My breath was coming out in sharp gasps as I ran up the stairs leading to the hospital doors, still hearing the horrifying and unbelievable words that came through my cell phone. I guess I should start from the beginning. My name is Maximum Ride, and I am 18 years old. I live with what I consider my true family, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, Total, and Akila. Fang and Iggy are the same age as me, Nudge is 15, Gazzy is 12, and Angel is 10. Total and Akila are dogs, that got married when I was 15. Total is a talking, flying black Scottie, while Akila is just a regular Siberian Malamute. And I am sure you all know my story so can we just skip that part to save time, please? Thanks. So, we all live with my real mom, Dr. Martinez, and my half-sister Ella who is 15.
We were all just hanging out in the family room, talking and laughing and just having fun. My cell phone rang, and we were all confused by who would be calling me at 11:00 pm. I flipped open my phone and answered with the typical hello, of course. HA. Tell me, how many of you fell for that? Me, MAXIMUM RIDE, be normal and typical. That is enough to send the most straight-faced person in the entire galaxy, into a hysterical laughing fit. No, I didn't recognize the number, so I had to say the appropriate thing.
"Are you scientists coming to kill us all?", was what I yelled into the speaker. So much for keeping your head in strange situations, Max. There was silence on both the other end of the phone, and in the room around me. I looked up to see everyone staring at me like I had a second head or something. "..No, this is Dr. Roberts from the hospital. Are you Maximum Ride?", was the reply I got from my phone. I felt like crawling under a rock and dieing at that moment.
"Oh, sorry. Yeah this is Max, what do you need?", I could only imagine the checkup scheduled for one of the flock members. Fang was deathly afraid of needles, Iggy didn't trust anyone to so much as tap him on the shoulder if he didn't recognize the touch, Nudge would punch a person on the street if they were wearing a white coat, let alone a place full of those people, Gazzy would let loose all of his demonic powers so that every doctor in there died in less than a minute, and Angel would mind control them into killing each other or walking off the top of the building. Oh joy.
Turns out, none of them needed a checkup. "Ms. Ride, I am sorry to inform you that you need to get down here immediately." Okay, weird. What was this dude talking about? "Umm, why?", was my ever intelligent response. I was not, in a million years expecting the answer I got. "Your father, Jeb Batchelder, had a heart attack earlier today. He isn't awake, and we wanted to let you know."
I was frozen. I ran through every memory I had of him. When he helped us escape the School. When he taught us to fly. When he left us after two years. When two years later we found him again, working for the School. Everything. I couldn't believe that the man I had spent so much time convincing myself I hated, was lying on his death bed. I realized then, that he was my dad and I did love him. I shut my phone, effectively ending the call. I tucked it into my pocket, and looked up at everyone watching me. "Jeb had a heart attack, and is in the hospital," the words left my mouth before I even thought about it. Then everything finally hit me, and I sprang into action.
I jumped up surprising everyone and grabbed the keys to my gorgeous midnight blue Jaguar, from the hall table as I ran out of the room. I slammed the front door behind me and sprinted to my car, quickly getting in and starting the car while trying to put my seatbelt on at the same time. Once everything was ready, I backed up out of the driveway and poured on the gas to get me to the hospital. It was a 15 minute drive, and I made it in about 8. Thank god there were barely any cars, and no police where I drove. So here I am now, pushing open the doors and running in looking like a mad woman, most likely.
I ran up to the reception desk and slammed my hands on the table to get the attention of the two gossiping nurses. They turned, shocked at the loud slam. "Jeb Batchelder," was the only thing I said to them, and their faces sank into pity and sympathy.
"The doctor will be right out, hon," said one of the nurses with a Southern accent. I nodded and sat down on one of the chairs. The doctor walked out at the same time everyone came bursting through the doors. When the doctor walked in looking through a file in his hands, the two nurses stopped talking and turned to gaze at him with this adoring look in their eyes. He looked to be in his early thirties, had medium brown hair that looked really soft, bright green eyes, about 5'11" 6 feet. All in all, he was pretty good looking.
I saw the flock freeze a bit then they surprised me by putting on determined faces and running over to me with my mom and Ella in tow. I was so proud of them for walking into a hospital and not attempting to murder anyone….yet.
"Who's here for Jeb Batchelder?", was the first thing out of the doctor's mouth. I got up and we all walked over to him. He was definitely shocked by the huge group, even Total and Akila were with them. Total was in Angel's arms, and Akila was on a leash that was held onto by Fang.
"Dr. Roberts? I'm Max Ride, we talked on the phone earlier," I knew I would be the one to talk since he called me. Plus it was obvious that while the flock didn't mind walking into a place full of people in white coats, and needles, and antiseptic smells for me, they would not speak to said people in white coats for anyone. The doctor looked relieved that he didn't have to deal with any of the kids glaring at him like he was Satan's spawn or something. He gestured for us all to follow him down a hallway. I followed him and heard everyone's feet come behind me. I smiled a bit to myself, knowing that my flock had my back.
Dr. Roberts stopped at a door with a huge Plexiglas window on the right. He waved his hand at the window, to indicate we should look through it. We all gathered in front of it, and I was suddenly glad that Fang was standing behind me, otherwise I would have stumbled back and fallen. He grabbed my elbows to keep me upright, and rubbed his hands up and down my arms to calm me down. Iggy grabbed one of my hands, while Nudge took hold of the other. Angel and Gazzy squeezed in between everyone's legs to grab onto the hem of my shirt, like little kids do to their moms in crowded stores. Akila stuck her head in between my legs, and Total leaned on my arm from his spot in Angel's arms. Mom grabbed one of Gazzy's hands in her own and held it, while Ella took Nudge's other hand. We all stood like that looking in on a mind that less than an hour ago, we all hated. There was no way in hell, heaven, Earth, or any other planet, that any of us felt that way now.
Inside the room, on a hospital bed was Jeb. He was hooked up to monitors, there were tubes in his mouth, and Ivs in his arm. He looked ghostly pale and so thin, there was barely any bones, just skin. This was not the man that I knew as my father. "I know that seeing him like this is a huge shock to all of you, and I apologize for making you see him this way. But I know that you all want to know what is to happen to him," the doctor's voice broke my stare at this shell of who Jeb really was. This ….thing in front of me was NOT my dad. He looked broken and beaten, and horrible. I hated seeing him like that.
"Well?", it was the first thing my mom had said since I got the call, "What is it?" Her face was set in a stone cold expression. I kind of felt bad for the doctor. Kind of.
He looked up startled at her, obviously expecting me to be the one to talk. Boy, was he poorly mistaken. "Well, he's asleep and we don't know when he is going to wake up," Dr. Roberts seemed to hesitate a lot during that sentence. What he really meant to say was, "We don't know if he will ever wake up, he might as well be dead right now for all it's worth." Damn, I really wish I could mess up that nice face of his. Bet the nurses wouldn't be swooning all over him then.
I saw Iggy and Fang turn and glare at the doctor out of the corner of my eye. I pretended not to notice. "So, what you're saying is that you called us down here to tell us to say goodbye, because the only thing left is for him to die," it wasn't a question, Iggy already knew it was the truth, as did the rest of us. At that statement everyone turned and gave the man the famous "flock glare". That was what the reporters called it, because we all did it at the same time and it made almost anyone it hit pee their pants. Just like "Dr. Dreamy" did right now. "Fuck off, we don't need your damn pity," Fang growled at the man with a dangerous glint in his eye. There weren't too many ways you could make Fang loose his cool, but upset one of the flock members and you were good as dead. The doctor just upset all of us plus Mom and Ella. Yeah, Fang wasn't the best person for the doctor to be around.
"Right then, well I-I'll just g-go t-to my office, now," Dr. Roberts had every reason to be so scared and stutter. He quickly ran off down the hall. We all watched him with slight amusement I our eyes. I was the first to turn away. I looked back through the window at my dad. I couldn't believe that they just wanted me to accept that he was on the brink of death. I felt my hand being squeezed, and turned to look at Iggy.
"Don't worry, Jeb is stronger than that. Hell, he can stand the flock glare for 10 straight minutes. And he only stops to roll his eyes at us for thinking we can intimidate him," Iggy reassured me, while adding a light joke to lighten the air. I smiled weakly at him. It was true, no matter what we did Jeb never seemed scared or intimidated by us. It was like he still saw us as the little kids he raised in the E house.
" I want to go inside," I said quietly, and everyone moved their hands away so I could get through. I walked over and opened the door, but it was caught before I tried to shut it behind me. I turned and saw everyone walk in behind me, giving me encouraging looks. I saw that Angel had passed Total to Ella, and how her and Gazzy looked heartbroken when they caught sight of Jeb's body. I picked Angel up and held her in my arms, and motioned for Fang to pick Gazzy up. He did, and didn't receive any protests though Gazzy was going through his moody teenage stage right now, and refused to be treated like a baby at all. I sighed and sat in one of the many chairs with Angel in my lap. I smiled at Jeb's unconscious form and grabbed one of his hands. He'd be okay, I knew it.
A/N: I know I haven't posted in a long time and I am soooo sorry guys. I've been really busy, and when I'm not busy I keep getting writer's block. I will try to write more often, but I hope this will keep you guys from wanting to rip my throat out. If you want me to continue this into a two-shot, the you need to REVIEW! I love that you guys are reading my stories but I'm being greedy right now. I want reviews. Also if you want to make it a two-shot then tell me what you think should happen. Should Jeb wake up or not? Do you want any couples in this, and if so which ones? I want to do my best to please you guys. So review and let me know. Thank you for reading my rant. And I will say it one more time, PLEASE PLEASE WITH A CHERRY ON TOP REVIEW!