CHAPTER 2: THE FIRST BREAKDOWN

It was only a matter of time before Max had a breakdown. The day hadn't started well, with Max waking up quite grumpy and

uncooperative, refusing to eat, drink, take his medication or even get himself dressed. Elias had tried to feed him his breakfast (which had his crushed up medication hidden within, Max HATED having to swallow pills), but ultimately it was a failure, which caused Max to be even more grumpy because he was hungry and thirsty. Kate also tried her hardest to coax him into letting her bathe him or even clean his teeth, but Max screamed whenever she came near with a toothbrush or tried to take his pajamas off to put him in the bath.

And so, Max sat in his wheelchair in his dirty pajamas, arms crossed and resting bitch face on, as Elias and Kate watched from afar, not wanting to disturb him incase they made his mood worse.

"What even happened for him to end up this moody?"

"I don't know, maybe he didn't have a good night's sleep, I did feel him tossing and turning a good bit. I think the stress of the whole thing is getting to him as well."

"I'm a bit worried, Kate. He's not eating or drinking anything. Should we bring him to a hospital? He hasn't had his meds either and you know what'll happen if he doesn't get them."

"I don't think we should. He's just being picky, I think I know what to give him." She stood up, passing by Max's previously discarded cereal, and reached into a cupboard, pulling out Max's favorite candy, along with a Cherry Coke, proceeding to crush up more of his pills and put the powder in the can, mixing it up slightly so it would dissolve. It wasn't a healthy breakfast, but it was the best she could do. She cautiously approached Max, kneeling down onto his level.

"Max? I know you aren't really feeling breakfast, but if you could at least eat and drink a bit of this I'll be happy." She held them out and watched as he slowly took it from her hands, backing up as he did as to give him space, sitting back down as he began to slowly eat and drink, only managing to stomach about half of each before putting them down, continuing to watch whatever was going on outside from the window.

Elias and Kate left him there, getting up and going off to do chores for the day, and once they returned they found Max slouched over in his wheelchair, fast asleep. Looks like it was definitely a bad night's sleep. Kate sighed, and gently wheeled him into the bedroom, before lifting him up and placing him in bed, pulling the covers up and over his body to keep him warm, before leaving the bedroom, shutting the door tight to keep any noise from disturbing him.

"If we wake him up, we are fucked. So we have to do things as quietly as possible." Elias nodded, knowing this fact too, and so the two had to go about their morning hanging out quietly, though mostly choosing to spend it outdoors, going on a nice long stroll through the forest to see what else they could discover. They didn't discover much, but it was enough to satisfy them.

They began to return home, hand in hand and smiling… But their smiles turned to looks of concern as they approached the house, hearing the faint sounds of crying. Elias immediately let go of Kate's hand, running ahead to see what had happened, with Kate trailing just behind. By the time she got into the house, Max's loud sobs were apparent. She rushed into the bedroom, where Elias had Max in his lap on the bed, cradling him close.

"H-He-! I don't know what's wrong-!" Elias was panicked, thinking Max may be hurting or had a nightmare. Kate knelt down beside them, trying to comfort Max, but Max screeched loudly, and lashed out, trying to hit and kick her and Elias hard. Whatever it was, it had sent him into a full-blown meltdown.

"OW-!" Elias yelped loudly as Max hit him hard in the chest, still screaming at the top of his lungs. Elias quickly thought, and grabbed the blanket, wrapping Max up and swaddling him like a baby to restrict his arms and legs to stop him hitting and kicking. Despite it, Max tried to hit, and became even more frustrated when he couldn't. Elias threw him over his shoulder, Max's head resting on his shoulder as Elias started gently stroking his hair, trying to calm him down. Kate stood, watching for a moment as she then proceeded to turn and leave them to it, Elias knew how to deal with it better than she did and she'd probably only make it worse anyways. Though she couldn't even do anything to pass the time because of how loud Max was screeching, he didn't seem to want to calm down at all. She just tried her best to get chores done, attempting to block out the noises of her upset father-in-law, though was curious as to what he was so upset about. She thought hard… Oh. It was probably because he was missing Alicia. It would make a lot of sense…

Though of course yet again, she wouldn't be in her thoughts for long as Elias called out to her moments later. "Kate-! Get the basin-! He's gonna be sick-!"

That was all she had to hear as she quickly dashed to the sink, grabbing the basin and running into the bedroom, managing to just get it under Max's head as he started to vomit from how hard he'd been crying. Elias still held him over his shoulder, patting his back as a form of comfort until he was done puking up whatever was in his stomach, feeling him essentially crumple, going limp in his arms, exhausted from it all. He couldn't even muster up the energy to cry any longer, just letting out small, low pitched whimpers and shaking a lot.

"There, there dad… You're ok, you're fine, everything is fine. We're safe." Elias was now stroking him gently, laying him in his lap again, wiping away his tears whilst also trying not to cry himself. Max's meltdowns were always awful.

"Do you know why he's so upset?"

"I'm not sure." Elias continued to pat him, looking down at Max as his head was laid on his shoulder. "Dad, can you tell me why you're so upset?" He waited for a response, but nothing. Max was too exhausted from it all to give an answer.

"I… Think I may know why, Elias. One word. Alicia." Kate watched as Elias' expression changed from confusion to realization, and simply just pulled Max in closer.

"Is that it? Is that why you're so sad?" He felt as Max was able to shake his head yes, confirming Kate's suspicions to be true. Elias didn't say anything, just continuing to hold him there in a comfort hug. Talking about it now would just make things worse for Max. The two stayed like that for a while, Kate just pensively watching, until Elias noticed Max was fighting his sleep, clearly tired but not wanting to go to sleep.

"C'mon dad, stop fighting your sleep. If you want to sleep, sleep. I'll stay with you to make sure you don't get upset again." That was all it took for Max to be satisfied, as he fell asleep again almost immediately after. Elias let out a long sigh once he felt Max's breathing slowing and his body relaxing.

"That… Was a bad one. REALLY bad. It's not often he makes himself sick from how much he's crying."

"Yeaahhh, I'm gonna have to clean the basin now, we kinda need it to wash the dishes. At least it wasn't on the bed sheets, god forbid, we would have all had to huddle for warmth like sardines."

"Hah, you're right. I'll stay here with him, relax for a while, he's gonna be asleep for hours, his breakdowns wear him out a lot."

Kate nodded. "And I'll get a start cleaning this thing up." She picked up the vomit-filled basin, grimacing a little as she brought it to the sink to clean it up. She loved Max, but good god were his breakdowns gonna be the death of her during this hideout operation.