Tales from the Phantom

Trust, time, & patience

"Sonic, please. Don't you want to go out?" Tails asked his friend, who continued to glare at him like he was crazy.
Sighing, Tails turned back to one of the nurses. "Thanks for the offer, but I think he's still not ready."
"Oh, of course. I'll just leave it here Incase he changes his mind," they motioned to the wheelchair before leaving.

"When are you going to bounce back to yourself? You've always done that before. Straight away. What did Infinite do to you?" Tails asked.
I don't know myself Tails. It's like my brain's filled with nothing but fog. I just wish I knew what was going on inside my mind

A few moments of silence went by before Vanilla and Cream walked in, Cream smiling as she ran up to Sonic's bed. "Mr Sonic it's a lovely day outside! Please come with us to the park!"
Sonic knew that he couldn't resist Cream's excitement. Not to mention, Vanilla and Cream made him feel safe. And so, he nodded.

He also stared long and hard at the ruby on the side, before making his mind up. I just want to get back to normal as soon as possible he thought as he pulled it on.

"Right, just remember Sonic, no walking just yet," Vanilla reminded as she lifted him out of the bed and into the chair.
"If I'm completely honest, I don't feel much like walking at the moment anyways," Sonic informed them.
His leg was still in pretty bad condition, and walking on it wouldn't be an option for at least two weeks.

That's ok Sonic had thought to himself, I don't tend to admit it, but I think I need to take it slow.

Cream was right, it was a lovely day in July. Being the summer holidays, the parking was jammed full of people soaking the sun up.

A few people had looked over and smiled at their hero, some pointed, others came over and wished him the best of luck for his recovery.
Coming across the park, Cream begged her mother to let her play on it, to which Vanilla of course said yes.

"Why don't we have a drink?" Vanilla asked the two brothers, "I brought some ice cold lemonade."

Up on the grassy bank, Tails made sure that Sonic wouldn't roll down before sitting on the lush small hill.

Looking around, Sonic smiled at the kids running around. Boy, how he wished he could be doing that again! But sometimes just sitting and relaxing was good.
Wait a second? Why does it feel like I'm moving?
Looking down, Sonic realized that his chair had started to roll down the hill.

"Tails," he alerted his friend as it started picking up some speed, "Tails, Tails. TAiLs!!"

Bam! It toppled over at the bottom of the bank, Tails and Vanilla rushing over. "Are you ok?" Tails asked as Vanilla lifted him up while Tails sat the wheelchair back upright.
"Yeah. Thanks," he breathed as Vanilla gently set him back down. Chaos, I hate being so useless. I can't even get up of the floor.

A few more moments went by, and Sonic began to of course feel bored. There wasn't really anything to do but sit there, so he began to play around with his bracelet that had been given to him by Chip. But a familiar shouting caused him to stop.

No- He saw the familiar face of Karen turning the corner. She was headed straight for him! "Hey Tails, turf at 12 o'clock," he warned.
"Huh?" Tails looked before sighing, "Not her again,"

"Oh, look Emily!" Karen turned to her daughter, "Rats," she laughed, walking over.
"Oh boy," Sonic rolled his eyes. He could not be bothered with her today.

"You see, Emily. What did I tell you? You can even see her scars," she pointed at Sonic, "I don't know how she thought she could hide it."

Looking at Sonic's face, Vanilla could see nothing but pure discomfort spread across it, "That's. IT." She snapped, "Get away from him now!" She stormed up to the Karen, looking her in the eye, "Now listen here, you dare come near my kids again, call them out, or make them uncomfortable in any way, I will see to it myself that it does not go unseen to. Period."

"Slay!" They all heard someone shout, and Karen laughed again, "Your kids?" She turned around, "They're not your kids, they're not your blood," and with that, she was gone.
Sitting down, Vanilla noticed Sonic and Tails looking at her, and she nodded, "I meant what I said dearies," she picked up the tea pot, "Now, would anyone like some tea?"

***

"Ah, home sweet home," Sonic commented as they stepped onto Angel Island, Tails only realizing their problem. The only way to the house was up stairs.
"I could just walk this little way," Sonic hinted, Tails and Vanilla both shaking their heads.
"No way. Vanilla, you carry him, I'll get the chair," Tails decided.

And so, much to Sonic's disliking, they eventually got him up the stairs and into the house, where Vanilla gently set him down on the couch, before grabbing a few cushions and propping the leg up. "Try to keep it elevated dear,"

Cream started looking through Disney +, she'd been here enough to know that nobody minded her putting the tv on, not to mention Sonic looked bored.
"Hey, if you're putting a movie on, there's popcorn here," Tails announced, sharing it between four separate bowls.

It seemed to be going well, they'd settled on Lightyear. They was towards the end of the movie, when a sudden attack made Sonic flinch hard, everyone turning around at the sound of his startled gasp.
"Hey, Sonic? Are you ok?" Tails concerned himself. "Sonic! My chaos breathe!"
Eventually, Sonic shook his head, "Wow, um..." he chuckled nervously, "that was crazy, amIright? Wonder where that came from?" He continued to nibble a piece of popcorn.
Tails tried to reach out a hand to but on his hurting friend's shoulder, but to his complete shock, Sonic flinched at him, Tails quickly pulling it back.

"Tails.... I.. I don't know why I did that... I didn't mean anything..." Sonic couldn't believe it either, and he was worried that he'd upset him.
"Hey, no. It's ok, I get it," Tails smiled, Sonic sighing.
"Tails what's wrong with me? Why am I like this now?"

It was now Tails' turn to sigh, as he slowly knelt by Sonic; "Sonic, that day we went to the hospital after the war. Because we was all concerned about you. Remember that?" Sonic slowly nodded.
"Yeah,"
"Well, the doctor came out and told me something that shocked us all. He told me that you was suffering from..." Tails stopped for a bit, he knew that this was going to be a hard pill for Sonic to swallow.
"Suffering from what, Tails?"
Tails sighed again, "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,"

"What? No, No!" Sonic's eyes grew wide, "This wasn't supposed to happen! I'm the hero that everyone looks up to. I can't have anything wrong with me!"
"Sonic.." Vanilla spoke up, "There's nothing wrong with you. All this means is that you feel emotion."
Tails hugged his friend gently, and he felt a bit of his tenseness melt away. "It's ok, Sonic. You've always been there for us, now it's our turn to be here for you. Your going to get through it, I know,"

It was just going to take trust, time, and patience