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27; Urgh! It's us again!

Knux; I want a bike for christmas

Sonic; Why? You'd never be able to get a liensce for it

27; You shouldn't type Sonic until you learn how to spell

Sonic; *knocks yami27 out*

Knux; i can get one if i wanted to

Sonic; Why would you even want a bike?

Knux; *shrugs*

Sonic; Anyway *whispers* 'man that echidna is weird', thank you tatoo 1 for reviewing, the last chappie was rather short so hopefully this one should make up for it


Disclaimer; We do not own Sonic or his sneakers....

Sonic obliged without saying a word. Sally gave Knuckles an injection into his arm. The echidna winced, biting his lip. He had never felt a needle before.
“I’m sorry to… to trouble you…” Knuckles sighed, “I’ll be off again as soon as your done.”
“You are not troubling us.” Sally said, “we want to help you. And you’ll need to rest here for a few days before you can go anywhere.”
“Please, I’ll be…” His sentence was cut short. He closed his eyes and sagged in Sally’s arms.
“How’s he doing?” Sonic asked morbidly as he put the clean equipment on the table beside her.
“The anaesthetic is taking its affect. He’s asleep now.” She said.
“So, your gonna begin work?” Ideas of what she might do to his friend flared up in his mind.
“Yes. I’m no doctor but I’ve had practise.”
“Oh, and that’s supposed to make me feel better?”
Sally smiled and gently lay the echidna on his undamaged side so that she could operate on the wound. Though his body felt very hot to the touch.
She lay an old blanket over his legs and began quickly. The longer the foreign object was embedded in Knuckles’ body, the worst. Using a great effort, she pulled the arrowhead out of the echidna’s flesh that had wedged itself in very deeply.
“What on Mobius it this?” Sally gasped, looking at the steel arrow. From its point oozed out a chemical.
“We were attacked by flowers, like I already told you,” Sonic said, “I know it sounds stupid but it was true! They fired those things at us!”
“But the stuff pouring out of it… it’s poison.”
“What?”
Sally was an expert on wildlife and plants alike. She knew many poisons and their symptoms. “It’s squirting out poison,” Sally was out of breath from fear and dread, “giving Knuckles the substance.”
“Well? Is he going to be okay? Tell me!” Sonic felt left in the dark. He needed to know.
“I’m going to have to get a sample and study it first.” Sally returned, “I just hope Knuckles may have an immunity to this. He does with most things.”
Then Sonic remembered that one had hit him. “He should be okay.” He said, “I got hit too and it didn’t affect me one bit! We must be immune!”
“I wouldn’t be making assumptions too fast.”
“I’m not guessing! It is what I know!”
Sally continued her work. She dropped the arrowhead into a metal basin and stitched up Knuckles’ wound. It bled fast. Sonic began to feel faint just seeing the blood.
“Red’s gonna feel so sore.” Sonic let out deep, unsettled sigh. His voice quivered.
“For a while.” She stitched up the wound and cleaned the blood away from his red, matted fur. She protected the injury further by padding it with white dressing. Then with a fresh blue blanket, she wrapped him up in it and gathered him into her arms. Carefully she carried him back up into Sonic’s warm home and tucked him up in the hedgehog’s bed. Sonic joined her and was glad she had put him in his bed. He would feel comfortable and warm.
“The wound should heal well.” Sally told him, “but it might leave a scar.”
“Thought as much.”
“We should leave him in peace.” And she turned and went downstairs. She still needed to clean the mess down in headquarters.
Sonic wasn’t so easily persuaded. He was very concerned for the guardian. He rested his gloved hand on the echidna’s brow and felt how hot he was. Pulling his hand away he sat on the edge of the bed. Maybe he was worrying too much. Knuckles was strong. He could endure anything. He still continued to surprise Sonic, despite all these years of being together. And to make Red more comfortable, Sonic gently peeled back the covers and took off his battle shoes and his spiked gloves and rested them at the foot of the bed. Tucking Knuckles back with the blankets he finally felt that he should leave and give his old buddy a few hours of peace and quiet.

Knuckles slept deeply for many hours. Sweat from his hot body slowly dripped off him. His breathing was steady and relaxed. Another hour and he was up, holding his head to try and ease his throbbing headache. He glanced stiffly at the clock beside him on the nightstand. It read five in the morning. Then he began to wonder where he was and what had happened to him while he had been out cold. He guessed he was still in Sonic’s home, but then he slowly recognised that he was in Sonic’s own bed! Now he felt guilty. He had to leave, thanking them first. So where was everybody?
Feeling very nauseous he left the bed and found his shoes and gloves left neatly on the floor. Now adorning them he left the warm room.
When he entered the much cooler hallway, he tensed up from the coldness. At least he could see better, as his eyes weren’t so watery. And he wondered how the operation went. He checked his numb side. He could see a big white bandage, accompanied by dressing on his injury to conceal and protect it. He was grateful. He made a mental note to never let something like this happen to him again, that was for sure.
Staggering along he clumsily went down the stairs. Then he heard voices coming from the lounge. He hoped it would be Sonic.
He looked inside the room and was relieved to see Sonic and Sally sitting together talking about the mission yesterday. Knuckles inwardly winced at the memory he wanted to forget.
“Guys?” Knux croaked, surprised at the weakness of his own voice.
Sonic got up and greeted him straight away. “You’re awake!” He said, “so, how do you feel? Sal did a real nice job!”
Knuckles faintly smiled. “I don’t know how to thank both of you. You may have saved my life. I feel much better.”
Sally came up to him and checked the temperature on his forehead. “You still are very hot,” she remarked, “and the anaesthetic wore off pretty fast.”
“Ah, who cares! Red is a whiz at recovering quickly from anything!” Sonic boomed brightly.
“And now I must go.” The guardian said reluctantly, “I will cause you no more trouble.” Knuckles turned and tried to hasten his steps to the front door. His vision became hazy and he fell, coughing.
“Red, you okay?” Sonic gasped, at his side in no time.
“Fine!” Knuckles weakly cried, his small body trembling. He climbed back to his feet.
“Knuckles, you mustn’t leave in the condition you’re in.” Sally pleaded, “you might split the stitches and you need rest. You lost a lot of blood last night.”
“I’ll be okay.” Knuckles proceeded. His side began to hurt and his lungs ached whenever he tried to draw in a breath. Darkness began to cover his vision, coldness coursed along his body. After not more than a few steps, he fell. And this time he did not get back up. His eyes were screwed shut and his body began to shake.
Sonic was on his knees at his side. “Red! Red!” He shouted.
Sally bent over the echidna and called softly out to him. “Knuckles, open your eyes, get up!”
Knuckles did not respond. He seemed unconscious but the convulsing was the most frightening of all. Sonic had never seen a seizure before, hadn’t even heard of the term. He was terrified as his partner shook violently on the cold floor before his very eyes.
“What’s wrong with him?” He shouted at Sally, confusion in his emerald eyes.
“He’s having a seizure, though I don’t know what from.”
“Stop it!”
“I can’t!”
Sonic put the matter into his own hands. He bravely lifted Knuckles off the floor and hugged him into his arms. The tremors startled and scared him further. What was wrong with him? Why was he doing this?
“It can’t be from the anaesthetic,” Sally said, “or he would have suffered like this earlier.”
“This early enough for you?” Sonic cried. He felt tears sting his eyes. Knuckles’ shivering was not easing. Sonic hugged him tighter, rubbed his limbs to try and stop the fits. “What the hell is causing him to do this?” Sonic was so worried as his mind raced to find out what was the matter.
Sally wanted to answer him but instead only offered him silence. She did not know yet, but she was determined to find out. Sonic sat in silence also, trying to endure the convulsions with Knuckles. Then, the contortions ended and the echidna lay limp in the hedgehog’s arms. Sonic drew a shaky breath.
“I’m taking him back up to my bed.” He said.
“No, it’s best not to move him. He can rest on the sofa.” She advised.
Sonic had to agree. He lay Knuckles on the couch. Sally got up and left to research the poison in that metal arrow. Maybe that had caused the tremors.
Sonic was very tired. Through his worry he had stayed up all night with Sally. Amy had left long ago. So neither of them could sleep. Knuckles always seemed invincible, unchallenged, and untouchable. Now, only moments ago he had been convulsing in Sonic’s arms.
Using his speed he brought down blankets and a pillow for his injured friend. He wrapped him up and watched sadly as Knuckles unconsciously curled up amongst the blankets.
“You’re gonna be okay, Red.” Sonic whispered, tears in his eyes. He knew Red could not hear him but it was more for himself. Knuckles had to be okay. He just had to.

A few hours later and Sally returned to the lounge, a slip of paper in her hand. She saw Sonic napping on a chair beside the sofa, right next to Knuckles. She looked grim as she went up to the hedgehog and gently shook him awake.
Sonic was alert instantly. He looked over at Knuckles first thing. “Is he okay?”
“I… I bring bad news. He is not okay.”
“What do you mean?” Sonic began to feel that fear again.
“I went down to the lab and analysed the poison. It is a very dangerous chemical combined with toxins and an ingredient called bio plasma.”
“So what of it?” Sonic was impatient.
“Knuckles is highly allergic to this sort of chemical. Sonic, he could die.”
The words struck him hard. Knuckles could die? Sally must have made a mistake. “But when we went there…” He gasped, “we both got hit, and there was nothing in the factory, it was a waste of time!”
“It didn’t affect you because you were immune.” Sally’s voice grew harder, “you both blindly went into a trap! Robotnik set it up intending to kill Knuckles with those flowers, not you!”
“And how could he know that?”
“A DNA sample perhaps. God we’ve been so deluded, blind. But I don’t know how to cure it.”
“You have to!” Sonic leapt to his feet, “find a cure!”
“There isn’t one! Unless you want me to search the whole planet!” She whispered harshly.
“So what is this going to do to Knuckles? He can survive it, can’t he?”
Sally looked at the slip of paper in her hand. “He will suffer fevers, seizures, the list goes on.”
“Read it out to me dammit!”
“Confusion, paralysis of the legs. In the end he’ll just stop breathing.”
“Do something! Is there anything that can ease his suffering?”
“I know just a little. He needs to be kept warm and well fed.”
Sonic sat back in his chair, weak in the legs. “It is all my fault.” He murmured, “I took him there after he got the distress call. I… I should have known…”
“It’s not your fault. You did what you thought was right.”
Sonic shook his head doubtfully. “What can I do to help him?”

Knuckles awoke. At least he was warm. He opened his violet eyes and painfully sat up.
“Yo, Red!”
Knuckles spun round to seek the source of the voice. It was only Sonic. He should have known. “Hey!” He said with a smile, “you look like you haven’t slept a wink!” And he noticed that the hedgehog looked very tired and anxious.
Sonic was glad that Knuckles was still trying to humour him at such a grave time. “Well, I haven’t been able to sleep lately, no thanks to you!”
“Ah, so blame it on me.” He smiled. And as he looked more carefully he saw that the hedgehog had a plate of food in his hand. “Bought some grub up with you?”
“Yep. Bugs fresh from the garden!”
“For who?”
“You of course.” Sonic set the porcelain plate down on Knuckles’ lap.
Knux was not in the least bit hungry though it looked like Sonic had done a good job trying to catch these creatures. He felt like such a burden.
“What happened to me earlier?” He rubbed his head; “I seem to have a gap in my memory. Did I fall?”
“Yeah, pretty badly. Just take it easy next time and you will be staying here with us in Knothole village for the next few weeks.”
“What? Why would you do this?” Knuckles shifted under his blankets; “I am useless here. I can’t help and I will just get in the way.”
“Where do you get all these ideas from?” Sonic frowned, “you’re staying and that’s final. I want you to be here and you need help.”
“You want me to be here?”
“Yes.”
Knuckles suddenly felt much better. “So do I stay until my wound heals?”
“I guess. Now eat, Red. I gotta go and sort out an argument in Hillrise, the new town.”
“An argument?”
“Well, it is getting rather messy from what I’ve heard.” He shrugged, “better go and find out.”
Knuckles watched him leave; feeling continuously pulled down by his injury. If only he could go with him and prove that he could still do something to help. Right now he felt so useless.
Feeling sick to the stomach he didn’t eat. He would release the bugs back into the garden and the fresh air would do him good.
Leaving the sofa he wobbled on his legs. Picking up the plate he carefully went into the kitchen and opened the back door. Stepping outside he set the plate down and brushed the insects off the plate. When he was done he went back inside and put the dish away. His legs were quivering and he couldn’t make out why. He could barely stand. His eyes watered yet again and in fear he tried to run back outside again, to retreat, to escape from whatever was harming him.
He made it to the lake in the garden before collapsing.
“Sonic!” He cried, holding his head and sweating. Where was he when he needed the hedgehog most?
He felt so weak, helpless and vulnerable. His terror escalated, making his shakes worse. His strength was failing him. He could not stand. Instead he crawled, using his spiked fists to drag him forwards. He didn’t know where to go, but as long as he could escape the pain, he didn’t really care. Pulling himself further, he did not see the edge of the lake.

Sonic; DUN DUN DUN!

Knux; i wanna bike, a black phantom bike, yeah!


TBC