Disclaimer: I begged and pleaded with TPTB but they still won't give them to me.
AN: I'm sorry that it took me so long to update this story. I've had a lot on my mind these past few weeks and I greatly apologize to the readers. Thanks Vix for all your help!
CHAPTER SIX"Ma'am, you need to sign the register," the receptionist called as Max bypassed the sign-in desk in the waiting room.
"Oh. Sorry," Max said retracing her steps to the desk.
"Name?" the receptionist questioned looking at the papers in front of her.
"Cale, Logan. He's having liver surgery," Max replied as she watched the woman flip through the pages.
Picking up her highlighter, the woman marked Logan's name. "Okay, Miss," she smiled, "I'll notify you when we have any information."
Gazing around the room, she saw groups of people. Families waiting for news on their loved ones. Some faces remembered from the pre-op holding room, and others were new. I can't stay in here. I just don't think I have the energy to wait in a room full of people and feel so alone right now, Max thought. I wish I had told Cindy what I was doing today. I guess even Superwoman needs a shoulder to lean on every once in a while. "Um, actually, Dr. Carr told me that it would be alright if I waited in Logan's room. Could you transfer the call there?" Max asked.
Glancing up the woman noticed Max's distraught face and was overcome by a wave of sympathy. "Of course, I'll make a note."
"Thank you," Max smiled sadly as she walked out of the room. "Oh," Max said as she brushed against a man entering the room, "I'm sorry."
"No problem," he replied. "Hey Glory, you ready to go home," he asked the woman behind the counter.
"Always ready, Bret," she grinned. "Just one special case for you tonight," she told him as she relinquished her clipboard and highlighter to the man. "The woman who just walked out, she's here with a Logan Cale. I don't think she could handle the room, so I told her we would buzz the patient's room when we had any information on him."
"You're a softie, Glory," he shook his head as he jotted down the information.
"I know," she smiled, "now I'm off to light a candle and then I'm going home. Have fun," she called over her shoulder as she left the room.
As she rounded the corner she saw the elevator doors about to shut. "Hold the doors, please," she called, knowing how slow the system was in the hospital." She saw a hand fly out and force the doors back open, "Thank you," Glory breathlessly said to her companion.
"No problem," a flat voice responded.
Looking up, she noticed that it was the same woman from the waiting room. Glory couldn't help but be touched by the sadness marring the beautiful face of the woman. "I'm sure he'll be fine," she told the woman standing next to her.
Max smiled gratefully, "Thank you."
"I'm stopping by the chapel on my way out…perhaps, you'd like to come with me?"
"Thanks, but…" Max trailed off, looking for a way out of the uncomfortable situation.
"That's okay," Glory responded. "Everyone deals with pain in their own way. I'll light a candle for the two of you."
The elevator announced its arrival at the floor, and Max stepped off waving a good-bye to the woman left behind. She turned right by the elevators and walked down the hallway to Logan's room, feeling more and more burdened with every step. She cast a quick glance at the nurse's station as she passed by on her way back to Logan's room. Max breathed a sigh of relief as she approached the threshold of the room, and was able to close herself in, away from the outside.
As amusing as Logan's screensaver was, Max decided that forty minutes of it was enough, and placed the laptop on the bedside tray. "Well so much for working on Eyes Only stuff while Logan was down," she muttered. Letting out a sigh, she let her gaze wander around the room. Basic setup for a hospital, she thought, mirror and a sink by the bed, uncomfortable plastic chair/bed combination, mounted TV—bet ya couldn't even get fifty dollars for that thing—and, of course, the cornerstone of every Catholic hospital, the cross. You're just a piece of plastic. I don't understand what all the fuss is about, she said as she stared at the cross on the wall. She remembered the woman from the elevator promising to light a candle for Logan and herself. I wonder if she did, Max idly thought. I don't know what to do, Max internally screamed as she focused on the cross.
I've never done this before, well, aside from the Blue Lady, she thought, focusing her attention at the man nailed to the cross. I don't even know if you can hear my thoughts because I wasn't created by you. But I do have a soul, at least Logan seems to think I do. I…I can't lose him. If you know anything about me, you know that I can't lose him. I'm not really sure how to do this, but…um…I know that sometimes people make deals with you when they're having problems. That's what I want to do, make a deal. I promise I'll change if you let him live—I don't even care if I can't be with him, as long as he's alive. That's all I want, she pleaded, the knowledge that he'll be okay. Please, I just need to know that he'll be okay. I…I love him, she thought as the tears cascaded down her face and lulled her to sleep.
Max silently entered the darkened apartment and made her way to the clicking sounds coming from the office. "Now how did I know this would happen?" She asked as she leaned against the doorframe and watched Logan pour over the files in front of him.
Logan looked up guiltily when he heard her voice from behind him, "Well, you know, I got a lot of time on my hands right now."
Pushing away from the door, Max moved to stand directly behind the chair. "C'mon Logan," she pouted playfully, as she spun him around to face her, "this is a dream. We aren't supposed to be reading files."
"Oh really?" he questioned mischievously. "What pray tell, are we supposed to be doing?"
"Having fun," Max replied. "I don't know," she added finally, seeing the puzzled look on Logan's face, "the things you can't do or aren't allowed to do in the real world."
"Well, then," Logan stands suddenly, penetrating her personal space, "how about we do," he continues as he closes the distance between their faces and mutter against her lips, "this."
Max is shocked back into awareness, as a cool breeze replaced the kiss she was expecting. Feeling the sand beneath her feet, she gazes at the ocean Logan has created for the two of them. "This is beautiful," she whispers, "where are we?"
Avoiding the question, Logan asks, "So is this what you had in mind?"
"Well, it is a start," Max smiles as she turns to look at him. But before she can question Logan's mischievous grin she feels herself freefalling through the air. "Ahhhh!" she screams, "This is more like it," she exclaims as she feels the bungee cord go taut. "Whoa, this is definitely more like it," she yells, looking over at Logan. "Logan!" she screams in horror, as she realizes that he's no longer breathing. Changing scenes quickly, she places him on a bed, and kneels over top of him. "Logan," she implores, "wake up. Come back to me. Logan," she whispers. You can't do this to me, Max insists looking up at the sky. We made a deal! "Logan, Logan, Logan," she repeats, watching as life ebbs away from the man beneath her. "Don't die on me, please."
As Max holds onto Logan in the dream world, the surgeons are gathered around his body, busily trying to revive him. "Charge to 200," Sam yells as he grabs the paddles.
"Charging," the OR nurse replies as she flicks the switch on the machine.
"Clear," he exclaims, sending a jolt of electricity coursing through Logan's body. Don't die on me Logan, Max will kill me. Giving the heart monitor a quick glance he sees that no change has occurred, "Charge to 300!"
*~*~*~*Yes, I already know Max and Logan aren't really in character. But hey, it is fanfiction, sooooooo…….Thanks so much for reading.