The gun stopped firing, and Omega smirked triumphantly under Angel's foot. Fang staggered for a moment, and Max caught him as he fell.

This isn't real, I told myself. It's a test. It's one of those sick whitecoats trying to convince me that one of my best friends has just been killed.

Even as I watched, Max's hands came away bloody, and I saw tears in her eyes. She gazed at Fang, as if the world had stopped around her. "Get up," she said quietly, as if he would respond to the sound of her voice. "Fang, get up! Now!"

"Fang?" Angel moved toward him, but Max's arm shot out to stop her.

"No! Don't let Omega go."

Iggy stood up and gave me his hand to help me up, and I burst into tears, right there. Iggy pulled me into his arms, and I just sobbed, wondering when the nightmare would end.

"Max?" Iggy asked finally. "Is he—?"

Max put her fingers to Fang's wrist, and we all went silent. Her eyes widened. "There's a pulse!" She almost smiled, and I let go of Iggy.

"Nudge!" Angel cried, pointing to Fang. "You can get the bullet out and heal him, right?"

I slowly approached Fang's still figure, kneeling to where he lay across Max's legs. Together, Max and I gently removed his jacket and shirt and examined the wound. I could plainly see the bullet, but I didn't know if I could get it out without hurting him even more.

Max, who seemed to know what I was thinking, quietly murmured, "Do it."

I gently waved my hand over Fang's chest, and the bullet slowly began to move out. But before I could dislodge it completely, Jeb burst through a door toward the end of the hallway.

"Jeb?"

"Nudge?"

"JEB?"

"Max?"

Omega grunted under Angel's foot.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Max glared at Jeb, but she stayed where she was.

Jeb didn't answer, but his eyes widened as they took in Fang's unconscious figure.

"Oh, God," Angel murmured, slackening her hold on Omega—just enough to allow him to spring to his feet and grab me around the waist again.

"Angel!" Max shouted, her fingers raking themselves through Fang's hair.

But this time, I was ready. It took me only a split second to wonder what would happen if I kicked him "where it counts", if you catch my drift. I took the chance and kicked him as hard as I could, and I felt him let go of me and stumble backward into the wall. For the finale, Iggy gave Omega an iron punch to his gut.

My attention was diverted when I heard Max shout, "No!" and I saw Jeb trying to move Fang. "We can't!"

"Max, it's the only way."

His face was grim, and it took me only a second to realize what they were arguing about: the dreaded hospital.

I ran to Max's side and grabbed her arm urgently, as if I was that persistent eleven-year-old again. "Fang needs better medical care than what we can give him," I said softly, and Iggy and I quickly helped Jeb move him to another room.

Max held his hand as we carried him, but I was only partially paying attention to Fang. Why was Jeb here? And why was everyone so quick to assume that the threat of danger was gone?

We hoisted Fang's limp form onto a movable mat, and Max just continued staring at his pale face, her eyes taking in everything from his bloody chest to his shaggy black hair. "You can fight this," she whispered. "Come on, Fang, wake up!"

Tears sprung back into her eyes, and Angel just kept muttering, "Oh, God."

An hour later, Fang was being wheeled into the emergency department of a local hospital, Max's last nerve was hanging by a thread, and my head was spinning so fast that I felt sick.

Iggy, who'd been beside me the entire time, pointed to Max's foot. "You should get that checked out, Max."

"It's not very deep, the bullet kind of…bounced out," she replied nonchalantly, and I knew that she was thinking that her injuries were nothing compared to Fang's.

We all sat down in the waiting room, staring at Jeb, who was rubbing his hands together and staring at the floor, deep in thought.

"You never answered my question," Max informed him. "What the hell were you doing at Itex?"

Jeb shook his head. "You wouldn't understand, Max."

"Well, I don't think I could not understand any more than I'm not understanding right now. Have you finally decided where your loyalties lie?"

"Max, it's not like that," Angel cut in, but Max ignored her.

In the long, awkward silence that followed, Iggy's arm snaked around my waist, and I jumped, expecting to see Omega's face leering at me.

"Sorry," Iggy muttered, blushing slightly.

"I don't mind," I said after a moment, almost smiling. "It just…surprised me, is all."

He nodded, and wrapped both arms around my waist, linking his fingers together at my side. My breath caught in my throat and I almost choked, but I was once again distracted enough not to choke, this time by a nurse who had news about Fang.

Max jumped to her feet. "How's Nick?"

The nurse looked sadly at each of us in turn.

I felt like someone had punched me in the gut when the nurse said, "I'm sorry. He didn't make it through the surgery."

AAAAAHHHHH! Okay, for those of you who have just echoed that scream of panic and indignation, remember that everything is never as it seems. So, review! And for those of you who are thinking about abandoning this fic because Fang died…you might not want to leave just yet. Chapter 11 will be up within the next two days, I promise you! XD ~Lyla