Cheating Death – Chapter 9
By MyNameIsCAL
Max was still shaken in the morning. It took a while for both of us to get ready and head over to the hospital. Landing and pulling in our wings, I saw Nudge standing outside.
"What are you doing here?" I asked quietly.
Nudge looked at me, and then at Max, who looked like she wanted to cry for the past half hour or so. "Iggy wanted to come see Mom and Ella. Gazzy should be here soon. He's up there already, I'm just waiting for Gazzy."
But there was something else Nudge was holding back. Max didn't see it though, and she left us, saying she had to go see Ella and Mom.
"I think he just feels guilty," Nudge said, leaning against the wall after Max was out of earshot. "You know, he always had feelings for her, not that I'll ever understand why."
"He married you, Nudge," I reminded her.
She gave me a small smile. "I know. And he knows that I know that he feels guilty, and I'm sure he'll feel guilty about feeling guilty, so he'll talk to me about it later. But it just, unsettles me, you know? I mean, I know, he even told me that he would have always chosen me over her because she's not like us, not that I have anything against humans and…"
"Nudge, stop rambling," I cut her off, spotting Gazzy making his descent. "Iggy loves you more than anything in the world, and you know that."
She looked defeated, and we watched Gazzy land a few feet in front of us. He looked anxious, like he always did, when he was out of his house. It looked like he had attempted to dress himself nicely, maybe because he was seeing Mom for the first time in years.
"Shall we go in?" I asked.
He nodded and I led the way.
Mom looked overwhelmed to see all of us there, all at once. I found myself unable to go into Ella's room again, so I waited outside with Nudge.
"What's keeping you out?" I asked quietly, leaning against the wall.
Nudge shrugged. "I'm just selfish."
The door opened and Max came out, burying her face in my chest. I put my arms around her, closing my eyes, wishing that when I opened them, all our troubles would disappear. Gazzy came out next, and he hadn't been in there all that long, but he just walked past us, muttering that he needed to go home. Nudge looked like she wanted to go after him, and even Max had lifted her head for a second, wondering if there was anything she could do for him.
"She's awake," Max cleared her throat, taking a step back. "But they've got her loaded with all these pain killers. Mom says she needs surgery again, probably tomorrow."
The door opened and Iggy came out, blinking back tears. He took Nudge by the hand and before we knew it, they were gone too.
"Well, we better go say goodbye to Mom," I said, starting down the hall.
Mom stood as she saw us making our way towards her. "Are you leaving already?"
Max opened and closed her mouth a few times. "Is there anything else we can do for you?"
Mom shook her head.
"I'll come back tomorrow, for Ella's surgery, okay?" Max said, hugging Mom.
"Thank you," I heard Mom whisper.
It was almost midnight when my phone buzzed on the bedside table. I slipped a pillow under Max's head, which had been leaning against me, and took my phone to the hall, answering it.
"Fang, I was just thinking before I went to sleep that the shooting was all connected back to when those guys tried to attack Max." It took me a minute to realize it was Gazzy. "And I was just watching the news. There are five students missing. I mean, that other school, the one with the name that spells ITEX, maybe they're experimenting on people. I mean, could that be possible, Fang?"
I thought for a moment. "But how can we be sure?"
Gazzy sighed. "Why don't you ask my sister!"
"Gazzy, she doesn't know everything," I grumbled.
"Have you talked to her today?"
"No."
"Alright, goodnight."
And he hung up before I could even say anything else. Poor kid.
I sat with Mom in the cafeteria, leaving Max in the waiting room in case the doctor came around. Neither of us was really that hungry, but food gave us something to occupy ourselves with.
"So how are things going?" Mom asked, almost nervously. "I heard about Angel. I'm really sorry to hear."
I pushed the food around my plate. "It's been hard on Gazzy. He doesn't like to leave her. But Iggy and Nudge got married recently. Max and I, well, I guess it'll be almost four years now."
Mom shook her head. "Time went by too fast. I wish you had stuck around longer."
"I do too," I agreed quietly, now moving to my drink as a distraction. "Makes me wonder if things would have…would have…"
"Turned out differently," she finished for me.
And I nodded, unsure of what else to say.
Random Fact: "Cheating Death" was originally going to be a plot line for "The Disbanded: Divided We Stand" to give Angel more spotlight. She was supposed to foreshadow terrible events, which couldn't be changed. I realized it would make "The Disbanded" longer than I wanted it to be, and also it would take the story too far from what it was really meant to be. So I created this, the original idea changed, but still intact.
I think I'll randomly do that at the end of some chapters for all my fics. Make some interesting tidbits every now and again.
Well, thanks for reading! New chapter soon!