But you were just sayin-
"There's no time, I need to get back into bed so you can-
Another knock resounded on the door, "Your highness? Hello?"
"Lights out, tuck me in, get out, close the window and then move everything at the door back where it belongs," Blaze quietly instructed, quickly hobbling her way across the room.
He did as commanded, the bathroom light flickered out just as the door shut. The moment she was lying in bed the duvet flipped up to cover her and her own psychic coating vanished. In a single, slightly awkward, movement he managed to slip through the open window to float just outside her room.
"Do you need anything? I can bring some stuff when I come back later?" He called in, scarcely audible as he flew various objects across the room and back into their proper places, "I could even sneak things in, if I'm not allowed to bring you stuff?"
"Is everything okay in there? What's that noise?" The voice from the door questioned.
"Surprise me," Blaze mouthed out the window, waving her hand in a now painful gesture to indicate he should leave, "Yes, everything's okay! I've only just woken up!"
Realising there'd have to be some source for the noise, wincing, she rose to sit on the edge of her bed. By the time she'd done so the curtains were closed, and he was out of view. Just in time for the door to open.
As the door swung open the light was almost immediately flicked on, an elderly koala nurse was revealed in the doorway, "Oh dearie, sorry to cause a fuss, that door was giving me a bit of bother," The elderly woman turned to the door testing the handle, "You should really lie down, that's quite the nasty cut you arrived with, you're lucky it wasn't any worse. Do you need anything?"
The cat did hesitate, almost throwing another half glance in the window's direction, "No thank you," She responded, knowing all she could ever want was but a call away.