Sorry, I've been having a few technical difficulties with my stupid computer. I hate them, you know? And then I hadn't been writing 'cause I've been working on my novel more than my Fanfiction, and then all of the sudden, I checked my inbox, and JonasBabe12 had sent me a jingle saying something like, "Dude, what the heck? Why aren't you posting??"
So, everyone send her a big thank-you, because if not for her, I wouldn't have started a new chapter until a looong time later. Thank you, JonasBabe12! On with the show!MPOV
"I don't understand it," the doctor said, looking at his charts on the clipboard and back at Silence. "Children don't just heal that fast from this kind of trauma."
I sighed from my wheelchair, knowing that both me and Fang had heard this before. My leg was, unfortunately, still broken. Since my super-healing abilities started to kick in the instant that my femur shattered, they had to break it again and set it correctly. So I'm going to be immobile for the next week or so. Fun stuff, right?
Silence looked up at the doctor innocently with exaggerated patience in his dark eyes, looking, I swear, just like Fang. He kept a straight face and waited. "So I guess he's good to go," Fang said from behind me, leaning on the handles of my wheelchair. "I can take it from here."
The doctor was still looking semi-confuzzled, looking at Silence, looking at me and Fang. "I just…" he actually scratched his head. "I don't understand it."
"I feel alright," Silence said oh-so-quietly. "I just want to go home with my mom and dad. And my cousins."
Iggy tapped his foot on the tile floor. "Yeah, after all, Snick is superman."
I smiled. Angel stepped up and stood next to the doctor, all blue eyes and innocence. "I really think that you should let Nick go," she said seriously.
I felt sick. The doctor got this vacant look in his eyes and stared at her dumbly. "I should let Nick go," he repeated.
"He feels fine, so I think it's a good idea," she added, rocking back and forth on her heels. "Please?"
The doctor looked at his clipboard like it didn't matter anymore. "He feels fine,'s a good idea," he said absentmindedly, starting to sign the release form.
Angel turned and gave me a triumphant smile. I groaned.
(FPOV)
"You comfortable?" I asked my son as he burrowed down in the blankets of the pull-out couch in my room.
"Yep," Silence answered shortly. He hugged the blue stuffed dog to his chest and let out a tiny groan. "I'm tired."
I smiled at him. "You should be. You've had a rough day, huh?"
He nodded.
"How's your head feel?" I asked as I reached out and ruffled his dark hair.
"Fine."
"That's good."
I watched him for a full minute without either of us saying anything. Silence picked at the hair on the dog's head. "Can you tell me a story?" he asked. "Mom always tells me one."
I leaned back on the bed. "Oh, let me see," I said, searching though my memory files until I found a good one. "Alright, I've got one. You want to hear it?"
"Yes!"
"Once, there was a family of birds…"
"Hawks!"
"…alright, a family of hawks, and their names were Beauty, Shadow, Shade, Squawk, Reek, and Cupid."
"And Silence."
"I'm getting there," I told him, smiling. "Shadow was in love with Beauty. Beauty had beautiful brown and white feathers. She was smart, and strong, and flew really fast. She took care of their flock, too, and was a really good mother. Shade, Squawk, Reek, and Cupid weren't her babies, but she pretended they were, and took care of them."
I paused, waiting to see if he had anything to say. But he didn't, so I kept going. "The hawk, Shadow, had dark feathers, and almost never talked to anyone in Beauty's flock. But, like I said, he was in love with Beauty, and he waited until Beauty decided that she loved him too.
"When she did, Shadow was happier than he'd ever been in his life. He did everything he could to make sure that Beauty was happy, too. He pulled out some of his black feathers and put them in her nest to keep her comfortable. He stayed up at night and watched to make sure that none of the Eagles would come and attack during the night."
"The Eagles?" Silence asked, a scared look in his eyes.
I put my hand on his shoulder, quickly thinking. "Uh, but the Eagles never did attack – because Shadow was too strong and too formidable –"
"Formibable?"
"Scary," I said, "too try and get to the nests.
One day, Beauty was really happy, and so Shadow flew up to her and asked her why she was so happy. She said, 'I laid an egg, Shadow –'"
"Shadow and Beauty are going to have a chick?" Silence asked ecstatically.
"Yup," I said. "And Shadow was happier than he'd ever been – even more then when Beauty said that she loved him. He went out and found the softest grass he could find for their nest, pulled even more feathers out for her.
"Shade flew up and asked Shadow why he was…singing to himself. He said, 'Beauty and I are having a chick!'
"Shade squawked with joy, and went to go tell Squawk, Reek, and Cupid.
"But when Shadow returned to Beauty's nest, there was no egg. And Beauty wasn't there. The Eagles had taken her away."
Silence gasped. "She'll come back, right?"
I gave him a sad look. "Shadow went and he searched and searched for Beauty, his love, but he couldn't find her. Shade, Squawk, Reek, and Cupid looked for her, too, but she had disappeared."
"Oh, no!"
"Shadow thought that she was gone for good, so he decided to take care of Beauty's flock, just in case she came back. But she never did. Five years went by, and he and his flock never stopped looking.
"Then, one day, a falcon flew up to them while they were hunting and said, 'I found Beauty!'
"Shadow was so happy that he followed the falcon for a thousand miles to where Beauty's nest was. She saw him and screeched with joy. 'You found me!' she cried. 'You found me!'"
Silence giggled.
"'I never stopped searching,' Shadow said. 'I wanted to find you. I love you, Beauty.'
Just then, a black hawk with white wing-tips flew up. 'Mother, who is this?' he growled. 'Shall I fight him off?'
"Beauty got up and ruffled his feathers with her beak and said to him. 'No, Quietness, your father has found us at last.'"
(MPOV)
I was content. I was comfortable, I was not being chased by Erasers, I was eating a plate of chocolate chip cookies, the flock was tucked in bed, and I was sitting on a couch in the living room of Fang's house. It was a nice place, they'd done a lot of good stuff with it; no doubt a courtesy of Nudge. The walls were a light green accented with the occasional white wall and the hardwood floor was stained a great color. Then there were all of these cool decorations thoughtfully placed around. Like, a huge ancient clock, for example, that read 11:25 and was right in front of me.
I thought I might die from the calm of all of it. I leaned back on the couch and started to read my book again. Something by an S.E. Linden called "Learning to Breathe". I'd picked it off the shelf in the corner and began to sift through it an hour ago, and was pretty close to finishing it.
The wind blew violently outside, making the house creak slightly. I jumped as soon as I realized that quiet footsteps were making their way up to the backside of my sofa.
"Hey," Fang said calmly. "Comfy?"
I turned to see him barefooted and bare-chested and in fleece blue pajama bottoms. "Yes, thank you," I said. "Kids all tucked in?"
"Even Silence," he said. "He's a good kid."
"Yeah," I agreed. "He is. He's a lot like you."
"I guess," Fang gave a crooked smile. "But he reminds me more of you. Hard-headed, beautiful smile, warm brown eyes. And that laugh."
"Oh, God, don't get me started," I groaned.
"Wouldn't dream of it," he said, plopping down on the couch next to me. "What'cha reading?"
I held the book up.
"That's a good one."
"Yeah, it is," I agreed.
I looked at the clock. It said 11:35. "Are we up to anything tomorrow?" I asked.
"Not if you're not feeling good," he said, nudging my leg in the cast. "But, if you're doing okay, I thought that we could take the kids to school and bring Silence to the park. He'd like that."
"Yeah, he would," I agreed. "I heard you talking to him upstairs; what were you saying?"
Fang raised his eyebrows. "I was telling him a bedtime story."
Wow. Emotionless Fang was telling his son a story. "What was the story about?" I asked him carefully.
He paused. "It was about a family of hawks," he said finally, "named Beauty, Shadow, Shade, Squawk, Reek, Cupid, and Quietness."
"Oh," I said. He'd named me 'Beauty'? "Care to summarize?"
"Um," He looked at the wall uncomfortably, then right into my eyes. "Shadow was in love with Beauty, and she laid an egg, but the Eagles took her away along with their egg. Shadow searched for her for five years, and then he finally found her. And he was happy."
"That's cute," I said, then asked him curiously, "What happened afterwards?"
He shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "That part of the story isn't finished yet."
Oh.
I searched his face, wondering what he was thinking. I hadn't had any practice at this in five years, after all.
"Do…" his eyes met mine and he took my hand in both of his, not saying anything. He looked away at the fireplace. "Do you still love me?" he asked. "I think…I felt like you left because you didn't love me anymore."
"No!" I exclaimed without thinking, then got a hold of myself, clearing my throat. "I mean…I've always felt something for you…and I've always loved everyone in the flock."
He nodded, smirking a little. "Maybe it's just sexual tension," he said. "I get it."
"No, Fang, that's not what I meant!" I backpedalled. "I mean, I…" then I stopped.
His eyebrows rose, his face was getting noticeably closer. "You what?"
My face flushed, too aware of all this emotion. Too much, I can't handle it. "Max?"
"Fang, I…" I looked at him, forcing myself to not go streaking away and hurting him again. I swallowed. "I love you."
And then I began to cry.
Eh? Eh? Eh? Liking it? Yes? No? Tell me why. Send me a legit review telling me:
- Why you do or don't like it
- If there should be more Fax
-When there should be more Fax
-Anything else
