Chapter 3

Max's Point of View

I woke up a couple other times in the night, but decided to stay in my bedroom; just incase. The kitchen was officially a bad place.

At about 9 in the morning, (when I had finally fallen asleep) Ella came in and woke me up. Unlike in my dream though, I felt horrible. I could feel the bruises eating away at my wings, and the scars digging into my skin. Right now, I wanted another one of those pills.

"Good morning!" Ella said, pulling open the curtains.

"Yo." I said. I didn't want the windows open. I wanted to sleep.

"Breakfast is ready in 5!" She exclaimed, and then left.

I know she's my sister, but Jeez that kid had a lot of energy.

I scavenged the closet in my room and found a pair of jeans and a baggy T-shirt. It would have to do.

Fang's Point of View

I was going to bug Max for making us wait to eat breakfast, but when I saw her face, I decided it was better that I didn't. Obviously someone didn't sleep well.

Mrs. Martinez made pancakes and eggs and bacon, and we ate until our stomachs hurt. Except for Max, who just picked at her food.

"Did you figure out how to fix Max?" Angel asked Mrs. Martinez hopefully.

"No, sweetheart," Mrs. Martinez replied, rubbing her hand through Angel's curls "Not yet."

"But you will make her better, right?" Nudge added.

"I'll try."

Max's Point of View

I couldn't stand being inside. I asked if I could go outside and think- go outside and fly. I needed to feel the wind in my wings again, I needed that freedom.

Fang insisted on coming with me, just incase I fell again, but I guess you win some; you lose some.

Flying never felt so good. I had been trapped inside my helpless body for too long. Gusts of wind blew strands of hair into my face, but I didn't mind. I stroked my wings, and thrust myself upward, enjoying the feeling of weightlessness. Sure, every movement propelled stinging bursts down my body, but I ignored it. I was an avian bird kid. This was where I belonged.

"Max."

I turned. It was Fang talking.

"Max, don't go too far from the house."

"Why not?" I asked.

"I don't want you to have another attack."

"I don't think that's going to happen." I said, and swerved around in a spiral, enjoying the sensation of flying.

Fang stopped me, and gave me a look. Party pooper.

Suddenly the world left in a flash of black. And then I was swimming underwater, being chased by Ari. He was laughing at me, and I felt myself laughing back. And then I began to disappear again, slowly, until I was gone. There was another flash of black and I was flying again.

Fang looked at me. "Max, are you okay?"

"I-I-" I clutched my chest. It felt like I was having a heart attack. "Fang I don't feel so good."

Fang's Point of View

I put my hand on Max's head.

"Max, you're burning up. We should go inside."

Max didn't hear me. She was gasping for air and shaking all over.

"Max, are you alright?"

Her head dropped back and her chest jolted, sending her body falling down. I caught her and held her tight, landing on the ground.

"Max? Max, you need to answer me. Max can you hear me?" I looked at her face. Something was horribly wrong.

All of the sudden Max started shaking violently. I had seen it on TV. I think it was called a seizure. So I set her down and watched her from a distance. It was all that I could do.

When she stopped, I picked her up and began to walk back to Mrs. Martinez's house. Max's body kept trembling, and her eyes flickered open every once in a while, even though she was still unconscious.

Arriving at the house, I burst the door open. Everyone was still eating at the table.

"Mrs. Martinez! Something's wrong with Max. She had a seizure or something and…"

Max's mom stood up from the table and looked at her daughter.

"Oh God." She said, and picked Max up out of my hands, laying her on the couch. "Ella, get my supplies from the den." She instructed, and looked at me. "What happened?"

"I don't know." I said, which was as true as the truth gets. "We were flying, and then all of the sudden she started clutching her chest. And then she jolted and fell." Mrs. Martinez gave me a funny look. "I caught her though! And then on the ground she had like a seizure."

Ella arrived with a variety of doctor's equipment- a stethoscope, a variety of medications, a large syringe, some needles, and more.

Mrs. Martinez took the stethoscope and listened to Max's heart for a while.

"Hardly beating…" she murmured.

Then she opened Max's eyelids and looked at her eyes. They were a sickly yellow color.

"W-What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means her body is shutting down." Mrs. Martinez said. "There's nothing I can do now."

"NO!" I shouted, "You've got to know a way to help her. You have to. She's not supposed to die yet, she still has a couple weeks left!"

"I'm sorry Fang," Mrs. Martinez said, shaking her head. "But all I can say is make the last few moments with her last."

"WHAT?!? You're just giving up on her? She's your daughter! You should be doing anything to help her! We should take her to the hospital or something!" I was yelling now.

"Calm down." She said calmly. "Fang, there's nothing we can do."

"Yes there is!" I roared. "We can take her to a hospital or something!"

"No!" Mrs. Martinez shouted. "Moving her would be fatal. It would kill her!"

I couldn't take it anymore. I stormed off into my room and slammed the door. There had to be something we could do. Anything.