Cheating Death – Chapter 4

By MyNameIsCAL

The dreams. They got worse after the car accident. I started to avoid sleeping. Once Max fell asleep, I'd sneak out to the sitting room and watch TV all night. Sometimes I would catch Iggy on the computer. He had some computer program that read messages to him. Stretching my leg, I sat down in front of the computer.

Me: Ig, you there?

Iggy: Yeah, what's up?

Me: Not sleeping.

Iggy: You're gonna make Max worry about you.

Me: I can't stand seeing things as dreams.

Iggy: I don't know what to tell you.

Me: I don't either.

Iggy: You need to sleep.

Me: I know. I'll go now. Night.

Iggy: Night.

I went back and forth between the bed and the TV, unable to sleep and unable to focus on the TV. After the fifth time of getting out of bed, Max grabbed me be the wrist.

"You need to sleep!" She pulled me into bed next to her. "Or I'm going to force you to see a doctor."

"I'm sorry," I murmured.

She pulled my arms around her and I settled against her. I let out a sigh, trying to relax. Despite all the bad visions, this was the first time I had a dreamless night.

"Are you up for going out?"

I put weight onto my injured leg. It only felt sore now. "Absolutely."

"Good," she smiled. "Because I was thinking we could grab a movie and get us some take out, have a relaxing night."

"That sounds nice," I grinned.

"Then let's get going!" She grabbed me by the hand and we hurried off down the street to the video store.

We had at least five movies picked out, but I knew we weren't going to get through the first one without ending up in the bedroom. Max stopped me behind one of the shelves, pulling me into a kiss.

"I think we should just skip dinner," I whispered in her ear.

She laughed. "I'll be waiting outside."

As she walked away, that's when I had a vision. I leaned against the shelf, my injured leg whining in pain…

Max was outside the video store. I was paying and a black van pulled up in front of her. No, it was a minivan. It looked harmless, like you know, a family car. But the door slid open and a man grabbed her.

"Do you like it rough?" the man growled into Max's ear. "Because I do."

The door slid closed and the man started to pull Max's clothes off. She tried to fight him, but he had drugged her. In broad daylight, he had just nabbed her off the curb and was driving off, molesting her.

I dropped the DVDs. "MAX!"

I tore out of the store. The van door was already sliding open. There was the man, grabbing Max already.

"STOP!" I shouted.

Max broke free from the man.

The door started to close and I stopped running, coming to a halt next to Max. I was almost out of breath now. Then the window of the van opened and I came face to face with a gun. Three shots went off and then the van pulled away. I turned to Max, staring at her uncomprehendingly.

"Oh my God, Fang!" She gasped.

I fell forward and she grabbed me, screaming for help hysterically.

If it makes you feel any better, I heard Angel say in my head. You're gonna be okay.

I blacked out.

I felt numb when I gained consciousness in the hospital. There was an oxygen mask over my face. I looked around, feeling too weak to try to sit up.

The doctor came rushing in, Max at his heels. He asked me some questions, ones I could answer yes and no to with a nod or a head shake.

"You're doing very well," he assured me. I realized it was the same doctor that had treated me after the car accident. He already knew that our bodies were capable of healing us faster and better than humans.

Max took my hand as soon as the doctor left. "They had you sedated for three days with tubes shoved down your throat and everything."

Three days? How did none of them end up hurt or killed?

They've all been around you, Angel interrupted.

"You got shot three times." Max's voice shook. "Somehow the bullets didn't do too much ricocheting around inside of you. The doctor said usually that doesn't happen. But one hit your lung, the other lodged itself in your left shoulder, and the last one went straight through. In other words, you're one lucky son of a bitch."

I closed my eyes, squeezing her hand.

"You rest now," she said soothingly. "I'll be here when you wake up again."

I drifted off, still clinging onto her hand.

When I woke, Max was sitting in bed next to me, to my right. The TV was on and she watched it. I wondered if what happened to me had made the news. I nudged her and she turned her attention to me.

"Hey," she smiled.

I leaned against her, my head resting on her shoulder.

"Gazzy was here earlier. I think that's the first time I've seen him out of the house in a while," Max informed me. "How are you feeling?"

I slid the mask off for a second so I could answer. "Like crap."

And then suddenly, the pain in my chest seemed to intensify as another vision hit me as I gripped Max's hand…

Thanks for reading!