Maria

Stolen Exceptions

"Hold still." the nurse instructed Maria with a light Southern accent. Maria did as she was told as the nurse looked at her nose, then gently pinched it to see if anything happened. Shadow and Gerald looked on without much to say or do. Gerald could not hide his concern for his granddaughter, but Shadow did not show any emotion.

"Hemorrhage in the posterior nasal cavity," the nurse then said, talking more to Gerald than to Maria. "Not a lot to be concerned about, her blood pressure must've spiked pretty quickly- considering she seems to be doing well now since everything has calmed down a bit. How you feel now hun?"

"Can I have some water?" Maria warily asked.

"'Course!" the nurse agreed as she turned around to get a small paper cup and fill it with water from a nearby hand sink. Maria thanked the nurse as she handed the cup to her, and the girl drank it as if it were the last drops she had in the middle of the desert.

"Thanks." she then said in a single breath.

"Remember Maria," the nurse then told her, "If you have any aches or pains, come see me immediately. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am."

. . .

From the Desk of Gerald Robotnik

Date: Omitted

Subject: Exceptions

Text:

In light of a rather benign episode with Maria, I feel it's time to elaborate more on the imprinting process she and Shadow were supposed to have shared.

You see, Shadow has the ability to choose to imprint on those who may need his care. Considering that he must share a part of himself with a possible stranger, it seems to be a rather viable way of going about it. Imprinting creates a bond between Shadow and his possible charge, and over time as the patient in question starts to recover, Shadow is able to sever the bond between himself and whomever he bonded with.

But there is an exception to this rule.

This exception goes back to when we first brought Shadow into the world. I allowed Maria to be the first one to let him out of the status chamber with the process of Shadow's imprint on her in mind. Since she was the first he was able to imprint on, their bond together is much stronger and may never diminish- as a byproduct of this, Shadow is able to sense Maria biologically and will receive an inner distress signal if she is in serious jeopardy health wise. Within minutes of receiving this distress signal, Shadow would be within close enough proximity of Maria that he could help her.

This was why I was disappointed to find that Maria did not appear to bond with Shadow after imprinting- whether she likes it or not, he's the key to her health and safety. I even thought that, for a minute, perhaps a psychological link between the two would ease the process of exchanging blood- a subject and idea not many are too keen about. But, as I am learning throughout this entire experience: I am, and have been, wrong.

. . .

Maria watched Shadow as he stabbed himself with the syringe, then slowly start to extract roughly 0.5 CC of his own blood.

"Does it hurt when you do that?" Maria asked, not completely intending to say it out loud. Shadow gave her a rather dull expression as he wiped the excess blood off the tip.

"Does it hurt when I stick the needle in you?" he inquired back. Maria shrugged as she offered her wrist for him to prepare for the injection.

"Some times." Maria admitted.

"Then there you go," Shadow then decreed, "Your answer is my own."

Maria lulled over this thought as Shadow then drove the needle into her wrist. The girl let out a sigh as the euphoria kicked in for several minutes, then passed away like a soft rainstorm in summer. There wasn't a lot of pain this time either. Maybe she was just had to get used to it...?

All the while, Shadow looked at her.

"Do you like me?" he then asked, sounding as if he were thinking out loud than actually asking Maria a question. Perhaps he didn't mean to say it out loud to begin with, considering Shadow now looked like he wanted to take back what he had said.

"Well... I need you." Maria told him.

"That's not what I said." Shadow replied in an emotionless voice. 'And I'm not repeating it either' was the phrase that floated through both of their minds but went unsaid.

"I..." Maria started to say, unsure of how to answer, "I dunno... maybe, I guess. I never really..."

Before she could say another word, Shadow unexpectedly moved forward and gave her a small kiss on the lips. The human girl's first reaction was to shove him away. Maria gave Shadow a rather hard, unfriendly glare as she took a rough hold of his shoulders. Shadow looked rather confused but hid behind a mask of indifference as he stared back at her, almost challenging her to make her move.

Shadow stole her first kiss, so Maria was going to take his.