I am an idiot. I can't believe that this could possibly happen. Of all the stupid things… Alec silently fumed. He was sitting on an examining table in Dr. Carr's office. 'One little errand' she says. One little errand my ass! And why the hell do doctors always use those stupid tongue depressors?! Dr. Carr had been treating him like a slow child for the past ten minutes and Alec was in no position to tell him that it was unnecessary. Max had called ahead to make the appointment. She explained that it was possible he was going crazy. Insanity did run in the family, though she didn't use those words he knew what she meant. He frowned. He had of course objected to this situation. And then she had threatened him with the ass-kicking of a lifetime if he attempted to leave the room before both she and Dr. Carr were satisfied as to his health. Damn it! Now they were both studying him intensely. And Dr. Carr had a needle precariously close to his arm and if he didn't come up with something to convince them that he was fine very, very soon, he was going to be one unhappy transgenic.

Max was looking at him like she cared, like maybe she'd be receptive to his little speech. But, given the givens, it had to be a very good little speech. Something to make her melt, it had to be something to make her unable to reject him or laugh at him or… or hit him or anything else that he was expecting. 'I love you more than I have ever found a way to say to you.' Yeah. That would do. It was sweet, romantic and would get him out of having to give the doctor a blood sample to somehow prove he wasn't going batty. Unfortunately, that isn't what popped out of Alec's mouth when he opened it.

"Next door there's an old man who lived to his nineties and one day passed away in his sleep" Max gave him an incredulous look. Clearly he was not explaining himself properly. Again. He cleared his throat.

"His wife, she stayed for a couple of days and passed away." If he wasn't so damn petrified the situation would be comical. But he was. So it wasn't. Max arched an eyebrow. She was, perhaps, expecting some kind of explanation. Not to mention the weird looks Dr. Carr was shooting him. Or maybe they would be satisfied with a point to this whole rambling story. He wasn't going insane. He wasn't. Was he? That would explain…

"In conclusion…?" Max prompted. She had never seen him trip so badly over his words. Before today, she'd never seen him trip over his words at all. He was always the smooth Smart-Alec she named him for. Whatever it was that was wrong with him, it must be bad. Alec said nothing. Dr. Carr continued to stare quizzically. Max was back to being irritated. At least that beat her being quietly concerned for his mental health. The silence last 1.27 minutes.

"See?! He's been doing this all day! And he's been acting really weird for at least a week now!" She yelled, exasperated. Alec grimaced. She'd moved on to being not-so-quietly concerned for his mental health.

"Alright," Dr. Carr started, he moved forward and brought out the needle again. This was not good. "We'll take a basic blood sample. And if I can find nothing wrong there, we'll set up an MRI." Dr. Carr turned towards Alec and directed the next statement to him. "Max told me that you'd crashed your bike earlier in the week maybe you've bumped your head. This could all just be temporary confusion due to a concussion. But it's been a while, especially with your special healing abilities, so I would recommend a full work-up."

It irked Alec that Dr. Carr was talking to him like a child. He did NOT bump his head. He was just… terrified… of a girl. Ouch. This was really not the mood he was going for, but they wouldn't let him leave until they'd sorted out what was wrong with him and that was just going to get more and more awkward. So he turned to face Max and smiled sheepishly.

"I'm sorry. I know that's a… strange… way to tell you…" Silence.

"Tell me what Alec?" Her voice was so soft, caring that he couldn't force the words out between his teeth. His mind raged at him. 'That I know we belong!' His lips still stubbornly refused to cooperate. She put her hand on his shoulder and wondered why he looked so frightened. He looked completely scared stiff. And then… disaster.

"In conclusion, I am in love with you!" He was sooo never attempting to tell a woman he loved her again.