A Promise Is A Promise (Completed)

Moribund

Shadow POV

I placed with anxiety as I waited for answers, this wasn't supposed to happen. Somehow Maria had been less sick, even her memory had improved, but Sonic hadn't awoken. Not since I pulled him out of that test tube. He stirred a few times, but nothing that came out of his mouth was coherent enough to understand.
"If you keep pacing like that you'll fall right through the floors." Rouge said lightly. I shot her a quick glance before trying to compose myself, I had just figured out these feelings, why now? Of all the times this could've happened. Why now?

My ears twitched with anticipation as I heard the door to Sonic's room open. Rouge had also gotten up and asked the fox boy about Sonic's well-being as he came into the room. I listened tentatively as he explained everything to Rouge.

"There doesn't seem to be anything in his system to be causing this but his chaos energy is all over the place.

"What do you mean?" Rouge asked confused.

"Normally Sonic doesn't emit a lot of chaos energy in a resting state, but according to my data, his energy seems to spike randomly, I haven't figured out why. Theoretically this shouldn't be an issue." Tails explained. I stopped listening and went to Sonic's room. The two were so preoccupied with the conversation, they probably didn't even notice my absence.

I stopped short of the door and felt my chest tighten and my hands began to tremble slightly. I took a moment to breath before entering, at first glance, it just looked like he was sleeping.
If his chaos energy was the problem, maybe there was a way to fix it? I looked through the small journal on the nightstand. I read through all of the notes Tails had written about his condition, along with all the possible diagnosis and possible treatments. A lot of them were crossed out. This was discouraging.

"Sh... Shadow..." A weak voice caught my attention.

"Sonic?" My heart raced with anxiety. Was he finally waking up, or was this another short lived interaction? I sat at his bedside and watched for any other signs of movement, he had trouble staying awake.

"It's cold..." Sonic didn't seem to notice any of my efforts to get him comfortable. Just as I had added another blanket he pushed it away and sat up, his breathing was shallow and fast. I wasn't sure how to go about this situation, he wasn't responding rationally to any of my efforts to keep him in bed. I ended up almost dropping Sonic, the only thing that stopped him from hitting the ground was when his arms snaked around my shoulders. I lost balance for a moment but we didn't fall. Sonic was shaking and disoriented, what happened to him in that lab? So many different questions and scenarios spiraled through my mind as I watched him try to stabilize.

Once I thought he had calmed, he pushed me away and ran out the door. Stunned I stood there for a moment before I could completely process what had just happened.

That idiot!

I quickly ran in the direction Sonic went, it didn't take long to find him on the ground shaking.

"You shouldn't be so reckless." I said sternly. He didn't respond, I cautiously went to him, I began to feel anxious as I approached. His condition seemed to worsen.

"Shadow..." Sonic's voice sounded weak, it made me feel cold and unsure. I've never seen him so bad, he was still fighting to stay awake but seeing how much trouble it was for him to simply stay awake just... I needed to clear my thoughts, but I couldn't just abandon him.

"...I'm not gonna make it." Sonic said softly. I froze, what did he mean by that? I wanted to brush off his words as incoherent chatter but the weight in his words wouldn't let me.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked alarmed. My tone was harsh, but sonic didn't seem deterred by it. He just smiled as he fought to stay awake. I knew there was nothing I could do to help his condition without first knowing what had happened in that lab.

"Sonic, I need you to tell me what happened to you." My voice was just above a whisper, I wasn't sure if I had spoken loud enough at first.

"There was a machine... Something to do with... Extracting... Something..." Sonic's breathing became erratic as his face contorted with pain. "I can't remember everything..." Sonic began to grip onto me with such force it hurt. I ignored the pain and waited for him to continue but he never finished his thought. Instead his body just went limp and his breathing slowed into shallow breaths.

... Something was extracted from him, but what was it? Would this have an impact on him? I carefully picked up Sonic and took him back to Tails.

I can't stand here and do nothing, I don't know how long he'll last like this.

"Shadow... It's okay..." My attention went to Sonic, I hadn't noticed I was gripping him so tight.
"I'm not going anywhere." He laughed softly. If this was any other circumstance I'd have scoffed at his optimism, but right now, all I wanted was to believe him. I tried so hard, but I just couldn't. So I just nodded in response.

I put him down in his bed, this time he didn't struggle to leave. I reached for his ear and began to softly rub it, this worked last time to relax him into sleep. Soon I can get answers. Sonic leaned into the touch and let himself relax. Once I thought he was asleep I began to walk away.

"Shad..." I froze at the sound of his voice. I didn't dare turn around, just looking at him would be enough to reconsider.

I never was there for Maria when she died on the Ark...

"I can't let you worsen, the only way to help you is to figure out what was extracted. I'll get it back." I didnt bother waiting for a response before using chaos control to leave. I just hope I can make it in time.

A/N:

Sorry it's been forever since my last update. I've just been really busy but I'm back to working on these! I'll try to update again soon!