Chapter Text
Maddie looks over her shoulder one last time. She confirms for the nth time that Tails is asleep in his bed. The kit rests on his side. His blanket is pulled all the way up to his chin. A basin of water settles on the nightstand with a rag hanging off the rim. His eyes are closed. His breathing isn’t exactly even, but there’s little she can do for him. She’s already done all she can. He will have to sleep off the rest of his sickness. As a veterinarian, she knows this fact. As a mother, it takes all the strength in her body to pull herself away from the room, closing the door behind her.
Maddie releases a heavy breath. Something unwinds inside her chest. Relief doesn’t come to replace it, but she didn’t expect it to when her boys are still sickly. Tails and Knuckles both came down with something. They assure her it is only their bodies settling on the planet. Even if that’s the case, the two of them are the worst patients. For very different reasons, neither of them let the rest of the family know they were sick until they physically couldn’t hide it. Tails even passed out during dinner the previous night, which completely freaked everyone out. Maddie could get Tails to stay in his bed, but she couldn’t get him to tell her how he was feeling. He will do whatever she asks, but not once will he tell her that he needs something. If his symptoms get worse, he will handle it himself because he doesn’t want to ‘bother’ his new family. Maddie wishes she knew the right words to fully explain how she would much rather be ‘bothered’ (as if she could ever be) than terrified about how she doesn’t know if he’s getting better or worse.
Knuckles is another problem child. His pride borders on arrogance as he tries powering through his sickness. Maddie and Tom considered tying him down to the bed just to get him to rest long enough for Maddie to check his temperature. They didn’t, obviously, but Knuckles didn’t need to know that their threat was an empty one. He finally laid out to rest in his room, and Maddie was able to look him over. While she hates that he exhausted himself to the point of sleeping nearly immediately upon his head hitting the pillow, part of her is a little grateful as she went through the motions of taking care of him.
Now, all she can do is wait for the morning to come. Hopefully, they will burn through the sickness through the night. She will feed them a light soup, testing how their stomachs will handle the food. If they don’t immediately puke, she might be able to move them onto solid food by dinner time. She won’t know until the sun rises, however, so she tries to push her worries to the sides of her mind.
Maddie moves down the stairs. She enters the living room. Sonic is sitting on the couch, leaning against the armrest. His legs are pulled onto the cushion with him, pressing into his chest. Ozzie lies right beside him. Ozzie keeps shoving his muzzle against Sonic’s side. His attempt at getting a pet from the hedgehog fails. Sonic focuses his narrowed eyes on the corner of the room. He holds his forearm in front of his face.
Tom should be staying with Knuckles to make sure the echidna doesn’t rise from his bed if he wakes up at some time in the night. Tails will stay in the bed, so Maddie thought it would be fine to come downstairs for a few moments to catch her breath and maybe prepare a snack. She should bring Tom another water bottle, at least, but she finds herself drifting into the living room. While not sick himself, Sonic is still her son, and he looks like he’s in desperate need of comfort.
“Hey, blueberry,” Maddie kindly murmurs. She sits on Ozzie’s other side. She pets his golden head for a few seconds. Ozzie doesn’t stop shoving his muzzle against Sonic. She frowns. If Ozzie wasn’t searching for pets, what is he doing right now?
Maddie shakes her head. She returns her eyes to Sonic with a comforting smile on her face. She moves her hand from Ozzie’s fur to Sonic’s shoulder. When she touches him, he startles. His forearm lowers slowly. His emerald eyes flick over to her. Maddie’s expression crumples with concern. “Hey, it’s going to be alright. Your brothers are resting right now. They should feel better by the morning.”
Sonic doesn’t respond. Maddie’s eyebrows pull together. Sonic is a complete chatterbox all of the time. She doesn’t know what to do when he isn’t talking excitedly. She would take even a whispery joke from him.
Ozzie suddenly barks. Maddie and Sonic flinch away from the dog. Maddie rushes to put her hands against the sides of Ozzie’s head. “Shh. No, Ozzie. We don’t bark in the house. We—”
Maddie tilts her head back to look at Sonic. Because of how he flinched, she can now see his forearm more clearly. The blue fur is matted down with blood. Maddie’s eyes widen. She drops off the edge of the couch to kneel in front of Sonic. She gently takes his forearm, stretching it beside his folded knees. Sonic stares at her with confusion in his eyes. Maddie points at his forearm with her chin. “You’re bleeding, Sonic.”
Sonic blinks owlishly. He glances at his arm. His lips part slightly. He flexes his fingers. He winces slightly as pain registers in his mind. “I guess I am…”
Maddie lifts her hand forward. She touches the side of Sonic’s face. He allows her. Maddie frowns. She turns away from his mouth to his arm. She examines it more closely, looking past the blood. She throws her head back to meet his eyes. “Have you been biting yourself?”
Sonic’s ears flatten against the top of his head. He looks away from her. He shoves his face in the space between his curled up legs, avoiding looking at her and hiding half his expression. Unfortunately, his non-answer is enough of an explanation for Maddie. She understands that the answer is yes. Whether he was aware he was doing it or not, Sonic bit his forearm hard enough for it to bleed.
“Wait here. I’ll grab the first-aid kit,” Maddie tells him. She makes eye contact with Ozzie. “Stay with him.”
“Wait, Mom, you don’t have to get the kit. I’m fine. This isn’t—”
“Sonic,” Maddie sternly says. Sonic shrinks in on himself. He brings his forearm to his chest, curling around it. Maddie takes a deep breath. She puts her hand on top of his head, brushing through his fur. “I’ll be right back.”
Maddie steps away to grab the first-aid kit, as she said she would. As she’s walking, she tries to process the situation. One of her first thoughts is that this could be an attention thing, but she realizes as she opens the hallway closet what the truth is. Although he’s an alien and her son, at the end of the day, Sonic is also a hedgehog. Maddie already knows he likes belly rubs and purrs like his Earth-counterpart. Why wouldn’t he bite himself when he’s stressed?
Maddie steps back into the living room. Sonic’s paw is firmly planted on top of Ozzie’s head. He doesn’t pet the dog, but Ozzie doesn’t force him to. Maddie knows Sonic is making an active effort not to bite himself. Maddie is eternally grateful for Ozzie. Bringing the dog into their home was one of the best decisions she and Tom ever made.
Maddie kneels in front of Sonic. He offers her his forearm without any argument. He probably understands that Maddie has been fighting Tails and Knuckles at every corner. Maddie briefly wonders how exhausted she looks. Is she stressing Sonic out even more? She will have to address that when she finishes cleaning his fur and wrapping the wounds.
“Do you often do this?” Maddie whispers quietly, breaking the silence.
Sonic swallows thickly. “I… did it a lot when I lived alone. I didn’t feel the urge to do it so much when I was with you and Dad. I… I’m sorry. I thought I was better.”
“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m not mad at you,” Maddie promises. She lifts a hand to touch his cheek. She rubs his facial fur gently. Sonic finally meets her eyes. Maddie smiles at him. “Thank you for telling me. Thanks for letting me do this, too. I know it can be scary to admit this. I’m so proud of you.”
Sonic sucks in a tight breath. He winces. Maddie should have brought him some water. Given how much blood was on his forearm, his mouth probably tastes like iron right now. Maddie will rectify the situation when she finishes bandaging everything. She wouldn’t want there to be an infection.
“Is this because your brothers are sick?” Maddie softly asks.
Sonic nods slowly. “I got sick, too. In my little hole. I know they’re being taken care of, but… I keep… If they’re going through what I went through… I need to help them. I don’t want them to die—” His voice cracks.
Maddie rises from her kneeling position. She braces one knee against the side of the couch. She brings Sonic’s head to her stomach. She hugs him close. Sonic breathes out, rubbing his head against her. Maddie’s hand smoothly glides through his quills. “Shh… It’s okay. I’m sorry you had to go through that. I wish I could have taken care of you when you were sick.”
Maddie has been to Sonic’s hole before. Even during the daytime, the hole was bitterly cold. She can only imagine what it was like at night. She can only imagine what it was like getting sick in a place that cold and dirty. Even a common illness could have choked the life out of Sonic. He was so young, too. He wouldn’t have known what was happening to him. He wouldn’t have known how to take care of himself. He would have been lying in his bed, surrounded by stolen objects that provided no comfort or warmth. Maddie winces, feeling her heart jerk painfully in her heart.
Maddie squeezes Sonic a little tighter. He makes a quiet noise— another instinct born from his status as a hedgehog. “I know it’s scary, but your Dad and I are taking good care of Tails and Knuckles. I promise that we’re doing everything we can to make them feel better again.”
“I know,” Sonic says with something heavy in his voice. Maddie thinks it might be tears. Sonic doesn’t cry, but there are certain signs he shows when his spirit plummets dangerously low.
Maddie reaches down to take his paws into her own. She steps away from him. Sonic looks up at her. Maddie smiles warmly at him. “How about you come sit with me while we wait for Tails to wake up?”
Sonic glances at Ozzie. The dog stares blankly at him, offering no advice. Sonic huffs. He nods slowly at Maddie. Her smile widens. She tugs Sonic onto his feet in front of the couch. She releases one paw, but she makes sure to hold the other one as they head into the kitchen. As Maddie prepares stuff for her and Tom, Sonic gets a cup of water. He swishes the water in his mouth, spitting it out in the sick. The liquid is tinted red like rust has gotten into their pipes. Maddie glances at him. “Do you want to brush your teeth first? I’ll meet you in Tails’ room.”
Sonic nods. He leaves the cup on the table. It clatters, deciding whether it should land on its bottom or fall over. Sonic is gone by the time it decides to stay on the counter. Maddie nudges the cup into the sink with her elbows. Her hands carry a wicker container from the pantry filled with what she needs.
Maddie walks to Knuckles’ room first. They renovated the basement for the echidna. He’s resting on his bed now. Tom sits in the chair beside him, dozing off. Maddie coughs. Tom startles. He looks around the room, but when his eyes land on her, he smiles. Maddie tosses a water bottle at him. He catches it. He shoots her a grateful expression before drinking nearly half the bottle. Maddie steps over to him. She pushes his hair back to kiss his forehead. Tom raises an eyebrow at her. “Love you.”
“I love you, too,” Tom responds. Maddie moves to kiss Knuckles’ forehead. He makes a quiet noise in his sleep. Maddie and Tom share an amused look. Maddie waves goodbye. She takes the wicker container with her. Part of her wants to tell Tom about Sonic’s newly discovered habit, but she decides that she should talk to Sonic about it first. He might want to tell Tom himself or at least be there when Tom finds out.
Tails’ room is the former guest room. There are still elements of the guest room in how impersonal everything looks, but Tails is slowly filling it out with what he wants. The kit himself is sleeping on the bed. Sonic sits in the chair beside his brother. He holds his forearm near his mouth, but there’s enough distance for Maddie to know he isn’t biting himself. She wonders if it’s self-control or because the bandages are too thick.
Maddie sets the container on the floor. She moves her hands beneath Sonic’s armpits. He startles as she lifts him out of the cushioned chair. When Maddie sits down, she sets Sonic in her lap. She wraps her arms around him. Sonic leans his head against her collarbone. Maddie takes his paw into her hand, the one attached to his bandage arm. She tucks her chin on top of Sonic’s head. They both silent, listening to each other’s heartbeats and Tails’ slightly labored breathing.
Maddie kisses the top of his head. She whispers, “I love you, you know?”
“I know,” Sonic confirms. He squeezes her hand. “I love you, too.”
Maddie hums in response. Sonic sinks more deeply into her hold as he falls asleep. Maddie tilts her head back. She closes her eyes. It’s going to be a long night. It will be an even longer day tomorrow. But it doesn’t matter. Not to Maddie, anyway. She will take care of her sons. It doesn’t matter when or where. It doesn’t matter how long it takes or why it happened. These boys are hers, and she will do what it takes to take the pain away.