I own nothing from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

Minutes turned to hours as Carey Martin watched her son Zack drift further toward death. The doctors had hoped that Zack would respond well to the antibiotics they were giving him to fight his infection but now, 12 hours on; it did not seem that that was happening. Zack had fallen from semi-consciousness to being completely unconscious and his temperature had kept going up despite the doctors best efforts to fight the infection.

Carey desperately waited for the results of Zack's blood test, hoping that it would reveal just what his infection was and that with that information the doctors would be able to treat Zack. Moesby tried to get Carey to lie down and rest, it had been such a terribly difficult day which was now drawing toward its close at midnight. Carey couldn't sleep though, every time she closed her eyes she saw Cody's body lying in the room before her eyes and when her eyes were open all she could see was Zack fighting for life.

"Ms. Martin" Carey was taken out of a daze by the arrival of a man in a white lab coat "I'm Doctor Randall, I've been asked by Zack's doctor to speak to you about the infection, I am a specialist in this field" he continued.

"Do you have the result of the blood test?" Carey asked nervously

"Yes, we've determined that Zack has Staphylococcus aureus, it is relatively common but unfortunately it is highly drug resistant and in Zack's present situation his immune system is severely suppressed. I'm sorry I don't have better news" the doctor replied

"What are you planning on doing?" Carey asked feeling very down at the doctor's prognosis

"There are some drugs which it may respond to, but by and large all we can do is wait- it is highly drug resistant as I said. Mostly we will continue to provide general support to Zack and closely monitor his situation" He replied trying to sound like he was confident of Zack's situation.

"Is Zack going to be OK" Carey finally bit the bullet and asked the direct question.

"I don't know...I'm sorry I can't be more confident but given that Zack just went through a very traumatic surgery and the advanced and serious nature of his infection it is impossible for me to predict. Zack is critically ill and at this stage stabilizing him would be a good thing" The doctor was doing little to bolster Carey's spirits.

"OK...Just do what you have to do" Carey said quietly her depression evident, Moesby hugged her in support and the doctor left before sending a nurse in to change Zack's IV drugs and clean his would which was looking worse than ever before.

Carey and Moesby remained in the room watching Zack as minutes turned to hours, aside from a small amount of chat between the two there was little sound save for the machines and the occasional entrance of a nurse to perform some check on Zack. The medical staff were most concerned with Zacks breathing, they were paying close attention to Zack's oxygen saturation and his breathing, asking Carey and Moesby to hit an alarm if Zack's breathing became strenuous. Zack was now on a cocktail of drugs, since his Staph infection was for the most part drug resistant the doctors had put him on drugs to combat the more serious potential side effects and it had stabilised his condition, but Zackary Martin remained listed as a critical patient.

Carey was so tired, so was Moesby, they could barely keep their eyes open- they had barely slept last night and it was not well past midnight on the worst day in Carey Martins life.

"Carey" Moesby began "I think we should go back to the hotel, we can't do anything for Zack as Zombies" he was right but Carey resisted, she didn't want to leave Zack.

"If anything happens the doctors will call us Carey, we're only 10 minutes from the hotel" Moesby argued with her and eventually Carey gave in

"Alight...let's go back" Carey said. She went over and kissed Zack on the forehead tenderly and they left, informing the nurse that they would be back in the morning and to call them at the hotel if anything happened.

Bright and early the next morning Carey and Mr. Moesby were back at the hospital where they would stay for most of the day watching Zack, his condition had stabilised but he was left in a semi-conscious at best state of delirium. Zack's infection was ravaging his body and Carey wasn't sure he wanted to fight it off. Nevertheless Zack held on just through the effects on his body, thankfully he hadn't yet contracted anything more serious, however the doctors had been noting his breathing being weaker the optimum for the day.

Moesby had taken the lead on organising the particulars of Cody's arrangements, informing lawyers to get wills and making inquiries about funeral services. But Carey wasn't ready to farewell Cody, and certainly she would not have any funeral that Zack couldn't attend. Messages of condolence and support were coming to Carey form Boston through Marion, but they did little to comfort her, she just wanted Cody back alive and so badly wanted Zack to recover.

Every now and again Zack would make some delirious moan or groan that let them know he was still alive, was still there, even if his infection raged on. The Infection was not responding well to any of the drugs Zack was being given and so the doctors informed Carey that simply Zack would have to fight through this himself, they could try and prevent any further problems arising and provide him general support, but Zack's body was in for one hell of a fight.

And so the routine continued for the next three days, Carey would sit with Mr. Moesby by Zack's bedside. With Marion going out to make phone calls and fetch things for Carey every now and again, with the nurses and doctors coming with regularity; the days were long and full of desperate hope for Zack's survival, but he was showing few signs of recovery in those three days. Every evening Moesby was able to convince Carey to go back to the hotel and sleep, and they would return the next day, Mr. Moesby always by his love's side.

It was on that third day that Max, alone in a hotel room in Boston decided she needed to see Cody and hopefully Zack, she needed to talk things over; there were lots weighing on her mind. That day was the 1 year anniversary of the Malton Mall bombing in which London and Tapeworm had been so cruelly taken from them and so Max figured she should clear the air before seeing Zack and Cody that night.

Max made her way from the Boston Holiday Inn to the Tipton Hotel, a twenty minute walk which was pleasant on this summer's day, but Max had other things on her mind.

She made her way to the reception desk and was surprised to see a clerk she did not recognise behind the desk, usually Moesby would have been there this time of day.

"Hello" Max Began

"How can I help you?" The clerk asked politely

"I'm here to see Zack and Cody Martin, in suite 2501, can you tell them Max is here?" She asked

"Um...I'm sorry, Zack and C...Cody aren't here" The clerk said chocking on tears a little

"Do you know where they are?" Max asked inquisitively "and when they'll be back"

"New York General Hospital" the clerk replied

"What? Has something happened?" Max asked with her world spinning in shock

"Zack and Cody went to New York 5 days ago..." The clerk trailed off fighting a lump in her throat.

Max bolted outside to the street and hailed a taxi frantically

"Airport, please, step on it" She frantically said

"You got it" replied the driver in a thick Bostonian accent and off they went speeding toward Logan Airport.

Sorry that chapter took so long but I've gotten even BUSIER this last week! Hope you enjoyed it and hope it's not too obvious what's going to happen in the next chapter. But Max is back at least for all of you wanting her back and to see where that particular storyline leads. Anyway, review and read to your heart's content and hopefully it won't be TOO long before the next chapter.