Silence – Chapter 25

By MyNameIsCAL

-Max's POV-

Angel asked to see me first, and so I entered the door where two FBI agents stood. She sat on the bed, her eyes on the floor until I walked in.

I sat next to her and she leaned against me, closing her eyes, tears pouring out.

"I'm sorry, Max," she sobbed.

I let the tears come this time, wrapping my arms around her. She wasn't a little kid anymore. Not the little six year old I remembered.

"No, Angel, it's not your fault," I said, my voice strained.

"I couldn't fight Jeb." Angel shook against me. "I…I didn't have the strength…"

"You're here now, and Fang will be okay, that's all that matters," I whispered.

When the dams rebuilt themselves, Angel pulled away from me and wiped her eyes. I expected her to start talking to me through her thoughts, but she didn't. Instead, she sucked in a breath and stared at the floor.

"How is Gazzy?" Angel asked. "I…I didn't think he survived that."

"You know?"

She nodded. "I filmed what they did to him, Max. How could I ever forget?"

"Gazzy…" I exhaled. "He hasn't been taking things well. And it's starting to get better, but he still can't quite, I don't know, get a grasp on reality."

"And how are Iggy and Nudge?"

"Iggy had trouble adjusting, but he's alright now. He was the reason they escaped. Burned the hospital down. Nudge, well, perhaps she had the easiest time adjusting, or maybe it was because she was trying to hold Iggy together."

Angel closed her eyes. "And Fang?"

"He's going to be okay. He'll be out of the hospital before you know it, like nothing ever happened at all. Fang won't be mad at you. It wasn't your fault."

She curled up into a ball on the bed. "I can't read minds anymore, Max."

"W…what?"

"Whatever Jeb did to me so he could control me and use me to control others…it took away my ability to hear your thoughts. I mean, I can direct thoughts to people, but it takes a lot for me to pick up on anything a person's thinking."

"I'm sorry, Angel…"

She turned away from me. "Like you said, all that matters is that we'll be okay."

It would be days before I saw Fang, but having Angel back kept us grounded. She reminded us that all wasn't lost, that things would improve.

But Fang was on all of our minds, and the doctor said we couldn't see him until things were in a definite state of stability. Teddy said that the doctor claimed there was improvement, far faster than any human, but still, there was damage, and unable to breathe on his own yet, bringing anyone around could cause complications.

The FBI was busy though. Jeb had tons of files with him on a computer that he had. Teddy said that there was enough information to keep them searching for years for other people experimenting on humans, that it was possible that the FBI might even create a task force to dedicate its time to it.

"Maybe that'll be a new job for me," he said, trying to keep me distracted from Fang. "And I can make a difference."

"You've already made a difference," I reminded him.

He gave me a wry smile.

A week and a half passed until the day finally came when Teddy approached me, saying that he was going to take me to the hospital. When I asked about the others, he shook his head and told me it was best if it was just me, that the doctor would only let one person see Fang anyway, so I gave in and went.

It didn't take long to reach the hospital, but I still got this feeling that there was something Teddy wasn't telling me. The doctor was already waiting for us when we got there, standing outside Fang's room.

He introduced himself, shaking my hand. Dr. Huber, he said his name was. And as I expected, he began to tell me how incredible it was that Fang could heal so fast, that Fang was extremely lucky to be alive. Then the rundown came.

"There extensive damage to the part of his throat that allows us to talk," the doctor let out a breath. "Right now, there hasn't been any sign of that healing properly, but I can't predict anything, not the way things have been going with your friend. It's quite possible it might repair itself in time."

I felt weak suddenly, and Teddy grabbed me by the arm.

"I'm sorry," Dr. Huber said quietly. "I wish there was more I could do."

He opened the door for me, and I went in. Teddy said he'd wait outside, and closed the door after me.

Fang was awake, his eyes jumping to me immediately. He moved over, making room for me next to him on the bed. I sat, and he leaned against me, closing his eyes, tears flowing out.

"I'm so sorry, Fang." I put my arms around him, and he shook against me.

I hope you all have a good weekend. If you're in school and your school happens to be nice enough to give you Columbus Day off, then enjoy that too! Although, I'm not sure why we'd want to celebrate invading the land the Indians owned and taking it from them =P

I'll be off to comic con tomorrow! I'm excited. Should have a new update in the next week or so for this story. As always, I've got a ton of other stories you can check out and read. Well, until the next chapter!