Chapter Sixteen

"Ella, what's going on with you and Iggy?" I asked as I scrubbed a dish.

She blushed and looked down. "I don't know. But…" she trailed off.

I finished rinsing the dish and put it on Mom's drying rack. I turned and leaned against the cabinet as I gently told her, "It's ok, El. I'm listening; I'm here if you ever need anyone to talk to."

"What do you know about anything? Beside, I can't talk to you-you're always on the run!" she exploded as she slammed down the dish and stalked off to her room.

I sighed.

"Hey," said Fang as he peered around the corner. I gave a small smile at him, knowing that he had heard the entire dialog.

I sighed. "Fang, what did I do wrong?" I said. He came up to me and just…held me. I buried my head into his chest, trying to blink back the tears. "Why do we always have to be on the run? Damn it! I hate this. I can't…I can't save the world and be there for Ella and Mom at the same time."

"Shh, shh," Fang cooed softly, petting my hair. How un-Fang-like. "It will be alright."

"How do you know?"

He faked a sigh. "Max, how many times do I have to tell you? I know everything."

"Sure you do," I said. "So what's the president's middle name?"

"Ha, ha." He let go (unwillingly, almost). "Don't worry, talk to Ella. It'll work out." He reached over, grabbed a dish and started scrubbing.

"Thanks." I turned around and finished the dishes. What was wrong with me? I'm getting so emotional. I think those scientists screwed up and wired me with to much girly emotions. I finished putting the last dish on the drying rack and took a glance at the clock: thirty minutes till noon.

"Shoot! Jeb will be here in half an hour, and we still haven't talked to Mom about Iggy."

Knock, knock.

"Come in," said Mom from inside her office.

Fang opened the door. He held it open for me and bowed like those old English butlers. Jerk. I went through but made sure that I elbowed his stomach of the way in.

"Max, Fang. What's up?" She asked as she stood up.

"Are you busy?" Fang asked.

"No…" she trailed off, seeing as what we were going to talk to her about was big.

"We'll, we need to talk to you about something." I paused, thinking how I should say my thoughts.

Mom obviously took it the wrong way. "No! Maximum Ride, you are only sixteen. You cannot be pregnant! I had though-no I would have hoped- you two would be more re-"

Fang burst out laughing. "Hell, no, Mom!" I said. "It's about Iggy and his blindness."

"Oh" was all she said out loud. Although, I swear I heard her mutter something under her breath like: "Thank you God. I am so not ready for that."

"Umm…" I said, stalling for time. I gave Fang a look that I dubbed the Little Help Here Look.

He took over. "Dr. Martinez, we would like to see if Iggy's blindness can be removed, or cured." I gave him a grateful smile, which he returned with a smug look. I resisted the urge to stick out my tongue, but rolled my eyes.

"Oh. Well, that's a great idea! I'll have to talk to one of my old peers from collage. He is an eye specialist. Sound okay?" she asked. You could hear the relief floating out of her voice in tons.

I had to ask. "Mom, will Iggy have to do tests?" Fang and I looked at each other. This was the part that we were most worried about. We had all been mentally upset by the test at the school, but Fang, Iggy and I were, in my opinion, scarred the most, seeing as we had been there the longest (aside from the malicious scientists). So we had to be paranoid about Iggy's could-be procedure.

"Yes," she answered. Then she took a look at my face and continued. "But, I'll make sure that those tests will not be harmful at all."

"Good. Thanks," I said as I shot her a grateful smile. She returned it.

Then, the doorbell rang.