******* Things will never be bright again*******
My whole life, I had never felt afraid.
Confused? Exasperated? Tired?
Sure
But never afraid.
Not when Hank beat the crap out of me, not when the FBI was after us, not even when Max was taken.
No.
I felt helpless, I felt angry but not afraid.
Never afraid.
Somehow I always knew there would be a good ending to it all - that the good guys would win and the bad ones wouldn't.
I liked to believe that fear couldn't affect aliens, that we were immune to it, that those who "engineered" us programmed our brains to reject this humiliating feeling.
My whole life, I lived with the certainty that I' d never get into the wreath of fear.
My whole life I had been wrong.
********************************************
I remember that the sight of Maria lying lifelessly on the floor of our living room, made all my feelings disappear.
In their place came the fear.
Kyle was the first to react. Working as a sheriff of Roswell taught him to act quickly in the situations like this.
He took the cell phone out of his pocket and started dialing the Emergency number, while Liz kneeled beside Maria checking for the pulse.
-"Cancel the number, Kyle" – I said coming out of my trance. Whatever happened to Maria had to be connected to the alien baby growing inside of her. We couldn't jeopardize its life be calling the doctors over – "Cancel it!"-I yelled again noticing that Kyle had his phone by the ear already. He seemed shocked but compelled. I know that he wanted some explanations but I wasn't ready to give them to him.
To them.
Not yet.
Seeing me silent made his shock instantly change into fury.
-"Listen, Guerin, she's my sister and she needs help. Can't you see it?!"- He seemed like he was ready to punch me right then. He would have probably done it if Liz's statement wouldn't interrupt us
-"Guys! Maria….She's..she's not breathing"
I remember dropping down to my knees then and cradling her on my lap.
_"That's it. I'm calling"- I heard Kyle's voice in the background. I didn't care anymore. Nothing mattered then my Maria was dead
_"No!" – the new voice joined in. I didn't know who it belonged to until Max kneeled beside us.
-"Let me help her" – he said quietly bending over Maria.
That was our Max. Our friend. My brother. OUR brother.
He knew me well enough not to ask any questions, he simply knew that I had my reasons.
I watched him press one of his palms against Maria's chest and the other one against her forehead.
He closed his eyes trying to concentrate hard enough for the connection to be formed. After several seconds I saw drops of sweat poring down his forehead. He started to shake really hard and I could see that whatever he was doing was causing him much pain. At the same time I felt Maria's body shaking first lightly then real hard.
Harder than Max.
Instants later everything stopped and Max collapsed to the floor exhausted.
I looked at him shocked – nothing like that had ever happened before.
A small voice in the back of my head told me that something was wrong, that Max's powers failed, but I refused to listen to it. Instead I looked down at Maria, her head still lying on my lap.
She was alive.
Sweaty, wide-eyed but alive.
"Thank God" – I whispered before bending down and pressing my lips on her forehead. "Don't ever scare me like that again"- I breathed against her skin forgetting about the whole world and thanking both God above and Max below for giving her back to me.
I don't know how long I stayed like that holding each Maria close to my heart, but when we finally separated everyone else was gone.
Everyone else but Max.
I should have seen that something was wrong by the looks they gave each other, the kind of looks that foretell the tragedies. But no, I was too busy being happy to notice anything.
-"Do you mind if I talk with Max in private, Spaceboy?' _ I remember Maria asked.
Of course I didn't.
I figured that Maria probably wanted to thank him without anyone around. She was always like that – she didn't like the mushy words being overheard.
Their talk lasted over an hour. After it finished Max left quickly without even saying goodbye.
*********************************************************
Later that night, I remember, I hugged Maria. And kneeled before her just like that night when I first found out that I'm going to be a father. I wanted to connect with our daughter the way I did every night but when I placed my palm on Maria's belly I felt nothing.
Completely nothing
I felt something cold splashing on my head and when I looked up I saw tears pouring down my wife's cheeks.
-"We have to talk, Michael" she said
And by this words I knew that there will be no more happy times for Maria and Michael Guerin
**************************
My whole life, I had never felt afraid.
Confused? Exasperated? Tired?
Sure
But never afraid.
Not when Hank beat the crap out of me, not when the FBI was after us, not even when Max was taken.
No.
I felt helpless, I felt angry but not afraid.
Never afraid.
Somehow I always knew there would be a good ending to it all - that the good guys would win and the bad ones wouldn't.
I liked to believe that fear couldn't affect aliens, that we were immune to it, that those who "engineered" us programmed our brains to reject this humiliating feeling.
My whole life, I lived with the certainty that I' d never get into the wreath of fear.
My whole life I had been wrong.
********************************************
I remember that the sight of Maria lying lifelessly on the floor of our living room, made all my feelings disappear.
In their place came the fear.
Kyle was the first to react. Working as a sheriff of Roswell taught him to act quickly in the situations like this.
He took the cell phone out of his pocket and started dialing the Emergency number, while Liz kneeled beside Maria checking for the pulse.
-"Cancel the number, Kyle" – I said coming out of my trance. Whatever happened to Maria had to be connected to the alien baby growing inside of her. We couldn't jeopardize its life be calling the doctors over – "Cancel it!"-I yelled again noticing that Kyle had his phone by the ear already. He seemed shocked but compelled. I know that he wanted some explanations but I wasn't ready to give them to him.
To them.
Not yet.
Seeing me silent made his shock instantly change into fury.
-"Listen, Guerin, she's my sister and she needs help. Can't you see it?!"- He seemed like he was ready to punch me right then. He would have probably done it if Liz's statement wouldn't interrupt us
-"Guys! Maria….She's..she's not breathing"
I remember dropping down to my knees then and cradling her on my lap.
_"That's it. I'm calling"- I heard Kyle's voice in the background. I didn't care anymore. Nothing mattered then my Maria was dead
_"No!" – the new voice joined in. I didn't know who it belonged to until Max kneeled beside us.
-"Let me help her" – he said quietly bending over Maria.
That was our Max. Our friend. My brother. OUR brother.
He knew me well enough not to ask any questions, he simply knew that I had my reasons.
I watched him press one of his palms against Maria's chest and the other one against her forehead.
He closed his eyes trying to concentrate hard enough for the connection to be formed. After several seconds I saw drops of sweat poring down his forehead. He started to shake really hard and I could see that whatever he was doing was causing him much pain. At the same time I felt Maria's body shaking first lightly then real hard.
Harder than Max.
Instants later everything stopped and Max collapsed to the floor exhausted.
I looked at him shocked – nothing like that had ever happened before.
A small voice in the back of my head told me that something was wrong, that Max's powers failed, but I refused to listen to it. Instead I looked down at Maria, her head still lying on my lap.
She was alive.
Sweaty, wide-eyed but alive.
"Thank God" – I whispered before bending down and pressing my lips on her forehead. "Don't ever scare me like that again"- I breathed against her skin forgetting about the whole world and thanking both God above and Max below for giving her back to me.
I don't know how long I stayed like that holding each Maria close to my heart, but when we finally separated everyone else was gone.
Everyone else but Max.
I should have seen that something was wrong by the looks they gave each other, the kind of looks that foretell the tragedies. But no, I was too busy being happy to notice anything.
-"Do you mind if I talk with Max in private, Spaceboy?' _ I remember Maria asked.
Of course I didn't.
I figured that Maria probably wanted to thank him without anyone around. She was always like that – she didn't like the mushy words being overheard.
Their talk lasted over an hour. After it finished Max left quickly without even saying goodbye.
*********************************************************
Later that night, I remember, I hugged Maria. And kneeled before her just like that night when I first found out that I'm going to be a father. I wanted to connect with our daughter the way I did every night but when I placed my palm on Maria's belly I felt nothing.
Completely nothing
I felt something cold splashing on my head and when I looked up I saw tears pouring down my wife's cheeks.
-"We have to talk, Michael" she said
And by this words I knew that there will be no more happy times for Maria and Michael Guerin
**************************