"The Gift of Darkness"
by pari106
pari106@hotmail.com
http://www.pari106.homestead.com/damain.html
Code: M/L
Rating: PG-13 for language and "stuff"
Chapter Three
Throughout the time period in which "Dr." Sean performed his examination of Logan, the three other
people in the penthouse spent their time either pacing (that would be Max), glaring at something (that was
Zack, of course), or wondering whether or not they were crazy (actually, that was pretty much what they
were all doing). And after all of the pacing and glaring and wondering became tedious, Bling put on a pot
of coffee and let the aroma draw his X5 companions into the kitchen to talk about it. As a lure, the coffee
worked very well. And he'd made it extra strong – to perhaps clear their minds. Make things seem less
impossible. It wasn't quite as effective at this, however.
Bling just stood there, shaking his head. He'd seen a lot of weird shit in his time. Especially after coming
to work for Mr. Cale. And Max and Big Brother Mean over there pretty much topped the list of "weird".
Until now.
"I must have imagined it," he was mumbling to himself. But not mumbling quietly enough, apparently, to
escape the X5s' heightened hearing capabilities.
"No you didn't," Zack told him. "We saw it, too. He was shot."
Bling snorted. "Yeah, *was*. But who goes from *was* shot, to *wasn't* shot in less than a day? Huh?"
The question was largely meant to be rhetorical, and it echoed through the tense silence of the kitchen for a
moment, then died, unanswered. Or mostly unanswered. A thought was beginning to form in the back of
Max' mind; an impossible thought. But then, wasn't all of this pretty damned impossible? That thought
was: 'An X5. An X5 can go from shot to not shot in a number of hours. Zack did. We all do. An X5 can
do that.'
But as soon as she thought it, Max dismissed the idea. 'Yeah, an X5. But Logan's not an X5, is he?'
Then Russ was walking into the kitchen.
"How's our boy?" Bling asked, offering Russ a coffee cup, which he accepted with a nod.
"Asleep," he said. "He's exhausted. His whole body seems to be shut down. His heart rate is slow; his
reflexes are slow. His tactile responses aren't what they should be."
Russ made his way from the kitchen to the living room with the others in tow and plopped down on the
couch there.
"And the strange thing is," he continued, "that his responses keep changing. I examined Logan three times
and each time was different. His visual acuity and auditory responses, for example."
"What do you mean?" Max asked.
And Russ sighed. "I mean, when I first examined Logan I pulled out all the stops. Did the whole eye
chart, hearing test thing. Everything short of sticking a depressor in his mouth and asking him to say "aw".
At first, he could hardly see a thing – even with his glasses on. But the next time I checked him his
responses were off the scale."
Russ shook his head, his face and voice betraying his awe.
"He was reading the copyright information off the bottom of the chart! Without his glasses. And his pupil
dilation…I've never seen anything like that before. It's like he was able to actually *control* it." Russ and
Bling didn't notice the looks Max and Zack exchanged at this. "But he had no idea what I was talking
about when I asked him about it. And by the time I tested him again he was tired and right back to
squinting at the second line again."
Russ shook his head yet again, rubbing a hand over his face. When he didn't say anything more, Max
spoke up.
"So…what does that mean?"
"I don't know," he responded. "Like I said, he's asleep now. He'll probably be out for a while. Without
more of my equipment I can't tell you what's going on with him. My suggestion is to let him rest. I'll be
back to check on him again when he's back on his feet. Well, figuratively, anyhow."
"You're leaving?" Zack asked, to which Russ raised an eyebrow.
"What else can I do? I came here expecting to find a gun shot victim. Which I still haven't bloody well
figured out, by the way. I don't know what Logan's been up to lately…and I don't suppose any of you
would like to tell me if you don't have to. So I'm assuming we need to cover all of our bases here, sort to
speak. I'm going to take some blood and DNA samples back to my lab for analysis. Hopefully we'll know
more once the results come in."
Max shook her head. This was all just moving a little too fast for her. When they'd gotten Logan back
she'd thought that was it – everything's okay. She only needed a doctor to reassure her of that. Now she
didn't know what was going on with him at all.
"But he's alright, right?" She asked Russ. "Besides the whole disappearing gun shot wounds thing, he's
okay, isn't he?"
Russ stood up, handing his empty coffee mug to Bling. "He's as fit as I've ever seen him. Besides the
whole disappearing gun shot wounds thing," he said, using her words. "The blood tests will hopefully
confirm that."
Russ said his good-byes and Bling saw him out, leaving Max and Zack in the living room alone together.
Both were wondering whether or not they should tell the other what they had on their mind.
"I can't believe he got out of Manticore without a scratch," Zack finally said. It just didn't stand to reason.
There's no way Eyes Only could have spent a week at Manticore and not have gotten himself dead, or close
to it. And they'd already checked him for bugs – he was clean; Manticore wasn't trying to trace him or
anything. And since they'd already had him and Max once, and let them go, he didn't know what the use
would be if they were.
"Maybe he didn't," Max said, suddenly.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean…" Max took a breath and shook her head. This was going to sound crazy. Hell, it was crazy just
thinking about it. But she couldn't shake the feeling she'd been getting ever since Russ had removed those
bandages from Logan's fully healed shoulder.
"Maybe they didn't mess with him. Maybe they messed with his DNA."
"What?"
Of all the directions Zack might have expected Max to be going with what she was saying, that wasn't one
of them.
And Max could see the disbelief etched clearly on her brother's features. "Look, he was shot, right? We
saw it. And he suddenly heals himself over night? And that thing with his eyes? You can't tell me that
doesn't sound familiar." Max was referring to the X5s' extraordinary visual abilities – they could control
the dilation of their pupils, allowing them to focus on objects at any distance, almost like adjusting the
focus of a telescope or a pair of binoculars.
Zack laughed. He actually laughed.
"So, for just a moment, Doc Russ thinks wonderboy's eyes look weird and you think that means Manticore
turned him into some kind of psuedo-X5?"
Max bristled, but tried to keep her irritation in control. She couldn't blame him for doubting her; she
doubted herself.
"How else do you explain those gun shot wounds?" she asked.
And Zack ran a hand through his longish blonde hair in frustration. He liked riddles even less than she did.
"I don't know. But whatever the explanation, that isn't it. Don't look at me like that, Max. Plain and
simple, the real is you can't turn a human X5. Hell, you can't even give a human X5 blood transfusions –
you found that out for yourself. And Manticore doesn't know how to fix that. So how do you think they
managed to manipulate Cale's entire *DNA*?"
"I don't know. There has to be some…"
"And even if Manticore did have that kind of technology – and if Ben was right and the Lady exists, may
she have mercy on us if they do – even if they did, why the hell would they want to use it on Eyes Only?"
"You said yourself that you don't think Manticore is in on this," Max told him.
"Yeah, okay. So, what, now you think Lydecker did this himself? Oh, that's more believable."
Max was just going to comment to that when Bling motioned to her from the door of Logan's bedroom.
"I…uh, hate to break up the sibling pleasantries," he said, causing both Zack and Max to roll their eyes.
"But Logan's awake again."
As Max headed for Logan's side, with Zack right behind her, she felt her irritation over their argument
beginning to fade. And in its place was anxiety. She knew there were a thousand reasons to say that what
she was thinking was insane. But somehow she didn't think so. She was right, she could feel it. And
she'd never disliked being right so much in her life.
**** ****
The last thing Logan remembered was Russ leaning over him, asking one too many questions as exhaustion
began to creep back up on him, stealing his concentration. The next thing he knew he was waking up again
and the doctor was nowhere around. It wasn't like Logan had never slept deeply, dreamlessly like this
before. But he'd never done so so often, so deeply, in so short a time. For all he knew, he'd been out the
entire week since he'd disappeared. And it was disturbing that he still felt so groggy and disoriented now.
The doctor had told him that he couldn't find anything wrong with him physically, and he was getting
restless now to prove it. And for that reason he made himself open his eyes and stir when the only thing he
really wanted to do was to lay back down and drift away.
'Come on, Logan,' he told himself. 'The world's still broken, remember? It's not going to fix itself while
you lie here like a damned invalid.'
He blinked, beginning to take stock of himself as he felt the last of the fog clearing from his mind. He
didn't feel like he'd been bedridden for almost two weeks. Truth be told, he felt…fabulous. He actually
felt good. And the longer he was awake the more aware he became. Everything seemed sharper somehow;
heightened. The sun shone brighter; the sounds around him sounded louder. Logan smiled as he imagined
he could even hear the sound of traffic outside; the sounds of his neighbors walking around their
apartments.
'Yeah, you're happy to be alive. Let's not have our imaginations carrying us away, here,' he thought.
But it was funny. It really *did* seem as though he could hear those things.
There were other things on his mind, however. Particularly the woman headed for his bedside.
"Hey," she said, hands in her pockets, smiling.
"Hey, yourself," he said, smiling back. He was in such good spirits, in fact, that he even smiled at Zack.
"Hello, Zack," he told the younger man. And received a nod in return.
"You back with us for good?" Zack asked. "Or are you gonna need some more beauty rest?"
Zack's sarcastic comments were always that – sarcastic. Not like playful banter. But there wasn't any real
heat behind this one, and Logan laughed, cocking an eyebrow.
"As if it would help, right?"
Then he winced. When he first woke up in the penthouse his senses had been highly dulled – from pain
and fatigue or drugs he didn't know. Then it had been like everything he saw was from behind a swath of
gauze; like everything he heard was from a long distance away. And Logan assumed his companions were
taking that into account – they were shouting loud enough to take his ear off. And it was beginning to give
him a migraine.
"You don't have to yell, though. My hearing's just fine now, thanks." He said, rubbing at his temples.
And Max, Zack, and Bling just looked at one another at that, but didn't say anything. Max found herself
taking Logan's hand as she had that first night he was home, regardless of whether or not Zack or Bling
would notice. It was worth it to see the sudden look of pleased surprise that leapt into Logan's eyes at the
gesture.
"How are you feeling?" Bling asked then. "Did Sean tell you anything?"
Logan's laugh held a lot less humor this time. "What's there to tell? I'm fine and he doesn't know why.
And, frankly, I don't like it."
"Me neither," Zack told him.
"You'd think you'd be a little happier to be in good health."
"You'd think so, wouldn't you, Bling?" Logan said, frowning. He supposed he should be happy to be alive
and healthy – he was, really. But he wasn't naïve. The chances that he'd actually been in the clutches of
Manticore without suffering any consequences was just too…
And then suddenly he realized something that eradicated all of his other thoughts.
"Oh, my God…"
Max watched Logan's face go from neutral to something else so fast she didn't know what happened. One
minute he looked fine, and the next he was gripping the hand she'd slipped in his. And gripping rather
hard, actually.
"What? What is it?" Behind her, Bling and Zack tensed.
"My legs!" Logan exclaimed. "My legs…"
When he'd first woken up, Logan's senses of sight and sound weren't the only ones impaired. His whole
body had felt numb and heavy – which was rather frightening for someone who'd come out of a shooting
with similar sensations before. Only before the numbness in his legs had continued. Russ had assured him
that this wasn't the case now – this shooting wouldn't have damaged his spine any further nor would it
have impeded the recovery of his legs in any way. But now that he'd woken up for the second time, other
than a brief relieved acknowledgement that Russ had been right, Logan hadn't really thought about any of
that. The numbness in the upper half of his body had receded, and he'd grown used to not paying the lower
half any attention. Only it had his undivided attention now.
'Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God…'
"Logan? Logan, what's wrong?" Max was really getting worried now. Logan just sat there, staring at
where his legs lay beneath the bed covers.
"Logan?" Bling asked.
Logan just shook his head. And then…he laughed. Oblivious to everything but his sudden discovery;
forgetting about all his past thoughts, about all the questions that were rolling around his head, Logan
laughed. He was grinning like a madman. And, standing a step back from the scene, Zack released a slow
breath. Cale had lost it. He'd really lost it.
Only he hadn't. Max felt a new wave of panic begin to well up within her at Logan's reaction, but when he
looked at her and her eyes met his all that disappeared. The blue in his eyes was now electric, and the
emotion she saw there was entrancing.
"My legs! I can feel my legs!"
"What!" Even Zack was startled by this little announcement. Max and Bling had similar reactions.
"Logan…"
But then Logan was throwing off the bed covers, sitting up.
"Move back, Max."
"What…"
"Move back!" The laughter and excitement in Logan's voice was irresistible, and Max found herself taking
a few steps back, even as Bling was stepping forward, ready to catch Logan if he fell.
Logan carefully swung his legs over the side of the bed…and stood. And he didn't fall.
You couldn't have cut the silence in that room with a chainsaw.
And then the silence was broken.
Logan was simultaneously laughing and yelling as he scooped Max up into a hug unlike any she'd ever
received before, swinging her around on legs that hadn't stood on their own now for far too long. After a
moment, Max realized that her own laughter had joined his. She couldn't believe it. And she couldn't
deny that there was a definite stinging at the back of her eyes at seeing Logan like this. At seeing his
greatest hope fulfilled. At seeing her greatest hope fulfilled. For that moment, all the questions and
concerns disappeared. And the mystery of what had happened to Logan seemed more like a miracle.
To be continued…
A/N: Okay, this was the hardest chapter to write so far. Mostly because I know absolutely no medical
terms that could have made Russ Sean's diagnosis sound a little more believable. Also because this chapter
contains the weirdest plot development yet. So feel free to tell me it sucked, but please include a few
constructive hints along with your flames. (Oh, and if that last line seemed a little too sappy for
you…sorry. I really didn't know how else to end it.)
by pari106
pari106@hotmail.com
http://www.pari106.homestead.com/damain.html
Code: M/L
Rating: PG-13 for language and "stuff"
Chapter Three
Throughout the time period in which "Dr." Sean performed his examination of Logan, the three other
people in the penthouse spent their time either pacing (that would be Max), glaring at something (that was
Zack, of course), or wondering whether or not they were crazy (actually, that was pretty much what they
were all doing). And after all of the pacing and glaring and wondering became tedious, Bling put on a pot
of coffee and let the aroma draw his X5 companions into the kitchen to talk about it. As a lure, the coffee
worked very well. And he'd made it extra strong – to perhaps clear their minds. Make things seem less
impossible. It wasn't quite as effective at this, however.
Bling just stood there, shaking his head. He'd seen a lot of weird shit in his time. Especially after coming
to work for Mr. Cale. And Max and Big Brother Mean over there pretty much topped the list of "weird".
Until now.
"I must have imagined it," he was mumbling to himself. But not mumbling quietly enough, apparently, to
escape the X5s' heightened hearing capabilities.
"No you didn't," Zack told him. "We saw it, too. He was shot."
Bling snorted. "Yeah, *was*. But who goes from *was* shot, to *wasn't* shot in less than a day? Huh?"
The question was largely meant to be rhetorical, and it echoed through the tense silence of the kitchen for a
moment, then died, unanswered. Or mostly unanswered. A thought was beginning to form in the back of
Max' mind; an impossible thought. But then, wasn't all of this pretty damned impossible? That thought
was: 'An X5. An X5 can go from shot to not shot in a number of hours. Zack did. We all do. An X5 can
do that.'
But as soon as she thought it, Max dismissed the idea. 'Yeah, an X5. But Logan's not an X5, is he?'
Then Russ was walking into the kitchen.
"How's our boy?" Bling asked, offering Russ a coffee cup, which he accepted with a nod.
"Asleep," he said. "He's exhausted. His whole body seems to be shut down. His heart rate is slow; his
reflexes are slow. His tactile responses aren't what they should be."
Russ made his way from the kitchen to the living room with the others in tow and plopped down on the
couch there.
"And the strange thing is," he continued, "that his responses keep changing. I examined Logan three times
and each time was different. His visual acuity and auditory responses, for example."
"What do you mean?" Max asked.
And Russ sighed. "I mean, when I first examined Logan I pulled out all the stops. Did the whole eye
chart, hearing test thing. Everything short of sticking a depressor in his mouth and asking him to say "aw".
At first, he could hardly see a thing – even with his glasses on. But the next time I checked him his
responses were off the scale."
Russ shook his head, his face and voice betraying his awe.
"He was reading the copyright information off the bottom of the chart! Without his glasses. And his pupil
dilation…I've never seen anything like that before. It's like he was able to actually *control* it." Russ and
Bling didn't notice the looks Max and Zack exchanged at this. "But he had no idea what I was talking
about when I asked him about it. And by the time I tested him again he was tired and right back to
squinting at the second line again."
Russ shook his head yet again, rubbing a hand over his face. When he didn't say anything more, Max
spoke up.
"So…what does that mean?"
"I don't know," he responded. "Like I said, he's asleep now. He'll probably be out for a while. Without
more of my equipment I can't tell you what's going on with him. My suggestion is to let him rest. I'll be
back to check on him again when he's back on his feet. Well, figuratively, anyhow."
"You're leaving?" Zack asked, to which Russ raised an eyebrow.
"What else can I do? I came here expecting to find a gun shot victim. Which I still haven't bloody well
figured out, by the way. I don't know what Logan's been up to lately…and I don't suppose any of you
would like to tell me if you don't have to. So I'm assuming we need to cover all of our bases here, sort to
speak. I'm going to take some blood and DNA samples back to my lab for analysis. Hopefully we'll know
more once the results come in."
Max shook her head. This was all just moving a little too fast for her. When they'd gotten Logan back
she'd thought that was it – everything's okay. She only needed a doctor to reassure her of that. Now she
didn't know what was going on with him at all.
"But he's alright, right?" She asked Russ. "Besides the whole disappearing gun shot wounds thing, he's
okay, isn't he?"
Russ stood up, handing his empty coffee mug to Bling. "He's as fit as I've ever seen him. Besides the
whole disappearing gun shot wounds thing," he said, using her words. "The blood tests will hopefully
confirm that."
Russ said his good-byes and Bling saw him out, leaving Max and Zack in the living room alone together.
Both were wondering whether or not they should tell the other what they had on their mind.
"I can't believe he got out of Manticore without a scratch," Zack finally said. It just didn't stand to reason.
There's no way Eyes Only could have spent a week at Manticore and not have gotten himself dead, or close
to it. And they'd already checked him for bugs – he was clean; Manticore wasn't trying to trace him or
anything. And since they'd already had him and Max once, and let them go, he didn't know what the use
would be if they were.
"Maybe he didn't," Max said, suddenly.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean…" Max took a breath and shook her head. This was going to sound crazy. Hell, it was crazy just
thinking about it. But she couldn't shake the feeling she'd been getting ever since Russ had removed those
bandages from Logan's fully healed shoulder.
"Maybe they didn't mess with him. Maybe they messed with his DNA."
"What?"
Of all the directions Zack might have expected Max to be going with what she was saying, that wasn't one
of them.
And Max could see the disbelief etched clearly on her brother's features. "Look, he was shot, right? We
saw it. And he suddenly heals himself over night? And that thing with his eyes? You can't tell me that
doesn't sound familiar." Max was referring to the X5s' extraordinary visual abilities – they could control
the dilation of their pupils, allowing them to focus on objects at any distance, almost like adjusting the
focus of a telescope or a pair of binoculars.
Zack laughed. He actually laughed.
"So, for just a moment, Doc Russ thinks wonderboy's eyes look weird and you think that means Manticore
turned him into some kind of psuedo-X5?"
Max bristled, but tried to keep her irritation in control. She couldn't blame him for doubting her; she
doubted herself.
"How else do you explain those gun shot wounds?" she asked.
And Zack ran a hand through his longish blonde hair in frustration. He liked riddles even less than she did.
"I don't know. But whatever the explanation, that isn't it. Don't look at me like that, Max. Plain and
simple, the real is you can't turn a human X5. Hell, you can't even give a human X5 blood transfusions –
you found that out for yourself. And Manticore doesn't know how to fix that. So how do you think they
managed to manipulate Cale's entire *DNA*?"
"I don't know. There has to be some…"
"And even if Manticore did have that kind of technology – and if Ben was right and the Lady exists, may
she have mercy on us if they do – even if they did, why the hell would they want to use it on Eyes Only?"
"You said yourself that you don't think Manticore is in on this," Max told him.
"Yeah, okay. So, what, now you think Lydecker did this himself? Oh, that's more believable."
Max was just going to comment to that when Bling motioned to her from the door of Logan's bedroom.
"I…uh, hate to break up the sibling pleasantries," he said, causing both Zack and Max to roll their eyes.
"But Logan's awake again."
As Max headed for Logan's side, with Zack right behind her, she felt her irritation over their argument
beginning to fade. And in its place was anxiety. She knew there were a thousand reasons to say that what
she was thinking was insane. But somehow she didn't think so. She was right, she could feel it. And
she'd never disliked being right so much in her life.
**** ****
The last thing Logan remembered was Russ leaning over him, asking one too many questions as exhaustion
began to creep back up on him, stealing his concentration. The next thing he knew he was waking up again
and the doctor was nowhere around. It wasn't like Logan had never slept deeply, dreamlessly like this
before. But he'd never done so so often, so deeply, in so short a time. For all he knew, he'd been out the
entire week since he'd disappeared. And it was disturbing that he still felt so groggy and disoriented now.
The doctor had told him that he couldn't find anything wrong with him physically, and he was getting
restless now to prove it. And for that reason he made himself open his eyes and stir when the only thing he
really wanted to do was to lay back down and drift away.
'Come on, Logan,' he told himself. 'The world's still broken, remember? It's not going to fix itself while
you lie here like a damned invalid.'
He blinked, beginning to take stock of himself as he felt the last of the fog clearing from his mind. He
didn't feel like he'd been bedridden for almost two weeks. Truth be told, he felt…fabulous. He actually
felt good. And the longer he was awake the more aware he became. Everything seemed sharper somehow;
heightened. The sun shone brighter; the sounds around him sounded louder. Logan smiled as he imagined
he could even hear the sound of traffic outside; the sounds of his neighbors walking around their
apartments.
'Yeah, you're happy to be alive. Let's not have our imaginations carrying us away, here,' he thought.
But it was funny. It really *did* seem as though he could hear those things.
There were other things on his mind, however. Particularly the woman headed for his bedside.
"Hey," she said, hands in her pockets, smiling.
"Hey, yourself," he said, smiling back. He was in such good spirits, in fact, that he even smiled at Zack.
"Hello, Zack," he told the younger man. And received a nod in return.
"You back with us for good?" Zack asked. "Or are you gonna need some more beauty rest?"
Zack's sarcastic comments were always that – sarcastic. Not like playful banter. But there wasn't any real
heat behind this one, and Logan laughed, cocking an eyebrow.
"As if it would help, right?"
Then he winced. When he first woke up in the penthouse his senses had been highly dulled – from pain
and fatigue or drugs he didn't know. Then it had been like everything he saw was from behind a swath of
gauze; like everything he heard was from a long distance away. And Logan assumed his companions were
taking that into account – they were shouting loud enough to take his ear off. And it was beginning to give
him a migraine.
"You don't have to yell, though. My hearing's just fine now, thanks." He said, rubbing at his temples.
And Max, Zack, and Bling just looked at one another at that, but didn't say anything. Max found herself
taking Logan's hand as she had that first night he was home, regardless of whether or not Zack or Bling
would notice. It was worth it to see the sudden look of pleased surprise that leapt into Logan's eyes at the
gesture.
"How are you feeling?" Bling asked then. "Did Sean tell you anything?"
Logan's laugh held a lot less humor this time. "What's there to tell? I'm fine and he doesn't know why.
And, frankly, I don't like it."
"Me neither," Zack told him.
"You'd think you'd be a little happier to be in good health."
"You'd think so, wouldn't you, Bling?" Logan said, frowning. He supposed he should be happy to be alive
and healthy – he was, really. But he wasn't naïve. The chances that he'd actually been in the clutches of
Manticore without suffering any consequences was just too…
And then suddenly he realized something that eradicated all of his other thoughts.
"Oh, my God…"
Max watched Logan's face go from neutral to something else so fast she didn't know what happened. One
minute he looked fine, and the next he was gripping the hand she'd slipped in his. And gripping rather
hard, actually.
"What? What is it?" Behind her, Bling and Zack tensed.
"My legs!" Logan exclaimed. "My legs…"
When he'd first woken up, Logan's senses of sight and sound weren't the only ones impaired. His whole
body had felt numb and heavy – which was rather frightening for someone who'd come out of a shooting
with similar sensations before. Only before the numbness in his legs had continued. Russ had assured him
that this wasn't the case now – this shooting wouldn't have damaged his spine any further nor would it
have impeded the recovery of his legs in any way. But now that he'd woken up for the second time, other
than a brief relieved acknowledgement that Russ had been right, Logan hadn't really thought about any of
that. The numbness in the upper half of his body had receded, and he'd grown used to not paying the lower
half any attention. Only it had his undivided attention now.
'Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God…'
"Logan? Logan, what's wrong?" Max was really getting worried now. Logan just sat there, staring at
where his legs lay beneath the bed covers.
"Logan?" Bling asked.
Logan just shook his head. And then…he laughed. Oblivious to everything but his sudden discovery;
forgetting about all his past thoughts, about all the questions that were rolling around his head, Logan
laughed. He was grinning like a madman. And, standing a step back from the scene, Zack released a slow
breath. Cale had lost it. He'd really lost it.
Only he hadn't. Max felt a new wave of panic begin to well up within her at Logan's reaction, but when he
looked at her and her eyes met his all that disappeared. The blue in his eyes was now electric, and the
emotion she saw there was entrancing.
"My legs! I can feel my legs!"
"What!" Even Zack was startled by this little announcement. Max and Bling had similar reactions.
"Logan…"
But then Logan was throwing off the bed covers, sitting up.
"Move back, Max."
"What…"
"Move back!" The laughter and excitement in Logan's voice was irresistible, and Max found herself taking
a few steps back, even as Bling was stepping forward, ready to catch Logan if he fell.
Logan carefully swung his legs over the side of the bed…and stood. And he didn't fall.
You couldn't have cut the silence in that room with a chainsaw.
And then the silence was broken.
Logan was simultaneously laughing and yelling as he scooped Max up into a hug unlike any she'd ever
received before, swinging her around on legs that hadn't stood on their own now for far too long. After a
moment, Max realized that her own laughter had joined his. She couldn't believe it. And she couldn't
deny that there was a definite stinging at the back of her eyes at seeing Logan like this. At seeing his
greatest hope fulfilled. At seeing her greatest hope fulfilled. For that moment, all the questions and
concerns disappeared. And the mystery of what had happened to Logan seemed more like a miracle.
To be continued…
A/N: Okay, this was the hardest chapter to write so far. Mostly because I know absolutely no medical
terms that could have made Russ Sean's diagnosis sound a little more believable. Also because this chapter
contains the weirdest plot development yet. So feel free to tell me it sucked, but please include a few
constructive hints along with your flames. (Oh, and if that last line seemed a little too sappy for
you…sorry. I really didn't know how else to end it.)