TITLE: State of Mind
WRITTEN BY: Drea Jackman
EMAIL: DreaJackman@Literati.co.uk
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: When Logan & Max are drawing closer by the day, what could fate possibly throw
at them next?
DISCLAIMER: I own none of the characters involved. They belong to Cameron/Eglee
Producions :(
ARCHIVE: If I've said yes before I'll say it again, otherwise email me 'n' lemme know.
FEEDBACK: Don't make me beg, please? ...D'OH!
A/N: Woah, chapter 5 just popped outa nowhere there. That was pretty fast for 45 mins work.
Hope y'all like it, cause like the title says, it's all about a State Of Mind. Bet all of you were
sucked in by the twist in perspective too, but that's to be expected...or I hope it is cause that's
what was supposed to happen to you! You'll see what I mean as you read this. Enjoy, and as
always, review and lemme know what sucked and what didn't. It all helps. Ty :o) Other
chapters coming soon.
___________________________________________________________
Max lifted her head slightly, her eyes seeking his driven by a motivation that went beyond
seeking comfort. Their eyes locked, their lips bearly millimeters apart as Logan felt Max's warm
breath on his lips. Max fought the shiver she felt as Logan's soft breath tickled and caressed her
own lips. Her eyes drifted down from his eyes and focused on his lips briefly and as she found
herself drifting forward towards them the sudden sound of the door flying open made her draw
back.
"Max?" a familiar voice called from the hall.
"In here Bling!" she called, already hearing the heavy footfalls as he headed for Logan's
bedroom.
The door opened suddenly and Bling stepped inside, not at all comforted with the sight before
him. Logan lay on the bed half conscious with Max sitting by him, looking more concerned than
he'd ever seen her with the exception of the last time Logan had appeared to be on death's door.
He could only wonder what a man who fought to do so much good for people who the majority of
time were merely strangers to him did to deserve so many obstacles in his life. Moving to the
bed he sat on the other side of Logan and looked to Max.
"Been conscious long?"
"In and out, but he seems a little more with it now than he did." she answered.
He felt Logan's forehead and drew his hand away after a few seconds frowning. Gently he
placed a thumb over each eyelid and drew it back to see into the man's eyes. Logan groaned
immediately and tried to pull away, fighting to close his eyes as his head was split into a million
different pieces as the pain shot through him.
"What is it?" Max asked seeing Bling's reaction.
"You said he hit his head?" he queried again.
"Yeah, the servo on the suit gave out and he came down over the corner of the unit."
"Hmm," he mumbled to himself, a look of pure concentration sweeping his determined features.
Reaching forward he urged Logan to sit up as he slid a strong hand behind the man's head to
support his rise. Again Logan fought to avoid the movement that brought nothing but aches and
pains to his body. All he wanted to do was sleep, why couldn't they just leave him alone?
"Logan man, I need you to concentrate for me okay? Max, gimme a hand here."
Max complied, slipping a hand around Logan's back as he sat up in the bed, his head hanging
as consciousness threatened to slip away again. Her other hand gripped his shoulder gently,
but reassuringly strong even in the haze of confusion that consumed his every laboured thought.
"Okay I want you to turn your head to face the left, then bring it across slowly to face right. Can
you do that?" Bling asked, his voice always the same as Max remembered it. Strong but still so
gentle. She supposed it was how he convinced the uncooperative to cooperate in the end.
Logan showed no signs of cooperating however.
"C'mon Logan, look at me," her voice implored him.
Immediately Logan's brow furrowed again and he slowly brought his head up to face hers. She
was sitting on his left side and his eyes locked with hers immediately, squinting as they were
through the faint candlelight. Max smiled slightly as he obeyed her plead and then decided to try
the next phase of the plan.
"Now can you look at Bling for me?" her voice tested.
Logan's chest heaved as he inhaled sharply and sighed in effort as he began to turn his head to
face Bling on his right. As if the effort wasn't enough, a sudden pain shot up through his head
and he stopped just as he reached the right side.
"That's okay man, that's enough. Max, do me a favour and pull his shirt the rest of the way off?"
he asked still sounding comfortingly in control of the situation.
Max complied once again, slipping the shirt clear of Logan's arms and pulling it aside out of the
way. It was pretty much soaked in sweat and Logan's body glistened in front of her, a testament
to a still glaringly high temperature.
"Check out his back, see anything there?"
Max shifted round and examined Logan's exposed back, the visible strain of breathing evident
as the muscles beneath the surface were drawn taught and released in repeating patterns. She
gently reached out and touched his hot skin, drawing her hand over the surface as she looked
closer. Slight realisation crept over her at Bling's request and she dearly hoped that's all it
would be. She almost laughed out loud when she found what she suspected Bling had her
searching for.
"Beginnings of a slight rash, nothing big yet." she said almost breathing her sigh of relief right
then.
Bling smiled a little to himself too. He nodded and gestured for Max to shift back out of the way
and she took up her previous position, supporting his left side as together she and Bling lowered
Logan back against the pillows behind him. Logan groaned at the sudden movement and closed
his eyes to the spinning room again.
"Looks like our boy got himself a bout of the chicken pox," Bling stated looking to Max a little in
wonderment as to how she could've been so worried over something so generally small in
significance.
"That's still around?" she asked in seeming disbelief. Max remembered a brief mention of it as a
virus of the 20th century, but even from early childhood there hadn't been a mentioned case in
years. It was something she had just supposed gradually went the way of smallpox, although not
in the same degree. She just didn't expect it was around in their broken world of the future.
"Not half as much as it used to be, but yeah it's still around."
"So he's gonna be okay?" she asked afraid to sound too happy incase it was all too good to be
true.
"He's not gonna think so when the fever goes down a little and he's feeling a little better. That
rash's gonna kick in over the next twenty-four hours and he's gonna need a whole lot of
willpower not to scratch. Other than that, by morning he should be feeling a little better."
"Think we'll manage that," Max answered looking down at Logan.
"Hey," Bling said gripping her shoulder tightly in a gesture of reassurance. "He really is gonna
be fine y'know."
"I know," Max said turning to look at him. Pursing her lips together she thought for a moment
about the state of mind she'd been in earlier and then smiled a little again. She seemed to be
doing that alot in the past few minutes. "I just, y'know," she began looking for a better way to
explain. "Took me a while to realise some stuff, put it all in perspective."
Bling smiled a knowing smile and nodded his understanding. "Think it's been a long time
coming, am I wrong?"
"Not always used to this kinda stuff," Max felt a slight blush on her cheeks and averted her eyes
from his at that moment.
"You two got some stuff to talk about when he's coherent again huh?"
"Yeah," she looked back at him with a satisfied look on her face. "I guess we do."
Bling squeezed his grip on her shoulder as he shifted on the bed and stood up slowly.
Stretching out his tensed muscles he looked around the room, noting the basin by his feet and
the wet towels scattered around.
"Need some help cleaning up?"
"Nah, I can take care of it," she shrugged just happy to know what to do to help now.
"You're okay staying with him right now?" he asked not wanting to stick her with nurse duty if she
had other stuff to take care of, although he suspected he couldn't have forced her out of the
apartment if he tried.
"Yeah Bling, we're cool,"
Standing up she walked out of the room with Bling, a sudden air of calm radiating through the
apartment. Wrapping her arms across her upper body she followed him towards the door and
stopped behind him when he turned back, door handle in hand.
"I'll call again in the morning, check on how he's doin'. Tonight could be pretty rough, looks like
it's hitting him pretty hard already."
"You're not gonna get sick on me too are you?" she asked suddenly realising that she didn't
want two sick friends on her plate.
"Nah, I had it when I was a kid. Guessin' askin' you the same is kinda a given?"
"I'd go for genetically immune," she agreed offering him a slight smile.
"I'll talk to you in the morning," he nodded opening the door and stepping out into the darkened
hall. With the brownout the hall lights were out, the elevators offline so the stairs were the only
option. Not a problem for the healthy and considering he'd just bombed it up them to get to Max
and Logan, it'd be no problem striding down them with ease.
"G'night Bling. Thanks."
Bling smiled as he disappeared into the dark stairwell shaking his head slightly. That girl really
did have her head spun by something pretty harmless. He supposed she had it worse than he
thought even Logan did. He'd watched his friend mope after her for around a year and now it
looked like things were finally going to work out for them. Heading back out into the darkened
city, Bling made his way home, relief lightening his step all the way.
WRITTEN BY: Drea Jackman
EMAIL: DreaJackman@Literati.co.uk
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: When Logan & Max are drawing closer by the day, what could fate possibly throw
at them next?
DISCLAIMER: I own none of the characters involved. They belong to Cameron/Eglee
Producions :(
ARCHIVE: If I've said yes before I'll say it again, otherwise email me 'n' lemme know.
FEEDBACK: Don't make me beg, please? ...D'OH!
A/N: Woah, chapter 5 just popped outa nowhere there. That was pretty fast for 45 mins work.
Hope y'all like it, cause like the title says, it's all about a State Of Mind. Bet all of you were
sucked in by the twist in perspective too, but that's to be expected...or I hope it is cause that's
what was supposed to happen to you! You'll see what I mean as you read this. Enjoy, and as
always, review and lemme know what sucked and what didn't. It all helps. Ty :o) Other
chapters coming soon.
___________________________________________________________
Max lifted her head slightly, her eyes seeking his driven by a motivation that went beyond
seeking comfort. Their eyes locked, their lips bearly millimeters apart as Logan felt Max's warm
breath on his lips. Max fought the shiver she felt as Logan's soft breath tickled and caressed her
own lips. Her eyes drifted down from his eyes and focused on his lips briefly and as she found
herself drifting forward towards them the sudden sound of the door flying open made her draw
back.
"Max?" a familiar voice called from the hall.
"In here Bling!" she called, already hearing the heavy footfalls as he headed for Logan's
bedroom.
The door opened suddenly and Bling stepped inside, not at all comforted with the sight before
him. Logan lay on the bed half conscious with Max sitting by him, looking more concerned than
he'd ever seen her with the exception of the last time Logan had appeared to be on death's door.
He could only wonder what a man who fought to do so much good for people who the majority of
time were merely strangers to him did to deserve so many obstacles in his life. Moving to the
bed he sat on the other side of Logan and looked to Max.
"Been conscious long?"
"In and out, but he seems a little more with it now than he did." she answered.
He felt Logan's forehead and drew his hand away after a few seconds frowning. Gently he
placed a thumb over each eyelid and drew it back to see into the man's eyes. Logan groaned
immediately and tried to pull away, fighting to close his eyes as his head was split into a million
different pieces as the pain shot through him.
"What is it?" Max asked seeing Bling's reaction.
"You said he hit his head?" he queried again.
"Yeah, the servo on the suit gave out and he came down over the corner of the unit."
"Hmm," he mumbled to himself, a look of pure concentration sweeping his determined features.
Reaching forward he urged Logan to sit up as he slid a strong hand behind the man's head to
support his rise. Again Logan fought to avoid the movement that brought nothing but aches and
pains to his body. All he wanted to do was sleep, why couldn't they just leave him alone?
"Logan man, I need you to concentrate for me okay? Max, gimme a hand here."
Max complied, slipping a hand around Logan's back as he sat up in the bed, his head hanging
as consciousness threatened to slip away again. Her other hand gripped his shoulder gently,
but reassuringly strong even in the haze of confusion that consumed his every laboured thought.
"Okay I want you to turn your head to face the left, then bring it across slowly to face right. Can
you do that?" Bling asked, his voice always the same as Max remembered it. Strong but still so
gentle. She supposed it was how he convinced the uncooperative to cooperate in the end.
Logan showed no signs of cooperating however.
"C'mon Logan, look at me," her voice implored him.
Immediately Logan's brow furrowed again and he slowly brought his head up to face hers. She
was sitting on his left side and his eyes locked with hers immediately, squinting as they were
through the faint candlelight. Max smiled slightly as he obeyed her plead and then decided to try
the next phase of the plan.
"Now can you look at Bling for me?" her voice tested.
Logan's chest heaved as he inhaled sharply and sighed in effort as he began to turn his head to
face Bling on his right. As if the effort wasn't enough, a sudden pain shot up through his head
and he stopped just as he reached the right side.
"That's okay man, that's enough. Max, do me a favour and pull his shirt the rest of the way off?"
he asked still sounding comfortingly in control of the situation.
Max complied once again, slipping the shirt clear of Logan's arms and pulling it aside out of the
way. It was pretty much soaked in sweat and Logan's body glistened in front of her, a testament
to a still glaringly high temperature.
"Check out his back, see anything there?"
Max shifted round and examined Logan's exposed back, the visible strain of breathing evident
as the muscles beneath the surface were drawn taught and released in repeating patterns. She
gently reached out and touched his hot skin, drawing her hand over the surface as she looked
closer. Slight realisation crept over her at Bling's request and she dearly hoped that's all it
would be. She almost laughed out loud when she found what she suspected Bling had her
searching for.
"Beginnings of a slight rash, nothing big yet." she said almost breathing her sigh of relief right
then.
Bling smiled a little to himself too. He nodded and gestured for Max to shift back out of the way
and she took up her previous position, supporting his left side as together she and Bling lowered
Logan back against the pillows behind him. Logan groaned at the sudden movement and closed
his eyes to the spinning room again.
"Looks like our boy got himself a bout of the chicken pox," Bling stated looking to Max a little in
wonderment as to how she could've been so worried over something so generally small in
significance.
"That's still around?" she asked in seeming disbelief. Max remembered a brief mention of it as a
virus of the 20th century, but even from early childhood there hadn't been a mentioned case in
years. It was something she had just supposed gradually went the way of smallpox, although not
in the same degree. She just didn't expect it was around in their broken world of the future.
"Not half as much as it used to be, but yeah it's still around."
"So he's gonna be okay?" she asked afraid to sound too happy incase it was all too good to be
true.
"He's not gonna think so when the fever goes down a little and he's feeling a little better. That
rash's gonna kick in over the next twenty-four hours and he's gonna need a whole lot of
willpower not to scratch. Other than that, by morning he should be feeling a little better."
"Think we'll manage that," Max answered looking down at Logan.
"Hey," Bling said gripping her shoulder tightly in a gesture of reassurance. "He really is gonna
be fine y'know."
"I know," Max said turning to look at him. Pursing her lips together she thought for a moment
about the state of mind she'd been in earlier and then smiled a little again. She seemed to be
doing that alot in the past few minutes. "I just, y'know," she began looking for a better way to
explain. "Took me a while to realise some stuff, put it all in perspective."
Bling smiled a knowing smile and nodded his understanding. "Think it's been a long time
coming, am I wrong?"
"Not always used to this kinda stuff," Max felt a slight blush on her cheeks and averted her eyes
from his at that moment.
"You two got some stuff to talk about when he's coherent again huh?"
"Yeah," she looked back at him with a satisfied look on her face. "I guess we do."
Bling squeezed his grip on her shoulder as he shifted on the bed and stood up slowly.
Stretching out his tensed muscles he looked around the room, noting the basin by his feet and
the wet towels scattered around.
"Need some help cleaning up?"
"Nah, I can take care of it," she shrugged just happy to know what to do to help now.
"You're okay staying with him right now?" he asked not wanting to stick her with nurse duty if she
had other stuff to take care of, although he suspected he couldn't have forced her out of the
apartment if he tried.
"Yeah Bling, we're cool,"
Standing up she walked out of the room with Bling, a sudden air of calm radiating through the
apartment. Wrapping her arms across her upper body she followed him towards the door and
stopped behind him when he turned back, door handle in hand.
"I'll call again in the morning, check on how he's doin'. Tonight could be pretty rough, looks like
it's hitting him pretty hard already."
"You're not gonna get sick on me too are you?" she asked suddenly realising that she didn't
want two sick friends on her plate.
"Nah, I had it when I was a kid. Guessin' askin' you the same is kinda a given?"
"I'd go for genetically immune," she agreed offering him a slight smile.
"I'll talk to you in the morning," he nodded opening the door and stepping out into the darkened
hall. With the brownout the hall lights were out, the elevators offline so the stairs were the only
option. Not a problem for the healthy and considering he'd just bombed it up them to get to Max
and Logan, it'd be no problem striding down them with ease.
"G'night Bling. Thanks."
Bling smiled as he disappeared into the dark stairwell shaking his head slightly. That girl really
did have her head spun by something pretty harmless. He supposed she had it worse than he
thought even Logan did. He'd watched his friend mope after her for around a year and now it
looked like things were finally going to work out for them. Heading back out into the darkened
city, Bling made his way home, relief lightening his step all the way.
