[Sonic Forces] Spark

Sonic: Substitute Nurse Extraordinaire

A/N: Fist Bump, the song, is a lot funnier if you think of it as a love song tbh...

Enjoy.

-.-

It was odd how easily you could fall into a routine. Her days were very much the same as she continued to recover; wake up, the nurse gave her some medicine, she ate, then there was exercises, then a check up, lunch, a small nap if she needed it, that sign language class everyone was required to take now, another round of medicine, and then usually by that time dinner was ready. So, when she woke up one morning and Sonic was there by her bed, it was to little wonder that the rookie found herself surprised by his intrusion.

To get his attention, the rookie leaned over and tugged on his arm a bit. Suffice to say that he was surprised to know that she was awake.

"Hey partner!" he greeted with a wide smile. "I was just reading over what the doc had to say about you. Did you know that you were considered clinically dead for five whole minutes? Scary stuff."

The rookie gave a small shiver at the thought, but then she turned to Sonic and gave him a rather disapproving look.

"What am I doing here?" he then guessed. "Well, that's easy- I'm taking you out!"

Taking her... out? She didn't mean to, but the rookie blushed. There's no way he had meant it like that, no way at all...

Sonic gave her a smile at her bashfulness before clarifying. "I got the okay to take you somewhere else today. Guess who has a new nurse!"

Well, hello nurse.

"Come on," Sonic then told her, helping the rookie to her feet, "We've got to make some house calls first."

Knowing that Sonic would not stop until he had her attention, the rookie worked with him in getting off the medical bed. A day or so ago, the doctor had decided that she no longer needed to be connected to the EKG machine, so the two did not have to pull out any wires from her body. The rookie reached for the spot on the bedside table where she usually placed her watch, but found with a sudden shock that it wasn't there.

"Don't worry about your watch," Sonic said to her, "I gave it to Tails for some updating. I think you're going to like it."

She looked up at him and gave a small look of dejected distrust. Sonic laughed at her, must to her mild annoyance. The rookie puffed up her chest and started to head out the door- her movements purposeful and trying to spite the blue hedgehog. Unfortunately, her balance was still a bit off (noticeable when she would pick up her foot for a moment), causing Sonic to laugh at her even more.

"I could carry you if you want." he mused, walking beside her with his hands behind his back and his mouth formed into a teasing smirk. The rookie gave him a dark glare before waving an absent hand at him in dismissal.

I can walk on my own, thank you, oh ye of little faith.

Sonic playfully rolled his eyes; she was still as determined now like she was during the war. You had to admire that about a person. However, just watching her wobble a bit whenever she picked up her foot was a bit annoying, and it sure as heck wouldn't get them anywhere fast. Without asking for permission, Sonic slipped his arm through one of hers; effectively making himself her own personal crutch.

He chose not to notice how red his friend's face became- it was a lot like that look Amy got when she got all love struck around him. He was just being a good friend; what was so embarrassing about that?

. . .

Tails had been waiting for the duo in his workshop. As the young genius had predicted, the upgrades Sonic had wanted took only two hours to implement. When Sonic and his war-forged friend entered Tails's workshop, the twin-tailed fox didn't notice them at first- far more invested in an engine upgrade for the Tornado. It took Sonic not one, not two, but three attempts to get Tails's attention by giving a rather generous underhanded cough. It was only when Tails himself turned around to see Sonic and the rookie waiting there that he noticed them at all.

"Oh, hey guys!" he happily greeted. "How long have you been waiting?"

"Way too long." Sonic smiled. "How are those requests going?"

Tails gave a little snort as he went to his toolbox. "Psht, please, I told you it was going to be easy. Next time give me a bigger challenge!" From his toolbox he pulled out the rookie's watch that looked no different than before. He then walked back over to Sonic and the rookie.

"Which hand's your dominate?" Tails asked the rookie. The rookie then carefully shook one of her hands from side to side, meaning that she was slightly ambidextrous. Knowing this, Tails then rephrased his question, "Which hand do you usually put your watch on?" to which the rookie held up her left hand. Tails gave a small nod and attached the watch onto the rookie's wrist with very little trouble.

"Sonic's instructions were very clear, buddy," Tails then instructed her, "I've made the grapple chain in your watch much more fluid, allowing for faster chain reactions and hopefully greater momentum to take down bigger enemies that much easier. I was also able to broaden the communication range of your watch; you have a direct line to Resistance HQ, and anyone else you may want direct contact with- like me or Sonic. And there was one other thing..."

Tails then moved in a bit closer, holding up the rookie's watch and pointing to a certain button on its side.

"See that button? It was something I added to help you talk. For now it's off, but when you want to turn it on, just push it and then your watch will start to send electromagnetic pulses through your body. The watch will translate these pulses into what would normally be spoken sentences. Think of it as reading your mind in a way. Any 'spoken' thoughts you have will be displayed on a separate screen so all of us can read it. It even supports emojis! It'll be like you have a voice again buddy!"

Having lost her at 'electromagnetic pulses', the rookie gave Tails a confused look, and then gave Sonic a look of helplessness. The blue blur had been paying even less attention and gave her a small shrug in return. The rookie looked back at Tails.

"Try it out." Tails encouraged.

For a moment, the rookie hesitated while biting her lower lip in thought. She found herself giving in as she started to press the small button. Her watch gained a new notification that the function was working, which meant that she had to consider her words before 'saying' them now. There were so many things to say, what on earth would she start with?

But then she remembered something; something that she had always wanted to say since she had met Sonic. She looked over to the blue blur, and with an amused smile, a small holographic screen appeared by her shoulder with a message that read, 'I hate your shoes.'

Sonic's expression changed at least three times as he tried to decipher the odd comment. He then gave a small nod of defeat mixed with a bemused chuckle.

"Well," he mused in between amused snorts, "We would have liked your name first before criticizing my footwear; it's kinda what you do when being properly introduced."

A genuine laughter escaped from the rookie's lips. It was then when Sonic realized that he (or anyone else in the Resistance for that matter) had heard a genuine laugh of any kind come from her. It was a small, broken laugh that didn't last very long before it exhausted its user, but that was almost to be expected after all.

In that moment, Sonic promised himself that he'd do whatever it took to make sure she laughed again; genuinely, happily, and without restraint. It was the least he could do for one of this closest friends.