Shadow could clearly hear Sonic’s cries for help as he was taken down the hallway to receive medical attention until he couldn’t hear him anymore.

“I recommend you tell Sonic’s friends he’s been found.”

Shadow’s left ear flicked, telling the commander he had heard him, though he made no effort to reply. Guilt tore at the dark hedgehog’s heart as he thought of Sonic being ripped away from him, and how Shadow had to let him go. He must be terrified without him…

“Can I go see him? Please?” Shadow asked.

“As I said Shadow, let him go. The doctor needs to focus on him.” He paused. “You don’t actually care about Sonic, do you?”

Shadow pricked his ears. Of course I care about Sonic… I need to protect him…

“Of course not.” Shadow growled coldly.

The commander sighed. “I’ll make a promise to you, the second the doctor tells me Sonic is stable I will let you see him.”

Shadow flicked an ear. “Fine.” He dismissed himself, walking over the broken down door back to his room.

His room was nothing special, really. The walls were metal and it had a simple window to his right that let him see outside. It had a small bed, which was rather comfortable, a closet that he had no use for, and nightstand with a lamp. On the nightstand was a picture of him and Maria, faded with age. He sighed as he saw it and saw down on his bed, lying down on his back and staring up at his ceiling. He kicked his shoes off and set his gun in his nightstand drawer. He lied there for about 15 minutes, staring at the ceiling, wondering if he should go after Sonic and disobey Tower’s orders.  He pricked his ears as there was soft knocking on the door. “Shadow? Hon? Are you alright?”

He closed his eyes, recognizing Rouge’s voice. “Yes, I’m fine. Come on in.”

The door opened and the white bat stepped in. “Hi… Tower told me you were in a bad mood.”

“I wonder why he told you that, because my mood is perfectly fine.” He said, not bothering to look at her.

“Shadow, what happened?” She asked, sitting down next to him.

He sighed. “I was sent on a mission to a science lab to see what they were doing… and to bring back any evidence. Well, I found Sonic there… the poor guy was traumatized, he would barely eat… and he wouldn’t let the nurses take him.”

She gasped quietly. “What did they do to him?”

“I have no clue. He wouldn’t tell me. I don’t blame him.” He mumbled, a hint of sadness in his voice.

“Are you alright Shadow?” Rouge asked, looking at him.

He simply nodded.

“Well, if you want to talk, I’m here, ‘kay?” She ruffled his quills, smiling, and she left.

Shadow smoothed down his quills and hugged his pillow, burying his face into it. Get ahold of yourself Shadow. He thought. Everytime Sonic’s name crossed his mind, his heart fluttered. He had never experienced this kind of feeling before… except with Maria.

He tried to push it out of his mind and he snuggled his pillow and fell asleep.

In the morning, Shadow pricked his ears and opened his crimson eyes. He looked out the window to see a dark blue sky. “Not light outside yet…” He said to himself. He flicked his ears as his stomach growled. He remembered he hadn’t eaten since he rescued Sonic, which was a couple days ago. He sighed and threw his covers off him, not bothering to put his shoes on. He opened his door and walked down the hall in his socks, trying to find the cafeteria. His mind drifted off to Sonic, and how he was doing, if he was alright…

Smack. Shadow staggered backwards, holding his nose in pain. “Did I seriously just run into the wall…?” He said to himself, cursing under his breath.

“Shadow, you're up early.”

The striped hedgehog looked behind him and there stood a nurse, a woman with long red hair, a nurses dress and a white hat with a red cross on it.

“Oh… I was just hungry is all.” He replied, rubbing his nose.

“What a coincidence, I was headed to go get some breakfast. Care to join me?”

Shadow shrugged. “Why not?”

The nurse smiled and walked with him to the cafeteria, there were a few soldiers there who were up early, getting their breakfast. Shadow got himself a simple bowl of cinnamon oatmeal, the nurse got herself a bowl of Lucky Charms.

They sat at a round table with the soldiers, who were talking to each other about weapons and such.

“If I may introduce myself, my name is Alice.” She said, getting a spoonful of her cereal.

Shadow stirred his oatmeal around, poking at it. “Nice to meet you Alice.” He took a small spoonful, it was clear his mind was elsewhere.

“So, about Sonic…”

Shadow pricked his ears, chewing his oatmeal.

“He’s in a stable condition… it’s just, he won’t talk about what those scientists did.”

Shadow sighed and swallowed. “He won’t tell me about it either.”

“He’s terrified of every noise, he won’t eat…”

Shadow nodded. “I’ll try and talk to him.”

Alice smiled. “Good. He’s able to walk around today when he wakes, as long as he doesn’t strain himself.”

Shadow gave a small smile. “I’m glad he’s-” There was a loud scream from down the hallway and Shadow jumped, startled. He recognized Sonic’s voice, and he stood up without another word to Alice. Something was wrong.