Cheating Death – Chapter 16

By MyNameIsCAL

"Fang, what is it?"

I opened my eyes, staring at Max.

"Fang." She repeated my name.

I closed my eyes now, wishing I wouldn't have to tell her what I just saw. She took my hand and I propped myself up against her, trying to fight the tears. This was day five at being in the hospital, day five of five waking up and crying, like it had been after Angel had gotten stuck in limbo.

"What did you see?" Max asked quietly, her hand rubbing my back. "It's okay, you can tell me."

She said that every morning.

"You…you were going to buy food with Mom," I managed to say, feeling the tears go down my cheeks. "And this guy was there, trying to steal this lady's purse. But you…you tried to stop him and he…he…"

"He killed me?" Max finished.

I nodded.

"I'll see if Iggy wants to have Mom over for dinner then, alright?"

But no matter what Max did to avoid what I had seen, I still felt it didn't change anything. I knew that it bothered Max too. How do you spend time around someone that could tell you when you might possibly be killed next? I thought Max knowing would make me feel better, but it didn't.

When the tears slowed and I managed to get down a few deep breaths, Max fixed the pillows and I lay back down.

"I have to go talk to Iggy and Mom, alright? I'll be back."

But I knew that it would be a while until I saw her, probably an hour or so. I felt like the more time I spent here, the less I saw Max. But maybe being home wouldn't be any different.

She just needs time to let things sink in, Angel assured me.

I wondered if she knew that or if she made that up to make me feel better.

Now's not the time to doubt Max. You know she loves you more than anything in the world.

Sighing, I turned on the TV.

The door suddenly swung open, Gazzy entering in a run, Nudge skidding in a few seconds behind him.

"I need to talk to him!" Gazzy exclaimed.

Nudge came to a halt in the doorway, her eyes following Gazzy.

"It's alright, Nudge," I muttered. "Let him talk to me."

She closed the door, taking a seat on the couch. Gazzy was at my bedside.

"I…I'm really sorry, Fang."

I looked out the window in the opposite direction. "Are you really, Gazzy?"

He sat down. "I was angry. I just…I can't take this anymore. There has to be a way to fix this."

"How do you think I feel?" I questioned. "Do you think I like having to see you all die multiple times in a hundred different ways?"

"No…" Gazzy sounded like a little kid again.

"How am I supposed to know you won't try to kill me next? Or try to get at Max again, or even your sister?" I forced him to look me in the eye now. "How do I know that you won't try to hurt yourself?"

Gazzy's eyes fell to the floor. "I don't know."

"I…I can't babysit you, Gaz." I let out a breath. "But you lost my trust and I don't know what to do anymore."

"Because…I promise I won't do anything stupid," he said, voice shaking.

I just want to go home…To be alone…

Wait, those weren't my thoughts. They weren't Angel's either.

Max knows now, things are different. I don't want to hurt anyone…If I went away, maybe things would be better…

It took me a second to realize that Angel was letting me see into her brother's thoughts. I shook my head. "I don't want to push you away. We all need to get through this together."

He frowned. "Since when can you read minds?"

"I…I can't, but Angel let's me sometimes."

Gazzy stood. "Of course."

And then Gazzy was gone and out the door.

"Should I go after him?" she asked me.

I shook my head.

A week later, I was out of the hospital. The dreams seemed to get worse, but I often found myself sleeping at abnormal times, which meant Max would be out with Mom somewhere. There was no one around to comfort me anymore, and with the pain, everything just seemed numb.

But the visions I had weren't about Max anymore, they seemed to revolve around Iggy and Nudge. I reached for the phone and dialed Iggy's house number. Lately it seemed like there was tension between them.

"Hello?"

"Ig, what's going on between you and Nudge?"

He let out a sigh. "She wants a kid, Fang. But I don't think this is the right time to be thinking about that kind of stuff. I don't want to bring a kid into this world where it'll have to suffer because we're trying to dodge getting killed. It made her angry that I said that, but she knows I'm right."

"Well, whatever you do, don't get into another argument, alright?"

"You're not going to tell me what you saw?"

I paused. "Let's just say it ends with one of you running from the other and well, I'm sure you can guess what comes after that."

"Right, hail the size of minivans or a runaway train comes barreling through the neighborhood," Iggy replied. "Thanks, Fang."

And after all this time, Iggy seemed like the only one who could take this. I'm sure if he wasn't blind, Angel would have picked him to save us instead.

Any thoughts on Max's distance from Fang? I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you though. I'll post Chapter 17 sometime during the week! Thanks for reading!

Check out my new story Meant to Be if you get the chance.