Disclaimer: The Life is Strange franchise and its affiliated characters belong to Square Enix. All original characters' names are used with the express permission of their real-life counterparts!

Hope you continue to enjoy the story! It may become more clear that Chloe and Max are gentler than their in-game characters in this chapter, but I was hoping to balance it out with the constant banter that these two wonderful characters share! Hopefully it shines through! :)

Chapter 3: Like We Never Left

Max woke up again, not knowing what time it was. She reached over to her bedside table and checked the time.

4:00 a.m.

She allowed herself to recline slowly. She was wide-awake, and it was before the crack of dawn. Oh well, waking up early did have its benefits, even if she didn't believe in getting up this early. 6:00 a.m. was acceptable, 5:30 a.m. was pushing it, but how early do people have to go to sleep in order to get up at 4:00 a.m.?

Max allowed her mind to drift to thoughts of her long-lost friend. Bridging the time gap between her and Chloe was already going well. Supposedly, throwing yourself in front of a gun did things like that. She sincerely advised against doing it though. It was riskier than playing roulette.

Max genuinely wanted time to catch up on what happened in the past five years since they last saw each other. Chloe's hair was now dyed blue, and she wanted to know what prompted her to do that. Chloe had always had dark blonde hair as they were growing up, very similar to Rachel's come to think of it. Was it part of Rachel's influence or did something happen that prompted her to dye it?

She also wanted to tell Chloe about what had been going on in her life for the past several years as well. She hoped she could make Chloe laugh with stories of her misadventures, show her pictures of what Seattle was like, and reminisce about the days before she left as well. If the two of them could bridge the time gap, they could continue on as if nothing had ever happened.

She smiled wistfully to herself as she realized just how close her and Chloe had been before she moved to Seattle. They had been as close as sisters, and Joyce often commented on how Max was like a second daughter to her. She and Chloe had always had sleepovers with each other, playdates were commonplace, they took plenty of pictures together, and they both played video games, though Max more so than Chloe. She wondered just how much their interests had changed or evolved over the years, or how much had stayed the same.

Her reminiscence was interrupted by a nurse coming in to check on her. It was a young male nurse who looked to be in his mid to late 20s. He had brown wavy hair that was parted in the middle. He had deep ocean-blue eyes. All in all, he was very handsome, but Max loved his beaming smile the most, which immediately put her at ease.

"Good Morning, Max. My name is Andrew, and I will be taking care of you while you are here," he said. "May I have a seat next to you?"

Max nodded. It was nice that the nurse was being so considerate of her feelings and boundaries. He pulled up a chair next to her and smiled as they were at eye level with each other.

"How are you feeling this morning Max?" he asked gently.

"I'm feeling alright. I don't seem to be experiencing any pain, just some tenderness around the stomach area. I'm guessing that's where the bullet hit?" Max questioned.

Andrew nodded, "You were very lucky Max. The bullet failed to rupture any organs other than the stomach. We were able to remove the bullet and suture the wound. You will have a small scar, but the stitches have been closing well and you should be ready to be discharged tomorrow. You won't want to do any major lifting or stretching for about two weeks, but there should be no lasting complications."

Max nodded her understanding, looking relieved.

"You have a very devoted friend, you know. She's been here ever since you were admitted and hasn't left. I prepared a place for her to get some rest, but she's been constantly been ever by your side. Clearly she cares a lot about you. She mentioned to me how you haven't seen each other for some time and this incident is how you two were reunited. You were a very brave person to do that for her. Nurses and doctors are often praised as heroes for our work, but it's very brave to put yourself in a dangerous situation in order to save someone else's life other than your own. That is what makes an everyday hero," he smiled at her, and she felt praised.

Max smirked, "It feels kind of weird though. I save a life and suddenly I'm heralded like a hero, and yet every day you save hundreds of lives and you're just seen as a nurse."

"That just comes with the title, young lady. Now if you need anything, just press the blue button and I'll be here as soon as I can, alright? There is a certain blue-haired friend who wants to see you and is waiting outside the room. You want me to let her in to see you?" he grinned at her.

Max had to admit, this nurse had a good sense of humor. "She's probably going to get on your back for taking so long already," she retorted.

Andrew laughed, "Then I'd better not make my situation worse, huh? It was nice talking to you Max."

Max had one question before he left, "Why did you take the time to sit down and talk to me? I'm sure you have other patients you need to see."

Andrew smiled gently at her, "At 4:30 in the morning, most of our patients are asleep, and so we merely check on them. Since you were awake, I wanted to make sure you know that many of us here do care. We do our best to treat people, but I want my patients to know that I genuinely care about their emotional well-being just as much as their physical well-being. Besides, I truly admire what you did. In this case Max, you're the hero." He let that sink in for a moment before cheekily adding, "Just remember, there are other ways to save lives that are less dangerous."

With that, he stood up. Max was really touched by what he said.

"Andrew, thank you for checking on me…Could I, um…could I get a hug from you, please?" she asked.

He smiled at her, his eyes full of care, "Of course, Max. I love hugs myself."

He leaned down and hugged her just as tightly as she did. He really did care about his patients.

With that, he walked to the door, smiled, and opened the door enough to let a blur of blue hair fly into the room.

She looked at him crossly, "What took you so long? I was about to let myself in you know."

He smiled at her, "I was getting to know your hero better. She seems to be a wonderful person."

Chloe grinned, "So you were flirting with my bae, huh? Watch it Max. Men are pigs."

Andrew grinned back, "I assure you, my intentions were chaste. Some men may be savage or have ulterior motives, but you will find that some of us really do care." With that, he left the room, closing the door behind him, leaving it open just a crack.

Chloe turned to Max, still grinning, "Was he hitting on you, Max?"

Max smiled at her best friend, "No, he wasn't. He said he just cared about the emotional well-being of his patients. He said that I was an everyday hero for what I did."

Chloe walked over to Max and sat down, "Okay, just don't let him lead you on. I'll admit, he's a lot nicer than most of the nurses here, and one of the only male ones on the staff. Don't let him woo you though, girlfriend."

Max pretended to swoon, "I shall try not to fall desperately in love with him, Chloe, but 'twill be a difficult battle."

Chloe swatted her arm playfully, "You dork."

They shared a laugh together before Max decided to try and begin bridging the gap between them.

"Hey Chloe, what caused you to change your hair? I mean, it's rad, but your style has changed completely from when we were kids." Max asked, trying to segue into a conversation.

To her surprise, Chloe's expression turned slightly downcast. "It was mainly Rachel's influence. She knew I was angry about everything happening in my life, with my Dad dying and you leaving. She took me shopping, and I liked how the look emphasized my mood. Eventually, I changed about half of my wardrobe as I started growing, and she thought I would look good with my hair dyed, which is what led to this.

"I kind of kept it this way hoping that I would be easy for her to find if she ever came back. Now that I know what happened to her, I might let my natural hair grow back in." She allowed herself a small smile, "Now that you're back, I feel that would let us look like sisters again."

Max reached over and took her hand. "I would love to get a shot of us when I get out of the hospital, Chloe. I'm not going to tell you how to style your hair Chloe, but I'll get one us of us like this when I leave the hospital, as a farewell to your blue hair if you want."

Chloe smiled gently at her friend, "Thanks Max. I would like that."

Chloe shifted the conversation, "So what have you been up to for the past five years. I'm sure you were living happily in Seattle." There was an undercurrent of bitterness in her words, and Max flinched slightly.

Chloe sighed, "I'm sorry Max. It's still hard for me to accept the fact that you were gone for so long. There was a lot to handle in that time, and it felt like all my friends deserted me. I mean, I am very happy that you're back, but I feel like you're just going to leave my life again as soon as I get my hopes up."

Max squeezed Chloe's hand in a reassuring manner, "Chloe, I promise you that I am not leaving you again. If I leave this town, then I'm taking you with me. Even when I was in Seattle, I never had any friends who I was even remotely as close to you as you and I have been. You are my soul sister, a friend that I can never let go of."

Chloe smiled at her, "You're a real sap you know that? I do love the words you say though. I feel like I can really believe them."

Max reached for her other hand, "When I was in Seattle, I only took a few pictures that I really treasure. Of course I took an obligatory Space Needle picture, but I often looked at the photo albums we made together. None of the pictures I took hold a candle to the ones we took together. I hope that we can make more of them." Max and Chloe had filled about three photo albums with the pictures that they took together. They made the albums together, adding decorations and captions as they saw fit.

Chloe had a flash of memory on her face, "Oh yeah! Do you remember the picture we took of the two of us on the bench by the lighthouse? That was one of my favorites! We totally should take another one when you're discharged! That would be hella awesome, even just to compare them."

Max blushed, "We could even start a new album with it, too."

Chloe seemed really excited, "Yes, we should totally do that! It will be the consummation of our reunion!"

Max laughed, "Whatever you say weirdo. We will make sure that's the first picture after I get out tomorrow."

Chloe's eyes lit up, "You get out tomorrow? That's fantastic! Did your nurse-lover tell you that?"

Max huffed, "He's not my lover. He's just a really nice nurse. He told me that I should be discharged tomorrow as long as everything looks good."

Chloe rolled her eyes, "You already look good. He probably just wants to keep you here another day so he can look at you some more." Her eyes had a suggestive glint in them.

Had Max been up and able, she would have playfully shoved her friend, so she settled for trying to swat Chloe's arm, but Chloe saw it coming, so she pulled her arm away. This resulted in Max banging her still-moving hand on the rail of the bed.

"Ow!"

"Hahaha, that's what you get when you mess with the master of signals!" Chloe laughed.

Max glared at her for a moment before dissolving into laughter herself.

The two girls continued to talk throughout the morning and well into the afternoon. They had lunch together, which basically meant that Max ordered twice as much as she would eat so Chloe could eat as well without having to pay. They continued to laugh, talk, and regain their comfort level with each other. Max was on far less pain medication now, so she was able to stay awake for much longer. Things seemed just like they were before Max ever left. Clearly there was more that both wanted to talk about, but in a more private setting than a hospital. Other than that, things were looking good. They were engaging in their never-ending banter; Max was being a sappy hipster, Chloe was someone between who she was five years ago and a rebel, and neither was withholding anything from the other. They were friends again.