Shadamy one shots.

Turn Back Time. (Part Three)

Marissa The Cat frowned at her notepad and looked over at the article she was reading on her phone.

'The Green Hill Catastrophe.'

It did not make sense to be heading there. There were no survivors. But she couldn't find any other incident within the last year that could have resulted in a living, breathing hedgehog surfacing at Seaside City after being submerged for an extensive period.

The ebony and red hedgehog in question was still at the gas station supermarket.

She checked her watch and looked over at the supermarket. It had been five minutes. She would give him five more before she went in to check on what he was doing. The fifty dollars she had given him would be quite enough to purchase anything he wanted and maybe the solo trip would help unlock the dam of memories his brain seemed to be holding back.

But it didn't seem to be doing anything much to help him as she had noticed the top of his head circling aimlessly around the store till he came into view again, holding a small bag in his hand as something caught his attention and he stopped moving.

She squinted, readjusting her glasses, wondering what on earth had got him frozen stiff.

Wait... was he holding a bag of coffee beans?

She sighed as she got out of the car, pulling her beige jacket close, and making for the store. The icy wind nipped her cheeks, and she cringed.

She was neither an outdoorsy person nor did she like the cold.

But she had a patient who required her help.

A patient who apparently could not remember that you could purchase a cup of coffee instead of a bag of coffee beans. She shook her head at herself as she stepped in, grateful for the warmth of the store and the thought of a warm cup of coffee.

She walked up beside him and looked up at him. He was staring blankly, unblinking. He did not notice she was standing beside him.

She followed his line of sight and realized he was staring at a claw machine, full of stuffed toys of many varieties and colours.

She smiled to herself. Perhaps this was a start; A breakthrough.

"Mr Hedgehog," she said gently, placing her black-gloved hand on his arm.

He started and turned, staring down just as hard at her. The gaze made her want to curl up under her jacket and hide, but she had to help him, she reminded herself.

"Would you like a go?" She nodded at the claw machine. He swallowed and blinked, suddenly uncertain.

"May... May I?" He asked with such polite quietness that her heart ached for him.

"Of course," smiled the old cat, trying to take the bag of coffee beans from him, but he panicked.

"No! wait!"

"Don't worry, Mr Hedgehog, I will get you some real coffee."

"You don't understand. I need them!"

She paused, and after a moment, nodded.

"Alright, let me buy it for you," she smiled again.

He followed Marissa to the cashier. She'd taken the fifty dollars she had given him. Yet, it was not enough. The coffee beans were of a premium kind. Her eyebrows shot up, but she paid the difference and purchased five tokens for the claw machine.

Well, whatever the hedgehog had been, he truly did have a taste for the finer things in life.

He was a walking puzzle that she was determined to solve.

She watched him from afar, waiting for him to finish with the claw machine. She smiled as she watched his eyes light up with joy. He won four of the five times he played.

Something at the moment rippled out of a Band-Aid on a wound in her heart that had not healed. Perhaps it never would.

Marissa blinked away her tears and looked away as the ebony hedgehog returned victorious, clutching his prizes.

"Shall we leave then, Mr. Hedgehog?"

He frowned, looking at her, confused.

"Ms. Cat? Have I upset you?" He sounded concerned, getting into his spot at the back of the car, and flinging one of his prizes, a blue stuffed hedgehog plushy, to the other end.

She smiled as she shook her head, turned on the ignition, and began to pull away from the gas station.

"Then why are you crying?" he asked, agitated.

An empath.

He was an empath.

She picked up her pen instinctively and jotted it down at a side of her notepad, before focusing on the road.

"A memory of someone long gone, Mr. Hedgehog," She forced herself to smile as she met his eyes through the rear-view mirror. The answer didn't seem to convince him, but he did not question her further.

A while passed, and she peered to observe him again.

He was fast asleep, cuddling the plushy of the bat, a pink hedgehog and the toy robot he had won. The other plushy lay abandoned as far away from him as possible.

The lump in her throat returned, and she forced herself to look away. She could not afford to think of her son.

Not now.

She needed to help this young man. There was something about him that made her reluctant to give up his case, even though the other doctors had signed off on him.

Yes, she was spending her time and her own money.

She would also be in trouble when the hospital realized she had let the patient off without the proper clearance. But they would not be able to contact her. Her phone was on silent and she would not answer, no matter the consequence.

Because he needed help. And she would help him.

That's what Liam-

"Ms. Cat!" He suddenly awoke, and, and she almost jumped out of her skin, straightening the car quickly, grateful that they were on an empty open road.

"Before I forget, here."

He passed her a small beige scarf and before she could ask him, "I saw it at the store. You seem cold, so I thought I would get it for you."

Her heart warmed once more, and she smiled at him again, through the rear-view mirror, observing him much on the coffee beans now.

Strange.

"Mr. Hedgehog, that is very kind of you. How- how did you pay for it?"

A moment of silence, and he answered meekly.

"I didn't."

"Oh."