Roswell Fanatics

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I just wanted to thank you for all the wonderful feedback. It means a lot to mean. Thank you so much.

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hoLLy


Chapter 7: Part 1

[Maria]

I wish it was just a nightmare, but it wasn’t. It was more than that. It was a breaking point. This morning might have been the end to Max and Liz, but no one brought it up to either one in fear that it might really be the end. No one wanted to remind the two of this morning. I didn’t even want to be reminded off this morning, but it’s all I could think about.

“Just get the hell out of my face,” he demanded.

Liz left the room in tears, running off to the master bedroom to sleep or not on her own. Max got some air out on the veranda and was joined by Michael not long after. Isabel and Jesse went back to their own home in each other’s arms, hoping they wouldn’t turn out like Max and Liz, which is something I never expected to say or compare. As for me, I went after Liz, but her bedroom door wouldn’t budge and she didn’t reply to my pleas to let me in. So I had gone back downstairs instead of going to my own room to get some sleep, because I couldn’t go to sleep after a morning like this one, and if I wasn’t going to rest then I might as well clean up the mess downstairs, i.e. the broken glass from the veranda door.

When I had reached the breakfast nook, Michael and Max were still standing out on the deck. I noticed them conversing but couldn’t hear much and didn’t care to listen, anyway. So I swept the debris of glass into a dustpan and poured the crystals into the trash can. Passing back through the breakfast nook, I noticed that Michael and Max were no longer on the deck, but off to the side of the backyard, taking down the hammock for some reason. It was barely used anyway.

I slept the day through, waking up near noon. Liz was gone, Michael was at the club, and Max was just exiting his den downstairs with bed head and half open eyes, I guess today he was taking the day off. Even though I glared at him disgustedly and spoke no words to him, I made the both of us lunch, though we at in different areas of the house. He hadn’t said thank you, but I think by the look of my face, I told him that I didn’t care to hear him say it.

I was angry at him, that’s stating the obvious, but I was angry at Liz too. I understand her fear, I have the same one, but the way she deals with it is not the road I want to take, and it was time for me to tell her that, to tell her that the road she was taking was the wrong one, that she had gone down that road long enough and it was time to turn around.

I had an idea of where Liz was at this time, but I could never be too sure. She doesn’t exactly tell me everything anymore either.

It was near three o’clock and Liz would most definitely be at the library, but Harvard had nearly a million libraries and Liz never told me which one she went to. I had been to Harvard before, nearly two years ago when Liz just had to give me a tour of the large campus. I knew where all the libraries were and where all the labs were, but I still had to check each and every single on. So lucky me, I got to drive to every single one of Harvard’s libraries, searching for Liz. Each one spacious and enormous and each one farther from the next and so on. Of course the last library I checked would be the one where I’d find Liz. I walked into each one, scanning aisles of book cases in awe of all the books each library owned. There were more books in one Harvard library than there was in all of Roswell.

At Kummel Library I strolled right in, scouring the building, looking for a certain petite brunette. I peered into each aisle like in the libraries before this one, shoving my head in between people and their books, searching for my best friend, disrupting study groups and tutoring sessions. In the far corner of the library, I finally found Liz, working away in her books with her research group sitting around her.

Just like with the other study groups, I bothered Liz’s too, walking right up to her and pulling her out of her seat.

“What the…?!” she started to say.

But I kept moving, dragging Liz behind me.

“Maria!” she exclaimed loud enough for everyone around us to turn their heads. “What are you doing?”

I looked back to smile at her study group. “Excuse us,” I requested, and then continued pulling Liz to a secluded aisle, stopping when we reached the end.

“Maria, what’s going on?”

I scanned around to assure myself that we were somewhat in privacy. “You and I are in desperate need of a talk,” I told Liz.

“About what?”

“Oh, don’t play dumb,” I warned her. “This morning. We need to talk about this morning.”

Liz sighed heavily, rolling her eyes. “Maria, there’s nothing to talk about,” she claimed, “and if there was, I can’t talk about it now.”

“Too bad,” I said. “There is something to talk about and we are going to talk about it now. You need to stop ignoring it. I need to stop ignoring it and you need to realize what’s going on.”

Liz let all her weight rest on one leg so that her hip jutted slightly to the side. “What’s going on?” she asked mockingly.

I took a moment to look into the eyes of my best friend. I studied them and looked inside of her, realizing that she really wanted an answer because she didn’t know the answer herself.

“I can’t believe it,” I scoffed in disbelief. “I can’t believe you don’t see your marriage crumbling before you.”

“Maria,” Liz scoffed in the same way. “It’s not.” She was absolutely convinced.

“Oh, my God,” I said aloud to myself. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re…you’re…” My frustration was getting the best of me. “…you are so stupid!”

Liz looked at me with a raised brow. “I can’t believe you just called me stupid,” she laughed. “Thanks.”

She had played dumb for so long, learned how to ignore the problem and all its reprisals, that she really didn’t know what was going on anymore. Liz had changed, I realize that now. She had allowed this fear to overcome and consume her, change her.

“You’re marriage is in trouble, Liz. Get it through your head.”

Liz nervously shifted her weight and tilted her head back to look up at the high ceiling of the New England style building. “It was a fight, Maria. That’s all.”

I grabbed my best friend by the shoulders. “Listen to me,” I said. “Your husband is a different man, and I don’t mean that in a good way. He’s hurting, Liz, he told me himself.”

Liz’s eyes welled up slightly. “He pushed away first, Maria.”

“I know,” I nodded. “I know, but that’s why you need to talk to him. Find out why he pushed first and let him know why you pushed away.”

“I can’t do this now,” Liz shook her head. She took a step to leave, but I snatched her arm quickly.

“Liz, I’m begging you, talk to him.”

She took away the gathered tears in her eyes. “I’m going to talk to him, but I’m scared, Maria.”

“You have to talk to him now,” I said, pointing into my palm.

Liz shook her head, feeling afresh after having wiped away her tears. “Maria, what’s the big deal?”

“What’s the big deal?” I mocked. She had gone off edge, and I couldn’t believe it. “Your marriage is falling apart, Liz! It’s become non-existent. You and Max always used to run away from your problems, but you’ve run the farthest, Liz. Max may have stormed out, but you’ve run the farthest,” I repeated. “You’re avoiding your husband. It’s stupid and childish.”

“I don’t need this,” Liz sneered. She turned around and started walking out of the aisle.



{Liz}

“You can’t just keep running away!” she shouted after me as I walked back to my research group. “If you don’t talk to him, I will!”

I pretended to not know the person behind the loud voice as the library patrons started to look my way. I lowered my head slightly, pretending to scratch my forehead.

“You ok, Parker?”

I looked up and found myself back at the table where my research group were all waiting for my return. “Yeah,” I nodded. “I’m fine.”

Justin, the guy who asked if I was ok, glanced at his watch and pointed to the entrance of the library. “It’s almost four, Liz, shouldn’t you get going? Josh’s probably waiting for you.”

“Thanks. You’re right,” I smiled, snatching my books off the table and shoving them in my bag. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow?”

Several of my peers shook their heads.

“No can do,” one of them replied.

“I’ve got a lab tomorrow for chem.”

And another one said, “You work too damn hard, Parker, and too damn much for that matter.”

I stuck my tongue out at Walker, the trouble maker of the group. “Someone has to,” I smiled. “Fine, I guess I’ll just see you guys in class.”

Walking through the library, I threw my leather jacket on to protect me from Boston’s middle of winter, but the cold wasn’t on my mind and I wasn’t hoping that the snow fall wasn’t heavy, covering the windshield of my car with a thick sheet of snow. I looked out the large windows to find that snow had already fallen and that Maria was making her way through the doors. I froze.

She pushed her way through, not caring that someone was heading towards the doors with a tower of books in his arms. She left quickly and swiftly, the tail of her coat flying up in the air when she reached outside. She was disappointed in me, I was disappointed in myself.

I shoved my hand into the pocket of my jacket, quickly searching for my keys, but it wasn’t my keys I was looking for. I pulled out the carabiner keychain and studied the two white gold rings in between my car key and house key around the piece of mountain climbing hardware. One of the rings held three diamonds and the other was a simple band. I glanced at my bare left ring finger and sighed heavily. Maria was right, I had been running and hiding long enough. I was hiding the fact that I was married for Chrissakes! And the marriage I was hiding was in shambles, near non-existent.

I loved Max, I do love him, but for three months, I let my love for him shy away and hide along with my marriage. I stowed it away. I truly missed him, even though he slept next to me. I missed him even though I kissed his chest every night before I fell asleep, that was until this morning.

This morning I had slept alone for the first time since I was married. We had had fights before, but none to the extent where Max favored sleeping in his den than in the bed with me, but that was going to change because I’ve realized that I’ve missed my husband. I want to love him again, the way he needed to be loved, but I wasn’t ready yet. So I shoved my keys with my engagement ring and wedding band back into my pocket, hiding my marriage for the last time, and continued to head out of the library.

“Liz!”

I was near the door when someone called. Turning around, I found Doug, running my way waving his hands for me to stop.

“You know, I’m in a rush,” I told him.

The tall senior bobbed his head up and down while trying to catch his breath. “It is a long run from the back of the library,” he panted. He swallowed the lump in his throat and smiled. His grin wide and his cheeks glowing red. “I leave to use the bathroom and I come back to the table and you’re not there. The others said you had to go and I was just wondering why you were leaving early.”

Dr. Holt had just added Doug to the research group. He didn’t know my situation, and the others didn’t either, but the others knew that I had somewhere else to be, Doug didn’t.

“I just have to go,” I answered.

Doug took a deep breath. “Ok,” he nodded. “The group said you were looking to get together again. I just…Tomorrow. Do you want to get together tomorrow? For the research group, that is. Well, it’ll be more like research pair since everyone else is busy. I was just wondering if you—”

I gave a little smirk but shook my head. “I’m sorry, Doug. I can’t.”

“But you were looking to get together tomorrow,” he said softly. He was a charming guy with the looks of an Abercrombie&Fitch model and the brains of Einstein.

I nodded in agreement while continuing to glance at my hand in my pocket, still holding my keys. “I know I wanted to work on this tomorrow,” I told him, “but I just…I can’t.”

“Ok,” he nodded, cheerily. “Well, maybe I can stop by your dorm and give you the notes and stuff you’re about to miss.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

Doug sighed heavily and then shook his head. “What are you hiding, Parker?”

“Too much,” I sadly admitted. “I’ll see you in class, Doug.”

He bobbed his head and turned around, defeated. I watched him walk off with his hands shoved in his pockets and his shoulders slightly hiked up. He was a really great guy, but not my Max, my husband.

I spent the drive to the coffee house thinking about my husband and how I had wronged him. Before today and before Maria’s intervention, I would have spent the drive thinking about how to spend tomorrow since the research group wasn’t going to get together. Even if I was meeting with the group tomorrow, I wouldn’t have gone because I was going to talk to my husband when I got home today and spend tomorrow with him, but first I had to say goodbye to a friend.

The little bell attached to the back of the door rang as I pushed on through into the quaint coffee house on the corner of Jefferson and Waldon in downtown Cambridge. Down by the counter a man in his late twenties turned around with the hugest smile on his face. “Lizzie!” he laughed. The tall brunette jogged across the room, pulled me into his arms and lifted me off the floor.

“Hi, Josh,” I smiled. “How you doin’?”

He put me back on the ground and kissed my cheek. “Better, now that you’re here.”

I knew my cheeks were turning a rosy red, but I remembered what I had come here to do. I lowered my head slightly, watching my fingers fiddle around with each other. “Look, Josh, I need to speak with you, privately.”

But the handsome Bostonian looked around the coffee house and I did the same, noticing each chair filled, a line filing at the counter, and more people entering than exiting. “You know, I’d love to talk, Lizzie, but we’ll have to do it later,” he sighed. “I’ll take a break in five.”

I gave a little nod. “Yeah, that’s fine. Look, I’ll get ready and come right out to help you.”

“Great,” Josh smiled. He grabbed his order pad and kissed my forehead. “You’re the best.”

“I know,” I said jokingly.

Josh rolled his unique green eyes while I made my way to the back. “Liz, wait,” he called. “There was some girl looking for you.”

Dense wrinkles formed in my forehead. “Who?” I wondered.

Josh shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, some blonde.”

“She’s not one of yours?” I grinned.

“Aw, come on, Lizzie,” Josh said, tilting his head to the side. “Why you gotta be like that? You know you’re the only girl for me,” he grinned. “She said she was a friend of yours. I told her you’d be in soon, so I let her hang out in the break room.”

I nodded and started heading to the back, wondering who it could be waiting for me. I surely wasn’t expecting anyone. I had just seen Maria, so it couldn’t be her. Isabel didn’t know where I was at this time, so it wasn’t her either.

I stepped into the back room and found confirmation that it wasn’t Maria or Isabel, but someone I had never seen before. Her blonde hair was tied back tight into a pony tail and her blue eyes sparkled even in the dim room. She had fair toned skin and a little dimple in her chin. When she saw me walk in, the stranger stood up of the couch and smiled.

“Liz Parker?” she asked.

I had no idea who this person was. Fear took over, restricting me to speak.

“Are you Liz?” the girl wondered. “Liz Parker?”

Back in the coffee house a cup or plate dropped, breaking on the floor. The shattering made me jump. My breathing quickened as I finally came to my senses.

“Yes,” I finally answered. “I’m Liz Parker. Who are you?”

The girl stretched out her hand and smiled. “My name’s Serena. Serena Hudson.”

TBC

Thanks you guys for the great feedback and all the support. Thank you so much.


Chapter 7: Part 2

{Liz}

“Happy 2nd wedding anniversary,” Max grinned, handing me a box while trying unsuccessfully to hide his smile.

The velvet box opened with a creak and revealed a beautiful necklace with heart-shaped diamonds.

“You spoil me, Max,” I smiled.

“Only because you deserve the best.”

I took a deep breath and nodded. “You do too,” I replied. “You deserve all you want, and you should have all you want.”

Max shook his head and grabbed my hand. “I’ve got all I want.”

I couldn’t conceal my smile as I stared at Max and I holding hands. I moved my husband’s hand off my lap and placed it flat against my stomach. “Now you do,” I told him.

“What?” Max laughed.

“Well, now you’ve got the family you wanted. You—and I—have a baby too,” I smiled. “I’m pregnant.”



“Liz?”

I blinked a few times to find myself shaking hands with a woman I didn’t know. I stared at her hand in mine. What the hell did she just do?

“Liz, are you ok?”

I blinked a few times more, shaking my head. “I—I’m fine,” I managed to reply. “Who are you?”

The blonde woman laughed as she pulled her hand away, placing it at her side and then on the table where she took a seat. “I’m Serena Hudson. I just introduced myself to you seconds ago.”

It felt as though minutes had passed. I had shaken her hand and found myself somewhere else, unconscious and dreaming. It’s the only way to explain it. I felt as though I was asleep and dreaming, but here I was, standing in the break room of Josh’s coffee house with a stranger who knew who I was.

“Who are you?” I asked again, this time with a cautious tone.

Serena shook her head in confusion. “Are you sure you’re ok? I know I don’t know you all that well, but you seem really out of it.”

“How do you know me at all?” I wondered, slowly backing out of the break room.

Again I heard the blonde laugh. It was a pleasant little chuckle, not the least bit threatening. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you or anything,” she said.

“Well…um…thanks?” I replied skeptically. “What do you want with me then?”

Serena seemed to get amusement from my fear since she laughed once more. “I don’t want to do anything with you,” she informed me. “I’m here to help you.”

I froze still, no longer backing out of the break room. “Wh—what…Why—Why…” I couldn’t stop stuttering.

The young woman stood up, walked towards me and grabbed my arms. “Breathe,” Serena instructed. “Just take a minute to breathe.”

I bobbed my head continuously, taking deep breaths, trying to keep calm. A stranger had located me in the last place anyone, besides Maria, could find me, and told me she was her to help me. Was I back in Roswell?



“I don't entirely understand it myself, but Serena said...she's going to be a friend of yours one day…”



Today was the day. Today was the day Future Max was talking about. He talked about it vaguely, just a mere mention, but this was the Serena he was talking about. She was a friend, I had nothing to fear.

“I—I’m ok,” I managed to say. “Um…why don’t you take a seat and we’ll talk.”

Serena nodded and complied with my request by sitting on the couch. I took a seat next to her, continuing to catch my breath while she just watched, still amused. She hid her smile to be polite, but I could see her grin. She definitely seemed like a great person, and someone I could get along with.

“Ok,” I said, taking one last deep breath.

“Are you sure?” Serena wondered.

I bobbed my head up and down as I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Yes. Now, tell me everything. How do you know me? How are you going to help me?”

Serena shook her head, pointing out her index finger and shaking that too, but up and down instead of side to side like her head. “Now, that’s the thing,” she chuckled. “I’m not all that sure. I don’t know how I’m going to help you.”

I scoffed in disbelief. “Ok, maybe we should start off with a different question. Why would I need your help in the first place?”

Serena looked me in the eyes, nothing more than a natural frown on her face. “Because I know your different,” she replied confidently.

I don’t know how wide my eyes widened, but I could feel them pry open pretty damn wide. “Um…wh—what do you mean ‘different’?”

“I mean not of this Earth,” Serena smiled.

I jumped to my feet and quickly slammed the door shut. “Who the hell are you?” I demanded to know with my back to the door and my palm facing her, ready to defend myself.

Serena jumped off the couch and held her hands slightly in the air. “D—don’t!” she stuttered, threatened and afraid. “I swear, I’m not here to hurt you.”

“Then start talking!” I ordered.

The young blonde nodded, slowly lowering her hands. “Just disarm, would ya?”

I nervously laughed. “No chance. Now start talking. Who are you?”

Serena started to bob her head, swallowing the lump in her throat and taking a deep breath. “My name’s Serena Hudson. I’m 25 and I’m from Los Angeles.”

“I don’t care about that,” I said. “Who are you?”

“You know, that’s like the fifth time you’ve asked me that,” Serena replied coolly.

I shrugged my shoulders with my arm still up and palm facing her. “So what? Answer the question.”

“I thought I did.”

“Well, you thought wrong. Answer the question.”

Serena’s face lit up as she tilted her head back. “Oh!” she realized. “You don’t mean who I am, you mean what I am. I’m human.”

I continued to stand defensively, watching the girl stand before me, unfazed, no longer threatened.

“But you’re not,” she continued. “You’re not completely human.”

My breathing quickened as I lowered my arm. “How—How do you know that?”

Serena shrugged her shoulders simply. “Because I know everything about you.”

“In about five seconds,” I began to threaten, lifting my arm back up, “I will throw you across the room without even touching you if you do not tell me everything.”

Serena pulled out a chair from the table in the center of the room and pointed to it. “You might want to take a seat.”

I shook my head, pushing the chair away with my foot. “I’m fine,” I told her. I’d need to stay standing anyway in case she turned out to be more than just a “friend”.

“Ok,” the blonde said, replying as if I would regret not taking a seat. “Where do you want me to start?”

“Just start throwing information at me.”

Serena nodded obediently looking up at the ceiling to find a starting point. “Ok, well, um…I transferred to Harvard medical school from UCLA and—”

“Yeah, I don’t need to know about that,” I interrupted. “I need to know how you know everything about me.”

Again, Serena bobbed her head in understanding. “Do you know a Kal Langley?”

“Yes,” I replied cautiously. “I know of him, but I’ve never met him.”

Serena lifted her chin with the little dimple and smile proudly, but in a mocking way. “Meet his goddaughter,” she smirked.

I nearly laughed my head off. “You’re kidding, right? My husband told me Kal Langley was a cold-hearted movie producer.”

“Oh, he is,” Serena agreed. “See, my parents are cold-heart—Wait,” she ordered. “Husband? You’re like twelve.”

I glared at her in disbelief. “Excuse me?” I laughed.

“I’m sorry,” Serena said, shaking her head. “I’m sorry. I just meant that you’re young. Twenty, right?”

“Yes,” I asserted. “Twenty, not twelve.”

“And you’re married?” Serena wondered. “It wouldn’t happen to be to a Max Evans, would it?”

I looked down at my naked left ring finger and nodded, feeling ashamed once again. “Yes,” I said softly, but proudly. “Max Evans is my husband.”

Serena laughed to herself. “Oh-ho-ho, Uncle Kal is going to be pissed that you guys didn’t invite him to the wedding.”

“It was a small wedding,” I said, but really, it wasn’t so small. “Just the family and a few friends.”

“Oh, ok,” Serena nodded. “Just explain that to my godfather.”

“About ‘Uncle Kal’,” I began, “where does he fit in with you and me?”

I watched the girl sitting next to me shift around uncomfortably. “When I was 10, my parents died.”

My hand rose to my open mouth. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Serena said with a little scoff. “They were cold-hearted like Uncle Kal, but he’s cold-hearted to strangers, not people who are like family. He took me in. He took care of me.”

“Why didn’t Max mention you?” I wondered. “He went to LA a few years ago.”

“To find the spaceship,” Serena nodded. “Yeah, I have my own apartment now, and to keep with the whole movie shark producer image, Uncle Kal doesn’t mention me a lot. I understand.”

I nodded, comprehending everything. “When did he tell you about me? How did he even know about me?”

“Uncle Kal’s been watching out for you guys. He knew what happened in ’99 when you were shot. He knew that you were going to become ‘different’.”

“And he just told you all of this?” I asked, shaking my head.

Serena nodded, clearing her throat. “Three years ago, Kal sits me down, asks me if I could do him a favor,” she started. “Without hesitation, I say yes, and he tells me the story of a spaceship that crashed in 1947. I learn about Zan and the gang in New York, but Kal said that they didn’t matter, the pods that mattered were the ones in Roswell, Max, Isabel, Michael, and Tess. Kal teaches me everything about you guys. I know about Max and his alien family and I know about you, Maria, Kyle, Sheriff Valenti, and your friend Alex. I’m really sorry, by the way.” This girl was offering condolences to a person she didn’t even know for a person she never knew.

“Th—thank you,” I smirked.

Serena let the corner of her mouth lift up, creating a dimple in her right cheek. “No problem,” she replied.

I stared at my hands folded in my lap while we sat in silence for a moment. Whether it was to honor Alex or what, we just sat silently, both of us looking at our thighs. I wiped the forming tears in my eyes and cleared my throat.

“The favor,” I brought up. “What did Langley ask you to do?”

“Well, I never understood why he wanted me to do him this favor,” Serena said. “But I think now I do. Kal must’ve known that you and Max would get together for life or something. I guess that’s why he told me to go to you first.”

Again, I looked down at my left hand and at my bare ring finger. I brought myself back to reality, shaking my head. “Ok, if you understand, would you mind enlightening me?”

“Uncle Kal wanted me to become an obstetrician,” Serena spat out. “So I’ve been studying to be one, in the event that you and Max, or Isabel and her husband, have children. I’m becoming an OB/GYN to cover up your tracks.”

I'm so sorry I've been away for so long, but I've been doing quite a bit of writing. The story's moving along nicely. Thanks for all the feedback. You guys are great! Take care.

Love,
hoLLy



Chapter 8: Part 1

[Maria]

“Liz, what are you talking about? Serena who?”

The last hour had been a phone conversation of riddles and ramblings. All I could do was mumble, “Mm-hmm” as if I understood what Liz was saying, but now she was talking about Kal Langley, Hollywood, some girl named Serena, and something about The Godfather.

“Maria, I’ll just explain it to you when I get home,” Liz replied.

I bobbed my head as I strolled around upstairs. “Ok, when’ll that be?”

For a moment, all I could hear was Liz’s hurried breaths. “Um…half an hour?” she guessed. “Maybe longer. I’m leaving now but I want to stop by the grocery store to pick up a few things.”

“But Michael just went,” I reminded her.

Again, another moment of hurried breaths. “Yeah, I know,” Liz continued, “but I want to make Max's favorite dinner and I know we don’t have lasagna noodles.”

I stopped dead in the path I had worn into the hallway carpet to smile giddily. “You’re making him dinner?” I tried my best to conceal my eagerness, and happiness.

“Yes,” Liz replied without hesitation. “I’m making him dinner and I’m talking to him tonight. I’m telling him everything.”

Inside, I was jumping with sheer joy, but of course, I kept my cool and went back to pacing around like a teenage girl with ADD. Audibly, I sighed in relief, both purposely and by chance. I wanted to let Liz know just how much this was consuming my conscious.

“Yes, Maria,” she laughed. “You can breathe easy.”

My cheeks burnt red, I just knew. “But you know,” I began to warn, “this isn’t exactly a happy ending. You have to consider Max's reaction.”

I pictured Liz bobbing her head as she said, “I know.” She cleared her throat as I heard her car door shut in the background. “Look, I’m going to think this whole thing through. I don’t want to lose Max.”

“I don’t want you to lose him, either,” I replied, supporting her completely. “Just get your ass home quickly, will ya?”

Liz chuckled, a cute high pitched laugh. “Yes, ma’am. See you soon.” Her voice became faint, probably from pulling her phone away from her face.

“Liz!” I shouted.

She quickly brought her phone back to her ear. “What?!”

I grinned to myself yet again. “It’s about time you listened to me!”

Within seconds, I heard the dial tone. I just rolled my eyes, shrugging my shoulders. Now my conscience could come back to life after being eaten away by Liz and her secret.

I spun the phone in the air and let it drop into my hand as I made my way down the circular staircase that ended up in the family room. I glanced out the open windows. Snow lightly covered the grass while the sun slightly melted the snow on the trees. If it were raining, I’d be dancing outside like Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain. No one could be happier at this moment than me because now I could breathe again and now I could look Max in the eyes. It had been so long since I’ve looked into Max's pretty eyes. I loved Michael’s brown eyes, but Max's eyes were pretty purdy.

When I stepped foot into the family room, I found myself staring into the brown eyes I loved.

“Get dressed,” Michael ordered.

With a raised eye, I looked down at the clothes I was wearing. “I thought I was dressed,” I grinned.

Michael grabbed the phone from my hand and tossed it on one of the couches. He grabbed my shoulders and literally turned me around. “Go back upstairs and change,” he ordered. “I’m opening up the club tonight.”

Before Michael could shove me up the stairs, I turned myself back around. “What?! You’re opening the club tonight?!”

“Didn’t I just say that?”

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and glared up at Michael. “Michael…” If he was going to act like a little kid, then I was going to treat him one. So I scolded him like I used to. “Why are you opening the club up tonight?”

As he caught his breath, he simply shrugged his shoulders. “Metallica’s playing tomorrow night at the Fleetcenter, and I’ve got tickets.”

Of course Michael Guerin would push up his own club opening to catch Metallica in concert, but I shook my head, refusing to believe it. “Michael, you’ll have to catch them in concert some other time or postpone the club opening,” I said.

“What? Why?” he demanded to know.

I steered past Michael and made him follow me through the house as I did things such as putting the phone back in its base to grabbing a Snapple from the fridge. "Liz is making Max a special dinner tonight,” I finally informed him after a walking through the whole house.

“Well, she can’t,” was Michael’s reply, “’cause Maxwell’s got to be at the opening tonight.”

I rolled my eyes at Michael’s stupidity. “That’s exactly why I’m telling you to postpone the opening tonight. I know it’s important to you that you have Max there for support and all that junk—I have no idea why—but he’s got to have this dinner tonight.”

“She’s finally going to tell him her deep dark secret?” Michael guessed. I replied with a nod and Michael scratched his eyebrow, a sign a frustration. “Damn it, Maria. I already sent out fliers and got the radio stations to announce the re-opening. Everyone’s going to be there. I can’t tell them all to go home and you’re right, I do need Maxwell for support and crap.” He sighed heavily to himself and took a moment to think to himself. After a brief second, Michael turned back to me. “Wait,” he ordered. “Liz is making him dinner tonight? What time’s she coming home?”

I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know,” I replied. “Half an hour? Hour maybe?”

“Liz doesn’t know Max is in Connecticut,” Michael realized.

My eyes widened and then shrunk in confusion. “What the hell is Max doing in Connecticut? He has no business there.”

“Actually, he does,” Michael disagreed. “He called me and told me had had to head to Connecticut. He was going to get there around four and wouldn’t get back until nine or so, which is in time for the opening.”

All the times were spinning in my head and all I could think about was how Liz wasn’t going to be able to tell Max. The weight was back on my shoulders. “So he won’t be here by seven?” I wondered naively.

Michael shook his head regretfully and grabbed my arm, delicately guiding me towards the stairs. “Now, you have to get dressed. I’ve got time to kill and I’m taking you out to dinner.”

“But—But…”

Michael continued to nudge me up the stairs.



{Michael}

I was trying to do something right for a chance by taking my girlfriend, future wife, and soul mate to a romantic dinner. Some romantic dinner. Maria spent most of it trying to get in contact with Liz. From when we handed the menus back to the waiter all the way through the main course, Maria was on her phone, with me, listening to the constant ringing. Somewhere between my fifth and tenth bite of sirloin steak, Maria finally got a hold of Liz.

“Bad news, girlfriend,” Maria said.

On the other end, I could hear Liz’s reply. “What?” she wondered curiously.

She was concentrating on her fettuccini alfredo as she spoke, but then Maria took a moment to glare my way. “Your hubby’s in Connecticut.” She went back to poking her pasta with her fork.

I just rolled my eyes and continued to keep to myself and to my sirloin steak.

“Max?” Liz questioned. “What’s he doing in Connecticut?”

“B&A sent him there?” Maria guessed, looking to me for confirmation. I gave a nod and Maria nodded too. “Yeah, B&A sent him there,” she said again, this time more confidently.

Liz’s sigh was clearly audible. “When’s he coming home?”

“Not until nine or so. The dinner’s not going to happen.”

“We can just eat late,” Liz suggested.

But Maria shook her head, a gesture Liz couldn’t even see, and glared my way the whole time she turned her head from side to side. “That’s not going to happen either.”

My eyes darted as if I said, “What the hell did I do???” and Maria replied with a scoff.

“Michael’s opening Whits tonight,” Maria continued. “Max is heading straight there. He’ll be there in time for the opening.”

“How convenient,” Liz sighed yet again. Both she and Maria then held their phones to their ears, just letting everything sink in. Finally, Liz sighed out of convenience. “Do Max and I really need to be there?” she asked.

Maria’s eyes were on me as I nodded with a shrug, and Maria agreed. “The dinner’s important, I know,” she said, “but Max won’t make it in time. So you both might as well come to the club opening. Besides it’s our club, Liz.”

Max and I created Whits from the ground up with our own sweat and tears, but it was something that belonged to all of us. Whits meant something. It was a reminder of Alex and it was for Alex, to honor him and remember him. If he was alive today, it’d be a place where he would play his music with his band. At first, the thought of opening the club was just something for me to do, but then with the idea in mind, I wanted to do it for everyone. We miss him.

“You’re right,” Liz replied. “I’ll go to Josh’s. I’ll see you at the club.”

The girls said their goodbyes and Maria snapped her phone shut like a priss. She tossed it to the floor and into her bag. The silence crept in as Maria poked aimlessly at her dinner. She was torn, I could see it. I don’t know what between, but Maria was torn. I cleared my throat and shoved the last piece of steak into my mouth.

“Who’s Josh?” I wondered. I know it was a stupid question to ask and I was probably get my ass handed to me by Maria, but I needed to say something to kill the damning silence.

Continuing to lean on her arm propped onto the table, defying all etiquette, Maria went on poking at the pasta noodles. “You know, Michael, I really don’t want to get into this with you.”

“Well, what the hell?” I questioned, starting to get slightly angry. “Don’t pick a fight with me. This isn’t our battle. We’re supposed to be getting them back together. You’re not supposed aiding in this double life that Liz is living.”

Maria sat up in her chair and looked at me with shock. “What, you think I’m supporting this corruption of their marriage?”

“You haven’t been stopping it.”

“Now, that’s not fair,” Maria protested. “Michael, you haven’t been either.”

“That’s because I was in the blue, I didn’t know what was going on, you did.”

Maria eyes pierced right into me with anger as she grabbed her napkin from her lap and shook her head. She simply tossed her napkin onto her plate still full of pasta and mumble inaudible phrases. “Whatever,” was what I heard because she stopped mumbling. “Let’s go,” she ordered.

<center>*~*</center>

“Jerry, you are costing me more money than I make!” I cried out. I leaned down and started sweeping up the shards of glass from another cup Jerry had dropped.

“I guess we know who employee of the month is.”

I jumped to my feet and saw that standing on the other side of the bar was Isabel and Jesse here for the opening. I tossed the glass into the trashcan along with a dustpan. I was happy to see another of my kind, someone who was sane and on the same wavelength as me.

“Hey,” I happily sighed.

Isabel leaned across the bar and hugged me while Jesse waited to shake my hand. As Jesse did so, Isabel looked around the club. “Well done, Michael. The place looks amazing,” she breathed in astonishment.

I smiled proudly at our establishment and nodded. “Not bad, huh?”

“No,” Jesse agreed. “It looks great.”

“Alex would have loved this,” Isabel smiled.

“Well, then you’re going to love this.” I hopped over the bar and grabbed Isabel’s arm, leading her to the stage. I pointed to the support beam holding up the high, black ceiling with beautifully crafted, shimmering stars (via a little “magic”) and allowed Isabel time to read the sign drilled into the beam.

“‘Dreams are like stars…you may never touch them, but if you follow them, they will lead you to your destiny. Stargazer’s Lounge’,” she read and blushed afterwards.

I nodded. “Yeah, well, I know you and Alex used to spend time looking up at the stars…”

Isabel wrapped her arms around my neck and squeezed tight. “Michael, thank you so much.”

I shrugged modestly. “Yeah, well, I thought that our connections to Alex should be present in the club, a reminder to all of us. Check it out, I put a new drink on the menu called ‘Blood Brothers’, every night we’ll close the bar with ‘In the Air Tonight’, and there’s the ‘Undercover FBI Discovery’ on the menu.”

Isabel’s eyebrows rose while the amusement on her face grew. “‘Undercover FBI Discovery’?” she laughed.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “It’s, um, Fries, Bacon, and Italian dressing in a wrap.”

Isabel spat out a laugh. “Michael, no one’s going to buy that.”

“Hey! You’ve never had it. It’s pretty damn good.”

I received a slap on my shoulder from Isabel as Jesse made his way over. “Michael, this place is amazing. It’s going to be a big hit.”

With my hands on my hips, I scanned the spacious club. “You think so?” I wondered.

“Of course!”

I my head nearly spun in a complete circle. It was Maria who exclaimed the praise with Liz marching along side of her, making their way towards us. Isabel and Jesse said hello to the two ladies while I glanced at my watch.

“It’s ten,” I nervously said.

“Where’s my brother?” Isabel wondered.

Both Maria and Liz looked to me to explain. “He’s in Connecticut,” I sighed, “but he should have been here by now.”

Jesse broke away from the group to jog to the doors.

“I tried calling his cell,” Maria began, “but it’s out of the area or something.”

“Maybe he’s on his way back now,” Liz suggested.

I worriedly shook my head. “He said he was going to be back by nine, he gave me his word.”

“We’re going to have to open the club without Max,” Jesse said as he coolly walked back towards us, panting slightly. “There are a lot of people gathering out there.”

Giving another glance at my watch and looking over the heads of the people in the crowd waiting outside, I shook my head. “No,” I replied “We’ll wait another five minutes.”

I continued to worriedly look out the glass doors thankful that I had my back to the girls and Jesse. They wouldn’t see the worried, slightly panicked expression on my face. Damn it, Maxwell. Where the hell are you?

TBC

Chapter 8: Part 2

{Liz}

“He’s still in Connecticut.”

I looked up at Isabel standing in the doorway. “What?” I wondered.

“Max,” my sister-in-law replied. “He’s stuck at a road block.”

“It’s almost five in the morning!”

I calmed my best friend down, easing her to lie back on the couch we sat on in the VIP room. As Isabel made her way over, I thought to myself, He’s not stuck at a road block. He’s killing time to avoid me. Nearly 24 hours ago was the big blow up between us. It was understandable that he wanted space.

Isabel nearly passed out on the couch and sighed. “Michael got a call from Max a minute ago. My brother said he was stuck at some road block near the Mass-Connecticut border and he’s going to try to head through Rhode Island.”

It hurt that Max didn’t call me to let me know all of that, but I wasn’t surprised. I wasn’t expecting him to call, because why would he want to talk to me? He was angry, hurt, and disappointed and it was my fault. It’s hit me, maybe a little too late, but hopefully not. There’s time for change and I’m ready to change. I’m ready to say, “This time, I fucked up, real bad.”

“It’s almost five in the morning!” Maria exclaimed once more.

“Yes, Maria,” Isabel grumbled. “We know what time it is.”

With the music blaring in the background, the three of us slouched out across the plush couches and ottomans. For the past seven hours, Maria and I hid in the VIP room, away from all the noise and the alcohol. Michael and Jesse spent most of the night out in the club doing the mingling and welcoming of guests. Michael was less than happy when he had to open the club half an hour late because of a truant Max. Around eleven, he got the first call from Max. Max was going to be here in an hour. Midnight came and Max still wasn’t here. Another phone call and Max said he was going to be here soon. That was three hours ago. When Michael would get a call from Max, it was Isabel who ran back and forth between the club and the VIP room to relay the message. I hoped that he would make it here so that we could talk, but then again, I know how he’s feeling and I know what he’s thinking. Tomorrow we’d talk.

My arm instantly stung once Maria struck it with the back of her hand. “Hey,” she said.

“Um…hi?” I guessed.

“Tell Isabel about Serena.”

Isabel sat up. “Serena who?”

To pass the time while in the VIP room, Maria and I talked about last afternoon. We did the usual, I explained what happened and Maria overanalyzed. It was good to talk like old times, we hadn’t done it in a while.

“Serena Hudson,” I answered. “She was a girl I met today.”

“No ordinary girl!” Maria commented. “Go ahead, tell her.”

I glared over my shoulder. “I would if you’d let me,” I smiled. Maria grinned back and lied across my lap.

“Serena Hudson?” Isabel questioned.

I gave a little nod and wearily relaxed back on the couch. “Remember when Max went to L.A.? He found that other shapeshifter, the Hollywood producer.”

“Langley,” Isabel said.

I gave another little nod. “Someone—obviously not sane—decided to make him the Godfather to their child. Serena Hudson is Langley’s Goddaughter.”

Isabel sat up and sent her icy stare my way. “Do not tell me she knows our secret.”

I sympathetically smirked. “She doesn’t know your secret,” I lied obviously.

Isabel dropped back into her slouched position and threw her hands up in the air. “Tell me someone who doesn’t know our secret!”

“It’s ok,” I assured Isabel. “Langley told her to protect us.”

“How is some girl going to protect us?”

I took a moment to think about yesterday afternoon. I delicately pushed Maria off my lap and turned towards Isabel. “Iz,” I said. My sister-in-law and I never started off as the best of friends and we were never really close in high school. Only her parents, Michael, and Max called her “Iz”, but things have changed and a lot has happened. We’re family and I’ve liked calling her “Iz”.

Isabel slowly sat up when she sensed that what I had to say genuinely affected her too. “What is it? She knows something about us, doesn’t she?”

I nodded and smiled. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Isabel,” I said. “You and Jesse can have kids.”

For what I can describe as an eternity of eight seconds, Isabel stared at me, her face frozen, no smile on her face, nothing. When the eight seconds were over, tears filled her eyes, she took deep breaths, and smiled happily. “We can?”

“Yes,” I smiled. I couldn’t help but express her happiness and accepted the arms that wrapped around me.

Isabel pulled away, wiping the tears from her eyes. “So, um…” she said, gathering herself together. “Um…why’s it so hard for us?”

I shrugged my shoulders, helping Isabel get the last drops of tears from her cheeks. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s timing, but you’ve heard it before, Isabel, sometimes it takes a while to get pregnant.”

Behind me, I heard Maria’s sniffles.

“What’s wrong with you?” I laughed.

“Nothing,” Maria replied, discreetly rubbing the tears out of her eyes. “I’m totally ok.”

With a roll of my eyes, I turned back to Isabel to continue informing her on Alien Pregnancy 101. “There’s something else,” I regretfully said. “Because you are the hybrid in the couple, it’ll be an alien pregnancy.”

Isabel’s smile died away. She brought her legs together, crossed them, and let her elbow rest on her knee so that her hand was in the perfect position to hold up her head. She pinched her forehead with one hand, continuing a rubbing motion. “What does that mean?” she asked softly.

“Your pregnancy will last a month, like Tess’s,” I answered. I looked over my shoulder at Maria. “You’re completely human, so you’ll have a human pregnancy, of nine months, if you and Michael decide to…”

Maria nodded in understanding, not happily, more solemnly, suddenly feeling the guilt of being human.

“And mine,” I continued, “will last two months.”

No one spoke, allowing “In the Air Tonight” to be clearly heard. The three of us—Isabel, Maria, and I—would talk about children and how great they were, never actually discussing carrying a child. I guess we just went into our happy place where we thought we were normal, our husbands or boyfriend were normal, our lives were normal. The fact was, we weren’t. Never were we now or ever going to be normal. I’m sure each of us thought about the aspect of carrying a child, but knew the circumstances, and thus, hid away, not wanting to discuss it. Discussing it—“it” being the circumstances and our assumptions—would, in essence, lead us to believe our worst fears and assumptions that we wouldn’t be able to have children.

Now we knew that we could carry children, but we weren’t exactly overjoyed. It’s hard to explain, really. Maria felt guilty for having a normal pregnancy while Isabel and I were cursed with alien pregnancies. We didn’t even know if our children would be human, it was something that Serena had left out. We could have children, but now with the new circumstances, the question was still whether or not we could have children. It was something that we’d have to discuss with our significant others. If only I could talk to mine.

“How is this going to work out?” Isabel wondered in a slight panic.

I placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. “Serena’s a med student. Langley made sure she was and she’ll help us out.”

“That doesn’t exactly answer my question,” Isabel sighed.

“I know,” I nodded. “But it’ll have to do.”



{Michael}

“What’ll have to do?” I wondered.

The three girls looked up and wiped their cheeks. I always heard that if girls are around each other long enough, their cycles sync up, or something like that. I don’t know. I don’t want to touch up on it, especially if the girls were on their “special days”.

“Never mind,” I grinned.

They looked tired. Maybe it was from the crying they were trying to hide. Once again, I wasn’t going to bother asking, not yet, anyway. Maybe Liz was bummed Max wasn’t here. I know I was pretty bummed that my best friend bailed, and being bummed is contagious. It probably got to Maria and Isabel. Whatever the source, I’d have to find out later in the day when the sun was out and when people were awake.

“It’s five,” I told the girls. “We just closed.”

Maria finished wiping her cheeks. “Do you want us to help clean up?”

I helped them up from the couch and shook my head. “No, I’ve got it covered. I can see that you guys are tired. You can head back home.”

“Are you sure?” Liz wondered. She looked the most tired out of all of them.

“Positive,” I nodded.

I started herding them out to the main club area where neon colored fliers, cups, napkins, food, plates, and nearly everything else in the club covered the floor. Jerry was behind the bar starting the cleanup. Jesse walked back into the club from the main entrance with three coats on his arm and his own coat already on his back.

“Got the cars running,” he said with a smile. “Sweetie,” he said to Isabel. “Maybe you should drive. I hit the bar a few times.”

For some reason, Isabel tucked her lips into her mouth and bit down and looked down at the ground with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She did that to avoid confrontation. I don’t know why she wouldn’t want to confront her own husband.

Jesse looked to me and all I could do was shrug. “Um…” he sighed. “I guess I’m still ok to drive.”

The girls led the way out of the club, sluggishly dragging their feet on the way out. It would have been nice to have their help, but they’ve got more important stuff on their mind.

Gary, my ever-so-efficient bouncer, locked up the front door. He was a big guy. Maybe 6’5”, 200-some pounds, and enough tattoos on his arms to cover one of the club’s walls. I watched him like a hawk as he tried making his way to the back.

“Where you going?” I wondered.

Gary was like a soft giant, intimidating as hell, but kind and polite. “I have to get home, boss,” he said. “I’ve got class in a few hours.”

“Class?” I wondered.

“He wants to be a teacher.”

Jerry had left the room to throw out the trash so the voice didn’t belong to him, but to another co-worker who finally decided to grace us with his presence.

“Maxwell,” I sighed. “Nice of you to finally show up.” His entrance was too late and I didn’t care whether he showed up or not anymore. I grabbed a trash bag and started picking up used napkins and straws.

Wearing a suit and tie, Max grabbed the broom from behind him and started sweeping. “Go ahead, Gary,” he said. “Go home. Say hi to the wife for me.”

“Will do, boss,” the big guy grinned. He walked past Max and patted him on the back. He nearly sent Maxwell flying.

After regaining his balance, Max started shoveling all the trash on the ground to one spot. Soon, it started coming up to his knees. “He’s going to the community college,” he said out of the blue.

“What?”

“Gary,” Max clarified. “He’s going to the community college to be a teacher. Elementary school, I think.”

I jolted my chin forward as if I cared about what he had to say. It was late and there was still a lot of work to do. I finally just dropped the half-full trash bag on the ground and let go of whatever I had in my other hand. “I’m going home,” I announced.

“Michael, what’s wrong?” Max wondered. “We’ve still got a lot to do.”

“I’ll take care of it later.” I grabbed my jacket from the coat rack and started heading to the door until Max stopped me.

“What’s wrong?” he asked again.

“Nothing,” I replied. “Except for the fact that I had to open up the club without my business partner here! I mean, where the hell were you? What business did you have in Connecticut at these hours?”

Suddenly, Max regretted confronting me. He looked away and went back to sweeping. The son of a bitch lied. He’s been bitching to me about his wife keeping secrets from him and here he was hiding a secret himself.

“What business did you have in Connecticut at these house?” I said again.

Max continued sweeping until I grabbed the broom handle.

“Hey! I’m talking to you!”

“And I’m not talking to you!” Max snapped, snatching the broom back. He went back to sweeping, quickly this time, more frustrated. I watched him as he took off his coat, tossed it on a stool, and continued gliding across the floor with broom in hand, pretending to focus on what he was doing.

“Max, what’s going on?” I asked.

He didn’t stop. He didn’t look up.

“It’s Liz,” I realized. “What’d you do?”

Max slowed his pace and eventually he stopped, but still held the broom as if he was sweeping and continued to look down at the cluttered floor. “I’ve been waiting for the them to leave,” he said.

“Who?”

Max started to sweep again, but slowly. “I didn’t just get back from Connecticut,” he said softly. “I came here from the house.”

I walked over to the bar and took a seat on the stool. “You’re telling me you’ve been in Massachusetts for a little while now and you didn’t bother calling or stopping by.”

He continued to focus on the trash as he nodded.

“What were you doing at the house?” I asked.

Max finally stopped and leaned on the broom handle. “I love her, Michael, you know that.”

This time, I answered with a nod.

Again, the trash on the floor won his interest. “I spent the last half hour packing,” Max confessed. “When I finished, I came here about ten minutes ago and I’ve been waiting in my car for the girls to leave.”

“You wanted to pack while they weren’t home,” I realized. "While Liz wasn't home."

“I’m not leaving her, Michael. I swear,” Max said. “I just need space.”

It was a bad idea and I shook my head, letting him know that. “You’re pushing her away again, Max.”

Despite shaking his head, he smirked. “No, Michael. She pushed, and I’ve let her. I’m giving her the space she wanted and taking the space that I’ve got.” He walked over, grabbed his coat from the stool next to mine, and started putting it on.

“Where you going to go?” I wondered.

Max cleared his throat as he felt for the keys in his pocket, preparing to leave. “I’ve got my cousin, Riley. She's attending Yale and she’s got a room to spare.”

“B&A didn’t send you to Connecticut, did they?” I realized.

He shook his head.

Max was really going to leave and I realized that Max was leaving it up to me to confront Liz for the time being. “What do I tell her?”

Max shrugged. “Tell her I’m away on business.”

“What about the hospital, B&A?” I wondered. “You’ve still got to work. It’s a long drive.”

“The train,” Max answered. “I’ve got time to lose.” He patted me on the shoulder as a “See you later” and started walking to the back.

“She wants to talk to you!” I shouted after him.

Max turned around. “Does she?” he asked. “She never called.” And with that, he disappeared.

Now I didn’t want to go home. I walked to the broom Max dropped on the floor and bent down to pick it up. I never knew how interesting trash could be. As I swept, I focused on a plastic cup with a little beverage still inside and a cherry stem floating inside. As the cup rolled, the cherry stem attracted me as it danced and swayed.

“Hey, I’m sorry,” I could hear Jerry say. “We’re closed.”

“I just need to speak with the owner,” a voice replied.

I dropped the broom and jogged to the back. Jerry stood in the doorway, blocking entrance into the club by placing his hands on the doorframe.

“What’s going on?” I wondered.

Jerry looked over his shoulder and laughed. “This guy wants to see you. I told him we’re closed.”

I pushed Jerry’s arms down and looked at the man standing in the alley. A guy in a black business suit, wearing sunglasses at dawn, stared at me with a stone-cold expression. Though he wore no expression, his face was tense. He had short brown hair with a slightly receding hairline.

“Mr. Guerin?” he inquired.

I gave a little nod and stuck out my hand, which the man shook. “Yeah, that’s me.” I turned to Jerry and looked back into the club. “There’s a bag half-full of trash in there. Fill it up and you can go home.”

Jerry left my side after sending a glare to the stranger.

“What can I do for you?” I asked him.

“I just wanted to inform you of recent narcotic transactions in the area,” the man replied. His voice monotonic but deep and moving. “I understand you just opened this club?”

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and nodded. “Re-opened,” I corrected.

“Well, you’re quite established then, fairly popular?”

I nodded again. “But I can assure you that I don’t let that crap in here.”

“That’s good to hear. I suggest that you keep and eye out, Mr. Guerin.”

My skepticism of the man before me continued to grow. “Who are you?” I wondered.

The man reached into his jacket. Quickly, my arms became uncrossed as I took a step back, but there was nothing to fear. The man pulled out a leather ID case and flipped it open.

“I’m FBI Agent Burns,” he replied. “Narcotics Unit.”

Hey all,

I just wanted to thank you all for the FB. I love reading what you guys think about the story. It seems to be a general concensus that Max and Liz's stubborn behinds were made for each other. I'm glad you guys see it that way because I see it that way too. Now, I know you all have tons of questions and hopefully this chapter will answer them somewhat. It won't answer them completely, but hopefully it'll give you an idea. The next chapter or so will answer your burning questions. Thank you as always.

Take care,
hoLLy


Chapter 9

{Liz}

There were no messages on the answering machine when Maria and I got home from the club early that morning. Max hadn’t bothered to call and honestly, I wasn’t waiting to hear Max's voice. All he would have said was that he was in Connecticut, but he had already told Michael and so what was the use? Maria and I went to bed pretty soon after hearing a message from Mrs. Valenti, letting us know that Jamie got her first haircut that day.

After I had changed into some bedtime clothes, I climbed into my side of the bed, not expecting Max to climb in next to me when he finally chose to come home. I knew that he’d instantly go to his den or the family or living rooms. So I slept alone for the second time ever that night. I figured that I’ll let both of us get a decent amount of sleep and tomorrow we’d talk. Hours later and it was eleven o’clock, Saturday morning. I quickly cleaned myself up and rushed down the circular staircase since it was closer and found that Max wasn’t asleep on the family room couch. So I stormed through and barged into his den, but he wasn’t asleep on that room’s couch either, and from the hallway, I had a good view of the living room, and, nothing. No one else in the house was awake yet.

Now I never ever thought that Max would leave me for any reason, I never thought that it’d ever happen, but as I ran out of the house to check the driveway and the garage and saw that Max's Chevelle was no where in site, it became a possibility. Maybe he’s in Michael’s room, I remember naively thinking. So I ran back into the house and up the main staircase and straight to Michael’s bedroom. Max wasn’t there and neither was Michael. So maybe the two of them were together. Fat chance, but maybe they were. There was still that chance that maybe Max left me, so I rushed back to my room and found Michael there instead.

“His clothes aren’t in the closet, are they?” I asked him.

“Just some,” Michael replied.

He got off the bed and followed me as I walked to the closet. Max's side of the closet was smaller than before. A few suits and other clothes were missing and a suitcase from the shelf at the top of the closet was gone, leaving a large bare spot. I think I wanted to cry when I noticed the bareness, but I don’t think I did.

“Where is he, Michael?”

“Business,” he replied. “Turns out Connecticut needs him.”

I remember knowing instantly that Michael was lying, but I played along anyway. “How long?” I wondered.

Michael had shrugged. “A couple of days.”

And that was a week ago. A couple of days had long since passed and some of Max’s clothes were still missing from the closet. Not once in the past week had his car pulled into the driveway or into the garage. Max never came home.

The only way I managed to survive the past few days was because I kept telling myself that Max was just away on business. He’d come home when business was done.

He needed time and space, I know that, but I had to call him anyway. For the first few days that Max was gone, I called incessantly, hoping that eventually he would pick up one of my unanswered calls, but he never did, and he never replied to the several voicemails I had left. He did call once though and at the perfect time. Max had called knowing I wouldn’t be able to answer. So he left a message on my voicemail.

“Hi,” he had said. There was a long pause until he spoke again. “I’m in Connecticut…on business… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier…but, uh…it was short notice… I don’t know how long I’ll be… Michael said you wanted to talk… Um, I’m not ready… I’ve got to go,” he said hastily, and then that was it.

I tried calling him back, but my calls to his cell never went through. I know that my calls probably pushed him away. He probably saw my name across his cell phone screen and snapped his phone shut. He just doesn’t want to talk to me right now. He doesn’t want to confront our problems again, not this soon. So I’ve given him his time because honestly, I needed it too. We can gain self-knowledge through suffering, so they say, and I have. We’ve had a reasonable amount of time in our respective corners and now it was time to come back together. I was going to do whatever it takes to do so. He needed his time away, but now it was time for him to come home.

I had never known how lonely loneliness could be. Coming home knowing that Max might not be home that night or in the morning was cold. It was the only way I could explain it. The nights were colder even though the weather was warming up. I’d climb into bed with the thick comforter covering me and the fire still burning, but I still shivered in my sleep. It was the type of chill that reached your bones and Max wasn’t in bed beside me to keep me warm.

Waking up was a nightmare. There’s that moment where your brain wakes up, but your eyes are still closed and not ready to open. It’s then that you get your first thoughts of the day, like, Is it Monday again? Or I have to pee. But for the past week, my first thoughts were, I can’t feel him beside me. And then I’d keep my eyes closed and try to fall back into a deep sleep, hoping that I’d wake up days later with Max next to me. I’d try so hard, but I could never go back to sleep. So I just did what I had to do. I woke up and lived as if nothing happened, as if Max was really away on business. It was off to classes and then research groups and then to the coffee house but all I could do was think about Max, every day, all day. That’s how my mindset should have been for the past few months, not just the past week.

“He’ll be home today,” Maria said, today and every day before today.

I gave a little smirk as I filled my thermos with coffee. I kept a smile on my face and just tried my best to show that I was ok even though, inside, I was dying. I missed Max desperately and I decided that today I was going to take a step to make things better between us.

“So you’re really going to give up this amazing opportunity?” Maria wondered.

I gave a solid nod. “I’m really going to do it.”

“Good,” Maria replied, bobbing her head. “I know it sucks, Liz, but you’ve got to do it.”

“I know,” I sighed. I grabbed my keys off the counter and walked to the door. “Call me if he calls.” I always left the house saying that, hoping that maybe Maria would call, but she never did. No one ever called.

I accepted invitations into research groups just because I wanted to keep myself occupied and keep my mind off Max and my marriage. When I finally get the chance to work with Dr. Laura Holt personally, it’s in my best interests to resign and withdraw. She was an amazing professor. I lived my educational career the way I did so that I would be able to sit in her lecture hall to listen to her speak about microorganisms. By resigning, I’d have to withdraw from her class, which was impossible to get into. I had to get former professors to pull a few strings. And for the past few weeks I had been working with her, it had been such an amazing honor and this research group with her mattered so much to me, but just not enough.

I knocked lightly on the window of the window door that was engraved with “Dr. Laura Holt” and the title of “Department Head of Cellular and Molecular Biology”. Behind a large wooden desk covered with papers and folders, sat Dr. Holt. She looked up and smiled instantly. “Liz!” she said cheerfully. “Hi.”

I gave a little smirk and slightly stepped into the office. “Hi, do you have a minute?”

The blonde woman nodded, stood up to be polite, and gestured for me to take a seat. I walked further into the office, bending my fingers backward, unsuccessfully trying to crack them. As I took a seat, Dr. Holt returned back into hers.

“What can I do for you, Liz?” she asked.

I nervously cleared my throat. The woman was so kind and sweet. It felt as if I was insulting her by withdrawing from the research group.

“Liz?” the woman questioned. “Are you all right?”

I shook my head. “I need to leave the group.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. “Leave the group? You’re the group leader. You can’t just leave. You can, but you just can’t.” Dr. Holt obviously became flustered. “Why?”

No one at school knew I was married except for the admissions people or whoever had read my application. “My husband,” I admitted. “I need time for him and—”

“Husband?” Dr. Holt said questionably. Her eyes were widened slightly and you could tell she was shocked. “I had no idea. Well, congratulations,” she smiled once again. Her smile was one of those contagious ones where you just had to smile back.

As I did, I shook my head. “We’ve actually been married for a little bit,” I informed the professor. “For two years and hopefully many more, which is why I have to leave the group.”

“Liz, we can fix the hours to your liking,” Dr. Holt pleaded. “But please don’t leave the group. You’re an asset. I’ve never seen such interest, determination, and effort.”

I blushed at the kind words. “I’m sorry,” I apologized. “I’ve been hiding my marriage and now I don’t want to. I was in your group for the wrong reasons.”

“Liz, having a husband is nothing to be ashamed of. Many women have children and marry—”

“Oh! It’s nothing like that,” I assured my mentor. “We don’t have kids yet.”

Dr. Holt nodded in understanding. “Then why hide you marriage?” she wondered.

It was an awfully good question and I knew the answer. I had known the answer before I hid my marriage, but did so anyway because I was selfish and naïve. “Normalcy,” I lied. “I thought it made things simpler, easier.”

“Did it?”

I shook my head and laughed pitifully to myself. “No,” I scoffed. “I thought I married too young,” I truthfully admitted. “Going to school and living this life of being Liz Parker, and not Liz Evans, was like a breath of fresh air. Max and I had gotten into this huge fight and that’s when I took my first of several research groups. I’d barely be home and when I did go home, Max and I barely spoke, but I was so happy to see him. I loved going to class and being on my own and I loved coming home to him. Now I go home and he’s not even there. I miss him and I miss being married to him.” I looked down at my hands folded in my lap. Not only was I confessing to Dr. Holt, but I was confessing to myself. “I love him,” I smiled.

When I looked at Dr. Holt, it seemed like she was still trying to take it all in, and it was a lot to take in. “You’ve got a lot on your plate, Liz,” she said. “For the record, I’m not happy that you’re leaving me, but I understand.” She stuck out her hand, which I shook. “Hopefully, now that you have that insight, you’ll accept the invitation to my next research group when your marriage is better.”

If she only knew that that wasn’t even the beginning of the complications.



{Max}

I slid my arms into my jacket and put it on my back. Grabbing the lapels, I gave one quick tug. An enormous amount of reports, summaries, and findings in the form of papers in binders and folders covered my desk. They were piled so high that they covered the photos on my desk, but the train ride home was long and I needed to pack up my things at Riley’s house.

I decided that it was time to go home, to my wife. I had my much needed sabbatical and I was ready to confront Liz. The time away from her made me look at things from the outside. I missed her. I didn’t want to be mad at her forever, and I didn’t want to be away from her forever either.

Locking my office door behind me, I headed down the brightly lit halls of the B&A facility that I had gotten so accustomed to in the past two years. I knew nearly every inch of the building and every single person. I continued through the halls, passing the elevator, heading to the end of the corridor instead. I was eyeing a dark wooden door, engraved with the words “Chase Williams”. I knocked on the door jus below the name plate, opened the door, and leaned in.

“Hey, Chase?” I said, grabbing the attention of the man in the suit behind the desk. “I’m heading home for the day.”

With that, I started to pull back until Chase jumped out of his seat and ran to the door. “Max!” he called out.

I leaned back into the office as he made his way across the room. “Yeah?” I wondered.

“Come in and have a seat,” Chase instructed.

Chase Williams was only ten years older than me, yet he supervised the whole facility of Behr&Appleby here in Boston, reporting only to the head of the corporation in Roswell. He didn’t act like a stuck-up suit. Chase was easy-going and completely laid-back. I didn’t even consider him my boss even though he was. It was always him and me out at lunch together, talking about sports, work, movies, anything. He was someone who helped me feel normal.

I hesitantly walked into the office and followed Chase over to his desk. Chase took a seat and pointed at the one in front of his desk. I eased into it, watching Chase nervously run his hand over his tie repeatedly.

“Is there something wrong?” I wondered.

Chase sighed heavily as he sat on the edge of his seat, leaning slightly forward. “I really don’t want to have to do this,” he said worriedly.

I shook my head in confusion. “Do what?”

The dark-haired man cleared his throat and shook his head, mostly to himself. He continued running his hands over his tie. One hand went down the silk material, closely followed by his other hand. He stared at his desk with his eyes darting from the left to the right like he was looking for something, something to say.

“Chase…?”

“Max, I have to let you go,” he breathed out hesitantly. Finally he looked up with regret.

I stopped slouching in the chair and sat upright. “What do you mean?”

“You’re fired, Max.”

It felt like a punch in the stomach. “Fired?” I repeated. “What? Why?”

Chase nervously shifted in his seat . “Max, you’re a good friend of mine and I love working with you.”

“But you’re firing me,” I reminded him.

My boss sighed. “I know you’re doing your residency and you’ve got other things going on, but you said you wanted to keep this job. So we worked out a schedule for you, but you’ve shown up an hour late every day this past week, Max. For the past month, you’ve been leaving work an hour early. Today, you’ve only been in for three hours.”

“That’ll change,” I promised.

Chase bobbed his head up and down for a little while. “Yeah, it will because you don’t need this job. You’re a doctor, man.”

“I’m not license,” I commented.

“Soon you will be. Max, go home and give more time to Liz. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”

There was nothing I could do or say to convince him otherwise. Maybe it was for the best. Chase was right. Now I could go home and give time to my wife. Both Chase and I stood up from our seats, shook hands, but pulled each other into a hug. We made sure that we’d keep in touch as we walked to the door. After another hug, I walked into the hallway, not looking back as Chase closed his office door.

Most of my things fit into a file box. Mostly just picture frames, some snack food, and some cds. I left all the papers and all the work I had to do on the desk. It wasn’t my responsibility anymore.

I placed the box on the passenger’s seat of my car and started driving to the train station when I got a call. I fished my phone out of my pocket while managing to steer.

“Hello?” I answered. I didn’t get a chance to glance at the screen.

“Max?” It was Liz.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. She caught me off guard. It was the first time in nearly a week since I had last spoken to her. “Hi,” I replied after a moment of gathering myself back together.

Liz’s sigh came loud in clear over the phone. “I’m so glad I finally reached you,” she said. She cleared her throat. “Um…I’ve missed you.”

I stared dead ahead at the road, focusing hard but not on the road. “I’ve missed you too,” I hesitantly admitted to her.

Liz exhaled and it was that type of exhale where she was smiling. I knew her too well. “Look,” she said. “We’re having problems, Max.”

I nodded. “Yeah,” I sadly divulged. “We are.”

“Ok, so I decided to change that. I dropped the research group with Dr. Holt.”

My eyes widened in shock. Dr. Holt meant so much to her. The reason Liz decided that Harvard, and no other school, was for her was because Dr. Holt taught a class at Harvard. This woman was like Liz’s Gandhi.

“You did what?” I questioned.

“I withdrew from that pathology research group with Dr. Holt.”

I shook my head in disappointment. I didn’t want Liz to sacrifice her dream for me. “You didn’t have to do that, Liz.”

“Yes, I did,” she quickly replied. “Max, I know you’ve been cutting work to come home early to see me and I’m never there.”

At the red light I was stopped at, I lowered my head. How was I going to tell her that I got fired? I simply wasn’t going to tell her the truth. “Liz, I quit at B&A,” I lied.

“Why?”

I gritted my teeth. “Because apparently you and I have the same idea.”

Liz giggled on the other end. “I wish you didn’t do that, Max. I know how much you loved B&A.”

And I did. I may have left Chase’s office calm and cool but now I was kicking myself in the ass. I had worked at B&A for so long and it was something I depended on when I needed to get away. Now it was gone.

“It’s ok,” I lied once again. “I can do without B&A.”

There was a slight pause between us until Liz cleared her throat. “Where are you right now?”

“I’m heading back to Riley’s house,” I said, even though I was still in Boston. Liz didn’t know that I was commuting back and forth between Boston and my cousin’s home in New Haven, Connecticut. For the past week, I was supposedly in Connecticut the whole time. “I’m just going to pack up my things and come home.”

“You’re coming home?” Liz replied shocked.

I gave a small smile to myself and nodded. “Yeah, I am.”

“Great,” Liz replied cheerfully. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“A few hours,” I insisted.

I thought Liz hung up after that, but it was just a pause. I heard her sigh. “I love you, Max,” she said.

“I love you too.”

In a few hours I’d be home, but I’d need something to get me through those few hours. Commuting between Massachusetts and Connecticut was tiring. After a day’s work, I’d hop on the train and rest on the train, but when I’d get to Riley’s house, I’d want more rest and so all I ever did was hit the sack.

Michael had told me of a coffee shop that Maria was always raving about. So I took a detour into Cambridge, searching for the hidden coffee house. I turned into Jefferson and scanned from left to right on the narrow street, looking for a coffee house on the corner. I finally came to Waldon Street and found the quaint coffee house and Liz walking towards it.

I nearly kicked the brake pedal through the bottom of the car as Liz continued walking down the street. I was scared that she might see me. So I parked and waited for Liz to pass the coffee house, preparing to speed off when it was clear to do so. Instead of walking past the coffee house, she walked inside of it. Of all the luck, I thought to myself. Through the open windows, I could see Liz walk past the line forming at the counter. I squinted my eyes in confusion but they widened in horror as Liz walked behind the counter to a tall brunette who kissed her cheek.

I ignored my phone, which began to ring, and continued to glare into the coffee house as Liz and the brunette hugged and got close. But my phone rang incessantly.

“What?” I barked as I watched Liz.

“Hey,” Michael laughed. “Look, can you stop by the club? Something’s wrong with the books—”

“No, I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I just can’t,” I agitatedly insisted.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Michael, Liz is cheating on me.”

Chapter 10: Part 1

{Liz}

With my afternoon completely free, I rushed home. It’d be hours before Max would be here, but I was going to go home anyway and sit put. I didn’t want to miss him if he somehow got here early.

I couldn’t sit still. I sat on the couch in the living room with my knees bouncing like crazy. I was like a junkie in need of crack or a kid waiting for Christmas. I was excited and anxious to patch up things between Max and I. It wasn’t going to be easy because what I had to tell him was going to be something hard to swallow, but it was Max and I, and we could get through anything. I knew that, but I decided to hide the truth anyway.

I lied across the couch and closed my eyes. Now I wasn’t so anxious or eager. I was sick to my stomach, nauseated and dizzy.

The repaired glass veranda door opened and I jumped straight up. I watched Michael walk right past the family room and head into the kitchen. At least now I had someone to talk to. Michael wasn’t Mr. Talkative, but he was someone. Otherwise, I think I would have gone crazy being in our big house alone.

“Michael!” I called.

He whipped around, saw that it was me, but continued rummaging through the fridge.

“Hey,” I smiled.

Michael looked over his shoulder and jolted his chin forward. He then dug his head back into the fridge.

“Is there something wrong?” I wondered.

My tall alien friend scoffed and moved around the kitchen as if I wasn’t there.

“Michael!”

“What?!” he snapped.

I stared at him disbelief. Michael had always been a pretty rude guy, but we all got used to it. But this wasn’t Michael being rude. It was something else.

“Are you mad at me?” I asked him.

Michael rolled his eyes, shaking his head slightly.

“What?” I wondered.

He sighed heavily, staring at me with his already intimidating, narrow eyes. “It’s going to be hard, huh?” he said.

Now my eyes squinted at Michael in confusion instead of disbelief. I shook my head not understanding what he was implying. “What is?”

Michael gave a little laugh and again, shook his head “I just figured that it’s going to be hard for you to sneak around now that Maxwell is kind of forced to be at home around the time that you go to the ‘library’.”

There was nothing Michael said that made sense to me. What was he talking about? I asked myself. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I demanded to know referring to his sass as he said “library”. “And what do you mean ‘forced’? Max quit B&A on his own.”

Michael looked down slightly and shook his head. “Of course Maxwell would tell her that,” he said to himself, but obviously, I heard him clearly. He looked back up at me. “Max didn’t quit, Liz. Max was fired.”

“Fired?” I said.

Max told me he quit. The words came straight from his mouth, but it wouldn’t be the craziest thing if Max was fired. It would be a definite disappointment, but it was a possibility, and if it happened, yes, of course Max would tell me he quit.

“You know I’m always there for you, Liz,” Michael started to say. “Max came to me that night he kissed Tess. He came to me soaking wet and he told me that he kissed her. You know how I reacted?” he questioned.

I shook my head.

“I asked him how he could do that to you,” Michael answered himself. He forced out his words with anger and disappointment. “I was on your side, Liz. When Max told me that he slept with Tess…”

I lowered my head.

“…and he told me she was pregnant?” Michael continued. “I was shocked beyond belief. I couldn’t believe that it wasn’t you that he lost his virginity to. I always thought it was going to be you and I was let down when it wasn’t. You get that? I pulled for you and him, ok? I was on your side,” he emphasized. “For some sick reason, I worry about the two of you. Maybe it’s in my genes to look out for the king’s best interest, but you know, I was actually ended up looking out for yours, Liz. You’re important to Maria and Max and so you’re important to me and not just because of those two. I’ll always be there for you and I’ll defend you but now I’m on Max's side.”

I couldn’t believe Michael felt the way he told me he did. I can’t believe he cared about me the way he did. I appreciate it so much, he may not know it, but I do. But there was something he said that made me think twice. I lifted my head and looked at Michael, puzzled and confused. “Side?” I questioned. “Michael, what are you talking about?”

“You didn’t think that what you were doing would hurt Max,” Michael went on saying, not yet answering my question, “but you’re killing him, Liz, and if you don’t talk to him, you’re going to push him too far. This has been a long four months. He misses you.”

I looked at Michael and studied him. The expression on his face was so sincere and serious. Max's and mine problems affected everyone.

“I miss him,” I told Michael. “But you don’t understand what’s going on, Michael. He and I are at different stages in our marriage. He wants something that I’m not ready for. I don’t know if I can give it to him.”

“All he’s ever done is want to make things right with you, and right for you.” Michael snatched his Snapple off the counter and started to walk away. “Maybe you should talk to Max.”

“He’s still in Connecticut!”

Michael stopped at the doorway between the dining room and the kitchen. He turned around and shrugged. “Maybe you should try the hospital.”

“Boston General?” I said.

Michael gave a little nod and before I could ask why, Michael jogged up the stairs and slammed the door to his room shut. So I’d try Boston General. I grabbed my keys off the coffee table and ran out of the house.

I know Max would have told me that he quit when he was really fired, but why, I’m not all that sure. And why was he at Boston General? I don’t know the answer to that either. He said he was on his way to Riley’s house. Riley lived in Connecticut. Things just weren’t adding up.

I drove towards the ambulance bay of the hospital Max worked at and parked on the side of the street. I locked up my car and rushed into the ER. It was busy with ailing people. The waiting area they called “Chairs”, for the many seats in the room, was filled with people waiting to be seen by doctors. Some coughed, others moaned, and most were complaining to the triage nurse at the window. Nurses and people in white lab coats walked around main area of the ER, barely stopping to catch their breath. There were several sections divided by curtains and in each of the many hospital beds was a patient, hooked up to an IV drip, getting sown up, or waiting patiently. This was how Max worked, this was his job.

I scanned the area and Max was no where in site. I walked up to the main desk where a young guy around my age sat typing away on the computer and walking back and forth, retrieving patient files and a doughnut, which he stuffed in his mouth. He saw me approaching and smiled while still holding onto the doughnut with his teeth.

“Hey, Liz. What can I do for you?” he murmured.

“Hi, Lewis,” I replied, looking around the ER again. “Is Max on call?”

The big man behind the desk nodded. “Yeah, he came in looking for a shift.” Lewis then pointed to a curtain. “He’s working on a kid’s fractured leg in Curtain 4. I’d advise you to wait a minute or two. It’s pretty ugly.”

“Thanks,” I laughed. I walked to the curtain Lewis had pointed to and waited just outside the opening.

“Tommy, quit hanging from the ceiling fan,” I heard Max say. “Got it?”

The boy didn’t reply, but I imagined him nodding his head.

“Ok, so, you’re all set,” Max said. “Come to me if it starts acting up. Now why don’t you go out there and test out your extra set of legs? Be careful.”

Soon a little boy exited the curtain with a crutch under each arm. A man followed after him and soon Max. The two men stood at the opening while I stood off to the side slightly hidden by the blue curtain.

“Thanks so much, Dr. Evans,” the man replied. I took it that he was Tommy’s father.

It wasn’t the first time I had heard Max been referred to as Dr. Evans, but I never get tired of hearing it.

“It’s not a problem,” Max said to the boy’s father. “There’s going to be some discomfort and the cast will start irritating his skin like crazy. He’ll start shoving pencils down there and you got to make sure he doesn’t lose any pencils in there.”

The tall man, in his early thirties, gave a nod and shook Max's hand. “Thanks, I’ll make sure to do all of that,” he smiled. “My wife and I try to watch out for him, but there’s so much you can do. He’s a kid. As soon as he’s done with a bath, he jumps into a mud pit. You know what I mean? You got kids, doc?”

I leaned closer towards the men and waited for Max's reply and his response.

“Um, no,” he said softly. I could hear the hint of disappointment.

Tommy’s father sighed heavily and patted Max on his back. “Well, let me tell ya,” he started with his heavy Bostonian accent. “It’s a lot of work havin kids, with the protectin, providin, supportin, and keepin ‘em happy, but I’ve got to say, there’s nothin greater than having a family, you know? My wife…she’s somethin special. I love her and I love my kid. Thanks so much, doc. You’re a miracle worker.”

And with that, the man followed after his son who had been waiting patiently with his crutches under his arms. The two started walking off until the boy stopped, turned around, and waved at Max, smiling happily with a toothless grin.

Max continued standing at the opening, proud of himself for having helped another patient and happy to do so. I remember when Max first started his residency, he came home so happy. He’d talk about his patients and how he helped them, and of course, he couldn’t save all his patients, and he’d talk about how maybe he should have done a little “more”, but I’d have to assure him that, while healing was a gift, it was a gift he couldn’t share with everyone in the world. I don’t know how he could still do this job everyday, knowing he could save each and every person he touched, but withholding from doing so. It was willpower. A great strength of Max's in my eyes.

Max finally looked down and noticed me off to the side. He quickly stopped smiling proudly and started walking away.

“Max!” I called after him.

But he kept on walking.

“Max, I need to talk to you,” I said, jogging to catch up with him.

My husband marched right into the staff room without even looking over his shoulder. I went ahead and followed him inside. The room was empty, no one else inside. Max walked to the counter and poured himself some coffee into a Styrofoam cup. He continued to ignore me and I had no idea exactly why.

“Max,” I continued to plead. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but Michael told me something that I know can’t be right. We need to talk.”

Max took a sip of his coffee and shook his head. “Liz, go home,” he demanded. “We’re not doing this here.”

I stood still and shook my head. “Max, I don’t know what’s going on, but—”

“Liz, NO!” Max shouted. He slammed his now empty cup down on the counter and was now turned to me, totally giving me his attention. “We’re not doing this here!”

“We really have to talk,” I continued to say.

“No!” he shouted again. His face burned red with anger. “I’M JUST GOING TO CONTINUE YELLING AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS! DO YOU WANT ME TO GET FIRED FROM THIS JOB TOO?!” He turned away running his hands through his hair.

I think my jaw dropped to the floor. “It’s true,” I said to myself. “You told me you quit, but you were really fired.”

Max grabbed his cup in his hand and squeezed hard. The cup crumbled in his hand and Max threw it hard and fast into the trashcan. He started walking towards me, quickly and hurried. Instead of stopping in front of me, he walked past me, saying, “Get out of here, Liz. We’ll talk about this later,” under his breath.

TBC

Chapter 10: Part 2

{Liz}

It took an hour to get Michael to talk, but eventually, I got him to. I lured him out of his room and grabbed him by the collar and dragged the six-foot alien behind me and into the master bedroom where I sat him down on the bed.

“What did Max say to you?” I questioned.

He was like a kid who wasn’t about to rat out his brother. Michael just sat on the bed with his arms loosely crossed in front of his chest as he looked around the room.

“Michael, please just tell me,” I begged.

He finally looked at me and sighed. “You’re cheating on Max!” he exploded, emphasizing each word. “How could you?!”

My eyes widened in horror as my chin touched the carpeted floor. Today was just a day of jaw-dropping moments. “What?!” I exclaimed. “He thinks I’m cheating on him?”

Michael nodded. “He saw you at The Brew with some guy.”

Some guy? I wondered. I ran my hands through my hair, trying to think of who Michael was talking about. “Josh,” I realized.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“No, you don’t understand—”

The front door opened and both Michael and I looked in that direction. I turned to Michael as he stood up slightly.

“You, stay,” I ordered. Michael sat back down and I started to leave the room. At the doorway, I stopped and looked back at him. “Specifically, you stay out of ear shot. So go to your room.”

Michael reluctantly nodded his head, but I knew that as soon as I left the room, he’d go out the other door of the master bedroom and camp out on the overpass above the family room. I left the room anyway and jogged down the main staircase, catching a glimpse of Max as he walked into the kitchen. I quickly followed after him.

“Max!” I called.

I watched him sluggishly toss his keys onto the counter. “Let’s talk,” he suggested.

I nodded in agreement. “Let’s do.”

Max led the way into the living room and started pacing the length of the sofa. Meanwhile, I stood across the room, waiting for him to speak. I looked up at the catwalk above me and noticed that Michael’s shadow wasn’t looming above.

“DAMN, LIZ!” Max shouted. My heart nearly exploded as I jumped at his voice. I didn’t expect him to burst like that. He stopped pacing and looked directly at me. “Before,” he sighed, “when we were kids in high school, we didn’t think we could be together because we thought that fate was going to keep us apart, but we convinced ourselves and each other that we could fight fate because we loved each other and that’s all that mattered. But you know, maybe we’ve been wrong all this time. Maybe we were just a bunch of naïve kids who couldn’t look past each other. We thought we beat fate because we were together. Well that doesn’t mean anything. We were wrong. Look at us,” he ordered. “Fate still got to us because now we literally aren’t together. Fate gave us these busy schedules to keep us apart and it did well. I don’t see you anymore. At dawn, you’re gone, already heading to labs or classes and on the weekends, it’s labs or research groups. I pretend nothing’s going on because I trust you, but there is something going on and it’s consumed me.” He started staring at the carpet and then he threw his head back up. “God, Liz! I miss you!”

“I miss you too!” I quickly replied.

“Well what the hell is going on?” Max wondered, finally looking at me and not the floor or off to the side.

But now I couldn’t look back at him. “Nothing,” I lied to the ground.

Max exhaled sharply. “You’re a horrible liar, you know that?” He was going all out, no holds barred.

“Obviously not!” I snapped. I knew it was the wrong thing to say, but it just came out and I couldn’t think straight. So I just kept on going. “If you never once thought of checking up on me to see if I really was at the lab or at the—”

“Because I TRUSTED you!” Max shouted and I started to feel his pain and betrayal “I never once thought you’d cheat on me, but then I saw you—”

“I’m not!” I shouted back. “I would never—”

Max's threw his head back and laughed. “So what then? You show up at a coffee house and get close to the owner for a free cup of coffee?”

I don’t know what Max saw, but Josh and I were friendly and that was it. He was a happy-go-lucky guy that had this personality that reeled someone in. How he would think that I would ever cheat on him, I don’t understand. I love Max and it hurt that he would think I would go behind his back. Nothing would make me turn to another man. I wouldn’t want him to feel the hurt I felt when I learned about Tess, but I think I’ve ended up hurting him anyway.

“Max, I’m not cheating on you,” I said calmly. “I would never do that to you. There’s no reason for me to.”

With his hands on his hips, Max sighed. “So who is he?”

“His name’s Josh, and he’s my boss.”

Max's hands dropped to his side. “Boss?” he wondered.

I hesitantly nodded.

“You got a job? Why?”

“Because I needed to get away,” I confessed. “I needed to get away like you needed to.”

Max shook his head. “I didn’t get a job without telling you.”

“You’re right,” I agreed, bobbing my head up and down. “You didn’t, but after that fight we had, you started working more and more, and that’s when I got a job.”

Max ran his hands through his hair, shaking his head. “I don’t get this,” he laughed sadly. “What is wrong with us?”

I lowered my head, thinking, There are so many things wrong with us.

“Liz, you’re right,” Max went on without an answer to his question. “I did start working more to get away, but I realized what a mistake I was making and I was trying to make up for it. I tried pulling you back after I pushed you away, but you were pushing too, Liz, and you still have been.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Why?”

I took a deep breath and took a seat on the edge of the couch. I was just going to have to explain everything to him. Enough of the question and answer. I was just going to tell him everything.

“Max,” I sighed. I took a beat to take a deep breath. “At school, I’ve been hiding our marriage, this beautiful thing we have. I admit it and it’s the biggest mistake I’ve ever made, ok? I’m telling you now because I love you.”

I couldn’t explain the look on Max's face when I looked up because there was simply no expression on his face. He was just staring at me. In disbelief? Anger? I don’t know. “If you love me,” he said, his tears already in his throat, “then why do it, Liz? Why deny me? Our love?”

I swallowed my own tears and shook my head. “Because it was so simple to just be Liz Parker. I was ‘Liz Parker, small town girl’ again and I didn’t have to worry about kids or a family or anything. It’s like I was on my own.”

“You regret getting married,” Max assumed.

“No!” I insisted. “Max, I love being married to you. I just…I never knew what it was like to not be married. For the first time, in a long time, I thought about me.”

“Well, you should have been thinking about me, too,” Max said softly, “because I thought about you every second of every day. I thought about how I pushed you and how fast you were slipping away from me, so fast that I didn’t know what to do about it. Soon enough, there was nothing I could do at all.”

I lowered my head slowly with each nod. “I know, Max. I know.”

There was silence between us. Call it an intermission, because while Max and I didn’t speak, he took a seat and took deep breaths while I stood up to stretch my legs. After a brief moment, Max looked up from lowering his head and pinching the bridge of his nose to watch me pace around.

“Liz, why is it you can talk to Maria and Isabel about kids, but not me?” he asked.

I froze still and looked at him looking at me. I don’t understand why kids were important to him but they were. I remember when we had a fight about kids, I had spat out that he probably wanted them so desperately to make up for the son he lost. It was a stupid thing to say, something I totally regret.

“Because with them, we’re just talking about kids and it’s a fantasy,” I truthfully admitted. “We’re not planning a future.”

“What does that mean?” Max questioned. “You don’t want to discuss a future with me, your husband?”

I walked back to the love seat across from the couch Max sat on and took a seat for myself. I had skeletons in my closet, ones I hid from my husband, someone who I wasn’t supposed to keep secrets from.

“Are you going to answer me?” Max wondered, he had already seen the guilt in my eyes.

I closed my eyes, recollecting about an event I experienced and the choices I was ashamed of. I cleared my throat and slowly opened my eyes. I was just going to tell him. I was going to tell him why. “Max, months ago,” I said, “a little before that huge blowup that sent us to where we are now, before everything went downhill for us, I missed a period.”

Max's eyes widened with interest and shock.

“Of course, the first thing that came to my mind was that I was pregnant,” I went on. “It’s a common assumption and then people react in different ways. Some are happy, overjoyed, and ecstatic. Others are terrified, freaked, and panicked, and that’s the category I belonged in.”

Max slid forward in his seat and listened intently.

I sighed nervously and continued. “Max, here I was, just having turned 20. I just started the Fall semester at Harvard and I was getting ready to apply for my first research group, and now I was pregnant.”

My husband kept good focus on me, listening intently as I spoke. He kept his mouth locked shut, his jaw muscles bulging out his cheeks, but he wasn’t burning red with anger or anything like that, he was just quiet and paying close attention.

I looked away from his stares. “I wasn’t ready to be a mother,” I continued on. “I was panicking and freaking out, but I knew that I was thinking straight.” I watched my fingers play with each other and then looked back up at Max. I took a deep breath and decided to confess. “I knew that I couldn’t have this baby.”

Max's eyes widened in shock once more and his mouth slowly fell open. He stood up as his tears filled his eyes like a flash flood, forcing him to look up to keep the tears in. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, hurt to the core. You could hear in his voice the tears in his throat.

My eyes had dried while I spoke, but seeing Max struggle with his tears, my eyes began to water again as I felt the pain of hurting Max. “Because…” I replied. “Because I couldn’t live with myself for even thinking about getting an abortion, much less telling you.”

“So for months you just kept your mouth shut?” Max demanded to know. “Punishment for all the shit I put you through? For everything I did to you? Well, let me tell you, Liz, this doesn’t even compare! How could you do this??? You hid a pregnancy from me and an abortion?”

TBC

Hey everyone, thanks, as always, for the FB. I love your reactions and I love what you all have to say.

Take care,
hoLLy


Chapter 10: Part 3

{Liz}

“So for months you just kept your mouth shut?” Max demanded to know. “Punishment for all the shit I put you through? For everything I did to you? Well, let me tell you, Liz, this doesn’t even compare! How could you do this??? You hid a pregnancy from me and an abortion?”

“I didn’t!” I cried. My tears streaming down my face and my heart in my throat. “I didn’t, ok? I wasn’t pregnant! I thought I was, but I wasn’t! And you know what? It makes me feel even worse that I thought about getting an abortion and hiding it from you! So I did the only thing that I could think of doing, and that was running away without actually running away from you! I’m so sorry, Max.”

Instead of accepting my apology, Max shook his head, tossing my apology away. “Sorry doesn’t cut it, Liz. Think about what you just said. You thought you were pregnant,” he said, uncurling one finger of his fist. “You weren’t going to tell me.” One more finger became uncurled. “You considered an abortion.” A third finger. “And you considered going through with the abortion and you weren’t even going to tell me.” Four of his fingers were outstretched and he just held his hand out there. I stared at it and the reality it represented.

“But I didn’t,” I tried to emphasize.

“THAT’S NOT THE POINT!” Max shouted.

I rubbed my temples and shook my head. “I don’t know what to say,” I said softly. “I love you, Max.”

“YOU SURE HAVE ONE HELL OF A WAY OF SHOWING IT!” Max exploded. He was on his feet, pacing, taking long strides. “You push me away? That tells me you love me?”

“HEY!” I shouted back, throwing my finger towards him. “You pushed first!”

“So you are punishing me? This is your way of getting back at me.”

I sighed heavily, slouching and lowering my head as I stood. “No,” I said softly. “That’s not what I wanted to do. I pushed because I was scared to face you and I didn’t want to see your hurt.”

“Like the hurt I’m feeling now?!”

I didn’t even have to look at Max's face to know that he was hurting, I could hear it in his voice. So I just kept my head down and hesitantly nodded.

“Well, look at me!” Max ordered. “See the hurt!” He placed his hand on his hips and lowered his head. He took a deep breath. “After all we had been through,” Max said softly, “with your shooting, Alex’s death, my death, and you still have the nerve to push me away?”

I looked down at my hands. “You pushed away first,” I reminded him again.

Max scoffed. “Is that going to be your argument every single time?” he wondered. “I pushed, Liz, because I needed time, but I came around.”

“Yeah, and I pushed because I was afraid,” I justified, “and it’s hard to overcome fear.”

Max shook his head. “Not if you’ve got someone there to help you and I’m here, Liz. I always have been.”

And I realized that, just a little too late because now my husband and I were at odds, possibly the end. We stood in silence, exhausted, speechless, I don’t know.

“Max, I think about kids,” I said, bringing the conversation back to the source of all our problems. “I do, and I think about whether or not I’m going to be a good mother.”

“You will be,” Max insisted.

A smirk made its way onto my face. “Thank you,” I smiled. “But that’s not the only thing I think about. Max, when we were 16, the FBI was after us. At 17, some squirt alien with a lot of power was after you. When we were 18, something else wanted you dead.”

“Nothing’s happened in the past two years,” Max reminded me.

“I know,” I nodded. “But that’s not the point. Max, look at what we’ve had to go through.”

Max's eyes squinted in confusion. “Are you saying I’m cursed?”

“No,” I quickly replied. I didn’t want him to think that. “Max,” I continued, “when I think about kids, I don’t just think about it, I really think about it.”

Max looked at me, shaking his head. “What do you mean?”

I stared into my lap and sighed. “I mean, I’m scared for our kids and they don’t even exist. I want to be able to give them so much, but I can’t because of all that’s happened to us and all that might happen to us.”

“You mean because of what I am,” Max summed up.

I hesitantly nodded.

“Liz, when we have these conversations—these fights—about kids, you know, I’ve got it in my head somewhere that it’s not even a possibility to have kids,” Max said, “but you…your stance in these arguments is strong, like you know that we can, for sure, have kids.”

I closed my eyes, hoping I would open them to find myself in bed, waking up from this nightmare. Slowly, I lifted my eyelids, and I was still in the family room, sitting on the couch, and Max had put it together.

“You do know,” he realized. “Don’t you? How? How do you know we can have kids?”

I looked to the floor and took a deep breath. “I know because Tess told me.”

“WHEN?!” Max shouted. His reply was just one big roar.

“Two years ago,” I replied calmly. “You had found me with her in the pod chamber that day. That’s when she told me.”

“TWO YEARS AGO?!” Max cried out in sheer shock.

I slowly nodded, continuing to look at the floor.

“You’re awfully good at keeping your mouth shut,” Max scoffed. He turned to me clenched his mouth shut, very slightly pursing his lips. When he did that, he was angry and he stared at me like that forever. “All these years… What did she say?”

“I can have children,” I informed Max. “And she told me, because I was different, that my pregnancy would last two months and that’s it.”

Now, Max's face burnt red. He jumped to his feet, turned away, and started taking deep breaths. “GOD! I CAN’T EVEN LOOK AT YOU RIGHT NOW!” He placed his hands on the back of his head and looked up at the ceiling. Frustration was building up inside him, but instead of exploding, Max slowly lowered his hands to his hips where they were earlier and he hung his head low once again. “I get it now,” he said quietly. “You’ve known all this time that you and I were capable of having kids together, but you allowed us to fight, and you pushed away, not because you’re not ready to have kids, but because you don’t want kids at all.” He turned only his head to me. “Am I right?”

I looked into his eyes and pleaded with him. “I want to have kids,” I assured him, “but I also want to be able to give our child what it wants and what I want for it. I don’t want to have kids unless I can give them a happy and safe future.”

“No one give their children that, Liz,” Max replied, shaking his head. “The world’s a dangerous place.”

“So is all of outer space, but not everyone has to worry about outer space. We do,” was my rebuttal. “Max, I don’t want to have to give our child a life where tomorrow could possibly be your last or my last or worse, that child’s last. That’s why I considered the abortion because no matter what, we’re going to give that child a life of danger. I don’t want to do that. I want to be able to give our kids everything in the world. The lives we have, Max, restricts that from happening.”

“You would rather kill a potential life than give it up for adoption?”

Max would never understand. He wasn’t a woman. “Do you know how hard it would be to give up our child, Max?” I questioned. “I wouldn’t be able to do it, and so I’d keep the child, but I’d have to leave you,” I revealed. It’s how I reasoned. “But I don't want to leave you, Max. I want kids, but I don’t want kids.”

Max turned to me and stared at me in disbelief. His eyes were narrow, dense wrinkles formed in his forehead, and his face was lit up in confusion. “What does that mean???” he exclaimed. “You do or you don’t, Liz. Which is it?” He stressed each word of his inquiry.

I looked down at my hands as I let one thumb rub over the nail of my other thumb. A tear fell on one knuckle and I pulled my hands away from each other to dry my eyes and my cheeks. I knew the answer, but I couldn’t find it in me to tell my husband truthfully. This, what I was about to say, was what was going to be hard for him to swallow. I was about to rip my husband’s heart in two.

“Don’t,” I finally admitted. “I don’t want kids.”

I slowly looked up to see the devastation on Max's face. It was heartbreak. It was visible heartbreak and I caused it. His eyes slowly started darting from left to right with his head very slightly following the directions his eyes went. His lips parted and his mouth naturally hung open. He started lifting his head up, with his eyes doing the same thing and his mouth still open. He was in utter disbelief and shock. Max finally brought his eyes to mine for a brief moment and he showed me the tears that filled them fully. He then swiftly turned around and started walking towards the door. “I—I’ve got to go,” he decided that moment.

“Wait!” I pleaded. “Where are you going?”

Max froze still in the corridor but barely looked over his shoulder. “I don’t know,” he replied, shaking his head. “I just…I’ve got to get out of here. I need to be alone.” He continued his march for the front door where he grabbed his jacket off the coat rack and proceeded to put it on.

“How long will you be gone?” I wondered.

With his back still to me, Max grabbed a hold of the doorknob as he shook his head. “I don’t know,” he replied again. “I wouldn’t wait up.” Then Max pulled the door open and walked out of the house. The wind in the house shut the door completely.

I stood in the middle of the hallway with my hands over my face, letting my palms smear the tears. It was done, I knew it. There was no way Max would forgive me. Someone jogged down the stairs and I quickly spread the tears around to dry my face.

“I heard the front door. Is the coast clear?” Michael wondered.

I dried all my tears and nodded. “Yeah.”

Michael continued down the stairs and walked straight into the kitchen. “You guys work things out?”

I stared at the front door. It was the front door to Max's and my home. The home was in our name and we were making payments. With the money that Max was making, we weren’t that far off from owning the house completely, but now, things have changed and could I still call this home ours?

I started to cry again, fearing that what had just happened between Max and I was the demise to our marriage. I naively thought that Max would forgive me. Thinking back to the conversation, how stupid was I to believe that? Maybe the whole reason I had waited to tell Max was because maybe I knew that it was going to end up this way.

“Liz?” Michael called. I could sense him behind me standing in the hallway.

I didn’t want to talk to him. I wanted to be alone. I wanted to leave the house. But I couldn’t. Instead, I leaned against wall and slid down to the floor, bringing my knees up to my chest. With my elbows on my knees, I forced the balls of my hands into my eyes. Michael had quickly rushed over and dropped to the floor beside me.

“Geez, what the hell happened?” he asked, wrapping his arms around me to comfort me. “Where’s Maxwell?”

I cried into Michael’s chest and shook my head. “He’s left.”

Liz would leave with the child. Sorry, maybe I should have cleared that up.

-hoLLy

Thanks for the FB. I love your theories, extingman

Thank you and take care,
-hoLLy


Chapter 11: Part 1

{Max}

I don’t want kids.

The words came straight from her mouth. Liz didn’t want kids, and never did I think that she wouldn’t want to have kids. We married not knowing where the other stood on the topic, but I didn’t think Liz would be against it.

No, scratch that. She wasn’t against having kids, she just against having them with me. It was a slap in the face if I ever saw one, and it was from my own wife, but could I be angry? She said she wanted kids, but she didn’t want them, because of me. If Liz had fallen in love with someone else and married him, I bet everything in the world that she’d be eager to have children of her own, but she wasn’t married to someone else. Liz and I were married and Liz wouldn’t have the kids or a white picket fence or any of that. She couldn’t give me what I wanted and I couldn’t give her what she wanted. She wanted kids, but I couldn’t give her the life she wanted for our kids. And I wanted kids, but she didn’t want to carry children, because I wouldn’t be the father she envisioned, a father who was able to protect his children and keep them away from all harm.

She said I wasn’t, but I was, I’m cursed.

I loved Liz since the moment I saw her. We were eight and I sure as hell didn’t know what love was then, but I was, I was already in love with her. What the hell do I do? I love her and I’ll always love her, but she betrayed and lied to me. Nothing can forgive or justify what she did.

I was hurt. She nearly killed me with her confession and I had spent the last two hours on the rooftop of Boston General wondering if I should jump off the edge. Ok, so that’s a lie. I would never do something like that, but I thought about it. Maybe it would make things easier for Liz. She had never known life without me.

Was that the answer? Our marriage consisted of secrets, lies, and betrayal. There was a time when we were happy, but that was such a long time ago. Maybe I was right about the fate thing. I didn’t believe what I was saying about fate was true, but maybe it was. Maybe Liz and I really aren’t meant to be together.

I was going to have to let Liz go.

“Max, what the hell are you doing up here?”

No longer was I slouching on the bench on the roof. I sat straight up, watching Dr. Reyes, Chief of Emergency Medicine, putting on latex gloves with two nurses behind her doing the same.

“I—I was just getting some air,” I stuttered.

“Well, I hope you got enough,” the older woman grinned. “You’re about to help us with three MVA vics.”

I had just gotten off a shift nearly two hours ago, but I nodded obediently and looked up to the sky, hearing the blades of a helicopter that started its decent onto the helipad. The chopper touched down and the paramedics in the copter rushed out, sliding out a gurney. We rushed over to the helicopter, ducking down to avoid the blades, as the wind whipped past my ears. I stood back to watch the nurses help the EMTs with the gurney.

“What do we got?” Dr. Reyes shouted.

“30-year-old male,” one of the paramedics began to recite, he too, shouting at the top of his lungs. “Claims he can’t feel his legs.”

I ran alongside the gurney, helping push it to the elevator. The man lied out across the bed, groaning in pain. Crimson red blood ran down the side of his face starting from a deep gash along his hairline.

“What’s your name?” I questioned.

The man swallowed hard. “Anthony. Anthony De Rossi.”

My eyes widened in shock. A boy with a broken leg had come into the ER with the same last name. I looked back down at the victim on the stretcher and studied his face, suddenly realizing that it was the boy’s father.

“Mr. De Rossi, was Tommy with you?” I quickly questioned.

The man lifted his head off the bed and nodded. “Yes!” he started to cry. He stared at me, remembering that it was I who helped his son. “Dr. Evans!”

I nodded and eased the man back onto the stretcher. “Tell me what happened.”

The elevator came to a stop and the stainless steel doors parted ways. Again, I ran alongside of the gurney, helping wheel it into a trauma room.

“We were going to the movies,” Mr. De Rossi began to recollect. His voice was labored. He took deep breaths and took what strength he had to speak. “Damn cabby ran a red light.”

“Vitals,” Dr. Reyes ordered.

I looked to the monitor and answered before the nurses could. “BP’s 125 over 85. Pulse: 106.”

“Ok,” Dr. Reyes nodded. “That’s normal for an MVA victim. Are you having any abdominal pain, Mr. De Rossi?”

The man shook his head and reached up grabbing my collar. I won’t lie and say my heart didn’t race. The ER was a dangerous and unpredictable place. Mr. De Rossi pulled me down to his voice. “You have to help my wife. I trust you.”

“She was with you?” I asked.

Mr. De Rossi nodded. “Yes, please. I know she was hurt. The truck hit her side of the cab.”

“I’m sure doctors are working on her now.” I took a moment to look over my shoulder at the trauma room behind me and then across the room at the next trauma room just as another stretcher was wheeled in. “She’s right over there,” I pointed, watching Mr. De Rossi turn his head in that direction. “What about Tommy?” I wondered. “Where is he?”

The injured man shook his head. “I don’t—”

“Do you feel that, Mr. De Rossi?” Dr. Reyes was at the man’s feet, running a pen up and down his soles.

Mr. De Rossi shook his head disappointedly, this time in response to Dr. Reyes. I looked down at the floor and sighed heavily. Everyday I saw people who were injured and I knew that I would be able to do something more, but I never did. I did the best that I could with my human abilities. Majority of the time, my human abilities sufficed, but other times, they didn’t, but I couldn’t just wave my hand over a broken leg or ruptured spleen. Liz always said that my gift was something wonderful, but it was just something that I couldn’t share. So why do what I do? Because I was here to heal people whether I used my powers of not.

“Dr. Reyes here is going to do everything she can to help you,” I told Mr. De Rossi.

Mr. De Rossi continued to lie back on the stretcher with his eyes closed and his cheeks bulging. “I don’t care what happens to me,” he grimaced. “You have to help my wife.”

I placed a comforting hand on the man’s shoulder and left his side, walking across the room, to the trauma next door. It was like stepping into a different world. Unlike the calmness in the trauma room I was just in, this trauma room was bustling. The doctors and nurses huddled around the stretcher, a few of the nurses moving hurriedly around the room gathering supplies and following doctors’ orders that were quickly barked out.

“What is it?” I asked.

One of the nurses zooming by took a moment to inform me. “A pole in the incoming truck impaled the woman’s lower back.”

My eyes widened in horror. “How much blood loss?”

The nurse shrugged. “1200cc,” he guessed. He then started back on his course to the supply cabinet.

Another nurse stood at the head of the stretcher, rhythmically squeezing a bag connected to a tube in the victim’s mouth, sending air to the lungs. Blood covered the floor and the attending doctor’s gown. The victim had already lost a lot of blood and it looked like a nurse was hooking up another liter. I turned back around to report to the woman’s husband.

Again, when I passed through the doors to, it was like stepping into a different world. No one rushed around the room or barked orders. There was just the soft beep of a monitor, which Mr. De Rossi stared at. Sitting in his lap doing the same was Tommy. The young boy seemed untouched, uninjured. Only spots of blood covered his shirt and I was guessing it wasn’t his blood. On his right leg was the cast I had molded for him hours earlier. Out of boredom, the young boy started unintentionally kicking his father’s feet, but Mr. De Rossi was unfazed by the heavy cast.

“What’s the deal?” I asked Dr. Reyes.

The doctor sat off to the side, writing on a clipboard. “Trauma to the lumbar region of his spine.”

“Do you think it’s permanent?”

The older woman shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. “We have to get an x-ray and do some tests to determine the severity of the back injury. How’s his wife?”

Looking over my shoulder into the other trauma room, I sighed. “She was impaled with a pole. Lost a lot of blood.”

Dr. Reyes smirked regretfully. “Maybe you should tell him. He and his kid seem to like you. They asked for you.”

I nodded my head slightly and watched Dr. Reyes leave the room. I took the stool she had sat on and wheeled it over to the stretcher and grabbed Mr. De Rossi’s attention. The man looked behind me into the trauma room and sighed.

“She’s not going to make it, is she?” he asked. He continued to stare into the other room, not once taking his eyes off his wife.

“Maybe Tommy would be better in the family waiting room,” I suggested.

But Mr. De Rossi shook his head. “He doesn’t understand. He doesn’t know what happened or what’s going on. If he does, then so what? I’d have to tell him anyway.”

I nodded in understanding and agreement and cleared my throat. “The doctors are trying to stabilize her,” I informed the man, not answering his question specifically. “She suffered blood loss, but they’ve got transfusions running.”

“You can help her,” Mr. De Rossi said. “I know you can.” I looked up at the man in wonderment and watched him. He still hadn’t let his eyes stray away from his wife. He slowly blinked when he had to, but his eyes didn’t move. They were fixated on the stretcher in the next room. “We picked her up from work,” the man began. “We were going to see a movie. She saw Tommy-boy’s cast and she was fuming,” Mr. De Rossi grinned, still staring at his wife. “But she didn’t shout or anything. She just reached into her purse, pulled out a pen, and signed the cast. She was so beautiful.” I regretfully looked down as Mr. De Rossi continued on. “I tried to throw myself over both of them but the truck hit us on her side. She saved him.” Mr. De Rossi finally took his eyes off his wife and brought them down to his son, who continued looking the other way at the lines moving across the monitor hooked up to Mr. De Rossi. The man kissed the back of his son’s head and closed his eyes. He savored the moment and then went back to watching his wife and the doctors working on her. “She threw herself over him first, and then I tried to cover both of them, but…” The man looked down and sighed. He slowly turned his head to look at me. “Please help her.”

The man and I stared at each other for a moment. The man needed his wife. I could see his plea in his eyes. Mr. De Rossi loved that woman in the next room and I could visibly see the love he felt for her. A shrill beep in the other room went off, breaking our connection.

“Pulse is dropping!” one of the nurses shouted.

I leapt off the stool and rushed back into the other room.

“Start compressions,” Dr. McGuire ordered.

I pushed throat and jumped onto the step, beginning the compressions myself.

“Max—”

“Let me do this,” I begged.

Dr. McGuire nodded and stepped back. “Fine,” he nodded. “Dr. Evans is taking over. Take it away.”

With one hand over the other, I placed my sandwich of hands on the woman’s bloody chest and started pushing down. The nurse at the head of the stretcher continued squeezing the bag while observing the monitor. For the first time, I got a good look of the woman’s face. Strands of her light brown hair delicately lied across her face and what a beautiful face it was. Even with the blood and the paleness of her skin, I could see that she was beautiful. She could have been a model.

“Pulse is weak, Dr. Evans,” the nurse announced.

I breathed heavily, feeling the sweat run down my chest. “Push an amp of epi,” I ordered. “Charge paddles to 50.” Another nurse rushed over with the defibrillator and handed me the paddles. I placed them on both sides of the woman’s chest. “Clear!” I ordered.

The woman’s body jumped off the stretcher and slammed back onto the table. I looked to the monitor which showed no signs of improvement. After shoving the paddles back at the nurse, I placed my hands back on the injured woman’s chest, just below the breast bone.

“Resuming compressions,” I announced. I continued pushing hard, feeling the woman’s chest contract below my hands. You could hear it and it sounded like bellows trying to keep a fire alive.

A loud continuous beep came from the monitor and one of the lines went flat.

“Asystole,” the nurse announced.

“Charge the paddles to 300!” I breathed out.

I stopped compressions, called for everyone to move away, and shocked the woman’s chest. This time, her body jumped up a little higher and slammed down harder. I threw the paddles to the side and resumed compressions. I pressed hard and tried hard.

“Max…” Dr. McGuire started to say. He continued to stand off to the side with his arms crossed in front of his chest. “Max, stop.”

“No!” I cried out. “No, charge to 360.”

As I continued compression, the nurse beside me looked to Dr. McGuire. I caught him shaking his head and the nurse backed away slightly. McGuire made his way over and turned the monitor off. The beeping stopped.

“She’s in asystole,” the doctor announced again. “She’s out, Max.”

Human abilities failed. I had no intention of ever using my gift in the ER, but I wanted to desperately to save this woman. I had to think of something. My shirt stuck to my chest with sweat, my hands covered in blood, and the cuffs of my jacket soaked with both. I was sill performing the compressions. So I closed my eyes tight, letting my energy flow from my head, through my body, and through my arms, eventually to my hands. I started quickly forcing out breaths through my locked jaw.

“Max, stop,” McGuire ordered again. “I’m calling it.”

Finally I ceased. I opened my eyes and looked at the lifeless face and the endotracheal tube surrounded by the woman’s blue lips. It didn’t work. The woman was gone.

I shook my head. “No, let me,” I finally answered. I looked up at the clock on the wall and sighed, exhausted. “Time of death: 1752.”

Everyone in the room stood in silence, but only for a brief moment. Soon, nurses were taking off their smocks and pulling off the gloves, tossing them to the floor for the janitor to clean up. They left the room as Dr. McGuire approached me. I stepped off the stepping stool next to the stretcher and stared at the woman.

“Max, she came in with her pupils blown,” Dr. McGuire began to explain. “She lost 600ccs of blood before she even got here. She was just taking her time to go. Do you want me to tell the family?”

I shook my head and started backing out of the room.

“I can do it, Max,” McGuire offered.

Again, I shook my head and bumped into the doors. I turned around and through the windows I saw Tommy and his father looking at me. They had been watching the whole time. I hesitantly pushed through, walking with my head lowered.

“She’s not movin’, doc,” Mr. De Rossi said softly.

I nodded and rolled up the sleeves of my jacket so that the father and son wouldn’t see the bloody cuffs.

“Did she have a chance?” Mr. De Rossi wondered.

This time I shook my head. “I’m sorry,” I finally said.

Mr. De Rossi broke down, leaning his head against his son’s. Little Tommy didn’t shed a tear or even blink. He had been looking at his mom in the next room the whole time, no expression on his face.

I couldn’t imagine myself in Mr. De Rossi’s position. The man lost his wife.

Suddenly, I realized I was already in the man’s position. I had lost my own wife. Not in the same way, but I did. I had lost the Liz I fell in love with and I was going to lose Liz completely.

I’ll never forget what she did to me, how she lied and betrayed me, but I didn’t want to lose her.

I couldn’t save Mr. De Rossi’s wife, but I could try to save my own wife. I was going to get my Liz, the one I fell in love with, back. No alien powers needed.

TBC