New part here… and some answers as well! Thanks x.spanish.eyes.x, Aveira, Kitkatwaslover and sometimestheycallmejackie for the reviews… hope you'll like this part as well! Let me know, okay? ;-)


If asked later Max wouldn't be able to say how long he had been sitting there by his daughter's bed, silently observing her as she slept peacefully. Time had stopped having any meaning to him a while ago, when making sure she was alright had become the only thing that mattered.

It could be minutes like it could be hours, he really didn't care, he knew he would never tire of looking at her, lying there, her tiny chest heaving steadily with each intake of breath she took. It was as if his eyes were clearly seeing that she was there, safe and sound, but his mind still had a hard time really processing the information. Still he guessed that such reaction was pretty normal, given what he had been through. After all, a few hours ago, part of him had not even been sure he would ever see her again, or when he would if he could.

Of course he knew he should be downstairs already by now, knew that Liz was probably waiting for him to come back, but though he didn't want her to think that he was chickening out or trying to find a way to postpone their talk, letting go of Janelle right now was even harder than what he could have anticipated.

His little baby girl, Max sighed as he tenderly smoothed back a few tendrils of her hair. It still amazed him that she could have had the strength to tell him all about her day, in almost excruciating details in fact, from the incident with that Tommy boy to her late afternoon at the beach and how much fun that had been, when it was obvious that she had barely been able to keep her eyes open all through her story, but all in all he had been all too glad to listen to her and learn that she at least had had a normal day when his had been nothing but.

Not that there had ever been any doubt, but she definitely was his daughter and was as stubborn as he could be himself sometimes: he had seen that once more tonight when after she had asked him where her movie was and he had been forced to admit to her that he hadn't been able to go and get it, she had insisted and begged him to go rent it even if he had to, so they could see it before she went back to sleep.

He had chuckled softly at how cute she looked as at the same time her eyes gradually dropped she had still tried to talk him into going, but actually convincing her that that was not possible and that she would have to wait till the next day to see it had been something else.

Fortunately, it hadn't taken her so long to finally fall asleep in his arms, once he had settled down on the rocking chair they still had in her room and for once, he was almost grateful for the fact. He loved his daughter to bits but in all honesty, he hadn't known how much longer he would have been able to keep the constant smile on his face when he was still hurting so much inside and felt like any second then, he would reach his breaking point.

After a few other minutes spent hovering near her in the dark, he reluctantly sat up and after having looked at her one last time and lovingly kissed her forehead, he finally decided to make his way downstairs. He didn't doubt that what he was going to have to deal with now would be even harder and more emotionally draining for him, but he knew he had no choice.

Tonight he would face his demons and his worst fears no matter what it took, because there was no way he would go another day without knowing where he and Liz stood. Or trying to change her mind if she didn't see things his way.

His legs barely carried him to the living room, and when he reached it and he didn't see Liz right away, he instinctively walked to the bar they had on the left corner of the room, with only one thought in mind. He wasn't much of a drinker usually, and there certainly couldn't be anything strong enough right at that instant to help his case, but whisky would have to do for now.

A trembling hand reached over the counter for the bottle he knew he and Liz kept there for big occasions, and after having nearly filled a glass to the brim, he gulped the colored liquid in barely two swigs. Not surprisingly the liquor burned his throat the second he swallowed it, but he somehow managed to fight the urgent need he felt to cough.

The instant she heard the glass connect with the hard surface of the bar when he put it down, Liz sat up from her lying position on the couch and she was not only surprised to see Max already there, but clearly to notice that the first thing he had done when finally joining her was to help himself to a drink. She had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she had not even realized he was back and now she found herself frowning and wondering how long exactly he had been down.

She had gone upstairs herself when she had noticed how long he was taking with Janelle and the scene that had greeted her had almost made her burst in tears again. Max had been cradling Janelle against his chest as close as he could obviously, and they had both been talking in hushed tones while he apparently tried to rock her into sleep, and she didn't think that she could ever witness anything more beautiful than those instants between father and child.

She hadn't wanted to interrupt them though, sure somehow intuitively that Max had really needed this moment with his daughter, but there was no saying how much she had envied her at that instant and wished she could be a part of that special bond as well.

If only everything between Max and her could be as simple as his relationship with Janelle, their life would probably be much easier then. Whatever one of them did or said, there were never any angry feelings, resentment, or just any misunderstandings that lasted between them. They never hurt each other, at least not purposely, and if they ever did, a kiss and a hug was usually all it took to forgive and forget and solve the problem.

Unfortunately, it had been too long since that had been enough for them. Way too long and now she didn't know how to close the distance between them and go back to the time when they were still able to understand each other with just one look, or a single word. She wasn't even sure they would be able to work things out and that independently of the outcome of their discussion tonight, when they were barely able to look at each other when they were in the same room most of the times now.

Yet, Max had said that they needed to talk, so talk they would, even if it was to see him break her heart in the end. She was almost sure that by the end of their conversation, no matter how it went, she wouldn't have any tear left to cry but still, ultimately, she knew that they would have to go through this to finally put an end to this situation. They had been avoiding this for too long now and it hadn't solved anything nonetheless, it would be stupid to keep going on that way then, no matter how much it scared her or hurt now to take that final step.

She wasn't naïve and she knew that, despite how much she despised that thought, the chances that this talk would mean the end of their marriage were greater than the contrary, but at least after that, she would know where to go from there and maybe, just maybe, she would finally be able to move on. If not for herself, she had to at least try to do this, even if it was only for her daughter's sake, because she surely didn't deserve to have her parents at each other's throats constantly, or be so indecisive about the simplest things. In their will to protect her, they were probably only complicating her life even way more now than they would if they finally came to a decision in fact. But tonight they would, no matter what said decision would be.

As she looked at Max now, Liz couldn't stop her stomach from churning in apprehension, but the feeling quickly changed into concern when after a few seconds, she realized that he had yet to move from his position and it looked like he wasn't even there with her, or had just noticed her presence yet. Added to the fact that Max never drank if there wasn't someone to do that with him, she was now sure that this couldn't be good in any way.

She called his name softly as she slowly stood up to her feet but he didn't seem to hear her at first, only making her anxiety grow stronger. It wasn't until she repeated it and started to move to him that he reacted. Yet when he finally turned around and their eyes met, Liz felt the air rush out of her lungs and almost wished he hadn't.

The instant he saw her, Max knew that as brave as he had been so far, he wouldn't be able to hold out any longer now, and barely a second after her name passed his lips in a broken murmur, he felt his knees finally giving out from under him as the enormity of what he had gone through in the last few hours crashed on him unexpectedly.

Liz had been expecting many things to happen, but she had never been anywhere prepared to see Max fall to his knees in front of her and start bawling like his very heart was being ripped out of his chest.

Despite everything else, there were no questions in her mind, no second thoughts. She was near him and already squatting down in front of him in a second, ready to help him in any way she could of course, but even with that, she never saw his next move coming.

The moment he saw her there, so close to him, her face only a few inches from his and calling his name with that edge on her voice, Max couldn't stop himself even if he wanted. He pulled her to him until she was straddling his lap, shocking the hell out of Liz in the process, but he wasn't able to care about that at that second.

His head against her bosom, he shook violently in her arms, holding onto her like his life depended on it, and for a while Liz was unable to do much more but stay there frozen on the spot.

Her mind worked at a furious rate, trying to find some kind of explanation to what was happening, as well as trying to understand what exactly Max was mumbling against her chest, but no matter how hard she tried she kept drawing a blank. The only thing she got more or less clearly was how many times he repeated her name and how he seemed to cry even harder with each utterance that escaped his lips, and that was what finally shook her out of her torpor.

"Max? What's wrong?" Liz asked bewildered when it didn't seem that he was going to stop any time soon, as at the same time she tried to fight as best as she could the fear that gripped at her heart at seeing him like that.

She pulled away slightly when he didn't answer her and her hands framed his face gently so he would look at her, but as strong as she wanted to be for him, she nearly cried herself when his eyes finally locked on hers.

"Baby, talk to me!" she pleaded softly, needing to know what could have put him in such a state, and was already swearing inwardly that whatever it took, she would do her best to make it better for him.

Thoughts of their probable divorce were the furthest thing from her mind at that instant and nothing mattered but Max. This was the man she loved, no matter what could have gone on between them, that fact remained true and unchanged, just like the fact that she could absolutely not bear to see him hurt in any way, whether it were physically or just emotionally.

In all the years that they had been together, Liz couldn't even remember having ever seen Max cry, except maybe when his grandmother had died a few months after their wedding, and when Janelle was born, and then those had been tears of joy he had cried. Yet none of that had ever come close to this and the sight made her heart ache painfully and her insides twist in dread.

Whatever this was this time, it had to be something dramatic and awful to have him react this way, yet she couldn't bring herself to work out any kind of scenarios, not even just in her mind. She didn't know how she would react herself if anything had happened to his parents or his sister, or… anyone in his family in fact.

"I-I called… I c-called and no one answered… and I-I thought… n-no one answered…" Max croaked out when Liz called his name once more, but the words were barely comprehensible to her, moreover when they were disrupted by heart wrenching sobs and desperate intakes of breath.

She could clearly see how hard it was for Max to even say as much, but the little he actually told her only made her worry more since she didn't understand what, or who he was talking about. Then the instant those few words were out, he was again crying openly and clinging to her forcefully like he was afraid she would leave him there alone and Liz felt all the more terrified.

"Max, you're scaring me… what happened to you? What's wrong?" she breathed out achingly, her own eyes filling with tears at his distress.

"They didn't know… they c-couldn't find her… and y-you… a-and Michael…" Max started again, still making no sense to Liz. Until he began talking about his best friend and Liz gasped in fear at the thought of what that could mean.

"M-Michael? Did something happen to Michael?" she queried urgently, already dreading his answer, and she wasn't even surprised when she felt only half-relieved when she saw Max shake his head negatively. She loved Michael like a brother and it would have been as devastating to her if he had been hurt in any way as it would be if it were any member of Max's family.

Thinking then that if obviously nothing had happened to Michael, he had to at least know something for Max to mention him now, she was ready to move up and call him to get the answers Max was visibly in no state to provide, when his desperate voice stopped her abruptly.

"No… no, p-please… don't leave… d-don't leave me!… not now… n-not ever!… please… don't y-you ever leave me… " Max cried out the moment he felt her pull away, even just slightly, and almost instinctively tightened his hold on her.

Just the thought that she could leave him now, even for a mere second was enough to send him into a frenzy and make his heart thud erratically again. No, she couldn't leave him, he wouldn't survive it if she did.

"Max?… I'm just going to ca-…" Liz's attempt at explaining what had been her intention failed miserably when Max crushed her to his chest the second she started to talk, and Liz gasped almost in pain with the force of his embrace.

More than by his words that actually barely registered in her brain at that moment, she was shocked to see him react so violently and uncharacteristically, moreover considering their situation. It was as if he suddenly couldn't bear to lose her or something, and she couldn't understand what could have prompted such a reaction.

"No… please, p-please, Liz… I just need y-you… " Max insisted tearfully, knowing that he was probably frightening Liz, but unable to let go of her for all that. "I-I need you!… J-Just you!" he kept repeating then, like he was almost afraid saying it only once wouldn't be enough for her to want to stay with him.

His words were barely a whisper into her ear, but it was enough for Liz to get that it would only make matters worse if she moved at all. She wanted to know what was wrong with him of course, more than ever in fact given how frantic he was, but if being held by her was the only thing he needed right at that moment, then that was what she would do.

"O-Okay, Max… I'm here… I-I'm right here… shh, it's okay…" she whispered soothingly, wrapping her arms around his neck and clinging to him almost as much as he clung to her.

His chest heaved painfully against her own and she could feel how his hands gripped at her top almost desperately, but nothing could have made her ask him to release her. Being in his arms again after so long, and that even despite the circumstances, was like being home again, and she wanted to savor the feeling for as long as she could. Her eyes closed at the sensation of being safely tucked in his embrace again, and like she had so many times before when something was bothering him, she threaded her fingers through his raven hair, caressed the nape of his neck, and kept promising him that everything would be alright.

For interminable minutes, she rocked him back and forth like she would do with Janelle if she needed to calm her down, and though he was nearly cutting her air supply all the while, she chose to pay it no heed. She would let him crawl into her skin if that was what he needed.

She didn't know how long they actually stayed there, in the same position and wrapped into each other and truth be told, she didn't care either since she needed this certainly as much as he apparently did himself, but she was glad nonetheless when she eventually noticed that his cries had died down and that his breathing had become steadier again.

As long as it made him feel better, she was ready to stay in his arms all night if that was what he wanted, but she knew that she could probably help him better if she had all the facts in hands.

"Talk to me!" she lovingly brushed his bangs off his forehead and coaxed him gently, when he eventually loosened his grip on her and she was able to look at him again.

Her heart nearly broke however when he looked back at her and she saw the same despair in his eyes she had heard earlier in his words.

"I thought I had… I-I was going to lose you f-for good!" Max murmured when Liz was convinced that he wasn't even going to talk to her and he managed to stun her almost into silence once more, for that was probably the last thing she had expected him to say.

"Max?" she uttered, taken aback, not seeing the connection between what could have possibly happened to him to make him lose it like he had and what he was telling her now.

Unless he was talking about what had occurred this morning, but then she didn't understand why he was bringing this up now. She couldn't even rejoice over the fact that he apparently didn't want to lose her any more than she did herself, if that was what he meant, because it just didn't make any sense to her yet.

"It seemed s-so surreal… I kept… I-I kept telling myself that it was… j-just a nightmare… but no m-matter how hard I-I tried… I just c-couldn't wake up… and it… god, it hurt so much…" Max continued as best as he could, but the instant he pictured Liz lying on the side of the road with Janelle hurt as well again, his voice shattered once more and he was unable to stop the flow of tears, or the sobs and hiccups that racked his body again.

"Max… I don't understand what you're talking about…" Liz admitted softly, before another thought crossed her mind and she decided to take another road to have her answers and therefore start asking direct questions. "Baby, why were you at the hospital tonight?" she inquired, as she remembered that obviously everything had started with that and with what could have taken place to lead him there.

"Because… b-because I thought y-you were there… " Max replied brokenly and though he tried his hardest, he couldn't help the tremors that coursed through his entire being when he recalled how it had felt to be there, fearing for her life and not knowing if she would make it or not.

"What do you mean?" Liz pressed on when he stopped there, wondering how he could have thought that, or how that was supposed to explain everything else, from the way he had broken down, to what he had told her so far and even less, the blood on his shirt, or his bandaged hand.

"There's been an… an accident this afternoon… on I405... and there was this woman… and I-I don't know how it happened… but she had… she had your papers… and they called m-me… and I-I thought… I… oh, god… oh, god, Liz…" as much as he wanted to, Max was unable to finish his sentence, but he didn't need to for Liz to understand what that meant.

Max had thought she was the one in that accident. He had thought she was the woman at the hospital and that she was injured, and that was why he had been there when he should have been at home with his daughter. It made so much sense now, and though her heart burst with hope at knowing that he still cared enough for her to be completely horrified by the thought of anything happening to her, she couldn't help wondering how that could be? How something like this could have happened and what exactly he did mean by that other woman had her papers? As far as she knew they were in her wallet, and said wallet was in her purse. This story just kept getting crazier by the minute.

"What?… no, no that's not possible!" Liz denied vehemently, having a hard time comprehending how someone could have made such a mistake. How someone could have called Max and told him what? that she had been in a car accident and badly hurt evidently considering his reaction, when it was clearly not her? But then it hit her like a ton of bricks and she couldn't help the sob that tore from her own lips when she put all the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Oh, my god!… Janelle…" she cried out, without realizing that bringing their daughter in the conversation at this point was certainly not the best way to calm Max down.

"What?" he instantly asked, his eyes snapping back to hers and his body trembling anew, as he wondered what Janelle could have to do with all of this and why Liz suddenly seemed to know more about this than he did himself.

"This afternoon… when we went shopping… I… Janelle… she wasn't looking and… I-I had my hands full… and when we were in the parking lot, sh-she didn't see the car… I-I caught her before anything could happen, but there was this woman…" Liz rushed out, almost already sure of what his reaction would be to this piece of information, but knowing that she couldn't really explain the rest to him without telling him first about what had almost happened to their daughter.

"What? She what?… are you telling me that she… that…" Max all but shrieked when what Liz was saying registered in his brain. However, before he could even voice out loud what he already knew to be a certitude, Liz interrupted him quickly.

"It's okay, Max… she's alright… she just gave herself a good scare…" she tried to play the situation down but even hours later, she couldn't stop her own voice from cracking slightly at the prospect of what could have happened to Janelle had she not been quick enough.

Still, considering all he had already endured and how he had obviously completely flipped out when he had believed she was hurt and in that hospital, she didn't think that giving him more details on how close they had actually been to losing their daughter would be very wise. He would probably lose it for good if he knew and that was certainly the last thing she wanted to see happening.

"Oh, god…" Max groaned when he heard her, feeling the same pain he had felt when he had first been told that there was a possibility that Janelle had been in that accident with Liz, and therefore that she could have been injured as well.

His chest constricted to the point he was sure he wasn't even breathing anymore and it took all of his willpower to not break down and cry once more. Just thinking that his baby girl could have really been run over by a car and hurt in any way was more than he could take, moreover with the torture he had had to undergo tonight.

"Max… you've seen her, she's okay… you've seen that for yourself… nothing really happened… " Liz insisted and instantly cradled his face so he would focus on her and not on the dark images she was sure were already filling his mind.

"Janelle is okay, Max!" she repeated one last time and she all but expelled a sigh of relief when after a few seconds, she saw him nod his head in acknowledgment. The last thing she needed was another tear-episode, not when she knew all too well that she wasn't very far from losing it herself and that anything at this point could set her off.

"What… what ha-happened then?" Max managed to breathe out, once his heart had gotten back to a more or less normal rate and he found his voice again.

At the same time though, he was already mentally preparing the talk he would have with his daughter in the morning or as soon as he could, because if he knew her, she had most likely not been paying any attention to where she was going and he would surely have to remind her the rules they had established long ago. She had to know that what she had done was wrong anyway, otherwise she would have told him about that, too, when she had related her day to him, but it didn't hurt to have her hearing it again. If that meant that she would be more careful from then on, then he would repeat it to her over and over.

"I-I caught her in time but we just went… sprawling to the ground, and there was this woman, she somehow cushioned our fall… she was there shopping, too… and… and in our fall, we just lost everything… I-I mean… my purse fell… and hers, too… and I guess our things just got mixed up… and then Janelle… she helped us pick everything up… but we weren't really paying attention and she must have given her my wallet…" Liz explained, remembering that she had clearly seen Janelle with her wallet in hands at some point, but she couldn't tell for sure what she had done with it after that. "And yeah… we kind of looked alike I guess… she… she had dark hair, b-brown eyes… it-it must have been her then, Max and… god, is she… is she alright?" Liz concluded then before asking him about her condition, even if she was afraid to actually know the answer.

She had seemed so sweet and so young, she really hoped that everything would be okay and that she would pull through it, although considering the way Max had been, she suspected more or less how critical her state could be and how too optimistic that thought was.

"I-I don't know… when you called… when I-I left… I… the doctors said she was hanging on… but they didn't know if she… if she…" Max stuttered uncomfortably, a little ashamed that he didn't even know more, and Liz understood what he wasn't saying out loud: that once he had been sure that it wasn't her, he had not really cared anymore, because the only thing he could think about was getting back to her and Janelle.

Max couldn't tell her however the little he did know. Like the fact that that woman had lost her baby for example, because then he would have to admit that when he had thought it was her, he had really believed her to be pregnant and had been convinced that she had betrayed him in the worst way possible. No, confessing that now would force him to talk about Kyle Valenti, and the last thing he wanted right now was to remind her that there was someone else in her life. Not when she seemed to have forgotten everything about him and be concentrating only on him again. As stupid as it was and even if it was only for a few brief instants before they had to face again the hard reality of their situation, he wanted it to last. He wanted to be her priority again, the only one who mattered to her.

"Oh, Max… " Liz whimpered when she just tried to picture what Max had to have gone through while he was there and had been convinced she was the one fighting for her life.

Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought and as she pulled him into her arms again, she couldn't help whispering soft reassurances to him, even when she knew that she would certainly need more than a few 'I'm okay', 'nothing happened to me, or our baby' to make him forget all the horror of this night.

She had no way to understand what he had really suffered through, but she knew all too well how she would have reacted herself if it had been the other way around and she had been the one fearing for his life. The pain would have been unbearable and she would have certainly gone crazy, waiting there for someone to tell her if he would be alright. No matter how much they could fight, what could happen between them, or where they stood in their relationship and their marriage, she couldn't fathom a life without him being a part of it.

"Shh… don't cry…" she soothed tenderly, much like he had done to her not long ago, when he started weeping softly again, and she was more than ready to comfort him again and that for as long as she would have to, when he caught her completely off guard.

"I love you, Liz… " he declared out of the blue, his voice hoarse with tears, leaving Liz completely speechless.

She blinked at him a couple of times, sure that she had heard him wrong and yet, she couldn't stop her heart from triple-hammering in her chest, or her blood from pumping faster in her veins when he went on.

"I-I love you so much… you and Jay, you're everything to me… and I don't want to have to leave you ever again… I-I don't want t-to… god, I don't want to d-divorce either… I-I don't care about anyone else and I don't c-care what it takes… what I have to do… but I want to make things right, Liz… please… give me another chance… please, p-please, baby… I'd do anything, just don't leave me for good!" his face showed all the agony he had gone through for the last hours, the last months maybe even, all the heartache he had undergone from the second he had thought he was going to lose her, to this moment where he found himself hoping again and there was no way Liz could miss the sincerity in his tone, or how much he indeed needed her to give him that other chance.

This wasn't how he had planned to tell her what he wanted of course, but he didn't care, the words were out and he meant them now more than ever: he would die if he couldn't be with her. He would die if he lost her. He would die if she couldn't love him anymore.

For too long he had taken her for granted, sure that no matter what, she would always be by his side, but today had shown him just how utopian and foolish that thought could be. He didn't control a thing, he didn't have any power over what could happen to any of them and most of all, he didn't have any more time to waste.

A life without her wasn't worth living and if that was the last thing he did, he would make sure she understood that tonight.