Cheating Death – Chapter 23

By MyNameIsCAL

"Goodnight, Ella."

They all hugged her goodnight, even I did. Then Mom wheeled Ella to her room, leaving us as a flock for just a moment. Nudge threw herself at Iggy and his arms went around her.

"Iggy, I'm sorry," Nudge cried out.

"Shhh, Nudge, it's ok, I'm sorry too," he whispered.

I felt Max lean up against me and I put my arm around her. Gazzy took a seat on the couch, watching Nudge and Iggy. We stood there in silence. The only thing left to do was to see what would happen next.

We sat outside on the front stoop. It was the late afternoon and Ella wanted to get some fresh air. Iggy had finally gone home with Nudge. Gazzy stuck around though, deciding that he didn't want to go back to see Angel.

"Hey, I found some lemonade in the fridge." Gazzy came out of the house with some cups and a pitcher. "Iggy must have made it and forgotten about it."

"That sounds good, it's so hot out here," Max said, reaching for a cup.

I took a cup too and Gazzy poured us some. He gave some to Ella, Mom, and then himself last.

"Mmm, this is so good," Ella said, draining the cup. "Hey, I gotta call Iggy and beg him for how he does it."

I pulled out my phone and began to dial Iggy without much thought, draining my cup quickly. Maybe I was feeling a little tired. Max was resting against me, sipping her lemonade slowly.

"What's up?" he answered, sounding like his normal self now.

"We're having your lemonade you made," I explained, yawning. "Ella wants to bug you to tell her how to make it."

"What lemonade?" Iggy questioned.

I blinked a few times. "I don't know, when you were cooking, you must have made it…"

I yawned again.

"Fang, I never made lemonade."

I felt my eyes close and I dropped the phone, slouching over onto the ground.

"Fang, wake up!"

I tried to sit up, buy me head began to seer with pain.

"Stop, you cut your head."

I looked up, trying to see who was talking, but my vision was blurred.

"I hate blood," the voice grumbled. "Shit, man, you hit your head hard."

"Who…who are you?" I stuttered.

"Gazzy," the voice sighed. "Now hold still, or you'll hurt yourself."

"What…w…what happened?"

I felt something cold go against my forehead. "They took Mom and Ella."

"B…both?" Things were starting to get clearer again.

"Yeah, Max is a wreck," he said, avoiding my eyes. "She came to first. Iggy and Nudge are here."

I was still outside, lying on the ground. The sky was dark now.

"How long have I…I been out?"

"A while. You had more than we did," Gazzy said, sticking a gauze against my forehead and then some tape. "I don't know, we were knocked out pretty hard."

When Gazzy was finished, he helped me up and into the house. A few minutes later, after some struggle, he got me into my bedroom.

"Max will be here in a few minutes," he muttered. "She wants us to all stay here for the night."

I rubbed my eyes, still feeling drowsy.

"This was my fault, Fang."

"No…no it wasn't," I insisted.

"If only I hadn't wanted that stupid lemonade."

"It could have been any of us."

Max entered the room and Gazzy left in a hurry. She got into bed, pulling the blanket over us.

"You never said both of them." She shivered, putting her arm around me.

"Angel never…"

"I know," she said, not allowing me to fumble over my words. "How could that happen though?"

I opened my mouth, but words couldn't come out.

"Don't worry, Fang. It took a long time for us to get Gazzy to talk after he woke up. I had to text Iggy and Nudge." Max let out a sigh. "I just…I need rest, Fang, everyone does. Maybe Angel will tell you something else."

"M…Maybe," I nodded.

And then silence took over us and we said not another word until morning.

"They're only gone, Angel. They're not dead," I stated, standing in the bathroom.

Maybe you're right, but I don't have much of a connection to them.

"Have you talked to Jeb?"

He says he doesn't know anything. They're plotting something. Something big.

"We're not ready to get hit again, Angel," I said, leaning towards the sink, rinsing my face. "How much farther are we gonna get pushed?"

I don't know, Fang. Jeb might try to contact you. You should listen to him.

"Right, of course." I turned off the sink. "I'm starting to think this is going nowhere."

The door opened and Max came in, shuffling towards her sink. "Are you talking to yourself?"

"No, I was talking to Angel," I muttered.

"Oh, right."

We stood there for a long time. I was waiting for her to break down, or to get angry at me, but then she turned back to the sink and I left after another minute, wondering if the others were still around.

Iggy sat in the kitchen with Nudge, both of them looking tired. Gazzy was sitting in front of the TV, staring at it, but it wasn't on, and I got the feeling he was sitting there blaming himself for what had happened. No one talked as I took a seat at the table. I mean, what was there to say?