This never should have happened. We both thought that The School was destroyed years ago so Fang, Iggy and I found jobs. We put our paychecks together and with the help from my mom, we were able to buy a house, some that was like the E – shaped house we had before our lives changed. The three younger Flock members are currently going to school and are loving it.

We lost sight of The School hours ago, but with the injuries I've sustained, they've slowed us down. I know that my ribs are bruised, maybe even broken. My ankle is sprained, and I can't put any weight on it, so I must lean on Fang; heavily.

We can just barely see the skyline for the city. The road we're walking on isn't the best, but it's better than being in the lab. At some point, my good foot catches on something and I stumble. As a reaction, I put my weight on my bad foot and the pain causes me to scream. I bite my lip to keep my brain distracted from my now throbbing ankle. Fang moves to stand in front of me.

"You're okay. I've got you. Breathe." He whispers, his lips brushing against my forehead.

Eventually I nod my head and he wraps my arm around his shoulder and we start walking again. I have no idea how much time passes, but I trip again. I try to catch myself by bracing myself with one arm, but I land on my wrist, and my head slams into the concrete. My sleep deprived brain barely registers the pain. Any energy I once had has completely disappeared.

"Shit." I hear Fang say.

He rolls me on my back and helps me sit up. He gently pulls me up, helping me sit up. I must have hit my head hard because I can't sit up. Fang pulls off his shirt and has me lean against his chest. He takes his shirt and starts to wipe the blood off my head.

"Come one Max – " His voice panicked. "You have to – just stay with me!"

The only thing I can do is nod. With his help I'm able to stand, but my knees buckle. Fang manages to catch my upper body and protects my head from slamming into the concrete again. Seconds later, I start throwing up, even though it's just stomach acid. Fang gently shakes my body, trying to get me to respond. At this point I can't respond. I hear Fang continuing to plead with me to wake up as I hear a car pull up.

"Hey, you guys okay?" A male's voice asks.

"I need to get her to a hospital! Can you – "

"I'm already on it!" A second voice says.

"Yeah, we're okay. The doctor was here just a few minutes ago."

The room is silent beside the constant beep from a monitor.

"Long story short, there were a few scientists that found files about us. They managed to re-build a lab an there was a room that was a maze. They would have her run through the maze and time her. If she stopped, they would shock her."

"That was just within the first few days. After they had her run the maze the just started having her be in fight after fight. We only escaped because a new scientist left the door unlocked."

"Yeah, I'm with her right now. She just got moved to a normal room."

….

"The doctor said that she had exhaustion, dehydration, malnutrition and a grade three concussion. Her wrist and ankle were broken. She has rods and screws."

The room is silent again and I start feel my senses coming back. I can tell I'm I a bed, somewhat sitting up. My right foot is tightly wrapped and raised up by something. My head is lying on a flat pillow and my broken body is covered by a scratchy blanket. My left arm is also tightly wrapped and rests on the bed, propped up by pillows. I feel something plastic pressed into my lower belly and a hand (not my own) rests above the plastic thing. I can feel a plastic tube that wraps around my ears and goes up my nose.

I hear a sigh come from my right, and the hand moves off my belly to play with my hair.

"I told the doctor when we arrived in the ER that she is pregnant. They did an ultrasound and she is about twenty weeks. They've been monitoring the baby and so far, the baby is healthy. He or she was really pissed that Max was hurt, but the heartbeat stabilized after she was out of surgery.

I try to open my eyes and say something, but I let out a weak moan. My head feels like it's going to explode.

"Val let me call you back. I think she's waking up."

I feel him gently pic up my right hand; he presses his warm lips against my knuckles.

"Come on Max. Can you open your eyes?"

After several failed attempts, I finally manage to open them, but everything is blurry. I blink, and my vision clears up. Fang is sitting in a chair, next to the bed. He's wearing a blue top. I give a little smile and I close my eyes; then the smell of bleach registers.

I try to sit up to get away from the smell, but Fang moves on the bed and holds my head in one hand while the other goes to my shoulder.

"You're safe. You're okay – we all are."

After I'm calmed down, he pulls the blanket up and help me get a little more comfortable. His hand rests on my cheek.

"Nice shirt." I mutter.

He cracks a smile and lets out a chuckle. Despite my exhaustion, I give him a smile and lean into his touch.

"Are we okay?" I whisper after some time.

"You are, you both are. I'm going to call the doctor; she wants to examine you after you woke up from surgery."

I doze off as I wait for the doctor to come. She asks me a bunch of questions like "What is your name?" "What is the current year?" From there she wanted to get scans of my brain to see if there were a visible sign of an injury. After everything I'm back in my room. Fang has crawled into the bed with me and plays with my hair.

"Get some sleep." He whispers. "You need it."

I close my eyes and let the soothing feeling of Fang running his fingers through my hair lull me to sleep.