The Wachowski family's day had started with phone calls early in the morning. Tom had finally just gotten up to avoid waking anyone else, as several townspeople called with the same, weird, suspicious question: Had Sonic left the house in the middle of the night to raid their trashcans and garages?

Tom didn't know what was going on, but Carl's report of another devil was becoming less and less like him just being paranoid and more that a fifth alien was wandering the streets of Green Hills, Montana.

The reports all had similarities to each other: For each person, they were woken up by a commotion at some point in the night by something throwing stuff around outside or in their garage or shed. They would go to investigate, and while some saw nobody, others saw flashes of blue, and everyone that checked their security camera footage was met with the same issue of some sort of electrical shortage to the visual, and when it came back, the creature was gone from view.

Tom kept this to himself until the boys woke up and came downstairs, plopping down at the table and he handed them their plates of scrambled eggs. "Morning, boys..." He hummed.

"Morning, Dad." Tails greeted in his cheery, morning-person tone.

Sonic gave a hum and nod in response, stabbing the eggs with his fork and putting them into his mouth.

"Sonic... You didn't go out for a run last night, did you?"

Sonic looked up from his plate, "...No...?" He murmured with extreme confusion, "Why?"

"Cuz I've had everybody in town calling our house this morning asking if you were getting into their trash."

Sonic frowned, "Dad, you know I haven't gone dumpster-diving since I started living with you guys. Why would I go through other people's trash?"

"I think a better question is 'if it's not you...'" Tails looked curiously to the hedgehog, "...Then who is it?'"

Maddie arrived with Obsidian in her arms and she pulled a small cup of applesauce out of the cabinet, "Morning, boys." She greeted, and then sat down in the chair, "Okay, Baby. We're gonna try something new today... You were up early, Hon."

"Apparently some new dumpster-diver was getting into people's trash last night and they're calling Dad and blaming me," Sonic muttered, the fork clinking on the glass plate as he stabbed another piece of his food.

"Careful, or you'll chip the plate!" Tails warned.

"Sorry... I just don't like people questioning my integrity."

Maddie opened the applesauce and offered a tiny spoonful to the infant. Obsidian took it and smacked his lips at the sweet taste, but his eyes were focused more on Knuckles across the table.
Maddie looked at him as well, and her brows furrowed a bit in concern. "Knuckles? You okay, Sweetie?"

Knuckles looked like he was using all of his energy just to stay upright in the chair. He picked up his fork and picked at his eggs, putting a small bit in his mouth, and his head laid in his other hand.

"Knuckles?" Maddie tried again, reaching a hand and putting it on his arm.

The echidna finally looked up at her, "Hmm...? Did you speak, Mother? I'm sorry."

"Are you okay? You don't look so good."

"Mmm." Knuckles mumbled, "I simply did not sleep well last night."

Obsidian frowned, almost glaring at Knuckles.

"You've seemed a little worn out for a couple of days, Big Guy." Tom murmured, "Is there something that's been keeping you from sleeping?"

"Do you want to talk about it?" Maddie asked.

Knuckles poked at his eggs again, "I am fine... Just can't get-"
He cut off as his eyes widened and then he grimaced, dropping his fork to grasp his stomach. "Aah...!"

Maddie started to get up, "Knuckles, are you-"

"I-It is not something to worry-" He clenched his teeth tightly again with a pained grunt.

"Oh, I think it is."
Maddie got up from her chair and handed Obsidian to Tails as she walked over to the echidna, putting her hands on the echidna's shoulders. "Have you been in too much pain to sleep? How long has this been going on?"

Knuckles looked back at her, not speaking until another pulse of pain hit him and he grimaced again. "...Several days...!"

"You need to tell us these sorts of things, baby... We can't help you if you don't tell us."

"I am a warrior... I am not supposed to be bothered by pain."

Maddie gave him a light smirk, brushing his quills back. "Even warriors need help sometimes... Has this happened before?"

"A few times... Before I arrived here. It came and went, nothing to be concerned over."

"Alright... I'm gonna get you some painkillers, but I want you to let me know if it gets worse, okay?"
She went to the cabinet and then returned with some small pills and a glass of water. "Here you go."

Knuckles nodded slowly, swallowing the pills with small bites of his eggs. "What do you suppose could be wrong?"

"I don't know for certain, but I'd like to avoid taking you into the clinic if I can."

"Why don't we pass on the schoolwork today?" Tom suggested, "You can just focus on getting some sleep and feeling better."

"But if I am resting, who will look after Obsidian while Sonic and Tails are at school?"

Maddie looked at the toddler, "I'll take him with me to the clinic this afternoon. He can sit with Allison at the front desk while I'm tending to patients. You can behave for me, right, Sweetie?"

Obsidian squeaked in response.

"I thought so..."
_________________________________________________________________________________

That tension I'd been getting from Knuckles hadn't been anxiety from our trip to the farmhouse; he'd been in pain and trying to hide it from everyone. Did I blame him? Not really.

I was practically an expert at hiding things, at telling the truth but not the whole truth, just enough to get what needed to be done done or to ward off any further questions. Was it something I felt bad about? Sometimes, but what good was a skill if you never used it?

It would appear that I was once again returning to Maddie's clinic, but fortunately, it wasn't for an examination of my own. The air was a little warmer than last time, and my fur had grown thicker since then, so even in the early morning air, I wasn't shivering and trembling as I had before.
We arrived at the clinic and were met with the attendant at the front desk, who grinned as she saw me.

"Well, hello!" She cooed, "How are we today? Not time for his shots yet, right?"

"No. Knuckles is a little under the weather today, so I offered for you to watch him up here today."

Allison's eyes lit up, "Oh, I would love to! Don't worry, I've got six years of babysitting under my belt in junior high and high school while also doing my homework, this'll be easy!"

Easy, huh? I almost wanted to do something just to prove her wrong, but I had a good thing going here, and I didn't wanna ruin it.

Maddie seemed just as amused by the notion as I was, giving the other woman a smirk before handing me off to her. Allison's shirt smelled like the ocean, but I wasn't sure what exactly about the scent reminded me of the ocean. I looked at Maddie and she waved to me.

"I'll be right down the hall if you need me, Baby. Be good for Allison, okay?"

Be good? I did not have much experience with that, but I would try.

They took a pet carrier and removed the top, putting a towel and blanket on the bottom for me, and then I was given my ducky and a few other toys to keep me occupied. I played with them for a little bit but then found that it was way more fun to sit there and listen to the animals come in for their appointments and hear their owners explain what was wrong with them.

The first was a cat with a hairball problem, and I got to watch the cat in question barf one up right into the owner's hands without any warning as if the cat felt the need to emphasize its point.
The second, a dog that had somehow gotten a squeaker stuck up its butt and it squeaked every time it barked- which was a lot as they waited their turn.

Dogs, cats, birds, rodents, so many animals of shapes and colors and temperaments, and they chose today of all days to need help.
The absurdity of the causes for the visit continued on and on, and I just sat there, listening and enjoying the owners' confusion and frustration over their pets' antics and ailments.

Allison barely had time between checking in patients and calling the back to let the doctors know of their presence to even look at me, much less really interact with me; I decided it was best to cut her some slack and not make her morning worse.

But honestly, forget golf on television, or Sonic's baseball games... This was entertainment!
_____________________________________________________________________________

Maddie had been on her lunch hour when her cellphone rang, the caller being their home phone. That was concerning enough, but then when she answered, her heart broke when she heard Knuckles' voice, soft and whimpering, begging her to come to help him.

After making sure that Allison was okay with watching Obsidian for a little bit, she jumped into her car and drove back to the house as fast as she could without concern her husband would pull her over. Honestly, she wasn't that concerned about Tom pulling her over for speeding, he could guess what was happening from the conversation this morning.

When she opened the door, the house was quiet. She didn't think it had been this quiet since before Sonic had moved in with them, and her 'mom senses' were going off as she hurried inside. But then she heard a weak whimper come from the bathroom, and she hurried down the hall towards the door. "Knuckles!?"

She looked into the bathroom and saw Knuckles lying on the floor, his breathing heavy and his body curled up in a fetal position. The phone lay on the floor beside him, dog slobber on it suggesting he had somehow convinced Ozzie to bring it to him.
"I-I do not think the medication helped, Mother...!" He hissed, shutting his eyes tightly with a pained whine.

"Oh, baby...!" She came over and saw his fur was clumping from sweat, his skin clammy. "Okay, let's get you to the car, okay...? We're gonna figure this out, I promise...!"

Knuckles tried to take in deep breaths as she helped him up onto his feet, letting him hold onto her for support as they limped towards the door. "I-It has never been this severe...!"

"Just hang in there..."
She got him out to the car and up into the passenger seat, buckling him in and then climbing into the driver's seat. Her lunch hour would have to be cut short.

Fortunately, the clinic wasn't that far, and she pulled up to the parking lot and helped him out. He got a few steps before he had to stop, fighting back the urge to puke in the parking lot. "Oh, honey... I'm so sorry...!"

"I-I should have told you before...! It's... My fault...!" He rasped.

"Oh goodness...! That bad, huh?" Allison worried as she saw them come in the front door.

"Uh-huh... Come on, we're gonna get this figured out..."
Knuckles limped alongside her, wandering through the halls until they reached a darker room. "Okay, tell me as best as you can. Is there any certain place where it hurts worse than others?"

Knuckles nodded, "...Lower right...! It-Ah!"
She caught him as he tried to fold up again, "Ergh...! It comes and goes...! A-Almost feels like it's... Like it's moving on its own...! Mother-"
He looked up at her with teary eyes, "...What if it is some form of parasite...!?"

"If it is, we'll get rid of it, I promise, but let's not assume that... I'm gonna take an X-Ray, okay?"

"W-What's that...?"

"It's an image that lets me see under the skin, so I can figure out what's wrong. It won't hurt, I promise."
Knuckles nodded and then allowed her to help him up onto the table. "Do the best you can to keep still for a second, okay, Sweetie?"

It took all of Knuckles' concentration and focus to keep from curling up and ruining the photo as another sharp pang hit him, but then it was done, and she took him into another room and helped him lie down on the floor while she examined the photos.

"Hmm... I thought so."

"Have you determined the cause...!?" Knuckles whimpered.

Maddie nodded, coming back over to him. "When you said this had happened before, I got suspicious... You're trying to pass a kidney stone."

"I-I do not recall consuming any stones."

"It's not quite like that. Some foods have minerals in them naturally that, if you have a lot of those minerals at one time, can solidify into little rocks. Yours is larger than most I've seen, though, which is why it's so painful."

"C-Can we remove it...!?"

"Yes, but you'll need to make a decision... Do you want to try to hold out a few more days with pain killers for medicine to dissolve some of it, or do you want to undergo a procedure to remove it now? You'll be asleep for it, so you won't feel anything, but I don't want to have to do anything like that if you think you can-"

Knuckles clenched his teeth so hard he was afraid he might break one, tears spilling down his cheeks. "Please...! Just do whatever you need to...!"

Maddie kissed his forehead and grasped his hand tightly. "That's very brave of you, I know you don't like admitting you need help... Sit tight, I'm gonna go let the others know so we can get ready."