(Sonic's POV)
Shadow's screams filled the air, there was pure pain in his voice. The medics had started to work on him before giving any pain medication, if they said if they waited for it to kick in Shadow would be dead. But still, they could have at least given him something.
Shadow twitched violently as the paramedics shifted him, trying to get him into a stable condition. Oh god.. How is he even alive with this much blood loss?! They were trying their best to stop the bleeding but it was just too much. It was all over the paramedic and me, our clothes just soaked in splattered blood. I found the farthest corner of the truck as I watched them work on saving Shadow's life. I just couldn't believe what was in front of me. His arm was missing... His left arm was missing! Who in the hell did this to him?! Why did they do it to him of all people?!
Some rando came running up to me in the middle of my jog, just screaming for help. He kept mumbling and screaming that he found some man badly injured just down the cliff. He had already called '911' and they were just rounding the corner, with that he showed us were the man was. I still can't believe that it was Shadow who was this badly injured.
Shadow's screaming stop as he went completely limp, to the point where he looked like he wasn't breathing. Shadow's eyes stared at the ceiling, dazed and unfocused. The paramedic immediately started grabbing something else to put on Shadow. I was starting to panic that they might not save him in time, or that we won't make it in time. As more time was pasting, there was less time that Shadow had left.
By the time we arrived at the hospital, there were a few ER doctors already waiting outside for him. The paramedics rushed Shadow out of the truck as one was sitting on the gurney with him, doing cpr.
As we got out, the doctors were shocked at the amount of blood on our clothes. They all started to talk about medical terms and such, nothing made sense to me. I just followed them into the ER section, looking at the other people waiting as we passed by. They were terrified seeing us bloodied up, even the nurses were in shock. I followed them to one of the huge emergency rooms and nearly started to feel sick as they started to work on him. I saw how disfigured his shoulder look as everything was just torn out of place.
"Please. Wait out here. We'll try to save your boyfriend, but we need our space." A nurse said as she walked me back to the waiting room. Boyfriend?! He's not my boyfriend! We're just friends..
I tried to protest, but nothing came out. I just stood there, shocked as she ran back to where Shadow was. Shadow was my friend, he was crazy strong, he knew how to protect himself...
How... How did he end up like this..? What did this to him? It doesn't look like any normal person did this to him. The way the arm was torn off, and the multiple bullet wounds to the slashes on his cheeks. Nothing about that was normal.
"Sir.. Do you want a blanket?" A male nurse walk up, holding a warm blanket. "You seem cold.. You're not injured are you?" Looking at the blood all over me.
"N-No.. This isn't m-my blood.." The nurse wrapped the warm blanket around me and helped me sit down. He was about to say something but walked away instead as I was too lost in my head.
"Sonic! I-I got here as fast as I could!" Rouge rush over to me as she still was still in her uniform, gasping at the amount of blood covering me. "Oh god.. Is.. Is he alright?"
"Rouge... H-He's lost a lot of blood and his left arm is gone..." I sighed as the image of finding Shadow injured. I never want to see this much blood ever again... "H-His arm is gone..." I didn't know what I was doing. I was mumbling uncontrollable about Shadow and the horror I saw, that I didn't notice Rouge sat next to me. She was holding me in her arms as I was in my traumatized state.
It must of been hours before they came to get us. Rouge had fell asleep next to me as I just stared at the nurse. Something didn't feel right about this. But Shadow had to be okay, right? They managed to save him... right?
"Sir, would you like to go see your friend? You can go visit him now." The male nurse spoke. On his shirt was his name tag said Damian Light.
I just nodded, not having the energy to speak at the moment. After waking up Rouge, Damian led us upstairs to Shadow's room. Room number 406.
Seeing Shadow patched up and covered in banaged up. Wires were all over him as they all connected to different machines. What confused me the most was that Shadow had a tube down his throat.
"When do you think he'll wake up?" Rouge asked as she got closer to the bed, her eyes staring in disbelief.
"I.. am truly sorry." Damian sighed as he looked away from us. Rouge quickly turned around as we both stared at him.
"Y-You mean...?" I hesitated to say. He nodded. No. No it can't be true.
"Yes.. He's in a coma.. From his injuries, I'm surprised he's not dead.." The nursed sighed again. The doctor joined as she walked into the room. She sighed once she saw we were in here.
"I'm sorry for what happened to your friend. I'm Dr. Matthews, we will do our best and keep a constant watch on his condition. If you need any other information, either find me or this nurse here, Damian." With that, they both left. I just watched as Rouge gently reached out and touched Shadow's face. Her composure was crumpling.
"I have several officers searching the area for any signs of the attacker.. To see if we can find out anything more.. Oh god Shadow... What did you get yourself into this time..?" Rouge's lip trembled as tears welled up in her eyes. "What's worse is that I just saw him before all of this happened... It's all my fault.."
"Nonono, Rouge don't think like that. This.. This was just some random attack." I tried to comfort her as I tried to make this situation make sense.
It was weird seeing Shadow like this. He was never this... weak... Shadow was always on guard, at all times no matter what was going on. It was just weird.. I wonder who would of done this.. It had to be someone who knew his weaknesses but Shadow could over power anyone he came against. Just who would want him dead?
"I'm gonna be here a lot. I'll keep you in check alright?" Rouge sighed, rubbing her temples. At least she stopped crying.
"But what about your work..?" She looked at me, she seemed confused at first. "I mean... It's a lot on your plate right?"
"Well.. I just take more work to do... Geez... Now I know what Shadow feels like.." She laughed a little. "I should've never took advantage of it.."
"We just need some sleep Rouge. It's nearly two in the morning... Maybe we just need to go home." Rouge sighed, accepting my idea. She nodded, but said she rather stay here for the night. I get it, this was her best friend we're talking about.
So I left alone, I tried calling Tails but he wasn't answering. I guess I had to get a taxi now and thank god one was out.
I wasn't going to get any sleep tonight, that I knew. The way he was brutally beaten.. His screams still echoed in my mind.. Everything was embedded into my memory and I know i'll have nightmares later.
Now thinking about it, I never heard Shadow scream like that before... If he was in pain, he never showed it. The times he broke an arm or anything, he never showed any signs of pain. This time it was different.. It was almost like he wasn't himself.
I was so dazed that I didn't even notice I was home. Tails was already comforting me but I didn't seem to care. He helped me up to my room as we just sat there.
"Sonic... It'll be okay. I mean, It's Shadow we're talking about.." Tails sighed when I didn't respond. "Just try to get some sleep then... Shadow will be up and wake in no time flat.."
"Yeah. Maybe you're right... He's our friend. He'll be fine.." I couldn't tell if I was trying to convince him or myself. I couldn't tell if it work or not either. Geez.. Even if Shadow was a jerk towards me all the time, he was still my friend. I wouldn't wish that on anyone..
That happened several months ago though. Tails said Shadz would be up and running again, but he was wrong. Shadow was still in the hospital and he was still in a coma. He was still showing no signs of waking up. Although everything was normal and stable, Shadow just wasn't waking up.
Luckily, Shadow's wounds were healed enough and no longer needed to be on life support. Rouge was none stop at the hospital for the last few months, just waiting for him to wake up. But it seemed like he would never wake up.
The others took the news hard and some didn't seem to care. Shadow wasn't the nicest person to them, but they could still care enough for him. It didn't take long long before there were new reports about him. Everyone in town had known by now as they blasted his face all over. Still no evidence towards who was the attacker, it felt like we would never find any evidence to who the real attacker was.
I was caught off guard as I was doing my daily jog when my phone started ringing. It was Rouge, guessing she was just checking in with me.
"Hel-" Before I could even finish a word I got cut off.
"Sonic! You need to get to the hospital as fast as you can. They say Shadow's showing signs to wake up sometime this week!" Rouge screamed into the phone. "I already called the others, they are going to try to make it today. Hurry up!" Rouge hung up before I could process anything. Wait, Shadow was going to wake up?
Tails and I rushed as fast as we could so we didn't miss a thing. They didn't know exactly when he'll wake up, but we didn't want to miss it.
We rushed upstairs as fast as we could and made it too Shadow's room. The doctors were here, checking the vitals of Shadow. Rouge, Amy and Silver were all here as they sat in back chatting.
"Where's everyone else?" I asked. Silver shook his head.
"They couldn't make it. Busy." Amy stated, rolling her eyes. We all went quiet when a groan filled the room. We all turned our heads finding Shadow shifting slightly. He slowly opened his eyes, flinching at the sudden light.
"Shadow!" Rouge rushed over to his side. His eyes were barely open, as he let his body fall limp.
"Wh... Who's that..?" Everything fell silent as we just stared. Did... Did he really not remember us?...