Phaedra, Mmmm...gravy. I haven't had gravy for months...now I can't get the idea of biscuits and gravy out of my head.
Lady Scorpio, Hey, thanks for leaving feedback!
Don't have time for individual responses today, but you all have very good questions...most of which will be answered in this next part. As always, thanks for reading and thanks for leaving me much appreciated feedback!
Part 50
“I still think we should take him to the hospital.” He hears a man’s voice…close by. And he gets a sense of several people crowded around him. But he’s drifting…can’t open his eyes.
“No!” Many voices at once. Good. No hospitals. Someone is here who knows.
“What’s wrong with him?” Someone poking at his face. Pain.
“You just left him out there?” Liz. His Liz. His Liz. His Liz.
“It’s not like he gave us a choice.” Michael. Good. Michael won’t let anything happen to him. Why is he floating? Why can’t he see? Everyone sounds so…far away.
“Looks like he’s been out in the sun all day…no water. There’s definitely something wrong with him.” The suspicious man…the one who wants to take him to the hospital.
“Jeff…just…go get some more wet towels, would you?” Jeff. Liz’s dad. The Crashdown. Liz’s balcony. Zan.
He tries to open his eyes, but he still can’t see. His lips feel like 200-year-old parchment paper that’ll crack open if he moves them. He’s reminded of a visit to Washington DC when he saw the Declaration of Independence at the Smithsonian. He tries to make a sound from his throat, but it’s not working.
“I think he’s waking up.” The face-poker again. No more poking. Please.
“Max. Max, can you hear me?” Liz. The sound of her voice is like a soothing balm over his skin and he relaxes. “I’m just gonna replace this.”
Blinding light. He can see! Only to be replaced by darkness again. Crap.
“I saw him pull up out front and stumble from the car. I can’t believe he drove in this condition.”
Silence. People moving. People coming. People going. A door closing.
Furious whispering. “Well we can’t just heal him. How will I explain it to my parents?”
“We hafta get him outta here.” Zan. That’s right. Zan was with Liz. Doing what? How did he find out? Is Liz in danger?
Finally, a sound. It escapes like the last breath of air in his body and produces a squeaking sound from his lips.
“Max.” He can smell her perfume. So close. “Max, please wake up.”
All he can manage is some weird, frog sounding noise and he works his jaw…trying to speak. Try again. “Eyes.” There. One word.
“Eyes? What the hell does that mean?” Ok, the face poker is Maria. He recognizes her voice now.
“Max…what…” He feels a tear drop on his lips and knows it belongs to Liz. “Eyes…he can’t see. Max, listen to me. We think your eyes are burned so we have them covered with a wet cloth.” She’s speaking slowly, probably afraid he can’t understand.
“We need to get him out of here.” Michael sounds angry. Probably blames himself.
“Ok, let’s go. You carryin’ him?” Zan…why is he here? What did he do to Liz? Did Zan do this to him?
He’s moving now. Funny how he can’t feel anything below his chest. He wonders about that for a second before darkness overtakes him again.
When he wakes again, he doesn’t hear any voices. Remembering what Liz said about his eyes, he carefully cracks one open…testing. The room is dark and he feels the familiar texture of the mattress in his bedroom. He feels a little more normal and his eye doesn’t seem to hurt so he opens it all the way, then the other one. He looks up at the ceiling and tests his arms to see if he can move and almost cries with relief that he can feel them…that he can feel his legs and his feet.
The bed dips down next to him and suddenly he sees Liz’s face hovering over him…her dark hair falling like a curtain around her. “Hey. You’re awake.” She immediately runs her hands over his face and arms and his sides…scanning…before she reaches for a cup and holds it in front of his mouth. The straw pokes his lips and he notices that they don’t hurt anymore. “Drink.” She demands and he complies.
“What happened?” His voice is scratchy and she frowns, bringing her hand up to his throat and he feels a warm tingling sensation before she pulls it away.
“Try again.”
“What happened?” His voice sounds normal now…as he expected.
She looks him over and he realizes that he’s lying there in nothing but his boxers with a sheet over his legs. “I was hoping you could tell me. The best we can figure out is you were lying in the desert for almost twelve hours. We found bite marks here.” She touches his side softly, just under his ribs. “Michael thinks they were scorpions. Could have been a snake. We don’t know. Your face and neck were burned so badly…you had blisters all over. And your eyes…you must have had your eyes open because they were burned as well.”
“You healed me.” He says it as a statement more than a question, knowing she would be the only one here capable of that type of healing.
She nods and says, “Zan heard you trying to climb my ladder and we found you lying in the ally. My mom was already there because she saw you drive up and she saw what you looked like. Max…it was…” Her voice cracks with emotion and she looks up at his face and he can see tears in her eyes. “What were you doing, Max? You weren’t…was it because of what I said?”
“No. Liz…no. I just…I just laid down for a little while. I don’t even remember being bitten.” He doesn’t want her to think he was trying to kill himself. Was he? No, definitely no. He remembers becoming a little delirious, but that’s it. “I didn’t think I even slept…I don’t know…it’s kind of fuzzy now, but when I got up it was dark and I remember being confused about how I could have been out there so long.”
He sits up a little, still feeling weak, and reaches for the cup of water. Liz warns him not to drink too much at once and he obeys…taking a small sip before setting it back down. “I thought I was just sunburned.”
“The poison must have worked its way through your body and by the time you got to the Crashdown…Max, you could have died out there.” Liz sits back in a chair that’s now sitting next to his bed and she covers her face with her hands. “I’m so sorry.” Her voice is muffled but he can still hear her.
“Liz, you have nothing to be sorry for. Hey.” He reaches for her hand, trying to pull it away from her face.
She shakes her head and says, “I said all those things to you and…I was just trying to push you, to snap you out of this…I just wanted to get a reaction, any kind of reaction. I didn’t think you’d…”
“Come here.” He sits up and grabs her arms, pulling her over onto the bed with him. Thankfully she comes willingly and wraps her arms around his waist. “Don’t cry. Please, Liz…don’t cry for me. I already feel like the world’s biggest asshole.”
He feels her laugh then and he knows she’ll be ok. Lying back, he pulls her down with him and she rests her head on his chest. For several minutes, they just lie there and she listens to his heartbeat.
“Liz?”
“Hmm?”
“What was Zan doing with you?” He has to know. He’s scared that he might have scared her, or worse, hurt her.
“He climbed up to my balcony. He didn’t know anyone was up there and we scared each other pretty good. When he realized that I was real…that I was alive…he told me that Maria said I used to sit up there all the time when I was young. And that he went up there almost every night…as a sort of penance…for killing me.” She laughs and says, “I thought he was gonna have a heart attack when he saw me.”
“And you were ok with him being there?”
“Honestly, I was scared to death when I first saw him. But I think he was more scared of me than the other way around.” She feels his arm tighten against her back and says, “It’s ok. We talked …and I might get a little nervous around him…but I don’t think he’d ever hurt me. Just, you know, some residual memories…that’s all.”
Max sits up then, bringing Liz with him and he gets up on shaky legs to get a t-shirt out of his dresser. He sits back on the bed next to Liz and brings his hand to her hair, letting it run through his fingers slowly. “It’s been a weird day.” She nods in agreement and he smiles. “But I don’t want you to think for one second that what you said to me earlier had anything to do with what happened. I just laid down…I wanted to think…to have some peace. It could have happened any other day, but it just happened to be today. I think I was trying to meditate and clear my head. Sometimes, if I concentrate, I can feel my mind leave my body and maybe that’s what happened and whatever bit me, did it when I couldn’t feel anything. But I’m glad you were here. No one else could have healed me. Cal is in L.A. and no one else can do what you did. You saved my life.”
“Max…” She starts to disagree, but he holds his finger against her lips to silence her.
“Shhh. Don’t.” He shakes his head. “I’m not sure where to go from here…or what to do about…our situation. But I do know one thing. I’m glad you’re here now. I never meant to hurt you, and I never meant to leave you with this huge responsibility. I was selfish and I thought I was doing the right thing, but obviously it wasn’t right at all.”
“Max, I know you were trying to do the right thing. For both of us. You weren’t the only one there that night. I knew you were leaving…I knew the consequences. But more than I’m worried about me…or this baby…I was worried about what I was hearing about you. You gave up, Max. You’ll never be able to be successful if you go there already defeated. I couldn’t let you do that.” She leans into his hand and says, “You have people here who love you…a lot of people. And they’re all counting on you to come back.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to come back.” He says sadly and looks away.
She brings her hand up to turn him back to face her. “But you have to try. You have to do everything you can to come back to us.” She doesn’t say anything else. She doesn’t tell him that she has her own plans. Plans that she’s been busily executing all day today. Because she wants him to come back to himself…to find a reason inside of himself to live.
She sees him looking longingly down at her stomach and she leans back on the bed, lifting her shirt up to expose her still-flat stomach. “Go ahead.” She invites with a smile.
Apprehensive, he holds his hand over her skin for a moment before making contact. The connection is instantaneous and he gasps at the shock of it. He’s filled with the feeling of being warm and content. Safe. And he knows it’s coming from the little being living inside of Liz…a girl…part Liz and part him. She’s aware…aware that he’s her father and that Liz is her mother. And she has complete trust in both of them to keep her safe.
He doesn’t even realize that he’s lowered his head to her stomach and rested his cheek there until he feels Liz’s hand tangle in his hair. He closes his eyes and concentrates on his connection to her and whispers, “She’s beautiful.”
Liz laughs softly and he can hear it all the way to his soul. “She’s only about an inch long, Max. And she probably looks more like a tadpole than a baby.”
“How did you find out? When did you find out? Have you been to a doctor?” He lifts his head and sees her twinkling eyes looking back at him.
“I felt her presence before I had any physical signs. But to make sure, when I was two weeks late I cleared the local Walgreen’s of all their pregnancy tests and took them. They were all positive. That was the day after New Year’s. And no, no doctor. It wouldn’t be safe.” She watches him place a small kiss right below her bellybutton and gently pull down her shirt.
“Did you tell Alex?” He’s guessing no, since no one ever brought it up to him.
She sits up again and sighs. “No. I was gonna wait…until after. I knew he’d tell Isabel and that Isabel would tell you. Of course, this was before I realized that you knew already. But I didn’t want anyone to use this to guilt you into staying…and I think…I think that’s why, even after I knew that you knew, I didn’t say anything.”
This surprises him and he asks, “So you agree that I should go? You’re all for it now?”
“I do, and I am. I’ve had a lot of time to think about it, and this is the only way to prevent what we know will happen from happening. Khivar has to be stopped before he turns his attention to Earth.” She swings her legs over the side of the bed and tucks her hair behind her ear.
“I sense a ‘but’ coming on.” He says warily.
She turns to look at him and smirks at his tone. “But…I think you might be going about it the wrong way.”
“The wrong way? How?” He’s not sure what she’s getting at, but he has a nagging feeling that he won’t like it.
“You can’t do it yourself, Max. I told you before, that the one thing I learned from the Granolith is that we’re stronger when we’re all working together. You need people with you…people you can trust.” She says.
“And I suppose you’re gonna tell me one of those people is you.” He guesses.
“And Michael, Isabel, Ava…and maybe even Zan. Max, you need us. You need me.” There. She’s said it. Now she prepares for the argument.
“No way.” He gets up from the bed and wobbles a bit, still weak.
“Max, Zan and Ava have powers that you can’t ever hope to have. And my powers are ten times stronger than yours.”
He raises an eyebrow and says, “Ten times?”
“Whatever.” She waves her hand in dismissal. “If you really think about it, you know that I’m right.”
“Well, maybe we should just ask everyone to come along. How about Maria, Alex, Kyle and Serena?” He laughs without humor.
“That’s just silly. Maria, Alex and Kyle don’t have powers. And Serena’s pregnant.” She argues.
“You’re pregnant!”
She pauses and says, “Well…yah. But I’m also your greatest asset.”
“How so? Besides your magnificently superior powers?” He scoffs.
“I’m your Queen…not technically…but your people will acknowledge me as the Queen you chose. And I’m carrying the heir to the throne. That puts me in a powerful position strategically, and it’ll give you the respect and honor of your people. It’s been true of any culture throughout history, and it’s true of yours.” She sighs and folds her hands in her lap. “Max. As much as I would love it if you’d ask me to come with you willingly…because you believe that I can help you…ultimately, I’m not asking for your permission.” She knows she doesn’t need it, and she hates to pull that card…but she’s learned a lot over the last few weeks, and even more today. And she’s convinced, now more than ever, that she should be there with him.
She stands up and puts her hand on his arm. “I’m gonna go down now and tell everyone that you’re ok. Drink some more water and try to get some sleep. Your body still isn’t fully recovered.”
He watches her walk out of his room, shutting the door quietly in her wake, and he sinks down on his bed. There’s no way in hell he’s letting her go with him. He won’t let her put herself and their child in that kind of danger. Lying back on his bed, he tries to let the day’s events slide away…but all he can really think about are her words …ultimately, I’m not asking for your permission...and what she meant by them.
~~~~~~~~~~
He has no idea the lengths that Liz has gone to with her plan. He has no idea that she’s already talked to Michael and Isabel. Or that she talked to Ava, asking her if she would be willing to go with Max. She even had several conversations with Cal and Serena regarding the implications if she were to go. She’s prepared to board the Granolith with or without Max’s permission, and she knows now that he can’t stop her.
She called Cal when she realized she was pregnant and that her powers had increased significantly. That conversation is where the seed of her plan was planted. She didn’t know it then, but over the last few weeks, it’s become clearer to her what her role should be.
After letting everyone know that Max is ok, she sits out on the back patio with a hot cup of tea and thinks about what she’ll have to do to convince him that she’s right. The door opening gets her attention and she looks back to see Michael walking outside.
“Hey, it’s cold. Maria told me to bring you this.” He walks over and hands her a blanket before sitting in the chair next to her.
“Thanks.” She wraps the blanket around herself gratefully. “I didn’t know you guys were still here.”
“I don’t get it.” He says, causing her to look at him in question. “Why are you so willing to do this? I mean, the rest of us…it’s our planet. But there’s no reason for you to go with us.”
“I love him.” She says simply. As if that’s the only reason she needs.
He thinks she’s gonna say more, but when he realizes that’s it, he says, “You can love him from here. You don’t need to be there.”
“But I want to be there. I can help. Look, Cal told me about your powers. He told me that they’re not as strong as you had all hoped. And for some…strange reason, I have powers that none of you could possibly have. You need me. Max needs me.”
“Like what? Besides that shield and some blasting, what can you do?” Michael knows she’s more adept than them in those things, but it’ll take more than some blasts and a shield to overthrow an entire regime.
“I get glimpses of the future…when I touch people. And I can tell whether someone’s telling the truth or not. And that little blast and shield you saw this morning is nothing compared to what I can really do. I don’t know if the baby is amplifying my powers or what, but I have abilities that can help you…that can help keep you alive. And on top of that, I’m the only other healer you have besides Max.”
He’s surprised. He knew she could heal…he saw her do it earlier when they brought Max back and when she healed him after Max’s pummeling in the desert. But seeing the future? Lie detection? The possibilities of those two things boggle his mind. “Wow.”
“Yah. And with Isabel and Ava, you have a complete four square. We know that’s important from the Granolith. Add Zan and me to the mix and you’ve got…like, a four square plus. If we work together, I know we can do this…and we can all live.” Liz knows that Michael will see her point. She’s already got Cal on her side…and it won’t take much to get Isabel, Zan and Ava to fall in line either. But Michael…he’s the one Max will really listen to. Maybe not at first, but he will eventually.
Michael sits in silence for several minutes before saying, “You know, I really didn’t need to hear about your night of wild sex with Max.” He looks at her, his mouth quirked up in a smirk.
She rolls her eyes and says, “Yah. Sorry about that. But I had to pull out the big guns, and I couldn’t dwell on the fact that you were there.” She smiles and says, “If I promise to never talk about our sex life again, will you forgive me?”
“I guess. Only because I’m sure Maria gives you all the details of ours. So we’re even.” He stands up and starts to walk back inside.
“Michael.” She calls out to him and he turns around. “Think about what I said.”
He nods and continues back inside, admiring Liz Parker more with every step.
~~~~~~~~~~
After finishing her tea, Liz goes back inside and the house is quiet. Someone has left a light on in the hallway for her and she makes her way back to Max’s room and pushes the door in slightly. She can see him sprawled out on his bed asleep…the covers tossed to the floor. So she walks in quietly and picks them up off the floor and carefully arranges them back on the bed to cover him.
“Liz?” His voice is laced with sleep and she looks up to see him cracking his eyes open.
She walks up to the head of his bed and angles the cup of water toward his mouth, her hand behind his head helping him. “Drink some of this.” She’s worried about his dehydration and knows his body won’t completely heal…no matter how much she tries to heal him…until he gets enough water into it.
He leans back when he’s done and asks, “What time is it?”
“Late. Go back to sleep.” She tells him and tucks the covers closer to him.
Kicking off her shoes and undoing her jeans, she hears him mumble, “Stay with me.” And she smiles…having already decided to do just that. Besides, all the bedrooms and the couch are taken and she has no where else to sleep.
She peels her jeans off and pulls her sweater over her head leaving her in a t-shirt and her underwear. Sighing because she already brought her bags to her parent’s house earlier, she resigns herself to the fact that this will have to be good enough and crawls into bed next to Max.
Adjusting the covers around her, she feels Max’s arm automatically draw her closer to him and she obliges by turning onto her side to let him spoon her. She can hear the steady sound of his breathing and knows that he’s already asleep, so she closes her eyes and it doesn’t take long for her to follow him there.
~TBC~
So I've decided to step up the pace of my posting or we'll be here until 2007.