Just Acting??: Part IX
By Lissa Mahon
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own Max and Logan so don't sue me cause I don't have anything you want.
Author's Note: Okay, for the record I would like to say that I came up with this idea before any spoilers were out for Art Attack, so this is *not* another version of that episode. James Cameron must be stealing my story. LoL. Sorry this one took so long to write, but I've been sick with pneumonia for the past two weeks and had to make up a ton of stuff in school. Thanx to Sabrina the Book Witch for beta reading this for me! Thanx, Boo!!! If anyone else wants to help beta read my next chapter let me know in a review. A writer I know always said to get as many opinions as possible.
And now (drum roll please -Hehe I think that medicine's taking effect) the story:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Max and Logan's Room~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Their room was filled with great serenity as the little hand of the clock moved to cover the one, making the timepiece read 8:10. Logan Cale slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times. He looked at his side of the room as far as he could see without his glasses on. Unlike the past two mornings, he didn't hear the shower running in the bathroom. Something else was peculiar as well, the bed seemed warmer than usual too. He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the glasses resting there. After rubbing the sleep out of his eyes a few times, he put the glasses on his face. He then proceeded to turn toward the brown-eyed girl who had been sitting next to him.
Max hadn't been able to fall asleep again after the nightmare she'd had the night before and since she didn't really need the rest, had given up completely, spending the rest of the night watching Logan sleep. Her heartbeat, which became quite speedy after the phantasma, was slowing down considerably as she watched his chest rise and fall with his steady breathing. The rest of the night had been peaceful and Max had showered and dressed early. Since then, she returned to her place in bed.
And now there she was, sitting atop the covers propped up by her hands, leaning against the wooden back of the bed, her legs stretched out in front of her and crossed at the ankles. She had been watching Logan for some time before he woke up, but unlike the past two days, she hadn't been able to look away. He was like an addictive drug, sooner or later you were hooked.
"Hey," Logan said in a raspy voice as he woke up.
"Hey," Max said back as a tiny smile spread across her face. It now appeared that neither of them had the strength to look away. The day before, something had happened between them. Something mysterious and unstoppable.
And so, there they stayed, just sitting there, staring at each other. They seemed absolutely mesmerized by each other, yet neither had the courage to say anything at the time.
It wasn't until much later, that Max decided to get up. She then realized just how close they had been, as her hand brush gently over his arm. The tension in the room was nearly unbearable.
Once Logan had gone into the bathroom, Max was finally able to think.
//What in the hell was I thinking back there? // she scolded herself.
//It's Logan. It's just Logan,// she thought trying to dismiss the feelings growing inside her when another thought entered her mind,
//After today...I might not see him again if he...//
She cut her thoughts short for the time being, afraid that the tears in her eyes would start falling. But, she wasn't getting rid of that thought so easily. It'd return...soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hospital~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been two hours since the last scene and Max and Logan were now at Montreal's finest hospital. Like most hospitals, it had bright white walls and metal chairs of a lively blue color. But, like most hospitals, it also gave off a that sense of false cheerfulness that soon makes one apprehensive.
The doctor had taken Logan away about five minutes eariler and Max was now sandwiched between Katie and her mother, who had insisted upon coming. The operation was supposed to last five hours, but Max knew that she wouldn't be able to sit there the entire time. Sooner or later, her previous thoughts would come back to haunt her.
Shortly after sitting down, Max heard the squeaking sound of a hospital bed and peered down the long hallway that connected the waiting room to the O.R. What she saw was Logan being wheeled toward the operating room by a nurse, a short, plump, middle-aged woman.
//I never said good-bye,// Max thought.
And without further thought, she was on her feet and running toward him.
"Max, what in the world are you doing?" Mrs. Wrobleski shouted to her, absolutely horrified by her behavior.
But Max was gone completely, her mind totally lost in what she was doing.
At the time, Logan had been waiting rather nervously for the nurse to come and give him the anesthetic. When she finally came and gave him the drug, he began drifting in and out of consciousness, barely able to distinguish what was going on.
"Logan!" someone yelled from the opposite end of the corridor.
//Max?// he wondered semi-consciously as he heard the familiar voice. Logan tried to lift his head enough to see the person's face, but his effort was in vain as he had no strength left.
"Logan!" the voice called once more, this time much closer. He could hear the voice much clearer now. It was indeed Max.
"Max," he said hoarsely reaching for her hand.
"Hey," she replied bending down so he could see her better. As soon as he saw her, his spirits were immediately uplifted.
Both were beyond thinking at this point; knowing that this singular moment could be their last together, forever.
So, after putting anything and everything Manticore behind her, Max took his hand in hers as he held on for life.
The nurse, who really knew how to spoil the moment interrupted their trance, telling Max that she didn't have much time because the anesthetic would put him to sleep soon.
And with that, they were left alone in the middle of the lengthy, white hallway, hand in hand. Time just seemed to freeze for an instant or so as Logan whispered her name.
"Yeah?" she asked not knowing what else to say. She was so incredibly confused; she just couldn't explain how she felt. There was just this bundle of emotions building up inside of her that just yearned to be released.
"Hold my glasses for me?" Logan asked giving Max a weak chuckle, the medicine starting to take effect. He handed the spectacles to her. Max took them from his hand and put them on her own face, There was just something about her appearance with them on. Maybe because they belonged to him or maybe just because deep inside, he knew how unbelievably gorgeous she was. Nonetheless, there was definitely something about the way she was looking at him.
"I won't let them out of my sight," she said, smiling at her bad joke. And that was it. That was the answer to Logan's puzzle.
//She's smiling.//
/Max don't do this to yourself. You can't become emotionally attatched like this./
//That's it. Stop there Logan. You've had one too many relationships that have started out well and turned ugly. You don't need another to add to the pile.//
Just then, as they were about to attempt to express their deeper feelings for each other, the nurse returned.
"I guess I'll see you later," Logan said slowly drifting to sleep.
Max looked up at him with her big brown eyes,
"Promise?"
Had Logan been more alert at the time, he probably would have been shocked by Max's question. However, all he had the strength left to do was answer her.
"I promise, Max. I promise," he murmured as the anesthetic took full affect and he fell asleep. Max squeezed his hand tightly as though to say good-bye and watched him disappear down the corridor.
//Stay strong Max. Everything's gonna be okay.//
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Five Hours Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next five hours seemed endless to Max as she impatiently grasped the side of her chair and worriedly waited. Every now and then, she would peer down the hallway, hoping to see Dr. Westbank or some nurse coming to tell that he was fine and that everything had gone well. Each second felt like a minute and each minute like an hour; so by the time a total of six and a half hours had passed, she was nearly ready to have a breakdown. She heard something shouted over the loudspeaker of the hospital and watched as a team of doctors rushed into the O.R.
Memories from her dream the night before flooded her head as her heart began pounding in her chest. For one of the first times in her life, she had no control over what was going on; and she didn't like it. She felt so helpless; she could lose him right then and there and there would be nothing she could do about it. The very thought nearly moved the usually impassive girl to tears. She cover her face with her hands and closed her eyes.
Katie, who along with Mrs. Wrobleski had been waiting with Max, noticed her panicky look and was about to speak up when her mother haughtily said,
"Something must have gone wrong in there. Why on Earth would it be taking this long otherwise?"
Katie watched Max as she removed her hands from her face and looked up. Katie couldn't believe her eyes; there were two tiny tears trickling down Max's face. She was crying. Mrs. Wrobleski turned and studied the girl's face.
"Oh cheer up, dear," she began in her usually conceited tone, "you of all people should be happy. Now, you'll get what you've wanted all along. I mean, there's no doubt that he left all of his money to you, so-"
She had seen one too many girls break her nephew's heart to trust this one.
"Mother!" Katie shouted, appalled by what she had said.
If this had been any other situation, Max would have kicked the conceited woman's ass from there to Liverpool, but she couldn't. For what seemed like eons, all she could do was stare at here.
Finally, she managed to say something.
"His money? she said, her voice trailing off at the end.
"Oh come off it. Like any of us actually thought that you actually loved him. I've seen one too many girls like you with him. It's always the same."
Her words pierced Max's heart and her natural bitchiness soon kicked back in.
"Listen Ms. High and Mighty," she began, "you can say whatever the hell you want about me," by this point, she had started crying almost hysterically as all of her unleashed emotions competed for attention.
"But," she said gritting her teeth and getting right up in the woman's face, "don't you ever, EVER, say that I don't love him."
Katie pulled Max into a hug as she glanced around the room, glad that it was empty in that ward of the hospital. She led Max out of the waiting room, glaring at her mother as she walked past her. Once away from her mother, Katie pulled a tear struckk Max into a comforting embrace as Max tried to speak.
"I'm sorry," she tried to say, but her voice was torn, ripped by the powerful sobs, that shook her small body.
//What's wrong with me? // She wondered, //I never cry.//
"Hey," Katie aid soothingly, "Don't listen to my mother. She had no right to say that. And she lied no else thinks that. *Max*," she said, forcing the girl to look at her, "It's gonna be okay. Logan's fine. I promise you, he's gonna be okay. He's too stubborn to give up," she told her, finally getting her to smile a little.
"Believe me. It runs in the family."
Max followed Katie back into the waiting room. She cautiously avoided Mrs. Wrobleski's eye as she sat down to wait, again.
About forty-five minutes later, Dr. Westbank, his mask still hanging around his neck, came strolling toward them.
The second she spotted him, Max leapt from the chair. After rushing toward him, she blurted out with concern written all over her face,
"Is he okay?"
Max tried to stay silent and motionless as she waited for the doctor's answer, but her legs began to tremble, and she had to brace herself and lean against the wall. Her face had gone so pale that Katie and the doctor worried that she might faint.
Max could practically feel Mrs. Wrobleski's watery blue eyes, so unlike Logan's, avidly watching her from across the room. It seemed like hours before the doctor's answer arrived. When he began to speak again, Max's heart leapt into her throat.
"There were some complications, which explain why the surgery took so long. But luckily we were able to get things under control and successfully completed the operation," he said looking directly at Max, who had just breathed the world's largest sigh of relief as Katie and her mother just seemed to fade into the background.
"He lost a lot of blood, and although we've transfused him, he's still going to be quite fatigued and will most likely be resting for the remainder of the day." Max's pulse began to return to normal.
"Can I see him?" she asked so eagerly that she didn't even recognize her own voice.
Dr. Westbank chuckled at her impatience and nodded,
"Sure, come on."
He led her down another corridor to Logan's room. Max walked in on tiptoe. She gasped softly to herself as she looked around the room. All kinds of machines were hooked up to Logan. He almost looked like one of her fellow Chimeras back at Manticore.
She pulled a chair over to his bedside and sat down, her eyes never leaving Logan's face. Max sought out his hand and gently wound her fingers around his. She stared at him silently for some time as she recalled the time they had spent together in the past few months.
She noticed that as always, one lock of hair tumbled over Logan's forehead. She fought her hand to stay back and not lean over and brush it away; but, nonetheless, Max's hand seemed to have a mind of its own as she reached over and whisked the few strands of hair away from his eyes. At that same moment, Logan's eyes flickered, revealing his cobalt blue eyes. Max's heart stoppped momentarily and started up again with a redoubled tempo.
"Max?" he asked weakly, calling out her name, unable to see her face.
"I'm right here," she whispered. Logan blinked a few times and tried to make out the face in front of him.
"Hey," he said, his voice still hoarse.
"Hey," she said smiling at him, although he couldn't see her expression,
"How are you feeling?" Max asked, taking his glasses off her face and slipping them back onto his. She quickly clutched his hand again.
"Okay," he answered resting his head back against the pillow before looking back at Max.
With his glasses back on, he could actually see her face. It appeared tear-stained and she was swallowing hard several times, the way people do when their trying hard not to cry in front of someone.
//Has she been crying?// he wondered, the very idea almost absurd to him.
For a brief moment, they just looked at each other, in a different, light than usual.
Meanwhile, little did they know that someone was spying on them from them doorway,
//Perhaps, I was wrong about her. Maybe it is love.// Mrs. Wrobleski thought as she watched them together.
"Well," Max said getting up from her chair, "you really should get some rest. I just wanted you to know that I'm here," she paused for a moment, as she looked into Logan's bright blue eyes, "besides, I think that some other people want to see you." She tried to walk away, but Logan seized her wrist first and pulled her back over near him.
"Max," he said winding his fingers around her thin wrist, "Thanks...for being her.
And the rubber band, that represented Max's control, stretched even more. And that's when it all became too for her.
The setting. The people. The words. She was losing control. She had to get out of there and fast. She quickly pulled her hand away and looking down at the floor away from his face, fled the room.
//You know, I could swear that this is dèjá vu,// Logan thought as he watched Max run away from him for a second time.
As Max exited the room, Logan's aunt entered. She had been watching him and Max for the past fifteen minutes or so and was quite surprised by what she had seen. There was something there that hadn't been there before.
Meanwhile, Max had walked outside and started talking to Katie.
"So," Logan's cousin began, "How'd it go in there?"
Max shrugged, "He's doing okay, a little tire, but he'll pull through."
"I don't wanna be the one to say I told you so, but-"
Max glanced at her and grinned, "Go ahead. You know you want to say it."
"Okay then, I told you so," she teased.
Max started talking again, "If he starts walking again, he'll be able to live his life like he used to,"
Her head turned and she looked down at the floor.
"He'll be able to do things for himself again. Won't need help. That'll make him happy."
It was such a subtle action and the average person wouldn't have thought twice about it; but Katie saw and recognized it as an act of sad anticipation of what might happen.
"Hey," Katie said hoping to the lift the girl's spirits. Max looked up when suddenly, Katie's face broke out with this wicked grin that Max had only seen once before on Logan.
//You know, I think I finally see the resemblance between them.//
Maintaining her sly look, Katie said, "That's not the only thing that will make him happy."
Max knew what was meant by that comment and quickly denied it.
"I told you a thousand times, we're just friends."
"Oh give me a break," Katie exclaimed, extremely frustrated by the obstinate girl, "he wants you so bad, he probably dreams about sweeping you into his arms and-"
"You're crazy, you know that," Max said laughing at the girl's preposterous assumption.
She turned on her heels and started walking down the hallway. Katie followed and stopped her.
"No, Max. I see it," Katie said finally getting through to her. Finally getting past the security she had built up.
"I watch him when you're around. he comes alive when he's with you."
Katie read the expression in Max's eyes as she spoke and knew that she had just completed the first step of her "ingenious plan." But, she wasn't finished yet.
"And, if you can't accept this power that you have over him, at least promise one thing"
Max took a deep breath.
"What?"
This whole conversation, added to what had happened in the past two days, had changed her entire way of looking at Logan. Maybe all it would take would be one more step before the rubber band snapped.
Katie continued, "Just be there for him these next few days. They're not gonna be easy for him and it'll be nice for him to have a *friend*. I'd do it myself, but Rachel's not coming in until the day before the wedding and everything has to be ready."
Both girls fell into a contemplative silence for a moment.
"So," she said, starting again, "think you can do that?"
"Yeah," Max answered, "I can do that."
Katie's mom came out of Logan's room and asked her if she wanted to speak with him. She nodded and went inside the room.
"Hey," she said, walking into the room.
"Hey," he replied, a little more awake than he had been before.
"How're you feeling?"
"Pretty good."
"Well that's good," Katie said taking the seat that was left near his bed.
"You know, I was talking to Max just now," Katie continued.
She watched as the expression on Logan's face changed considerably.
"Oh really?" he asked, sounding quite concerned.
"Yeah," she replied, seeing the expression on his face. This "step" of her plan was working.
"You know she cares about you."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Logan answered looking away.
"Well I am. You should have seen her out there waiting. A nervous wreck. Tears and everything," she said, hoping he would believe her.
Katie watched as Logan seemed to stare off into space for a little while as though he were processing the information and what it mean.
//Max was crying... because of me,// he thought.
Slowly, the slightest of smiles spread across his face. And she knew right then and there, that she didn't need to try to fix them up. It would eventually happen. Naturally. Things were going to be different now; they weren't acting anymore.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Constructive criticism and any other reviews are much appreciated. ~Lissa Mahon.