Chapter THIRTY-SIX: Never the evil…

This was one of my favourite chapters to write Hope you enjoy!

A dim shard of white light came into view. In the distance…or was it close? Chloe Price couldn't tell. The only thing she could tell was that she was surrounded by a deep black void of nothingness with only that one glimpse of light in what seemed like an eternity of silent darkness. Se couldn't blink or talk or even kook around, she was just frozen in place with only her thoughts. When she tried to steady herself mentally and try to ignore her surroundings…a name popped into her head….

…Max.

…Max.

..MAX!

That name seemed to launch a barrage of activity in Chloe's mind as the light seemed slightly brighter now.

What the hell happened?

Where the fuck is Max?

She better be okay!

The questions raced through her mind as her internal freak-out spiralled. Chloe tried so desperately to move or do something…anything to make sure her fiancé was okay. All she could think about now was that petit hipster girl whom she fell in love with, who she played pirates with as a kid, who spilled some wine and stained the living room carpet…the girl she loved. The light was even brighter now and it was practically burning, roaring with the fires of Chloe's rage!

'Fuck you if you think you can take something else from me! I am NOT going to lose someone else!'

Chloe Price was internally shouting now, raging and screaming. She couldn't really remember what happened but she knew she was in some sort of accident while driving. She remembered listening to Midnight Oil in her beaten-up truck with Max riding shotgun. None of that mattered at that moment, all that did matter was making sure Max Caulfield was alive and safe.

Chloe threw all other thoughts away as she focussed on waking up from whatever nightmare state we was imprisoned in. Memories of happier times came flooding into Chloe's mind as if something were willing her on to escape, pushing her mind to the limit. She remembered playing in the back garden with silly plastic swords and nearly pocking Max' eye out. She also remembered when she and Max knocked over the barbeque and almost set the entire house on fire. All those experiences fuelled Chloe as she focussed on Max and the blinding light in front of her…. then she remembered something else.

The day her father never came home. The day her life went to complete shit. The day everything came crashing down around her.

'NO FUCKING WAY! NOT AGAIN….FUCK YOU!' she bellowed to no one. If there was such thing as Heaven and Hell or even Purgatory, they were probably fighting over who would be stuck with her at that moment. She was screaming so hard even Satan himself would've probably shit himself in fear.

Suddenly the light had surrounded her, ready to engulf her completely. That last memory had fuelled her, made her get off her ass and wake up. Chloe Price was about to bust out of that dark void of…fuckness and she wanted only one thing when she got out….she only wanted to see one face, one perfect nerdy beautiful smile and that was…

"MAX!"

Her sudden and loud shout made herself jump. Chloe looked around desperately. She expected to see only darkness but instead, her eyes were met with a brightly lit room with an open window at the far side. There was a throbbing pain in her head as if a bull had danced the tango directly on her forehead but she ignored it. Chloe blinked several times a second as she look around in pure confusion. She was lying down in a soft bed with a blue quilt on top of her. The room was simple and bland yet strangely calming but nothing about Chloe Price was calm right now. She attempted to get out of the bed as she needed to see Max, needed to make sure she was okay and if not…beat the ever living shit fucks out of the person who got them into this situation. Upon sticking her foot out and partially lifting herself up, she was met with a sharp pain in her head and lower body. The pain was screaming at her but she didn't care, she needed to see Max at any cost. The door to her room burst open and a familiar face came rushing over to her side,

"Oh my Lord, I'm so glad you're awake darlin'" said Joyce Price, her soothing voice dampening the fire of Chloe's rage slightly. Chloe could tell without looking that her mom had been crying and upon looking at her, she could tell Joyce had been incredibly worried as her face was sunken and her hair a mess. Chloe stopped her own tears as she ignored her mother and carried on trying to leave the bed only to be met with the warm touch of Joyce, gently pushing her back into bed,

"Chloe you have to rest, the nurse will be back any minute and you'll hurt yourself trying to get up" insisted Joyce. Chloe couldn't care less and still tried to get up and make it to the door. She managed to get halfway stood up before falling straight back down onto the bed, with Joyce steadying her and comforting her. Chloe was determined and she needed to see Max but the pain was too much and she reluctantly allowed her mother to position her back into bed. Once she back into bed, she finally looked into Joyce' eyes and couldn't hold in the tears as she practically broke down there and then. Finally managing to control herself slightly, Chloe asked the question she needed the answer too if she was going to even bother to think about possibly getting some rest…

"Mom…where is Max? Is she okay? I need to know mom right fucking now!" Chloe emotionally demanded. A slight smile appeared on Joyce's face as she wiped away her tears and placed her hand on Chloe's shoulder,

"Chloe…Max is okay or she will be anyway. You were in an accident honey, a driver was speeding and hit your truck but it only clipped it but it did send you spinning. The doctor will tell you more but you hut your head on the steering wheel and we were all scared it was going to bad but thank God it wasn't. Max hit her head on the back of the truck and got some pretty bad bruising on her stomach area. She's unconscious like you were but she will be okay darlin', it just might be a little while for her to wake up" explained Joyce.

A thousand thoughts flowed through Chloe's brain, which only served to make the pain in her head grow making her wince. Above everything, Chloe was so glad for one thing; Max Caulfield was alive and was going to be okay! That one single thought gave her something she had thought she would never get back after her dad died, something that she used to say was a killer and would spit at the idea of ever having it…that thought gave her hope!

"Mom I…I thought I lost her. I can't lose anything else! Not Max, you…David, hell even Victoria! I would break without Max, shatter to a million fucking pieces. I can't go through that again" admitted Chloe, fully forgetting her punk persona as she cried openly and loudly to her mother. Joyce bent down and placed a kiss on Chloe's cheek and took her daughter's hand in hers,

"Oh Chloe, you won't! I'm not leaving you and nor is David. You should've seen him. When we heard from the hospital that you and Max were hurt, he was out of the house and into the car before I stepped outside the room. I cried all the way here just hoping you would be okay and I'm so glad you are" said Joyce, her voice crackling but still loving and warm. Chloe finally smiled and chuckled slightly at the story about David. After everything recently, Chloe was still surprised that David gave a damn.

A tall bald man and a small cute nurse walked through the open door and smiled at Chloe as the man, who appeared to be the Doctor, wondered over and checked the clipboard at the end of her bed. He then proceeded to check a few things and drew her attention to Chloe,

"Hey there Miss Price, feeling okay? We weren't expecting you up so soon" mused the doctor. Chloe was till processing everything when he asked this but decided to put her worries to the back of her mind, the news that Max would be okay was still fuelling her to smile and not completely freak out!

"Well Doc, I won't be joining any most pits any time soon and my head is fried but other than that I'm A-Okay. What about Max Caulfield, when will she be awake?" pressed Chloe.

"Miss Caulfield is stable and we expect her to make a full recover but we aren't sure when she'll wake up but it won't be too long. I'd say she'll be with us in a few hours maybe more but we can't be sure. You two were very lucky" explained the Doctor. He then returned the clipboard, spoke to the nurse about monitoring Chloe and left the room.

Joyce was about to leave with the Doctor but Chloe stopped her,

"Can you…maybe stay? I kinda don't want to be alone right now" asked Chloe. Joyce immediately sat back down on the chair nearby the bed and placed hand on her Chloe's once more,

"Of course, Chloe. I'm never leaving you honey" said Joyce as the door to the room again opened…

"That makes two of us" said a deep voice that could only originate from David Madsen and it actually made Chloe smile and even slightly tear up. She was with her mother and her step-father and she was actually glad, the old Chloe would have preferred the company of a monkey that wasn't house trained but she had changed and so had allot of people since the storm.

'Thank you…whoever it is out there…thank you for making sure my Max is okay!' Chloe thought to herself. David took a seat next to his wife and all three were together as a quite breeze flew in from the open window…