The Disbanded: Divided We Stand-Chapter 15

By MyNameIsCAB

---Max's POV---

Messina wanted to drive through the night, so we all forced ourselves to stay up to make sure he didn't fall asleep. Fang had pulled the tortilla chips and salsa out, adding the hot sauce to make it a whole lot spicier. Spicy, to me, was better. I guess Fang thought so too because he kept adding more and more hot sauce.

"I love spicy food," Cal said, reaching back to have some of the chips and reached to dip it in the salsa. "Want some, Ted?"

She stuck the chip into Messina's mouth and he ate it. "Thanks."

Cal eventually got tired of reaching and got in the back with us, every once in a while giving some to Messina. I pulled out some soda, handing one to Messina.

"How far are we?" Fang asked.

"It takes sixteen hours to get there. We've traveled about seven hours now. I'll probably stop soon unless someone else wants to drive," Messina yawned.

We ended up stopping at some Motel 8. We got two rooms and said goodnight to each other. Fang lay on our bed, looking exhausted again. He was staring at his heart rate monitor.

---Fang's POV---

My entire leg ached from using that crutch, but maybe it was good. Maybe I could get some mobility back. My knee especially hurt. Dr. Guerra was able to reconstruct that at least when I got to his hospital. It was the only reason that I could bend it, but even then it still hurt like hell.

I downed two pain pills before I started to change for bed. Maybe it would numb the pain, but I doubted it. The best it did was stop the pain from waking me up at night.

I remember after the surgery, how they had kept numbing my leg so I wouldn't feel the pain anymore. Something like Novocain. When they did stop numbing it, it hurt like an effing car had just ran over my leg. Maybe even a truck.

Guerra had pleaded with me to let him reconstruct my knee. I wasn't going to let him do it at first because I was afraid with my whole avian DNA thing that it might just screw me up more. But somehow, he created that DNA to help me reconstruct my knee partially. Good enough to bend it even though it hurt.

But he couldn't do that for the rest of my leg, so I was like a sitting duck. I was stuck. Maybe things would get better. Perhaps Guerra would be wrong and all this damage and it wouldn't be as permanent as we thought.

"Here," Max threw my clothes onto our bed. "I'd change out here. The bathroom is very claustrophobic."

I turned my back to Max, hoping she wouldn't look over at me and see my wrists while I was changing. Looking at my clothes, there was a t-shirt neatly folded.

"Max, do you have a long sleeves shirt for me or something?" I asked.

"In the van, but Ted's got the keys," Max answered. "Why?"

Sighing, I continued to change. She had disappeared into the bathroom to brush her teeth and I was thankful for that much. Eventually, she was going come out here and see.

I looked at my arms, watching how the scars ran up and down them, and side to side too. Now I felt ashamed for doing something so foolish. I don't know what I was thinking when I did that. I guess it was good Guerra saved me.

Then Max stepped out of the bathroom. I pulled my arms down to my side and tried to casually sit on the bed. But there was no hiding any of this for long. She sat down on the bed next to my and took my left arm.

"Well, go ahead, look," I sighed, avoiding her eye contact.

He turned my arm over and stared at the scars. I fixed my eyes on the wall.

"Fang…What else haven't you told me?" Max asked, looking at my right arm now. "Fang? Answer me, goddamnit!"

She started to shake me by the shoulders. I didn't want to answer her. So I let her shake me.

"Fang!" she almost shouted.

I still didn't answer. So she shoved me. I didn't budge an inch.

"FANG!"

Then she shook me again.

"Max, stop," I muttered.

But she wasn't listening to me because, I guess out of pure anger, she punched me across the face and I fell off the bed with a loud thump. My heart rate monitor began to beep. I glanced at it. It read 177.

"Max, stop," this time I was pleading.

But she had already grabbed my shoulders again and started shaking me. "Fang…Why the hell won't you tell me!?"

185…I couldn't breath. Or maybe that's because she was practically on top of me. "Max…STOP!"

She suddenly heard the beeping.

"This is what happened…In Chicago…." I motioned to my wrists, trying to gasp for air. "Dr. Guerra found me…cutting. Brought me…to his hospital…Where you found…me."

Coughing, I closed my eyes.

---Max's POV---

I hadn't realized the beeping until Fang finally yelled at me to stop. There was now knocking on the door. It was probably Messina and Cal.

"Fang…Oh jeez, I'm sorry…Fang…" I grabbed his arm and looked at his heart rate monitor. It read 191.

"Max!" That was Messina on the other side of the door. "Max!"

Fang was struggling for air. What the hell did I do? I had been so stupid, so angry that he was hiding something from me. I was afraid I couldn't trust him, but all he needed was a few minutes before he answered me.

"Fang…"

Fang opened his eyes, looked up at me, grabbing my arm. "Max…Max…"

"Fang…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…I'm sorry…" I think I was on the verge of tears now.

"Max!" Messina was pounding on the door.

"Get the door…" Fang said before he started coughing.

I ran and opened the door. Messina stumbled in. "What's going on?"

I told him what happened. Messina kneeled down on the floor in front of Fang.

"Hey, are you okay?" Messina asked Fang.

He sat Fang up. The monitor on Fang's wrist had finally stopped beeping.

"Yea, I'm fine," Fang grumbled, leaning against the bed.

Messina looked up at me, a questioning look on his face. I sighed, turned away from him, and stepped outside.


I'm no heart expert, so I'm sorry if you don't think that's possible for someone's heart rate to increase like that. It's a story anyway. Fiction, meaning, not real. Thanks.