"What were you thinking?" Shadow said to himself as he glared into the mirror above the sink. 
He cupped the cold water in his hands and proceeded to splash his face vigorously, massaging the dampness through his fur before staring down at the swirling water being sucked into the vortex of the drain. The experience of last night still replayed in his head, and with every cycle, he noticed something else that he subconsciously took a mental note of. 

He realized that Sonic's "inner texture" felt vastly different, mangled almost. He recalled how he moved unevenly, swaying on his right side as if he lacked balance. 
And he especially remembered how he didn't sense even a fraction of his partner's spark, that light that always shined through his eyes and smile, that warmth that he eminated just by being in his presence. 

No matter how many times he thought about the chain of events, the black hedgehog kept coming to the same conclusion. None of the Sonic he knew was there.
The growing concerns began to scare him as he continued to stare into the sink, seeing how once the water was caught in the downward spiral of the drain, it was beyond reach. 

Did he lose him completely?

"-NO!--" he quickly spouted to no one. 
Standing alone in the wash room, he fervently shook his head while snatching a paper towel from the dispenser. He couldn't allow doubt to gain a foothold. He knew Sonic was still in there, somewhere. He crinkled and wadded the paper into a tight ball, channeling his anxiousness into it as he studied the situation. 
Though he wasn't sure what it would take to reach him, he wasn't going to give up. 

While ambling down the hallway en route to Sonic's recovery room, he ran into the grey rabbit whom he elected as his partner's primary care provider. 
She appeared to be distraught as she fumbled through the screen of a small tablet computer while pacing in a small zig zag from one side of the hall to the other.

"Doctor?" he called out casually.

"SHADOW!!!" she shouted before sprinting up to him, "WE'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU FOR HOURS!"

Shadow was stunned by her outburst, her usually calm demeanor being replaced with such anxiety sent chills down his spine while her cryptic words frightened him as much as they puzzled.

"--What do you mean? I only stepped away for a few minutes..." he said, recounting the events from the moment he left Sonic sleeping comfortably to the present time. Nothing was out of the ordinary. He didn't sense any distortions, nor was he aware of any crisis in the hospital. The fact that he was so oblivious to something apparently monumental made his chest tighten and his heart race.

"---What happened?" he questioned immediately. The doctor turned her sights towards Sonic's room, which prompted him to blast past her and burst through the door, only to find it vacant. A hard lump developed in his throat as he felt the same bloodchilling fear he that haunted him before, the helplessness and hopelessness of when Sonic was first abducted by Infinite. His fists clenched to the point of his claws nearly tearing through his gloves and piercing his palms. 

"WHERE IS HE?!" Shadow screamed through gritted teeth as he pivoted around to the doctor entering behind him. She held her arms across her chest in an effort to steady her nerves, but even she was rattled by what occurred. 

"We...we don't know. Here, it's best if I show you," she finally stated while maintain eye contact.
She led him hastily down the primary corridor to the adjacent wing where offices, utilities, and supplies were housed. After scanning her ID card on the electronic panel adjacent to a large metal door, the security room permitted entrance. Once inside, they were halted by a tall grizzly dressed in navy blue whom required further validation before access was granted. The doctor held her arms up as he scanned her with a device to confirm her biology, and though Shadow was hesitant at first, he followed suit. The bear was surprised at the readings the device generated, since it was originally designed to detect unusual energy signatures in order to distinguish organics from projections created by the Phantom Ruby. In Shadow's case, it also detected the chaos energy that freely flows within him. 

"Is this normal?" the bear questioned while presenting the device to the doctor. She glanced at the screen and nodded, "He's the Ultimate Life Form for a reason."

With a sigh, he granted admittance to the main terminal room where a host of computer screens lined the wall. Sitting at the desk was a short, pudgy hampster in charge of viewing the monitors. Though he outwardly appeared simple and non-threatening, he spoke with a deep voice that resonated both intelligence and fortitude. 

"You shouldn't have disabled the cameras in Sonic's room," he bellowed to the black hedgehog while peering out of the corner of his eyes. 

The doctor rested her hand on the control panel next to him as she began punching keys in a rythmnic order, "Shadow's presence is instrumental to the patient's recovery. Regardless of the policy for the trauma ward, he is entitled to his privacy." 

The hampster huffed while returning his attention to the monitors as Shadow looked on, clearly perturbed from the special treatment he was given. 

"Three hours ago," the doctor began, "Sonic unexpectedly left his room and raced out of the hospital. Although his injuries prevented him from achieving his optimal speeds, no one was able to catch him. We alerted the local police force as well as the Resistance, but so far, there have been no sightings." 
The footage displayed the blue flash bolting through the door of his room, the angle of the light trail making it seem as though he was limping. 

Shadow stood dumbfounded as he tried to configure his train of thought to understand why Sonic would voluntarily leave the hospital, but he also knew who to hold accountable. "Why wasn't I informed the moment he left?!" he interrogated, the anger steadily growing in his voice out of concern for his partner.

The hampster pivoted in his chair with assertiveness, undeterred by the aggression he faced, "We locked down the entire hospital and combed every square inch looking for you, but you were no where to be found. What? Were you hiding in the ductwork?"

It was a mystery becoming more complex by the moment, but at the same time, the answer was right in front of them. The black hedgehog took a step back, taking the time to breathe, calm his thoughts, and rationalize the situation, despite the nagging anxiety nawing at his insides. Once again, he recounted the events from his perspective, but this time aloud in order to justify his whereabouts. 

"Sonic was sound asleep. I wanted to freshen up, so I walked down the hall to the wash room. I was gone a total of 3 minutes at most," he admitted. 

The hampster raised an eyebrow, unconvinced by his story, "Our security personel checked everywhere, including the wash rooms. No one saw you."

How could they have missed him? He didn't use the facilities. In fact, he was in plain view should anyone had opened the door! The prospect of being hidden from sight without knowledge was the very definition of deception, and it was through that simple realization that the Ultimate Life Form knew what it meant.

"Infinite" he growled, his blood burning in his veins as he realized they had all fell victim to the illusions of the Phantom Ruby. 

The doctor and hampster looked towards each other blankly before returning their gaze to the black hedgehog, whom was on the edge of exploding. 
"The jackal? He's been in the wind for over a month. Why would he return now of all times? And why would he come for Sonic?" the doctor pondered uneasily. 

The doctor's questions were valid; however, Shadow couldn't help but wonder why he didn't sense the Phantom Ruby's proximity? Did his distracted behavior leave a window open for the mercenary's manipulations or if did the enemy gain a new advantage? Either way, there were no answers here, and every moment spent conversing on what happened and how it happened was another moment of Sonic being in his grasp. 

As Shadow turned to leave, the hampster called out in a frank tone, "Where are you going to go? We don't have any leads and any trail has already went cold. Face the facts, he could be anywhere. You'll just be wasting your time searching around like you did before."

The Ultimate Life Form paused in his steps, his intimidating voice resonating throughout the room and into the souls of all present while his eyes burned with fury, "That bastard has him. I'm going to get him back!"