I know you all hate me now but I don't care. My school just put on our musical production of Fiddler on the Roof which I was in. Rehearsals lasted you don't even wanna know how long for the past 2 and half months. Anyway here it is!

Max POV

I was so glad that Fang had woken up, but this might be the last chance I had to talk to him, if the nurse was right. I almost started sobbing right then and there as that realization hit me.

"Max, what happened?" he asked again. His voice sounded so frail and strained, and every time he moved it looked like a challenge for him.

If he hadn't pushed me out of the way, I would have been in the hospital bed, paralyzed. Or most likely dead. At least Fang would've been okay.

I took a deep breath to calm myself.

"After the rock fell on you, the flock found us and we got you to the hospital as fast as we could." I paused. "The doctor said both your legs and your pelvis were broken, and a couple vertebrae were cracked." I watched as his eyes widened.

"That's all?" he said, sounding a little relieved. I felt so guilty that I had to tell him even worse things that happened to him. I shook my head.

"No," I said, tears starting to leak from my eyes. "Fang, I'm so sorry. They also said if you'll recover the best shape you'll be in is paralyzed."

His eyes widened even wider, and pain covered his face. He closed his eyes. I saw a single tear escape from his closed eyelid. For a second I was shocked beyond belief. Fang never cried. Ever. I felt so horrible having to tell him this, I wanted to die. Or to be in his place at least.

I reached up with one hand and wiped away the tear with my thumb. I kept my hand resting on his cheek until he opened his eyes again. He gazed at me sadly for a few seconds.

"You said 'if'," he said quietly. He had noticed the key word. I hated that little word with a passion right now. I nodded.

"She also said that you got massive head trauma," I said, staring at his face, watching for emotions. "She said your systems are slowly shutting down, and the trauma is affecting your mobility. She said they're trying to figure out a way to stop it." I watched only sadness paint his face. I saw no hope in his eyes. For once, I could tell what he was thinking. He knew he was dying, and he saw that there was no way to prevent it. The look in his eyes was enough to tear my once strong heart in two.

I leaned over and softly kissed his cheek. My lips did that weird tingling thing again. The sadness in his eyes shifted more towards happiness.

"Does that make all your boo-boos feel better?" I teased, trying to alleviate the tension.

He smirked, which looked more like a grimace. God, I wish I could stop his suffering.

"Not all of them," he said, pretending to be annoyed at me like I'd forgotten something important. I raised one eyebrow and smiled. I leaned over again, then kissed him, this time on the lips. Brief though it was, I could feel all the love he felt for me radiating from him. It felt like eating chocolate chip cookies, my mom's of course, while doing a freefall from fifteen thousand feet in the air. My heart lurched painfully, remembering this might be the last time we ever talked or were in each other's presence. I put my hand of the back of his head, and held him there for what felt like a long time, but was very short. Sparks ignited in my blood. We pulled apart, and we just stared at each other, wishing the moment would never end.

Over to Fang's POV!

Fang POV

I stared into Max's fathomless brown eyes, feeling almost happy despite the current situation. No matter how bad things sucked, I always felt better having Max beside me, supporting me.

But of course our special moment had to end. The sheets on the couch in the corner shifted, and we looked over to see a wild mass of brown hair rising from under the blankets. Nudge slowly shifted so she was sitting, then rubbed her eyes. Not even realizing both me and Max were staring at her, she stood up and shuffled around Iggy and across the room, headed for the bathroom. Halfway there she stopped, turned around, and gazed at us groggily. Her eyes lit up.

"Fang!" she squealed, leaping over Iggy and flinging herself onto the bed. She clung to my waist and started crying big fat tears. For a moment I choked up. I never knew Nudge cared so much.

Her outburst seemed to wake the other sleepers because two blonde heads and a strawberry blonde head rose from their resting positions and swiveled to the source of the noise. Instantly, Angel's eyes popped open and she burst from under her blanket and landed beside the bed and clung to my arm, since my waist was taken. She started to cry softly, and Max soothed both her and Nudge's hair as they cried. The Gasman and Iggy were slower to realize what was going on, but finally Gazzy got up and stood by the bed, tears running down his face. Iggy rose and stood beside him, tears in his eyes instead of on his face, and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he asked, too relieved to be serious. Max didn't even snap at him for cursing.

"Nice to see you awake, too," I croaked. I looked over at Max, whose eyes were glassy with fresh tears. By this time Nudge and Angel had stopped crying and released their hold on me to sit on the edge of the bed. They looked at me with such concern, I wondered Could I really mean that much to them?

"Yes Fang, you do," Angel said. She must've heard me thinking. I tried to smile, but it was hard. She smiled sweetly at me, then her gaze shifted to Max. I glanced at Max and saw her nod at Angel. Suddenly a nurse came through the door and froze when she saw me. The Flock's eyes shifted to her. She turned around and leaned out the doorway and yelled at the receptionist, "Get Dr. Hansing in room two thirty seven!"

She turned around again and shooed away the Flock from the bed, a confused look on her face. Angel must be doing something to her mind. A doctor with a bald head and a smug sense of superiority entered the room. He started looking me over and doing the stuff that doctors do. This continued for another hour, and by the time he was done with his inspection and left I was struggling to keep my eyes open. By now the Flock had fallen asleep again. Only Max was still awake. She came over and sat by the side of my bed again.

"Go back to sleep," she said as she kissed my cheek. "Just make sure you wake up," she whispered. The corners of my mouth flicked up in a smile for a second, then I was out…

L'Chaim! ^^

-C