FicWad

Sonic groaned as he looked at the clock.



It was now seven in the morning and he had only slept for around five hours because of some odd pain in his legs.



He wasn't too worried about that. He assumed he overdid running around Mobius during their month-long vacation.



Sonic started to sit up. "Wait a minute. I can sleep in." He said, settling back in the bed. He started to fall asleep when the door swung open.



"Wake up, bro." Manic said.



"Someone better be dying." Sonic muttered. "I'm trying to sleep, Manic. Go back to bed or something."



"I got two tickets to see Jaws the musical." Manic said, showing him some website page on his phone. "You have to go with me."



"Can't you take Sonia?" Sonic asked. "She likes musicals."



"She said it was stupid." Manic replied. "Come on. It'll be hilarious. They got this super fake animatronic shark and it gets to do most of the musical numbers."



Sonic sighed. "Fine." He said. He slid his legs, which were still wrapped in the sheet, off the bed and tried to stand. He fell over.





Manic helped Sonic get the blanket off of his feet and stepped back.





Sonic stood and tried to take a few steps, but his legs gave out and he collapsed. "Bummer majores."



Manic helped his brother up. "Whoa, you okay, bro?"



Sonic fell over again. "What? Yeah, I'm fine. I just lost my balance, that's all."



Manic raised an eyebrow, but let Sonic try to stand again. He held onto Sonic's arms just in case he fell again.



Sonic took tentative steps on his shaky legs before they gave out on him yet again.



Both brothers wound up falling onto the floor.



"Sonia!" Manic called.



Sonia came in. "What are you screaming about?" She asked. "We have an intercom."



She noticed Sonic and Manic on the floor. "What're you doing?"



"Something's wrong with Sonic." Manic said, helping Sonic sit up.



"I tripped over my own feet, that's all." Sonic insisted.



"No, I watched you." Manic replied. "Your legs were shaking like Jello, then you collapsed."



Sonia gasped.



"It's no big deal." Sonic said. "I'll be okay. I just overdid running this week."



Sonia knelt down in front of him. "Well, how do you feel otherwise?"



"Okay, except my legs feel weird." Sonic said, rubbing his legs. "Like I'm being stuck with pins or this numb feeling. I keep losing my balance."





"Ooh, you need to go to the hospital, bro." Manic replied.



"No, I'm fine." Sonic said.



Sonia shook her head. "You need to see the doctor." She replied. "What if it's WHS?"



Sonic scoffed. "No, I'm probably exhausted from our vacation." He said. "I did a lot more running last week than I ever did with the resistance."



Manic and Sonia rolled their eyes.



"You spent some of your time at the beach, won a chili dog eating contest, and sat on a beach chair or rode in the van." Manic said.



Sonic shrugged. "M- maybe I'm a little out of shape."



"Let's hope so." Sonia said. "Anyway, you should see a doctor just in case."



"Doesn't Manic have tickets to something?" Sonic asked.



Manic shook his head. "Nice try, bro, but the musical isn't this week." He said. He watched as Sonic struggled to stand up again. "I guess we'll have to call an ambulance. You can't walk to the van."



Sonia picked Sonic up. "Just get the doors for me, Manic."



Manic got up and ran to the door. "I keep forgetting you're stronger than us."



Sonia, carrying a reluctant Sonic, and Manic walked out of Sonic's room.



Queen Aleena met them in the hallway. "What were you three doing in there?" She asked. "I could hear you from the lower level."



"We have to take Sonic to the hospital." Sonia said. "He can't stand up without falling."



"I'm fine." Sonic insisted.



"He keeps falling over." Manic replied. "He made me fall while trying to help him."



"I know what it sounds like, but don't worry, Sonic." Queen Aleena said. "You may be perfectly fine, but let's make sure, okay?"



Sonic sighed. "Fine."
**
Sonic sat in the exam room, waiting for the nurse to bring his family in after being examined for an hour or so.



He knew that was a bad sign, but was hoping he was wrong.



Queen Aleena and Sonia came in and closed the door.



Sonic furrowed his brow. "Where's Manic?"



Sonia shrugged. "He said he had to ask the nurse something."



Queen Aleena and Sonia sat down in the chairs next to the exam table.



"Was the nurse a dark green hedgehog girl?" Sonic asked.



"Yeah." Sonia replied. "How much you wanna bet that he's not asking her any medical questions?"



Sonic shook his head. "There's no point in betting."



Manic slipped into the room.



"What was that about?" Sonic asked.



"I… I just had a question." Manic replied.



Sonic gave him a look. "Really?"



"She said other, treatable conditions can mimic WHS, but we won't know for sure until the test results come back." Manic said, sitting down between Sonia and Queen Aleena.



"That's kind of a relief." Sonic replied.



The doctor, a Mobian squirrel, finally came into the room.



Sonic tensed up. "I'm guessing it's not something simple, huh?"





The doctor sat down across from the hedgehog family. "I'm afraid not." He replied. "I'm afraid it's most likely WHS."



"'Most likely'?" Sonic asked. "Why are you telling us that if you're not absolutely sure what I have?"



"Because they can't officially confirm WHS until after death." Sonia replied.



The doctor nodded. "She's right."



Sonic sat there, wide-eyed and completely silent. "This can't be happening." He thought.



The doctor slowly got up. "I'll give you a moment to process it before we discuss symptom management." He said. He got up and quietly left the room.



Sonic shook his head in disbelief. "This isn't happening, right?" He asked. "This is one of Manic's weird dreams."



Sonia wiped her eyes with a tissue. "I'm afraid not, bro."



Sonic turned away and roughly brushed away at the tears forming in his eyes. He didn't want his family to see him cry, even if they wouldn't mind if he did.



The only things he knew about Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome was that it caused paralysis and death… and there was no cure.



At most, he'd have about two years to live and he'd be completely paralyzed by that time.



Queen Aleena got up and hugged Sonic. "It'll be okay." She whispered.



Sonic flinched as someone sniffled.



Queen Aleena let go of Sonic, but held his hands.



Sonic turned to look at his siblings.



Sonia was handing Manic a tissue.



Manic was wiping his eyes with one hand and typing on his phone with the other.



Typically, if the siblings were trying to talk about something without someone overhearing it, they would text each other.



Sonic sighed. "Go ahead and say whatever you're talking about. It won't bother me."



Manic started crying.



"Manic thinks that dream he had when I was a cyborg was like… foreshadowing." Sonia said, shrugging. "I don't know what he means about it."



"I do." Sonic replied. He got up and patted Manic on the shoulder. "This is completely different, bro."



Manic finally stopped crying. "I'm sorry."



Sonic weakly waved his hand. "It's okay."
*
Sonic crawled into his bed and pulled the blanket over his head. He knew he was alone in the room, but he still didn't want to risk anyone barging in and seeing him crying.



All of those years of fighting Robotnik and surviving the war, now he had a terminal illness.



It wasn't fair. They had only been reunited with their mom for a few years, Manic had only gotten out of prison a month ago, and he was planning on proposing to Sally on her birthday in three weeks.



He hadn't thought about telling Sally about his illness at all. How would he even tell her? How could he let her think her strong hero, the biggest hero in the resistance, was terminally ill?



He couldn't. He figured that wasn't the best way to handle it, but he didn't want anyone else to see him so sickly and frail.



He decided not to tell Tails either for similar reasons.



He finally cried himself to sleep.