* The Following Week *
Liz was grateful for the bullet that she dodged, Max had not questioned her since that day. Liz knew that she would never be able to explain the use, or the reason of her use, of medication.
What Liz did not know was that, ever though he had not questioned her, Max was keeping close tabs on her. It was not long before he noticed the new company that Liz was keeping or the changes in her appearance. It was not hard for Max to notice the, now constant, use of make-up. But the thing that Max kicked himself for not noticing was the way Liz acted around him. Liz was like a blank sheet of paper, and whenever he got the chance to look into her eyes (which was not often) they were just as blank no emotion whatsoever. Finally Max decided it was time to confront Liz about what was going on. He was just going to have to find a way to do it.
* Crashdown *
"Order up," Michael said after ringing the bell.
Maria rushed over to grab the two plates. "Have you seen Liz? Her shift started twenty minutes ago."
"No, but she might be somewhere studying or something. She probably lost track of time. I'll bet she'll burst through that door any second with some explanation."
Maria glanced expectantly at the door.
"Ah well it was worth a try," Michael said with a shrug.
Rolling her eyes, Maria left to deliver her order.
Two hours passed and still no Liz. Luckily for them it was a Tuesday night, which is usually not too busy.
"Agnes I'm taking a break, and don't give me that look. I didn't say anything to you about the three breaks you took."
Maria was going to call Liz to find out what was going on. It was not unusual for both Liz and Maria to skips shifts occasionally. What was unusual was for Liz not to call to tell Maria she was doing so.
As Maria pushed the swinging door that led to the break room open her heart stopped. Liz was lying on the ground in front of the lockers with her uniform partially open.
"Oh my God! Liz! Liz, answer me! Michael, get back here, now!"
Michael came through the door with an irritated look on his face. "What the hell are you yelling for?" Then Michael saw Maria in front of an unconscious Liz. "Is she breathing?"
"Yeah, but it's so shallow. Go call an ambulance."
Michael disappeared and Maria was left alone with Liz.
"Sweetie, you have to wake up okay," Maria said in her most soothing voice more for her own sake rather than Liz's.
"The ambulance is on their way. They said to try not to move her too much, unless she-. Maria do you know CPR?"
"Oh God! Oh God!"
"Calm down, we don't want to panic."
"We don't want to panic! Don't you understand what's going on? My best friend is lying unconscious on the floor! I can't do anything about that, unless she stops breathing then I can use what I learned in health class! So if I want to panic I'm going to panic!"
"Fine, but what are we going to tell them?" Michael motioned towards that door.
"Tell them all to go home, I don't care, all I care about is Liz."
Right after Maria uttered her last word Michael saw the paramedics come through the front door. He left Maria and Liz to meet the medics. Upon their entry Maria stood and backed away from Liz.
The paramedics began to work up Liz immediately. They checked her vital signs, checked for any bleeding, and they checked for any broken bones. Afterward the placed her on the gurney, and strapped her in. Maria followed ignoring the patrons' curious stares.
"Can I ride with her?" Maria asked hugging herself.
"Sorry, only family came ride along."
"They are family, they're sisters. Can't you see the family resemblance?"
"Walker, we have to go. Just let the girl ride." The other paramedic instructed.
Maria looked at Michael. "You'll take care off everything here?"
"Yeah, and when I'm done I'll meet you at the hospital, I'll take your car."
Maria just nodded and stepped into the back on the ambulance.
*
Michael asked everyone in the Crashdown, as politely as he could, to leave. He then called Liz's parents, who were in Albuquerque and told them what was going on. Next he used his powers to open Maria locker and grabbed her stuff. He locked the front door to the restaurant and jumped in the Jetta, using Maria cell phone he started calling the rest of the group.
*
When Michael arrived at the hospital Maria was pacing in the emergency room.
"Michael, they wouldn't let me stay with Liz. I wish I knew what was going on in there." Maria motioned toward the door in front of her. Michael embraced Maria, but he remained silent knowing that there was nothing he could say.
Michael saw movement in the corner of his eye. Turning to see what was going on he saw Max, Tess, Isabel, Kyle, and Alex, coming towards them.
"What's going on?" Alex asked breathlessly.
Michael's eyes never leaving Maria as he spoke. "Maria found Liz unconscious at the Crashdown, I called an ambulance and here we are. No one's been out of the room tell us anything."
"Michael, I have to call Mr. and Mrs. Parker. They don't know what's going on."
"Don't worry about that, I called them already, they said they were driving here immediately and to call them when we knew anything."
An hour passed with doctors and nurses going in and out of Liz's room, but no one stopped to say anything to the group. Finally a doctor acknowledges their presence.
"Are you the one who came in with Elizabeth Parker?" The doctor directed his question to Maria.
Maria stood, "Yes I am. Is Liz going to be alright?"
"She's stable and, right now, everything looks okay. We'll be keeping her here for a little while for observation, but I need to ask you a few questions. You need to be completely honest with me."
Maria looked more than a little confused but she nodded her head in compliance.
"Do you know what kind of drugs Elizabeth was taking?"
"Yeah, some antibiotic. Why did she have an allergic reaction to them?"
"No, but I think you misunderstood me question. I want to know what kind of illegal substances Elizabeth was taking."
Maria stared in disbelief at the doctor. "Liz has never taken any kind of "illegal substance" in her life, doctor." Fire blazed within the depths of Maria emerald eyes.
"What we pumped out of her stomach tells a different story. Again I'm going to ask you to be honest with me."
"I am being honest, and don't you dare take the holier then thou tone with me. My friend is lying there in that room and I have to listen to you accuse me of lying and her of drug use. Why don't you do your job and find out what is really wrong with Liz."
Max finally spoke. "Maria, I think that you should calm down."
"Calm down, this quack is telling me the my best friend is using drugs. We all know Liz would never do anything like that, ever."
Max looked at the ground before he spoke again trying to keep his voice steady.
"I don't think we can be sure of that."
"What! How can you say that, especially about Liz."
"Young man do you know something?"
"About a week ago Liz fell in the library. She told me she was dizzy because she didn't eat breakfast that morning. She also told me the pills that I found on her were antibiotics. I later noticed her hanging out with people who I think might have given her whatever it was you pumped from her stomach."
The doctor nodded and left the group to contemplate Max's words.
"You knew this for a week and you didn't say anything to anyone?" Alex asked being the only one who was able to form words.
"I wasn't sure until all of this happened. I suspected something was going on, but I-"
"Didn't think to mention this to anyone else," Maria said squarely to Max.
"No that's not it, I needed to be sure myself before I told anyone else. And while you're getting angry with me you should look at yourself, and why you didn't notice anything before she nearly O.D.ed.
"Max that was way out of line," Isabel spoke. "Liz was hiding this from all of us, there's no one to blame here."
Everyone sat quietly for an entire hour before Tess broke the silence.
"I'm getting tired. Would it be okay if we left, Max?"
"I want to see if Liz is going to be alright. Kyle could you take Tess home?"
Kyle, who was dozing off himself, looked at Max then Tess. "Yeah, sure. Are you ready to go Tess?"
"Max," Tess spoke in protest. "I think you should be the one who take me home. Just in case something happens."
Everyone understood that Tess was hinting towards the baby, and everyone waited for Max's response, except Maria.
"You know what, Max, Tess is right. Because if something should happen you need to be there to make sure no one else knows about it."
Max stood up and looked at Maria and was about to say something when Michael stood.
"Maxwell, leave it alone, she's just worried about Liz."
"No Michael, let him say whatever it is he was going to say. I want to hear our fearless leader explain his need to be sure about his suspicions about Liz."
"I'll let you go first, and you could tell us how you're her best friend and you didn't notice a thing."
"Okay both of you back to your corners," Isabel instructed. "Max why don't you go ahead and take Tess home. I'll call you when we know anything, and take Kyle with you. Kyle, you have a little bit off drool on your chin, right about there." She motioned to her own face.
Max looked as though he wanted to complain, but thought better of it and turned to leave.
Isabel turned her attention to Maria. "You really didn't need to say any of that."
"Well someone had to. If he had any indication of what Liz was doing to herself he should have told someone. Then we wouldn't be here waiting for some doctor to tell us if she's alright."
"And how do you know that any of this would have turned out differently? Just like Max pointed out, you didn't notice anything yourself, none of us did. Liz didn't want any of us to know about her "problem".
Just then the doctor who greeted them earlier came back.
"Liz is awake, you all can see her."
Maria was the first to stand up.
"Um Doctor-?"
"Roberts."
"Dr. Roberts, I want to apologize for earlier. I didn't know that my other friend was keeping vital information from the rest of us."
"No apology needed. This is a very stressful position to be in. I do have another question to ask. Have her parents been informed, about everything?"
"Liz's parents know that she's been taken to the hospital, but not the reason. We tried to call them again but there was no answer. They're driving from Albuquerque, so they probably don't have a signal on their phone."
"Okay, that's fine. You wouldn't mind if I was the one to tell them what's going on with their daughter?"
Breathing a sign of relief Maria replied, " That would be fine."
Dr. Roberts led the group into the room that Liz was in, and left them alone.
He was right Liz was awake, but just barely. She looked at everyone under hooded lids.
Looking at her, they all saw the same thing. Liz looked pale and tired, and there where dark circles under each eye. The hospital staff was monitoring her vitals, so she was hooked up to various cords and wires. Liz was also on oxygen, which she was receiving via her nose.
"Liz, the doctor said that you're stable, and that you're going to be fine. You just have to stay here awhile so they can make sure." Maria's voice was soft and steady but her hands were shaking. "Your parents are on the way here, Michael called them after the ambulance left the Crashdown."
Alex spoke next. "You had us all worried about you Liz. And when the doctor told us-." Alex stopped abruptly after Isabel jabbed him in the stomach with her elbow.
"We're just glad you're okay," Isabel said.
"Yeah, and the half day of work was nice too," Michael added trying to lighten the mood.
Liz closed her eyes and silent tears ran down her cheeks. Maria and Alex moved closer to the bed, but stopped when Liz shook her head.
"No, stay away from me," Liz whispered. "Go home, and leave me alone."
She turned and looked at the wall to the side of her bed.
"Go!" She shouted.
A nurse walked into the room "I'm sorry, Miss Parker needs her rest. Maybe you all could come back tomorrow when she's feeling better." Not waiting for an answer she directed everyone out of the door.
Everyone looked at each other in a total state of disbelief.
"Come on I'll drive you home," Michael said to Maria.
"No, I should stay here. Liz shouldn't be alone."
"That's what she want," Alex said with a pained expression on his face.
"Maria, we'll come back first thing in the morning," Isabel said gently.
The group of four went silently in their own directions, leaving Liz behind them crying alone in her room.
Liz was grateful for the bullet that she dodged, Max had not questioned her since that day. Liz knew that she would never be able to explain the use, or the reason of her use, of medication.
What Liz did not know was that, ever though he had not questioned her, Max was keeping close tabs on her. It was not long before he noticed the new company that Liz was keeping or the changes in her appearance. It was not hard for Max to notice the, now constant, use of make-up. But the thing that Max kicked himself for not noticing was the way Liz acted around him. Liz was like a blank sheet of paper, and whenever he got the chance to look into her eyes (which was not often) they were just as blank no emotion whatsoever. Finally Max decided it was time to confront Liz about what was going on. He was just going to have to find a way to do it.
* Crashdown *
"Order up," Michael said after ringing the bell.
Maria rushed over to grab the two plates. "Have you seen Liz? Her shift started twenty minutes ago."
"No, but she might be somewhere studying or something. She probably lost track of time. I'll bet she'll burst through that door any second with some explanation."
Maria glanced expectantly at the door.
"Ah well it was worth a try," Michael said with a shrug.
Rolling her eyes, Maria left to deliver her order.
Two hours passed and still no Liz. Luckily for them it was a Tuesday night, which is usually not too busy.
"Agnes I'm taking a break, and don't give me that look. I didn't say anything to you about the three breaks you took."
Maria was going to call Liz to find out what was going on. It was not unusual for both Liz and Maria to skips shifts occasionally. What was unusual was for Liz not to call to tell Maria she was doing so.
As Maria pushed the swinging door that led to the break room open her heart stopped. Liz was lying on the ground in front of the lockers with her uniform partially open.
"Oh my God! Liz! Liz, answer me! Michael, get back here, now!"
Michael came through the door with an irritated look on his face. "What the hell are you yelling for?" Then Michael saw Maria in front of an unconscious Liz. "Is she breathing?"
"Yeah, but it's so shallow. Go call an ambulance."
Michael disappeared and Maria was left alone with Liz.
"Sweetie, you have to wake up okay," Maria said in her most soothing voice more for her own sake rather than Liz's.
"The ambulance is on their way. They said to try not to move her too much, unless she-. Maria do you know CPR?"
"Oh God! Oh God!"
"Calm down, we don't want to panic."
"We don't want to panic! Don't you understand what's going on? My best friend is lying unconscious on the floor! I can't do anything about that, unless she stops breathing then I can use what I learned in health class! So if I want to panic I'm going to panic!"
"Fine, but what are we going to tell them?" Michael motioned towards that door.
"Tell them all to go home, I don't care, all I care about is Liz."
Right after Maria uttered her last word Michael saw the paramedics come through the front door. He left Maria and Liz to meet the medics. Upon their entry Maria stood and backed away from Liz.
The paramedics began to work up Liz immediately. They checked her vital signs, checked for any bleeding, and they checked for any broken bones. Afterward the placed her on the gurney, and strapped her in. Maria followed ignoring the patrons' curious stares.
"Can I ride with her?" Maria asked hugging herself.
"Sorry, only family came ride along."
"They are family, they're sisters. Can't you see the family resemblance?"
"Walker, we have to go. Just let the girl ride." The other paramedic instructed.
Maria looked at Michael. "You'll take care off everything here?"
"Yeah, and when I'm done I'll meet you at the hospital, I'll take your car."
Maria just nodded and stepped into the back on the ambulance.
*
Michael asked everyone in the Crashdown, as politely as he could, to leave. He then called Liz's parents, who were in Albuquerque and told them what was going on. Next he used his powers to open Maria locker and grabbed her stuff. He locked the front door to the restaurant and jumped in the Jetta, using Maria cell phone he started calling the rest of the group.
*
When Michael arrived at the hospital Maria was pacing in the emergency room.
"Michael, they wouldn't let me stay with Liz. I wish I knew what was going on in there." Maria motioned toward the door in front of her. Michael embraced Maria, but he remained silent knowing that there was nothing he could say.
Michael saw movement in the corner of his eye. Turning to see what was going on he saw Max, Tess, Isabel, Kyle, and Alex, coming towards them.
"What's going on?" Alex asked breathlessly.
Michael's eyes never leaving Maria as he spoke. "Maria found Liz unconscious at the Crashdown, I called an ambulance and here we are. No one's been out of the room tell us anything."
"Michael, I have to call Mr. and Mrs. Parker. They don't know what's going on."
"Don't worry about that, I called them already, they said they were driving here immediately and to call them when we knew anything."
An hour passed with doctors and nurses going in and out of Liz's room, but no one stopped to say anything to the group. Finally a doctor acknowledges their presence.
"Are you the one who came in with Elizabeth Parker?" The doctor directed his question to Maria.
Maria stood, "Yes I am. Is Liz going to be alright?"
"She's stable and, right now, everything looks okay. We'll be keeping her here for a little while for observation, but I need to ask you a few questions. You need to be completely honest with me."
Maria looked more than a little confused but she nodded her head in compliance.
"Do you know what kind of drugs Elizabeth was taking?"
"Yeah, some antibiotic. Why did she have an allergic reaction to them?"
"No, but I think you misunderstood me question. I want to know what kind of illegal substances Elizabeth was taking."
Maria stared in disbelief at the doctor. "Liz has never taken any kind of "illegal substance" in her life, doctor." Fire blazed within the depths of Maria emerald eyes.
"What we pumped out of her stomach tells a different story. Again I'm going to ask you to be honest with me."
"I am being honest, and don't you dare take the holier then thou tone with me. My friend is lying there in that room and I have to listen to you accuse me of lying and her of drug use. Why don't you do your job and find out what is really wrong with Liz."
Max finally spoke. "Maria, I think that you should calm down."
"Calm down, this quack is telling me the my best friend is using drugs. We all know Liz would never do anything like that, ever."
Max looked at the ground before he spoke again trying to keep his voice steady.
"I don't think we can be sure of that."
"What! How can you say that, especially about Liz."
"Young man do you know something?"
"About a week ago Liz fell in the library. She told me she was dizzy because she didn't eat breakfast that morning. She also told me the pills that I found on her were antibiotics. I later noticed her hanging out with people who I think might have given her whatever it was you pumped from her stomach."
The doctor nodded and left the group to contemplate Max's words.
"You knew this for a week and you didn't say anything to anyone?" Alex asked being the only one who was able to form words.
"I wasn't sure until all of this happened. I suspected something was going on, but I-"
"Didn't think to mention this to anyone else," Maria said squarely to Max.
"No that's not it, I needed to be sure myself before I told anyone else. And while you're getting angry with me you should look at yourself, and why you didn't notice anything before she nearly O.D.ed.
"Max that was way out of line," Isabel spoke. "Liz was hiding this from all of us, there's no one to blame here."
Everyone sat quietly for an entire hour before Tess broke the silence.
"I'm getting tired. Would it be okay if we left, Max?"
"I want to see if Liz is going to be alright. Kyle could you take Tess home?"
Kyle, who was dozing off himself, looked at Max then Tess. "Yeah, sure. Are you ready to go Tess?"
"Max," Tess spoke in protest. "I think you should be the one who take me home. Just in case something happens."
Everyone understood that Tess was hinting towards the baby, and everyone waited for Max's response, except Maria.
"You know what, Max, Tess is right. Because if something should happen you need to be there to make sure no one else knows about it."
Max stood up and looked at Maria and was about to say something when Michael stood.
"Maxwell, leave it alone, she's just worried about Liz."
"No Michael, let him say whatever it is he was going to say. I want to hear our fearless leader explain his need to be sure about his suspicions about Liz."
"I'll let you go first, and you could tell us how you're her best friend and you didn't notice a thing."
"Okay both of you back to your corners," Isabel instructed. "Max why don't you go ahead and take Tess home. I'll call you when we know anything, and take Kyle with you. Kyle, you have a little bit off drool on your chin, right about there." She motioned to her own face.
Max looked as though he wanted to complain, but thought better of it and turned to leave.
Isabel turned her attention to Maria. "You really didn't need to say any of that."
"Well someone had to. If he had any indication of what Liz was doing to herself he should have told someone. Then we wouldn't be here waiting for some doctor to tell us if she's alright."
"And how do you know that any of this would have turned out differently? Just like Max pointed out, you didn't notice anything yourself, none of us did. Liz didn't want any of us to know about her "problem".
Just then the doctor who greeted them earlier came back.
"Liz is awake, you all can see her."
Maria was the first to stand up.
"Um Doctor-?"
"Roberts."
"Dr. Roberts, I want to apologize for earlier. I didn't know that my other friend was keeping vital information from the rest of us."
"No apology needed. This is a very stressful position to be in. I do have another question to ask. Have her parents been informed, about everything?"
"Liz's parents know that she's been taken to the hospital, but not the reason. We tried to call them again but there was no answer. They're driving from Albuquerque, so they probably don't have a signal on their phone."
"Okay, that's fine. You wouldn't mind if I was the one to tell them what's going on with their daughter?"
Breathing a sign of relief Maria replied, " That would be fine."
Dr. Roberts led the group into the room that Liz was in, and left them alone.
He was right Liz was awake, but just barely. She looked at everyone under hooded lids.
Looking at her, they all saw the same thing. Liz looked pale and tired, and there where dark circles under each eye. The hospital staff was monitoring her vitals, so she was hooked up to various cords and wires. Liz was also on oxygen, which she was receiving via her nose.
"Liz, the doctor said that you're stable, and that you're going to be fine. You just have to stay here awhile so they can make sure." Maria's voice was soft and steady but her hands were shaking. "Your parents are on the way here, Michael called them after the ambulance left the Crashdown."
Alex spoke next. "You had us all worried about you Liz. And when the doctor told us-." Alex stopped abruptly after Isabel jabbed him in the stomach with her elbow.
"We're just glad you're okay," Isabel said.
"Yeah, and the half day of work was nice too," Michael added trying to lighten the mood.
Liz closed her eyes and silent tears ran down her cheeks. Maria and Alex moved closer to the bed, but stopped when Liz shook her head.
"No, stay away from me," Liz whispered. "Go home, and leave me alone."
She turned and looked at the wall to the side of her bed.
"Go!" She shouted.
A nurse walked into the room "I'm sorry, Miss Parker needs her rest. Maybe you all could come back tomorrow when she's feeling better." Not waiting for an answer she directed everyone out of the door.
Everyone looked at each other in a total state of disbelief.
"Come on I'll drive you home," Michael said to Maria.
"No, I should stay here. Liz shouldn't be alone."
"That's what she want," Alex said with a pained expression on his face.
"Maria, we'll come back first thing in the morning," Isabel said gently.
The group of four went silently in their own directions, leaving Liz behind them crying alone in her room.