Night Sky (AU,M/L,Adult) chpt 10, 7/5/16

[dreamon]

Please post more soon!

[keepsmiling7]

Carrie, I was hoping for an update here.
You are writing such a wonderful Max.......and leave me with so many questions and concerns. I especially want to know why he would never reach the top of the transplant list?
Please hurry back,
Carolyn

[dreamon]

Missing this!

[L-J-L 76]

Carrie
Please come back and post more? I am really wanting to find out what you will have happen next for Max and Liz. I have re read this story twice now and I please come back and post more really soon? More chapters please?

From:
L-J-L 76

[jake17]

Roswelllostcause
Natalie
Eve
Lizza x2
sarammlover
dreamon x3
Carolyn

Thank you so much for your fb, and all the views, love my lurkers. I'm so sorry for the long absence, RL hit me hard, but I'm back. Hopefully I didn't lose any one who was interested in this story, because it's another one that just grabbed my heart and won't let go.




Chapter five





Max and Liz hadn’t talked since the day she sneaked her way into his hospital room, for some reason needing to see him, to talk to the shy boy she couldn’t get out of her mind.

Strumming his guitar, Alex, playing ‘Wish You Were Here’ a Pink Floyd favorite of his, he concentrated with narrowed concerned eyes at Liz who staring out his window wistfully.

Maria oblivious to what Alex was picking up on with Liz, was furiously texting away finding out the time everyone was meeting for the next party.

Lying on her stomach with her feet waving back and forth in the air she threw her phone down to fill them in.

“Okay, so, this Saturday, bon fire on the beach, everyone’s going to be there, including us, so don’t even think of backing out on me you two.”

Rolling his eyes Alex groaned. “Maria, why are you so hell bent on hanging out with people we haven’t had anything to do with these past three years… seriously I’d rather spend the night playing monopoly with my parents, then suffering through another kegger with the football team, and the flock of blonde anorexic cheerleaders, that end up puking after making total asses out themselves.”

Jumping up from the bed, Maria grabbed Alex by the cheeks pressing her forehead to his, as only Maria would do to drive her point home.

“Alex, do I need to remind you that this is our senior year?! The year that we will look fondly back on when we’re old and creaky with nothing to look forward to but two weeks away from jobs we hate, chained to a life of mortgage payments, and arthritic joints? We need to live as if there was no tomorrow, we need to be crazy and break the rules!”

Raising his eyebrows he laughed giving her a quick friendly kiss on the nose.

“Well you definitely have the crazy part nailed, I’ll give you that.”

Huffing her frustration, Maria blew a huge bubble before jumping to the window seat to join Liz who seemed as if she didn’t hear a word they said.

Sighing heavily she tilted her head staring at her best friend suspiciously.

“So what do you think about all of us shaving our heads and dropping out of school to start a punk band, you in Liz?”

Snapping out of her daze Liz nodded, smiling slowly, as she gazed over Maria’s shoulder to find Alex jamming “Rock the Casbah” by the Clash.

“Yeah sure, sounds good Maria, just let me know what time.” Liz replied distractedly, her glare never leaving the grey sky and the foreboding dark clouds bearing down over the horizon.

Widening her big green eyes, Maria glared back at Alex who was jumping on his bed headbanging hysterically.

“Okay, fill me in rock star, what’s up with her? You always know everything, I want all the details, don’t hold anything back.”

Shaking his head Alex settled back against his headboard continuing to strum out Floyd’s solemn tune.

“Correct me if I’m wrong but I do believe our Liz is beginning to have feelings for quiet little Max Evans.”

Turning back towards Liz dramatically, Maria stood hands on hips, one eyebrow cocked high.

“I knew it! That day at the library, there was a connection, you were so upset about him getting bullied. I can’t believe you’ve been keeping this from us!”

Suddenly she turned to look back at Alex again. “Wait a second, how did you know? Why am I out of the loop here, spill it, both of you. What the hell is going on, I mean he’s not exactly your type Liz, not that you give even the best crop of the male species in our school a chance.”

Hidding her face, Liz shook her head. “There is nothing to tell, we’re just friends, I guess… honestly I’m not even sure if you could even call it that. Can we please just drop this.”

Liz walked over to Alex taking the guitar from his hands to get his attention.

“How did you know about this, I didn’t tell a soul.”

Shrugging, wincing slightly, looking guilty, Alex grabbed his guitar back. “You forget that my Aunt Lucy works at the hospital, lets just say she saw you talking to Max, and in her words … there was definitely a connection, but this is coming from a woman who collects cats, not ceramic, the real kind… her house smells like a giant litter box, it’s quite disturbing actually.”

Maria’s brain froze on the words “Max” and “Connection” bypassing, the crazy cat woman all together.

Closing Alex’s bedroom door, she forced Liz into a ripped black leather recliner in the corner of his room.

“Connection? Like as in romantic connection, or the usual I’m sweet Liz Parker, the girl who needs to save the world, and just found her next project, connection?”

“And you wonder why she doesn’t tell you anything.” Alex mused while concentrating on on his song.

Confused herself, Liz got up from the chair to grab her backpack, throwing it over her shoulder before hugging them both.

“I don’t know what’s going on, all I know for sure is he’s not what he appears to be. I saw him with the kids from the burn unit, he volunteer’s too, but not for credit, just out of kindness. I think I’m the only one from school who even knows.”

Furrowing her eyebrows, Maria leaned back against the wall, crossing her arms over his chest, captivated by all of this completely.

“Max Evans? The kid who walks around school staring at the ground, who barely speaks, I don’t believe it.”

“He was a completely different person, he was so funny and outgoing, they absolutely loved him. I’ve never seen a guy so compassionate, they trust him, it was obvious he’s been doing this for a long time. I don’t know, maybe all those years stuck in those horrible foster homes made him especially empathetic to children who are suffering… or maybe he just has a good heart.”

Nodding Alex flopped down on his bed. “Yeah I’ve read articles on those places, most of those foster parents are just in it for the government check. Kids have been reported as being severely neglected even abused, that’s enough to screw with anyone’s head, man I’d be lost without my parents.”

In deep thought Maria yanked Liz’s backpack, causing Liz to stumble closer to her.

“You know Max is kinda cute, in a dark, mysterious bruting way. Give him a haircut and some new clothes and I’d bet he’d be hot … you know we should really - “

Knowing Maria all too well Liz clamped her hand over her mouth instantly. “Do nothing! Please Maria, in fact I don’t want anyone to know that we’ve been talking about him, especially Max. So just please leave it alone, I’m telling you we are just going to be friends, if anything, so just let it be. Okay?”

“But, Liz, I’m sure if - “

Using her serious voice Liz narrowed her eyes. “Maria, promise me, not a word to anyone!”

Holding her hands up in the air defensively she backed away, “Sure, sure, you got it, my lips are sealed, you have my word.”

Liz switched her gaze to Alex, who commented before Liz had a chance to say a word.

“Really? I think you know me better.”

Letting a threatening gaze linger for a bit back and forth between them Liz nodded.

“Well, ok, I have to get to the hospital, I’m filling in again. By the way the beach sounds like fun Maria, count me in, I refuse to shave my head though.”

Just missing her with a pillow as Liz ducked out of Alex's room, Maria shook her head.

"Just friends my ass Parker! I know you!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Half way through her shift, where she was spending most of her time mind numbingly filling, Liz slipped into the elevator heading straight for intensive care, telling herself that it was purely out of concern for him, and the dire diagnosis she over heard from the doctors.

So why was she checking herself in the steel reflection behind the doors, straightening out her powder blue scrubs and smoothing out her hair, going from tucking her chocolate strands behind her ears, to untuck them, unsure of what looked better.

It was only when she grabbed her pink lip gloss from her pocket that she stilled herself questioning what the hell she was doing, why she even cared what she looked like.

Before she could answer her own question the doors opened suddenly to reveal someone completely unexpected.

“Michael?”

Throwing a hospital issue plastic bag over his shoulder, he sighed heavily.

“Oh it’s you, fucking perfect!”

Stunned both by his appearance and his reaction to her, Liz tried to step aside while he physically brushed past her into the elevator.

“What? What did I do? Wait… are you here for Max?”

Short on patience as usual, Michael glared down at her looking severely pissed off.

Grabbing his arm she forced him to look at her in an effort to get information, it was clear she indeed, most definitely had feelings for Max by her reaction.

It was something that had not gone unnoticed by both Michael, and Liz.

‘Damn that Alex, he’s always right.’ she thought quickly as she panicked trying to drill Michael for information.

“Is he ok? Did they discharge him? I don’t understand - “

“He’s in my truck, and no they didn’t discharge him, he basically walked out, thanks to you.”

Pressing the emergency button that halted the elevator between floors immediately, Liz stood in front of him blocking the panel.

“What the hell are you talking about? What do I have to do with any of this?”

She could see him weighing what he should say, against what he was dying to get out, before he just blew.

“It was you that landed him in this shit hole to begin with!”

With a pointed finger Michael backed her against the panel, eliciting a quiet shocked reply, that surprised him. It was clear Michael assumed she knew, but her expression was proof she was completely in the dark.

“Me?”

“Yeah you, you’re so fucking blind, he heard about the party at the Quarry, it was freezing, pouring rain, he might as well been asking for the god damn pneumonia, but no he had to see the infamous Liz Parker. He couldn’t miss standing shivering like an idiot in the woods watching dumb ass jocks hit on you all night.”

Trying to wrap her brain around all this she stepped back in shock, inadvertently hitting the button that started the elevator again.

“What? He was there? But why… I don’t understand.”

Stepping close to her Michael looked threatening, furious even.

“Liz I’m not sure what your game is helping him in the library, and visiting him here, but stop fucking with his head, believe me it’s the last thing he needs right now. We both know you wouldn't lower yourself to even be seen with him in that school, so do me a favor and just stay out of his life.”

Within seconds the doors had opened leaving her alone, until she ran to window that overlooked the parking lot, to see Max slumped down in the passenger's side looking less than okay.

Then it hit her, Michael thought she was a shark, one of those dead eyed popular predators that skimmed the edges of the high school searching for chum.

He was protecting Max, protecting him from her, but why?

For some reason the last lines of his poem flowed through her head again, like a whisper in her ear, giving her a feeling that she just couldn't ignore any longer.

if let my soul out
it'll come right back to you

That night she was determined to find out exactly where he was living, and possibly even a phone number, knowing full well he had no money for a cell.

She needed to talk to him, to find out what was really going on, or even just to be close to him again.

Knocking alarmingly hard on Alex’s door, she greeted him with a copy of Guitar Player magazine, two orders of Spicy Orange Chicken with pork fried rice, and a box of Red Vines.

Stepping back so she could enter, he reached for the candy first.

“Whoa Red Vines, you pulled out all the stops, what exactly do you need? A vital organ, a pint of blood perhaps, this looks serious Liz."

Laughing nervously, unsure how he would react, she walked straight to his room and picked up his laptop holding it tight in her arms, giving him a clue.

“Well, no, it’s nothing that extreme, but you might not like it, although it would mean so much to me.” she replied in her sweetest kiss ass voice.

Collapsing in his recliner, Alex dug through the bag of take out setting them both up to eat.

“So tell me, exactly how can I help Max.”

Liz’s eyes widened with shock....freaking Alex...she never could hide anything from him.

“How the hell? Why do you think this has something to do with Max?”

Raising a single brow in her direction he threw a package of chopsticks at her.

“Did you forget who you were talking to here, it’s me, the one who knows you best. Oh and please don’t tell Maria I said that, I love her, but we really don’t want to kick that hornet’s nest. She just can’t except that I’m your favorite.”

Seeing that Liz was serious, he put down the food and sat with her on his bed.

“What is it, you looked worried.”

Resting her chin on the closed laptop that she still clutched tight, she sighed.

“Alex, Max is sick, I don’t know exactly what it is, but I overheard his doctors talking about him and …. god I can’t believe this is real… but Alex I think it’s terminal. This thing is they spoke of him needing a transplant, but apparently it’s impossible to get to the top of the list for these things unless you're rich or connected, at any rate, I need to know what's going on.”

Taking the computer from her he opened it, keeping his eyes on the screen, trying to digest all of this.

“Damn, a childhood of foster homes, and now this, poor kid. So tell me, what do you need from me, I am at your command.”

Pacing the room Liz kept picturing him walking along those train tracks in the rain, so alone, his shoulders hunched up to his ears, his eyes focused on the dirt beneath his feet.

“I need to find out where he lives, he’s home from the hospital now, so I can’t talk to him there, and I have no idea when he'll be back in school. That’s all I want, just to find a way to get to him.”

Nodding Alex began typing rapidly. “So you want me to hack into the school’s student personal records, no problem, shouldn’t take long at all.”

Relieved, Liz, still in her scrubs drew her knees up to her chest tightly to stare off in the distance, rolling that poem over and over in her head, only now it was in his voice, which resonated deep within her, someplace private that was awakening slowly.

“Got it, whoa… okay, this bad… he’s currently living at four twenty, Sky View Lane. That’s the Beckwith house, that woman’s got a bad reputation. Liz, you can’t go there alone, that neighborhood is rough, it’s not safe.”

Grabbing her bag she rushed out of the room before giving Alex a kiss on the cheek.

“No worries, I got this, thanks Alex, you’re the best!”

Throwing his laptop on the bed, after reading more, he tried to run after her, but was derailed by his parents walking in from work.

“Liz! Wait!”

Before he could stop her she was gone, off to find the Beckwith house, off to find Max.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Darkness fell over the sleepy little town faster than Liz anticipated as storm clouds once again rolled in.

She could hear the voice in her head, the one she always listened to, her voice of reason, of common sense telling her that this was a mistake, too dangerous, plain reckless.

For once in her life something else was drowning out that voice, like when you can hear your heart pounding in your ears.

Suddenly the rules she had always followed didn’t seem to apply anymore, Liz was running on instinct, trusting the unknown, to enter into a place that could very well end with heartbreak.

Ignoring Alex’s six texts, and two voice mails she drove past the abandoned strip mall, the old drive in that was covered in graffiti, with patches of yellow grass that was thigh high.

She was close.

Crossing the train tracks she locked her doors, hanging on every corner there were groups of people hovering together, just out of sight, hidden barely in the shadows.

Every so often her headlights would catch a glimpse of a hardened stare emphasizing just how out of place she was, still, for some reason her need to see him eclipsed the fear that would’ve normally overwhelmed her.

Following map quest she finally turned onto his street.

A burnt out car on its side, and trash of all kinds littered the dead end street, it was beyond depressing, especially when she saw what passed for the house that he had been living in.

Wood planks covered the only visible windows facing the road, there were several ‘KEEP OUT’, and ‘BEWARE OF DOG’ signs posted on the sandy front yard that was void of grass.

Looking up at the second floor windows, Liz could see different patterned sheets that were hung as curtains moved to the side to check her out.

Her hands began to shake as she bravely parked, but as soon as she set foot on the gravel road the front door flew open.

A tall skinny guy with tattoos on the far end of fifty, with a long pointed grey beard came running towards her, followed by two doberman pinschers that looked straight out the movie the Omen.

“What the hell do you want? We just had our friendly visit from the state, we’re suppose to have at least two days notice before you bitches come snooping around again!”

Looking down at the scrubs she was still wearing, she thought quick, picking up her ID from the hospital that was still around her neck.

Yelling over the barking dogs she stood her ground totally lost as to where her courage was coming from.

“My name is Liz Parker, I’m a nurse from the hospital. I was sent here to check Max’s vitals. I don’t need to come inside, I just need five minutes to look him over.”

Pulling back slightly, yanking on the collars of the dobermans that were lunging back and forth towards her, she could see the man thinking it over.

“We ain’t paying for no home visits, you can just get back in the little car of yours and go tell - “

Interrupting him she approached him carefully, appearing as non judgmental as possible, keeping her voice steady and calm, giving him that understanding smile that could sooth the hardest of tempers.

“There's no charge, my visits are covered under the state, he’s entitled to three a week for the next month, then two a week and so on, all paid for by the state I promise you.”

Looking down at the dogs, he gave orders for them to go inside in German, which they quickly obeyed after a few more jarring barks.

“Ellie! Where the hell is Max, tell him his nurse is here.”

His deep set black eyes surrounded by a mixture red milky blue goop gave her chills, it was clear he wasn’t big on trust.

It was then that she hear the familiar shuffle of converse sneakers as Max emerged from the darkened house.

Before he could speak she smiled wide reaching out her hand as if they were meeting for the first time.

“Hi! You must be Max. I’m Liz Parker, your home care nurse, I’m here to check your vitals and meds, but if this is a bad time… “

Max’s head was angled to the ground, just like at school, he was clearly intimidated by the tattooed bearded guy staring him down.

“Jim, could you give us a minute.”

His voice was so soft, so fragile it ripped her heart out.

“Actually this is a new program Max, the hospital didn’t have my traveling medical bag ready, you’ll need to come with me to the nearby clinic, it won’t take long.”

Silence pierced the tension heightening it to a level that caused her stomach to hurt, this was all too much, far worse than she imagined.

“Whatever.”

With that the man Max referred to as ‘Jim’ disappeared back into the dilapidated small house with the boarded up windows, and the sandy dead lawn.

Lifting his emotional, deeply worried beautiful eyes up towards her, she nearly lost her breath.

Max breezed quickly close to her, ghosting his hands down her arms as if he were checking to see if she was hurt in any way.

She was dumbstruck, he was trapped in a nightmare and his concern was for her, for the girl with the perfect life, every minute with him yielded one surprise after another.

“Are you crazy coming here! How did you even find me? Did he hurt you? Did he touch you Liz?!”

She wanted to hold him, calm his fears, give him everything that he had been deprived of.

Opening the car door for him she smiled talking to him under her breath in case anyone was watching them.

“I’m fine, just get in, come with me, please Max. I promise, you can trust me.”

Looking back at the house suddenly a woman appeared on the front step.

As frightening as ‘Jim’ had been he didn’t hold a candle to the venom that clearly rushed through this woman’s veins.

One view of her and Max gently pushed Liz towards the drivers door. “Get in the car, we have to go, now, don’t talk to her, just please drive.”

It was like avoiding a car wreck on the highway, she couldn’t help but take a quick glance before turning the car around as fast as she could.

The woman was short, thick in the middle, arms settled by her side a cigarette in one hand, beer in the other.

She had dark, clearly dyed hair, cut above her ears, with endless lines wrinkling what looked to be once a very pretty face.

Liz couldn’t put her finger on what exactly scared her so much about his woman, but there was no doubt she was dangerous.

It was clear that ‘Jim’ was just a front, this woman held the real power in that house of horrors.

Driving faster than she ever had, Liz eventually pulled into the town library, that was just on the bordering line that divided their very different lives.

Not a word was spoken during those fifteen minutes, Max kept his stare on the scenery speeding outside the window, his head leaning against the cool glass, his hands in tight nervous fists by his sides.

After stopping the car and releasing her seat belt she gripped the steering wheel before taking a long pent up anxious breath that she had been holding the entire time.

Turning towards him she reached for his hand to unclenched his fingers that were bone white, with little half moon cuts in the palm.

At first he pulled away, instinctively, it was clear to her now more than ever that he had been through hell itself.

“Max… I know I had no business doing … what I just did, I over stepped boundaries, like in a big, unforgivable intrusive, even ridiculous way, but please don’t be mad, I just had to see you, I couldn't get you out of my - “

Then something unexpected happened, completely unforeseen and out of character.

Shaking, with tears in his eyes, Max pulled her in close, burying his face in her sweet scented neck, clutching her silky hair tight in his hands as if the choice to do so was beyond his control.

It felt like forever when he finally pulled away, it was the first time that the feeling of forever, for Liz, was painfully too short.

Condensation filmed the windows cocooning them in this small safe place, that felt like a departure from both their worlds.

Sitting back Max covered his eyes with his hands, as if mortified by what he had just done, convinced that if seeing where he lived wasn’t enough to scare her away, his pathetic need to hold her would surely do the trick.

Broken, he breathed out shakily, as if expecting to be rejected.

“I-I’m ...sorry.”

Skimming her fingers gently over the bandage on his hand that once held the needle to his IV, she whispered softly, with no uncertainty.

“I’m not.”

[L-J-L 76]

Carrie
Glad your back! Great chapter! Please please please please please please please please come back and post more really really really really soon? I can't wait to read what will happen next for Max and Liz. I'm so glad that Liz got Max away from those people. And I'm glad Liz got Max away from those people. I'm also glad that Liz was there for Max.

From:
L-J-L 76

[Roswelllostcause]

Oh Carrie Max's life so heartbreaking! Please hurry back!

[keepsmiling7]

Maria, always Maria......she's not going to miss a thing her senior year.
Love the connection Liz has to Max........even the others are realizing it.
The reference to the movie The Omen sends chills up my spine. I'll never forget that!
Michael is a good protector to Max........but that foster home/house what ever it is the worst I've ever seen. How does anyone exist.......I am glad Alex located Max and that Liz took him away for while.
Carrie, this story and your writing just draws me in.........I want to jump in the car and do something just like Liz did.
Carolyn

[begonia9508]

Oh my god! You made me cry... I can't believe it... but I felt for Max and will certainly cry more, hearing his life's story, which shouldn't be a dream...

Reading the part, the way you described the people here... it was like reading a horror book... (I don't know if I am right, I never read one! )

But in all of this, I love Alex; fresh air for Liz anyway with him!

Thanks EVE

[dreamon]

Can't say enough good things about this! Eagerly awaiting more.