Thunder: Back Through the Rain – Chapter 25
By MyNameIsCAL
---Max's POV---
"We're losing him."
There was almost a pool of blood around Fang. Why had the paramedics taken so long to come? Now we were in the ambulance and he was slipping away into shock.
"C'mon, Fang," I whispered. "Please be okay."
I watched as they charged the paddles, trying to revive him. It took four times, but they got a pulse again. I wanted to cry, but now was not the time for crying.
---Iggy's POV---
Things were almost surreal. The paramedics dragged Fang off to the hospital, pronouncing that Marian Janssen was dead as soon as they got there. Angel assured us she was really gone. They brought us all to the hospital to be checked out. Mom met us there shortly. According to Gazzy, Fang had been shot in the leg. Janssen had intended to hurt Fang, not kill him. And Fang, well, we had no idea how he was doing. We all sat in the hospital waiting room, waiting. Max was up, pacing around.
"You should be sitting," I said. She had given blood for Fang and the fact that she was walking and stressing out about him probably wasn't making things better. The doctor had told her to sit and rest, of course you couldn't tell Max to stay put unless you tied her down.
She ignored me.
"Max," Angel interjected. "Sit down before you pass out, please."
Ella took my hand, distracting me from Max now. "Do you think Fang will be okay?"
"Define okay," I remarked.
Ella sighed.
"How many times has he been beaten up and thrown down?" I went on. "Emotionally and physically? If you mean if he'll make it out alive, then I'll answer you yes. But if he'll ever recover? I don't know."
She rested her head on my shoulder. "You're so optimistic."
"No, it's just the truth."
---Fang's POV---
"Crap, he's waking up!" I heard someone shout.
"Someone knock him out!" Another voice ordered.
There was pain, lots of pain. It smelled like a hospital, mixed with blood. I tried to sit up, but someone was holding me down. Before I could scream out anything, I was being injected with something and everything around me went dark.
---Max's POV---
Iggy shook me awake. "Max, wake up. Fang just got out. The doctor is gonna let you go see him."
I sat up, almost too fast, feeling light headed. It was dark out. The doctor stood, talking to Mom.
"Follow me," the doctor motioned.
Mom stayed with the others as I followed him down the hall, weaving between doctors and nurses. The doctor opened the door, letting me in.
"We've been having trouble keeping him sedated," the doctor informed me. "He refused the pain medication too so he's probably in a lot of pain."
I entered the room. It didn't seem like that long ago that I had been in the hospital. Fang's eyes shot open as soon as I took my first steps in. It felt like several lifetimes before I reached his bedside. When I got there, I was crying. My legs felt weak. Giving blood for them to give to Fang was finally having its affects on me. I sat on the edge, trying not to hurt him, but he gave my arm a tug, pulling me down next to him.
"I'm sorry," I sobbed into the side of his shoulder.
"It's not…you fault," he struggled to tell me. "Janssen is…gone now. We'll be fine."
Still, I was crying. He put an arm around me, half holding me as I shook against him from the tears. He was right, though. Janssen was gone now. We no longer had anything to fear.
---Fang's POV---
The next few days in the hospital took a lot out of me and a lot out of Max. Killing Janssen had also meant making it impossible to ever find a way to end my pain. Max knew it and I knew it. Mom said the doctors didn't think I would ever walk again, or at least properly. That wasn't news to me though. I could barely walk before getting attacked by Janssen and nothing was going to change now that it was after.
It was hard to deal with the pain. Max rarely left the hospital, insisting that she keep me company. I didn't get any sleep and neither did she. What I really wanted to do was to go home.
A month later, with screws in my leg, crutches, and a wheelchair, they let me go.
---Iggy's POV---
Mom's house would always be home to us, but it felt good to know that we would never have to leave it unless we wanted to. There was no one who could threaten us, no one to go fight. It was better that Fang could rest at home. And now that he was home, he actually seemed a little happy, believe it or not.
In some sense, we were all trying to forget about everything that had happened before. The friendships Max, Fang, and I had were now restored to the way they used to be, unaffected that I had sort of let Max's desperation let me get involved with her romantically. Perhaps that would make a great story later.
Thanks for reading. I think the ending is next, just a wrap up chapter of the future.