Isabelle quietly pushed open the door to the infirmary. She walked over to where Ariel lay on the bed. The small girl was in the same position Alec had placed her in when they had brought her in late last night. Isabelle absentmindedly brushed back some of the hair on her forehead even though it wasn't in her eyes. She turned slowly when she heard a sigh behind her. "How long have you been here?" she asked Alec who was crouched in the chair to the side.
He shrugged his shoulders, but his eyes stayed on the girl lying on the bed in front of him as his head rested on his knees. "I couldn't sleep and I guess I was hoping she would come out of it. I didn't want her to be alone."
Isabelle nodded and gave his shoulder a squeeze. "You should go take a shower? I can stay with her for a while."
"Yeah, I probably should," Alec unclasped his arms and stretched as he stood. He stepped next to the bed and looked down. "I wish we knew how to help you," he spoke softly. Ariel seemed so frail now, although Alec could recall her strength when she had held Jace to the floor in one of their training sessions. "You're strong. You can fight your way back." He squeezed her hand lightly before heading down the aisle and out the door.
Breakfast was quiet as the shadowhunters all ate. Isabelle cast occasional glares at her mother while Jace and Alec kept their eyes on their food. "What are you angry about this time?" Maryse asked.
Isabelle's shoulders sagged, "Umm, you could have tried a little harder to get the counsel to help," she snapped.
"I thought we already discussed this, besides I don't see why that matters. You got her back didn't you?"
"Do you even care about her at all?" Before Maryse could reply Isabelle got up from the table and rushed out the door.
"I did everything I could," she said to the boys when they both glanced up. Jace just reached in his pocket to look at his phone and Alec shook his head before getting up from the table and walking out.
"What's Isabelle so upset with?" Max asked as he entered the kitchen taking another glace over his shoulder as the long dark ponytail disappeared up the stairs.
"Mom can tell you," Alec said dodging around him, "I need to call Magnus." Jace glanced up but said nothing as Max poured himself a bowl of cereal.
Maryse glanced at her watch, "I need to make some calls. I'll see you at lunch." She kissed Max on the top of the head as he put milk on his cereal.
"So where's Ariel? You did rescue her didn't you?" the boy got a worried look in his eyes.
"We got her," Jace said, but his voice sounded a little unsure.
"She wasn't in her room, and she's not in the library."
Jace looked up from his cereal. He knew the look in Max's eyes meant he would wait until he got answers. "She's in the infirmary."
"Is she hurt? Can't you just give her an iratze?"
Jace slowly shook his head. "We already tried, but it's more then that."
Max's eyes began to fill with tears, "Is she going to die?"
"I don't think so," Jace looked down at his hand that held his phone in his lap as if wishing for an interruption. "Hodge will look at her when he gets back from Ibris," Jace tried to sound more reassuring. Max pushed himself away from the table and headed straight for the door. "Where are you going?" Jace mumbled but was already getting up to come after him.
"She's my friend too," Max said angrily. Even though he was facing the door Jace could see him wiping at the tears that already rolled down his cheeks, "I want to see her."
Jace nodded, "I think she would like that."
Max stopped and slowly turned to face Jace, "You mean you're not going to tell me I'm not old enough?"
Jace shook his head, "No." Jace caught up to him and put his hand on his shoulder and the two walked quietly up the stairs.
As they walked down the long hall they passed the library. Alec was talking gruffly into the phone, "We need to locate one of them, Magnus…I know they are all gone, but surely there must be some way to track them down…fine, but at least think about it." He clicked the button on top of his phone and tossed it angrily to the other side of the window ledge, then glared out the window not even noticing Max and Jace.
Jace didn't try to ask what was going on, he simply nudged Max's shoulder in the direction down the hall. Next they passed Isabelle's room. Loud angry girl music was filtering through the closed door.
Then they passed Maryse's office. They could hear her talking on the phone, "I don't know what to do with her, Robert? She is your daughter too…It's not that simple." Maryse let out a huge sigh as she slammed down the receiver, "That man is useless," they heard her mutter.
"I think we should go," whispered Jace as he guided Max further down the hall. Lastly they came to the infirmary. The door was open just a crack. Jace was just about to tighten his hand on Max's shoulder to stop him so he could warn him of what he would fine but Max didn't hesitate like Jace thought he would. Instead he pushed the door open as he walked in.
The bedside lamp provided light as well as the open window shade across the aisle that allowed a fair amount to light into the room. Max came to the side of the bed. When he saw Ariel's eyes were open he smiled widely. "I knew you would be okay, Ariel. Not even a scratch. Do you want to read with me?" Silence. "Ariel?" Max questioned as he lightly touched his arm.
When she still didn't respond or even move, his hand dropped to his side and the young boy took a step away from the bed. He jumped slightly and turned when he dumped into something behind him. He looked up to see Jace. "What's wrong with her? Why won't she talk to me?"
Jace tried to fake a smile but faltered and simply shook his head, "We don't really know, but I'm sure Hodge will figure something out."
When Maryse walked into the infirmary she found Max curled up in the seat by the bed. She brushed some of the dark hair that had fallen in his face. His long lashes fluttered as he opened his eyes. "Honey, its time to leave. Hodge is going to look at Ariel."
"I want to stay, mom. I want to know what's wrong."
"I'm sure Hodge will let you know, as soon as he finds something out." Reluctantly Max allowed his mom to coax him out of the room. She held his hand and walked down the hall until she heard the phone ring in her office. Then she tussled his hair as he continued down the hall.
The boy stopped to listen to Jace play the piano. It was a face paced song but had a particularly dark sound. Isabelle was still listening to her music. Max ended up in the library. He got his book and sat on the opposite side of the window as Alec. After rereading the same sentence for the 10th time he finally lowered the book and looked at his big brother. "Do you think Ariel will be okay?"
The older boy nodded and simply said, "She's strong. She'll make it." Without asking for permission, Max crawled over to sit next to Alec. Alec began to quietly read as Max read over his shoulder.
"I can't find anything wrong," stated Hodge for the third time.
"There has to be another test," Alec said with determination.
"Sorry, Alec, but I'm out of ideas."
"What about the silent brothers? They helped Clary."
"That was an extreme circumstance."
"So is this," Alec's voice rose as his fist came down hard on the table. Before he could say more his phone buzzed in his pocket. When he pulled it out, Thad's name and number flashed on the screen. The shadowhunter walked briskly out into the hall. "Hello?" he answered.
"How is she?" came Dane's voice from the other end, "Thad said he wouldn't rest anymore until I called."
"We don't really know? Hodge says her vitals are stable but she doesn't respond to any stimulation. How is Thad?"
"Weak, but he's getting stronger every day. Thad probably won't wait much longer before he insists on seeing her."
"I don't know if Hodge will let her leave the infirmary. And Thad can't come into the institute."
"I don't think we will be able to keep him home for much longer. You better be thinking of a plan."
"I'll see what we can do," Alec said before hanging up. He sighed as he put his phone into his pocket. The real person to convince was Maryse. She seemed to have a real cold shoulder toward downworlders.
Sorry its a little short but I didn't want to start the next part of the story until the next chapter.