Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

"SHIT!" I yell.

"What's happened?" Cavendish starts yelling. "What have you done to my granddaughter?"

"She's flat lined," I yell back. I grab Maggie and manage to flip her onto her back in one try. "Manning, get some one in here NOW!"

Manning takes off running. I start to perform CPR. Cavendish comes over and starts pulling on my arm.

"What do you think you're doing?" she screeches. "Get off of her!"

"Hellboy, get her out of here!" I yell as I shake her off.

"I'm on it," he says. He picks Cavendish up and carries her out of the room, kicking and screaming all the way. At least he was nice enough to use his left arm to remove her. I wouldn't have been.

I continue to try and get Maggie's heart beating again. What seems like a lifetime latter, the medical team arrives and takes over. I stand out of the way and watch. They get the defibulator and shock her heart back to life. I watch as they stabilize her and give her medications to deal with the pain. I see Manning standing in the doorway. Dr. Evans spots both of us.

"Out!" she orders. I want to stay, but from the look on her face, she'll probably turn me into fish fillet if I don't leave. I head for the library.

I walk into the library and find Cavendish there. She's fuming. Hellboy is near the door that I've just come through. He's making sure she doesn't try and go back.

"YOU!" she screams, pointing a finger at me. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing," I reply. I'm not in the mood to talk right now, so I head upstairs.

I finally get back into my tank and sink to the bottom. I've never been so scared in all my life. I've faced some pretty nasty things in my life, but none of them have ever scared me like this. There is nothing worse than facing the fact that someone you love could die. That in fact, she was dead for two minutes. Give me the boogie man any day.

I can hear Cavendish demanding to see Maggie. I hear Hellboy tell her no. I'm impressed how calm he's being. I touch his mind. He's actually finding all of this very funny. He has a strange sense of humor. A short time later I hear Manning come in. He's busy trying to calm Cavendish down when Liz walks in followed shortly by Dr. Evans. I swim up to the glass.

"I want to see my granddaughter right now," Cavendish demands.

"I'm sorry, but you can't," says Dr. Evans in a calm voice. Her voice may be calm, but her mind isn't. In a flash, I get most of what happened.

"Dr. Evans, what happened?" asks Manning before Cavendish can start trying to bully her way past the doctor.

"Well, it seems that Mr. Chavez was making quite the fuss," she answers. "He was demanding to see Miss Cavendish. Somehow he knew that Mrs. Cavendish was here and he said he wanted to be there."

"Be there for what?" asks Manning.

"I don't know," she replies. "But because he was trying to get out of bed, the nurse was forced to restrain him. This caused her to miss giving Miss Cavendish her next dose of medication. That, in turn, allowed her to come out of her drug induced coma. As I had feared, when she woke up, the pain was too much for her to take and she went into cardiac arrest. We've stabilized her, but she's in critical condition again. She's to have no visitors until I say so."

"But…" Cavendish starts.

"No 'buts'" Dr. Evans says sternly. "You people nearly killed her once. I'm not giving you a second chance. I'm putting guards on her door to deter any visitors."

"Doctor," I start.

"I'm sorry, Abe," she says, turning toward me. "This includes you. I know how much you care for her, but she needs rest now."

"That isn't what I was going to ask," I say. "Will she be all right?"

"I don't know," she says sadly, shaking her head. "The next few days will be most critical." She leaves and there is silence in the room.

"Who is this Mr. Chavez?" Cavendish asks. She's finally managed to regain her composure. She already knows the answer to her question.

"Guillermo Chavez," says Manning. "Your granddaughter brought him here to help us with some research."

The images and thoughts that I get bombarded with are so strong that I push away from the glass and swim half way across my tank.

"You ok, Blue?" asks Liz.

I come back toward the window. Everyone is looking at me. Cavendish is glaring at me.

"You don't like him," I say to her.

"Why do you say that?" she retorts with a haughty tone.

"He introduced Maggie's father to her mother," I tell her. The look of shock on her face is actually a bit satisfying.

"How did you know that?" she demands.

"Abe's telepathic," answers Hellboy. This time the look she gives me is a barely concealed mixture of fear and hate.

"She wasn't worthy of him," she sniffs. She then turns to Manning. "Since I am unable to see my granddaughter, I will be leaving. I expect you to call me the instant I can see her."

With that she marches out of the library through the gold doors with Manning in her wake.

"If you're ending up with her as a grandmother-in-law, you have my sympathies, Abe," laughs Hellboy. I can see my skin getting bluer.

"Grandmother-in-law?" asks Liz turning toward Hellboy. "What are you talking about?"

"Why don't you ask Abe?" he says, pointing toward me. "It's his wedding."

I sink back to the bottom of my tank and wait for them to leave. I can hear Liz berate Red for teasing me and making fun of weddings in general. Then I hear her storm out.

"What do you suppose that was all about?" asks Hellboy.

"She wants to get married," I simply tell him from where I am.

That statement pretty much freezes all brain activity in him for a while. I felt the same way when Maggie tried to tell me of her grandmother's plans. After a while I hear him leave. I start swimming, trying to straighten out my own thoughts.

I want to talk to someone. But I don't feel like taking a ribbing from Red again. Liz is a bit upset right now and not really in a good frame of mind. Myers, I still feel guilty about his shoulder. Manning, I don't think so. Then I remember someone I can talk to.

I emerge from my tank and get dressed. Then I head for the medical wing. As I walk past ICU, I see that Dr. Evans was true to her word. There are now a couple of agents guarding Maggie's door. I walk past and find the room I'm looking for.

"Hola, Guillermo," I say, gently knocking on the door jam. Guillermo looks up from the magazine he is reading and smiles. His leg is up in traction and is heavily bandaged.

"Hola, Abe," he replies. "Please come in and sit down. Not to complain, but you are my first visitor. I thought everyone had forgotten me."

"Sorry," I tell him, taking the seat next to his bed. "The doctor only released me a few hours ago myself."

"Yes, I know," he answers. Then his feelings of guilt come through loud and clear.

"Guillermo," I start.

"It's my fault she almost died," he says quietly, tears start forming in his eyes. "If I hadn't been so stupidly selfish the nurse would have been there to give her the medicine and Maggie wouldn't have…"

The tears start to silently roll down his cheeks. I wait patiently. He finally manages to regain his composure after a few minutes.

"Why were you so determined to see her?" I ask.

"I had heard that you had been released," he answers. "I knew that the first place you'd go would be to her. And that was all well and good. I had no intention of interrupting you. But then I "felt" that old harpy step onto the grounds here and I wanted to see her reaction to meeting you. I was so bound and determined to be there for it, I never stopped to think about the damage I could do."

"Why does she hate you for introducing Maggie's parents to each other?" I ask.

"Oh, you know about that, do you?" he replies. "Well, I used to teach at UCLA in the biology department. Maggie's mother, Selma, and her father, Rupert, were both first year students and both just happened to take my human biology course. Since Selma was a biology major and Rupert was struggling with the class, I got her to be his study buddy. I had no idea that they would fall in love. But do you think that old bat will believe that?"

"Why did she dislike Selma?"

"Because Selma was an Earth Mage," he responds. "I didn't know Rupert was an Air Mage, and by all rights they should have hated each others guts since Earth and Air are opposites. But they didn't, they fell in love instead. Then they Kissed, were wed a year and a day later, and had Maggie nine months after that. The funny thing is, that neither one knew that they were both Mages until Rupert's father met Selma."

"How did you know she was an Earth Mage?"

"Her family and mine had been friends for years. Here's something you should know. Only certain Mages have the ability to spot the power of another Mage. Another Mage could walk in right now, and I wouldn't know it because I can't 'see' it. Maggie is one of those Mages who can, as was her grandfather. When he saw what Selma was, all hell broke loose. If Rupert hadn't been their only son, they would have disowned him on the spot. As it was, their relationship was never the same again."

"So, how did you know that Mrs. Cavendish had come here if you can't spot another Mage?"

"Once you meet someone you never truly forget them. And in the case of Earth Mages, everyone has a slightly different energy signature, Mage and non Mage. It's sort of like finger prints; no two are exactly the same. I think it has to do with the fact that all people are earth bound. You on the other hand, don't have a signature. I think it's because you're actually water bound that I can't 'feel' you even though you're sitting right there."

"Speaking of weddings…" I start.

"You know, I have no idea what she's going to do about that. Attila the Hun's been planning for this wedding for over thirteen years. If she goes through with it, she'll have to explain you to everyone. If she cancels it, she'll have to come up with an excuse why. Either way, she ends up with egg on her face. I can't wait to see which one she chooses."

I just smile. I spend the next several days visiting Guillermo. I also ask Liz for some help with a project I want to do. She's happy to comply. Between the two, I manage to keep busy, though I never quite forget about the life barely hanging on in ICU. Five days after Mrs. Cavendish's visit, Guillermo and I are in his room playing chess. I'm pondering my next move when Dr. Evans sticks her head in the door.

"Abe?"

"Hmm?"

"She's asking for you."

It only takes me a second to realize who she means.