AS 2.07: Devil's Waltz by Star24 Ó 2003
Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters are copyright 2000-2002 Twentieth Century Fox Studios and James Cameron and Charles Eglee. This original fiction is copyright 2003 Star24.
Prologue
Metro Medical Center
Max locked her bike to a lamppost and began to walk toward the entrance to Metro Medical Center. When she entered, her first stop was the nurse's station. "I'm looking for Dr. Sam Carr."
A bored looking nurse ran her gaze over Max. "Your business with him would be?"
"He's treating a close friend of mine. Where can I find him?"
The phone rang and the nurse picked it up. As she did she pointed down the hallway, "Room 106."
She turned to the files on her desk and began to speak into the phone, "Yes, Doctor I have that file right here…"
Max strode down the hall to the door the nurse had indicated. She knocked briskly on it and then pushed it open. Sam Carr was seated behind a desk reviewing medical charts. He looked up and smiled to see her. "Max. Come in and sit down. I'm just finishing up reviewing Logan's charts."
Max sat on the edge of a chair and waited impatiently for Sam to finish. She watched him closely for his reactions to what he was reading, but was unable to determine much from his expression. He finally set down the last chart and looked at her.
"What's the verdict?" Max wasted no time on amenities. "How bad is he?"
Sam frowned slightly. "The good news is that I don't think he's done any major damage with his recent overuse of the exo-skeleton." He stopped.
"What's the bad news?" Max prompted.
Sam sighed. "His spine is continuing to deteriorate. The initial damage was too extensive and that fragment that we didn't remove immediately exacerbated it. If I'd realized I would have probably taken it out when he was shot, but at the time it seemed too risky."
"What does that mean for him?" Max wanted to know.
"Right now it means that he has to take it easy for a while. No more exo use, and no activity that can aggravate his condition. Then in about 3 – 4 weeks we re-evaluate."
"Are you thinking of more surgery?" Max wanted to know.
Sam gave her a long hard look. "I don't know if it would do any good."
"That's going to go over real well, Doc." Max said. "You know Logan."
"I'm going up to talk to him about it now. Do you want to join me?"
"Not really, but I suppose I will."
Sam smiled at her. "He may not show it, but you're important to him, Max. Your reaction to the news will have a big impact on him even though he won't admit to it."
"So, what, you want me to be all upbeat and rah rah about the fact that he has to quit using the exo-skeleton? That's not going to work." Max warned, a trace of bitterness in her words.
"Letting him know that it doesn't make any difference to you and how you look at him, is more what I had in mind." Sam said gently.
Max laughed harshly, "I've been trying to get that through his thick head for the last year. Without much success I might add."
Sam reached out and gently patted her hand. "On some level he knows it, even though he won't admit to it. Logan's real problem isn't how you see him. It's how he sees himself. All any of us can do is be there for him and keep trying to hold up the mirror of what he is in our eyes to him. You more than anyone."
Max shrugged. "Lead on, Doc."
* * * * * *
"Max, I really want to be alone." Logan protested. Sam had given him the news and left Max to do what she could.
"So you can lie here and feel sorry for yourself?" Max said bluntly. "You can't use the exo for a while. Big deal. You coped without it for months after the shooting."
Logan glared at her. "Can't use the exo, can't do any strenuous activity. Spend the next three or four weeks lying in bed like a vegetable. And after that …" he paused and let the long term prognosis go unspoken. "Yeah, I have a lot to be in a good mood about, I'd say."
Max sat on the edge of the bed next to him, and reached a hand out to smooth a spike of hair that was sticking up. "What if your favorite revved up girl promises to come to your place every night and play nurse?" She smiled at him gently.
"Right. Empty bed pans and spoon feed me?" Logan said bitterly. "'Cause you know that the no strenuous activity prohibition includes anything else we might think about doing."
Max stood up and glared at him. "Logan Cale are you telling me that you're sulking because you aren't going to be allowed to get it on with me? That this is about us not having sex for a while longer?"
Logan's stormy eyes met hers. "Face it Max. I'm never going to be a complete man again. You heard Sam. I'm going to get worse over time, not better. We'll never be able to have a normal life together. You should probably hang this up as a lost cause, and get out there and find yourself a better specimen than what I've turned out to be."
"If you weren't already lying in bed, I'd kick your ass for that." Max said to him, letting her anger at his obtuseness take over. "How many times do we have to go through this? It wasn't some perfect specimen who got me through the Manticore re-indoctrination. It was you. Do you know the success rate of their techniques? Something like 99.9%. Thinking about you got me through that hell, Logan. That oughta tell you something. But it seems that I don't mean to you what you mean to me. Your legs are more important." She stopped and then said slowly, looking at him straight on, "Or is it that deep down you blame me for what happened to you? If I'd been there like you asked, maybe you wouldn't have ended up shot?"
Logan stared at her, shocked by her words.
She looked at her watch. "I'm late from lunch, which means Normal's gonna fire my ass again. Hit me up if you regain some semblance of sanity, and maybe I'll stop back after I finish up work." She quickly turned so he wouldn't see the tears pooling in her eyes, and threatening to run down her cheeks.
"Max, no…I've never once thought that…" Logan finally found his voice but she was already gone. He sat there frowning and then grabbed the plastic drinking cup that sat next to his bed and flung it across the room. It hit the wall and water ran down in a streak to puddle on the floor.
"Damn it." Logan muttered as he stared sightlessly at the mess.
"It's not your fault, Max. It's mine. It's always been mine," he whispered to the woman who was no longer there to hear him.
* * * * * *
Outside of Metro Medical, Max was unlocking her bike when her cell phone trilled shrilly. She pulled it out of her pocket and glanced at the blank display. A frown crossed her face as she flipped open the cover.
"Yeah?" she answered briefly, impatient to be on her way.
"Max. You wanted to talk to me." Donald Lydecker's voice said softly, sending a chill down her spine.
"I did." Max said and waited.
"Your email mentioned a quid pro quo. I'm wondering what it is that I have, that you want badly enough to make that offer."
Max glanced around. "I can't chat now, and I don't want to talk about this over the phone."
"I appreciate your caution," Lydecker approved. " I can meet with you in person, tonight."
"Alone. No funny business or our deal is off before it even starts." Max warned. "You got a place?" She listened as Lydecker gave her an address. "I'll be there at eleven," she confirmed and closed the phone with a snap. She climbed on her bike and sped on her way back to Jam Pony.
End of Prologue