Me: I'm finally back from the dead, guys! With the continuation of HBHC. Now, que the story!

HBHC Chapter 2: Not Completely Here

He slumped into the hospital's gray dull cardboard-like chair, his hands- shaky and unsteady- pressed up against his head.

Why was he still scared?

He could hear him. He could hear Knuckles practically right outside the door, trying with all his might to soften his voice as he spoke on an old rundown payphone. He could only imagine how the others -on the other side of the line- would react to the 'good' news. They were probably all crowded around Chuck, jumping and cheering at the fact that everything was going to be fine. That they could 'smile' again. That they could 'laugh' again.

That they could stop pretending to be happy.

So there was nothing left to fear…

His glassy eyes peeked out from behind his hands, focusing on the way too bright sea of white before him where- right smack in the middle of it- a speck of dull blue- which looked so artificial that it just couldn't be real- seemed to be drowning within it's contents. Yet, the speck looked to be completely unconcerned for it laid in the midst of it, so painfully peaceful.

So unaware.

Right?

"Tails."

He smacked the large persistent hand away from his shoulder, mumbling a bunch of incoherent words underneath his breath. He heard a loud sigh of annoyance from somewhere above him and was glad when the hand didn't return. He nestled deeper into the mysteriously warm thing next to him and just as he was about to allow his mind to drift back into the dream world where everything seemed so real and so much better than reality when…

"Ah!"

His world flipped upside down and he suddenly found himself lying face down on the icy, cold floor, a groan slipping out from between his lips.

"Hey, Kid,"

He blinked his eyes open, hissing at the bright lights that attacked his corneas. Twisting his head around, he then stared up at the smug echidna that sat behind him, his good arm holding the now crooked chair, the same one he was sitting in a moment ago, in his hand.

"Are you awake now?"

He groaned in reply and kicked his foot out at the echidna's leg. He, unfortunately, missed when Knuckles moved his leg out of way, somehow knowing what he was thinking. Giving up the thought of revenge, for now at least, he stood to his feet and gave Knuckles a dry look.

"Is there a reason," he yawned, unintentionally making himself look less threatening, "why you woke me up in such a matter?"

Knuckles smirked. "Because I enjoy hearing you shout like a little girl."

Tails blushed a light red, which seriously hard to hide when your muzzle was straight up `white. "Knuckles!"

Knuckles gave a low chuckle, waving his good hand at him. "I'm kidding. Well… not really." Tails frowned at him. "But, the real reason why I woke you up is because the doc's coming."

"The doctor…"

He blinked, realization dawning over his features. He had forgotten. Forgotten where he was. Forgotten what had happened only about five hours ago. And forgotten who it was that Knuckles had carried in like a fragile broken doll.

"Yeah," Knuckles continued on as if he didn't noticed the faraway look on his face. "Dr. Catherine or whatever her name is."

"It's Dr. Carmen."

Both Knuckles and Tails turned to their head towards the young brown-haired lady who wandered into the waiting room, stuffing two rubber gloves into the pocket of her lab coat.

Knuckles shrugged his right shoulder, the other one remaining stiff, and leaned back into the torn red hospital chair, grimacing when he jostled his arm in the process. "Eh, close enough."

Dr. Carmen narrowed her eyes through her black-framed glasses, silently studying Knuckles' broken arm. "I bet that hurts, huh."

Knuckles fingered the strap on his sling, repositioning his arm a bit and glanced at Dr. Carmen out of the corner of his eye. "It's fine. It only tingles every and then."

"Right. 'Tingle'." She took out a miniature clipboard and began to flip through some of the pages. "You know, it wouldn't 'tingle' so much if you hadn't left the hospital before you were discharged and given prescriptions for the 'tingle'."

Tails looked to the echidna for an explanation, but he refused to meet his eyes. Instead, he gripped the rubber handle on his chair and glared hard at the doctor.

"We're here for Sonic," He hissed. "Not me."

Dr. Carmen clicked her tongue. "Alrighty then." She fixed her glasses and studied the page currently on her clipboard. "Mr. Hedgehog's condition is-"

"I-It's Sonic."

"Excuse me?" She looked over the top of her glasses at Tails- who seemed to shrink underneath her stare-.

He looked down at his feet, finding the shiny white floor to be the most interesting thing in the world. "It's just Sonic. He once told me that hated being called Mr. Hedgehog because it makes him feel old."

Dr. Carmen raised a brow, a smile gracing her lips. "Really? Well, I can't blame him. He seems to be the type that acts really mature for his age."

Knuckles smacked his hand hard on the chair handle, drawing the attention of both Tails and Dr. Carmen. "Can you just get to the point!" He narrowed his eyes. "Is he alive or not!"

"Knuckles!"

Knuckles paid no attention to Tails' shocked tone, instead choosing to glare heavily at Dr. Carmen. The doctor looked away from the heat of his glare and focused onto the chart in her hands. "Fine. He's alive."

Tails let a breath he didn't know he was holding, his shoulders slumping forward in relief. One part of him felt bad for doubting the likelihood of Sonic being alive. The hedgehog promised him that he'll be okay so, of course he would be alive! Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed how some of the tension seemed to leave Knuckles' body at the news.

It looks like, even if he wouldn't admit to it, that Tails wasn't the only one who was concerned for Sonic.

"But-"

" 'But' what?" Snapped Knuckles, his entire body stiffening.

Dr. Carmen frowned at the sudden interruption, but, nevertheless, she studied the information on the clipboard. "He suffered extreme damage to his leg, as you've probably noticed when you brought him in, which resulted in an open fracture."

"An open fracture?" Mumbled Knuckles, his voice sounding unusually quiet.

Dr. Carmen nodded. "It' s when the bone-"

"I know what it is- just," he sighed, "please continue."

"Alright." Dr. Carmen flipped the page. "Other than his leg, his other injuries are pretty minor. He has some interesting pricks on his body from all those cactus needles that were sticking out of his skin, a few cuts and bruises, and, luckily, a minor infection."

"So," Tails glanced at her, his eyes bright and hopeful,"he's okay?"

She nodded, her expression blank. "Yes, but-"

"Then we can see him!" He all but shrieked, already taking a few steps towards the door.

She nodded once more, seeming to fidget in her spot. "Yes, but you should-"

Tails pulled at Knuckles' good arm, trying to pull the echidna from his seat. "Come on, Knuckles! We have to-"

He paused mid-sentence when Knuckles suddenly grabbed his wrist, a grim look on his face. "Hold on, Tails." Tails' hand dropped away from Knuckles' arm as the echidna stood from his seat and stared Dr. Carmen directly in the eye. "There's something you're not telling us, isn't there?"

Dr. Carmen sighed sadly as she slipped the clipboard into her lab coat. "Yes. By the time your friend, Sonic was brought into surgery, he had lost about 3 pints of blood which, from the looks you're giving me, is quite the amount for a Mobian to lose. Luckily, with some of the information you two gave us, we were able to find a blood type that matched with Sonic's, but that wasn't until we were in the middle of the surgery, so…"

"So?" Whispered Tails, his voice weak.

"So," Dr. Carmen gulped, "while we were waiting on the blood, Sonic was technically… dead for 1 minute and 45 seconds."

Tails' eyes widened in horror, disbelief passing over his features. Beside him, Knuckles clenched his fist clenched tightly at his side, his expression serious."What else?"

Dr. Carmen sighed. "After we restarted his heart, he managed to make it through surgery without any other difficulties. Even now, he's shows no sign of any-"

"What's," his voice came out in a growl, "wrong with him!?"

This time, Tails made no move to correct Knuckles on his attitude. He, instead, chose to stand off to the side and wait to see what had become of his big brother, his hands trembling at his sides and his body tense.

Dr. Carmen pushed up her glasses with a finger, her eyes focused on the ferocious look in Knuckles' violet eyes and the scared look in Tails' baby blue eyes. "Once again, yes. Combined with all of your friend's injuries, malnourishment, and his current state from the surgery, I'm afraid that Sonic is, well, currently in a-"

Coma.

A simple four lettered word that seemed so small, yet could mean so much.

He dropped his shaky hands from his face, ignoring the wet splotches that were evident on the surface of his gloves. With his heart aching, he looked down at the hedgehog, his eyes hypnotized by the white bandages that were wrapped tightly against his head like a white cobra.

In this case… it meant the world.

He broke the trance and allowed his eyes to flicker over to the large clock that hung in the shadows along the wall, studying the large glow-in-the-dark numbers.

8:30 p.m.

He rubbed his eyes vigorously before he peered up at the clock once again, shock briefly passing over his features.

5 hours.

It seemed so impossible.

He leaned back against the chair, once again staring at the hedgehog next to him.

Only about 5 short hours ago, everything seemed so different.

5 hours ago, he was moping. 5 hours ago, he was crying. 5 hours ago, he was dreaming. 5 hours ago, he was told to forget. 5 hours ago, he was told to move on.

He reached out a hand towards Sonic. He hesitated mid-way, for a moment, afraid that the hedgehog might disappear before his very eyes like he was nothing but a dream. But, when nothing changed; when Sonic didn't vanish, he gingerly grabbed the hedgehog's ungloved, bandaged hand in his own, trying his best not to notice the lumpiness of the limb.

5 hours ago, he told himself that everything was hopeless.

He hated this.

He studied the blank expression on Sonic's face, his eyes falling on the breathing mask strapped tightly to his face.

He hated the silence.

For as long as he has known Sonic, the hedgehog had never been known to be quiet. He was always the kind of person who defied the laws of silence with a corny joke, a laugh, or even a bright smile. Even when the hedgehog was asleep, like during those times when it used to be just the two of them, laying underneath the stars, he was always mumbling about flying chili dogs or just a bunch of incoherent words.

But this was different.

He gently squeezed Sonic's hand, hoping; wishing that the hedgehog would squeeze back to let him know that he was here. That he was really okay. He couldn't quite stop the frown from spreading across his face when Sonic's hand remained limp.

Sonic's eyes were closed and he was breathing slowly, his chest rising up and down underneath the white blankets. To any oblivious person, it would almost simply look like the hedgehog was sleeping peacefully without a care in the world.

But, he knew better.

The hedgehog was too quiet and too still to just be asleep. It was like he was completely dead to the wires strapped to his body; to the stitches; to the gentle beat of the monitors; to his leg; to his hand in his.

To him.

Squeak!

His ears twitched at the sharp sound that sliced through the silence in the room. He turned his head away from Sonic's still body and instead focused his attention on the only other door in the room, besides the one that lead to the bathroom, as it slowly swung open, casting a steadily increasing stream of light into the dark room.

"Kid?"

Tails squinted his eyes through the harsh bright lights of the hallway, studying the red outline of the figure that stood at the door.

"Knuckles?"

"Yeah, it's me." Knuckles stepped into the room, gently pulling the door closed behind him. A soft click sounded from the door as he leaned up against it, his hand still on the doorknob. "So," he gave Tails a light smile, "how's it going?"

"It's going great." Tails gave him a smile in return, although it was significantly weaker than his usual bright smile. "Dr. Cameron said that, besides Sonic's coma, he should be completely fine in a few weeks-"

"That's not what I meant."

Tails frowned, a look of confusion on his face. "Huh?"

Knuckles sighed. "When I said 'how's it going' I meant 'how's it going' with you." He gestured with a shake of his head to Sonic, his eyes barely glancing at the hero's bandaged body. "I already know that Idiot's going to be okay."

Tails turned his head away from him, instead choosing to focus his eyes on the starry night sky outside the only window in the room. "I'm fine."

"You're lying." Knuckles crossed his arms, or at least the good one, across his chest, noticing the way Tails flinched at the accusation. "You're never able to look someone in the eyes when you tell a lie."

"Knuckles. Really, I'm fine."

Knuckles scoffed. "Then turn around and look me in the eyes."

"Knuckles-"

"Turn around, Tails."

Tails sighed, briefly closing his eyes. With slight hesitation in his movements, he twisted around, staring at the echidna's multicolored shoes.

"Look me in the eyes, Tails."

Tails bit his lip. "I can't."

Knuckles rose an eye-ridge. "What was that?"

"I said I can't!" Exclaimed Tails, his bright blue eyes shooting up to meet own Knuckles' dark violet orbs. "T-the truth is I-I can't wrap my head around what's happened over the past month. W-with Sonic suddenly disappearing and t-then suddenly," he gestured to Sonic, tears gathering up in the corner of his eyes, " 'poof', reappearing looking like he was-" he gulped and stared at the floor, "like he was…"

"That's it, isn't it?" Knuckles took a few steps towards Tails, studying the fox's rigid posture. He hesitated halfway, noticing Tails' hand tightly clasping Sonic's own unmoving one. "You're afraid of the thought of him dying."

"News flash, Knuckles!" Tails squeezed his eyes shut. "He was already dead! For about a minute and 45 seconds!"

"Was dead, Tails!" He approached Tails again, his voice soft, yet stern. "But now, he's not. Right now, he's alive and breathing."

"But he could stop." Tails opened his eyes and stared concernedly at Sonic, tears rolling down his cheeks. "And then-" he choked, pressing his unoccupied hand to his face in a sad attempt to slow down the tears, "and then-"

"Tails," he placed on a hand on his shoulder, "everything's going to be alright."

Knuckles mentally cursed himself for saying such words of false encouragement. The same exact words that, if Sonic was standing where he was, the hedgehog wouldn't waste a moment to say in a desperate attempt to keep the hope, no matter how small, alive.

The fox shook his hand off of his shoulder. "You don't know that!"

"You're right. I don't." Tails let out a sniffle, his big watery eyes now focused on Knuckles' softened features. "I don't know if that Hedgehog's heart is going to stop beating, if he'll stop breathing or even if he'll never wake up again. But," he, once again, placed his hand on Tails' shoulder, mentally smiling when to himself when the fox didn't shake it off, "I do know that in the past years since both you and I've known him, that Sonic has never let either of us down. No matter how bad things had gotten; no matter what happened; no matter how much the odds were stacked up against us, he never gave in."

"But this is different."

"Is it really, Tails?"

Tails remained silent, tears still dripping down his chin. He stared at Sonic's hand in his for a moment, rubbing his thumb over the unnaturally pale peach skin. Then, without warning, he whirled his head around and leaned it against Knuckles' midsection, a sob tearing its way out of his throat.

"T-This is all my f-fault!"

Knuckles blinked, almost unsure of what to do. To think, he's been used to seeing Tails shed tears for the past month, but he could never wrap his head around why the kid would pick him, a loner who spent all of his life guarding the Master Emerald, out of everyone else to look towards for comfort.

He wrapped his arm, with slight hesitation, tightly around the fox, his bad arm's hand gently ruffling the kid's hair. "It's not your fault, Tails."

"Yes, it is!" He sniffled. "The w-way he is right now is all my f-fault!"

"For the love of-Tails, he's fine. You said so yourself a few minutes ago. And if you don't believe me then just listen."

Tails sniffled once again and turned his head so only the right side of his cheek rested on Knuckles', perking his ears.

Beep.

His eyes flickered to the large monitor that stood tall next to Sonic's bed, towering over his suddenly small body like a mountain. The screen of the monitor showed three different colored lines that moved up and down similar to waves crashing against a shore. The thickest one, which was a bright green neon line, hopped up towards the top of the screen and, simultaneously, emitted a high pitched 'beep' about every 10 seconds.

"See? He's fine, Tails. And all because of the fact that you and I managed to get him here in time."

"Y-Yeah, I g-guess so." Tails allowed his gaze to wander towards Sonic's blank face. "But I can't help but feel like that m-maybe," he gulped, just barely managing to keep his tears under control, "just maybe if I hadn't left him behind to fight Eggman alone, he wouldn't be like this."

Knuckles sighed, patting Tails' head softly. "I can understand how you feel, Kid, but there was nothing you could've done."

Tails looked up at Knuckles, his misty blue eyes big. "Yes there was! M-Maybe I could've convinced him to come with us o-or I could've stayed with him-"

Knuckles raised an eye-ridge. "Do you honestly believe that Sonic would've allowed you to stay with him? Mister I've-got-this-all-on-my-own?"

Tails shook his head, rubbing his eyes. "No…"

"You know, you're not the only one who feels like they could've done something differently that day." Tails sniffled underneath him. "How about Amy, Cream, or Chris? Don't you think that even right now they could still be feeling like they could've done something to prevent this all from happening in the first place?"

"Well-"

"Or what about me? Couldn't I have done something?"

"No!" Exclaimed Tails, sharply. He looked away from Knuckles' questioning stare. "You were h-hurt and unconscious. There wasn't- there wasn't anything you could've done."

"Exactly. So, why are you blaming yourself for something that none of us could've prevented?"

"I-I don't know."

"If you don't know then why are you so hung up on it? Why don't you just move on-"

" B-Because I already did." Tails rubbed at his nose, his bottom lip quivering. "After a whole month of waiting; of hoping; of dreaming; of believing; that he was alive, I finally decided to move on. To stop thinking about how maybe- just maybe he could be alive somewhere- anywhere- and was waiting for someone to find him." A couple of tears dripped down his face as he stared pitifully up at Knuckles. "I-I gave up on him."

Knuckles tightened his grip around the kid's shaking body as the kid buried his face in his midsection again. "No, you didn't, Kid. I'm the one who told you to let go. If anything I'm the one who gave up on him."

Tails remained silent at his words, seeming to neither agree or disagree with his statement. Then, suddenly, without any warning, Tails ripped himself away from Knuckles' arms and whirled around, his eyes wide and unstaring at his hand, which was still cupping Sonic's hand, like he saw a ghost.

Knuckles raised an eye-ridge in confusion. "Uh, Kid? What's-"

"It's Sonic." Tails murmured. "He-He squeezed my hand."

"What?" Knuckles hurried over to Sonic's bedside, following Tails' gaze to both his and Sonic's hands. "Are you sure?"

"I-I'm pretty sure. I mean- I felt it."

Knuckles drew his attention to Sonic's face, his eyes studying the hedgehog's facial expression for any change. "But that's impossible. He's in a coma-"

Tails suddenly gasped, making Knuckles practically give himself whiplash to look towards him as he jumped in his seat. "Knuckles. He-He did it again. He squeezed my hand again."

Knuckles narrowed his eyes, disbelief passing over his features. "But how-"

A groan interrupted Knuckles in the middle of his sentence, making both him and Tails freeze. Simultaneously, they both turned their heads to Sonic, their eyes wide as they watched the hedgehog's face twitch and shift.

"Is he-"

"Looks like it." Replied Knuckles, a small smile crossing his face.

"But, Dr. Carmen said that he wouldn't wake up for weeks o-or maybe even months."

"Guess she doesn't know the Idiot as well as we do."

The corners of Tails' mouth twitched at the comment in a desperation attempt to prevent himself from smiling, which, in Knuckles' book, was a small victory. They both soon fell into silence, watching Sonic twitch and, seemingly, struggle to wake up. Tails fidgeted in his seat, practically flinching every time Sonic squeezed his hand while Knuckles stood, arms somewhat crossed and a look of anticipation on his face.

After a minute of observing the hedgehog, they both found themselves practically holding their breaths when his eyes started to flutter slowly, at first, but then more rapidly over time. Finally, with one last groan, Sonic managed to peel his eyes open, revealing his emerald eyes which, at the moment, looked dangerously close to being a lime green and seemed extremely dazed and tired.

"Sonic?" Squeaked Tails, his tone hesitant.

The hedgehog's head rolled weakly towards the direction of Tails' voice. Once his eyes landed on the fox's own wide-eyed stare, the dazed look embedded in them seemed to lessen a bit as a loopy smile crossed his lips. "H-Hey Tails." He slurred, his voice quiet and hoarse.

Knuckles literally had to bite his lip to prevent a gasp from slipping out when Tails smiled-genuinely smiled- right back at the hedgehog, his blue eyes becoming misty again. "Hey Sonic. How do you feel?"

Sonic blinked slowly, his brow furrowing at the question almost as if he was trying to think on how to answer the world's most difficult question. Finally, he just shrugged his shoulders, a slight grimace appearing on his face at the action. "I-I don't know. I-I guess I feel kind of w-weird."

Tails frowned, concern splattered across his face. "Are you in pain?"

Sonic shook his head. "No." He let out a rough cough which, although he was oblivious to it, made Tails flinch. "N-Not really."

Tails' frown deepened considerably. He found himself torn on whether or not he should believe Sonic, especially when the hedgehog had a record of hiding his pain. "Alright." The hedgehog blinked up at him. "If you do start to feel absolutely any kind of pain then tell me and I'll get a doctor, okay?"

"Huh?" Sonic tilted his head to the side, confusion evident in his expression. "W-Why would I n-need a doctor?"

Tails mimicked his expression. "Because you're-"

"Tails."

The said fox twisted his head to the echidna. He had almost forgotten that he was still in the room. "But-"

His mouth slammed shut when Knuckles threw him a warning glance.

Sonic, oblivious the sudden tension in the room, shifted his head to the direction the echidna's voice, the loopy smile that was on his face earlier, returning in an increased size when his eyes landed on him. "Oh, it's you, K-Knuckles. How l-long have you've been s-standing there?"

"Long enough, Hedgehog." He grunted out, leaning against the side of Tails' chair. "Now, I've got a question for you. Do you know where you are right now?"

Sonic froze at the question, his smile seeming to melt before Knuckles' eyes. "Uh… A-Aren't we at C-Chris' house?"

Knuckles shook his head. "No, we're currently at Central Station Square Hospital-"

"Hospital!" Sonic's hoarse voice cracked, making him nearly choke on his words. "H-How and w-when did I-"

"Me and Tails brought you in about-" he twisted his neck to look at the clock that hung along the wall, "six hours ago. We found you out in the desert in some kind of ca-Hey!"

Sonic, suddenly, forced himself up in an upright position, his arms quivering underneath him as they struggled to support him. Knuckles leaned forward, both hands outstretched to push the hedgehog back down while Tails sat frozen in his chair.

"Lay back, Idiot! You're going to hurt yourself-"

"No!" Exclaimed Sonic, gritting his teeth against the pain. "I-I don't w-want to be h-here!"

"I don't care!" Roared Knuckles.

"I do-"

Sonic was forced to stop mid-sentence when his breath hitched before he fell into a strong coughing fit. It was like all his limited strength suddenly disappeared as Sonic's arms went limp and he pitched forward. Knuckles reacted by quickly putting his arm around the hedgehog and allowing him to lean on his side. His heart dropped to the pit of his stomach when Sonic practically collapsed on him-him the hedgehog who barely ever accepted help- and continued to cough relentlessly, his skin feeling feverish even though his thick gloves.

Knuckles turned his head to look at Tails who was currently staring, wide-eyed, at Sonic. "Tails."

The fox continued to stare like he was in some hypnotic state, his body trembling.

"Tails! Snap out of it!"

This time, he flinched, teary blue eyes meeting urgent violet ones. "Y-yeah?"

"I need you to get Dr. Carmen, now!"

"But-"

"Now, Tails!"

He flew out of his chair at Knuckles' strict tone, nodding his head up and down like a broken bobble-head. Without another word, he practically started to race to the door, his heart beating out of tempo. He was halfway across the room when-

"No."

He paused mid-stride, panting like he had just ran a marathon when really all he had done was walk a couple of steps. He twisted his neck back to Knuckles -who was glaring down at the hedgehog- and Sonic- who was still coughing vigorously-.

"Ignore him, Tails." Knuckles huffed, patting the hedgehog on the back. "Go get the doctor-"

"No." Sonic choked out, the word sounding more like a wheeze than an actual word.

"Sonic-"

"Please."

Knuckles stiffened at the plead, his jaw tight and his face grim. His eyes briefly flickered to Tails who still stood in the same spot, tears rolling down his face. He glanced right back at Knuckles, silently asking what to do now. Knuckles sighed and glanced at Sonic, the hedgehog's coughs still going strong.

"Think you can control your coughing?"

Sonic nodded weakly, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Then prove it."

In response to the unintentional challenge, Sonic drew in a deep breath and wheezed it out, causing his breathing mask-which was currently doing absolutely nothing to help him- to fog up. He repeated the process several times in a row until his coughs dissipated and left nothing behind, but wheezes and breathless gasps.

"Can you breathe?"

Again, Sonic nodded his head. "... Y-Yeah." He squeaked, his breathing sounding similar to a deflating balloon.

"Good. Now, I'm going to lean you back, alright?" He received a weak whisper of approval and, without any word, he gently leaned the hedgehog back into the bed, his frown deepening when Sonic practically fell limp in his arm.

Sonic groaned in relief as soon as his body touched the mattress, his eyes briefly closing.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Sonic peeled his eyelids open and stared, exhaustedly, up at him, noticing the blank expression on his face. "You're injured and hurt and you can barely even sit up without toppling over. Yet, you want to leave."

Sonic's chest heaved up and down as his wheezes slowly calmed down, his teeth gritted at the pain that slithered down his body. Nostrils flaring, he opened his mouth to speak to him when Knuckles cut him off.

"I don't want to hear your excuses." He huffed. "If you know what's best for you, you'll stay in the hospital." When Sonic seemed unconvinced, he added in a lower voice, "At least do it for Tails."

Sonic's eyes widened at the request, his pale green orbs studying the stoic expression on the echidna's face. His eyes flickered away from him and, instead, turned their attention on the unusually quiet fox, allowing teary blue to meet with pale green. He soon became hypnotized to the big, fat tears that rolled down the fox's face, his desire to leave suddenly wavering.

"T-Tails." He whispered, his heart aching when Tails tensed up at the sound of his wobbly voice.

"Y-yeah, Sonic?"

"C-Come m'ere."

Tails stared hard at him in confusion as if he was pondering why on Earth, Sonic would want him to come closer. Nevertheless, he gave the hedgehog a timid nod and practically tiptoed it over to his bedside, oblivious to Knuckles, who moved out of the way once he made sure Sonic was stable and settled himself down in his seat.

"Ok, I-I'm here, Sonic." He murmured, quietly. "What do you-"

"Y-You're cryin'."

Tails gulped heavily and plastered a small smile on his face, lifting his arm up, like some kind shield, to wipe away the tears. "I am, aren't I?"

His arm paused mid-wipe when a hand suddenly grabbed his elbow and forced it away from his face. He blinked in surprise at the interruption and peered down at the culprit, who gave him a look that easily sliced through his façade.

"Tails."

He scrunched up his face, barely managing to suppress a sob as he looked away from the hedgehog. "I'm sorry."

Suddenly, without an warning, Tails found himself being pulled down towards the hedgehog. He opened his mouth to say something when Sonic wrapped his arms around him, hugging him close to his body. Tails froze, almost at lost at what to do until his mind reminded him to respond by hugging the hedgehog back. Although, he couldn't help but hug the hedgehog gently like he was porcelain doll.

"I'm so sorry, Sonic." He mumbled, burying his head into the hedgehog's chest as his tears once again made a reappearance. "This all m-my fault. I should've d-done something- anything to stop all of this from ever happening. Then m-maybe-" he choked on a sob, "maybe you- I- we wouldn't be like this right now. Just m-maybe you wouldn't have disappeared for a m-month and everyone wouldn't act so f-fake-"

"T-Tails." He peeled his face away from Sonic's chest to stare him up in the face. The hedgehog's face was completely pale and his eyes were still somewhat unfocused, yet he was somehow able to give him a serious expression. "L-let it go."

"B-but you were g-gone for a month." He sniffled. "And we all t-thought you were dead. I-I thought you were dead-"

"B-but I'm not. I'm sitting r-right here in front o-of you, a-aren't I?" Tails nodded. "T-Then I'm alive. And I'm g-going to stay t-that way for q-quite awhile."

Tails' eyes widened, hope shining with their blue depths. "Promise?"

"I-I promise."

Bonus

"H-How long?"

He opened his eyes and shifted his neck, ignoring the sharp crack that followed shortly afterwards, before he looked towards Sonic. He was currently sitting upright and leaning up against the wall, a hand rubbing the head of Tails, who was curled up in the bed alongside him, his head in Sonic's lap and soft snores escaping his lips.

"What?" He yawned, tiredly. Maybe taking a nap in a hospital chair wasn't the best idea in the world…

"H-How long-" he stifled a cough, "have I've been gone."

Knuckles leaned back in his chair. "About a month."

"A month?" Sonic murmured, fingering one of Tails' bangs which, in turn, caused the fox to sigh in his sleep. "I thought I was gone for about a w-week or two." He looked down at Tails. "How… How everyone else while I was gone."

Knuckles gave a one-shouldered shrug. "They were okay, I guess. I mean, Amy became an overprotective neatfreak, Cream barely picks flowers anymore, Chris became pretty depressed and started to fall back in his schoolwork, Chuck and Ella like to pretend like everything's okay, Vanilla barely smiles anymore, and Tails- well," he gestured to the fox, "you know."

He sighed. "Y-Yeah. I know." Suddenly, his eyes flicked to the echidna's. "W-What about you?"

Knuckles rose an eye-ridge. "What about me?"

"How were you while I-I was gone. I-I mean, your a-arm's still broken."

"And?"

"Well, shouldn't it h-have healed by now?"

Knuckles looked away from him and, instead, focused on the said appendage. "Yeah, well there were some complications."

Sonic tilted his head. "Was i-it Eggman?"

"No-wait-" Knuckles leaned forward, disbelief on his expression, "do you mean he's still alive?!"

Sonic scratched his head. "Well, y-yeah, I think so."

"You think so?!"

"Hey, cut me some s-slack!" His voice cracked in an unsettling way as he scratched at the bandage wrapped tightly round his head."I can barely even remembers what happened after Tails took y-you to the hospital."

Knuckles smacked Sonic's hand away from the bandages, making the hedgehog yelp out in pain. "Stop messing with your bandages!"

Sonic rubbed the offended limb, his signature pout on his face. "But, it i-itches!"

"I don't care. Leave it alone." A look of realization rushed over Knuckles' face, making him face-palm. "Oh great." He mumbled underneath his breath. "Now, I sound like the kid."

"What-"

"Nothing."

Sonic rose an eye-ridge at him, but otherwise didn't say a word. He quietly pulled the hospital's thin white blankets up to Tails' chin when he started to squirm underneath him. "S-So… why didn't you use the Master Emerald to h-heal yourself?"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. Go figure that the hedgehog would be more concerned about someone else rather than himself. "Well, like I said, there was some complications and I was never really able to stay long on Angel Island."

"What kind of complications?"

Knuckles looked away from Sonic and focused his gaze on Tails' snoozing form. "What do you think?"

Sonic followed his gaze. "Oh."

"Stop it."

Sonic focused his attention on Knuckles, a look of confusion overtaking his features. "Stop w-what?"

Knuckles frowned. "Stop blaming yourself."

"I-I didn't say I was-"

"I can see it in your freaking eyes, Sonic!" His statement rang even more truthful when Sonic looked away. "We both know there was absolutely nothing you could've done to prevent any of this from happening-"

"I-I know that." Sonic retorted. "But that doesn't mean I can't help, but feel that I c-could've done something differently so you guys wouldn't h-have had to go through e-everything that you did."

Knuckles buried his face in his hand. "Geez, it's like you and Tails are twins or something. For the love of Chaos, Sonic! Suck it up! Take your own advice for once and let it go! Instead of thinking about something that happened over a month ago, you should be happy about the fact that you're alive."

Sonic swallowed, his throat feeling suddenly very dry. "Sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry about."

Silence soon followed between the two of them; the both of them at that point merely listening to the gentle beep of Sonic's monitor and Tails' airy snores. Knuckles took this moment of peace to look up at the clock, squinting his eyes to see the neon green numbers.

11:50

"D-Did they-" Knuckles peered at him, noticing the way he averted his eyes from him and, instead, choosing to stare ahead at some unforeseen object, "you know- have a f-funer-"

"Yep." The word was short and blunt, his tone nonchalant. Nevertheless, he could see the hedgehog's body tense, his hand frozen in the middle of Tails' bangs. "They had it Downtown in the park."

"D-Did you-" Sonic paused to cough into his hand, though, to Knuckles, it seemed fake, "did you go?"

"No."

This time, Sonic's eyes found his and for a moment, Knuckles swore he saw relief in those green orbs of his before he looked away again.

"Why?"

Knuckles shrugged. "Kid didn't want to go. Said he still believed that you were alive."

Sonic nodded, seemingly accepting the answer. He swallowed thickly before saying, "Do you k-know if there was a g-grave?"

"No. Why make one when there was nothing to bury. But," he smirked, "they did make you a statue."

Sonic quirked an eye-ridge. "Really? A s-statue?" He smiled at the thought, a sigh escaping his lips. "I always wanted a s-statue."

"I don't find that hard to believe."

"Hey!" He leaned forward and gave the echidna a stern look; though, due to the large smile crossing his face, it didn't exactly have the desired effect. "W-What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think we both know what that means."

"Hmph." He slumped back up against the wall, a pout on his face.

Knuckles rolled his eyes at the expression, struggling to prevent a smile from overtaking his lips.

After about a minute of pouting, Sonic found his concentration being broken when a yawn slipped through his defenses and out his lips.

"You tired?"

He glanced at Knuckles and shook his head. "No-"

His sentence was interrupted by the betrayal of yet another yawn, tearing his lips apart. Once he gained control of his mouth, he looked to Knuckles, who gave him a raised eye-ridge.

"O-Okay." He smacked his lips. "So, maybe I'm a little t-tired."

"Sure, you are." Knuckles gestured to the bed. "Why don't you just go to sleep? I mean you did just wake up from a coma-"

"No t-thanks."

Knuckles frowned. "Can I ask why?"

Sonic shrugged. "I-I just don't want to."

"So, you're telling me that you're tired, but you don't want to go to sleep because you just don't want to?"

Sonic nodded, fingering the IV that taped to his hand. "P-Pretty much- ow!" He yelped, glaring hard at Knuckles as he vigorously rubbed his stinging hand. "Can you stop s-slapping me! I'm injured, you k-know."

"Will you go to sleep?"

"No."

"Than no."

"Fine." He huffed. "I'll go to-" he yawned, "sleep. But, only because you're f-forcing me to l-like I'm five years old."

"Sure," he rolled his eyes, "whatever makes you sleep better."

Sonic gave him a dry look. "You k-know, your eyes can get stuck l-like that one day. Then it'll be nearly i-impossible to protect your rock w-when Eggman tries to use y-your gubility against you."

"Hedgehog, if you don't go to sleep right now," he cracked his namesakes, "I'll force you to go to sleep."

He put his hands in the air. "O-Okay, okay." Then, underneath his breath, he added, "Geez what's with e-echidnas and being rude to the i-injured."

"Sonic."

"A-Alright, I'm going to s-sleep."

And, without another word, Sonic gently lifted Tails' head from his lap, ignoring the slight whimper he heard slip out of the fox's lips at the action, and deposited it on the pillow next to him. Knuckles rose out of his seat and helped him reposition Tails onto the bed, which was unsurprisingly simple since the bed was made for a regular-sized human.

After he pulled the covers up to Tails' chin, Sonic accepted Knuckles' help, but not without grumbling about it, and gingerly lowered himself into the bed, successfully managing to cover up a grimace that the action caused. Once he was laying on his side, he stared up at Knuckles, who, in return, looked down at him expectantly.

"W-What?"

Knuckles sighed. "Close your eyes."

Sonic gave him an expression of fake innocent confusion, which, in return, made Knuckles frown. Sonic finally gave up the act and closed his eyes, exhaling deeply through his nose. Knuckles watched him a while, curious to see whether or not the hedgehog was faking. After about a minute, he noticed Sonic's chest seemed to rise and fall at a slower, almost steady rhythm.

Satisfied, Knuckles stretched his back, wincing when a crack resounded from it. His eyes suddenly strayed to the door and a thoughtful look crossed his features.

Maybe I should call the others and tell them the good news. Though, he frowned, rubbing a hand on his muzzle, I rather not deal with Amy and her hammer later if I end up waking her.

Nevertheless, Knuckles took one last glance at the two sleeping brothers, who were practically cuddled together- oh, how he wished he had a camera- before he stepped towards the door, cringing when his shoes squeaked against bright white floor. He twisted his head and looked back to the bed, biting his lip to prevent a sigh of relief from making it's way out when neither of the sleeping duo seemed to respond to the sound.

He turned back to the door and took another step forward only to pause mid-step when something reached out and grabbed his wrist. He turned his head and looked eye-to-eye with Sonic, who peered blearily up at him.

"Sonic, what are you-"

"D-don't go." His voice quiet and seemed to have regained the slur from earlier, making Knuckles wonder whether the hedgehog was just incredibly tired or 'drunk' on medicine.

"Sonic-"

"P-please. I don't w-want you to g-go yet."

He exhaled deeply through his nose and stared at the sleepy expression on Sonic's face.

One part of him, the smaller part, wanted to shake the hedgehog's hand off and walk out the door. But, the other part, and apparently the bigger part, couldn't help but make his heart soften at the plead.

So, with a sigh, he turned back to his seat and plopped back into his chair. Sonic's hand dropped from his wrist and he gave Knuckles a loopy grin.

"Alright." He leaned back in his seat. "I'm not going anywhere. Now, go back to sleep."

Sonic nodded and yawned, his eyelids drooping. "G-Goodnight, Rad Red."

Knuckles sucked in a deep breath at the nickname, his eyes wide. He opened his mouth to ask him question on it only to close it shut when he discovered that the hedgehog had already fallen sleep, his breathing slightly wheezy.

Knuckles ran a hand down his face, peering at the hedgehog from the corner of his eye. Then, for only about a second, he smiled down at him. "Goodnight, True Blue."

The nickname felt foreign rolling off of his tongue. It had been possibly months- most likely years- since he'd said that to the hedgehog. And it's been about that much time since the hedgehog ever said back to him. And... he kind of missed it.

He sat up straight in his chair when Sonic suddenly turned in his sleep and, possibly unconsciously, wrapped an arm around Tails, pulling the fox close to him. He rolled his eyes- just barely managing to ignore the hedgehog's voice in the back of his head- and smirked at the sight.

It was no lie. He honestly missed the spikeball.

He missed his cheesy one-liners; his teasing grins; his annoying voice; his contagious laugh; his overprotective nature; his idiocy; his naivety.

But, it's not like he'll ever tell the hedgehog that.

Ding.

He, once again, found his attention being drawn to the clock, noting what the direction the big hand and the little hand was pointing in.

12:00

He smirked and awkwardly crossed his arms, settling back into his seat.

It was December 25.

Christmas.

He looked to Tails, who was curled up to Sonic's side, his face once again buried in the hedgehog's chest.

Looks like you were right, Kid. Knuckles smiled. Sorry for doubting you.

He exhaled deeply through his nose and leaned his head up against the head of the chair, silently watching the two brothers sleep for a moment longer.

This is going to be one interesting Christmas.

Me:Yes! Finally, I've finished this chapter!

Sonic:About time!

Me:Shut up! I like to see you do better!

Sonic:Well, I am the Fastest Thing Alive.

Me:That's debatable.

Sonic:Hey-

Me:Anyway, readers, please be on the lookout for a IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! Now, farewell!