The hospital bustled with nurses and staff attending to their new patients as they came ambling into the lobby, all being victims who were liberated thanks to the Resistance. 
Knuckles and Shadow stood in the hallway away from the crowds, just outside of the recovery room that housed the broken hero. 

"We cleared the Death Egg," Knuckles stated, looking on at the ones whom he rescued in the distance, "aside from those we brought here, the rest of the prisoners have been relocated to the refugee camps." 
. 
He turned his attention to the Ultimate Life Form, whose only focus was on the room before them. 

"How is Sonic?" the Resistance Commander finally asked.

"He's healing. The doctor is examining him now..." Shadow replied passive aggressively, his arms crossed in a more tense manner than his usual stance. 
It was clear there was more going on than he was willing to divulge outright, which given their last conversation, made Knuckles feel even more concerned.

"That's not what I meant, I---"

"--I know what you meant--" the black hedgehog interjected with a sharp tongue and austere crimson eyes. 
The intensity of his response gave far more insight to the state of things than what was actually said. 
Knuckles let out a gruffed audiable sigh. The weight of the delicate situation was far more complicated than he had realized or was prepared to handle, but something needed to be said. 

"We had to stop Eggman. We...we made the right choice," he declared assertively, the words pasted together as if to convince himself they were true.

Shadow scoffed at his remark "--Keep telling yourself that--" 
He then immediately left the Guardian of the Master Emerald alone in the hall while he proceeded to enter Sonic's room, slamming the door behind him in the process.

Knuckles clenched his fists in frustration. 
His journey to the hospital was more than escorting the Death Egg prisoners. He had went there to pay his recovering friend a cordial visit, to wish him well and offer his support; however, the black hedgehog, in just a few short comments, made him question everything he had done to this point. While protecting the people and fighting against Eggman's forces were always priority, in retrospect, he started to doubt if he had his priorities straight to begin with. If they had managed to rescue Sonic sooner, he wouldn't be in the condition he is now; and with him in their ranks, the war would have assuredly been won already. 

There were many tough decisions he had to make over the months since leadership was thrusted upon his shoulders, but leaving his lifelong friend in the hands of the enemy was not a decision he ever thought he'd have to make. Thinking back over the most recent events, he recalled the details of life on the Death Egg that many of the prisoners disclosed to him while they were en route back to Earth. 

Some described how in the first few weeks, Sonic was repeatedly forced to fight day and night in the arena against overwhelming odds without rest or sustenance. None of them knew how he was able to last as long as he did, but seeing him struggle just to stand and still keep going was what inspired many of them to survive the experience. 

Others were tormented by the memories of how he was beaten, subjugated, and electrocuted in front of their eyes to serve as an example of how the mighty had fallen. They lamented on how they'll never be able to erase seeing his body being broken again and again from their minds. 

When Knuckles questioned what happened in the latter months, every individual he spoke with gave the same answer. After the first 30 days, the hero was moved to a separate, solitary wing and they stopped seeing him altogether; however, they could still hear his screams echo from deep within the space station on a regular basis, most often when the jackal went towards his cell. 

It took everything in Knuckles to not punch a hole in the wall. The thought of it all turned his stomach and left the bitter taste of regret the likes of which he couldn't justify. 
There was no excuse. If it had been him, or Amy, or Tails, or any of their other friends, there's no doubt Sonic would have found a way to save them forthright. 
Nothing would have come before their safety. 

With another deep-throated sigh and a crack of his fists, he elected to leave the hospital without seeing him. In reflecting on hindsight, every command Knuckles issued and every strategy he devised from the first day the war began was ultimately at the expense of his friend. With still so much to do, he decided to fulfill his obligation of winning the war Sonic had suffered so much for. 

He owed him that much.