Chapter 28

Max

I looked up at her and smiled softly, she has fallen to sleep, I leaned over and kissed her slightly on the lips before kissing her forehead, I stood up and pulled my hand away slightly, she tightened her grip on me and I smiled widely, even in sleep she didn't want me to pull away. I leaned over and kissed her gently.

"I love you Max," she whispered and I smiled.

"I love you too." I whispered back and finally loosen her grip on my hand before wrapping the covers around her and walking out of the room where the rest of my family were waiting.

Everyone jumped up when I exited the room and hurried over to me.

"How is she?" my mom asked and I sighed.

"She's fine, it was my child." I told her and her hand flew up to her mouth.

"She lost our grandchild?" she asked and I nodded.

"Why did she end up in hospital?" Tammy demanded. "They have hit her before, not this hard or bad before, what changed?"

"They found out about the baby and didn't like it." I whispered and Isabel looked at me.

"They put Liz in hospital because she was pregnant?" Isabel demanded and I nodded.

"Yeah, they didn't like the fact that she seemed to be moving on with her life with me while Rosa was dead." I told them and she shook her head in disgust.

"I bet Rosa is rolling over in her grave at the thought what her parents have put her sister through." She muttered to herself.

"How is she?" Tammy asked.

"She was tired, I told her that she lost the baby and that her parents were in jail." I told them and they nodded.

"How far along was she Max?" My dad asked and I smiled gently.

"About a month, she had a feeling that it was a boy." I told them and they smiled sadly at me.

"How is she, emotionally?" Jake asked and I shrugged.

"I think she is still in a shock, I don't think it registered that I know and that she had lost the baby." I explained and he nodded.

"Can we see here?" Maria asked and dad shook his head.

"Not right now sweetie, let her get some rest beside, I don't think she wants you to see her like the way she is right now." dad told her as he pulled her into a hug and she nodded.

"I just don't understand why her parents would attack their own child." She exclaimed. "They are suppose to love and protect her!" she sobbed out and dad hugged her harder.

"There is no reason." Dad stated.

Tammy

I looked off and I saw Jim heading toward us.

"Dad, uncle Jim is coming." I told him, everyone turned around and Jim stopped.

"Hey, how is she?" he asked.

"She's fine, she's sleeping at the moment." Max explained and Jim nodded.

"Dad, Liz was pregnant, she lost the baby." Kyle whispered and Jim looked at his son in a stunned shock before shaking head sadly.

"What's the deal with her parents?" I asked and everyone looked at me before looking at him.

"They have been arrested for noise disturbance." Jim explained and I shook my head.

"Charge them with child abuse." I told him and he looked at me.

"What?" He demanded.

"Her parents have been beating her up since she was eight years old, they are the reason she is in the hospital right now and the reason she lost the baby." I told him and his jaw tightened.

"Proof." He stated.

"The battered body of Liz Parker." I told him and he nodded.

"That's enough proof for me." He stated and stalked over the reception area and phone the station, finally, Liz's parents was going to get what was coming to them, maybe now Liz can live her life in peace.

"What are you doing Tammy?" Diane asked and I looked at her.

"I also told Liz that if she ended up in hospital, she could forget about me protecting her parents, they are going down for what they did to her." I told them.

Liz

I woke up to sunlight shining in my face, at first I was confused about where I was till it hit me, I was in hospital. I sat up and looked at the walls as everything came back to me. The doctor hitting me with the fact that I was pregnant, my parents losing their temper and beating me up, finding out that Max knows the truth…finding out that I lost the baby. I felt unbearable pain shoot through my body at the last thought; I lost our baby.

I felt tears come to my eyes; I fought hard to fight them back when I heard a male voice.

"Hey, you okay?" Max asked as he sat down, I looked up at him with tears in my eyes and I shook my head, he bundled me up in his arms so that I was sitting on his lap and I cried into his chest.

"I lost our baby!" I sobbed out and he rocked me backward and forward, kissing my forehead.

"It wasn't your fault." He whispered and I shook my head.

"It was my fault, if I hadn't killed Rosa then none of this would have happened!" I cried and he pulled back so he could look at me in the eyes.

"Now you listen to me." He warned. "You never killed Rosa, your parents lied about the letter Liz; Rosa never left any letter." He told me and I shook my head.

"But…" I protested and he shook his head.

"But nothing Liz, they thought that they could take their anger out on you. Rosa had a lot of problems when she was young, she was doing drugs Liz, she never left a letter for anyone." Max stated firmly.

"Tammy was right." I whispered and he looked at me, puzzled.

"About what?" he asked and I looked out of the window.

"That you wouldn't blame me for killing Rosa." I whispered, refusing to look at him.

"Liz…" he breathed out.

"I tried to tell you but we kept getting interrupted and I would lose my nerves, I was scared that you would side with my parents, that you would agree with them and hate me for killing Rosa." I explained and he placed his hand under my chin and forced me to look at him.

"Listen to me Liz." He whispered as my eyes met his. "I love you and I would have never agreed with your parents, it wasn't your fault that Rosa died and I would have gotten you away from your parents the minute if you had told me." His eyes soften. "I could never hate you." He whispered and I felt the tears come to my eyes once more, he enveloped me in his hug and stroked back my hair, this time; my tears were of relief.

Max

I stepped out into the hallway and I rested my back on the wall. I could feel the tears stinging the back of my eyes, I tried hard to fight them but all I could see was Liz's fearful eyes playing about in my head, I slumped to the floor, still resting my back against the wall as I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to hold back the tears.

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and I looked up to see Tammy kneeling beside me.

"She thought I would hate her." I whispered out and she nodded, her lips curled up in a sad smile.

"I know." She whispered and I turned to face the wall.

"Did I do something to make her think that I would hate her?" I whispered and she sighed.

"Come on, you need to have a drink, god know I need one." She told me as she helped me up and led me to the canteen.

She got us some hot chocolate as I sat down at one of the empty tables; the room was so empty. She got the drinks and sat across from me and handed me the cup. "It wasn't you." She whispered and I looked at her. "Liz has been beaten up since she was eight years old Max, she lived with this secret for nearly ten years now. Her parents started beating her up after the funeral, at least, that when I think they started beating her up." She explained and ran a hand through her dark locks. "They had programmed it into her head that she was worthless, that she deserved the beatings and that she was a killer for pushing Rosa over the edge. I found out three years ago and, god, you should have seen her, she was petrified that I was going to blame her for her sister's death, I had to pin her to the bed in order to get her to calm down and listen to me." She explained.

"You wanted to tell me, didn't you?" I asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, I tried to tell you Max, but I had made a promise to her. I gave you hints and I noticed you picked up on them but it was pointless as Liz always had a story to why she had bruise on her body. God Max, she wanted to tell you too, I could see her fighting within herself to tell you but in the end, the fear always won."

"How could you cope with it?" I asked her, I knew my sister was strong and I was wondering if she ever had a breaking point.

"I didn't, I was furious with her parents when I found out that I was ready to kill them myself, it was only Liz's fear that held me back. I begged and pleaded her to tell someone but she refused, over the time we wouldn't talk about what happened because I'm not equipped to deal with it and she knew that it would eventually push me over the edge and tell someone, damn the promise." She explained and sighed. "God, I love the girl like a sister but she just has to be so damn stubborn half the time." She muttered.

"Is that the reason why you kept making sure she was staying over at our house all the time and such?" I asked and she nodded.

"Her parents never knew that I knew and we both kept it that way cause we knew that it would get worse if they knew that I knew, ever since they didn't know that I knew, they let her go to our house without an argument." She told me and I rested my back in the chair.

"What the hell did they do to her?" I breathed out and Tammy shrugged.

"They beated her torso the most, you know, to stop any bruises showing up when she was cheerleading and such, I think finding out the baby just pushed them over the edge, the fact that it could have been Rosa who could have been having the baby if she hadn't died just made them crack." She whispered and I shook my head.

"Still no excuse to go around beating up Liz because she was alive for fucks sake." I snapped as I stood up, my chair scrapping against the ground.

"Don't you think I know that?" Tammy demanded as she stood up. "I begged her to tell someone, to tell you or hell, even a teacher if that what it took to get her away from them! God, I was the one who helped her to cover up her bruises so that no one could see them!" she exclaimed. "I wanted to tell someone but I knew that Liz would spin up a lie to think that I was going crazy and she would hate me. God, I love her but I really wish she would stop being so stubborn for once." She whispered and I sighed.

"At least her parents are in jail." I muttered and she nodded before looking at me.

"Go to her Max, she needs you." She told me and I nodded, I kissed her forehead before leaving the canteen and heading toward Liz's room.

I stepped in and saw that she was still sleeping, I removed my shoes and slipped into the bed, I knew it was against the rules but I needed to hold her, to remind myself that she was alive and was with me.

She moaned my name as she shuffled closer to me, making sure that her head resting over my heart before sighing and falling back into a deep sleep, I kissed her forehead before resting my face in her hair and going to sleep myself, we can sort everything out later.

TBC