Time Heals All Things

Chapter Fifteen: Hurdles in Life and Love

"Is this really necessary Shad, I mean this feels awkward and weird, like I'm your girl or something.." Sonic mumbled as Shadow carried him in his arms up to the front door of their shared home before shifting the forty year old blue hedgehog into the the crook of one arm, holding him as if he weighed nothing at all while leaning his crutches by the front door.

"Sonic, you have a hairline fracture in the lower fibula and acute blood trauma around the ankle bone where cartilage was damaged, I told you in the medical bay that I would take care of you now please stop griping. There is no need to make this sound more awkward than it really is." The black hedgehog with red stripes pushed his key into the lock and opened the door, carrying Sonic over the threshold being mindful of his white foot cast. He then carried the middle-aged blue hedgehog over one of the soft leather couch in the lounge and set him down.

Sonic sighed before handing Shadow his red and white hitops as well as his dirty white sports socks which had been removed in the medical bay before his plaster of Anais cast had been applied to his shattered ankle.

"I'm sorry, I've just never broken anything below the waist before. I don't even know how I will cope without my speed." Sonic responded unsurely as his younger counterpart kicked off his red, black and white hover boots on the mat by the front door and set down the hitops beside them.

"You still have your speed hedgehog, you'll just need to find other ways to access it while your foot is healing." Shadow replied smoothly as he returned with the crutches that had been outside. "Let me go get you a new clothing .then I will make us something to eat." He added passing Sonic the TV remote from the coffee table in front of them.

"Thanks Shad.." The forty year old hedgehog said in a slightly down tone as he took the remote allowing Shadow to go upstairs to deposit the dirty gloves and socks in the laundry bin and get a new pair of gloves and a sock. The blue hedgehog lent his chin in one bare peach-skinned hand and exhaled slowly. Until now he had always been able to run with his speed but now his foot was in a cast, he was nothing more than some has-been slow-mo. He had agreed to help Shadow on his mission because it was his big chance to prove that he was not just some useless relic from the past but it seemed like he had even failed to prove that..

In this moment he flicked the channel and immediately a white-furred cat with bright blue eyes he recognised as Kitty Carlisle appeared on screen. She was in a red suit with purple blouse and was hosting some celebrity news segment: Where Are You Now? Usually he didn't care about such trashy, pop-culture nostalgia but his green eyes widened at a picture of himself on the corner screen.

"He was once considered to be Mobius' Greatest Hero, the golden mobian who could do no wrong, was a household name and a source of hope and inspiration. His battles against the ruthless Dr Eggman today are legendary but where is Sonic the Hedgehog now? Back in his heyday Sonic was always in the public eye, never shy about letting his feelings known, helping out with various charities and awareness campaigns this busy hedgehog never used to be far away from us." The screen showed a few of clips of his campaign ads and various work with different charities. "After his final defeat of Dr Eggman many of his fans rejoiced when he married his long-time sweetheart Amy Rose in a very public ceremony and many thought that this would be the perfect fairytale wedding." Some of his wedding footage was showing through her commentary and Sonic watched it feeling as though this was a world away from him now. "The couple always kept their public image very happy despite rumours that Sonic the Hedgehog himself was not content with married life. In numerous interviews both Amy and Sonic had always remained adamant that this was indeed, just a rumour." Footage of him and his ex-wife was shown from various events they attended as well as news interviews on them over the seven years. "However SonAmy fans were shocked when the news of their divorce broke near the end of last year due to what the Hedgehog couple described as "irreconcilable differences" the rumours of Sonic's unhappiness were verified by the hedgehog himself."