Blurry

Amnesia

"I'm back.." Marie said quietly as she opened the door. "I-I've got some news." She did her best to sound excited, but it died the moment she heard the familiar groan of pain. She ran inside, seeing him doubled over beside his bed, holding his sides. "Did you try to get up!?" She yelled, her habit of panicked anger returning. "There's a call button if you need something!"

The skeleton weakly shook his head, and she noticed now how different he looked. His bones looked bleached and pale, a faint blue glow across his cheeks. "I-I... f..fell..." He muttered as Marie touched his forehead. She gasped a little, not expecting such heat from a skeletal figure. "You're burning up..."

He noticed a shadow looming over him, and he shuddered as he slowly lifted his head up to look at him. The monitor, still hooked up to him despite his tumble off the bed, began beeping faster. His left eye sparked yellow, and Marie watched with wide eyes, never seeing him so panicked before to a point of using magic. "Wh-Who..?"

"It's alright, Sans..." Asgore knelt in front of him with a gentle smile. "I'm not gonna hurt you... I'm your friend...."

"You're... Asgore..?" Sans questioned nervously. "Th-The one..... she... went to s-see?"

"Yes..."

"S-Sans?" He wheezed out the name like it was of a foreign language. Asgore smiled sadly, nodding. "That's you, my friend."

Sans tried to sit up, ready to bombard the man with questions, but pain erupted in his chest, and he fell back, Marie catching him before his head could hit the tiled floor. The color left his eyes once more, pupils going dull in his sockets as the glow over his cheeks grew brighter. Asgore gently took his small frame into his arms, an immediate comfort washing over Sans as he was pressed into the warm fur of the goat-like monster. The monitor slowed back down a bit, his eyes struggling to stay focused. He opened his mouth to ask another question, but Asgore cut him off with a brief "hush" before lifting him back into his bed, fixing his hospital gown back over him properly before once more tucking the skeleton in. "We'll answer your questions soon. Please, just rest for now... you need it."

Sans started muttering something, but his eyes slowly closed, his breathing slowing as he grew limp in the bed, leaving Marie and Asgore to exchange nervous glances.

"You found him!?" The car swerved off to the side of the highway, hazard lights turned on as all three (plus one phantom) occupants leaned closer towards the center of the car. They heard Asgore sigh a bit, and their relief was cut short.

"What's wrong? Is he alright?" Toriel asked with panic.

"IS HE OKAY? WHERE IS HE?? CAN WE TAK TO HIM?"

"He's..." Asgore had his head in one of his hands, elbows propped on his knees. He looked up at Marie, who nodded a little before guiltily looking away. "He's... in the hospital. He's asleep right now."

Toriel felt her heart drop. She bit her lower lip, gripping the steering wheel so her hands wouldn't shake. She glanced at Papyrus, who was staring at the display screen that read Asgore's name like it was the most important thing in existence. "WH-WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM??"

"There's a lot to explain... Right now what I can say is he was in an accident.. He's hurt, and running a fever now, but from what I've heard, so long as this isn't a sign of infection, he'll be fine to go home in time.. however...."

"Please..." Toriel swallowed, trying to keep the shaking out of her voice. "What's so worrisome?"

"He has amnesia...." He said slowly. He winced at the silence that followed, closing his eyes with a sigh.

"....How bad?" Frisk finally broke the silence.

"He didn't even know his own name until I got here..."

That statement hurt worse than the original. A stunned silence fell over the car, with a pure sense of defeat in the air. Memories filled their thoughts. His jokes, his laughter, his love, his affection. They could remember every second of it, yet Sans couldn't even remember his own name. Papyrus wiped his eyes. He couldn't cry now, for it was a waste of time and energy that could be used to save his brother's memories. "WHAT DO WE DO...?"

"...The doctor says it'd be wise to come here... we have no way of knowing if this will be too overwhelming for him, or if he'll start getting his memory back. But... it's better than nothing."

"We're on our way."