Chapter 2:
"Make room! Come on, make room!" Max burst into the full back room of the Crashdown, a look of complete horror on his face, a limp Liz in his hands. Maria shot up at his commanding voice, not exactly sure what was happening but feeling her heart begin to speed up. She knew Max, and she knew that the tone of voice he had just used was the one he used when he was losing it. And it was obvious from the expression on his face that he was losing it very quickly.
"HELP ME!" He almost growled the words before Michael processed any thoughts and got up to help him lay Liz on the couch. Maria stood frozen, staring at her limp friend.
"Max…"
"ICE, NOW!" Maria opened her mouth to speak, but the look on Michael's face told her to just hurry and get the ice. She hated how things were happening too fast. She couldn't really think or react, she just had to follow orders before she herself lost her mind.
"Ice." Maria practically whispered the words as Max snatched the bucket from her hand. She was finally beginning to comprehend that something was seriously wrong. She kneeled on the floor next to Liz and held her hand. It was cold and sweaty at the same time.
"Oh my God… guys she has a fever." Maria ran to get a thermometer from one of the cabinets and turned Liz's face away from the couch and towards her own. She looked at her flushed friend. Her eyes were closed, her forehead was wet with sweat, her hair stuck to her skin, her cheeks were bright red and her lips were slightly swollen from the heat pumping through her blood.
"Ok. Ok, Liz just stay with me hun, please." She placed the thermometer in Liz's mouth and Max put about ten ice cubes in a rag that he placed on her forehead to try and cool her down. Michael handed Max other rags and started stuffing them with ice himself. He looked at Liz's pained face and knew that something was seriously wrong. They all knew she had started to show she had powers, and that she was perhaps just coming down with some strange virus… but he also knew that Max and Liz had just returned from a trip to another planet and that the repercussions to that event were yet to unfold.
"What's wrong with her Max?" Maria asked the question that was so evident in Michael's eyes. She grabbed the thermometer out of Liz's mouth and gasped. Her breathing became uneven as the horror began to take over her features.
"What?!" Michael grabbed the thermometer from Maria's hand and felt himself get dizzy.
"106.8°. Maxwell, this is serious. If it reaches 107, she can die."
"I know that!" Max wiped his face with his hand; it was nervously shaking and his eyes were wet with tears that he was forbidding to come down.
"Max. Maybe you need to relax…"
"Maria, she's sick. I can't relax! Ok? She just passed out in class... I was reading my poem and she just passed out. I've never seen her like this before… I just don't know what to do." Max dug his face in his hands and began to cry as Maria took him in her arms.
"She'll be fine. Can't you heal her?" He looked up at her with wet eyes, then back at Michael.
"I don't know." Just as he said the words, a small howl escaped Liz's lips and she began to convulse violently, her chest thrusting upwards in sporadic jumps.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is it."
"I know."
"Ellie, I love you…"
"Shhh… I know. I love you too."
"I'm so sorry."
"For what?"
"I got you into this. I wish I had just…."
"Just what? Never fallen in love with me?" Eliza looked into Zan's sad eyes with her own explosive ones.
"I didn't say that."
"Zan, I love you. No matter what happens, I love you now and forever. I wanted to be a part of this. I had to be."
"But if he does something to you…" Zan's eyes burned as he thought of the things he'd do to Kivar. He had already wrapped his sister up in some mess, and Zan would not allow the same to happen to his love.
"Zan, listen to me. You are the king of Antar, you rule a whole planet of people. Your father has passed on and now you know your sister has betrayed you. That's a lot to hold on your shoulders. Please, don't let me be another burden to you."
"If anything ever happened to you…"
"I'll be fine."
"You should go back home."
"NO! I am not leaving you! I am doing this with you whether you like it or not."
"Eliza, I'm ordering you to leave." Zan lowered his eyes as he spoke those words that hurt even him. He would do whatever necessary to protect her. She stared at him for a second, awaiting some other sort of response, like a smile or laugh. She grabbed his chin and raised his face up to hers. She met up with his wet eyes and realized that he had just made her love him even more.
"Do you really want me to leave?" She shot back at him with the same comment he had told her just nights before in her bed chamber, his acts of seduction so irresistible that she had said no.
"Yes." He barely choked out the words and she got closer to his face to simply stare at his soulful eyes.
"Well, that doesn't matter because I don't listen to you anyway. Sorry."
"Eliza…"
"Zan…" He grabbed her face in his hands and devoured her lips with a longing she had never felt. When he finally pulled away, she smiled softly and looked up at her king.
"So, I guess that means I can stay."
"Only for tonight." He smiled back at his beautiful lover. The one woman who had touched his soul like no one else could. The woman who despite all he tried, got through to his heart in his worst moments. God, he loved her.
"Well, unless I change your mind tomorrow…." Zan placed his finger on Eliza's lips and she quieted herself.
"This may be our last night together. In fact, this may be our last night on Antar, and alive. Let's not waste it on mindless chatter." Zan looked into her eyes lovingly and Eliza smiled as he held her closer.
"What did you have in mind?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FLASHBACK:
"You sure you're feeling ok?" Max walked Liz up the stairs and into her room.
"Yes. I'm fine. Just a little dizzy spell, that's all."
"Liz, you weren't just dizzy. You were like... well you were really sick. I'm worried Liz; maybe you should go to the doctor."
"MAX! Get a grip. I'm fine. Really."
"But Liz...."
"Max, I'm fine. Thank you for tonight. I'm sorry it ended so disastrously."
"Liz, I'm not going to act like nothing happened." Liz walked over to the window and then turned to face Max.
"What do you want me to tell you Max? Ok, so I'm not feeling well. That much is obvious."
"How long have you been like this?" He looked at her avoid his glare and knew that it was probably worse than he thought.
"Liz?"
"Well, when I got out of the hospital, things were a little weird. But it didn't start until, oh I don't know, like three days ago." She tried to make it sound as nonchalant as possible, in hopes that it would lighten the actual comment. Of course, it didn't.
"THREE DAYS!!! Liz, why didn't you tell anyone?"
"I was fine. I can handle it Max! Really, I can. I just have to get a good night's rest and eat throughout the day. That's it. No big deal."
"No big deal? Liz! Did you forget what we just did? Do you know that it is very possible that you are sick because of our little escapade? Did you think of that?"
"YES! Jesus Max, yes. I thought of everything ok?! I thought of stress, I thought of sleep deprivation, I thought of heat exhaustion, I thought of our little trip to Martian city, hey, I even thought of pregnancy! Ok?! SO, yes Max. I have thought about it and I just can't figure it out!" Liz's eyes were burning with anger, her hands shaking. She was still feeling really weak and she felt like crying. Why was this happening to her? She couldn't understand what she had done to deserve it.
Max stared at her in silence. Had she just said what he thought she had said? Was it possible?
"Pregnancy?" The words formed a knot in his throat. His last experience with a woman pregnant with an alien baby had not been what he'd call 'successful'. This was not what he was expecting at all.
"Don't worry about it Max. I doubt it. They would've seen it at the hospital while they were doing the x-rays. So you don't have to worry about little alien kings roaming around exposing your plans to take over the earth."
"Liz..." He wanted to hug her. Make her see that if he were ever willing to try for another baby, she would be the one person in the world he'd want it to be with.
"Please leave."
"Liz...."
"Now." She pointed out the door and Max quietly picked himself up and walked over to it. He turned around and looked into her troubled eyes.
"I love you Liz Parker. And if there's something wrong, I'm going to find out what it is. Because I won't let you go through with it alone." He turned back around and headed downstairs. Liz ran and locked the door behind him. She leaned up against the door and slid down, her tears now flowing freely. She sat on the floor, her knees curled up to her chest, her head still screaming at her. She had almost said it. She needed to be more careful. She couldn't say anything until she was absolutely sure what she was going to do. The truth was she felt like crap. She had been feeling really strange, a feeling that she couldn't quite put her finger on. But as much as she hated to admit it, it seemed more and more likely that it was true. After all, her cycle was a week and a half late.
"Make room! Come on, make room!" Max burst into the full back room of the Crashdown, a look of complete horror on his face, a limp Liz in his hands. Maria shot up at his commanding voice, not exactly sure what was happening but feeling her heart begin to speed up. She knew Max, and she knew that the tone of voice he had just used was the one he used when he was losing it. And it was obvious from the expression on his face that he was losing it very quickly.
"HELP ME!" He almost growled the words before Michael processed any thoughts and got up to help him lay Liz on the couch. Maria stood frozen, staring at her limp friend.
"Max…"
"ICE, NOW!" Maria opened her mouth to speak, but the look on Michael's face told her to just hurry and get the ice. She hated how things were happening too fast. She couldn't really think or react, she just had to follow orders before she herself lost her mind.
"Ice." Maria practically whispered the words as Max snatched the bucket from her hand. She was finally beginning to comprehend that something was seriously wrong. She kneeled on the floor next to Liz and held her hand. It was cold and sweaty at the same time.
"Oh my God… guys she has a fever." Maria ran to get a thermometer from one of the cabinets and turned Liz's face away from the couch and towards her own. She looked at her flushed friend. Her eyes were closed, her forehead was wet with sweat, her hair stuck to her skin, her cheeks were bright red and her lips were slightly swollen from the heat pumping through her blood.
"Ok. Ok, Liz just stay with me hun, please." She placed the thermometer in Liz's mouth and Max put about ten ice cubes in a rag that he placed on her forehead to try and cool her down. Michael handed Max other rags and started stuffing them with ice himself. He looked at Liz's pained face and knew that something was seriously wrong. They all knew she had started to show she had powers, and that she was perhaps just coming down with some strange virus… but he also knew that Max and Liz had just returned from a trip to another planet and that the repercussions to that event were yet to unfold.
"What's wrong with her Max?" Maria asked the question that was so evident in Michael's eyes. She grabbed the thermometer out of Liz's mouth and gasped. Her breathing became uneven as the horror began to take over her features.
"What?!" Michael grabbed the thermometer from Maria's hand and felt himself get dizzy.
"106.8°. Maxwell, this is serious. If it reaches 107, she can die."
"I know that!" Max wiped his face with his hand; it was nervously shaking and his eyes were wet with tears that he was forbidding to come down.
"Max. Maybe you need to relax…"
"Maria, she's sick. I can't relax! Ok? She just passed out in class... I was reading my poem and she just passed out. I've never seen her like this before… I just don't know what to do." Max dug his face in his hands and began to cry as Maria took him in her arms.
"She'll be fine. Can't you heal her?" He looked up at her with wet eyes, then back at Michael.
"I don't know." Just as he said the words, a small howl escaped Liz's lips and she began to convulse violently, her chest thrusting upwards in sporadic jumps.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is it."
"I know."
"Ellie, I love you…"
"Shhh… I know. I love you too."
"I'm so sorry."
"For what?"
"I got you into this. I wish I had just…."
"Just what? Never fallen in love with me?" Eliza looked into Zan's sad eyes with her own explosive ones.
"I didn't say that."
"Zan, I love you. No matter what happens, I love you now and forever. I wanted to be a part of this. I had to be."
"But if he does something to you…" Zan's eyes burned as he thought of the things he'd do to Kivar. He had already wrapped his sister up in some mess, and Zan would not allow the same to happen to his love.
"Zan, listen to me. You are the king of Antar, you rule a whole planet of people. Your father has passed on and now you know your sister has betrayed you. That's a lot to hold on your shoulders. Please, don't let me be another burden to you."
"If anything ever happened to you…"
"I'll be fine."
"You should go back home."
"NO! I am not leaving you! I am doing this with you whether you like it or not."
"Eliza, I'm ordering you to leave." Zan lowered his eyes as he spoke those words that hurt even him. He would do whatever necessary to protect her. She stared at him for a second, awaiting some other sort of response, like a smile or laugh. She grabbed his chin and raised his face up to hers. She met up with his wet eyes and realized that he had just made her love him even more.
"Do you really want me to leave?" She shot back at him with the same comment he had told her just nights before in her bed chamber, his acts of seduction so irresistible that she had said no.
"Yes." He barely choked out the words and she got closer to his face to simply stare at his soulful eyes.
"Well, that doesn't matter because I don't listen to you anyway. Sorry."
"Eliza…"
"Zan…" He grabbed her face in his hands and devoured her lips with a longing she had never felt. When he finally pulled away, she smiled softly and looked up at her king.
"So, I guess that means I can stay."
"Only for tonight." He smiled back at his beautiful lover. The one woman who had touched his soul like no one else could. The woman who despite all he tried, got through to his heart in his worst moments. God, he loved her.
"Well, unless I change your mind tomorrow…." Zan placed his finger on Eliza's lips and she quieted herself.
"This may be our last night together. In fact, this may be our last night on Antar, and alive. Let's not waste it on mindless chatter." Zan looked into her eyes lovingly and Eliza smiled as he held her closer.
"What did you have in mind?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FLASHBACK:
"You sure you're feeling ok?" Max walked Liz up the stairs and into her room.
"Yes. I'm fine. Just a little dizzy spell, that's all."
"Liz, you weren't just dizzy. You were like... well you were really sick. I'm worried Liz; maybe you should go to the doctor."
"MAX! Get a grip. I'm fine. Really."
"But Liz...."
"Max, I'm fine. Thank you for tonight. I'm sorry it ended so disastrously."
"Liz, I'm not going to act like nothing happened." Liz walked over to the window and then turned to face Max.
"What do you want me to tell you Max? Ok, so I'm not feeling well. That much is obvious."
"How long have you been like this?" He looked at her avoid his glare and knew that it was probably worse than he thought.
"Liz?"
"Well, when I got out of the hospital, things were a little weird. But it didn't start until, oh I don't know, like three days ago." She tried to make it sound as nonchalant as possible, in hopes that it would lighten the actual comment. Of course, it didn't.
"THREE DAYS!!! Liz, why didn't you tell anyone?"
"I was fine. I can handle it Max! Really, I can. I just have to get a good night's rest and eat throughout the day. That's it. No big deal."
"No big deal? Liz! Did you forget what we just did? Do you know that it is very possible that you are sick because of our little escapade? Did you think of that?"
"YES! Jesus Max, yes. I thought of everything ok?! I thought of stress, I thought of sleep deprivation, I thought of heat exhaustion, I thought of our little trip to Martian city, hey, I even thought of pregnancy! Ok?! SO, yes Max. I have thought about it and I just can't figure it out!" Liz's eyes were burning with anger, her hands shaking. She was still feeling really weak and she felt like crying. Why was this happening to her? She couldn't understand what she had done to deserve it.
Max stared at her in silence. Had she just said what he thought she had said? Was it possible?
"Pregnancy?" The words formed a knot in his throat. His last experience with a woman pregnant with an alien baby had not been what he'd call 'successful'. This was not what he was expecting at all.
"Don't worry about it Max. I doubt it. They would've seen it at the hospital while they were doing the x-rays. So you don't have to worry about little alien kings roaming around exposing your plans to take over the earth."
"Liz..." He wanted to hug her. Make her see that if he were ever willing to try for another baby, she would be the one person in the world he'd want it to be with.
"Please leave."
"Liz...."
"Now." She pointed out the door and Max quietly picked himself up and walked over to it. He turned around and looked into her troubled eyes.
"I love you Liz Parker. And if there's something wrong, I'm going to find out what it is. Because I won't let you go through with it alone." He turned back around and headed downstairs. Liz ran and locked the door behind him. She leaned up against the door and slid down, her tears now flowing freely. She sat on the floor, her knees curled up to her chest, her head still screaming at her. She had almost said it. She needed to be more careful. She couldn't say anything until she was absolutely sure what she was going to do. The truth was she felt like crap. She had been feeling really strange, a feeling that she couldn't quite put her finger on. But as much as she hated to admit it, it seemed more and more likely that it was true. After all, her cycle was a week and a half late.
