Chapter Text
The hospital was a place of monotony. The constant beeping of different machines, repeated footsteps in the hallway, and the constant bright shine of the lights.
Shadow was staring up at one of these lights, lying still in the bedsheets of the stiff bed. An IV by his bedside and the beep of a heart monitor filled his sight and hearing.
That heart monitor wasn't very active. Just a consistent beep about every second, mimicking his own body. But it didn't make him feel any more reassured. If anything, he felt anxious. Nervous that his own body would once more give out on him and there would be nothing he could do to stop it.
"Are you doing okay, prince?"
That was Rouge. As far as he could tell, he hadn't left his side the entire time. Then again, it felt like everything had been both a blur and painfully slow. He honestly didn't remember much except the sensation of crushing weight on his chest.
"I'm fine." He said it, though he clearly didn't believe it himself. He didn't turn his head to face her at his bedside.
"Look, I promise that you'll be okay," Rouge assured her. "They'll be coming back with the test results soon, and then we'll know how to make sure this never happens again."
Shadow just nodded, only half listening to her words. He was still replaying the events in his head. The worst part about it was that it had happened in the comfort of his own home. He tried usually on missions to avoid doing things that would get him killed as long as others were safe, but he never expected he'd almost die in a trusted environment like that.
The sound of footsteps echoed in the hall. Rushed footsteps. Not the calm passing of other doctors, but frantic eager footsteps. A sound Shadow realized he knew as he heard someone stop outside his door.
"Sir! I need you to please calm down!"
"And I need to see him! I need to make sure he's okay!"
"Sonic! Going in there all animated like this will only stress him out!"
Silence. Shadow didn't even need to hear Sonic's name to recognize his voice. And he recognized Amy's instantly as it drifted through the cracks in the door. He instinctively clenched his hands into fists, teasing up slightly. Rouge nervously fidgeted where she sat.
Then, the door slowly opened. Sonic, who looked more calm and composed than he had sounded a minute ago, stepped into the room, with Amy and the doctor following closely behind.
"Hey, Shads," Sonic chuckled nervously. "How are you feeling?"
Shadow didn't say anything, and Sonic's nervous smile dropped as he rubbed the back of his head. Amy stepped forward and approached his bedside next to Rouge.
"I'm so glad you're okay," she said, looking like she was on the verge of tears. Shadow sighed and mustered up the courage to speak.
"Yeah, me too," he finally said. "I'm... glad you're here."
"We came as soon as we could," Sonic replied. "We—I..." He hesitated. "I needed to make sure you were okay." He then seemed to force a smile and a chuckle. "Heh, sorry I didn't bring you any flowers."
"Ah yes, because flowers are what I'm concerned about," Shadow deadpanned. Sonic couldn't help but let a genuine giggle escape his mouth.
"I hate to interrupt this," the doctor—a slightly older bear who probably had a few decades in his career—said as he stepped forward. "But I do have a couple questions I need to ask so we can confirm a couple things."
"Of course," Amy said, and the three backed off so the doctor could approach.
"Shadow, I believe it is?" He asked. The ultimate lifeform nodded in response. "Alright, I just got a couple basic questions. First, I just want to confirm exactly what you do for work."
"If that somehow matters, I work for Guardian Units of Nations." Shadow replied, raising an eyebrow.
"Ah, I see," the doctor replied. "Government job. That cuts down our list of questions a great deal." He said with a light laugh. "Would you say your workload has increased as of late?"
Shadow looked away from Sonic, who was tapping his foot with his arms crossed. He could feel the blue blur's gaze resting on him, like he wanted to say, 'I told you so,' but was refraining.
"A fair bit," Shadow admitted. The doctor nodded and continued.
"And would you say that's increased your stress?" he asked. Shadow rolled his eyes.
"It's part of the job," he replied. The doctor reached over and quickly wrote down something on a sheet of paper before turning to address the four.
"Well, I think we got all we need here." He said. "You were right in guessing this was a basic heart attack; we just needed help determining the cause." He explained, before pausing for a moment. "Do you guys want the short or the technical version?"
"Let's go with short, for the sake of making things simple," Shadow replied.
"Alright," the doctor nodded. "In a nutshell, your recent workload has overstressed you to the point your heart couldn't handle it," he answered. "My advice is that you'll need a lifestyle change if you want to avoid this in the future. And you'll need to start taking better care of yourself. My advice: take some time off work and relax."
There was an unspoken silence between the group. Sonic and Amy exchanged a glance, then Rouge exchanged a glance with Shadow, then Shadow with Amy, then Amy with Rouge; it was a bunch of silent conversations all going at once.
"What's going to happen for now?" Rouge asked.
"He should be good to go in a few days," the doctor replied. "We just want to keep him here for the time being so we can keep an eye on him and ensure there won't be any complications," he explained. Shadow visibly tensed in his bed, and Rouge took notice. She gave his hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze.
" I'll stay by you all night if you want," she whispered. Shadow didn't say a word but gave her hand a returning gentle squeeze. Rouge knew he didn't like hospitals, let alone staying in them overnight. Even though it was years ago—decades, technically—it still reminded him of the lab on the ark. As kind as his family had been... it hadn't exactly left him with a good impression of doctors beyond Gerald.
"I'm going to write up a prescription for you," the doctor said. "It should also reduce your risk of ending up back here. Though it shouldn't be a replacement for taking it easy, understood?"
Shadow nodded, and then Rouge stood up, quickly approaching Amy.
"Darling, could I have a quick private chat with you?" She asked. Amy was surprised but complied. The two quickly made their way down the hall, and once Rouge made sure no one in Shadow's room could hear, she sighed. "Sweetie, I need a big favor from you."
"Of course," Amy replied. "What is it?"
"If you could..." The bat hesitated for a moment. "Would you mind taking care of Shadow?" She finally asked. "It's not that I can't do it myself, but I'm worried. GUN doesn't exactly have the best track record of leaving their agents alone while they're recovering or taking time off." She explained. "I fear if Shadow stays at our base, they'll find some way to hassle him back into work."
Amy held her head to her chest in surprise.
"There's no way they can actually do that... right?" She asked, half in disbelief.
"Most of the time, no," Rouge replied. "But there's always a couple bad apples that don't mind breaking the rules, or at least bending them, even if it breaks others."
"Rouge," Amy began. "You have my word that I will do my very best to give Shadow the best care in the world!" She declared. "I promise you that!"
"Glad to hear it, Rascal." The thief said with a smile. Amy giggled at the use of her own nickname and put on a determined look on her face.
While Amy and Rouge were talking, Sonic and Shadow were left alone. The doctor had run off to attend to other patients, so now Sonic was just sitting in a chair. In silence. Doing nothing.
"So..." he began, tapping his finger against his knee. "Is now too soon to say I told you so?" He asked, cracking a smile.
"Do you have literally anywhere else to be?" Shadow asked. Sonic shrugged in response.
"I kind of place the well-being of my friends above all else whenever I can," he replied. "And you just so happen to fit my criteria for a friend."
"You are annoyingly persistent," Shadow said, laying his head back and staring at the ceiling. He'd never admit it to anyone else, but despite how much the hedgehog annoyed him, he always took time out of his day to worry for his friends.
"Kinda my thing, bro." The blue hedgehog said, kicking back in his chair. Shadow rolled his eyes, then his ear twitched as he heard the door open. Amy and Rouge re-entered, approaching his bedside.
"So I guess it's now just the waiting game," Rouge said. "We should probably make ourselves comfy."
"I think I might have a deck of cards somewhere in here we can use to pass the time," Sonic added, digging through his quills. Finally, he found them and pulled them out. Shadow couldn't help but smile. A small smile, but a smile nonetheless. He felt the aching pressure and anxiety fade just the tiniest bit; having the three so close felt comforting.