Sonic: Earthbound

Chapter 8

The next morning, Alex awoke feeling refreshed. She'd gotten much more sleep, and she only had one class scheduled for today. That meant she could spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out with Sonic. But then came the phone call.

"Alex, it's Jess. Listen, can you cover my shift tonight?"

"Tonight?" asked Alex, crestfallen. "How late?"

"Till close."

"Till close? Jess, you know I'm not supposed to work till closing. I made that request very clear from the start."

"Please, Alex. Just this once? The baby's been throwing up and I need to take her to the doctor and Jackson is out of town, so he can't watch her."

Alex sighed. "Yeah... all right. You've got to take care of your kid, right?"

"Thanks a million, Alex! I owe you one!"

"Who else is working tonight?" asked Alex.

"Um... Courtney, I think."

Alex groaned and collapsed backwards onto the couch.

"Alex? Alex, you okay?"

"Freaking Courtney? You really owe me big, Jess." Alex ended the call, her arm flopping off the couch and dropping the phone to the floor with a groan.

"Rough morning, huh?" came Sonic's voice, muffled behind the comic he was reading.

"Tell me about it," Alex lamented. "I have to work tonight. So there goes my free day. I thought we could hang out and stuff, but my coworker's baby is sick, and now I have to cover for her. I guess I'm not very good at saying no. But who can say no to a sick baby, right?"

She sat up and glanced over at Sonic. What she saw about broke her heart. He was sitting in one of the kitchen chairs, which he had dragged to a nearby window to soak up the sun. His face was hidden behind an old Archie Sonic comic book, but his foot was ticking and he hadn't turned the comic page in several minutes. His gaze kept drifting out the window, watching the sun glowing over another beautiful autumn day. He hadn't been outside since they returned from their encounter with Robotnik, and being cooped up inside was starting to make him stir crazy.

Alex chewed her lip. God, this was awful. It felt like she was keeping him prisoner. She couldn't do this to him. And yet, he couldn't go out. He just couldn't!

"Sonic..." she said slowly. "Am I horrible to you?"

Sonic lowered the comic book and gazed at her in surprise. "What? What are talking about?"

"I just... God, I know you want to go out, and I feel so bad for telling you that you can't! You understand why, though, right?"

Sonic frowned. Was he doing something that brought this on? He hadn't meant to make her worry about how she was treating him. Sonic didn't reply right away. Instead, he took a moment to assess the situation. It was then he realized just what might have brought it on.

"Alex, I wasn't trying to make you feel bad. I mean, I know why it's best that I stay in here. We don't want to attract any unwanted attention. I know that you're handling my presence okay, but..." Sonic gazed out the window once more. "This isn't my world. I don't want to cause any trouble."

The wistful way he looked out the window caused Alex to burst into tears as she threw her arms around him. Sonic almost teetered off of his seat before regaining his balance.

"A-Alex..."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I hate seeing you like this. It's not your fault! It really isn't! I wish I didn't have to be your prison warden. I feel just as wicked as Eggman."