Part 7
Max saw Liz staring out the kitchen window and approached slowly. "Where is he?"
"Outside." She whispered. "He's so confused."
"I don't blame him. He realized that I was his father." Max rubbed a hand over his face. "I'd want someone to take back that tidbit of information, too."
"Max, don't say things like that." Liz scolded him and turned to look at him only to see that it was deeper than simple insecurities. "What is it?"
"He knows what kind of man I was, Liz... it's nothing to be proud of. The atrocities I committed, the way I treated my own family. Liz. I was horrible." Max turned to stare out the window at the shifting clouds and wet trees. "I... I was... an ungracious son to my father while he was alive. I treated my sister as if she were of no importance. I completely... let's just say that in the past life that Michael and I were not friends. and that's just the beginning.
"I had a new harem every year. I hated used goods. My wife..." Max let out a sob. "I practically raped her everytime we were together, she was so young, too young. Then... I used her servant for myself... then tossed her off on Michael." He couldn't hold his head up. "I ignored Miwiro until I needed him to protect the mother that I had all but forgotten still existed in my life. You know, Hanu, he was a good man. Very wise and I never really listened to a word he had to say.
"There was only one thing I did not do. I never took daughters from their families for myself. Not after Misela. I couldn't. If that happened to be their line of work, who was I to judge but I never forced a girl out of her home for me." He was too afraid to look at Liz.
"You're not him. You might share his soul, maybe some genetics but you are not him." Liz wrapped her arms around him from behind. "I'm sure he realizes that too."
"Two years he lived in my house and I never gave him a second thought." Max sobbed and gripped Liz's arms tight. "Liz, I don't want to go back. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't want to leave you."
"I can't keep you here because I love you." Liz whispered into his strong back. "You always know what to do, Max."
"But I don't." He turned in her arms so he could look into her eyes. "Gediro would flip a coin. A coin. He rested the fates of thousands of his own men on the flip of a coin. I can't do that. You know why he used the coin, it had his face on it. I was so arrogant, how could I have been so self-righteous? I can't do that, Liz."
"Then don't go and fight as Gediro. Fight as Max." She met his gaze steadily. "I have faith in you. Passive won't work up there. You'd have to be aggressive to get back your kingdom but I believe that you can do it."
"And so do I." Miwiro spoke softly from the back door. He had been listening and it had never crossed his mind that his father had been a bad person even though Gediro was. Max had never seemed bad to him. When he had first arrived, he figured that Gediro would be eager to go back home but he had resisted. Then he had learned what sort of man Max was. He was a boy, just like himself. "I can teach you the layouts you don't remember on the flight back. I know all of Fervid's battle plans. I know which ones you liked best."
Max stared at the guy who would be his son and blinked. He believed that he had extraordinary faith in him. He glanced down at Liz who nodded. "When do we leave?
"Whenever you want." Miwiro held out his hand. "I found it in an old battle field and I kept it. I don't know why."
Max reached out and took the coin. His own face but 10 years older. A shudder ran through his body. He got flashes of the carnage that had taken place at that battle. He remembered.
It was the first battle that he had taken interest in since he lost his beloved Misela. Before he went onto the battlefield, he held a coin in his hands. A version of himself that his father thought he would be was on the coin. He flipped it and it landed on the side where an image of the castle lay. He took it as a sign that he had a duty to win. He fought on the offense, as if he had only more to gain by moving forward, as if he couldn't lose what little his father had claimed. He tore apart everyone that entered his path. Only Fervid had stuck by his side to make sure he wasn't caught off guard during his blinding passion. When it was over, he fell to his knees and cried. It would be the last time he cried, ever.
Max flipped the coin in the air and caught it in his hand. He noticed the shiver that ran through his son's body. He must have done it right. Opening his hand, he saw his own face. "Defense."
"We had a small stronghold. It's where I took off from. If we can get back there, we could slowly take back everything." Miwiro nodded. "We have the fire power and I've trained so many of the others in the past five years. We are ready. We've defended what little we had and we will continue to do so under your leadership."
"If it had been tails?" Max whispered.
"I would suggest going straight for the heart. The palace. Kivar sits on your throne. He thinks he's safe there but he doesn't know about the passages. We could surprise him and take him from behind." Miwiro spoke excitedly.
"No. Just because he's a coward doesn't mean I am." Max hissed. "If I take him down. It will be face to face."
"Begging your pardon. I've met with Kivar, face to face. He uses dirty tricks, comes at you from behind." Miwiro shook his head. "The passages are the best option..." He paused. "You don't have to kill him from behind but you can capture him. With Niko missing... it'll be easy."
"What?" Max blinked. Then he remembered. He had forgotten all about Nicholas for a moment. "Right. Right. Nicholas is here. I don't know where but he's here on earth."
"Then that's good. We'd have to leave before he knew that a ship was here." Miwiro argued quickly. "When do we leave?"
The doorbell rang just then. Liz groaned. "That's my parents. I have to go."
"We'll sleep tonight... We figure something out tomorrow." Max sighed and kissed Liz's lips softly. "Call you tomorrow."
"Bye." Liz groaned again and sent a smile Miwiro's way. "Bye."
Miwiro nodded and watched her leave the kitchen. "You're taking her... aren't you?"
"No." Max shook his head. "I have to talk to the others, first."
"Surely, they'll do as you command." Miwiro followed him into the living room.
"How well did you say you knew my sister?" Max almost laughed.
--
The three boys lay in Max's room, staring at the ceiling, talking softly. "I remember when I was recruited. It was two months of training and testing and then I was apprentice to the great warrior Fervid. My mother hated it but she wished me well... She always spoke well of the royal house, no matter what the other women said..."
"She did?" Max asked softly.
"She did. She never stopped loving you, I guess. She would never remarry. I remember that. Nearly every single man in the village could tell that she was pure and the fact that she never entertained a single man only reinforced that. For as scarred as she was, she was sought after."
"I remember purity... vaguely." Michael whispered from his sleeping bag. "It doesn't really have much to do with ... that... right?"
"No." Miwiro gave a smile in the dark. "It has to do with your soul... but sometimes... that... it takes a toll and tarnishes your soul."
"Jirena... her... ways... they ate at her soul, didn't they?" Michael's voice dropped a notch.
"Yeah. I think so. I watched everyone in the palace and she just wanted too much to have place and status. She fell in love too quickly to appease. She never did it for herself but for what other people thought of her. We all called her the slut because that's what we actually saw her as, not the King's concubine, or Fervid's lover. She was a mere moment of physical pleasure for both..."
"Rila was pure until I got my hands on her." Max mused.
"Her fear of you ate away at her soul." Miwiro agreed. "Because you had lost a huge piece of your soul. I told Liz what happened to you. Misela was very much a part of Gediro and without her, his purity couldn't last."
"It's not all. I knew she was pregnant. I saw the signs and before I could confront her, she was gone and that was all of me." Max barely breathed out the sentence. "I had nothing to stay pure for and I let go of it all."
"It won't happen again." Miwiro promised.
"We should sleep guys. We have a lot of talking to do tomorrow." Max ordered and shut his eyes.
TBC
Antarian Recollection Series CC/slight UC ADULT CnC COMPLETE
Moderators: Anniepoo98, Itzstacie, truelovepooh, Erina, Forum Moderators
Cling and Clatter Part 8 of 16
Part 8
Maria put away her cell phone and glanced at the other faces sitting around the table at the Pizza Pan. "That was Liz. She's grounded. Her mother found a pregnancy test in her room and until Liz gives an explanation her parents buy... she's locked in her room."
Max's nervous level went up a notch. He picked at his pizza and barely noticed that Miwiro was sitting beside him, still unsure what he was supposed to do with the triangle of food in front of him. "Okay. I guess we need to discuss this."
"What is going on exactly?" Kyle asked, inhaling nearly half his slice of pizza.
"Well, the war has come to a critical point. We have to act now. The real decision is whether or not we go." Max pulled a pepperoni off his pizza and wrapped it around a chunk of pineapple. He placed it in his mouth and chewed carefully.
"Is that even a decision?" Michael asked, his anxiousness apparent.
"Yes." Max nodded. "If we go, we'll be fighting. We will be killing and we have to take that into account. Could you handle that?"
"Not like I haven't killed before." Michael muttered and sat back. Maria pat his arm gently.
"It won't be the same as that, Michael." Max pinned his friend with a look. In that moment that their eyes locked, they remembered similar moments back on their planet where they had locked horns and all he had to do was stare his second in command in the eye to win. "Last time was an accident. You wanted him dead but you didn't mean to kill him. If we go... You'll be killing in cold blood."
"I'm with you, Max." Isabel spoke up. "No matter what. If we go, if we stay. I'm with you."
Alex kept sneaking glances at her but she wouldn't look at him. Kyle sat back to listen, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. Maria sat close to Michael but didn't touch him much. They were merely there to support and know, rather than be in the dark about what was going on.
Tess sat up and sipped her drink before she spoke. "I... I don't want to go back."
"Okay." Max nodded. "You don't go then." He saw Miwiro was about to protest but silenced him with a hand. "She shouldn't have to go if she doesn't want to. We didn't want this, it was decided for us but I won't force anyone."
"So, we're going." Micheal nodded. "When do we leave?"
Maria scoffed at him and left the table. He ignored her and waited for Max to say when they would leave. Alex made a tsking noise and went after Maria, Isabel looking longingly after him. Max sighed and shrugged. "We should leave soon but we need cover stories. We're taking Liz."
"Why?" Michael demanded in a harsh whisper. "She can't defend herself and you're going to be worrying about her instead of the task at hand."
"She has to go." Miwiro cut in. "Do you remember what kind of man he became after Mis-- after my mother was allegedly killed? Our world cannot bear that again. She strengthens him, makes him a more effective ruler. He needs her and... I do not believe that we are coming back to this planet in the near future."
--
Max paced in front of his son during his free period. He was waiting for Liz to show up and airing his thoughts. "Michael's not a problem. He doesn't have anyone to report to but Isabel and I... our parents and then there are Liz's parents."
He looked over at Miwiro, who was slyly meeting looks from girls across the lobby. He sighed and sat near him. "So... you never said if you had a girlfriend or anything back home.
"Oh." Miwiro blushed but quickly recovered. "I don't have time right now. I'd love to be able to let myself fall in love but I can't. I have to keep her safe until Khivar is no longer a problem."
"You mean... you haven't..." Max trailed off not even knowing what he was asking.
"No. I've never been with a woman." Miwiro said bluntly. "It's not a problem really. I followed Hanu's example for two years and then when he died, I was running the show. Four years I've devoted to your mother and I don't regret a single one. We will overcome."
"So, you're just teasing those girls over there for the fun of it." Max tossed him a sly smirk. Miwiro met it and shrugged. "Just don't do like I did after I lost her."
"I won't." Miwiro nodded stiffly. "No one could do what you did." Then he started laughing at the look on Max's face. "You were notorious." The shock kept him laughing. "Did you really not think you were like that?"
"I knew I was bad, I didn't know that it was impossible for anybody else to duplicate." Max shook his head and almost didn't notice when Liz walked past.
"Liz!" Miwiro called out.
"M-- Robert." Liz smiled and headed over to them. "So what's going on?"
"We're going back." Max blurted out. She stood there stunned. "And... I'm... I need you to come with me."
--
“We don’t have time for this Maxwell.” Michael tried to keep up with Max as he stormed down the hallway to his locker. “You either need to throw her over your shoulder and get on the ship or leave her behind.”
“It’s not that simple.” Miwiro cut in, his stride matching Max’s perfectly.
“The hell it’s not.” Michael kept arguing but Max still ignored him.
“It’s not.” Miwiro stopped Michael as Max kept on going. Neither noticed a crowd growing. “She needs to go. He needs her with him but he can’t force her to go.”
“So why won’t she go?”
“She needs him to want her to go and he doesn’t. He needs her to go.” Miwiro backed off Michael and started after Max once more. Michael’s hand stopped him.
“What does that mean?” Michael wanted some answers and there was something that he simply wasn’t seeing.
“It means that…” Miwiro trailed off and shut his eyes. “He loves her too much to go without her and if she doesn’t go, there’s no guarantee that he’ll ever see her again. But the thing is… he doesn’t want her there, in harm’s way.” He saw that Michael was beginning to understand. “If Maria was going…”
“She’s not.” Michael straightened. “She’s not going. She’s staying here where it’s safe.”
“Exactly.” Miwiro pulled his arm out from Michael’s hand. “He needs her with him but he can’t make her go and she won’t go unless he wants her to and he doesn’t.”
--
Liz stared at her geology book but nothing sunk in. She wanted so much to cry. Max had yet to call her or come over. She had tried to tell him that she would go if he wanted her to but he said he didn’t. Miwiro kept saying that she had to go but Max was making every difficult. Her head hurt.
She didn’t even look up when her mother stood in the doorway. “Are you ready to explain the pregnancy test to me?”
“Mom. I swear to you. It was not mine. I bought it for someone else and I forgot I had left it here.” Liz lied to her mother the same lie she had been giving since the day before. “What do you want from me? I don’t know what you want me to say but… I swear… it’s not mine. I’m not even…”
“Liz… I just want to know what’s going on with you.” Nancy sighed and threw her hands up in the air. “I’m afraid that I’m going to wake up one morning and find you’re not here.” As she left the room, Liz sank back into her desk.
“I can’t promise that.” She whispered. As if on cue, a knock sounded at her window. She reached over and shut her door before turning to greet Max. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Max swung into the room and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I need for you to listen to me.” He waited until she had taken a seat to continue. “I want you to know that I love you with all my heart and soul and I really don’t want you to go with me. I don’t want you to get hurt. I’d kill myself if I took you with me and you died up there. I need you to go though. I’m really afraid that if I go without you that I’ll turn into Gediro. I can’t become him again.
“Liz, you mean more to me than all those memories and that place but I have to go. If I don’t… billions of people will be forever enslaved and it will be my fault. I could prevent that. I could fix that. I could never live with myself if I didn’t go.” He stopped to look into her eyes. “Please say that you’ll come with me.”
TBC
Maria put away her cell phone and glanced at the other faces sitting around the table at the Pizza Pan. "That was Liz. She's grounded. Her mother found a pregnancy test in her room and until Liz gives an explanation her parents buy... she's locked in her room."
Max's nervous level went up a notch. He picked at his pizza and barely noticed that Miwiro was sitting beside him, still unsure what he was supposed to do with the triangle of food in front of him. "Okay. I guess we need to discuss this."
"What is going on exactly?" Kyle asked, inhaling nearly half his slice of pizza.
"Well, the war has come to a critical point. We have to act now. The real decision is whether or not we go." Max pulled a pepperoni off his pizza and wrapped it around a chunk of pineapple. He placed it in his mouth and chewed carefully.
"Is that even a decision?" Michael asked, his anxiousness apparent.
"Yes." Max nodded. "If we go, we'll be fighting. We will be killing and we have to take that into account. Could you handle that?"
"Not like I haven't killed before." Michael muttered and sat back. Maria pat his arm gently.
"It won't be the same as that, Michael." Max pinned his friend with a look. In that moment that their eyes locked, they remembered similar moments back on their planet where they had locked horns and all he had to do was stare his second in command in the eye to win. "Last time was an accident. You wanted him dead but you didn't mean to kill him. If we go... You'll be killing in cold blood."
"I'm with you, Max." Isabel spoke up. "No matter what. If we go, if we stay. I'm with you."
Alex kept sneaking glances at her but she wouldn't look at him. Kyle sat back to listen, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. Maria sat close to Michael but didn't touch him much. They were merely there to support and know, rather than be in the dark about what was going on.
Tess sat up and sipped her drink before she spoke. "I... I don't want to go back."
"Okay." Max nodded. "You don't go then." He saw Miwiro was about to protest but silenced him with a hand. "She shouldn't have to go if she doesn't want to. We didn't want this, it was decided for us but I won't force anyone."
"So, we're going." Micheal nodded. "When do we leave?"
Maria scoffed at him and left the table. He ignored her and waited for Max to say when they would leave. Alex made a tsking noise and went after Maria, Isabel looking longingly after him. Max sighed and shrugged. "We should leave soon but we need cover stories. We're taking Liz."
"Why?" Michael demanded in a harsh whisper. "She can't defend herself and you're going to be worrying about her instead of the task at hand."
"She has to go." Miwiro cut in. "Do you remember what kind of man he became after Mis-- after my mother was allegedly killed? Our world cannot bear that again. She strengthens him, makes him a more effective ruler. He needs her and... I do not believe that we are coming back to this planet in the near future."
--
Max paced in front of his son during his free period. He was waiting for Liz to show up and airing his thoughts. "Michael's not a problem. He doesn't have anyone to report to but Isabel and I... our parents and then there are Liz's parents."
He looked over at Miwiro, who was slyly meeting looks from girls across the lobby. He sighed and sat near him. "So... you never said if you had a girlfriend or anything back home.
"Oh." Miwiro blushed but quickly recovered. "I don't have time right now. I'd love to be able to let myself fall in love but I can't. I have to keep her safe until Khivar is no longer a problem."
"You mean... you haven't..." Max trailed off not even knowing what he was asking.
"No. I've never been with a woman." Miwiro said bluntly. "It's not a problem really. I followed Hanu's example for two years and then when he died, I was running the show. Four years I've devoted to your mother and I don't regret a single one. We will overcome."
"So, you're just teasing those girls over there for the fun of it." Max tossed him a sly smirk. Miwiro met it and shrugged. "Just don't do like I did after I lost her."
"I won't." Miwiro nodded stiffly. "No one could do what you did." Then he started laughing at the look on Max's face. "You were notorious." The shock kept him laughing. "Did you really not think you were like that?"
"I knew I was bad, I didn't know that it was impossible for anybody else to duplicate." Max shook his head and almost didn't notice when Liz walked past.
"Liz!" Miwiro called out.
"M-- Robert." Liz smiled and headed over to them. "So what's going on?"
"We're going back." Max blurted out. She stood there stunned. "And... I'm... I need you to come with me."
--
“We don’t have time for this Maxwell.” Michael tried to keep up with Max as he stormed down the hallway to his locker. “You either need to throw her over your shoulder and get on the ship or leave her behind.”
“It’s not that simple.” Miwiro cut in, his stride matching Max’s perfectly.
“The hell it’s not.” Michael kept arguing but Max still ignored him.
“It’s not.” Miwiro stopped Michael as Max kept on going. Neither noticed a crowd growing. “She needs to go. He needs her with him but he can’t force her to go.”
“So why won’t she go?”
“She needs him to want her to go and he doesn’t. He needs her to go.” Miwiro backed off Michael and started after Max once more. Michael’s hand stopped him.
“What does that mean?” Michael wanted some answers and there was something that he simply wasn’t seeing.
“It means that…” Miwiro trailed off and shut his eyes. “He loves her too much to go without her and if she doesn’t go, there’s no guarantee that he’ll ever see her again. But the thing is… he doesn’t want her there, in harm’s way.” He saw that Michael was beginning to understand. “If Maria was going…”
“She’s not.” Michael straightened. “She’s not going. She’s staying here where it’s safe.”
“Exactly.” Miwiro pulled his arm out from Michael’s hand. “He needs her with him but he can’t make her go and she won’t go unless he wants her to and he doesn’t.”
--
Liz stared at her geology book but nothing sunk in. She wanted so much to cry. Max had yet to call her or come over. She had tried to tell him that she would go if he wanted her to but he said he didn’t. Miwiro kept saying that she had to go but Max was making every difficult. Her head hurt.
She didn’t even look up when her mother stood in the doorway. “Are you ready to explain the pregnancy test to me?”
“Mom. I swear to you. It was not mine. I bought it for someone else and I forgot I had left it here.” Liz lied to her mother the same lie she had been giving since the day before. “What do you want from me? I don’t know what you want me to say but… I swear… it’s not mine. I’m not even…”
“Liz… I just want to know what’s going on with you.” Nancy sighed and threw her hands up in the air. “I’m afraid that I’m going to wake up one morning and find you’re not here.” As she left the room, Liz sank back into her desk.
“I can’t promise that.” She whispered. As if on cue, a knock sounded at her window. She reached over and shut her door before turning to greet Max. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Max swung into the room and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I need for you to listen to me.” He waited until she had taken a seat to continue. “I want you to know that I love you with all my heart and soul and I really don’t want you to go with me. I don’t want you to get hurt. I’d kill myself if I took you with me and you died up there. I need you to go though. I’m really afraid that if I go without you that I’ll turn into Gediro. I can’t become him again.
“Liz, you mean more to me than all those memories and that place but I have to go. If I don’t… billions of people will be forever enslaved and it will be my fault. I could prevent that. I could fix that. I could never live with myself if I didn’t go.” He stopped to look into her eyes. “Please say that you’ll come with me.”
TBC
Cling and Clatter Part 9 of 16
AN: I'm gonna do a double post tonight. We got rained on and I'm conscious for a little while and he's doped up on Nyquil. Gotta keep busy until the heater kicks in.
Part 9
The drive was silent. Max kept his eyes on the road and his hand locked with Liz’s over the gearshift. Isabel leaned her head against the back of his seat, her hand on his shoulder. Michael stared out into the desert as far away as he could get in the Jeep. Miwiro sat beside Isabel wishing there was something more that he could do.
Max and Isabel had left a note with their parents explaining that they had to find their real mother. Liz had left a runaway note that sounded nothing like Max’s. Michael hadn’t had to explain anything to anyone. He left Maria his key and told her to take care of his stuff.
“I told Alex everything.” Isabel spoke out of nowhere.
“Really?” Michael’s head whipped around. “What did he say?”
“I didn’t let him say anything. I told him and then I left. I’m a horrible person and now he knows it.” She turned her face away, taking her hand away from Max’s shoulder before he could free his hand from Liz’s to give his sister some comfort. “Least he’ll stop wondering about me.”
“Isabel…” Miwiro placed his hand on her back. “While I can’t dispute the horrible things you’ve done as Vilandra… You aren’t her. In the past two days I have seen not even a hint of the person she was save…”
“Except what?” She snapped her head around to face her would-be nephew. “Except what?”
“The depth of your soul, the depth of your love for your family and the lengths you would go to preserve that.” He let his hand drop. “All good qualities.”
The Jeep fell silent once again, this time to listen to Miwiro speak. Hearing his tales of the past life calmed them all down.
“Hanu enjoyed his invisibility I think. He always told me that the princess was restless but that her purity only waned due to constant neglect. He told me that it grew brighter than he could ever remember it in the days before her father died. Then it grew dark once more and that’s when Balei was put to death. She was never the same afterward.” Miwiro sighed heavily, his eyes fixed on the speeding road ahead of them. “Searching for what mattered in the cling and clatter, dodging swords and ignoring false words, purity fades as might on the faithful night, choices made true lend us their hue, only upon the final moment to us our purpose sent.”
The prayer rang in the night as the Jeep sped ever closer to the ship cloaked in the desert canyon. Too soon they pulled to a stop near the small reservoir where many discussions had taken place. Slowly, they got out of the Jeep, their attention immediately upon the vague shape on the far side of the canyon. Max squinted his eyes and still couldn’t make out a thing. “Miwiro, is that where you left the ship?”
“No.” The young man should his head at his king. “I… I saw a flash of light in the sky last night. I thought it was lightning. I didn’t think anyone had followed me.”
“Let’s go.” Michael spoke but kept still until Max gave the word.
Max turned to Miwiro, putting his hand on his shoulder. “Stay back here and take care of her.”
“But—“
“No. Stay here.” Max insisted and turned to Liz. “I love you. You stay here with Miwiro and if it looks like we’re not coming back… get in the Jeep and go back to town. Hide.”
“Max, no. Don’t. Let’s just all go back and hide.” Liz shook her head at him even as his arms wrapped around her. She held her body stiff but she couldn’t deny him. “Okay. Go. Be careful.”
“I love you.” He kissed her forehead softly and then pressed the gentlest kiss to her lips, tears stinging at his eyes. Her tears mixed with their kiss, signaling to him that it was time. “Never forget that I love you.”
"I love you, too.” Liz managed to whisper before he released her into Miwiro’s arms.
Max hugged Isabel quickly, knowing instinctually that her mind was made up to stick with him. Sparing only one more look to Liz and Miwiro, Max took his sister’s hand and began the walk to the other side of the canyon. Michael turned back to Liz and Miwiro. “Stay back… Liz… tell Maria that I love her.”
Without waiting for a response, Michael rushed after Max. They quickly became small dots in the distance and darkness. Liz had to keep looking after them. She had to keep watch for their return. They were coming back. They had to.
--
Max approached the entrance to the ship. It was wide open. He had just ducked inside when Isabel grabbed his arm. “Max, look. Flakes.”
Michael bent to investigate. “Skins.”
“Skins.” Max repeated and looked around. “You don’t think they’re dead… do you?”
“Yes…” A voice rasped. “But not all of us.” The figure stumbled out into the chamber the three stood in.
“Khivar.” Isabel’s eyes widened as she recognized the figure leaning on a wall for support.
“Yes, my beloved. Come, let us off this wretched planet.” Khivar wiped a hand across his forehead, removing a piece of skin in the process.
“No.” Isabel clung to Max. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Love…” Khivar pleaded.
“I am not your love. I am not Vilandra.” She hissed and stepped behind Max. Michael stepped up to help block Khivar’s view of Isabel.
Max immediately recognized the crushed look in his enemy’s eyes. He threw up a shield in time to catch the blast Khivar directed at them. “What have you done to her?! What have you done to my Vilandra?!” Khivar stumbled toward them with pure hatred in his eyes. “I’ll kill you Gediro for taking her away from me!”
Max eyes ran wild around the room. He had to think quickly. Slowly he pressed forward, meeting the wide eyed expressions from Isabel and Michael. He gestured to what looked like a control panel near Michael that had just become accessible to them by Max’s forward moment.
“You’ll never regain your kingdom…” Khivar started laughing. “I’ve killed any hope of you ever receiving the throne.” His laughter rose higher. “Everyone believes that you hate Antar… Everyone believes that you’ve abandoned them. They know all about this little experiment and they think it’s failed… It doesn’t matter anymore…”
“Khivar.” Max shouted out.
“What? Any parting words, Gediro?” His laughter rumbled throughout the chamber. “Speak them so that I may laugh some more.”
“I have a son.” Max stood straighter when Khivar’s laughter suddenly died. “He’s even now on Antar taking his rightful place on MY throne. You lost.”
Max dropped the shield and threw Isabel to the ground. Khivar and Michael threw out energy blasts at nearly the same moment.
--
Two explosions sounded almost simultaneously. Liz screamed. “MAX!”
TBC
Part 9
The drive was silent. Max kept his eyes on the road and his hand locked with Liz’s over the gearshift. Isabel leaned her head against the back of his seat, her hand on his shoulder. Michael stared out into the desert as far away as he could get in the Jeep. Miwiro sat beside Isabel wishing there was something more that he could do.
Max and Isabel had left a note with their parents explaining that they had to find their real mother. Liz had left a runaway note that sounded nothing like Max’s. Michael hadn’t had to explain anything to anyone. He left Maria his key and told her to take care of his stuff.
“I told Alex everything.” Isabel spoke out of nowhere.
“Really?” Michael’s head whipped around. “What did he say?”
“I didn’t let him say anything. I told him and then I left. I’m a horrible person and now he knows it.” She turned her face away, taking her hand away from Max’s shoulder before he could free his hand from Liz’s to give his sister some comfort. “Least he’ll stop wondering about me.”
“Isabel…” Miwiro placed his hand on her back. “While I can’t dispute the horrible things you’ve done as Vilandra… You aren’t her. In the past two days I have seen not even a hint of the person she was save…”
“Except what?” She snapped her head around to face her would-be nephew. “Except what?”
“The depth of your soul, the depth of your love for your family and the lengths you would go to preserve that.” He let his hand drop. “All good qualities.”
The Jeep fell silent once again, this time to listen to Miwiro speak. Hearing his tales of the past life calmed them all down.
“Hanu enjoyed his invisibility I think. He always told me that the princess was restless but that her purity only waned due to constant neglect. He told me that it grew brighter than he could ever remember it in the days before her father died. Then it grew dark once more and that’s when Balei was put to death. She was never the same afterward.” Miwiro sighed heavily, his eyes fixed on the speeding road ahead of them. “Searching for what mattered in the cling and clatter, dodging swords and ignoring false words, purity fades as might on the faithful night, choices made true lend us their hue, only upon the final moment to us our purpose sent.”
The prayer rang in the night as the Jeep sped ever closer to the ship cloaked in the desert canyon. Too soon they pulled to a stop near the small reservoir where many discussions had taken place. Slowly, they got out of the Jeep, their attention immediately upon the vague shape on the far side of the canyon. Max squinted his eyes and still couldn’t make out a thing. “Miwiro, is that where you left the ship?”
“No.” The young man should his head at his king. “I… I saw a flash of light in the sky last night. I thought it was lightning. I didn’t think anyone had followed me.”
“Let’s go.” Michael spoke but kept still until Max gave the word.
Max turned to Miwiro, putting his hand on his shoulder. “Stay back here and take care of her.”
“But—“
“No. Stay here.” Max insisted and turned to Liz. “I love you. You stay here with Miwiro and if it looks like we’re not coming back… get in the Jeep and go back to town. Hide.”
“Max, no. Don’t. Let’s just all go back and hide.” Liz shook her head at him even as his arms wrapped around her. She held her body stiff but she couldn’t deny him. “Okay. Go. Be careful.”
“I love you.” He kissed her forehead softly and then pressed the gentlest kiss to her lips, tears stinging at his eyes. Her tears mixed with their kiss, signaling to him that it was time. “Never forget that I love you.”
"I love you, too.” Liz managed to whisper before he released her into Miwiro’s arms.
Max hugged Isabel quickly, knowing instinctually that her mind was made up to stick with him. Sparing only one more look to Liz and Miwiro, Max took his sister’s hand and began the walk to the other side of the canyon. Michael turned back to Liz and Miwiro. “Stay back… Liz… tell Maria that I love her.”
Without waiting for a response, Michael rushed after Max. They quickly became small dots in the distance and darkness. Liz had to keep looking after them. She had to keep watch for their return. They were coming back. They had to.
--
Max approached the entrance to the ship. It was wide open. He had just ducked inside when Isabel grabbed his arm. “Max, look. Flakes.”
Michael bent to investigate. “Skins.”
“Skins.” Max repeated and looked around. “You don’t think they’re dead… do you?”
“Yes…” A voice rasped. “But not all of us.” The figure stumbled out into the chamber the three stood in.
“Khivar.” Isabel’s eyes widened as she recognized the figure leaning on a wall for support.
“Yes, my beloved. Come, let us off this wretched planet.” Khivar wiped a hand across his forehead, removing a piece of skin in the process.
“No.” Isabel clung to Max. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Love…” Khivar pleaded.
“I am not your love. I am not Vilandra.” She hissed and stepped behind Max. Michael stepped up to help block Khivar’s view of Isabel.
Max immediately recognized the crushed look in his enemy’s eyes. He threw up a shield in time to catch the blast Khivar directed at them. “What have you done to her?! What have you done to my Vilandra?!” Khivar stumbled toward them with pure hatred in his eyes. “I’ll kill you Gediro for taking her away from me!”
Max eyes ran wild around the room. He had to think quickly. Slowly he pressed forward, meeting the wide eyed expressions from Isabel and Michael. He gestured to what looked like a control panel near Michael that had just become accessible to them by Max’s forward moment.
“You’ll never regain your kingdom…” Khivar started laughing. “I’ve killed any hope of you ever receiving the throne.” His laughter rose higher. “Everyone believes that you hate Antar… Everyone believes that you’ve abandoned them. They know all about this little experiment and they think it’s failed… It doesn’t matter anymore…”
“Khivar.” Max shouted out.
“What? Any parting words, Gediro?” His laughter rumbled throughout the chamber. “Speak them so that I may laugh some more.”
“I have a son.” Max stood straighter when Khivar’s laughter suddenly died. “He’s even now on Antar taking his rightful place on MY throne. You lost.”
Max dropped the shield and threw Isabel to the ground. Khivar and Michael threw out energy blasts at nearly the same moment.
--
Two explosions sounded almost simultaneously. Liz screamed. “MAX!”
TBC
Cling and Clatter Part 10 of 16
AN: BTW was this the fic that got me hated as 'Queen of Cliffhangers?' Somebody else brought that up again. Apparently I just couldn't help myself. Geez, it's been a long time since I read through this story.
Part 10
Miwiro stared up at the smoke cloud that rose into the night sky. He had to do something. He turned to Liz. “Stay here. I’m going in.”
“No. We have to go. Max said we had to go.” She shook her head at him and clung to his arm.
He shook her hard and looked into her eyes. “Do you honestly believe for one second that he’s dead?”
She stared at him stunned for three seconds before answering. “No. I’m going with you.”
“No. Stay here.”
“No. I’m going with you.” Liz repeated and started on her way across the canyon.
“Liz, wait.” Miwiro jogged after her and placed her body behind his. “You aren’t getting hurt. I couldn’t protect my mother but I can protect you.”
--
Miwiro stepped into the wreckage of the ship. Motioning for Liz to stay back, he hopped over some wreckage. He spotted something moving further inside. The closer he got the clearer the mumbling became. “Vilandra… Vilandra my love…”
Rage flashed in his eyes as he stood over the figure. “Khivar.”
“Just finish me off, Gediro. You’ve already taken all that’s ever mattered to me.”
“You’ve mistaken me for my father.” Miwiro knelt down. “You’ve killed him again and I won’t let you get away with it. This time… I can avenge him.”
“Your father?” Khivar shook his head slightly. Then he raised his head and his eyes widened in recognition. “You. You’ve betrayed me. You’ve joined them against me.”
“No. I have always been with them. Now that I know who I am, I know what I have to do. You’ve been a good teacher Khivar. When I go back, your reign of terror will end.” Miwiro put his hand over Khivar’s chest. “This is for my mother and my father, my aunt and my planet.”
“Nooo.” Khivar moaned as his chest heated up. Moments later he burst into a cloud of skin flakes.
Miwiro stayed there stunned. He had never seen that happen before. “Hanu, this planet is strange.” He spoke softly to his dead friend. Standing he looked around at the burned and ruined inside of the ship. It looked nothing like the one he had arrived on. There were no hibernation chambers, or injection stations. How had they survived the trip over? How could they stand the environment? That’s when he realized that there were no other bodies or beings on the ship, just piles of skin flakes like the one at his feet.
More moaning caught his attention, as did a green glowing. Thinking quick, he chose the moaning over the glowing. Climbing over a door, Miwiro found Michael, a gash marred his face. Carefully, Miwiro planted his feet over Michael’s body and braced his body against the door to push it away. Even using his powers was making it difficult to make any headway. Finally, he put his weight on his arms and braced his feet up against the wall behind him. Gathering all the strength he had, he shoved off the wall, landing on the broken door with a thud.
“Miwiro? What’s going on in there?” Liz called out softly.
“It’s okay. But stay there.” He coughed into his arm when a cloud of skin flakes rose into the air. “I don’t know how sound the structure is.” He turned to check on Michael. He was breathing and his heart was beating. Summoning all this strength, he picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. That’s when he saw the fried panel. “Ja Tirnin.”
He rushed to get Michael out of the ship and near the water’s edge. Liz was by his side rattling off questions at him. “Where’s Max and Isabel? Miwiro, where’s Max?”
“Stay here with Michael.” Miwiro ordered her. “Stay as far away from the ship as you can… if anything happens… roll him into the water and jump in yourself.”
“What’s going on?” Liz cried out but knelt beside Michael all the same.
“I’m going back.”
“Wait!” She shouted after him but he was already disappearing into the ship again. “Michael.” She turned to the unconscious form beside her. “Michael. Michael! Wake up!”
--
Miwiro crawled back to where he had seen the green glow. Its light was fading fast. Using only his mind, he threw the debris out of his way. He didn’t have time. No time. He could almost feel the ship heating up around him. He had to get them out. “Max! Isabel!”
The green shield blinked out just as he uncovered them. Their linked hands fell in exhaustion. Max and Isabel had curled around each other in attempt to keep the shield small and strong against the debris. Isabel’s eyes fluttered closed and her head fell back against the wall. Max stirred slightly. “Get her out.”
“Max.” Miwiro flicked his gaze to the other man. His matching amber eyes cracked open a little.
“She hit her head. I think she has a concussion. Get her out… now.” Max ordered and untangled his sister’s limbs from his own. “Get her out.”
“Yes, sir.” Miwiro nodded and noted the grave expression on his leader’s face. “I’ll take care of them.”
“Tell… Liz I love her.” Max swallowed thickly. “Where’s Michael?”
“Safe.” Miwiro whispered and took Isabel into his arms. “I’ll be back for you.”
“No. You won’t.”
--
Liz looked up to find Miwiro rushing over with Isabel in his arms. Michael barely lifted his head from Liz’s lap. “Where’s Max, Miwiro?”
“Alive.” Miwiro muttered and kept glancing behind him.
“Where is he?” Liz asked again, not moving from her spot or jostling Michael in any way. She had to know.
“Still inside.” He stood after making sure that Isabel was comfortable looking. “I’m going back in there. Get them into the water.”
Liz felt so helpless as he raced back to the ship. That’s when she noticed the warmth on the side of her face from the glare of the ship. “Max, where are you?”
--
Coughing the fumes out of his lungs, Miwiro made his way back to where he had left Max. Max looked up and shook his head. “You should have left me here. You won’t be able to carry me out.”
“We’re going. I am not telling my mother that I left my father to die when we had a chance to get him out. Let’s go!” Miwiro held out his hand for Max to take. “Let’s go. We can still make it out.”
Max’s head nodded with the effort to keep from passing out. “My legs are broken. Just get out. Get out of here.”
The Linao didn’t know if he had the strength left to summon a power boost to his muscles… but he could try. “Come on. We’re getting out of here. Take my hand and brace yourself for pain.”
“Get out of here.” Max growled at him. “We can’t both die in here.”
“Now, see. This is the Gediro I remember. Stubborn as Flinreni. We’re going. Both of us or none of us.” Miwiro yanked his father, his king, his new friend up into his arms.
“You’re as stubborn as your mother, you realize that, right?” Max groaned and moaned as pain shot up his legs.
--
Liz gently laid Michael’s head down, pillowing his head on a rock so his face stayed above water. “How long do you think we have until it blows up?”
“Not long.” Michael rasped. Liz left him to haul Isabel into the water as well. “It could blow at any second.”
Isabel’s dead weight splashed into the water but Liz was able to keep her head out of the water. The water wasn’t too deep but it would be enough to drown in if they weren’t careful. The shock of the cool water sent the blonde’s eyes fluttering. Liz noticed and moved the taller girl to rest her head on Michael’s chest. “Isabel? Isabel, wake up.”
“Max… where’s Max?”
Liz’s eyes rose to the ship and could almost see the white hot heat emanating from it. “He’s coming. Just stay awake. He’ll be here.” She couldn’t see through the haze between them and the time bomb that once was a functioning ship.
“Liz, you better stop looking at it.” Michael warned, his voice still small and raspy. “Get into the water. Get your self wet… and wet our faces.”
“Why?” Liz did as told but felt she needed to know why.
“The mix of hydrogen and oxygen will keep the energy from igniting on our carbon based physiology.” Michael closed his eyes so Liz could pour water on his face. Liz felt the heat and immediately bent her body over Michael and Isabel’s faces. The explosion threatened to blow her away but she clung to the rocks tightly. Wave after wave of intense heat swept over them, warming the water they lay in.
TBC
Part 10
Miwiro stared up at the smoke cloud that rose into the night sky. He had to do something. He turned to Liz. “Stay here. I’m going in.”
“No. We have to go. Max said we had to go.” She shook her head at him and clung to his arm.
He shook her hard and looked into her eyes. “Do you honestly believe for one second that he’s dead?”
She stared at him stunned for three seconds before answering. “No. I’m going with you.”
“No. Stay here.”
“No. I’m going with you.” Liz repeated and started on her way across the canyon.
“Liz, wait.” Miwiro jogged after her and placed her body behind his. “You aren’t getting hurt. I couldn’t protect my mother but I can protect you.”
--
Miwiro stepped into the wreckage of the ship. Motioning for Liz to stay back, he hopped over some wreckage. He spotted something moving further inside. The closer he got the clearer the mumbling became. “Vilandra… Vilandra my love…”
Rage flashed in his eyes as he stood over the figure. “Khivar.”
“Just finish me off, Gediro. You’ve already taken all that’s ever mattered to me.”
“You’ve mistaken me for my father.” Miwiro knelt down. “You’ve killed him again and I won’t let you get away with it. This time… I can avenge him.”
“Your father?” Khivar shook his head slightly. Then he raised his head and his eyes widened in recognition. “You. You’ve betrayed me. You’ve joined them against me.”
“No. I have always been with them. Now that I know who I am, I know what I have to do. You’ve been a good teacher Khivar. When I go back, your reign of terror will end.” Miwiro put his hand over Khivar’s chest. “This is for my mother and my father, my aunt and my planet.”
“Nooo.” Khivar moaned as his chest heated up. Moments later he burst into a cloud of skin flakes.
Miwiro stayed there stunned. He had never seen that happen before. “Hanu, this planet is strange.” He spoke softly to his dead friend. Standing he looked around at the burned and ruined inside of the ship. It looked nothing like the one he had arrived on. There were no hibernation chambers, or injection stations. How had they survived the trip over? How could they stand the environment? That’s when he realized that there were no other bodies or beings on the ship, just piles of skin flakes like the one at his feet.
More moaning caught his attention, as did a green glowing. Thinking quick, he chose the moaning over the glowing. Climbing over a door, Miwiro found Michael, a gash marred his face. Carefully, Miwiro planted his feet over Michael’s body and braced his body against the door to push it away. Even using his powers was making it difficult to make any headway. Finally, he put his weight on his arms and braced his feet up against the wall behind him. Gathering all the strength he had, he shoved off the wall, landing on the broken door with a thud.
“Miwiro? What’s going on in there?” Liz called out softly.
“It’s okay. But stay there.” He coughed into his arm when a cloud of skin flakes rose into the air. “I don’t know how sound the structure is.” He turned to check on Michael. He was breathing and his heart was beating. Summoning all this strength, he picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. That’s when he saw the fried panel. “Ja Tirnin.”
He rushed to get Michael out of the ship and near the water’s edge. Liz was by his side rattling off questions at him. “Where’s Max and Isabel? Miwiro, where’s Max?”
“Stay here with Michael.” Miwiro ordered her. “Stay as far away from the ship as you can… if anything happens… roll him into the water and jump in yourself.”
“What’s going on?” Liz cried out but knelt beside Michael all the same.
“I’m going back.”
“Wait!” She shouted after him but he was already disappearing into the ship again. “Michael.” She turned to the unconscious form beside her. “Michael. Michael! Wake up!”
--
Miwiro crawled back to where he had seen the green glow. Its light was fading fast. Using only his mind, he threw the debris out of his way. He didn’t have time. No time. He could almost feel the ship heating up around him. He had to get them out. “Max! Isabel!”
The green shield blinked out just as he uncovered them. Their linked hands fell in exhaustion. Max and Isabel had curled around each other in attempt to keep the shield small and strong against the debris. Isabel’s eyes fluttered closed and her head fell back against the wall. Max stirred slightly. “Get her out.”
“Max.” Miwiro flicked his gaze to the other man. His matching amber eyes cracked open a little.
“She hit her head. I think she has a concussion. Get her out… now.” Max ordered and untangled his sister’s limbs from his own. “Get her out.”
“Yes, sir.” Miwiro nodded and noted the grave expression on his leader’s face. “I’ll take care of them.”
“Tell… Liz I love her.” Max swallowed thickly. “Where’s Michael?”
“Safe.” Miwiro whispered and took Isabel into his arms. “I’ll be back for you.”
“No. You won’t.”
--
Liz looked up to find Miwiro rushing over with Isabel in his arms. Michael barely lifted his head from Liz’s lap. “Where’s Max, Miwiro?”
“Alive.” Miwiro muttered and kept glancing behind him.
“Where is he?” Liz asked again, not moving from her spot or jostling Michael in any way. She had to know.
“Still inside.” He stood after making sure that Isabel was comfortable looking. “I’m going back in there. Get them into the water.”
Liz felt so helpless as he raced back to the ship. That’s when she noticed the warmth on the side of her face from the glare of the ship. “Max, where are you?”
--
Coughing the fumes out of his lungs, Miwiro made his way back to where he had left Max. Max looked up and shook his head. “You should have left me here. You won’t be able to carry me out.”
“We’re going. I am not telling my mother that I left my father to die when we had a chance to get him out. Let’s go!” Miwiro held out his hand for Max to take. “Let’s go. We can still make it out.”
Max’s head nodded with the effort to keep from passing out. “My legs are broken. Just get out. Get out of here.”
The Linao didn’t know if he had the strength left to summon a power boost to his muscles… but he could try. “Come on. We’re getting out of here. Take my hand and brace yourself for pain.”
“Get out of here.” Max growled at him. “We can’t both die in here.”
“Now, see. This is the Gediro I remember. Stubborn as Flinreni. We’re going. Both of us or none of us.” Miwiro yanked his father, his king, his new friend up into his arms.
“You’re as stubborn as your mother, you realize that, right?” Max groaned and moaned as pain shot up his legs.
--
Liz gently laid Michael’s head down, pillowing his head on a rock so his face stayed above water. “How long do you think we have until it blows up?”
“Not long.” Michael rasped. Liz left him to haul Isabel into the water as well. “It could blow at any second.”
Isabel’s dead weight splashed into the water but Liz was able to keep her head out of the water. The water wasn’t too deep but it would be enough to drown in if they weren’t careful. The shock of the cool water sent the blonde’s eyes fluttering. Liz noticed and moved the taller girl to rest her head on Michael’s chest. “Isabel? Isabel, wake up.”
“Max… where’s Max?”
Liz’s eyes rose to the ship and could almost see the white hot heat emanating from it. “He’s coming. Just stay awake. He’ll be here.” She couldn’t see through the haze between them and the time bomb that once was a functioning ship.
“Liz, you better stop looking at it.” Michael warned, his voice still small and raspy. “Get into the water. Get your self wet… and wet our faces.”
“Why?” Liz did as told but felt she needed to know why.
“The mix of hydrogen and oxygen will keep the energy from igniting on our carbon based physiology.” Michael closed his eyes so Liz could pour water on his face. Liz felt the heat and immediately bent her body over Michael and Isabel’s faces. The explosion threatened to blow her away but she clung to the rocks tightly. Wave after wave of intense heat swept over them, warming the water they lay in.
TBC
Cling and Clatter Part 11 of 16
AN: I thought about not posting tonight but men are such babies. You drop a hammer on their foot (by accident) and they can suck it up. They get a cold and it's the end of the world. Don't even care that maybe you're not feeling so hot yourself or that you would have liked to sleep another hour. Okay, so I'm bitter... and sleepy.
And SMAC, you're spoiling the new people. tsk, tsk.
Part 11
When Liz woke up, she was on her stomach with her head resting on chin and forehead straps. In her blurry vision she could make out a table with a mirror just above her direct line of sight. When she tried to move her arms, her back started to throb. Then the tears washed her vision clean.
“You’re awake.” A voice said. “You shouldn’t try to move too much. It might aggravate your burns.”
“Um…” Liz had to clear her throat. “Where am I?… Um… What happened?”
“Let me just get the doctor.” The nurse’s face appeared momentarily in the mirror and was gone.
Liz could feel the panic rising. She had trouble remembering what she could have possibly done to end up in the hospital with a burned back, which was slowly but surely making itself known to her distraught nerves.
A creaking noise met her ears. “Who’s there?”
“Liz?” A familiar voice whispered. “Oh thank god or whoever…”
“Maria, could you leave us alone for a moment?” A second voice met her ears.
“Max?” Liz felt like crying as it all came crashing back to her. Max had been inside the space ship that had blown up. “Is that really you?”
“Hey, how are you feeling?” The creaking noise came closer as his face came into view in the mirror, but all she could see were his eyes and forehead. They looked unharmed enough to ease some of her mental strain.
“Max, what happened?” Liz noted that the angle of his face was different and closer than the nurse’s had been. “Are you in a wheelchair?”
“Yeah, I am.” She felt his hand in hers but then she felt it was his opposite hand and not the one nearest to her. “It’s not as bad as it seems.”
“What’s going on?” She tried to keep the tears out of her voice.
“Michael said you covered his and Isabel’s heads when the ship blew up. You saved their lives… but your back was exposed. You burned it and some of your hair… a lot of your hair…” He tried to smile at her reflection to show that it wasn’t so bad but it faltered and he could see the glistening in his own eyes. He had purposefully tilted his face so she couldn’t see the lower portion of his face. “You’re going to be okay… once the burns heal.”
“How long have I been like this?”
“Three days. I… they… Valenti helped. He got a story out about a gas line that exploded out there…” Max squeezed her fingers lightly. “Are you in a lot of pain?”
“I’ll live. What about everyone else? I… thought you were still in there.”
“He came back for me even after I told him to leave me there. I… I broke my legs in the first explosion and… then my arm in the last one.” Max shifted slightly in his chair. “Michael’s got a few cracked ribs and Isabel had a concussion.”
“What about… about Robert?”
“He’s okay.” He couldn’t stop his face from crumbling.
“Max… what happened to him?”
“Miss Parker. It’s good to see you awake. If you’ll excuse us Mr. Evans.” The doctor entered the room with a few nurses. Max was promptly moved out of the room. “Miss Parker, let me explain what’s happened to you and what’s being done to treat it.”
--
Max stared at his reflection in the mirror. He wanted to cry for the 100th time in the past few days. He had never been a really vain person and had pretty much taken his looks for granted. At least now a pimple was the least of his worries. He heard Isabel walk in. “I didn’t tell her and I didn’t… show her…”
“Max… she’ll still love you.” Isabel had to fight the tears that formed when Max went to touch the back of his head where the burns had been the worst, where the hair was missing. He was healing fast but even she knew there would be scar tissue for a very long time.
“I can’t be sure about that.” He swallowed thickly as his eyes fell on the side of his mouth. The area extended all the way up the side of his face, engulfing what used to be his ear. His nose was barely burned but his eyes and eyebrows were still there. “I can’t ask her to stay with something that looks like me.”
His tank top exposed the burned portions of his chest and neck to his view. They disappeared into his cast. The flesh looked wet and raw but he had to air it out twice a day or else risk infection. “Did you tell her about… Robert?”
“I told her he was fine.”
“Why?”
“I couldn’t tell her that he’s missing… that I don’t know if he blew up with the ship or if he got away. I know her. She’ll blame herself for letting him go back that last time.” Max bowed his head to stop looking at the grotesque way his mouth moved when he talked.
“Max, if he hadn’t… you’d be dead.” Isabel moved to kneel in front of his wheelchair. “I can’t say that I’d rather have him gone but I know I would rather have you here.”
“Isabel, can you leave me alone please. I don’t want you to have to look at me.” Max whispered softly. “I know it’s grotesque and disgusting. Don’t feel like you have to spend time with me.”
“Max, you’re my brother and I love you.” She gingerly put her hands on his knees. “Don’t think that you’re some kind of monster and that I can’t stand to be around you. I might be older here but you have always been my big brother. If it hadn’t been for you… I probably would have gotten hurt even worse in there. You saved me.”
“No… Robert did… I only kept you from being left in there.” He still wouldn’t look at her. “Go away Isabel. Leave me alone?”
“Okay but I’ll be back. Are you hungry?” She rose to her feet.
“I’m fine.”
--
Michael shifted slightly on his bed. He couldn’t sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Liz’s face inches from his, contorted in pain as the blast past over her body where it was out of the water. She hadn’t the time to soak her clothes enough to outlast the blast. It was his fault she was lying in that bed exposed from her neck to her ass.
He had passed out sometime after that last blast while trying to keep Liz awake. The next thing he knew, he was in a hospital bed with bandages around his chest and legs. The legs weren’t too bad, just first degree burns from the water… which would have been second degree like Liz’s had he not been in the water.
“Michael?” Maria’s voice filtered through the door. It creaked open slightly and she slipped in. “Hey, how you doing?”
“How do you think?” He muttered.
“Got some good news. Liz woke up this morning.” Maria didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when Michael finally turned to look at her. For the first time in three days he looked like he was alive… because of Liz. “I took Max in to see her before they discharged him.” He kept looking at her expectantly. “She didn’t remember how it happened, that’s what the nurse said. Max didn’t want to worry her so he didn’t tell her everything.”
“Did you see her?” Michael whispered.
“For a few seconds.” She nodded slowly and went to sit on the edge of his bed. “She was a little out of it but she just woke up. Her parents were crying when they came out…”
“Her hair is gone.” Michael whispered and turned his eyes back to the ceiling. “At least her face is okay.”
“Max is doing better… I think.”
“No he’s not. He’s just getting better at hiding it…” Michael shut his eyes and saw Liz’s pained face again. “Can you leave me alone?”
--
Isabel pulled her skirt away from her legs and held the jar for her mother. Diane was on the verge of tears. “Oh, Isabel, these are so awful…”
“Would have been much worse if Liz hadn’t gotten me into that water.” Isabel stared off into space. “Max said she had mostly second degree burns but that here and there… there’s third degree burns too.” She still had a hard time wrapping her mind around what had happened. “He’s scared that she won’t love him anymore.”
“What?” Diane paused in her application of burn ointment to her daughter’s legs.
“She woke up this morning. He talked to her but he didn’t let her see his face.” Isabel began running her hand through her hair. “I think I’m going to get a hair cut soon. Get rid of the singed parts. Maybe I could cut it all off and have a wig made for Liz. We could dye it and everything.”
“Isabel.” Diane brought her out of her world. “Liz woke up?”
“Yeah… Max says she’s doing okay, considering.” Isabel nodded stiffly. “God… Mom, I wish she hadn’t gotten burned but if she hadn’t… Michael and I could be dead.” She started to cry for the first time since the explosion. “She is always sticking her neck out for us and for Max and to see her lying on that bed…”
“Sh.” Diane wrapped her arms around her daughter. “It’s okay, you’re okay.”
--
Liz wanted to roll over, she hated being so exposed. The drugs were excellent though, she could barely feel a thing. Her mother’s face appeared in the mirror, seconds before she felt her father’s hand in hers. “Hi sweetie.”
“Hi.” Liz whispered, her throat still hoarse. “Mom, Dad… I’m sorry.”
“Sh… It’s okay sweetie.” Her mom whispered. “Do you hurt much?”
“No… they just gave me some… morphine a while ago. It’s not too bad.” Liz tried not to move her neck too much. “I’ll be okay…. I’ll be okay.”
TBC
And SMAC, you're spoiling the new people. tsk, tsk.
Part 11
When Liz woke up, she was on her stomach with her head resting on chin and forehead straps. In her blurry vision she could make out a table with a mirror just above her direct line of sight. When she tried to move her arms, her back started to throb. Then the tears washed her vision clean.
“You’re awake.” A voice said. “You shouldn’t try to move too much. It might aggravate your burns.”
“Um…” Liz had to clear her throat. “Where am I?… Um… What happened?”
“Let me just get the doctor.” The nurse’s face appeared momentarily in the mirror and was gone.
Liz could feel the panic rising. She had trouble remembering what she could have possibly done to end up in the hospital with a burned back, which was slowly but surely making itself known to her distraught nerves.
A creaking noise met her ears. “Who’s there?”
“Liz?” A familiar voice whispered. “Oh thank god or whoever…”
“Maria, could you leave us alone for a moment?” A second voice met her ears.
“Max?” Liz felt like crying as it all came crashing back to her. Max had been inside the space ship that had blown up. “Is that really you?”
“Hey, how are you feeling?” The creaking noise came closer as his face came into view in the mirror, but all she could see were his eyes and forehead. They looked unharmed enough to ease some of her mental strain.
“Max, what happened?” Liz noted that the angle of his face was different and closer than the nurse’s had been. “Are you in a wheelchair?”
“Yeah, I am.” She felt his hand in hers but then she felt it was his opposite hand and not the one nearest to her. “It’s not as bad as it seems.”
“What’s going on?” She tried to keep the tears out of her voice.
“Michael said you covered his and Isabel’s heads when the ship blew up. You saved their lives… but your back was exposed. You burned it and some of your hair… a lot of your hair…” He tried to smile at her reflection to show that it wasn’t so bad but it faltered and he could see the glistening in his own eyes. He had purposefully tilted his face so she couldn’t see the lower portion of his face. “You’re going to be okay… once the burns heal.”
“How long have I been like this?”
“Three days. I… they… Valenti helped. He got a story out about a gas line that exploded out there…” Max squeezed her fingers lightly. “Are you in a lot of pain?”
“I’ll live. What about everyone else? I… thought you were still in there.”
“He came back for me even after I told him to leave me there. I… I broke my legs in the first explosion and… then my arm in the last one.” Max shifted slightly in his chair. “Michael’s got a few cracked ribs and Isabel had a concussion.”
“What about… about Robert?”
“He’s okay.” He couldn’t stop his face from crumbling.
“Max… what happened to him?”
“Miss Parker. It’s good to see you awake. If you’ll excuse us Mr. Evans.” The doctor entered the room with a few nurses. Max was promptly moved out of the room. “Miss Parker, let me explain what’s happened to you and what’s being done to treat it.”
--
Max stared at his reflection in the mirror. He wanted to cry for the 100th time in the past few days. He had never been a really vain person and had pretty much taken his looks for granted. At least now a pimple was the least of his worries. He heard Isabel walk in. “I didn’t tell her and I didn’t… show her…”
“Max… she’ll still love you.” Isabel had to fight the tears that formed when Max went to touch the back of his head where the burns had been the worst, where the hair was missing. He was healing fast but even she knew there would be scar tissue for a very long time.
“I can’t be sure about that.” He swallowed thickly as his eyes fell on the side of his mouth. The area extended all the way up the side of his face, engulfing what used to be his ear. His nose was barely burned but his eyes and eyebrows were still there. “I can’t ask her to stay with something that looks like me.”
His tank top exposed the burned portions of his chest and neck to his view. They disappeared into his cast. The flesh looked wet and raw but he had to air it out twice a day or else risk infection. “Did you tell her about… Robert?”
“I told her he was fine.”
“Why?”
“I couldn’t tell her that he’s missing… that I don’t know if he blew up with the ship or if he got away. I know her. She’ll blame herself for letting him go back that last time.” Max bowed his head to stop looking at the grotesque way his mouth moved when he talked.
“Max, if he hadn’t… you’d be dead.” Isabel moved to kneel in front of his wheelchair. “I can’t say that I’d rather have him gone but I know I would rather have you here.”
“Isabel, can you leave me alone please. I don’t want you to have to look at me.” Max whispered softly. “I know it’s grotesque and disgusting. Don’t feel like you have to spend time with me.”
“Max, you’re my brother and I love you.” She gingerly put her hands on his knees. “Don’t think that you’re some kind of monster and that I can’t stand to be around you. I might be older here but you have always been my big brother. If it hadn’t been for you… I probably would have gotten hurt even worse in there. You saved me.”
“No… Robert did… I only kept you from being left in there.” He still wouldn’t look at her. “Go away Isabel. Leave me alone?”
“Okay but I’ll be back. Are you hungry?” She rose to her feet.
“I’m fine.”
--
Michael shifted slightly on his bed. He couldn’t sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Liz’s face inches from his, contorted in pain as the blast past over her body where it was out of the water. She hadn’t the time to soak her clothes enough to outlast the blast. It was his fault she was lying in that bed exposed from her neck to her ass.
He had passed out sometime after that last blast while trying to keep Liz awake. The next thing he knew, he was in a hospital bed with bandages around his chest and legs. The legs weren’t too bad, just first degree burns from the water… which would have been second degree like Liz’s had he not been in the water.
“Michael?” Maria’s voice filtered through the door. It creaked open slightly and she slipped in. “Hey, how you doing?”
“How do you think?” He muttered.
“Got some good news. Liz woke up this morning.” Maria didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when Michael finally turned to look at her. For the first time in three days he looked like he was alive… because of Liz. “I took Max in to see her before they discharged him.” He kept looking at her expectantly. “She didn’t remember how it happened, that’s what the nurse said. Max didn’t want to worry her so he didn’t tell her everything.”
“Did you see her?” Michael whispered.
“For a few seconds.” She nodded slowly and went to sit on the edge of his bed. “She was a little out of it but she just woke up. Her parents were crying when they came out…”
“Her hair is gone.” Michael whispered and turned his eyes back to the ceiling. “At least her face is okay.”
“Max is doing better… I think.”
“No he’s not. He’s just getting better at hiding it…” Michael shut his eyes and saw Liz’s pained face again. “Can you leave me alone?”
--
Isabel pulled her skirt away from her legs and held the jar for her mother. Diane was on the verge of tears. “Oh, Isabel, these are so awful…”
“Would have been much worse if Liz hadn’t gotten me into that water.” Isabel stared off into space. “Max said she had mostly second degree burns but that here and there… there’s third degree burns too.” She still had a hard time wrapping her mind around what had happened. “He’s scared that she won’t love him anymore.”
“What?” Diane paused in her application of burn ointment to her daughter’s legs.
“She woke up this morning. He talked to her but he didn’t let her see his face.” Isabel began running her hand through her hair. “I think I’m going to get a hair cut soon. Get rid of the singed parts. Maybe I could cut it all off and have a wig made for Liz. We could dye it and everything.”
“Isabel.” Diane brought her out of her world. “Liz woke up?”
“Yeah… Max says she’s doing okay, considering.” Isabel nodded stiffly. “God… Mom, I wish she hadn’t gotten burned but if she hadn’t… Michael and I could be dead.” She started to cry for the first time since the explosion. “She is always sticking her neck out for us and for Max and to see her lying on that bed…”
“Sh.” Diane wrapped her arms around her daughter. “It’s okay, you’re okay.”
--
Liz wanted to roll over, she hated being so exposed. The drugs were excellent though, she could barely feel a thing. Her mother’s face appeared in the mirror, seconds before she felt her father’s hand in hers. “Hi sweetie.”
“Hi.” Liz whispered, her throat still hoarse. “Mom, Dad… I’m sorry.”
“Sh… It’s okay sweetie.” Her mom whispered. “Do you hurt much?”
“No… they just gave me some… morphine a while ago. It’s not too bad.” Liz tried not to move her neck too much. “I’ll be okay…. I’ll be okay.”
TBC
Cling and Clatter Part 12 of 16
Part 12
“Max…” Isabel sat next to her brother on his stained sheets. The uneven burns on his chest and back made it difficult for him to sleep at night, not to mention the awkward positions his legs and arm put him in. The ointments and pus oozed out from under bandages but Max could never change as often as he would like due to his immobility. She gingerly shook his good shoulder to wake him.
“What?” He mumbled.
“My powers are back but I can’t heal my legs.” She hissed to him.
“What?” Max attempted to sit up carefully.
“I think that something in the energy blast from the ship affects our powers. I can turn mustard into orange juice but I can’t lift the burns from my legs.” She flicked the light on from across the room. “I can’t think of any reason that I can’t heal your face but I can’t.”
“I can.” Max tore his eyes away to stare at his toes sticking out of his casts.
“What?”
“Isabel… even if we could heal ourselves or each other now…” He shut his eyes tightly. “Too many people have seen the injuries for them to must magically disappear.”
“Max, do you even hear what I’m saying?” She forced him to look at her, only daring to touch the unblemished side of his face. “My powers do not work on these. I can do anything else I want to but I can’t heal my wounds. I cut my hand and I was able to heal it but I can’t heal the burns.”
“It might have been because the energy is like ours. It makes our more permanent state… permanent damage.” He shut his eyes and lay back down carefully. “It means that we won’t be able to fix Liz either.”
“Max…” Isabel started to tear up. This was driving her crazy. “Can you be my brother for few minutes? Can you help me figure out what we’re going to do?”
“There’s nothing to do.” Max whispered and pretended to be sleepy. “Not anymore. It’s over.”
“God, Max.” Isabel stood and raced from the room. Max opened his eyes to the ceiling. He hadn’t slept hardly at all. Miwiro was missing in action, Michael was injured, and Liz would be in the hospital for at least a week and a half more. One thing kept nagging at him. Who had called the paramedics? Why weren’t the FBI rolling in about now?
--
“Maria? How bad is it? Really?” Liz noted the pained expression on her friend’s face through the reflection. “They keep me on painkillers so I don’t feel much.”
“It’s pretty bad but it’s getting better. This really hot intern keeps coming in here and changing your dressings.” Maria tried to lighten the mood a little. “Dark hair, about six foot, gorgeous eyes, really built.”
“A guy’s been coming in here and exposing my ass?” Liz gasped.
“But it’s okay, really. He’s not like… checking you out or anything.”
“Well that I know.” Liz managed to scoff at her friend. “I imagine that it’s not really attractive to look at.” She paused a moment. “Maria? How’s Max? I haven’t seen him since I woke up the other day.”
“He’s healing. They wanted to keep him here but he threatened to walk out.” Maria had to bite back a laugh. “He couldn’t really have but he’s really good at directing his wheelchair with just the one hand. His burns are nearly as bad as yours, worse in some places… We don’t know where he was in relation to you guys.” She sighed. “He’ll be back later this week to test the function of his shoulder and then they’ll cut his shoulder loose and he’ll have at least elbow mobility.”
“Oh.” Liz shut her eyes. “Um, where’s… Is the door closed?”
“Yeah, we’re alone.”
“Where’s Miwiro?”
“Oh, he’s resting up at Max’s.” Maria lied. She had agreed to go along with Max’s lie and she really wished she hadn’t.
“Is he badly hurt? Is that why he hasn’t come in?”
“No… No… Not hurt.”
“Maria.”
“He’s fine. He’s just laying low.” Maria reassured her friend. “Everyone’s fine… hey, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.” Liz nodded as much as she could.
“Well… it’s about you and Michael.” The blonde began.
“What?”
“It’s just that… Liz, he’s laying in his apartment staring at his ceiling. I don’t think he’s eaten and the only time he talks to me is after I give him a status report on you.”
“Maria… I don’t know what to tell you. You know there is no me and Michael. Have you asked him?”
“I never get the chance cause then he asks me to leave him alone.” Maria sighed heavily.
“Maria, I’m sure its just shock…”
“Just get better Liz. Rest.” Maria stood up suddenly. “Hey, Dr. Trowler.”
“Could you excuse us? I need to examine the patient.” Dr. Trowler nudged Maria toward the door. Once the door closed, the doctor began to lift the sheet that had been placed over Liz’s bed to keep foreign objects from touching her flesh. “Let’s see how you’ve been doing these past few days, Liz. I’m sorry I haven’t been in more often to check on you.”
“It’s okay. The nurses keep giving me something for the pain and that intern has been in here changing my dressings pretty often.” Liz took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Intern?”
“Maria says he comes in pretty regularly. I wouldn’t know. I don’t usually feel too much and I’m not awake a lot of the time.” Liz could suddenly sense the doctor’s apprehension. “Doctor?”
“I’ve never seen this before.” Dr. Trowler lifted the dressings to expose her flesh. The burns were still there but much further healed than could have been expected for the degree of damage that had been caused. “You must heal very fast, Liz.”
“Why? What’s happening?”
“I can’t guarantee that there won’t be scarring but you’ll be going home very soon. How do you feel about coming off the painkillers?”
“If it means I can have more than one coherent thought at a time, sure.” Liz smiled at her reflection. “I can’t wait to see Max again, hopefully out of this place.”
“Ah, so you’re the girlfriend, huh?” The doctor continued to examine the burns on his patient. “Maybe you can get him to come back so I can get a better look at his burns.”
“His burns?” Liz swallowed thickly.
“Poor kid. I heard he was a real heartbreaker before this. If I could treat him, I could diminish the scarring but he wouldn’t let me touch him after he woke up. I can’t give him a new ear or his hair back but I can keep him from getting sick.”
Liz tuned out the rest of the doctor’s visit. What had happened to Max? What was wrong with his ear? What had happened to his hair? Why hadn’t Max told her himself?
“We just might be able to get you off your stomach in a few days.”
--
Isabel slid onto the bed next to Michael. He had showered today. That was a good sign. Being careful, she rested her head on his shoulder and hugged him lightly. “How you feeling?”
“I’m fine.” He muttered and didn’t look down from the ceiling.
“Max is hiding from me. He keeps pushing me away. Says he doesn’t want me to feel like I have to spend time with him because his face…” Isabel fought the tears. “I don’t like to see him like this… or you. I wish you guys would snap out of this.”
“Tess came by this morning.” Michael whispered softly. He ran a hand over his face, wincing when his fingers brushed the stitches that ran down his forehead and onto his nose. “She tried to heal me, mostly my face.”
“But her powers didn’t work, did they.”
“Nope.”
“Max thinks it’s the alien energy from the ship.”
“He’s probably right.” Michael sighed and wrapped an arm around her. “I’m healing okay though.”
“I haven’t seen Alex yet.” She buried her face in his shoulder. “I don’t want him to see me now. I… told him all those things that I had done and then I took off, next thing his best friend is in the hospital because she saved my life.”
“You know. I keep trying to tell myself that she chose to do it but it doesn’t make me feel any less responsible for her being there.” He finally admitted to someone what was going on with him. “I keep seeing her in pain and then the way she looked when I passed by her room before I left.”
“She’ll be okay though. She has to be or else… I don’t think Max will survive.” She started crying to the guy she had always thought of as a brother. “And I can’t survive without him…”
--
Max had taken his position at the window and didn’t bother to turn when his door opened; the fewer people that had to look at him, the better. Max shut his eyes and waited for the awkward speech.
“Hey, your mom just told me to come on in.” Kyle’s voice drifted over. “I would have come yesterday but I had school and a ton of homework.”
“It’s okay.” Max waved him off.
Kyle made a face of sympathetic pain when he saw the exposed burns on Max’s shoulder. He crossed to sit in Max’s chair, getting only a view of his profile. “How’s it going?”
“How do you think?”
“I think you need someone to talk to.”
“You thought wrong.”
“Look. Something happened out there and no one is telling us.” Kyle leaned forward. “Do we need to know what happened out there? Does this affect us? Can you leave Earth or are you stuck here?” Kyle gave up and sat back. “It affects Tess directly. Somebody should tell us about this.”
“Truth is… I don’t know much.” Max turned slightly, exposing Kyle to the damage done to his face. “When we got there, there was another ship in the quarry. Michael, Isabel and I went to check it out.”
Kyle couldn’t stop staring at the burns on Max’s face and the remnant of his ear.
“I… Khivar was in there. Some words were exchanged… He shot at us, Michael shot at a panel and there was an explosion. Then next thing I knew Miwiro was there, he took Isabel out, said that Michael was safe. The heat got really intense in there. I couldn’t get out on my own because of my legs. He came back in and picked me up. We weren’t far enough away and we weren’t strong enough to put up a shield. I remember something really hot hitting the side of my head and then it all went black.” Max dropped his eyes to his lap. “Then I woke up in the hospital. Tell your dad thanks for covering for us.”
“My dad didn’t do anything.”
--
“Mr., Mrs. Parker, this is good news.” Dr. Trowly reassured them. “Your daughter is healing better than we could expect. I can’t promise that the scars will go away on their own but with some therapy—“
“What kind of therapy?” Mr. Parker interrupted. He had on the hospital bed with his hand resting gingerly on his daughter’s shoulder where she was sitting up for the first time in nearly a week.
“It’s not plastic surgery but… let me explain it like this. We would make a pass with a needle, almost like a tattoo. It encourages blood to the skin, helping to slough off the dead top layer of skin. This won’t be an option until she has completely healed but it will be something to look into at a later date.” The doctor paused a second. “At the very least we could do it at the base of her skull, it might reinitiate hair growth.”
“I guess it’s something we could look into.” Mrs. Parker nodded stiffly. “How long until she comes home?”
“A few more days I would think. I’d like to monitor her progress more closely than I have been.” He nodded to them. “We’ll see how well you move around, how much pain you're in before we consider discharging you, okay?”
“Yeah, I understand.” Liz nodded and leaned on her father.
“We don’t want you dependent on the painkillers. That is very important.” He lifted Liz’s face to look into her eyes. “It’s been several hours since your last dose. How are you feeling? Any pain?”
“It’s kinda sore.” Liz made a face.
“That’s to be expected. We don’t want you in any major pain so don’t be a heroine. Okay? We’ll give you a little something but not what we have been. Okay?”
“Yes, doctor.” She nodded.
“Then I’ll be back later to change your bandages.” The doctor nodded back and made a quick exit from the room. At the nurses’ station, he paused. “Who’s been dressing the burns in 403?”
“I was scheduled to her room but they were always done before I got there.” The nurse shrugged slightly and reached over to grab the chart and the schedule.
“Who’s on the schedule? They told me an intern had been in there.” He leaned on the counter to wait for her answer.
“I don’t know, doctor. To my knowledge, there haven’t been any scheduled to work this floor.”
“Do any of them have dark hair… about six foot?” He shook his head at their confusion. “Keep an eye out. I want to talk to the guy.”
--
Max maneuvered himself into the kitchen to get something to eat. He hadn’t come out of his room all day. He had spent hours thinking over what Kyle had said. If Valenti hadn’t covered for them, who had? If Valenti hadn’t taken care of it, why weren’t the FBI crawling all over the place? As he pulled up to the refrigerator, he realized that even if he could get it open, he couldn’t reach anything. Suddenly he found himself being pulled away and parked at the table.
“You can always ask for help, Max.” Diane kissed the top of his head. “I imagine that you’re starving. I left you a plate of food in the oven. Let me get it for you.”
“You don’t have to Ma. I can do it.” Max complained and spun his chair to face her.
“Max, you can’t.” Diane pulled the plate out of the oven and removed the foil wrap. She grabbed a fork and pulled a bottle of Tabasco from the refrigerator to set in front of him. “Are you going to pour it on your food or drink it?”
“Ma…” Shook his head and took the bottle from her to pour on his food. “I don’t use that much.”
“Uh-huh.” She took a seat next to her son. “You haven’t come out of your room for a few days.”
Max didn’t answer her, he just struggled to eat his meal left-handed without making a mess. He kept his face turned slightly to the right, which made for some awkward eating of his meatloaf and mashed potatoes. He dropped a forkful of potatoes and tried again to pick them up.
Diane took the fork from him and scooped them up. She held it up for him to eat but he hesitated before taking it from her. “Max, I know you hate this and you want to do for yourself… but you can’t. Both your legs are broken, one at the shin the other at the thigh… your right arm is stuck at a right angle. You need help to do things. Why haven’t you been coming to dinner to eat?”
“Mom…” Max sighed heavily. He had been fasting but tonight hunger had won out. He bowed his head slightly and when he lifted it again, he had tears in his eyes. “I didn’t want anyone to lose their appetites sitting across from me at dinner.”
“Oh, Max.” She set down the fork to cup the good side of his face. “Max… it’s not that bad.”
“Mom, I don’t even like to look at myself. I can’t make everyone else look too.” He felt the tears slide down the new contours of his face. “Not you or Dad or Isabel… or Liz. I know what I look like…”
“Honey, we still love you. You’ll get better, you’ll see.” She kissed his forehead. “It’s not that bad.”
“I hate this.” He cried. “I don’t like you having to feed me. I don’t like that I can’t fix my own meal. I hate that I can’t go to the bathroom by myself… and I hate that I’m home and Liz is still laying in that hospital with those burns all over her.” He felt her arms wrap around his shoulders and had to ignore the momentary pain it caused. “It’s my fault she was out there. I didn’t even want her there but I couldn’t leave her behind… Mom, it’s my fault… it’s my fault. I wasn’t there to protect her when she needed it.”
“Sh. Sh.” Diane held onto her son as tight as she dared. “You couldn’t have known, Max. God, what were you kids doing out there in the first place?”
TBC
“Max…” Isabel sat next to her brother on his stained sheets. The uneven burns on his chest and back made it difficult for him to sleep at night, not to mention the awkward positions his legs and arm put him in. The ointments and pus oozed out from under bandages but Max could never change as often as he would like due to his immobility. She gingerly shook his good shoulder to wake him.
“What?” He mumbled.
“My powers are back but I can’t heal my legs.” She hissed to him.
“What?” Max attempted to sit up carefully.
“I think that something in the energy blast from the ship affects our powers. I can turn mustard into orange juice but I can’t lift the burns from my legs.” She flicked the light on from across the room. “I can’t think of any reason that I can’t heal your face but I can’t.”
“I can.” Max tore his eyes away to stare at his toes sticking out of his casts.
“What?”
“Isabel… even if we could heal ourselves or each other now…” He shut his eyes tightly. “Too many people have seen the injuries for them to must magically disappear.”
“Max, do you even hear what I’m saying?” She forced him to look at her, only daring to touch the unblemished side of his face. “My powers do not work on these. I can do anything else I want to but I can’t heal my wounds. I cut my hand and I was able to heal it but I can’t heal the burns.”
“It might have been because the energy is like ours. It makes our more permanent state… permanent damage.” He shut his eyes and lay back down carefully. “It means that we won’t be able to fix Liz either.”
“Max…” Isabel started to tear up. This was driving her crazy. “Can you be my brother for few minutes? Can you help me figure out what we’re going to do?”
“There’s nothing to do.” Max whispered and pretended to be sleepy. “Not anymore. It’s over.”
“God, Max.” Isabel stood and raced from the room. Max opened his eyes to the ceiling. He hadn’t slept hardly at all. Miwiro was missing in action, Michael was injured, and Liz would be in the hospital for at least a week and a half more. One thing kept nagging at him. Who had called the paramedics? Why weren’t the FBI rolling in about now?
--
“Maria? How bad is it? Really?” Liz noted the pained expression on her friend’s face through the reflection. “They keep me on painkillers so I don’t feel much.”
“It’s pretty bad but it’s getting better. This really hot intern keeps coming in here and changing your dressings.” Maria tried to lighten the mood a little. “Dark hair, about six foot, gorgeous eyes, really built.”
“A guy’s been coming in here and exposing my ass?” Liz gasped.
“But it’s okay, really. He’s not like… checking you out or anything.”
“Well that I know.” Liz managed to scoff at her friend. “I imagine that it’s not really attractive to look at.” She paused a moment. “Maria? How’s Max? I haven’t seen him since I woke up the other day.”
“He’s healing. They wanted to keep him here but he threatened to walk out.” Maria had to bite back a laugh. “He couldn’t really have but he’s really good at directing his wheelchair with just the one hand. His burns are nearly as bad as yours, worse in some places… We don’t know where he was in relation to you guys.” She sighed. “He’ll be back later this week to test the function of his shoulder and then they’ll cut his shoulder loose and he’ll have at least elbow mobility.”
“Oh.” Liz shut her eyes. “Um, where’s… Is the door closed?”
“Yeah, we’re alone.”
“Where’s Miwiro?”
“Oh, he’s resting up at Max’s.” Maria lied. She had agreed to go along with Max’s lie and she really wished she hadn’t.
“Is he badly hurt? Is that why he hasn’t come in?”
“No… No… Not hurt.”
“Maria.”
“He’s fine. He’s just laying low.” Maria reassured her friend. “Everyone’s fine… hey, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.” Liz nodded as much as she could.
“Well… it’s about you and Michael.” The blonde began.
“What?”
“It’s just that… Liz, he’s laying in his apartment staring at his ceiling. I don’t think he’s eaten and the only time he talks to me is after I give him a status report on you.”
“Maria… I don’t know what to tell you. You know there is no me and Michael. Have you asked him?”
“I never get the chance cause then he asks me to leave him alone.” Maria sighed heavily.
“Maria, I’m sure its just shock…”
“Just get better Liz. Rest.” Maria stood up suddenly. “Hey, Dr. Trowler.”
“Could you excuse us? I need to examine the patient.” Dr. Trowler nudged Maria toward the door. Once the door closed, the doctor began to lift the sheet that had been placed over Liz’s bed to keep foreign objects from touching her flesh. “Let’s see how you’ve been doing these past few days, Liz. I’m sorry I haven’t been in more often to check on you.”
“It’s okay. The nurses keep giving me something for the pain and that intern has been in here changing my dressings pretty often.” Liz took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Intern?”
“Maria says he comes in pretty regularly. I wouldn’t know. I don’t usually feel too much and I’m not awake a lot of the time.” Liz could suddenly sense the doctor’s apprehension. “Doctor?”
“I’ve never seen this before.” Dr. Trowler lifted the dressings to expose her flesh. The burns were still there but much further healed than could have been expected for the degree of damage that had been caused. “You must heal very fast, Liz.”
“Why? What’s happening?”
“I can’t guarantee that there won’t be scarring but you’ll be going home very soon. How do you feel about coming off the painkillers?”
“If it means I can have more than one coherent thought at a time, sure.” Liz smiled at her reflection. “I can’t wait to see Max again, hopefully out of this place.”
“Ah, so you’re the girlfriend, huh?” The doctor continued to examine the burns on his patient. “Maybe you can get him to come back so I can get a better look at his burns.”
“His burns?” Liz swallowed thickly.
“Poor kid. I heard he was a real heartbreaker before this. If I could treat him, I could diminish the scarring but he wouldn’t let me touch him after he woke up. I can’t give him a new ear or his hair back but I can keep him from getting sick.”
Liz tuned out the rest of the doctor’s visit. What had happened to Max? What was wrong with his ear? What had happened to his hair? Why hadn’t Max told her himself?
“We just might be able to get you off your stomach in a few days.”
--
Isabel slid onto the bed next to Michael. He had showered today. That was a good sign. Being careful, she rested her head on his shoulder and hugged him lightly. “How you feeling?”
“I’m fine.” He muttered and didn’t look down from the ceiling.
“Max is hiding from me. He keeps pushing me away. Says he doesn’t want me to feel like I have to spend time with him because his face…” Isabel fought the tears. “I don’t like to see him like this… or you. I wish you guys would snap out of this.”
“Tess came by this morning.” Michael whispered softly. He ran a hand over his face, wincing when his fingers brushed the stitches that ran down his forehead and onto his nose. “She tried to heal me, mostly my face.”
“But her powers didn’t work, did they.”
“Nope.”
“Max thinks it’s the alien energy from the ship.”
“He’s probably right.” Michael sighed and wrapped an arm around her. “I’m healing okay though.”
“I haven’t seen Alex yet.” She buried her face in his shoulder. “I don’t want him to see me now. I… told him all those things that I had done and then I took off, next thing his best friend is in the hospital because she saved my life.”
“You know. I keep trying to tell myself that she chose to do it but it doesn’t make me feel any less responsible for her being there.” He finally admitted to someone what was going on with him. “I keep seeing her in pain and then the way she looked when I passed by her room before I left.”
“She’ll be okay though. She has to be or else… I don’t think Max will survive.” She started crying to the guy she had always thought of as a brother. “And I can’t survive without him…”
--
Max had taken his position at the window and didn’t bother to turn when his door opened; the fewer people that had to look at him, the better. Max shut his eyes and waited for the awkward speech.
“Hey, your mom just told me to come on in.” Kyle’s voice drifted over. “I would have come yesterday but I had school and a ton of homework.”
“It’s okay.” Max waved him off.
Kyle made a face of sympathetic pain when he saw the exposed burns on Max’s shoulder. He crossed to sit in Max’s chair, getting only a view of his profile. “How’s it going?”
“How do you think?”
“I think you need someone to talk to.”
“You thought wrong.”
“Look. Something happened out there and no one is telling us.” Kyle leaned forward. “Do we need to know what happened out there? Does this affect us? Can you leave Earth or are you stuck here?” Kyle gave up and sat back. “It affects Tess directly. Somebody should tell us about this.”
“Truth is… I don’t know much.” Max turned slightly, exposing Kyle to the damage done to his face. “When we got there, there was another ship in the quarry. Michael, Isabel and I went to check it out.”
Kyle couldn’t stop staring at the burns on Max’s face and the remnant of his ear.
“I… Khivar was in there. Some words were exchanged… He shot at us, Michael shot at a panel and there was an explosion. Then next thing I knew Miwiro was there, he took Isabel out, said that Michael was safe. The heat got really intense in there. I couldn’t get out on my own because of my legs. He came back in and picked me up. We weren’t far enough away and we weren’t strong enough to put up a shield. I remember something really hot hitting the side of my head and then it all went black.” Max dropped his eyes to his lap. “Then I woke up in the hospital. Tell your dad thanks for covering for us.”
“My dad didn’t do anything.”
--
“Mr., Mrs. Parker, this is good news.” Dr. Trowly reassured them. “Your daughter is healing better than we could expect. I can’t promise that the scars will go away on their own but with some therapy—“
“What kind of therapy?” Mr. Parker interrupted. He had on the hospital bed with his hand resting gingerly on his daughter’s shoulder where she was sitting up for the first time in nearly a week.
“It’s not plastic surgery but… let me explain it like this. We would make a pass with a needle, almost like a tattoo. It encourages blood to the skin, helping to slough off the dead top layer of skin. This won’t be an option until she has completely healed but it will be something to look into at a later date.” The doctor paused a second. “At the very least we could do it at the base of her skull, it might reinitiate hair growth.”
“I guess it’s something we could look into.” Mrs. Parker nodded stiffly. “How long until she comes home?”
“A few more days I would think. I’d like to monitor her progress more closely than I have been.” He nodded to them. “We’ll see how well you move around, how much pain you're in before we consider discharging you, okay?”
“Yeah, I understand.” Liz nodded and leaned on her father.
“We don’t want you dependent on the painkillers. That is very important.” He lifted Liz’s face to look into her eyes. “It’s been several hours since your last dose. How are you feeling? Any pain?”
“It’s kinda sore.” Liz made a face.
“That’s to be expected. We don’t want you in any major pain so don’t be a heroine. Okay? We’ll give you a little something but not what we have been. Okay?”
“Yes, doctor.” She nodded.
“Then I’ll be back later to change your bandages.” The doctor nodded back and made a quick exit from the room. At the nurses’ station, he paused. “Who’s been dressing the burns in 403?”
“I was scheduled to her room but they were always done before I got there.” The nurse shrugged slightly and reached over to grab the chart and the schedule.
“Who’s on the schedule? They told me an intern had been in there.” He leaned on the counter to wait for her answer.
“I don’t know, doctor. To my knowledge, there haven’t been any scheduled to work this floor.”
“Do any of them have dark hair… about six foot?” He shook his head at their confusion. “Keep an eye out. I want to talk to the guy.”
--
Max maneuvered himself into the kitchen to get something to eat. He hadn’t come out of his room all day. He had spent hours thinking over what Kyle had said. If Valenti hadn’t covered for them, who had? If Valenti hadn’t taken care of it, why weren’t the FBI crawling all over the place? As he pulled up to the refrigerator, he realized that even if he could get it open, he couldn’t reach anything. Suddenly he found himself being pulled away and parked at the table.
“You can always ask for help, Max.” Diane kissed the top of his head. “I imagine that you’re starving. I left you a plate of food in the oven. Let me get it for you.”
“You don’t have to Ma. I can do it.” Max complained and spun his chair to face her.
“Max, you can’t.” Diane pulled the plate out of the oven and removed the foil wrap. She grabbed a fork and pulled a bottle of Tabasco from the refrigerator to set in front of him. “Are you going to pour it on your food or drink it?”
“Ma…” Shook his head and took the bottle from her to pour on his food. “I don’t use that much.”
“Uh-huh.” She took a seat next to her son. “You haven’t come out of your room for a few days.”
Max didn’t answer her, he just struggled to eat his meal left-handed without making a mess. He kept his face turned slightly to the right, which made for some awkward eating of his meatloaf and mashed potatoes. He dropped a forkful of potatoes and tried again to pick them up.
Diane took the fork from him and scooped them up. She held it up for him to eat but he hesitated before taking it from her. “Max, I know you hate this and you want to do for yourself… but you can’t. Both your legs are broken, one at the shin the other at the thigh… your right arm is stuck at a right angle. You need help to do things. Why haven’t you been coming to dinner to eat?”
“Mom…” Max sighed heavily. He had been fasting but tonight hunger had won out. He bowed his head slightly and when he lifted it again, he had tears in his eyes. “I didn’t want anyone to lose their appetites sitting across from me at dinner.”
“Oh, Max.” She set down the fork to cup the good side of his face. “Max… it’s not that bad.”
“Mom, I don’t even like to look at myself. I can’t make everyone else look too.” He felt the tears slide down the new contours of his face. “Not you or Dad or Isabel… or Liz. I know what I look like…”
“Honey, we still love you. You’ll get better, you’ll see.” She kissed his forehead. “It’s not that bad.”
“I hate this.” He cried. “I don’t like you having to feed me. I don’t like that I can’t fix my own meal. I hate that I can’t go to the bathroom by myself… and I hate that I’m home and Liz is still laying in that hospital with those burns all over her.” He felt her arms wrap around his shoulders and had to ignore the momentary pain it caused. “It’s my fault she was out there. I didn’t even want her there but I couldn’t leave her behind… Mom, it’s my fault… it’s my fault. I wasn’t there to protect her when she needed it.”
“Sh. Sh.” Diane held onto her son as tight as she dared. “You couldn’t have known, Max. God, what were you kids doing out there in the first place?”
TBC
Cling and Clatter Part 13 of 16
AN: Thanks for all the feedback on this ancient story. '-)
You guys are awesome. I gotta take the man-baby to get checked out, he still thinks he's dying so I'm out for the week. Sorry to leave you hanging this close to the end but I will be back next week with the last two parts.
Part 13
Liz lay on her side as still as she could, moving tended to create a gross pulling sensation on the flesh of her back. So many, many thoughts raced through her mind. She thought about Max. He couldn’t be too bad if Maria hadn’t said anything, or it could be really bad and that’s why Maria hadn’t said anything. Isabel hadn’t come in but apparently she had just sustained the equivalent of really bad sunburn. Michael had the same thing but with cracked ribs and a few stitches to the face. The gash hadn’t been as bad as she thought it had been when she had first seen it. Maria and Alex came to visit when they could. Then there was the missing Miwiro.
Sighing, she flicked her eyes to the door when it opened. A tall guy with dark hair walked in and set a bucket of gauze and swabs beside her bed. “Morning. I see you’re… lucid, today.”
“Yeah, it feels good.” Liz half smiled. “Need me to lay on my stomach?”
“If you could. It just makes it easier for me.” He answered sincerely. He waited until she shifted onto her belly before he released the ties on her gown. Gently, he pushed the thin covering aside to expose the bandages over her back. “These are looking much better.”
“Yeah, the doc says I get to go home tomorrow as long as I promise to keep up cleaning my back and putting on that cream.” Liz found herself smiling to the wall as she thought of seeing Max soon. She barely felt him pull the old bandages off and begin the cleaning of her back. “I can’t wait to see my boyfriend.”
“I’ll bet. I’m sure he’s a lucky guy.”
“He’s amazing.” She sighed dreamily then the clouds entered her vision. “I heard that his burns were about as bad as mine. Did you see him?”
“Yeah… yeah I did. He’ll be fine though. I gave him some ointment and wished him luck.”
Liz sighed again. “I feel guilty for still having my face if he doesn’t have his. I don’t even know. He hasn’t been in to see me.”
“He’s got three broken limbs…”
“I know, I know. It’s probably hard for him to get around but… I miss him.”
“Sounds like you like him a lot.”
“Love is more like it. I couldn’t live without him.”
The intern never paused for a moment in removing the residue from the last application. He dabbed her abused skin and moved around to face her. “I have to let it air dry for a moment before I put more on…” He waited for her nod. “Can I ask you something?”
“Um, sure.” Liz nodded and noted that he had very kind eyes, very familiar looking eyes.
“What if I told you that your boyfriend was horribly disfigured? What if I told you that he might never fully heal and look normal again?” He rested his chin on his hand to wait for her answer.
“God…” Liz squeezed her eyes shut tight. “I don’t know. It would hurt me to see him like that but I love him so much that I could never stay away from him. I could never just leave Max.”
“That's good to hear.” He nodded. “That's very good. So let's finish you up, ok?”
“You look so familiar to me. Do I know you from somewhere?”
“Depends… did you have a past life?” He closed one eye and studied her carefully.
“I… uh… well.” Liz stammered.
“Joking. Sorry. My mother says I get my sense of … humor from my father.” He smiled and stood up. “So, I hear you’re getting out of here tomorrow…” They both managed a small laugh as Liz suddenly relaxed so much she fell asleep for the remainder of her stay in the hospital.
--
Max threw his shirt at the mirror. He couldn’t put it on. Wincing as a drop of water from his hair felt on his shoulder, he wheeled himself back to his closet. None of his clothes would fit without ripping them to shreds.
“If you ask me, I’ll help.” Isabel whispered from the doorway. “Even Michael lets me help him into a clean shirt.”
He sighed heavily and sank back against his wheelchair. Too proud to form the words, he just gave her a helpless look. Isabel pulled a T-shirt from the closet and proceeded to get it over his encased arm and then his head, forcing his left arm to his body to slide it through the armhole. “See, that wasn’t so bad.”
“For me or for you?” Max muttered and turned away to make sure his sweat pants were snapped up the side properly. “I know I wouldn’t want to dress you.”
“Me either. Who knows what horrible outfit you'd put on me.” Isabel cracked a small smile but kept waiting for him to turn around again. “You know… we are here for you… Max?”
“What?”
“How are you really doing?”
“I’m fine.” He practically barked at her. “I am fine with the fact I look like something the cat threw up. I’m fine with the fact that I can’t walk and I’m fine with not being able to do something as simple as bathe and dress myself. I just wish everyone would lea--” He trailed off when he caught movement at the door behind her. “Liz?”
Isabel stood and turned to see their friend. The silence was so thick, she had trouble breathing. Silently, she left them alone to face each other for the first time since before the explosion. Liz nervously plucked her hair away from the back of her head, her hair had just been evened out by her mother before she was allowed to go for a walk.
One foot in front of the other, she made her way to Max, trying not to stare at his wounds. He looked so scared and lost. Kneeling in front of his chair, Liz lightly put her hand on his leg. She couldn’t stop the tears from forming when she finally slid her eyes to the disfigured side of his face. Hesitantly, she reached up to touch the flesh with the tips of her fingers. His left hand stopped her journey. “They told me but I didn’t believe it.”
“Who told you?” He whispered so softly that she wasn’t sure she really heard him speak.
“My doctor and that intern…” Her voice trailed off as she found it hard to speak.
“I can’t hold you.”
“Not now but you will.” Liz rose up so she could look straight into his eyes. “Soon.”
“Stop pretending Liz. I know what I look like.” Max couldn’t stop a tear from trailing down his face. “Don’t lie to me. That would hurt worse than you staying with me out of obligation…”
“Max… I’m not obligated to you.” She shook her head. “I love you…”
--
Max lay back on his bed, feigning sleep but he could hear voices outside his door. “What’s wrong with your brother? He was doing so good and all of a sudden today he won’t come out of his room.”
“Liz was here earlier. I don’t know what happened but Liz ran out of here crying.”
“Oh dear. How was she?”
“I don’t know… I didn’t get a chance to talk to her.”
Max squeezed his eyes shut tight. Liz had tried to kiss him but he had turned his face away. Then he had been an ogre when he told her to leave. He had told her not to come back. Tears flowed over his face and onto his pillow but he couldn’t stop.
--
Liz sat on her balcony crying in front of all the friends that had come over to see how she was doing. Kyle held her tight against his chest while she sobbed. Alex and Maria resisted the urge to stroke her back, not that she would have noticed that pain over the stabbing in her heart.
“It’s not just Max, Liz.” Kyle whispered to her. “Isabel won’t talk to Alex and Michael likes to play games with Maria’s head. He talks to her only if she has news on you… and that’s it.”
“Why would he care? Why are they doing this to us?” Liz sobbed louder.
--
Michael didn’t even bother to look when he heard his door open. “Look. I’m sleeping… or trying to. Leave me alone.”
“You really want me to?” A male voice spoke. Michael sat up thinking it was Max. Instead he saw a man in green hospital scrubs. “How is everyone doing?”
“Who are you?” Michael started to raise his hand.
“Sorry. I forget.” The man raised his eyebrows and rolled his eyes. Holding his hand in front of him, a light filled the room. When it subsided and Michael could see once more, Miwiro stood in front of him, worn and ragged. Miwiro rubbed his stomach and furrowed his brow. “You have candy?”
TBC
You guys are awesome. I gotta take the man-baby to get checked out, he still thinks he's dying so I'm out for the week. Sorry to leave you hanging this close to the end but I will be back next week with the last two parts.
Part 13
Liz lay on her side as still as she could, moving tended to create a gross pulling sensation on the flesh of her back. So many, many thoughts raced through her mind. She thought about Max. He couldn’t be too bad if Maria hadn’t said anything, or it could be really bad and that’s why Maria hadn’t said anything. Isabel hadn’t come in but apparently she had just sustained the equivalent of really bad sunburn. Michael had the same thing but with cracked ribs and a few stitches to the face. The gash hadn’t been as bad as she thought it had been when she had first seen it. Maria and Alex came to visit when they could. Then there was the missing Miwiro.
Sighing, she flicked her eyes to the door when it opened. A tall guy with dark hair walked in and set a bucket of gauze and swabs beside her bed. “Morning. I see you’re… lucid, today.”
“Yeah, it feels good.” Liz half smiled. “Need me to lay on my stomach?”
“If you could. It just makes it easier for me.” He answered sincerely. He waited until she shifted onto her belly before he released the ties on her gown. Gently, he pushed the thin covering aside to expose the bandages over her back. “These are looking much better.”
“Yeah, the doc says I get to go home tomorrow as long as I promise to keep up cleaning my back and putting on that cream.” Liz found herself smiling to the wall as she thought of seeing Max soon. She barely felt him pull the old bandages off and begin the cleaning of her back. “I can’t wait to see my boyfriend.”
“I’ll bet. I’m sure he’s a lucky guy.”
“He’s amazing.” She sighed dreamily then the clouds entered her vision. “I heard that his burns were about as bad as mine. Did you see him?”
“Yeah… yeah I did. He’ll be fine though. I gave him some ointment and wished him luck.”
Liz sighed again. “I feel guilty for still having my face if he doesn’t have his. I don’t even know. He hasn’t been in to see me.”
“He’s got three broken limbs…”
“I know, I know. It’s probably hard for him to get around but… I miss him.”
“Sounds like you like him a lot.”
“Love is more like it. I couldn’t live without him.”
The intern never paused for a moment in removing the residue from the last application. He dabbed her abused skin and moved around to face her. “I have to let it air dry for a moment before I put more on…” He waited for her nod. “Can I ask you something?”
“Um, sure.” Liz nodded and noted that he had very kind eyes, very familiar looking eyes.
“What if I told you that your boyfriend was horribly disfigured? What if I told you that he might never fully heal and look normal again?” He rested his chin on his hand to wait for her answer.
“God…” Liz squeezed her eyes shut tight. “I don’t know. It would hurt me to see him like that but I love him so much that I could never stay away from him. I could never just leave Max.”
“That's good to hear.” He nodded. “That's very good. So let's finish you up, ok?”
“You look so familiar to me. Do I know you from somewhere?”
“Depends… did you have a past life?” He closed one eye and studied her carefully.
“I… uh… well.” Liz stammered.
“Joking. Sorry. My mother says I get my sense of … humor from my father.” He smiled and stood up. “So, I hear you’re getting out of here tomorrow…” They both managed a small laugh as Liz suddenly relaxed so much she fell asleep for the remainder of her stay in the hospital.
--
Max threw his shirt at the mirror. He couldn’t put it on. Wincing as a drop of water from his hair felt on his shoulder, he wheeled himself back to his closet. None of his clothes would fit without ripping them to shreds.
“If you ask me, I’ll help.” Isabel whispered from the doorway. “Even Michael lets me help him into a clean shirt.”
He sighed heavily and sank back against his wheelchair. Too proud to form the words, he just gave her a helpless look. Isabel pulled a T-shirt from the closet and proceeded to get it over his encased arm and then his head, forcing his left arm to his body to slide it through the armhole. “See, that wasn’t so bad.”
“For me or for you?” Max muttered and turned away to make sure his sweat pants were snapped up the side properly. “I know I wouldn’t want to dress you.”
“Me either. Who knows what horrible outfit you'd put on me.” Isabel cracked a small smile but kept waiting for him to turn around again. “You know… we are here for you… Max?”
“What?”
“How are you really doing?”
“I’m fine.” He practically barked at her. “I am fine with the fact I look like something the cat threw up. I’m fine with the fact that I can’t walk and I’m fine with not being able to do something as simple as bathe and dress myself. I just wish everyone would lea--” He trailed off when he caught movement at the door behind her. “Liz?”
Isabel stood and turned to see their friend. The silence was so thick, she had trouble breathing. Silently, she left them alone to face each other for the first time since before the explosion. Liz nervously plucked her hair away from the back of her head, her hair had just been evened out by her mother before she was allowed to go for a walk.
One foot in front of the other, she made her way to Max, trying not to stare at his wounds. He looked so scared and lost. Kneeling in front of his chair, Liz lightly put her hand on his leg. She couldn’t stop the tears from forming when she finally slid her eyes to the disfigured side of his face. Hesitantly, she reached up to touch the flesh with the tips of her fingers. His left hand stopped her journey. “They told me but I didn’t believe it.”
“Who told you?” He whispered so softly that she wasn’t sure she really heard him speak.
“My doctor and that intern…” Her voice trailed off as she found it hard to speak.
“I can’t hold you.”
“Not now but you will.” Liz rose up so she could look straight into his eyes. “Soon.”
“Stop pretending Liz. I know what I look like.” Max couldn’t stop a tear from trailing down his face. “Don’t lie to me. That would hurt worse than you staying with me out of obligation…”
“Max… I’m not obligated to you.” She shook her head. “I love you…”
--
Max lay back on his bed, feigning sleep but he could hear voices outside his door. “What’s wrong with your brother? He was doing so good and all of a sudden today he won’t come out of his room.”
“Liz was here earlier. I don’t know what happened but Liz ran out of here crying.”
“Oh dear. How was she?”
“I don’t know… I didn’t get a chance to talk to her.”
Max squeezed his eyes shut tight. Liz had tried to kiss him but he had turned his face away. Then he had been an ogre when he told her to leave. He had told her not to come back. Tears flowed over his face and onto his pillow but he couldn’t stop.
--
Liz sat on her balcony crying in front of all the friends that had come over to see how she was doing. Kyle held her tight against his chest while she sobbed. Alex and Maria resisted the urge to stroke her back, not that she would have noticed that pain over the stabbing in her heart.
“It’s not just Max, Liz.” Kyle whispered to her. “Isabel won’t talk to Alex and Michael likes to play games with Maria’s head. He talks to her only if she has news on you… and that’s it.”
“Why would he care? Why are they doing this to us?” Liz sobbed louder.
--
Michael didn’t even bother to look when he heard his door open. “Look. I’m sleeping… or trying to. Leave me alone.”
“You really want me to?” A male voice spoke. Michael sat up thinking it was Max. Instead he saw a man in green hospital scrubs. “How is everyone doing?”
“Who are you?” Michael started to raise his hand.
“Sorry. I forget.” The man raised his eyebrows and rolled his eyes. Holding his hand in front of him, a light filled the room. When it subsided and Michael could see once more, Miwiro stood in front of him, worn and ragged. Miwiro rubbed his stomach and furrowed his brow. “You have candy?”
TBC
Cling and Clatter Part 14 of 16
Part 14
Sliding carefully onto the table, Max waited for the doctor to start the examination. An intern entered and approached slowly. “Do you remember what’s where?”
“Most of my body is in a cast. I’m sure it’s all still there.” Max replied in a dead voice. His attempt at a small laugh sounded harsh and empty.
“We’re glad you came back in, Mr. Evans.” The intern lifted a cast saw from the table and motioned for Max to turn and rest his right hand on a traction handle. “We can help you better when you come in. The burns?”
“Obviously still there.”
“I’m going to cut this off of you and then we will reassess the break.” Max had already tuned the intern out. His thoughts returned to Liz and the look in her eyes when he had told her to leave. When he came out of his thoughts, he felt very sleepy. The intern had begun cleaning up his arm, very carefully moving around burns and dabbing his skin dry. “Would you like to lie down?”
“Um, yeah, just for a minute.” Max nodded slightly as he lay back, closing his eyes when he heard the saw turn on again on his legs.
--
Liz nodded absently as her mother talked about her return to school and applied a cream to her back. She sighed and shut her eyes. At least she was almost nude in the comfort of her own room, in her own bed rather than in that semi private room at the hospital with that papery hospital gown. All she could think about was Max.
“Liz?” Michael’s voice made her snap her head up and clutch her sheet to her chest.
“Michael? What are you doing here?” Liz whispered. Of course, everyone had already seen her 'from ass to shining ass' as Maria put it.
“I just dropped by, your dad told me to come on up.” He nodded to Mrs. Parker. “I… uh… wanted to thank you for what you did for me and Isabel.”
“I’ll leave you kids to talk.” Nancy stood up with used gauzes to throw away.
They remained silent until she had gone from the room. Michael sat at the foot of the bed at just stared at her for a moment. Liz drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them to keep from exposing herself to him, not that he hadn’t seen everything two weeks ago. “God that feels like forever ago.”
“What does?” Michael furrowed his brow.
“I was just thinking that I’m covering myself up here but you’ve seen me naked.” Liz whispered. “That night feels like so long ago that I can’t believe it was in this lifetime.”
“I know what you mean.” He nodded stiffly. “Miwiro finally showed up.”
“What?” She snapped her eyes to his. “What do you mean finally showed up? He was missing?”
“You didn’t know?”
“No! Maria said that he was holed up at Max’s.”
“I thought you knew. He saw you like four times a day while you were in the hospital.”
“He did not. Anyway… I was asleep…” Liz trailed off when she put it together. “He was the intern.”
“Yeah. That’s what he told me.” Michael shifted slightly. “He walked into my apartment looking like one thing and then changed into himself… He’s hurt himself. He’s been taking care of everything. The hospital records, our blood samples… you.”
“Why are you here, Michael?” She asked out of nowhere. “You’ve been ignoring Maria. She’s worried about you.”
“I wasn’t ignoring her.” He dropped his gaze to his hands. “Look, I just wanted to see for myself that you were all right. I owe you my life…”
“Michael. I’m not the one that pulled you out of that ship… I still don’t know what happened inside of that ship. Why are you here?”
“I… I’m confused.” Michael looked up with tears in his eyes. “I know I care for Maria because I don’t want to hurt her but… I’m… feeling… I’m confused. I don’t know who I’m supposed to be with.”
“What are you talking about?” Liz whispered, his distress made her heart speed up.
“I want to hug her and kiss her but… I keep seeing you. I don’t think I’m supposed to but I do. I hear you… moan and I feel your skin.” Michael practically leapt off the bed and began pacing. “I can get it out of my head. Either I dream of you saving my life or I dream of making love to you.”
“Michael? Did a doctor check you out?”
“No.” He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, signaling to Liz that his head hurt pretty badly. “I woke up in the hospital but… they wanted to do tests when I woke up. I couldn’t let them.”
The more he talked, the more Liz was sure something else had happened to him. “Michael… did you hit your head?”
--
Max woke up in his own bed. He groaned and sat up. Outside the sun was setting and when he instinctively lifted his right hand to his face, his fingertips and a cast met the tight flesh. It took him a moment to realize that his right arm was mobile again. When he shifted his legs, they were noticeably lighter but still encased.
“Morning, sleepyhead.” Diane whispered from the doorway. “You fell asleep and we didn’t have the heart to wake you up, especially since you haven’t been sleeping well.”
“What?” Max shook his head to clear the cobwebs. “What time is it?”
“6:30. Are you hungry?” Diane pulled the wheelchair from beside the desk and opened it up. “You wouldn’t let me in the room earlier but if you need help…”
“I think I can do it Ma.” Max managed a smile and scooted over enough to slide onto the chair, being careful not to put too much weight on his right arm. “Think I can eat with my hand now?”
“Wouldn’t count on it.” They made their way to the kitchen where he was parked at the table. A plate of pizza was set in front of him. “I think you can handle that left handed.”
“Thanks.”
“So the doctor’s say you’re close to a miracle.” She sat beside him and ruffled his hair. “The intern wouldn’t tell us what he did in there and then he was gone before the doctor showed up.”
“The intern was pretty cool.” Max nodded, his mouth full of pizza. “How am I a miracle?”
“Well, they’re sure that it was a glitch or something but I know you, Max.”
“What do you mean?” He recognized that look in her eyes. The bird and the fire flashed before his eyes. “What did the doctor find?”
“Your arm was broken and they thought that maybe a nerve might have been pinched but… the x-rays today showed that you’ve only got a fracture.”
“And my legs?”
“The same. They looked like breaks at the time but just fractures. They’ll heal soon enough and you’ll be up and about before you know it.”
Max suddenly didn’t feel too well. His pizza had all the taste of sawdust. He wasn’t even listening until something she said rang a bell.
“And your burns. Apparently that intern that cleaned you up cleaned off some dead skin and they’re healing faster than was expected. Doctor said that the same thing happened with Liz Parker…”
--
“Oh my god… It’s you.” Isabel threw her arms around Miwiro. “We were so worried.”
His arms slowly wrapped around her. He wasn’t used to such open displays of affection. “I am fine. A burn here and there but I’m healing.” He pulled away slightly. “Do you have any candy?”
“No, sorry. Michael usually has some…” Isabel gestured to the kitchen only to find several wrappers strewn about. “Which you’ve already found.”
“I… I’ve been using up a lot of energy and candy seems to be the best replenishment.” Miwiro let go of her take his place on the couch, where he had been working on a box of cereal.
“Can I ask you something?” She sat beside him. “That was Kivar in there, right?”
“Yeah. It was.” He paused with a handful of Cocoa Puffs halfway to his mouth.
“Is… is he dead?”
“Yes.”
Isabel’s face crumpled up in tears, sobs came racking her body. “It’s over, it’s really over.” Then she doubled over. “He’s dead. Oh god, he’s gone.”
--
Max studied his reflection. The burns on his face had receded just the tiniest bit. He turned to let his mom have access to his back. He figured his body might have healed enough to begin healing his wounds. That had to be it.
“You’ll be better in no time.” Diane whispered. Both snapped their head around when they heard the door slam open.
“Max!” Isabel shouted into the house as she drug Miwiro behind her.
Miwiro stood in shock when he laid eyes on his father. He was having his wounds cleaned and so more of him was exposed. He slowly walked forward and wrapped his arms around Max. His arms and body matched perfectly with the line separating Max’s wounds from his unharmed flesh.
Diane gasped when she saw it. If not for this Robert character, Max could have been burned from head to toe.
“Max, I’m sorry.” Miwiro cried.
TBC
blah, blah seems to contradict itself. There are still two parts.
Sliding carefully onto the table, Max waited for the doctor to start the examination. An intern entered and approached slowly. “Do you remember what’s where?”
“Most of my body is in a cast. I’m sure it’s all still there.” Max replied in a dead voice. His attempt at a small laugh sounded harsh and empty.
“We’re glad you came back in, Mr. Evans.” The intern lifted a cast saw from the table and motioned for Max to turn and rest his right hand on a traction handle. “We can help you better when you come in. The burns?”
“Obviously still there.”
“I’m going to cut this off of you and then we will reassess the break.” Max had already tuned the intern out. His thoughts returned to Liz and the look in her eyes when he had told her to leave. When he came out of his thoughts, he felt very sleepy. The intern had begun cleaning up his arm, very carefully moving around burns and dabbing his skin dry. “Would you like to lie down?”
“Um, yeah, just for a minute.” Max nodded slightly as he lay back, closing his eyes when he heard the saw turn on again on his legs.
--
Liz nodded absently as her mother talked about her return to school and applied a cream to her back. She sighed and shut her eyes. At least she was almost nude in the comfort of her own room, in her own bed rather than in that semi private room at the hospital with that papery hospital gown. All she could think about was Max.
“Liz?” Michael’s voice made her snap her head up and clutch her sheet to her chest.
“Michael? What are you doing here?” Liz whispered. Of course, everyone had already seen her 'from ass to shining ass' as Maria put it.
“I just dropped by, your dad told me to come on up.” He nodded to Mrs. Parker. “I… uh… wanted to thank you for what you did for me and Isabel.”
“I’ll leave you kids to talk.” Nancy stood up with used gauzes to throw away.
They remained silent until she had gone from the room. Michael sat at the foot of the bed at just stared at her for a moment. Liz drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them to keep from exposing herself to him, not that he hadn’t seen everything two weeks ago. “God that feels like forever ago.”
“What does?” Michael furrowed his brow.
“I was just thinking that I’m covering myself up here but you’ve seen me naked.” Liz whispered. “That night feels like so long ago that I can’t believe it was in this lifetime.”
“I know what you mean.” He nodded stiffly. “Miwiro finally showed up.”
“What?” She snapped her eyes to his. “What do you mean finally showed up? He was missing?”
“You didn’t know?”
“No! Maria said that he was holed up at Max’s.”
“I thought you knew. He saw you like four times a day while you were in the hospital.”
“He did not. Anyway… I was asleep…” Liz trailed off when she put it together. “He was the intern.”
“Yeah. That’s what he told me.” Michael shifted slightly. “He walked into my apartment looking like one thing and then changed into himself… He’s hurt himself. He’s been taking care of everything. The hospital records, our blood samples… you.”
“Why are you here, Michael?” She asked out of nowhere. “You’ve been ignoring Maria. She’s worried about you.”
“I wasn’t ignoring her.” He dropped his gaze to his hands. “Look, I just wanted to see for myself that you were all right. I owe you my life…”
“Michael. I’m not the one that pulled you out of that ship… I still don’t know what happened inside of that ship. Why are you here?”
“I… I’m confused.” Michael looked up with tears in his eyes. “I know I care for Maria because I don’t want to hurt her but… I’m… feeling… I’m confused. I don’t know who I’m supposed to be with.”
“What are you talking about?” Liz whispered, his distress made her heart speed up.
“I want to hug her and kiss her but… I keep seeing you. I don’t think I’m supposed to but I do. I hear you… moan and I feel your skin.” Michael practically leapt off the bed and began pacing. “I can get it out of my head. Either I dream of you saving my life or I dream of making love to you.”
“Michael? Did a doctor check you out?”
“No.” He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, signaling to Liz that his head hurt pretty badly. “I woke up in the hospital but… they wanted to do tests when I woke up. I couldn’t let them.”
The more he talked, the more Liz was sure something else had happened to him. “Michael… did you hit your head?”
--
Max woke up in his own bed. He groaned and sat up. Outside the sun was setting and when he instinctively lifted his right hand to his face, his fingertips and a cast met the tight flesh. It took him a moment to realize that his right arm was mobile again. When he shifted his legs, they were noticeably lighter but still encased.
“Morning, sleepyhead.” Diane whispered from the doorway. “You fell asleep and we didn’t have the heart to wake you up, especially since you haven’t been sleeping well.”
“What?” Max shook his head to clear the cobwebs. “What time is it?”
“6:30. Are you hungry?” Diane pulled the wheelchair from beside the desk and opened it up. “You wouldn’t let me in the room earlier but if you need help…”
“I think I can do it Ma.” Max managed a smile and scooted over enough to slide onto the chair, being careful not to put too much weight on his right arm. “Think I can eat with my hand now?”
“Wouldn’t count on it.” They made their way to the kitchen where he was parked at the table. A plate of pizza was set in front of him. “I think you can handle that left handed.”
“Thanks.”
“So the doctor’s say you’re close to a miracle.” She sat beside him and ruffled his hair. “The intern wouldn’t tell us what he did in there and then he was gone before the doctor showed up.”
“The intern was pretty cool.” Max nodded, his mouth full of pizza. “How am I a miracle?”
“Well, they’re sure that it was a glitch or something but I know you, Max.”
“What do you mean?” He recognized that look in her eyes. The bird and the fire flashed before his eyes. “What did the doctor find?”
“Your arm was broken and they thought that maybe a nerve might have been pinched but… the x-rays today showed that you’ve only got a fracture.”
“And my legs?”
“The same. They looked like breaks at the time but just fractures. They’ll heal soon enough and you’ll be up and about before you know it.”
Max suddenly didn’t feel too well. His pizza had all the taste of sawdust. He wasn’t even listening until something she said rang a bell.
“And your burns. Apparently that intern that cleaned you up cleaned off some dead skin and they’re healing faster than was expected. Doctor said that the same thing happened with Liz Parker…”
--
“Oh my god… It’s you.” Isabel threw her arms around Miwiro. “We were so worried.”
His arms slowly wrapped around her. He wasn’t used to such open displays of affection. “I am fine. A burn here and there but I’m healing.” He pulled away slightly. “Do you have any candy?”
“No, sorry. Michael usually has some…” Isabel gestured to the kitchen only to find several wrappers strewn about. “Which you’ve already found.”
“I… I’ve been using up a lot of energy and candy seems to be the best replenishment.” Miwiro let go of her take his place on the couch, where he had been working on a box of cereal.
“Can I ask you something?” She sat beside him. “That was Kivar in there, right?”
“Yeah. It was.” He paused with a handful of Cocoa Puffs halfway to his mouth.
“Is… is he dead?”
“Yes.”
Isabel’s face crumpled up in tears, sobs came racking her body. “It’s over, it’s really over.” Then she doubled over. “He’s dead. Oh god, he’s gone.”
--
Max studied his reflection. The burns on his face had receded just the tiniest bit. He turned to let his mom have access to his back. He figured his body might have healed enough to begin healing his wounds. That had to be it.
“You’ll be better in no time.” Diane whispered. Both snapped their head around when they heard the door slam open.
“Max!” Isabel shouted into the house as she drug Miwiro behind her.
Miwiro stood in shock when he laid eyes on his father. He was having his wounds cleaned and so more of him was exposed. He slowly walked forward and wrapped his arms around Max. His arms and body matched perfectly with the line separating Max’s wounds from his unharmed flesh.
Diane gasped when she saw it. If not for this Robert character, Max could have been burned from head to toe.
“Max, I’m sorry.” Miwiro cried.
TBC
blah, blah seems to contradict itself. There are still two parts.
Cling and Clatter 15 of 16
Part 15
"Hope you didn't mind my display in there. Isabel told me what you told your mother and I was just corroborating your story." Miwiro nodded slowly.
"You've been around all this time?" Max asked, trying desperately to stop from shielding his face.
"In a manner of speaking." The Antarian heir nodded his head.
"How's that?"
"You can distance yourself if you want to. When you shape-shift it's easy to pretend that you are what and who you shift into." Miwiro told Max. The two Antarian leaders sat in Max's room with the music up to cover their voices. "Hope you aren't too mad but Liz needed me more."
"No, no. I'm…" Max swallowed thickly. "I'm glad you've been helping her out. She deserves to get back to normal as quickly as possible."
"What's wrong?" Miwiro scooted the chair back. "What's happened?"
"I can't endanger Liz again." Max turned his wheelchair away. "I love her too much to do that to her. She could have died out there."
"She's stronger than that. She's Kejir." He argued, his amber eyes seeking out those of his would-be father's.
"Liz is not Kejir!" Max shouted, finally turning back to Miwiro. "Liz is human. I am not. I am Antarian. I am of the house of Utinu. Liz is human. Just human. I have to let her be human."
"No." Miwiro shook his head. "I will not allow it."
"I can't put her in danger anymore."
"You will kill her and yourself by keeping her away." Miwiro could tell that Max wasn't listening to him. Gripping Max's shoulders, he forced him to look into his eyes. "Do you want to become Gediro? That is exactly what will happen if you are apart from her."
--
Liz tugged her shirt down when she came out of the bathroom and sat next to Michael on her bed, placing a hesitant hand on his shoulder. "Is there anything we can do to help you?"
"I don't know." Michael ran his hands through his hair again, this time pausing over the bump he knew was there. "I think this bump on my head is the thing… that started it."
"We should tell Max." She felt him stiffen immediately. "What?"
"Until I know what happened when… I can't. He'll kill me." He shot to his feet. "He doesn't like to share. Once something is his, it's his until he's bored. Even then, you can't take it until he says you can."
"What?" Liz shook her head. "What are you talking about?"
"That's how I got Maria. I wanted her and he had her. I had to wait until he gave her to me." Michael shook his head. "Not Maria, Jirena. Max never had Maria."
"Right." Liz nodded, her expression blank. It answered some questions she had about what Maria had been so upset about before the explosion. "Maybe we should talk to Miwiro first. Maybe he knows something that we can do." He stopped and looked at her. "Michael, this is not right. In this lifetime you and I have never been together."
"Let's go find him then."
--
"We just need to get everyone together and resolve all this. I can feel this really loose circle we have... it's just weakening all over the place. We aren't that tight to begin with and this will pull us apart." Kyle told Tess. "This rift cannot be good."
"I try not to think about it too much." Tess whispered.
"I think that's our problem." Kyle burst out. "We're either thinking too much or not enough and we're not doing anything about it."
"You're right." Tess whispered a little louder. "I think that we should definitely do something before it's too late."
--
Michael stopped walking when Liz stopped to answer her cell. He had to resist the urge to touch her again. She had made it clear that they weren't like that but it was hard to shake. She turned to him after hanging up the phone. "We're all meeting in the park. In the parking lot. That was Kyle and he's already talked to Max. It's hard to get him to and from so... so he doesn't have to get out of the car, we'll just meet around the... whatever Isabel is driving over."
His heart broke when he saw the pain in her eyes when she said Max's name. "Everyone's coming?"
"Everyone."
TBC
"Hope you didn't mind my display in there. Isabel told me what you told your mother and I was just corroborating your story." Miwiro nodded slowly.
"You've been around all this time?" Max asked, trying desperately to stop from shielding his face.
"In a manner of speaking." The Antarian heir nodded his head.
"How's that?"
"You can distance yourself if you want to. When you shape-shift it's easy to pretend that you are what and who you shift into." Miwiro told Max. The two Antarian leaders sat in Max's room with the music up to cover their voices. "Hope you aren't too mad but Liz needed me more."
"No, no. I'm…" Max swallowed thickly. "I'm glad you've been helping her out. She deserves to get back to normal as quickly as possible."
"What's wrong?" Miwiro scooted the chair back. "What's happened?"
"I can't endanger Liz again." Max turned his wheelchair away. "I love her too much to do that to her. She could have died out there."
"She's stronger than that. She's Kejir." He argued, his amber eyes seeking out those of his would-be father's.
"Liz is not Kejir!" Max shouted, finally turning back to Miwiro. "Liz is human. I am not. I am Antarian. I am of the house of Utinu. Liz is human. Just human. I have to let her be human."
"No." Miwiro shook his head. "I will not allow it."
"I can't put her in danger anymore."
"You will kill her and yourself by keeping her away." Miwiro could tell that Max wasn't listening to him. Gripping Max's shoulders, he forced him to look into his eyes. "Do you want to become Gediro? That is exactly what will happen if you are apart from her."
--
Liz tugged her shirt down when she came out of the bathroom and sat next to Michael on her bed, placing a hesitant hand on his shoulder. "Is there anything we can do to help you?"
"I don't know." Michael ran his hands through his hair again, this time pausing over the bump he knew was there. "I think this bump on my head is the thing… that started it."
"We should tell Max." She felt him stiffen immediately. "What?"
"Until I know what happened when… I can't. He'll kill me." He shot to his feet. "He doesn't like to share. Once something is his, it's his until he's bored. Even then, you can't take it until he says you can."
"What?" Liz shook her head. "What are you talking about?"
"That's how I got Maria. I wanted her and he had her. I had to wait until he gave her to me." Michael shook his head. "Not Maria, Jirena. Max never had Maria."
"Right." Liz nodded, her expression blank. It answered some questions she had about what Maria had been so upset about before the explosion. "Maybe we should talk to Miwiro first. Maybe he knows something that we can do." He stopped and looked at her. "Michael, this is not right. In this lifetime you and I have never been together."
"Let's go find him then."
--
"We just need to get everyone together and resolve all this. I can feel this really loose circle we have... it's just weakening all over the place. We aren't that tight to begin with and this will pull us apart." Kyle told Tess. "This rift cannot be good."
"I try not to think about it too much." Tess whispered.
"I think that's our problem." Kyle burst out. "We're either thinking too much or not enough and we're not doing anything about it."
"You're right." Tess whispered a little louder. "I think that we should definitely do something before it's too late."
--
Michael stopped walking when Liz stopped to answer her cell. He had to resist the urge to touch her again. She had made it clear that they weren't like that but it was hard to shake. She turned to him after hanging up the phone. "We're all meeting in the park. In the parking lot. That was Kyle and he's already talked to Max. It's hard to get him to and from so... so he doesn't have to get out of the car, we'll just meet around the... whatever Isabel is driving over."
His heart broke when he saw the pain in her eyes when she said Max's name. "Everyone's coming?"
"Everyone."
TBC
Cling and Clatter Part 16 of 16
Part 16
"So, everyone." Maria nodded as they all milled about the Jeep where Max was seated in the back. "What is going on?"
"Michael's got a concussion." Liz blurted out, as Michael seemed to cling to her side even more than he did on the way over. Fearing it might become an issue, she decided to get it out in the open. "His memories are getting a little mixed up, I think. You know, with the past life and everything."
"You too?" Isabel whispered and closed her eyes to lean against the Jeep. "I thought I was going insane."
"This is exactly what I was saying earlier. We all think too much and we don't say or do enough." Kyle threw his hands up in the air.
"That's the point here." Max cleared his throat and turned away slightly to shield the burned half of his face from their direct view. "There are some things that need to be said and some decisions to be made."
"Yes, we'll take care of everything." Miwiro nodded and pulled Liz to his side. "I will try to figure out what's wrong with Michael and Isabel but... it's up to you to settle any tension before nightfall because..."
"By then, we'll need to know who will stay on earth and who will return to Antar with Miwiro." Max finished and waved his hand to move them all along. He cursed silently when Miwiro helped Liz up into the Jeep to sit next to him. After a few moments of watching their friends attempt conversations and alien physicals, Liz moved to sit facing Max. He watched the tremble of her jaw. "I'm sorry."
"You can't treat me like this, Max. I love you. I saved myself for you." Liz couldn't say another word. He wouldn't look at her.
"I'm sorry, Liz. I... can't help but feel responsible for all this." Max reached out to touch her shorter hair. The movement allowed him to see the scarred back of her neck. The silence stayed so heavy between them. It didn't matter that the others were yelling at each other. They couldn't hear it.
"You can't let anyone take care of you, can you?" Liz finally whispered. "All I wanted was to see you again. Help you around and you... you just bit my head off."
"I'm sorry." Max hung his head.
"Do you think it matters to me for one second that your face is burned?" She went on. "I... I'm missing half my hair and yes, I do wonder how exactly that will turn you off but... I'm not ashamed of it because... because it happened saving two planets. Yours and ours."
"Liz... I'm sorry. I was scared that once you saw this... you'd be as repulsed as I felt when I saw myself." Max swallowed the huge lump in his throat. "I... just... I broke it off before you could."
"I would never do that, Max. I. Love. You."
Max reached out and took her head, and she snapped her eyes to his. "I have to go back with him but... only if you come with me."
"Do you?"
"What?" His eyes darkened.
"Do you love me?"
"Of course, I love you."
"Then, I'll go with you."
"Liz, are you sure?" Max brought his other hand to cover hers. His eyes searched hers. "We leave tonight."
"Give me a reason not to." Liz whispered. "I'm not leaving your side. If you're leaving the planet, I'm going too."
"Then it's settled."
--
Miwiro wheeled his father aboard the ship and locked the wheels in place. "Don't worry, when I'm stronger, I'll do a better job on healing your wounds. Said your goodbyes?"
"Yes." Max nodded and reached out to squeeze Liz's hand. "Left letters to my parents. Isabel's staying to cushion the blow. Where's Michael?"
"Resting. It took a lot out of both of us to heal his internal wounds. Isabel's too." Miwiro winced as a mild headache reminded him of its presence.
"Max..." Liz took a deep breath. In a few moments they would be shooting through space to another planet. Her parents would freak when they read her letter and who knew what would happen.
"Hanu was right." Max whispered.
"What?" Liz blinked at him
“Searching for what mattered in the cling and clatter, dodging swords and ignoring false words, purity fades as might on the faithful night, choices made true lend us their hue, only upon the final moment to us our purpose sent.” Max bowed his head as he said the words. "I have what matters right here."
"Max... what's going to happen when we get up there?" She pressed.
"I don't know for sure but... like the prayer... upon the final moment to us our purpose sent." He squeezed her hand tight. "Doesn't matter because I have you with me."
"Prepare for take off." Miwiro stated and the ship began to hum. He turned to his parents. "Father, Mother. You will be the ruling party on Antar. That is certain." He paused just a second to face them once more. "The enemy defeated, his troops retreated, from the beyond sent to us, the weapon to free us. A King and his bride come to shift the tide, borne again on another planet, brought back to us never let forget, in souls joined forever, succeeded our endeavor."
"I've never heard that one." Max shook his head.
"Of course not. I just made it up." Miwiro shrugged. "Seemed a fitting way to remember this forever. Kings should be remembered in the legends."
THE END
God, I just realized how lamely I ended this story. How did you guys ever let me get away with that?
"So, everyone." Maria nodded as they all milled about the Jeep where Max was seated in the back. "What is going on?"
"Michael's got a concussion." Liz blurted out, as Michael seemed to cling to her side even more than he did on the way over. Fearing it might become an issue, she decided to get it out in the open. "His memories are getting a little mixed up, I think. You know, with the past life and everything."
"You too?" Isabel whispered and closed her eyes to lean against the Jeep. "I thought I was going insane."
"This is exactly what I was saying earlier. We all think too much and we don't say or do enough." Kyle threw his hands up in the air.
"That's the point here." Max cleared his throat and turned away slightly to shield the burned half of his face from their direct view. "There are some things that need to be said and some decisions to be made."
"Yes, we'll take care of everything." Miwiro nodded and pulled Liz to his side. "I will try to figure out what's wrong with Michael and Isabel but... it's up to you to settle any tension before nightfall because..."
"By then, we'll need to know who will stay on earth and who will return to Antar with Miwiro." Max finished and waved his hand to move them all along. He cursed silently when Miwiro helped Liz up into the Jeep to sit next to him. After a few moments of watching their friends attempt conversations and alien physicals, Liz moved to sit facing Max. He watched the tremble of her jaw. "I'm sorry."
"You can't treat me like this, Max. I love you. I saved myself for you." Liz couldn't say another word. He wouldn't look at her.
"I'm sorry, Liz. I... can't help but feel responsible for all this." Max reached out to touch her shorter hair. The movement allowed him to see the scarred back of her neck. The silence stayed so heavy between them. It didn't matter that the others were yelling at each other. They couldn't hear it.
"You can't let anyone take care of you, can you?" Liz finally whispered. "All I wanted was to see you again. Help you around and you... you just bit my head off."
"I'm sorry." Max hung his head.
"Do you think it matters to me for one second that your face is burned?" She went on. "I... I'm missing half my hair and yes, I do wonder how exactly that will turn you off but... I'm not ashamed of it because... because it happened saving two planets. Yours and ours."
"Liz... I'm sorry. I was scared that once you saw this... you'd be as repulsed as I felt when I saw myself." Max swallowed the huge lump in his throat. "I... just... I broke it off before you could."
"I would never do that, Max. I. Love. You."
Max reached out and took her head, and she snapped her eyes to his. "I have to go back with him but... only if you come with me."
"Do you?"
"What?" His eyes darkened.
"Do you love me?"
"Of course, I love you."
"Then, I'll go with you."
"Liz, are you sure?" Max brought his other hand to cover hers. His eyes searched hers. "We leave tonight."
"Give me a reason not to." Liz whispered. "I'm not leaving your side. If you're leaving the planet, I'm going too."
"Then it's settled."
--
Miwiro wheeled his father aboard the ship and locked the wheels in place. "Don't worry, when I'm stronger, I'll do a better job on healing your wounds. Said your goodbyes?"
"Yes." Max nodded and reached out to squeeze Liz's hand. "Left letters to my parents. Isabel's staying to cushion the blow. Where's Michael?"
"Resting. It took a lot out of both of us to heal his internal wounds. Isabel's too." Miwiro winced as a mild headache reminded him of its presence.
"Max..." Liz took a deep breath. In a few moments they would be shooting through space to another planet. Her parents would freak when they read her letter and who knew what would happen.
"Hanu was right." Max whispered.
"What?" Liz blinked at him
“Searching for what mattered in the cling and clatter, dodging swords and ignoring false words, purity fades as might on the faithful night, choices made true lend us their hue, only upon the final moment to us our purpose sent.” Max bowed his head as he said the words. "I have what matters right here."
"Max... what's going to happen when we get up there?" She pressed.
"I don't know for sure but... like the prayer... upon the final moment to us our purpose sent." He squeezed her hand tight. "Doesn't matter because I have you with me."
"Prepare for take off." Miwiro stated and the ship began to hum. He turned to his parents. "Father, Mother. You will be the ruling party on Antar. That is certain." He paused just a second to face them once more. "The enemy defeated, his troops retreated, from the beyond sent to us, the weapon to free us. A King and his bride come to shift the tide, borne again on another planet, brought back to us never let forget, in souls joined forever, succeeded our endeavor."
"I've never heard that one." Max shook his head.
"Of course not. I just made it up." Miwiro shrugged. "Seemed a fitting way to remember this forever. Kings should be remembered in the legends."
THE END
God, I just realized how lamely I ended this story. How did you guys ever let me get away with that?