It was a dark and foggy night a little after midnight. Max was riding thru the city on her bike back to her apartment. The roads were still slick with the rain that had fallen earlier. As she was riding you could see lightening still working its way thru the clouds above. Moments later you could hear thunder in the near distance. Max kicked her bike into the next gear and accelerated closer to her apartment. She had just come back from visiting Joshua, bringing him food as she had promised the night before so he wouldn't have to leave the house anymore. She didn't want to get stuck in the storm before it hit. She turned the corner to her apartments parking garage and went in just in time as a few drops of rain started to come down. She parked her bike in her usual spot and turned off the roaring engine of her 650 Kawasaki ninja. She got her things together and went towards the stairs to head up to her apartment. Forgetting her keys to the apartment she kept ringing the bell until Cindy opened up. Half daze she looked up at Max trying to figure out what was going on.
"I thought you were spending the night at Logan's house tonight?"
"No not tonight. I had to drop by Joshua's to get him some food after I got out of work. I had promised him yesterday that I would stop by more often to check on him. Did Alec come in to work today? I haven't seen him in a few days?" asked Max as she started getting out of her clothes and into an oversized t-shirt to settle in for the night.
"Actually I haven't seen him at work today. Normal said if he saw him he was gonna fire him, but you know how he gets. Always trying to fire someone when they got something going on. I think you should go by his place and check it out." Cindy soon recalled the last time she saw Alec he had looked like something was wrong.
"Yeah I guess I should stop by tomorrow before work. He hasn't stopped by to Joshua's house either. I wonder what's up with him." Max headed up to her room almost tripping over her messenger bag. Cindy headed up to her room in the opposite direction. Shutting the door ever so slightly so you couldn't hear it slam. Max crawled into her bed pulling the covers back as she lay down. Finally after a long day she could finally rest and catch up on some sleep. All she seemed to be doing lately was help everyone else and it seemed to finally catch up to her. It had been awhile before she had gotten a good night's rest. The rain falling down on her window made it easier for her to fall asleep. Closing her eyes she drifted off to sleep. Dreaming of the events that happened throughout the day; she saw herself on a trip delivering a package to a house. Getting off of her bike she walked up the drive way to the porch and rang the doorbell. She could hear the steps of someone walking to the door. The door opened and she saw a woman standing before her. The woman had a small resemblance to Max. She was almost taken aback once she saw the woman.
"Can I help you?" the woman asked as Max just stood there.
"Oh right….sorry I have a package for you. I just need you to sign here"
The woman took the notepad that Max was holding up to her and signed her name. Max handed her the package and exchanged looks with her. Without saying a word the woman went back into the house closing the door behind her. Max turned around and went back to her bike onto the next delivery. In the distance she could hear a loud bell ringing. As she got on her bike; the sound of the bell got louder and louder. Her eyes fluttered underneath her eye lids. She stirred slowly from her slumber.
"Rise and shine boo! Its morning and you need to get up" Cindy was walking into the room. She jumped on Max's bed pulling the cover back so Max would wake up quicker.
"Fine I'm awake. Ahh I just want to stay in bed today," Max managed to say while yawning. "What time is it? I should probably start getting ready for work."
"Don't forget to swing by Alec's apartment before work."
"Oh right I forgot I said I was gonna go. I should probably get a move on then. I don't want to be late." Max got up quickly and started getting dressed. Cindy got up and headed to her room so she could start getting ready as well for work. The day was still gloomy, no sign of the sun coming out behind the clouds again. Just another normal day in Seattle; where the sun hardly shines. Max got her clothes on grabbed her bags and headed out the door. Max got on her phone and started dialing Alec's cell. The line kept ringing but then it went straight to voicemail. Max got on her bike, started the engine and the loud roar of the ninja could be heard throughout the parking garage. She revved up the engine and headed out towards Alec's apartment a few blocks away.
As she pulled up to the apartment building she noticed Alec's bike in his normal spot. She parked her bike next to Alec's, turned off the bike and walked towards his apartment door. She got to the door and knocked three times. Police sirens could be heard in the near background of the neighborhood. Max leaned her head closer to Alec's door as she knocked again. She heard nothing coming from the inside. No footsteps, tv, music or voices. She pulled out her cell again and dialed his number. Placing her head against the door she could hear the faint sounds of his cell phone ringing. Grabbing hold of the door knob she turned it, just her luck it wasn't unlocked.
"Where the hell are you Alec?" Max said to herself. She moved over to the window to see if she could see anything inside. The blinds were open enough to see inside. She looked around and saw a body on the floor. Zooming in to get a closer look she could make out that it was Alec lying on the floor motionless. "Damn it! Alec wake up! I swear you better not be hung over!" Max started banging on the door to see if she would be able to wake him up. Looking back into the window she saw that he was still on the floor. She looked again closer to see if he was breathing. She could tell that his breathing was very fast, but still breathing. Max went to the door and knocked it in. The door busted open without coming off of the hinges. Looking around the apartment she noticed that everything seemed to be in place. Max walked into the kitchen to where Alec was lying. She knelt down over him and checked his breathing. It still was very shallow but all that mattered was that he was still breathing. Grabbing Alec by the shoulder Max set him on his side.
"Oh god you're burning up." She set her hand on his forehead and then moved towards the back of his neck. He was dripped in sweat thru his shirt and he was starting to tremble. Max got out her phone and started to dial out to Logan's cell.
"Max….What's up?" asked Logan a bit shocked that he was getting a call from her this early in the morning.
"Hey Logan I need some help. I came to Alec's apartment because I haven't seen him in a few days and when I got here I found him on the floor out cold. He isn't breathing right and has a fever and now he's starting to shake really bad. I don't know what it can be but he needs medical attention fast all I have is my bike. Do you think you can come over and we can get him some help please?"
"What? Yeah I'll be right over there in a few minutes. We can bring him to my place and I'll have Dr. Janek take a look at him. Try to bring down the fever in the meantime put him in some ice or get him in the tub if he's conscious."
"Yeah I'll see what I can do. Please just try to get here quick he doesn't look so good." Max put her phone back into her pocket while pulling Alec up with her other hand. Alec started mumbling as she pulled him to her, she couldn't make out what he was saying. "Come on Alec try to stay with me." She grabbed him by the waist and slowly lifted him to the couch that he had in the living room. Although it was no easy task she was able to get him over to the couch and lay him gently on there. He was shaking more now and his eyes began to roll to the back of his head. Max ran over the bathroom and grabbed a rag to wet it and put it on his forehead and neck; going back to his kitchen to check the fridge to see if he had any ice.
"Damn no ice. Hopefully Logan gets here quick and there's nothing seriously wrong with him." Max looked over to Alec to see if anything had changed. He was in worse shape than she thought. He was still seizing up and it seemed the fever was getting worse. She went to look by the window to see if Logan was outside. She saw nothing but their bikes in the parking lot. Minutes passed and he was still no better. A car honked outside. Max went to the door and opened it up right before Logan had the chance to knock.
"Oh thank god you're here. I don't know what's going on he isn't doing so good." Max said as she leaned over to hug Logan.
"You just found him like this?"
"Yeah I came to check on him and when I got in he was on the floor with a fever and shaking." Logan went over to Alec and started to pull him up. As he did Alec bent over and started to throw up near Logan's shoes "Oh god, Max get another towel please! Hurry I have Dr. Janek meeting us at my apartment so we don't have to take him to the hospital!" Max went again to the bathroom and got another towel. She went to Alec's side and wiped off the corners of his mouth. By this time he was boiling hot again and began to have a seizure.
"Help me let's get him to your car quickly." Max grabbed Alec's side and Logan grabbed his other side. They walked him over to Logan's car and placed him in the back seat. "Max I think you should go in the back and keep the towels on him. He might throw up again and I don't want him to choke." "Sure I'll go in the back with him." Max got in the car and put Alec's head on her lap. She held on to him while Logan went around the car and got in the front seat. Max pulled out her phone again and called Cindy's phone
"Yo Max what's going on boo?"
"Hey I found Alec in his apartment. He isn't doing too good, Logan and I are taking him back to his place to have him checked out. Tell Normal we had a medical emergency and to not freak out but I'll try to be there later." Logan started up the car and sped to his apartment
"Ok boo don't worry I'll tell Normal what happened. Just make sure he gets better." Cindy hung up the phone as she headed into work. As soon as she got in Normal was already asking her what had happened to Max. "Max and Alec have some medical emergencies, Max is gonna try to be in here later." Normal had shrugged off the information and just continued about his business yelling at the rest of the employees that showed up.
Max and Logan had arrived to the apartment. Logan got out the car and went into the back. He pulled Alec's unconscious body up to him so Max could get out. "Max I'll grab him while you go to the elevator to get the doors to open up." Max quickly sprang out of the car and ran up to the elevator. She turned to take a look at Logan to see if he was having any trouble getting Alec out. To her surprise he had already caught up to her.
"That was fast" said Max as they both got into the elevator. Max grabbed Alec's other side so Logan wouldn't have all of Alec's weight. A few moments later they got up to Logan's apartment. Max opened up the door and helped Logan set Alec on the couch. He still had a high fever but the seizure seemed to have stopped. Logan went up to the intercom to call for Dr. Janek who had been waiting for them in the front entrance of the apartment building.
"Dr. Janek is gonna be up in a few minutes. He'll figure out what exactly is wrong with him Max. Don't worry I'm sure it's nothing serious." Logan said to Max as he looked at her. She had a look of worry on her. She seemed to be puzzled by Alec's strange illness. Just then Dr. Janek walked into the apartment. "Hey Dr. Janek, our sick patient is on the couch."
"Ok I'll have a look at him. I brought some stuff to calm the fever down. Do you know how long he's been like this?" Dr. Janek knelt down next to Alec and brought out a thermometer to his mouth. He let it sit for about a minute and then pulled it out to see the temperature. "Wow he has 107.8 fever Max can you bring my bag to me. I might have something to calm his fever."
"Ok. I don't know how long he's been like that. I hadn't seen him the last couple of days and today when I went to his apartment I found him like that." Max walked over to the bag and brought it over to Dr. Janek who was checking Alec's eyes to see if they were dilated. "Is he going to be ok" Max asked Dr. Janek, with a hint of concern in her voice.
"Well I don't know what's causing this but I just want to get the fever down for now." Just then Alec began to have another seizure. Dr. Janek went into his bag and pulled out a syringe. He set it on the table and then pulled out a small bottle with medicine. He grabbed the syringe and filled it up with medicine. He quickly turned around and injected Alec's arm with the shot. A few moments later the seizures had finally stopped. Dr. Janek checked again Alec's pupils.
Max and Logan were seated at the other side of room. Both were just watching as the Dr. Janek checked out Alec's vitals. He grabbed a few ice packs and began to set it behind Alec's back and neck. He pulled out another syringe and began to draw blood from Alec.
"I'm going to take his blood sample and take it to the lab to see if I can find anything. I gave him some medicine that will keep him out for a few hours to prevent the seizures from coming back. I'll be back as soon as I can. If there's any changes in his condition don't hesitate to call." Dr. Janek began to gather his things and putting them back into his bag. Max glanced over to Alec, he seemed to look a little better. He was still sweating but it wasn't as much as before, and his breathing seemed to have gotten better as well. Just then went out the door and headed towards the hospital.
"Do you think he'll know what was wrong with him Logan?"
"I hope so. You think it's some kind of virus or something that's going around." Logan walked into his other room and grabbed a blanket from his back closet. He went back to where Alec was and began to place the blanket on top of him. Max went and sat at the couch across from Alec. She laid her head began and slowly dozed off into sleep again. For the second time Logan went and grabbed another blanket this time for Max. He set the blanket on her as she began to sleep. Logan went to his computer and started working on some research for eyes only.
*** A few hours had passed and Logan was now in the kitchen cooking up something for him and Max to eat. Max heard the bustling in the kitchen and woke up. She looked up to Logan and smiled when he looked at her. Logan motioned for Max to come into the kitchen. She got up and walked to the kitchen, just then came across the smell of homemade spaghetti and salad.
"Mmmm it smells delicious Logan. How long were you making all of this?"
"It only took an hour. I was getting bored and I didn't want to disturb you by turning on the tv. Alec started mumbling something about manticore. He kept saying something about isolation and then he knocked out again. Do you have any idea what that could be?"
"Let's just say that isolation wasn't anything fun. Basically we would get locked up and almost forgotten when we disobeyed. We would sit in a chair and they would brain wash us with whatever they wanted us to believe. Not something you want to get caught with." Max turned her head to look back at Alec; she remembered the few times that she had been taken to isolation. Logan grabbed some plates out of the cupboard and set them on the table. He had some wine that he pulled out of the fridge and poured into a glass. Max grabbed the spaghetti and began to set into the plates. Just then Logan's phone started ringing. Logan ran to his phone and picked it up. It was Dr. Janek he had the results from Alec's blood tests.
"Logan it looks like he has a calcium deficiency. Kind of like what max had when she first got out of manticore. Basically his body is having withdrawals from everything they used to put in them. I'm just getting him some pills that will help. If he doesn't take them then something like this will happen all over again. Also milk can work as well. Nothing too serious but if Max hadn't found him in time he would have gotten worse."
"Thanks Dr. Janek, when will you be by with these pills? Logan looked back at Max and nodded for her to come closer to him. She looked over at Alec, he was still shivering from cold sweats.
"Logan I can probably have them ready in a few hours, in the meantime you can start giving him some milk. That should probably get him conscious again, although I'm not sure his fever will come down by that until I give him the pills.