To Hermionehp135, since your PM's are disabled: I'm actually not British, I live in America. I just post around noon to have something to look forwards to during the day in reading reviews!

I took out my calculator and calculated how screwed Fang is based on your reviews, and I got a 9 out of 10. I'm glad I'm not him right now! (I counted all 100000s and anything else above 10 as just 10 to keep things a little sane.)

And thanks for 700 reviews! This has been another of my goals, and it's been officially reached. maximumridetothemax, interestingly, left review #700 on Chapter 6! Thanks mrttm, and to everyone else too!

Random Quote of the Week: "To fall in love is awfully simple, but to fall out of love is simply awful" - Bess Myerson

Fang's POV

I cursed under my breath, pushing through the crowd once again.

"Wait here!" I yelled behind me, as loudly as possible, hoping Iggy and Ella heard me. I didn't hear a response as I pursued the taxi down the street, slowly losing ground.

Several minutes later, a jolt of pain shot through my head. I stumbled backwards, clutching my forehead. After my head stopped spinning, I looked up at what caused my pain.

An orange sign that read, Construction Work Ahead, stood in the road in front of me. As I stared into the darkness, my heart sank. Navigating a construction area was going to be a long, daunting task. The taxi would be long gone by the time I made it through.

The taxi had to deal with the construction work as well. As a fresh wave of hope washed over me, I ignored the pain in my forehead and dashed down street.

When I saw the long line of backed-up cars, a smile formed on my face. I sprinted down the lane, looking for Max's taxi. Thankfully, it didn't have a chance to get far.

My heart swelled as I saw Max lying in the taxi, still buckled up. I ran up to the driver's side window and knocked. This time, the driver looked at me and rolled down the window.

"What is it, kid? My hours are done."

"Unlock the door," I demanded. "My friend fell asleep in the back."

The driver turned around, his jaw dropping open as he saw Max in the back seat. He didn't say anything, but he unlocked the doors.

I unbuckled Max's seatbelt and hugged her hard. Even though my arms should've been aching by then, the adrenaline coursing through my veins saved me from exhaustion for now. I picked Max up, bridal style, and carried her back down the sidewalk. I noticed she was breathing and shifting slightly in my arms, so she probably was just asleep rather than unconscious.

"Fang!" Iggy yelled when he saw me, waiting with Ella faithfully where I asked him to. I caught up to him and motioned with my head for him to keep going. Even though we were moving quickly, the sense of urgency among us was gone. Max was safe here in my arms.

"I can't go with you guys," Ella said, frowning. Handing me her identification card and insurance information, she continued, "It'll raise suspicion that the ID looks more like me than Max."

"That's fine," I said. "Where are you gonna wait?"

"Right here." She sat down at a picnic table and buried her head in her hands, falling asleep.

I turned to Iggy. "Are you staying with her or going with me?"

He thought about it for a moment before sighing. "I'm going with you. I don't like the idea of leaving Ella alone, but I know she'll be fine. You'll need as much help as you can get in there, and we both know it."

I nodded, thankful I didn't have to go in alone. "Here, set Max down for a minute," Iggy said, rubbing his eyes. I did so, and sat next to Iggy at the table. "Want another cup of coffee?" he offered.

My willpower crumbled. "Why not?"

"Stay here. I'll go get it."

Half an hour later, Iggy and I finished our coffees and were walking into the hospital with Max in my arms. We walked up to the front desk, where Iggy asked for an immediate ER visit.

"Urgent?" the man behind the desk asked, glancing over Max.

"Nope. Just asleep."

"Patient name?"

"M-Ella Martinez," Iggy replied, holding back a grimace. I silently prayed the man wouldn't pick up on Iggy's slip-up.

"Mella Martinez?"

Iggy sighed, as if the man misheard him. "No, sir, it's Ella Martinez. Here's her identification," he said, handing it over the counter. He looked at it briefly and handed it back, barking an order for a stretcher into his microphone.

The man frowned. "Hand that over again, son." Iggy shrugged and handed it back. After taking a good look at the picture in the ID and mentally comparing it to Max, he looked at Iggy. "This isn't Ella Martinez."

My heart was racing, but Iggy didn't miss a beat. "Sir, it is. Ella's hair is lighter during the summer, and she decided to grow it out."

The man looked at me coldly, nearly causing me to crumble in my exhaustion. But I summoned all of my willpower and stared right back at him. "It's true. I've known Ella for years, and I'd know if this wasn't her."

He handed the card back to Iggy. "Someone will be coming down soon to get Ella checked up."

The stretcher came a minute later, allowing me to set Max down. I made sure she was comfortable and centered before directing my attention at the nurse leading us to the triage room.

"Would you classify her situation as life-threatening, urgent, or not urgent?" she asked.

Iggy and I looked at each other. "Not urgent," we replied in unison. I didn't like the idea of waiting, but there was no way we could get Max an urgent slot. Plus, there were people who needed it more.

We pulled into the room, where the nurse took Max's temperature and blood pressure. "Ella is in decent condition; she's a little cold, but she'll be fine. What brings her here today?" she asked.

"Near-drowning," Iggy answered, looking at me as if to say, Let me take care of this. I nodded in response, silently giving him permission.

"How long ago did it occur?" the nurse asked, jotting down notes on her clipboard.

"A few hours."

The nurse looked at us. "You'll be assigned to the fast-track ER. A doctor will be with Ella shortly," she said, leaving the room.

When she was gone, I turned to Iggy. "If we pull this off-"

"Don't sweat it, man. We got this in the bag," he said, with a newfound calmness. What I saw over the past half hour wasn't the Iggy I knew, but if he hadn't stepped up we might've been exposed by now.

I clapped him on the shoulder. "Maybe this is the reason you're a grade above me."

Iggy shrugged. "I doubt it. I've had some experience dealing with Dr. Martinez, so I know how this stuff works. Trust me, she's ten times as scary as my girlfriend's mom."

Five minutes later, two men opened the door to our small room and motioned for us to come out. One of them pulled Max's stretcher, and the other led us to the room. Max's assigned room was on the sixth floor, room 6254.

To my surprise and delight, the doctors let Iggy and I wait in the room while they set Max on the bed.

"She's not knocked out, just asleep," I assured them. The main doctor looked over and nodded.

"We're going to look up Ella's medical history, so we can tell if she's suffering from any chronic issues that may make her near-drowning worse," he told us.

I was worried they'd find an issue with Ella that Max didn't have, but, sensing my concern, Iggy whispered in my ear, "They won't find anything. Ella's never been hospitalized."

Sure enough, the doctor announced "Ella" had nothing on her differential diagnosis that stood out. "Ella should be all right, but we need to check her lungs for water," he said. "You two must leave the room at this point. We'll call you back in as soon as we can."

I didn't like it, but Iggy tugged on my arm. "Let's go, Fang. It'll be quick, I promise."

The seconds ticked by ever so slowly, as Iggy and I waited in the chairs directly outside the room. I thought about opening the door and yelling at the doctors to hurry up and tell us Max was okay, but decided against it. Even though I was slightly delirious from lack of sleep, I knew better than to jeopardize our mission.

Five long minutes later, the door opened and the doctor motioned for us to come back in.

"Ella appears to be all right," he announced to Iggy and I. "After she wakes up, she'll be released once her records are updated and finalized."

"What's the final cost?" Iggy asked.

"They'll tell you downstairs."

"How long will it be?"

The doctor looked over at his partner, who was pushing some buttons on a computer. "Two minutes?" he estimated. "Of course, we'll need Ella to wake up first."

Iggy and I took a seat by the wall as the doctors finished up entering "Ella's" data. It felt like forever, but it was probably more like half an hour before Max finally woke up, sending a wave of relief through my body.

"Fang?" she mumbled, looking around.

I motioned for her to be quiet as I walked to her side. "They think you're Ella. Insurance and all. I'll explain everything once we're out of here," I whispered, almost silently.

Once the doctors looked Max over one last time, they led us back downstairs to the reception where a man in a suit was there to greet us with our bill.

"That'll be sixty-seven dollars," he told us. Iggy opened his wallet, only to find it was empty from the money he spent on painkillers. Before I could offer to pay, Iggy took out his credit card and handed it over.

"Shoot," he muttered. "Why didn't I think of this earlier?"

I fished out a wad of cash in my backpack, but Iggy grabbed my wrist. "Scratch that, I have my credit card."

Ignoring him, I wrenched my wrist free and picked out seventy-seven dollars. I held it out to the man in the suit, but Iggy beat me to the punch. The man was already scanning Iggy's credit card by the time I counted the money.

I glared at Iggy, but he wasn't budging. He took his credit card back and stuck it in his wallet without paying me a lick of attention. He knew I wasn't happy about letting him pay, but at the same time he knew there was nothing I could've done at that point.

"You're free to go now," the doctors told us, once they gave it back. "Be careful, kids."

Iggy and I thanked them before we left the hospital and walked to where Ella was sitting. Max, Iggy and I sat down next to Ella.

Iggy and I looked at each other. "Wake her up?" he suggested. I nodded, causing Iggy to grin. This was what he lived for.

All three of us put our faces inches in front of Ella's, which was still flat against the table. Iggy shook her shoulders and whispered, "Wake up. Ella, wake up."

Ella's eyes opened slightly, and widened when she saw us. She jumped backwards, sending her toppling off the bench onto the grass behind her. She glared at us. "I hate you guys."

Iggy and I laughed, exchanging a high-five. "Works every time," he said.

Ella rolled her eyes. "How'd it go?"

"Really well, actually," Iggy said, handing Ella her insurance information and ID back. He told her the story, cracking up every time he mentioned calling Max by Ella's name. Now that the pressure was off, Iggy was returning to his normal, lighthearted self.

When he was finished, Max busted out laughing despite just waking up. "That's priceless. You guys are the best."

Ella found it funny as well, evident in her occasional giggling. "That's brilliant, guys. I wish I was there."

"Me, too," I said. "If Iggy didn't suddenly become a man, we would've been screwed without you."

"Hey, now," Iggy said. "I'm always very manly." This time, all four of us cracked up.

"Anyone else as tired as I am?" Iggy asked.

"Hell yeah," I agreed. "Let's get going."

Question of the Chapter: Who was the hero of the taxi scene? Fang? The taxi driver? The construction workers? Someone else? The sign Fang ran into? I'll post the results next chapter. :P

Question of the Chapter 2: Do you think Fang/Iggy/Ella/Max will get burned for the hospital stunt later?

Question of the Chapter 3: If you could be: a famous author, a pop star, or a famous sports player, which would you choose?

My answers: 1) I'll go with the construction workers. 2) I dunno... 3) Hard one...maybe a pop star. I doubt I'll be a famous author, or get something published, but at least it's within the wide realm of possibility. I'm small and can't sing, so the last two are only possible in my mind. XD

One more thing - the MR book comes out in just about a month on January 15! Time to get pre-ordering!