Chapter 25: Freaking Out

It's been a long time…I'm sorry….

Fang POV:

Iggy and I walked out of the stadium, still laughing. We had giant sodas and ate hot dogs and watched the Sox win. Tomorrow we were taking a plane back home at noon, so we were going to bed so we could head right over to the airport. Our phones and stuff were back at the room, since we wouldn't have been able to hear them during the game anyway. Iggy hadn't been able to see it, of course, but he promised he had a good time regardless.

"This was fun," I admitted, sliding my card into the door of the hotel room.

"See? I said you just needed to chill. You stress way too much."

"Yeah, I know," I said. "So, in order to relax, I call dibs on first shower."

"Ugh, fine," Iggy pouted.

I soaked myself in hot water and wondered how Max was doing. I would call her when I got out of the shower. I washed my hair and let the water run down my wings until Iggy told me to hurry up. Drying myself off quickly, I pulled on an old pair of basketball shorts and a black T-shirt before brushing my teeth and stepping out of the bathroom. Iggy was flipping through the TV channels.

"Any word from the girls?" I asked.

"Oh," Iggy said, frowning, "I didn't check."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, I'll check in, go take your shower."

Iggy walked past me with his pajamas in hand. His phone was just a small flip phone because he couldn't text or anything. I, on the other hand, had an iPhone. I picked it up and turned it on. I was surprised by what I found. "Jesus Christ, seven missed calls and thirteen text messages? What the Hell does Ella need?"

Curious, I checked Iggy's phone too. Three missed calls from "Elly-bear". Blech. I sincerely hope he doesn't actually call her that. I checked my text messages before calling Ella back. My heart dropped to my feet as soon as I read the first message. They went:

FANG? Why the fuck won't you pick up your phone?

Helloooo, Max is in the freaking hospital, would you maybe try to care a little?

Dude? Fang? What are you doing? Answer me please!

Tell Iggy he better pick up, this is pretty serious! What are you guys doing?

Hello?

Helloooo?

Anybody there?

And so on and so forth. I selected her name on my contacts and hit "call". She picked up immediately. I started before she could. "What the Hell do you mean 'Max is in the hospital'?"

"I mean Max is in the hospital. She's in the mental ward," Ella said, sounding exhausted.

"Why?" I demanded.

"We think Dylan came back again. Did you know he raped her?"

"Yeah," I said. "Max said he raped her repeatedly."

"Well why didn't you say anything!" Ella exclaimed.

"Because Max said she didn't want me to tell anyone," I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. "All right, I'm on my way."

"No," Ella said.

"What? Why?" I snapped. I was having a full panic attack at the thought of my love in the hospital.

"Because you already bought your ticket for tomorrow. Just come home on the plane and Max will be in the same place when you get here," Ella said.

"Then why were you so insistent on telling me now?" I asked, exasperated.

"Because I figured you'd be upset if you came home and found her in the hospital but I hadn't told you."

I took several deep breaths. Ella tried to calm me down. "Fang, please. Just come home normally and you and Iggy can come to my apartment and we'll go over to the hospital together, okay?" Ella said in a soothing voice.

"Okay," I muttered reluctantly. "What did you tell Alexis?"

"Um…yeah…she's at Meredith's until you get home tomorrow, so I figured maybe you could explain it to her?"

I took another deep breath. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow Ella."

"Bye Fang," Ella hung up.

I collapsed onto the bed. Of course. Of course she was in the hospital. Heaven forbid I get a break. I felt the prickling sensation in my eyes that meant I was close to tears. I had allowed myself time off when I should have been there to protect her. But why? Why didn't I get any time off? I was honestly surprised I didn't have any gray hair. What if Max was seriously messed up? Hadn't Ella said she was in the mental ward? What if whatever was wrong with her was permanent? How would I tell Alexis? I had so many questions swirling through my head that I didn't hear Iggy come out of the bathroom.

"Dude, are you crying? What's going on?" Iggy asked. I realize that I had actually been sobbing rather loudly, so Iggy had heard me.

"Max is in the hospital," I muttered.

Iggy's eyes widened. "What? Why?"

"Ella said Max was in the mental hospital because apparently Dylan came back and raped her again."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, again?" Iggy said, astonished. "When did it happen before?"

"The last time she was in the School," I said, sniffing. "She didn't want to freak you guys out, so she told me not to say anything."

"Oh," Iggy said quietly. "So are you going to head back or what?"

"Ella said not to," I replied. "She said to just come home on the plane like we planned, and then if we met her at her apartment she would take us over to the hospital."

"Okay. I'm going to call her myself."

I nodded. "Oh yeah," I said, remembering something, "Dude, Elly-bear? Seriously?"

Iggy blushed but said, "Oh yeah, I put that in there as a joke. She has something weird down for me too. Igglepus, I think?"

I shook my head. "You two…." I tried to ignore the ache in my chest.

"Yeah, I know," Iggy smiled. "She'll get better man."

"Hm?"

"Max. I mean, it's Max. She'll get through this somehow, as will you, and you'll get married and give Lexi tons of siblings. Don't worry."

I shrugged. "You know me dude. I'm going to worry until she's safe in my arms again, completely healed."

"And that's why you're so good for her," Iggy finished.

"Okay, I'm going to try and get some sleep now," I said.

"I'm going to call Ella," Iggy said, "Good night Fang."

"Night Igglepus," I said, cocooning myself in the blankets. However, I knew there was absolutely no way I would be able to sleep tonight when two time zones over the love of my life was sleeping in a padded cell.

Line!

"Dude, hang on, I don't know where I'm going," Iggy said as I practically sprinted off of the plane. "Fang!"

I stopped impatiently as Iggy swept his cane back and forth, making sure he wasn't hitting anyone. He had decided to just get a blind cane when he moved into the real world-it was much more convenient. However, now it was making him take forever. "Oh, just come on," I said, grabbing his wrist and dragging him to the luggage carousel.

"Someone's going to think we're a gay couple," Iggy complained.

I frowned. "Iggy, I am much more concerned about my actual relationship than whatever assumed relationship some random idiot thinks I have with you."

"Touché," Iggy muttered. We grabbed our bags and headed outside. We walked out a bit until we were sure no one would notice us fly off, then we opened our wings and shot up into the air. "I know you're in a hurry, but don't leave me behind, okay?" Iggy said from behind me.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, but Iggy's blindness wasn't his fault "Fine." I fell back so my wings would brush Iggy's on every down stroke.

An hour later I was knocking on the door to Ella's apartment. She opened it. "Hey, Fang."

"Hey, what's up with Max?" I said, cutting straight to the point.

"She's in the mental ward of the hospital because she thinks she's in the School. I can explain on the way if you'd like," she looked over my shoulder, "Hey Iggy."

"Hey beautiful," Iggy said. Ella stepped around me and kissed him warmly.

"Okay, let me get my purse and jacket and I'll be ready to go." Ella stepped back inside. A moment later she stepped back into the hallway. "Alright, let's go."

As we drove to the hospital with me in the passenger seat and Iggy in the back, Ella explained about how Max had called her a whitecoat, Angel had read Max's mind to find out what was going on, and Gazzy had knocked Max out so they could take her to the hospital. I listened quietly and stared at the road flying past. This sucked.

We arrived at the hospital around five thirty. I followed Ella as she checked in with the receptionist and led us back to the hallway Max was in. Ella pointed out the room while the receptionist paged the doctor.

I could feel the physical aching in my heart when I saw Max on the screen. She was pounding her fists on the wall and I could see her mouth moving as she screamed. I could hear her voice through the door, but I couldn't make out the words. "Why can't we hear her?" I asked.

"Because I have the screen muted," an unfamiliar voice said from behind me. "Her shouts told us nothing and were disturbing the doctors, so we muted her. I'm Dr. Marvel, and I'm in charge of watching Max." He held out his hand and I shook it. "I assume that you are her boyfriend, yes?"

"Yes. I'm Fang. Ella explained how she ended up like this, but do you have any idea when she might recover?" I asked.

Dr. Marvel sighed and shrugged. "We don't know. With something like this, there isn't much we can do. We were planning to wait two weeks, and if there's no change, we'll send her down to the full mental institution. The doctors there will probably start infusing schizophrenic medication into her food and see if that has any effect. Other than that, I'm afraid there isn't much we can do."

I felt my muscles tense and I put my head against the wall. "Fang-" Ella began.

"Don't," I hissed. "How could you let this happen? You were supposed to watch her!" I spun around, advancing angrily.

Iggy stepped in front of his girlfriend, "Fang, this is not her fault. Don't you dare blame her. What could she have done Fang? If Dylan could overpower Max, he would have killed Ella, perhaps literally."

My anger immediately blew away, and I felt like someone had just dropped the weight of the world onto my shoulders. "I know," I whispered. I backed up against the wall and slid down the floor. "I know."

I felt tears start running down my cheeks. The doctor left to give us a moment in peace. Ella came over and sat beside me, putting one soft hand on my shoulder. "Fang, I don't think I know how to say anything that will make you feel better, but I'm always nearby. I know I'm not Max, not even close, but I can help you take care of Alexis while Max is…away, and I'm sure Meredith will help too."

"Yeah, man," Iggy said, "We've always got all sorts of food leftover from our cooking classes, and if it isn't something that spoils quickly I could always send you some."

I gave a small grimace. "Thanks guys. Does the rest of the Flock know?"

Ella nodded. "Yeah, Angel told them."

I nodded again. "Alright, I guess we better go get Alexis then."

"Okay. I wish I could stay and help, but…," Iggy trailed off.

"I know, you've got school," I said. "Thanks for the fun trip man, I did have a good time until now."

Iggy gave a humorless laugh. "Oh please, if it weren't for that trip, Max would still be okay."

I shook my head, "Really Iggy, the fact of the matter is this is the School we're dealing with. I think they would have gotten her again eventually." I stood up and gave him a quick man-hug, and Iggy left.

"Okay, let's go to Meredith's," Ella said. We headed out to her car and drove home in silence.

I knocked on the door when we got upstairs. "Meredith? It's Fang."

She opened the door. "Hey Fang," she looked me over cautiously. "Are you okay?"

"No," I said, "But Lexi needs to come home, and I need to try and explain this to her."

"Okay,' Meredith said sympathetically, "But if you ever need some time to yourself or anything, just let me know. I'd be happy to watch Lexi for a few hours if I'm home."

"Thank you," I said. "Lexi! Time to go home!" I called.

"Daddy!" she cried, running over and grabbing my legs, "You're home!" It made my chest ache, how innocent she was.

"Yeah, and now it's time for you to be home too," I said, picking her up. "Thanks again Meredith."

"Anytime," she said.

I turned to Ella, "And thank you to Ella."

"No problem," she said, "Just call if you need anything, and I'll be right over." We hugged tightly and she left.

"Bye Aunt Ella!" Lexi called. Ella called bye back.

I walked in the door and made Lexi some chicken nuggets, both trying to put her in a good mood and stall the moment when I would have to tell her what happened.

But of course, she was the one who brought it up. It was about eight thirty and I was getting her ready for bed when she asked, "Daddy, where's Mommy?"

I froze. Then I took a deep breath. She had to know. I turned around and picked her up, sitting down on her bed with her in my lap. "Okay, Lexi, you remember the bad people I told you about?"

Lexi gasped. "Did they get Mommy again?" she asked, terrified.

"I-no not exactly," I said, "But…well, they did something to Mommy, and now she's in the hospital."

"Is she sick?" Alexis asked.

"Uh, sort of. They…well, they sort of made Mommy crazy."

This seemed to confuse her. "But you say Mommy is crazy all the time. You is kidding."

"I know, but sweetie, she's crazy for real this time. She could hurt somebody."

"But why?" Lexi asked, "She won't hurt us, we her family!"

"Honey, that's part of the crazy," I whispered. "I don't think Mommy would recognize us, and she might hurt us because her brain doesn't now any better."

Lexi was quiet for a long moment until I heard her sniffle. "I don't want Mommy to be real crazy," Lexi muttered.

"Me neither baby, me neither," I hugged her close and resisted the urge to cry as well. "But let's get you ready for bed," I murmured. She changed into her favorite nightgown and I pulled her covers up to her chin. Lexi hugged Peter the penguin tight but didn't say anything, which sort of worried me. "Good night Alexis. I love you."

"I love you too Daddy."

I walked back to my room and spent about an hour on my laptop, then took a quick shower and decided to have an early bedtime. As I curled up alone in the bed, I suddenly felt a gripping sensation of loneliness and I really started to cry.

Alexis came in a few minutes later with her penguin under her arm and hopped up into my bed. "Daddy, you crying!" she said, surprised. "I didn't know you could cry."

I any other circumstance, I would have laughed at her naïveté, but now I just looked at her and whispered, "Yeah."

"Daddy, is Mommy going to die," Lexi asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"No sweetie, she isn't that kind of sick," I said, pulling Lexi close. I was still crying, and I felt her start sobbing too as we fell asleep like that, me clutching my baby girl like she was all I had left. Because she was.

Hey, I know it's been a long time, I'm sorry I can't update faster, but I'm trying my best. Tobuscus was who I was quoting at the end of the last chapter, and to all of you who knew who that was, you are awesome. I know this is short, but it's my brother's computer turn. :P I'm working on getting my own laptop though. Bear with me.

I love reviews, and they really do help me write better, so keep 'em coming!

~BirdKidKirby