Cheating Death – Chapter 15

By MyNameIsCAL

I couldn't sleep tonight, not after seeing Jeb, not after knowing that Angel had trusted him without asking us first. But maybe Angel was right. Maybe Jeb wasn't the bad guy. I rolled over, facing Max. She had fallen asleep a while ago, exhausted from the past week.

Fang, you need to sleep.

"No, I'll sleep when I want to," I muttered.

You really must stop talking to yourself out loud, especially around Max, Angel scolded.

I sighed. Well, stop annoying me. I want my time to think, alright? It's been a long day.

I know, that's why you need to rest.

I ignored her, staring at the ceiling now, tracing lines on the wall, watching the moonlight like it might change positions all of a sudden, just like I felt everything right now was unbalanced. Angel continued to nag me to sleep for the next couple of hours, every now and then invading my thoughts. It wasn't until I closed my eyes that she told me to not go to sleep.

You need to stay awake! She shouted.

A short vision filled my head…

I was in bed, just like I had been before Angel brought this flash before me. I was lying there, just lying there, half asleep. And suddenly, a shadow flickered across the moonlight. There was a sound of air swooshing, and then Max coughing. Turning to my side, all I could see was blood staining the sheets, a shadowy figure standing over her…

Jolting back to life, I saw the shadow, but it was real this time. I threw myself at the figure.

"Oh, shit!" The voice was familiar, muffled by my arm as we went tumbling to the floor. I felt something sharp in my chest.

The lights in the room came on, Max jumping out of bed.

I stared at the attacker. His eyes were full of fear as he tried to break free of my grip.

It was Gazzy.

I let go of him, sliding onto the floor. Max's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry…" That was the last thing I heard as I slipped into unconsciousness.

I wasn't surprised to wake up in the hospital. In fact, that was probably a bad thing because, well, you're not supposed to be used to that. Outside the room, through the door window, I could see Max talking to a cop, Iggy standing there looking silent. The cop left a short while later, allowing Max and Iggy to enter my room.

"Jeez, Fang," Max let out a breath, taking a seat next to the bed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said.

"Gazzy stabs hard," Iggy added. "Broke a couple of your ribs too. But I guess they've got you on painkillers. I'm sure it'll hurt tomorrow."

"Thanks for your support," I remarked.

He gave me a grin, taking a seat in the chair. But it soon faded away. Max wasn't supposed to be this calm.

"I told Max," Iggy said.

I closed my eyes, feeling Max take my hand.

"There wasn't any other way," Iggy went on. "Gazzy just decided he wanted to kill her for no reason. I didn't think that would cut it."

Was that what Gazzy was trying to do? I felt a twinge of pain in my chest.

"Why didn't you ever say anything before?" Max asked.

"Because I didn't want you to go do something stupid to save all of us," I admitted. "I didn't want to lose you."

"I'm not angry at you," she said, as if reading my mind. "I…I just wish you hadn't kept it from me for so long."

"I'm sorry," I grumbled.

Max shook her head.

"I gotta go. Nudge is with Gazzy at home. The cops wanted to drag him off, but Max convinced them not to," Iggy said, standing. "I'll see you later."

Max sighed after he closed the door. I didn't want to talk to her, I wanted to wince away and drown in my guilt.

"So that's what you've all been keeping from me, huh?" Max smoothed out my hair.

I nodded.

"Your nightmares aren't nightmares, they're about things that could really happen." It wasn't a question. Max was stating the truth.

I nodded again.

She squeezed my hand.

"Losing you would be like losing myself," I said, my voice shaking. "Promise me that you won't throw yourself in harm's way to save us."

"I promise, Fang."

Max spent the rest of the night with me, trying to coax me to sleep, but I wouldn't. I didn't want to dream about what could happen, I wanted to know that when I was seeing it, I wouldn't have to wake up in tears, I wanted to know I was coming back to reality. And Max, ever so patient, ever so understanding, sat through the early hours of morning, still awake, holding my hand, trying to convince me things would be okay.

Part of me was glad that I wasn't the one to explain things to her, that Iggy and Nudge seemed to have done a good job of telling her, but a bigger part of me still felt guilty. It should have been me telling her. And I should have told her right off the bat, not waiting until I had to. Angel, who I had been wondering where she was, never answered any of my questions. I wondered if she was mad or trying to figure out what was going to happen next now that Max knew.

And as the sunlight started to shine through the windows, I finally let sleep claim me.

We'll see how Gazzy is in the next chapter. I never wanted Max to get mad about everything. While Max can get really angry sometimes and run away, I thought it would be better, at least for this, that she would understand everything. I mean, I'd really like not to send her into a rage where she goes and does something stupid. If it makes you feel better, I'm trying not to kill anyone in this story.

Next chapter will be up after the weekend. Thanks for reading!