Roswell Fanatics

Title: Angel of Silence
Author: Janetfl (Jan)
Disclaimer: I own nothing that is Roswell .. sadly that belongs to the powers that be!! No infringement is intended.

Pairing: Max/Liz, Michael/Maria, Alex/Isabel
Rating: ADULT.

Summary: Liz is young and she is involved in a car accident along with her parents ... who don't survive ... she meets a lovely little boy in the hospital who tries to make her feel better ... but who is taken away before she can really get to know him ... what happens when she meets that boy ... years later!!!!

Author’s Note: I am writing this story because of a challenge that Michelle17 set up no: 300# (Link given below). I know I'm posting another story but that is because I'm Lost Without You is almost finished ... just typing it up now!!

Challenge 300#



Prologue



She was sitting in the back of the car getting bored after their long journey.

"Mommy, are we there yet?" she asked.

"No honey, we have a little while to go yet but we're almost home."

"But I need to go pee, pee mommy!"

"Oh for crying out loud, how many times have I told you to go to the toilet before we set off again!" said Jack, turning around to look at his daughter, totally frustrated.

Jack was tired and thoroughly fed up with the whole situation. His wife had somehow given him the wrong directions and they had spent over an hour just trying to reach a place they could recognise. When they finally found a place, they plotted their route back home.

They had been in the car for over four hours. It wasn't really his daughter's fault that she suddenly needed the bathroom, but he just couldn't help feeling totally pissed off by the whole situation. Just as he was about to turn around and face the road again he heard his wife scream.

"JACK LOOK OUT!!!"

"Dadddddddddeeeeee!" screamed the little girl, as the car overshot the intersection.

Jack slammed on his brakes, but it was too late. The on coming red pick up truck ploughed straight into the side of the car, making it flip over several times. The mangled wreck finally came to a stop facing upwards. There was steam coming out of the hood and a small stream of liquid was flowing out of the back.

The accelerator had stuck and the engine of the car made an awful grinding sound as the rev count went higher.

Luckily for the man in the pick up truck, he only suffered a broken nose, a few scratches and bruises. He quickly whipped out his phone and dialled the emergency services, gave them his location and reported the accident to the police as well.

Within about ten minutes he was surrounded by blue and red flashing lights. He was breathalysed and then taken over to the ambulance to be checked out. He was diagnosed with shock and was taken to hospital, by one of the three ambulances, to be kept in over night for observation.

The fire truck arrived not long after the ambulance had left and the firemen all jumped down from the truck. They pulled out their Hydraulic rescue tools, known as the 'Jaws of Life' and ran towards the wreckage.

"Hey, there's a little girl in the back here!" shouted one of the firemen.

"Yeah, we got two up front as well but they look D.O.A." said another fireman, who started to cut away the roof of the car. He was just praying that the little girl had somehow survived.

Once the roof had been cut away the firemen allowed the Paramedics to look over the bodies in the car. The two front passengers were definitely dead. The female passenger had a sharp bit of shrapnel sticking out of her stomach and the man had been totally crushed between the steering wheel, seat and roof.

"Hey, we've got a live one here!" shouted one of the Paramedics. All hell let loose. The girl was trapped between the back and front seats. The firemen used the hydraulic spreaders to push the seats apart, enough to allow them to free the little girl.

Once there was a sufficient gap, the Paramedics put a head brace on the little girl so she couldn't move her neck and then placed a stretcher board underneath her, pulled her out of the car and into the awaiting ambulance. The Paramedic in the back tried to get the little girl stabilised for the journey while his partner got in and started to drive towards the hospital, sirens blaring.

One of the firemen searched for some sort of identification and found the woman's bag on the back seat. He handed the bag to the policeman standing by. He was just about to start getting the parents out of the vehicle when he heard someone shouting.

"GET OUT OF THERE, THE WHOLE THING IS GOING TO BLOW!!"

The firemen, Paramedics and Policemen started to run away from the vehicle when it suddenly exploded and they were thrown through the air. Petrol had been leaking from the tank and the heat from the exhaust had eventually ignited it, causing the explosion.

As each of the men got up and brushed themselves off, the remaining Paramedics went around too see if anyone was injured. Luckily, everyone escaped with minor scrapes and bruises.

As the firemen started using the special foam to put out the burning wreck they gave a silent prayer for the two burnt and mangled corpses inside the car. They just hoped the little girl faired better than her parents.

TBC ..................................................................................

Hi everyone I have another chapter for you. A quick thanks to all of you who left feedback.

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Chapter 1


Darkness … darkness all around her except for a tiny pin point of light off in the distance. She was so afraid and terribly cold. It was like she was in a long, dark tunnel and the light was calling out to her to come forward. She headed towards it hoping that nothing was lurking in the darkness or she wouldn’t trip over something unforeseen.

As she was drawn closer to the light, it steadily grew larger and she started to hear slight whispers surrounding her. The light suddenly became brighter and it wrapped it’s self around her like a big warm fuzzy blanket. The whispers became the voices of her parents telling her to turn back, that it wasn’t her time. She really didn’t understand why they were saying this to her. Were they mad at her because she caused the accident by asking to go pee, pee? Why don’t her mom and dad want her anymore?

Just as she was about to step into the light and follow her parents she felt an immense pain inside her little battered body and then she started to hear different voices.

“She’s back!!” shouted a male voice, after he’d shocked her for a third time.

“Come on sweetie, hold on just a little while longer and we’ll get you all better,” said the Paramedic.

“How much longer John?” asked the Paramedic, to his driving buddy.

“About another two minutes and we will be there!”

“Step on it John I don’t know how long this kid is going to last!”

“I’m going as fast as I can. We don’t want to have an accident trying to get her there!”

Frank knew John was right but something about this little girl just grabbed at his heart and he really wanted to save her. He knew he shouldn’t get emotionally involved but where kids were concerned he just couldn’t help it.

After all it was the fact that he could save lives that made him want to do this job in the first place. He didn’t realise how much pain it would cause to lose some of them.

Oh they had saved more lives than they had ever lost but they always remembered the faces of the ones that slipped away, as if they were permanently burned into their brains.

His thoughts were interrupted by a slight movement he saw in his peripheral vision. The small hand on the little girl moved slightly. He watched her hand closely and it moved again.

“That’s it! Good girl, keep fighting you’re going to be alright!” said Frank.

John turned off the lights and the sirens as he pulled up outside the A&E doors. He jumped out of the van and opened the back doors. Both men got the stretcher out of the ambulance and wheeled her through the double doors shouting all of the medical information at the doctors who were running beside it. As they made their way towards the operating theatre the Paramedic’s finished giving their information and stopped running as the little girl disappeared through the doors.

“This one might just make it John,” said Frank.

“Yeah, but then what? Both her parents died back at the crash site. Tommy radioed it through earlier. She’s going to have to go into the care system, unfortunately.”

“When is that poor little girl going to get a break?”


2 months later …..


“How are you feeling this morning Liz?” asked Dr Monroe.

Liz looked at the doctor and nodded her head.

After the accident Liz had spent just over three weeks in a coma and on the fourth week she finally woke up. She was now breathing on her own and her wounds were healing nicely. The only concern the doctors had was the fact that she was no longer speaking so they had provided her with a notepad and pen so she could communicate with the staff.

They had tried numerous tests to find out why she wasn’t talking. First of all they thought she was suffering from a swelling on the brain but when they ran a test that was ruled out. The only diagnosis the doctors could come up with was that she was suffering from Aphasia (total loss of speech) due to a brain injury caused by her traumatic accident.

They had hoped that she was suffering from transient or temporary Aphasia which would mean her speech would return in a few days but as she got further into the second month she seemed to get worse. She started to withdraw from the outside world and sink into herself. She was walking around the hospital in a daze.

She had been put on the psychiatric ward to get assessed but she was given a clean bill of health. They had no other option than to let her go into the care system.


Liz kept on getting visions of that horrific night playing through her mind as if it was stuck in a loop. She knew they wanted her to talk. She’d been prodded, poked and had strange women trying to assess how she felt. She couldn’t understand what was wrong with her because she didn’t feel anything anymore.

She really did want to talk but what was the point? Everyone she cared about had been killed that night and it was all her fault. She also didn’t understand why her parents wouldn’t leave her alone. Every night they kept on coming to visit her. Their mouths would move but no sound would come out. The visions of their burnt bodies absolutely terrified her.


Max Evans was five years old and was sitting in the smelly hospital in excruciating pain. His arm had been broken during a basketball game and his mother was filling out the paper work so he could be seen.

He hated the smell of hospitals. There always seemed to be an aroma of disinfectant and cooked cabbage. He kept watching all of the patients going by making a game out of trying to guess what was wrong with them.

He stopped when he saw the most beautiful little girl he had ever seen. He couldn’t take his eyes off her because she looked so … so lost. His thought process was interrupted by his father coming into his line of vision blocking the view of the lost, pretty girl.

“I told you, you should have gone after that boy with the ball but because you were too scared he drove down the court and scored instead! Now look what’s happened, you fell over his feet as he took the ball away from you! How are you supposed to become a professional basketball player when you won’t even try to get the ball from your opponent? You have to play to win Maxwell!” shouted Philip.

Max was just sitting there wondering what the hell was going on. He was supposed to be his dad first and a coach second but right now it didn’t feel like it.

“Do you know how much you embarrassed me out there on the court? You are the coach’s son! Can you imagine what they’re all saying now? That if I can’t train my own son to play properly then how can I train the others. Are you trying to make me look like a fool?”

Max just wished a massive hole would open up and swallow him whole. He could feel his face turning red as he looked down in shame.

“You know what, I don’t know why I bother with you!” said Philip as he stormed off out of the hospital leaving his son all alone. He looked down the corridor again and saw the little girl still wondering around.

He thought that maybe she had lost her mom in the hospital somewhere and she was trying to find her. So he went up to the little girl to try and help her.

“Hello my name is Max. Have you lost your mommy? Do you need help to find her?”

As soon as he had asked the question the little girl turned her big brown frightened eyes at the young boy and burst into tears.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make you cry,” said Max, leading the little girl towards the chairs so she could sit down.

“Did I say something I shouldn’t?” asked Max, as he removed a strand of her hair off her face.

The little girl shook her head forcefully.

“Have you lost your mommy?”

The girl nodded.

“Do you want me to help you find her?”

The little girl looked into his eyes and sadly but slowly shook her head again. It was then that it clicked with Max what was wrong with the little girl.

“Has your mommy gone to heaven?”

The little girl nodded as a single tear ran down her cheek which Max wiped away with the pad of his thumb.

“What about your daddy?”

The little girl shook her head again.

“Oh I’m so sorry maybe I can ask my mommy if you can stay with us?”

Liz looked at Max and smiled but again she sadly shook her head, no. Liz understood that she was going to be getting a new mommy and daddy soon because the men in white coats had told her so.

“What’s your name?” asked Max.

Liz tried really hard to tell the boy her name but no sounds came out of her mouth. She didn’t deserve to be able to speak after what she had done. If she hadn’t of spoken to her father in the car her parents wouldn’t be in heaven right now.

Liz took the little note pad out of her dressing gown and wrote her name in a nervous scrawl.

“Liz, your name is Liz? That’s a beautiful name,” said Max, as his heart went out to the girl who lost her parents.

Liz gave Max a little smile. The first one she had produced since the accident.

“Can’t you talk Liz?” asked Max, realising that she hadn’t said a word to him.

Liz just shook her head.

“Max the nurse is ready to see you now,” said Diane, walking up to her son. “Who’s this pretty little girl?”

“Her name is Liz. Her mommy and daddy are in heaven and she can’t talk Mommy.”

Diane’s heart ached for Liz. She looked so lost and frightened.

“Mommy, can she come and live with us then you can be her new mommy,” said Max smiling.

“I’m sorry sweetheart but it doesn’t work like that. They have to take her to a special family.” Diane was almost in tears. She would love to just scoop the little girl up and take her home with them but she knew that Liz would be put into care.

“Come on Max” said Diane, as she gently grabbed his hand and started leading him towards the nurse.

Max turned around and looked sadly at Liz. He gave her a small wave, mouthed sorry and then good bye to her. Liz smiled at Max and gave him a little wave in return.


TBC ………………………………………………………………………….

A quick thank you to all of those who left feed back for me. Once again it's you that keeps me going. Thank You!


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Chapter 2


15 years later …


She had been placed in a few homes before she found a family who had eventually adopted her. She had her name formally changed to the surname of the family who she had lived with for the past thirteen years. She never wanted them to feel as if she didn’t class them as her mother and father. They had been really good to her over the years, never making her feel like an inconvenience or an outsider. She was always made to feel as if she was their biological daughter.

So now her name was Liz Parker, her mother was Nancy and father Jeff. They were unable to have children of their own and had fallen in love with Liz as soon as they had seen her. Most of the families she had previously stayed with had not been able to put up with her disability. It was too much hard work to learn sign language.

When her disability was explained to Nancy and Jeff they had agreed to take up sign language lessons so they could understand what she was saying to them rather than her having to write everything down. After careful assessments by social workers, psychiatrists and eventually a judge they were finally awarded the full adoption of their little girl. They had been commended for taking on the responsibility.

They had finally moved to Albuquerque because her father had retired from his high paid office job and bought a nice house not too far from the UNM campus. It was a beautiful house with a large kitchen, three bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, a family bathroom and a huge living room.

When they moved in Liz was allowed to choose her room so she picked the one with doors that opened up onto a balcony. It was the first place she got prepared. She put a sun lounger out there and surrounded the whole balcony with candles and small lights. She had bought a few potted plants and strategically placed them where they would always get the sun.

This was her safe haven. This is where she came to think. It was also where she came to find solace after one of her nightly visits from her dead parents. God she hated those visions. She wasn’t sure if it was just in her head or if they were real. Every night they came to visit her and tried telling her something but she could never understand them. They would move their burnt mouths, if you could call them that, all she could really see was teeth and jaw bone, but no sound ever came out.

Why would her parents do that to her for all those years. Did they want her to remember the accident over and over again because that’s what it felt like to her? They were a daily reminder of how she had caused the accident and why she didn’t deserve to speak.

If she hadn’t have distracted her Daddies attention from the road then her parents might still be alive today. She wouldn’t have had to go through the foster care system and she would be able to talk. After the accident, when she was placed with her first foster family, she retreated more into herself and didn’t really mix in with the rest of the family. After all how could they understand her condition?

Soon they got fed up with her and called social services in to have her removed from the house. This scenario continued for another three years before she finally met the Parkers.

Each and every house she would go to, there would be other siblings there. They always seemed to group together and gang up on her. She could never understand why they would do that because not once was she ever rude or horrible to anyone. She always remained polite, even if she was a little withdrawn.

“Liz, are you ready honey?” came the soft voice of her Mother through the door.

Liz walked towards her bedroom door and opened it slowly. She smiled at her Mom, picked up her book bag and grabbed her keys from the bowl, on her chest of drawers.

“I hope you have a good first day,” said Nancy whilst signing the sentence at the same time.

Yes this was it. It was time to go to college and she was not looking forward to her first day. She knew that she was going to get teased or picked on for not being able to talk but hell she’d been through that for most of her life so what was so terrifying about it now?

Maybe it was because she had left all her friends behind and would have to make new ones. This would mean explaining everything that has happened in her past, why she can’t talk, what caused the accident and whatever other topic they decided to quiz her about.

She let a sigh escape her lips and she signed to her Mom “I’m not looking forward to the first day to be honest. I don’t know anyone there and you know how everyone seems to react to the fact that I can’t talk.”

“I know sweetie, it’s hard but I’m sure you are going to make friends fast. You always do,” Nancy’s heart went out to her daughter. Why was everything so hard for her? Wasn’t it enough that she had already lost her real parents? When would she ever get a break?

“I’ve got to go now Mom,” signed Liz “I have to try and find my first class.”

“Okay honey, well try and have a good day. You can tell me all about it when you get back.”

Liz walked down the stairs and signed goodbye to her father.

“Have a good day Lizzie. Good Luck!!!” shouted her Dad as she walked through the front door and gently closed it behind her.

She decided to walk to the campus today, after all it was a beautiful morning, the campus was only a couple of miles away and she did have enough time. She had gotten ready extra early this morning. She put it down to her nerves. She wanted to get there in plenty of time so she could find her first class without being late.

The house was situated in Dickerson Drive SE, she walked down the road to Santa Clara Avenue SE and then along Yale Blvd Drive. This road led directly to the UNM campus.

As she entered the double glass doors of the University she went straight to the campus map. She pulled her timesheet from her book bag and looked at what lecture hall she was supposed to attend for her briefing. As she looked at the extensive map she just managed to spot her room AB 225.

She made her way towards the room feeling a little nervous but also very excited. As she entered the lecture hall she noticed that a few people had already arrived. She chose to sit away from everyone else so they didn’t start to ask her any awkward questions but she wasn’t going to get away with it that easy.

She had just settled into her chair when a green eyed, bubbly blonde came to sit next to her.

“Hi, my name is Maria. I’m so nervous right now, I saw that you were sitting alone and thought, oh there is someone that’s just as nervous as I am so I thought I would come and say hi,” rattled off Maria.

Liz just smiled and took the offered hand that was shoved into her face and shook it.

“What’s your name?” asked Maria.

Oh here it was, she hadn’t even been in college for ten minutes and already she would have to explain herself but some how she didn’t mind explaining it to the bubbly blonde.

Liz got out her note pad and wrote …


Hi Maria,

It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Liz and I’m unable to talk. I can hear but not talk.


As Maria watched what the brunette girl wrote, she nodded her head in understanding but what she did next totally shocked Liz.

“So do I speak to you using sign language then?” she questioned using her hands.

“Well I can actually hear you. You just need to be able to understand my responses to you,” signed Liz.

“Hey I need to practice. I haven’t done it for quite some time so the practice will do me some good!”

“Great,” signed Liz. “Can I ask you how come you know how to sign?”

“Well I’m from Roswell and I have a friend there who insisted that I learned it. He is the president of the English Society here so I will introduce him to you later.”

“Well I’m originally from Roswell also.”

“Wow, really so how come I haven’t seen you around before?”

“I moved when I was very young.”

“Well you’re one of us then. I knew we were going to get on just great!!!”

Just then the tutor walked in to the lecture room along with most of the students.

“Right, welcome to UNM!!! Today we will be covering the university’s policies and procedures. Tomorrow you will be able to sign up to your different clubs. Okay my name is Bob, short for Robert. I will be taking the Academic Methods and Approaches lecture which most of you will be attending, I hope!! I’m going to hand out some material that you’ll need to look over this week so you’re ready for your first lecture on Monday.”

After the tutor handed out the documentation he started to go over the policies and procedures of the University.


TBC…………………………………………………………………….

I am sure that some of you are aware that I've been suffering the freaking hell of writers block!! But my muse has returned from her long hiatus .... Okay so lets just say I dragged her the hell back here and now have an update for you. My apologies to Courtney who's challenge idea this is. I'm going to try my hardest to keep the muse chained to my chair!!!!!

I have to say a HUGE thanks to everyone who left feedback and bumps!! You can't imagine how much of a difference it made!!!!! Thank you SO much.....

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You guys are just amazing ... thank you!!!


Right on with the show.........



Chapter 3




As Bob, the tutor, droned on about the university’s policies and procedures, Liz and Maria found it increasingly hard to concentrate and even stay awake during the process. The man had the most monotonous voice they had ever heard.

Liz, being her usual anal self, was making copious notes until Maria informed her that a booklet with all of the information was handed out at the end of the class. Liz had the good grace to blush and then stop writing.

By the time Bob had finished droning on about the university, to the new students, the lunch bell rang. Chairs started to scrape along the floor until he held his hand up.

“Before you all leave you need to take away the information, read it and store it so that you know the rules and the consequences if you break those rules.”

He started handing out the booklets to his class. He was bemused by how many people snatched the information from his hands and virtually ran out of the tutor room.

“God that had to be one of THE most boring classes I have ever had and I thought high school was bad!” said Maria as they walked through the hallway.

“Oh my god Maria, it took me all my strength not to fall asleep during that class. I’ve never heard anyone with such a boring voice before and to think HE is going to be our main tutor this year!” signed Liz.

Maria just groaned at the thought of being stuck with ‘Bob’ for the rest of the year.

Liz was so intent on signing with Maria that she didn’t notice she was about to bump into someone. Maria tried to steer Liz around but it was too late and she crashed into a blonde girl.

The blonde girl’s books were knocked from her hand and spread along the floor.

Liz was about to turn around and apologise when the girl spoke.

“Hey you stupid moron, why the hell don’t you look where you’re going!” shouted the girl.

Liz’s face turned a deep shade of crimson and bent down to help the girl pick up her books. She thought the blonde girl looked pretty with her curly blonde her, big breasts and shapely figure but as soon as she opened her mouth she realised just how ugly she was on the inside.

“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue!” said the blonde girl, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Hey it was an accident okay! She didn’t mean to bump into you so just give her a break!” shouted Maria, poking the girl in the shoulder.

“Oh look at what we have here girls,” said the blonde turning to each of her friends, standing either side of her “dumb and dumber!”

The other two girls laughed at their friend’s antics.

“Why you...!” Maria went into attack mode and was about to grab the girl’s hair when two massive strong arms encircled her waist and held her tight against a rock solid body.

“Hey firecracker, why don’t you calm down just a little and explain what’s going on here.”

Maria immediately relaxed.

“Hey Michael, this blonde little tart was just leaving!” said Maria, glaring at the blonde.

“My NAME is Tess, see that you remember that. I’ll be seeing you around!” said Tess as she raised her head in the air and was about to storm off until Liz gently grabbed her arm.

Tess flinched at the contact.

“Who the hell told you that you could touch me!” she screeched.

Liz gave Tess a bemused look and pointed to Tess’s books that she was still holding. She offered them to her only to have them snatched out of her hand.

“If you are expecting any thanks then don’t hold your breath. It was your fault that I dropped them in the first place!” said Tess.

Liz just shook her head, no in answer to her question. She knew someone like this wasn’t going to say thanks and in a way she was right. It was her fault that she dropped the books but common courtesy doesn’t cost much!

“God don’t you EVER say anything!” shouted Tess. A crowd of people started to turn around and look at the commotion.

“Oh that’s it!” shouted Maria as she went to scratch the girl’s eyeballs out, only to be stopped by Michael again.

“You can’t Maria it’s your first day here!” he whispered harshly into her ear.

“As for you,” he stated, pointing at Tess “I think you’d better go before you get your face ripped off. I can only, or rather WILL only, hold her for so long.”

“Tsk, as IF!” said Tess pushing past Liz, deliberately slamming into her shoulder and knocking her to the floor.

A light airy laugh echoing around the hallway as Liz got up and gathered her books.

“Jesus Maria, what the hell was that all about? You know she IS one of the popular girls here? It wouldn’t be wise to get on the wrong side of her. I’m not bothered but she could make your life and the life of your friend very miserable,” warned Michael.

“I don’t give a shit. She’s a complete bitch! Liz bumped into her accidentally because she was signing to me and that bitch just got all up in her face about it!”

“She was ... was signing to you?” questioned Michael.

“Yeah, Michael this is my new friend Liz. She can hear but can’t speak. She used to live in Roswell but moved when she was young and you know as much about her as I do now!” said Maria, smiling.

“I’m so sorry Maria,” signed Liz “I didn’t want you to get into trouble on my account. I’ve been dealing with this my whole life.”

“What did she say?” asked Michael, looking confused.

Maria repeated what Liz had signed.

“You’re good” signed Liz again.

“Thanks,” beamed Maria.

“You never told me you could sign Maria,” said Michael rather proud that his girlfriend could do this.

“Oh well an old friend of mine literally FORCED me to do it with him. He didn’t want to go alone so I went with him.”

“Oh this person would happen to be ...” Michael was cut off by the arrival of another one of their friends.

“MARIA!!!!!”

“ALEX!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!! You’re here as well!!! Why the hell didn’t you tell me!” she laughed as she jumped into his outstretched arms.

“That’s Alex, Maria’s oldest and best friend,” explained Michael to Liz.

“Hey and who is this lovely lady you have with you?” asked Alex eyeing the brown haired beauty before him.

“Alex this is Liz, Liz meet Alex, one of my best friends.”

“It’s my pleasure to meet you Liz!” said Alex lifting her hand and placing a gentle kiss on her knuckles.

Michael just rolled his eyes and whispered in Liz’s ear “Don’t worry he kind of fancies himself as a ‘Don Juan’ but just wait until his girlfriend gets here!”

Liz just smiled at Alex and nodded her head.

“So where are you from Liz?” asked Alex.

Just then Michael’s stomach rumbled.

“Man, can we take this conversation to the canteen I need to get some food inside of me!”

“Yeah me too!” agreed Alex.

Michael slung his arm around Maria’s shoulders and pulled her close to his body. They walked that way into the canteen.

Alex automatically took his place beside Liz and followed the others into the canteen.

“Hey Maria, have you seen ...”

“MAX! OH MY GOD!” shouted Maria across the canteen.

Max blushed but then smiled at Maria. He was so happy to see his friend here.

She ran across the room and straight into his open arms. He kissed her on the top of the head and asked how she was.

“If I didn’t know Max as well as I do, I might have been getting a little jealous right now!” laughed Michael to Liz and Alex.

“So how have you been Maria, it’s like been a year since I’ve seen you!” asked Max.

“Uh huh and why is that? When you came home for your break you could have come to see me you know!” chastised Maria.

“I had stuff to sort out with my Dad Maria and I didn’t want anyone else involved.”

“Fair enough!” said Maria. She knew the situation between Max and his father.

“I see you’ve already bumped into Alex and Michael...” said Max looking at his friends and waving “... but ...” his voice caught in the back of his throat as he stared at the shy, brown haired, brown eyed, beauty standing beside Alex, clinging on to him like her life depended on it.

Maria turned around to see what had caught her best friends eye and smiled when she realised who he was looking at.

“Max, you won’t believe this but you know you made me go to those signing classes with you and I could never figure out why?”

“Uh huh,” nodded Max still staring at the beauty before him.

“Well it’s come in handy finally! Can you believe that? I met her in my English class, she was sitting all alone and looked really nervous so I sat next to her and just started talking ... well to cut a long story short ... we got on great so here we are! Her name is ...”

“Liz ...” her name left his lips like he was speaking about an angel.

Maria got a confused look on her face.

“How did you ...” but Max couldn’t hear Maria’s voice anymore.

He remembered that lost look in those beautiful brown eyes all those years ago. Those eyes and that name had haunted his dreams ever since and that is why he had forced Maria to go with him to learn sign language, in the hopes of one day meeting the girl that had plagued his memories from just one simple meeting.

The fact that she was standing there before him, now a woman instead of a lost little girl just astounded him. She was the most beautiful person he’d ever seen. Everything about her seemed to glow, her smile, her skin and that hair of hers could drive a man to distraction.

Maria smiled when she realised that she had lost Max’s attention. She looked towards what or rather who had caught his attention and was even more pleased when she realised he was staring at Liz.

“It couldn’t be ... could it? After all these years ...?” thought Maria.

A quick thanks to all who left feed back for me!!!! It's so appreciated!!!


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Thank you!!!!!!!!!!




Chapter 4


Maria was the only one who Max confided in all those years ago. After the nurse had put his arm in a cast, his mother and father drove him home. As soon as he was out of the car he told his mom that he was going to see Maria.

“You are not! After your performance today you need all the practice you can get! I’m not going to be embarrassed like that again!” shouted Philip.

“Oh good lord Philip he’s broken his arm! There is no way he can practice now anyway!” she scowled at her husband and turned towards her son. “You go and see your friend honey but don’t be back too late I’m making dinner.”

That was the first and only time that Max ever saw his mother stand up to Philip. She was always supporting his decisions saying that he knew best. It was for his own future he pushed him so hard but on this one occasion she went against his wishes.

He ran all the way to Maria’s and his little hand furiously knocked on the door. When her mom opened the door she could tell that something had upset Max.

“Honey, are you okay?” she asked as she allowed him into the house.

“I need to speak to Maria, please Mrs De Luca.”

“Sure honey she’s out in the back yard.”

That day they sat outside for a couple of hours just talking about the young girl Liz, the one with the lost look in her eyes. He explained everything that had happened in the hospital and the fact that she would have to be put with a special family.

At first he used to talk about her a lot, wondering what happened to her, if she was happy with her new mom and dad, what would she look like now, where did she live? As he got older, of course, he mentioned her less and less. The first time she had any idea that he still thought about her was when he insisted they learn sign language. He never admitted why they were doing it but she had her suspicions.

So here they were face to face, finally and the look on Max’s face was priceless, stunned, he was speechless.

“Honey if you don’t close your mouth the flies are going to get in there!” laughed Maria.

“Maria, please tell me I’m not dreaming this? Please tell me her name is Liz?” begged Max. He couldn’t believe that she was there, the same lost look still in her eyes but she was older and wiser now.

“Okay. Her name is Liz and erm, she still can’t speak Max but she uses sign.”

“I knew it! I knew that one day we would meet again. She made such an impression on my young mind Maria. I’ve not stopped thinking about her all this time. Okay so I must admit that I started to give up hope of ever seeing her again but now that she’s here!” said Max, flashing a sexy grin at Liz and doing a small wave.

*******

As the group walked in to the canteen, Liz heard Maria shouting across the room. The fact that everyone turned to stare at them made her feel really uncomfortable.

Alex seemed to sense this in her and linked her arm through his.

“Oh you will get used to it Liz. Maria does this all the time. She sometimes gets ... gets a little over excited. Plus, that’s her best friend since she was like four and she hasn’t seen him for over a year.”

Liz blushed slightly and nodded her head. She moved a little closer to Alex and tightened her grip on him as the crowd continued to stare at the new group rather than follow the direction Maria was heading.

Alex patted her hand slightly and told her that she would be okay, that they would stick beside her and not to worry. Michael looked on in amusement. He didn’t really understand why Liz was behaving in this way, especially since she had only just met himself and Alex but then he had been around Maria for most of his life, he realised and that meant he was used to people staring at him.

As Liz looked in the direction that Maria had headed she was shocked to see the most gorgeous pair of honey coloured eyes staring back at her. The intensity of the look made her feel rather nervous but kind of excited at the same time.

He was a gorgeous looking young man, with brown hair that fell slightly into his eyes, a square set jaw, full lips and a nose that was not too big or too small. He was wearing blue jeans and a green t-shirt, which fully showed off his muscular arms. Liz dared to imagine what was underneath that t-shirt and if the arms where anything to go by then she wouldn’t be disappointed.

As he continued to gaze at her, she realised that Maria had stopped talking to him and was now looking confused. She saw his lips move and she could have sworn he’d said her name but surely that was not possible, she’d never met him before although something was seriously nagging her subconscious mind. Like she should know this person somehow but she couldn’t quite place him.

It was only when he gave her a smile and a little wave that her subconscious thought came to the forefront and it hit her like a ton of bricks. It was the boy that she had never forgotten. The one with the sad look on his face as his mother led him away from her, the one who offered her a smile of encouragement, the boy who offered her to stay with him and his family, the one who was sorry when he had to leave her at the hospital.

She had to admit that she hadn’t thought about him for awhile but every now and again he would pop into her head because that day he made her feel special, important, wanted. The simple, innocent gesture of offering her a home with a new family, even though she knew it wasn’t possible, was just the sweetest thing anyone could have done for her in that particular moment.

She’d been having the nightmares on a regular basis and they would always end the same.

They would be in the car and she would ask her daddy to go the toilet. He would turn around in annoyance and shout at her for not going before. Then it would happen...

The thunderous bang as the truck hit the side of their car, the noise of metal being twisted and thrown into the air, the force of the landing as the car flipped over numerous times ... and then total blackness.

She would wake up in her hospital bed sweating and crying for her mom and dad, only to be told by the men in white that both her parents were dead and the dream would repeat itself all over again until ... until they appeared at the end of her bed, burnt beyond recognition, their mouths a jumbled mess of burnt flesh, muscle tissue and teeth.

Every time she would sit in her bed frozen, not willing to move, afraid and every time those grotesque mouths would move in a way which looked like they were trying to communicate but no sound ever came out. Sometimes they got angry with her ... grabbing her legs or arms. Not in a violent way but more out of frustration because she couldn’t understand them.

She would sit bolt upright in bed, panting, sweating and tears would be streaming down her face. She could never understand why her parents came to visit her every night. Surely they knew they were scaring her?

Liz hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in a very long time but she had gotten used to surviving on the little sleep she was allowed, although this always gave her a pallid look and dark circles around her eyes.

That was the same dream she had just woken up from that day she met him. She decided to go for a walk to clear her head, to try and determine why her parents insisted on torturing her and whether the accident was really her fault. She was wandering around in a daze, until the little boy with the big honey coloured eyes approached her.

His gentle voice and concern for her made her snap out of her daze and actually feel like she was living for the first time in a couple of months, before she was just ... well now she knows the feeling as numb but back then ... lost.

As the little boy, called Max and his mom turned the corner and disappeared from her view she immediately started to cry as the full magnitude of her situation hit her. She knew very soon that she would be in the hand of strangers and that; she was not looking forward to.

It took her a long, long time after bumping into Max to feel that freedom, or that safe again. The only time she had ever felt like that was with her parents, Nancy and Jeff.

*******

He watched her as a slight blush came into her cheeks and Alex whispered something into her ear. After saying her name he could still see that look of confusion and slight nervousness on her face.

“Great Max, you’re staring at her so hard she is starting to feel uncomfortable!” he thought.

He did the only thing he could think of. He smiled and gave her a small wave. He watched her face closely for any signs of recognition and he could see the exact moment she remembered him.

Her face broadened into a wide, gorgeous smile which had Max virtually melting in public and then it happened, she mouthed his name clearly and he knew at that moment that he had been as important to her as she had to him.

This was going to be a very interesting year.

All of a sudden Liz was knocked to the ground, her books scattering along the canteen floor, her hands just about stopping her head from hitting the floor.

“Oh WHOOPS, I’m terribly sorry I wasn’t watching WHERE I was going!” said the loud voice, that echoed across the canteen.

“Here let me help you!” said the sickly sweet voice.

Tess bent down and helped Liz onto her feet.

“Oh here are your books!” said Tess, with a smile on her face.

*******

Max jumped forward to help Liz until he saw the girl who knocked her over bend down, help her off the floor and gathered her books.

He was quite surprised to see Tess do anything so kind. Normally she would have just left them in a heap on the floor.

“I swear I’m going to kill that bitch!” said Maria though gritted teeth.

“Maria what are you talking about? Okay, Tess did bump into Liz but she’s already apologised and helped her with her books.”

“Oh for crying out loud Max, SHE PUSHED her over on purpose!” said Maria.

“Why? Why, would she do that?”

“Well the way she was staring daggers at Liz and looking at you? I’d say she wants you for herself!” said Maria.

“That’s absurd Maria. Tess and I are just friends and she knows that.”

“Yeah, like Alex Forrest realised that it was only a one night stand with Dan Gallagher?”

“Maria, what the hell are you talking about?”

Maria just rolled her eyes “As in Glenn Close and Michael Douglas in Fatal Attraction!”

“Okay Maria, I still have no idea WHAT you are talking about!”

“Are you telling me that you have NEVER seen Fatal Attraction?”

“No, I haven’t”

“Well you and me, my room, video, popcorn and soon!” insisted Maria. She was going to get her point across one way or another.

Okay another chapter is ready. I thought I'd soften the blow of Conclusive Evidence with a nice fluffy piece!! Well as fluffy as it can be with Tess around! Thanks for all the wonderful feed back!

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Kismet



Chapter 5.


Maria’s voice became a distant memory as soon as he saw Liz walking towards him and without even realising it; his feet had started to move in her direction. This strange display was watched by a canteen full of very quiet students. You could literally hear a pin drop.

They all wanted to know how this brown haired girl had managed to capture Max’s attention. After all, he’d had some of the hottest girls on campus sniffing around to see if they could grab his attention but all of them had failed.

There was a rumour going around that maybe he was gay but nobody would dare say that to his face otherwise they would risk being ostracised from the popular group.

There was a pair of icy blue eyes boring a hole in the back of Liz’s head. Surely Max could not be interested in this boring, brown haired non-entity? He was after all the biggest catch in the University and many women have gone to great lengths to try and snare him.

She watched intensely as they made their way towards each other, neither of them noticing the fact that the canteen had gone quiet, or that about a hundred pair of eyes were staring at them, it was as if they were in there own little world.

“Oh hell no, there is no way she is getting her claws into him!” stated Tess to no one in particular. It had taken a long time for her to befriend Max and things were just starting to hot up between the two of them. Last week he’d almost kissed her after the evening out they’d spent together.

There was no way she was letting this little tramp step on her turf. She started to move towards the couple until Max did something that totally stopped her in her tracks.


“It’s good to see you again Liz,” signed Max as well as speaking the sentence.

“It’s been a long time,” signed Liz.

“How have you been? Where have you been? Are you happy? What happened after I left? Are you still not able to talk,” asked Max.

Liz gently grabbed Max’s hands and smiled.

“Slow down, one question at a time,” signed Liz.

With this Max let out a chuckle and calmed his nerves a little.

“Sorry.”

“No problem. Shall we go somewhere a little more private,” signed Liz as she looked around the canteen and noticed that all eyes were watching their little display. Plus people had started to whisper among themselves and some even sniggered.

Michael walked up to the couple and put his arms around both of them.

“So Max are you going to introduce me to this lovely lady!” asked Michael whilst glaring at all the onlookers.

“Erm, Michael I thought Maria had already...” whispered Max.

“Just go with the flow Max,” said Michael through gritted teeth.

“Michael, this is Liz. The girl I told you about all those years ago,” replied Max in a loud enough tone so the people around them would get the hint. It didn’t take long for their attention to be placed elsewhere.

“I KNEW IT!” shouted Maria whilst clapping.

When the rest of the students realised that nothing interesting was going to happen between Max and Liz they turned away and carried on their own conversations.

“Okay you two go somewhere to catch up and we’ll see you later,” said Michael “Maybe come back to my place for a drink?”

“You up for it?” asked Max looking a Liz.

“Yes of course.”

“Okay how about we all meet by the doors after classes are finished?” asked Max.

“Fine by me!” said Michael as he placed his arm around Maria’s shoulder, planted a kiss on her forehead and walked her out of the canteen.

“Hey Max you don’t happen to know where that sister of yours has gone do you?” asked Alex.

“Last time I saw her, she was studying in the library Alex.”

“Okay I’ll see you two later on in the afternoon and don’t worry Liz you’ll be alright now you have Max to show you around!” smiled Alex.

“Thank you,” signed Liz and returned Alex’s smile.

“Erm, sorry what did she just say to me?” asked Alex.

“She said thank you,” replied Max.

“Oh right, okay so I’ll see you later,” said Alex turning to leave, a little embarrassed that he hadn’t been able to understand Liz.

“Come on Liz, let’s go somewhere a little more private,” whispered Max, taking her hand and walking out of the canteen.

Neither of them noticed Tess looking like she was ready to blow steam out of her ears. Her face was all red and her fists were clutched close to her sides.

“No way am I going to let this happen,” she said in a deceptively calm voice.

Alex walked into the library area looking for Isabel. He walked around some of the book shelves, looking at all the desks hoping to find her. He then made his way to the reference section which was situated at the back of the Library.

There he found her surrounded by several open books, pen in hand scribbling something on a note pad.

“Hi Isabel,” whispered Alex as he walked towards her desk.

She looked up rather annoyed at the disturbance until she saw who had come for her.

“Alex!” shouted Isabel a little too loudly. Only to be hushed by the other users of the Library.

Alex gave a small little chuckle and then kissed his gorgeous girlfriend passionately on the lips. This too earned some coughs from the surrounding people.

“Can you spare me a few minutes,” whispered Alex.

“Sure,” replied Isabel as they both walked out of the Library.

“So what’s so important that you disturb one of my study periods?” It wasn’t because she wasn’t happy to see him, quite the contrary but she knew that Alex usually stayed away from her when she was studying because he wanted her to achieve and be the best she possibly could.

“Well for starters there is a new girl attending UMN and she seems to have caught your brother’s attention straight away, secondly ...”

“Wait! She’s done what?” asked Isabel not sure she had heard Alex correctly.

“I said that she has already got your brother’s attention and secondly ...”

“Hold on. Are you telling me that Max has only just met this girl and she’s captured his attention, as in he seems attracted to her?” asked Isabel in shock.

“Well yeah.”

“Wow she must be pretty special to get his attention. All the women have tried and failed.”

“That’s because he was waiting for that special someone to come along I think.”

“Well how does he know it’s this girl if they’ve only just met?” asked Isabel.

“I don’t think they have only just met Isabel. I think this is the girl he’s been waiting for.”

“You, you mean the one from the hospital all those years ago? Here? Now? Surely not?”

“Yes, it’s her, I promise you,” replied Alex.

“Well, I will have to meet this very special person then.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. We are all going to Michael’s after classes are finished so do you want to come?”

“Come? OF COURSE I WANT TO COME! I wouldn’t miss this for the world. Now I will finally get to know what he’s been pining about all these years.”

“Oh and thirdly, she has also made an unfortunate enemy here. Someone I think we are going to have to watch out for.”

“What already? Who and more importantly why?” asked Isabel.

“She was signing to Maria and bumped into Tess, knocked her books out of her hand and bent down to pick them up. Tess, being her usual charming self became ultra bitchy. Then when we were in the canteen Tess knocked Liz to the floor on purpose.”

“Shit that could spell trouble for Liz. Tess isn’t going to go easy on her.”

“Nope and she did not like the way Max was looking a Liz. Jesus Isabel you could practically see the steam coming out of her ears!”

“Well, leave Tess to me. I’ll drop some hints that she is a friend of the group and hopefully she will leave her alone. If not, I’m sure if this is really that girl from the hospital, Max won’t stand for any shit off Tess.”

“God I hope you’re right Isabel because the look she was giving Liz when she walked out of the canteen with Max, man it even made me shudder.”

Okay so I know it's been a while but I've finally got another update. Sorry for the long hiatus. I just want to say a quick thanks to all of you who left feedback and bumps!!!!

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Thank you so much for the wonderful and encouraging feedback you always leave me!!! It means a lot to me and helps me keep writing even though RL can get a little crazy sometimes!!!!! You guys rock!!!!!!



Chapter 6

As soon as Max and Liz walked out of the canteen he started to pull her in another direction. Liz, trusting Max completely, let him lead her to a door which looked rather like a make out room. She looked questioningly at Max and he chuckled.

“I want to know what’s been going on in your life since the first time we met. You know I’ve never forgotten that lost look in your eyes, the fear you held in them at being alone. I remember wanting you to come and stay with my family so you would be looked after. Have you had a happy life Liz?”

He hadn’t realised that with each question he’d walked closer to Liz until he was practically pinning her to the wall. When he finally noticed a slight hitch in her breath he realised he must be scaring the living shit out of her and backed off slightly.

“S-Sorry,” he said as his face turned bright red.

“It’s just that I’ve never forgotten you. All these years I’ve imagined what you would look like now. Wondered whether you ever found a good family or not, what sort of woman have you grown into but as soon as I saw you walk into the canteen I knew it was you.”

“The eyes?” signed Liz.

“Yes, exactly,” signed Max.

“Come on, let’s go inside and we can catch up,” signed Liz.

They both entered the room and Max locked the door behind him. He turned around, shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and looked around nervously.

Liz gently grabbed his arm and motioned for him to sit down on the floor with her.

“After you left the hospital I was there for a while longer. I knew that I wasn’t going to go home. I understood that my parents were dead. The doctors where really very nice to me but then social services came and took me away. I was placed in a home for young children, which wasn’t so bad but because of my disability I wasn’t top of the list to be adopted.

They placed me in a few foster homes but I never really settled. You see they would be able to talk and I couldn’t. They didn’t really want to bother learning sign language so eventually I would have to write everything down. In the end I just became more withdrawn from the family until they couldn’t stand it anymore and shipped me back to social services,” signed Liz.

“God Liz, I’m so sorry,” said Max.

“Hey it’s okay. I finally met this wonderful couple who couldn’t have children. They were warned about my so called disability and they agreed to take me on. Now at first I thought this would end up like the rest, you know, with them sending me back, but they actually took the time to go to sign language lessons so they could communicate with me.

Even though I tried my hardest to push them away, because I thought it would happen eventually and I couldn’t go through that again, they just kept telling me that they loved me and wouldn’t leave me. Eventually I started to trust them, to love them and now we have the best relationship! They were so nervous about me starting college. They thought I would find it tough being away from my friends.”

“Are you, finding it tough I mean?” asked Max.

“Well to be honest I was a little nervous at first. You see people can be very mean sometimes and because I can’t talk they seem to think that it gives them a season ticket to take the piss out of me. I’ve dealt with it my whole life Max but now I don’t let them get to me. All the names in the world can’t hurt me, and believe me when I tell you I’ve heard them all.”

“Then I met Maria this morning. I was sitting away from the crowd so I didn’t have to explain the fact that I can’t talk but she did the most amazing thing. When I wrote that I couldn’t talk she started using sign language! I was shocked to say the least because most hearing people don’t know it. She told me about this friend of hers when she was younger, forcing her to go,” at this part Liz gave a huge smile to Max “she said she couldn’t understand why. I think that is why she got a little over excited at our meeting in the canteen.”

“My god Liz I can’t believe people in this day and age still act that way! Has it been really hard on you?”

“No not really. To be honest I had my group of friends which I think I would have had if I was able to talk or not and they are the most important people to me, except for mom and dad of course. All the rest can go to hell as far as I’m concerned.”

“Well that’s a good attitude to have,” replied Max.

“It’s a necessary attitude to have in order to survive Max,” signed Liz.

He couldn’t believe what a strong woman she had grown into. He looked at her for a moment, taking in the fine features of her face and her beautiful smile. He wondered what it would feel like to run his hands through her hair, whether it was a soft as it looked. She was simply beautiful and he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

She coughed nervously and stood up holding out her hand to help him.

“I think we’d better get back to our classes but I want to carry on this conversation later. I want to know all about you,” signed Liz.

“Okay, I’ll meet you by the doors and then we can go straight to Michael’s.”

“Oh I have to go home first. My parents will only worry if I don’t let them know where I’m going.”

“Well then I will pick you up at your house if you like,” offered Max.

“That would be great,” signed Liz. She took a page out of her notebook, wrote her address on it and then handed it to Max.

“What time would you like to be picked up Liz?”

“Oh, say around 5.30. That will give me a chance to get changed, tell mom and dad about my day and have a quick snack.”

“5.30, it is then,” said Max standing and finally unlocking the door. He glanced around the hallway to make sure nobody was around and then motioned for Liz to go first.

Once they were in the hallway, Max turned to look at Liz.

“I – I have to go that way,” said Max pointing in the opposite direction Liz was heading. He really did not want to leave her. He wished he had every class with her. Now that he’d found her, he never wanted to let her go again.

Liz blushed slightly as she realised that Max really didn’t want to leave at that moment but they both had to get back to class. She didn’t want to leave him either. This was the first time that she actually felt like she truly fitted in.

“I’ll see you later and it was good to finally see you after all these years,” signed Liz as she walked off in the other direction to Max.

Both of them were so wrapped up in each other’s presence that neither of them noticed the cold blue eyes staring back at them.

As Liz turned the corner and Max disappeared Tess came out of hiding. She grabbed Liz by the neck and threw her against the wall. Her head hit it hard but she wouldn’t let Tess see her wince in pain.

When Liz looked into Tess’s eyes she could see the pure hatred in them. She wondered what on earth she had done to warrant such a look. She only started to struggle against the blonde girl when she felt the air leaving her lungs and was unable to fill them again.

“Look you little mute freak, Max is mine, okay? So stay the fuck away from him. If you don’t ... well you will soon learn just how much I can make your life a living hell! Many people have tried to get Max and failed. I’m just about to get there and I’m not having a little mousy brat like you spoil it!”

The first thought that crossed Liz’s mind was that there was no way she could stay away from Max now.

Seeing the dreamy look in Liz’s eyes made Tess even angrier so she pulled back her fist and punch Liz in the stomach HARD.

Liz flinched in pain and gasped for breath.

“Let that be a warning to you Liz. I don’t even want to see you breathing near Max let alone talking to him ... or ... or ... taking little stolen moments and creeping into the store room!” she said as she finally let go her choke hold on Liz’s neck.

She stormed off in another direction leaving Liz confused and angry. She couldn’t believe that on her first day she had made a formidable enemy. She slowly walked towards her class wondering if she should ever talk to Max again. Was it really worth all this trouble? Would Tess really carry out on her threat to make her life a living hell and if so what could she possibly do to her that nobody has tried before.

As her hand rubbed the sore area around her neck she realised that although she was used to verbal abuse she’d never actually had someone been violent towards her. With a knotted feeling in the pit of her stomach she made her way towards her next class.

When Liz entered the room she was so relieved to see Maria.

“It seems you and I have a lot of classes together,” signed Liz, relieved to be in the presence of a friend.

“Yep so you are stuck with me now! Hey I can’t wait to go over to Michael’s tonight. I can introduce you to the rest of the gang. Well actually I think the only one you haven’t met yet is Max’s sister Isabel, she is Alex’s girlfriend.”

“Oh Maria, I’m not sure if I can make it later,” signed Liz.

“What? Why?”

“I have a lot of stuff to do,” explained Liz as her hand went to her sore throat again.

“What is that around your neck Liz? It’s – It’s all red.”

Liz whipped her hand away and smiled at Maria.

“It’s nothing Maria. Sometimes I just get an irritation around that area, you know like when I’m nervous,” signed Liz.

Maria squeezed her eyes and studied Liz’s face intensely. She came to a conclusion that Liz was lying but didn’t push it further. Liz would tell her when she was ready and if she wasn’t then she was sure as hell going to find out what was bothering her.

She felt very protective towards Liz, not because of her being unable to speak but because Max obviously cares about her deeply and anything that hurt Liz would hurt Max also. She had a sneaky suspicion what caused that big red mark but wanted to wait and see if Liz would tell her. She didn’t want to be in her face on the first day of college.

After numerous boring ‘getting to know the college’ classes Liz and Maria where finally free.

“God I’ve been waiting for this all day,” signed Maria as she walked Liz towards the front doors of the college.

“I’m going home first Maria and then Max is coming to pick me up later. I should be at Michael’s around quarter to six.”

“Okay I’ll see you there!” shouted Maria as she ran ahead to her boyfriend.

When Maria got outside the inevitable question was asked.

“Where is Liz?” asked Michael.

“She has to go home first so Max is going to pick her up later.”

“What about Isabel and Alex?”

“What about us?” asked Isabel as her and Alex walked through the door.

“Are you joining us later or are you coming now?” asked Michael.

“Nope we are coming with you now, lead the way,” replied Alex.

“Okay then let’s get this party started!”

Okay I have another update you. Thanks so much for all the wonderful feedback for this story.

Natalie36
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Lou
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Thank you so much for the support. A special thanks goes out to LilLoucfer and Ginger who will now be betas for all of my stories. Thank you so much ladies!!!!




Chapter 7.



"So do you think she is going to come back happy or sad?" asked Nancy.

"I think that Liz is very strong and no matter what happened today she will make the best of it," replied Jeff.

"I know that but are you sure we did the right thing by moving here? What happens if she's not happy here? She could have gone to college with her friends back home."

"Well let's just see what she says when she comes through the door. I'm sure it went well today Nancy."

"I hope so because I couldn't stand it if she was unhappy. She's had enough to deal with in her life already."

They heard the front door close.

"Well I guess we're about to find out," said Jeff getting up from the sofa.

Both parents were waiting nervously for her to come into the living room.


*******

Liz walked back home along the same route that she had taken that morning to go to college. It gave her plenty of time to think about the day's events. She was glad that Maria had decided to sit next to her in class, especially since she seemed to have so many classes with her.

Then of course there was Max. She never expected to see him again and always had a mental picture of what he would look like now. Of course the real thing was even more impressive than anything her mind could conjure up.

The only low point of today was of course Tess. Now, there was a bitch. She couldn't believe that she'd only been there one day and had already made an enemy. She knew that Tess was the type of person to carry out her threat but there was no way she could stay away from Max now. Even if they just remain friends, she wanted him in her life.

After that brief encounter years ago, he had remembered and decided to learn sign language in honour of her memory, or rather on the off chance that he would meet her again one day. How could she possibly explain her sudden coolness if she decided to heed Tess's words?

After finally making the decision to go to Michael's apartment, she started to get excited about seeing Max again.

She opened the front door to the house and was greeted with her parent's expectant faces.

"Well? How did your first day go?" asked Nancy rather nervously.

"I had a pretty good first day mom. I met this lovely girl named Maria. She's kind of wacky but bubbly at the same time. She also knows sign language so it's easy to communicate with her. She introduced me to all of her friends and I'm going out with them to watch movies and stuff," signed Liz.

"Oh sweetie I'm so happy that your first day went so well. How was class?"

At this question Liz giggled.

"Well now that didn't go as well as expected. Today was all about getting to know the policies and procedures of the campus. How I stayed awake through most of it is beyond me!"

The parents both laughed and explained that the next couple of days were going to be all about joining clubs and learning about the campus.

"God, so I have to go through more lectures like today? They are only repeating what's in the literature," signed Liz.

"I know that sweetie but they like to make sure that everyone is aware of the rules and regulations. That way nobody can claim that they weren't aware."

"You don't mind if I go out tonight? Max is picking me up in a few hours."

Nancy and Jeff looked at one another and then back to their daughter.

"Max?" they both said questioningly.

Liz laughed.

"Yes, Max. Remember that boy I told you about at the hospital all those years ago?"

"The boy who offered to help you find your parents and then tried to get his mom to take you home?"

"Yes that's the one. Well you're not going to believe this but he goes to UNM. He's one of Maria's friends," signed Liz.

"Oh honey I'm so happy for you. You've always wanted to thank him for that day. Have you managed to speak to him yet?"

"Only briefly but he's picking me up later and taking me to see Maria and her friends."

"Well that's great honey," said Jeff smiling and kissing his daughter on the cheek. "I'm so glad that you had such a good day. Your mother and I were worried that it might not have gone so well, any problems?"

An image of Tess appeared in Liz's mind but she ignored it.

"No, no problems today."

"That's great," replied Nancy. "Are you going to want something to eat?"

"I think we are watching some films and eating at the dorm but thanks for the offer mom," signed Liz.

"You're looking a little tired though Lizzie, are you sure you should be going out?" asked Jeff.

"I'm fine Dad. I just didn't get much sleep last night ... you know with the first day of college looming ahead of me. I'm sure I'll be fine."

Liz had never told anyone about her nightmares. She was sure that if she could make a sound then she would be waking the whole neighbourhood up every night. As it was her screams were unheard.

"Okay well enjoy yourself but not too late, okay?"

"Sure, I'm just going upstairs to take a long hot bath and get changed. I'll be down later," signed Liz as she exited the door and walked up the stairs to her room.


******


This was Liz's sanctuary, the place where she always felt safe except, of course, during the night when the horrors would invade her mind.

She walked across the room to her bed and sat down. She pulled the item from underneath her pillow and looked at it. It was getting rather tatty and torn now because it had been handled so much.

She ran her finger across the crumpled photograph. She sat there for a considerable time just staring at it. It was a picture of her and her parents. It was the only thing that had survived the crash.

She wondered for the millionth time what she had done to deserve such a fate.

"Why do you torment me so? Why do you come to me every night? What are you trying to tell me?" thought Liz as her finger and eyes scanned the photo.

She always thought that this was her punishment for causing the crash. She would have to go through this for the rest of her life. She wasn't sure how long she could manage that. It was tormenting her already fragile mind but she deserved it. This was her burden to carry through life, a reminder that nothing in life can be taken for granted.

She sighed and placed the photo back under her pillow. Although it caused her pain every time she looked at it, she couldn't bear to throw it away. It was the only thing she had left of her parents.


*******


She entered her bathroom and started to prepare her bath. She put a good dollop of Radox™ relaxing bath foam in, tested the temperature of the water and then started to get undressed. When she turned around to turn the water off and step into the bath, the full length mirror caught her eye. She slowly walked towards it and ran her hand across her stomach.

There was the start of a massive bruise appearing where Tess had savagely punched her in the gut. She quickly turned back around, turned off the water and stepped into her bath. She felt the troubles of the day ease from her mind and she closed her eyes.


*******


"LIZ, MAX IS HERE!" shouted Nancy up the stairs.

"Sorry Max, she's been up there for about an hour. I don't think she will be too long. Come and sit in the living room until she's ready," said Nancy.

"Thank you Mrs Parker," said Max.

"Oh please call me Nancy, Max. Liz has told us the story of how you two met years ago. We can't thank you enough for helping her when she really needed it."

Max could feel his face getting hot.

"Erm, it was nothing Mrs, I mean Nancy. I was just a boy when it happened."

"Yes, but you made quite an impression on our Lizzie."

Nancy also wanted to add "she's never stopped talking about you!" but decided against it. She knew that would embarrass her daughter.

"I'm just going to see what is keeping my daughter," said Nancy leaving the room and walking up the stairs.

She knocked on the door, twice but got no response.

"LIZ, MAX IS HERE," she shouted through the door.

When she still didn't get a response she entered the room. She could see the light shining beneath the bathroom door. She entered slowly.

"Liz, LIZ," she started off quiet and then got louder.

"LIZ!"

Liz jumped up and splashed water all over the bathroom.

"What?" she signed.

"Max is here," Nancy said with a smile on her face.

Liz jumped up with a look of shock on her face.

"What time is it?" she signed.

"It's 5:45 Liz."

Liz quickly stepped out of the bath and wrapped her big soft bathrobe around her cold body.

"Tell him I'm running late but I won't be long," signed Liz, running around the bathroom like a headless chicken.

Nancy left her daughter to panic and laughed as she went back down the stairs.

"Max she won't be long."


*******


Liz rushed around her room getting dressed, putting on a light layer of makeup and trying to dry her hair with a towel. She didn't really want to make Max wait any longer so she ran a comb through her damp hair and then headed down the stairs.

Just as she reached the bottom step, Max entered the hallway. When he took in the sight of Liz all his breath left his body.

She was simply stunning. She was standing there looking all flustered, dressed in jeans and white top which just exposed the top of her petite rounded breasts. Her hair was still wet and clung to her face and shoulders.

"Liz," the way he said her name made a shiver go down her spine and her blood boil. She noticed something flash across his face but couldn't quite understand what it meant.

"I ... I ... er ... the jeep is outside," he could have kicked himself for such a lousy statement but his brain hadn't quite caught up with his mouth.

"I know," signed Liz, smiling. "Shall we get going? I'm so sorry that I am late. I kind of fell asleep," signed Liz.

"No that's okay. You're not that late Liz and you looked pretty tired today at college. Besides they're only watching a few DVDs tonight so I don't think we've missed much. Shall we go?" asked Max as he held out his arm for her to link.

Liz nodded and took his arm.

"Good to meet you Mrs Parker, Mr Parker. I'll have her home on time," said Max as they left the house.

"Good to meet you too Max," shouted Mr Parker as he watched his daughter leave the house. He could tell that this boy or rather man held a special place in Liz's heart. He could tell by the way she was looking at him.


TBC ..........

Hi everyone. I'm going to start posting a chapter for this story every Monday starting today. I'm also going to do the same for my other fics but on different days. Hopefully that will mean I can update on a regular basis.

A HUGE thanks to everyone who supports this fic and leaves feedback for me.

Ginger
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Lou
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Thank you to my wonderful beta LilLoucfer who has been working hard checking my updates!! I can't thank you enough.




Chapter 8.



"Liz and Max are running a little late," stated Maria as she checked the clock again.

"Relax Maria, they'll be here shortly," said Michael. He wasn't sure what had gotten into Maria this evening but she seemed a little skittish.

Just as he was about to ask her what was wrong he heard a knock on the door.

"See, they're here."

Michael went and opened the door but he couldn't help the look of shock that crossed his face at the person standing before him.

"Tess, what the hell are you doing here?"

Maria wasn't sure she'd heard right so she jumped up off the sofa and ran to the door. Michael was shoved out of the way.

"What are YOU doing here?" asked Maria with venom in her voice. "I can't remember anyone inviting you!"

"That would be correct Maria. I was not invited but I popped around to Max's house and his mom told me that he went to pick someone up and then he would be coming here. I have to speak to him about something. Is he around?" she asked as she took a sneaky look around the apartment.

Maria tried her best to block her view.

"No he hasn't arrived yet. So why don't you just take your skanky ass out of here and speak to him tomorrow?" asked Maria.

"Maria," Michael warned from behind the door.

Tess turned a bright shade of red.

"MY SKANKY ASS? You seriously need to take a look in the mirror Maria. I'm not the one wearing designer knock off's from some cheap clothing store!" replied Tess.

"Hey, you've come around here uninvited and then you disrespect my girlfriend. I think you'd better leave right now Tess and if you don't, I'll get campus security to remove you!" said Michael.

"Fine, I'm going but just let Max know I was here would you," said Tess in a sickly sweet voice.

"I already know Tess," said Max as he walked up behind her.

She turned around and gave her best smile to Max.

"Hey Max, I was just looking for you. I have something to discuss with you."

"Yes, I heard that Tess but I also heard you being disrespectful to my friends, so I think for now you'd better leave. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

Tess was simply furious but smiled.

"Okay Max I'll speak to you tomorrow. Have a good night tonight," she replied but then noticed a figure standing slightly behind Max. When she realized who it was she felt her blood boil. She couldn't believe that he'd overheard her whole conversation with Maria and also that he was here with that mute freak.

Max removed himself from Tess's path so she could leave and entered the apartment. As Tess passed Liz she whispered in her ear.

"I warned you, now you are going to pay the price."

Liz just looked at her and smiled. There was no way that she would show Tess that she was terrified. She knew that her life was about to get difficult but then Max was worth it, wasn't he? Liz entered the room, waved 'hi' to everyone and then turned to close the door.

Liz caught Tess watching her with hatred in her eyes and she just smiled and closed the door.

"Oh, she did NOT just do that!!"

Tess was furious. Not only had Liz gone against her wishes but she was also now goading her, laughing at the fact that SHE was with Max and not her.

"There is going to be hell to pay for that little smirk you bitch" Tess said to herself as she calmly walked out of the student building.

She'd have to come up with a cunning plan of action. She had to do this carefully. If Max ever found out that would be the end of their relationship and she wasn't willing for that to happen. No, this time she would have to be careful, plan her attack for the right time.


*******


"See I told you she was one crazy bitch Max. I swear she has a fatal attraction to you," said Maria with a smile on her face.

"Hey that's one of the films you got for tonight isn't it Maria?" asked Alex.

Max just looked at Maria and she smiled.

"Yep, Max has never seen the film."

"WHAT?!" almost everyone in the room turned to look at Max, including Liz. The only person who didn't bother was Michael.

"So, what difference does it make if he's seen it or not?" asked Michael.

"I was trying to explain to Max just how bad Tess has got the hots for him. I used that film as the perfect example."

"Okay well let's watch that film first. Max can see what we're all talking about and maybe it will wake his thick brain up to what she's really like," laughed Michael.

It seemed the only person that was unaware of Tess's attraction to Max, was Max. He never even considered looking at her in that way.

"Liz, first of all, let me introduce you to Max's sister, my girlfriend, Isabel. Isabel this is Liz," introduced Alex.

Liz's eyes went wide when she took in the site of Isabel and she couldn't help signing something to Max. He just chuckled slightly.


*******


Isabel was just about to shake Liz's hand when she suddenly started to sign something to Max.

"What, what's wrong?" She thought that maybe she had done something to upset Liz.

"Nothing is wrong Isabel. Liz was just telling me how drop dead gorgeous you are!"

With that remark Isabel blushed and looked to her brother for help. He showed her the sign for thank you and she repeated it to Liz.

"Thank you Liz. That's very kind of you to say so. It's so good to finally meet you."

Liz signed again and Max translated for everyone.

"Well you've all made me feel so welcome, I can't thank you enough."

"Okay people let's start the movie marathon. Who wants a beer?" asked Maria walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge.

Everyone yelled "ME" at the same time except for Max, he wanted an orange juice because he would have to drive Liz home later.

Liz walked into the kitchen after Maria and offered her some help.

"Maria, would you bring the bowls of popcorn too?" asked Michael.

"Sure!" shouted Maria from the kitchen.

Liz grabbed a couple of bowls and took them out to her friends. She then returned to the kitchen to pick up two more.

"I'll bring the beers on a tray Liz. You go and sit down and I'll be with you in a minute."

As Liz left the kitchen Maria stopped opening the beer in her hand and watched Liz through the door.

She'd set up the seating arrangements so that there would be three cosy couples. Isabel and Alex were on the sofa, Michael in his big TV chair with a beanie bag between his legs for Maria and then she had arranged a cozy corner for Max and Liz. She had put a double beanie bag for them to sit on.

Liz handed out the rest of the popcorn and then sat by Max. The only problem was that because he was a lot heavier than her, as soon as she sat down on the bag she slid right up to his side.

"Sorry," she signed, smiling.

"Hey that's okay. I don't mind you being this close to me," whispered Max into her ear as he placed his arm around her shoulder.

"Just relax and have fun," he told her as she snuggled into his body.


********


Maria almost squealed when she saw Max and Liz sit so close together. Her plan had worked. It took all her strength not to shout out. She loved Max dearly. He'd been her closest friend for years and she just wanted to see him happy.

No matter how many girls had tried he simply was never interested. She now had a sneaky suspicion that the reason for his reluctance was sitting right next to him.

She grabbed the tray of beers and carried them into to living room, offering them around until there was only one left. She pressed play on the DVD player and settled down between Michael's legs.


*******


A few beers and four empty popcorn bowls later, the film finally finished.

"So, should we order pizza now before we settle down and watch another film?" asked Michael.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll go and get the menus" said Maria, going into the kitchen drawer to get them.

"So you guys actually think of Tess that way?" asked Max.

"Well, maybe not in the knife wielding way but definitely the bunny boiler way. I dread to think how low that girl would go to get her hooks into you Max. Have you not noticed the way she's always around you? How she's always staring at you? AND how she always bumping into you in the hallway so that you can walk together?"

"Yeah, but that's just because we're friends Maria," explain Max.

"No Max, that's because she knows which classes you have and waits for you to appear and then shows herself."

"What? Seriously?"

"Yeah, I've seen her do that on numerous occasions," replied Michael.

"Me too," said Alex.

"See I told you, definitely bunny boiler territory!" said Maria.

"To be honest, I never really noticed. I mean I've never thought of Tess as anything but a friend," replied Max slightly horrified.

"Yep, well she certainly has other ideas," Maria gave him a pointed look.


*******


After the pizzas had been delivered, they settled down to watch another movie.

Yes it's Monday which means update time. Thank you to everyone who left feed back for this story.

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A special thanks goes out to my beta reader Lou!!!


Chapter 9


By the time they had finished watching the third movie, devoured all the pizza and drunk a lot more than intended, a few of the group were feeling rather tipsy, not drunk, just merry.

Liz, in particular, was feeling the effects of the alcohol because she wasn't really used to drinking.

Max noticed that when Liz stood up from the bean bag that she swayed a little.

"I think it's about time I took Liz home everyone. I'll see you guys tomorrow?"

"Yeah I think we'd better be going as well. I have an early start in the morning," replied Isabel.

Alex had a look of confusion on his face ... "yeah, early start," he repeated as he led Isabel out of the dorm room. "See you first thing tomorrow Liz. I've got my first class with you and Maria."

"Okay great. Michael thanks for inviting me over this evening," signed Liz, which of course Max had to translate for them.

"No problem Liz. Just watch your back from now on," warned Michael.

"What do you mean?" asked Max.

"I'm sure that Tess isn't going to take a back seat Max. She is going to try and make Liz's life very difficult. She thought she had a chance with you and now Liz has turned up. I don't think she's going to play nice."

"Look guys I know you don't like Tess but she's been a good friend to me over the last couple of months. I know she can be annoying sometimes but her heart is in the right place."

Maria immediately looked at Liz and shook her head. She couldn't believe how stupid Max could be sometimes. Well not really stupid, he just saw the good side to everyone. She knew though, that right now was not the right time to argue with him.

Once he'd set his mind on something it was pretty difficult to change it. Maria knew she had to find proof so that she could change his mind.

"Yeah, she has a heart of gold," replied Maria sarcastically.

"Max can you just take me home please," signed Liz.

She was fed up of hearing Tess's name being mentioned. She had to face her tomorrow and she wasn't looking forward to it.

She really wanted to show Max the bruise that was forming on her stomach and explain how it got there but Liz was stronger than that. She wasn't going to get her friends stuck in the middle of a battle between her and Tess.

"Okay let's go," said Max gently.


*******


When he got downstairs Max ran to the passenger door and helped Liz up into the jeep. He then ran around to the driver's side and headed towards Liz's house.

"I had a really good time tonight Liz."

"Me too," signed Liz before she pointed towards the road, indicating to Max that she would sign with him at a less dangerous time.

When he finally pulled up outside her house he turned towards her again.

"I had a really good time tonight Liz," he repeated and signed.

"Me too Max."

"I was wondering if we could, maybe go out another night, alone?" asked Max.

"What, like a date?" signed Liz.

"Yeah, like a date. I would really like to get to know the person you've grown into Liz. I don't know what it was about that day, but it was like we connected some way and I've never been able to shake that feeling. All this time I've never dated any other women no matter how hard they tried and tonight I finally realized why, I was waiting for you Liz. Somehow I knew our paths would cross again," he then started to laugh.

"God I must be scaring the crap out of you with all this serious stuff."

Liz turned his face towards hers and then signed...

"No, not at all Max, I felt the same way. I would always wonder what happened to you after that day. I remember your father shouting at you. I remember how embarrassed you looked but then you still came over and tried to make me feel better. I think from that moment on you held a special place in my heart Max. You said all of the right things when I really needed to hear them."

"Yeah, well nothing has changed much," replied Max.

"Is your father still that way with you?" signed Liz.

"It's worse than that Liz. Nothing I do is ever good enough so basically I've stopped trying to please him now. I do what I want to do. Don't you think this is all kind of crazy though, the fact that we've both waited for each other for so long?"

"No Max, I don't think it's crazy. Somehow you knew that my life wasn't going to be easy. You knew you had to ask your mom if could I come and live with you. For that I can't thank you enough. I couldn't believe that someone was so ready just to accept me into their family. Since that day you have always been on my mind."

"So you're okay with going out on a date then?" asked Max hopefully.

"Definitely," signed Liz. "See you at college tomorrow?"

"Yes," replied Max with a smile on his face.

He waited for Liz to go inside her home before he drove off. He had the biggest smile on his face and he couldn't wait for his date with Liz. He was really looking forward to it.

Liz popped her head around the living room door so that her parents knew she was home. She explained that she was tired and dragged herself off to bed. The nightmares were starting to take a toll on her body but she wasn't going to give up.

She threw her clothes on the floor and jumped straight into bed. She was so exhausted, she didn't even bother to take off her makeup. She fell into a deep sleep.


*******


Liz started to toss and turn in her bed. There was a thin sheen of sweat covering her body. She felt the cold seep into her skin and then the dreams came.

She could see the two figures emerge out of the darkness. Their bones on display with a sickening smell of burnt flesh permeating the room. She could see the muscle tissue and burnt fat clinging to the bones.

They came towards her and mouthed something she couldn't hear. They looked as if they were shouting at her. All of a sudden her mother, or rather, who she perceived to be her mother, grabbed hold of her leg with her bony hand.

Liz jumped in fright and battled to get her leg away from the tight grip. The feeling of the bones and crisp skin on her leg made her turn around and throw up at the side of her bed. She realised now that this was not a nightmare, but it was real. This terrified her beyond words and she started hyperventilating.

She desperately fought for her leg to get free and then she ran. She ran as if her life depended on it. She ran into the kitchen and switched on all of the lights. She was sweating and breathing hard. She was so very thirsty, ran to the faucet and drank straight from the tap.

She slumped down the kitchen sink and started to sob, sob like she'd never done before in her life. Why was this happening to her? Was she going crazy? Did that really just happen or is this still just a dream? She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take before her mental resolve broke down. Was she going to end up in a mental institution?

This thought was on her mind as she curled up into a ball, on the kitchen floor, and sobbed.


*******


Nancy could hear running water and realized it was coming from the kitchen. She thought Liz might have gotten up early today.

As she entered the kitchen she was a little perplexed to find the faucet on. She went over to turn it off when she noticed her daughter curled up on the floor with mascara tear trails down her face. She gasped in shock.

"Liz, Liz honey, wake up," said Nancy as she gently shook her daughter.

Liz stirred slightly and Nancy couldn't help asking...

"Liz what are you doing here on the floor?"

God, how was she going to explain this to her Mom

"Liz, why have you been crying? Did something happen last night?"

"No, last night was great Mom," signed Liz. "I think I might have been sleepwalking."

"Liz, don't lie to me. You've been crying and you're shaking. What the hell is going on?"

Liz thought it was about time to tell her parents about the nightmares but there was no way she was going to admit that the bodies of her dead parents tried to attack her last night. They would put her away in a mental institution for sure.

Her Mom helped her off the floor and sat her at the table. She started to prepare coffee for the both of them.

"Spill, Liz. I want to know what's been going on."

So Liz sat there and told Nancy all about her dreams. She honestly thought that Nancy would make her go to a shrink or something but after she finished explaining how long she'd had the nightmares Nancy looked at her in shock.

"You mean you've been going through this since the accident and never told anyone?"

"No, I've never told anyone," signed Liz.

Nancy stood up from her chair, walked over to Liz and gave her the biggest hug she could manage without actually crushing her.

"You never have to go through this alone again. I want you to wake me if it gets bad, okay?"

"That would be every night then," thought Liz.

She just smiled, nodded and kissed her Mom on the cheek.

"Thanks Mom," she signed.

"You're welcome. Now go and get ready or you will be late."