Eight

Angel POV

"Sir?" a male voice stirred me from my sleep and I opened my eyes. I was looking at a man dressed in green hospital scrubs slowly approaching us. Fang was tense next to me, his jaw clenched as he wearily eyed the stranger, but his face gave nothing away.

"How is she?" Fang said curtly, immediately getting to the point.

"She's stable for now. Is she your mother?"

"Yeah." I piped up, trying to lighten the situation. "I'm so glad she'll be ok."

"So are we." the man smiled. "But now I'd like to get you two some attention, you're both looking pretty banged up yourself. Why don't you follow me please?" The man opened the door to the room and stepped out into the hallway, holding to door open. Fang stood and moved towards the door, his gate stiff like he was in pain. I couldn't get any bad thoughts off of this man, or anyone else in this hospital, and I eased a little. I took Fangs hand and we followed the man down to an examination room.

We stepped into the small room, quietly scanning over everything as the man in scrubs pulled out a clipboard. He motioned for Fang to sit on the paper covered chair in the center of the room.

"I'm just going to be doing a very basic physical examination today, and to help stitch up and bandage any injuries. You're both minors, so whatever we talk about in this room will stay in this room." he ran over the basics and I watched Fang shift anxiously from foot to foot. The man looked up at him and smiled, setting the clipboard down on the desk.

"I promise, whatever tensions or worries you have today will not be any problem." the man reassured, and Fangs eyes met mine for a moment, before returning to the mans. "My name is Dr. Murphy. You can trust me."

"Trust needs to be earned." Fang said dryly, his voice low and scarily calm. Dr. Murphy only smiled and nodded.

"You're exactly right." he motioned towards a small scale in the corner of the room. Fang hesitated, his eyes fixed on the doctor. "The quicker you comply, the faster we can get you guys to see your mother. But basic health care must be covered first."

"It'll be ok." I said sweetly, Fangs eyes never faltering. I let him know mentally that this man was truthful and I saw his frame relax just the tiniest bit. Fang stepped onto the scale finally, and the doctor did his work. He wrote down the height and weight on his clipboard; 6 foot 3 inches, and 125 pounds. He had Fang sit on the chair finally.

"You guys are a little thin for your height and age." Dr Murphy commented, lifting a stethoscope up so Fang could see it. He set its cold bell on Fangs chest and paused, his face looking concerned. I knew that he was trying to understand why Fangs heart was beating so hard and fast; our bird DNA. He moved to a small machine to his left and took out some wires. I had seen it before, it was an EKG machine. He tapped the small circles onto Fang and the machine began beeping quickly, a small green line jumping across its screen.

"And this is normal for you?" Dr Murphy looked at me. I nodded, noting how the beeping was growing louder and faster as Fang shifted. He reached up and pulled them off quickly, earning a startled glance from the doc.

"Her arm is broken. Get her treatment started, and we'll be going." Fang jumped down from the table and stood next to me. Dr Murphy nodded, swallowing hard, and motioned for me to get up on the table.

Fang POV

This exam was pointless. It was just another excuse for the whitecoats to gather info on us or find us. Angel continued to reassure me, letting me know that this man in scrubs was one of the good guys. Every fiber of my being was on high alert and my heart pounded in my chest, but I didn't let an ounce of it show to this man. I finally stepped onto the scale, seeing the weight and height scribbled down on his clipboard. 125 was a little low, even for us. Then again, we hadn't exactly been eating well this past week or so.

Your heartbeat is so fast..." I heard the man mutter as he held the stethoscope to my chest. I could feel my heart pounding against my chest, so yeah, I knew that. It was a combination of anxiety and our genetics. He taped the EKG to me and I swallowed hard, doing my best to keep from threatening this guy. I finally had enough and yanked the cords off, and went to stand by Angel. There was nothing wrong with me, but I knew her arm was hurt. I needed to manage my priorities.

After an hour of questions, monitoring, and Angel's arm set in a sturdier splint, Dr Murphy finally let us back into the original waiting room we were in before. It was late into the evening by this time and I was about to break out of this place. The smells and noises and people in whitecoats were making me crawl the walls. It didn't help that the hospital cafeteria was wafting amazing smells down the hall and under the door of our room. I was starving, and I'm sure Angel faired the same. The thought of bacon and the smell of it frying just two doors down were making my stomach growl.

"When can we see her?" Angel demanded as Dr Murphy entered the room. He paused and smiled as always.

"I was just coming to fetch you for that very reason. She's awake and asking about you." He said and motioned for us to follow him. He led the way down the hall until we came to a closed door. He opened it for us and let us inside.

"You're ok!" Angel ran to the bedside of Dr. Martinez, flinging her arms around her stiff form. Martinez reached up and hugged Angel back tightly. She had bandages around her head and an IV drip in, but otherwise looked alright. I stood by the bed and set a hand on Angel's shoulder. Martinez smiled up at me, reaching a hand up and resting it on my chest.

"It wasn't your fault, so don't fret. We shouldn't have been pushing that hard anyway." She smiled and patted my chest lightly. Dr. Murphy stepped into the room and greeted her lightly.

"Good evening Valencia, nice to see you're out of the woods."

"Yes Marcus, though I have been better." she said and I frowned, looking over at Murphy.

"I know Valencia from my college days. We both went into medicine trying to be vets, but I branched out into people instead." he explained and I nodded.

"Are you two ok? Oh, honey, your arm..." Martinez touched Angel's splint delicately.

"I'm fine." Angel smiled sweetly at her.

"If you kids want, I can bring you to the cafeteria for some dinner?" Murphy offered.

"We're not going anywhere." I said calmly but sternly, which earned me a frown from the doctor. He was trying to be the good guy but I knew he was still fascinated in our anatomy, and why a 6 foot plus boy weighed less than a girl of shorter height.

"You kids should go, you've got to be starving." Martinez touched my arm and I shook my head, my eyes still on Murphy.

"Just bring the food in here." Angel suggested and Murphy frowned slightly.

"That's against our policy...but I suppose I could just this once..." he trailed off and walked away like a damned zombie. The power of 6 year olds with mind control capabilities. Finally free from prying eyes, I sat down in a chair next to the bedside, leaning back with an exhausted sigh.

Valencia POV

Fang stood rigid next to my bedside, glaring at Murphy. I could feel his heart pounding under my hand on his chest, and could practically feel the tension in the air. I knew that both he and Angel must have been starving, but I also knew that they would never leave the room. So I thanked the lord when Angel had Murphy go to fetch the food instead. Fang relaxed some and leaned into the chair next to the bed and let out a tired sigh, his eyes slightly glazed over. Angel sat down next to him and leaned forward to look at me.

"When can we leave?" she asked anxiously. I smiled and sat up in the bed.

"Whenever you want really, they're getting my paperwork for discharge as we speak." I glanced over at Fang, who was leaned onto his knees now. His dark eyes watched the door carefully, but I knew he was exhausted.

"You alright?" I asked him and his eyes met mine for a moment. "You sleep at all last night?"

"No. These goons haven't left us alone." he admitted. "This place gives me the creeps."

"I understand. It's been a long couple of days. With you driving most of the day, the wreck in the evening, and being up constantly bugged by weirdos today." I smiled and he nodded, his gaze moving to Angel.

"What about the car?" Angel asked. "Its totaled."

"I think I have a few old friends here still. I can work something out in the next hour or so."

"That, or you can go home. We'll fly the rest of the way. Driving has proved to be too risky and slow." Fang said quietly, his voice tired. "You and Angel got hurt because of it."

"You as well." I reached up to brush some of his black hair away from a cut on his forehead. He immediately flinched away but caught himself. "It's alright, you're both on edge." I smiled.

"Then we leave now." Fang stood, but paused for a moment, not so steady on his feet. His concussion wasn't fully gone, and I worried he would push himself to hard.

"Is there any way I can convince you otherwise?" I asked him but he shook his head. I hated to have them both go so soon, but deep down I knew that he was right and that I could never stop him. They're best chance of slipping out of here unnoticed was to leave before Murphy returned.

"Take care of yourself." Fang said, looking over at the door. I took his hand and he paused, meeting my gaze.

"You be careful out there, and do what you need to do. Don't push yourself too hard. I'll be waiting at home." I said and he nodded. Both he and Angel slipped out the door and were gone in seconds, leaving me alone in the quiet hospital room.

Fang POV

The night air was damp and cold as we moved out the back exit of the hospital. Finding a secluded and dark place to take off was easy and we were airborne in less than 5 minutes. I moved my wings fast and strong, moving away from the building quickly. We needed to find shelter for the night as soon as possible, I knew it would be raining tonight. We had lost so much time with driving, but it had been our only option at the time. The monsoon rains had us pinned down and we couldn't make good time on foot.

"Fang, there's a small cave in the side of this mountain." Angel said after several minutes. I allowed her to lead the way. The cave was nice and secluded under thick cottonwood trees full of yellowing leaves. Boulders jutted from the ground and provided a nice cover for the entrance as well. We touched down just as the rain began and ducked inside before we were fully drenched. I set about making a fire for the night and Angel worked at getting the area cleared of debris and branches.

A half our later we were sitting by the fire. I was glad for its warmth, as the temperature outside had plummeted with the rain. Angel lay on her side with her broken arm propped up carefully as she watched the flames dance over the logs.

"We should have stayed long enough to eat..." She sighed and I silently agreed with her. My stomach felt like it was eating itself and that I had swallowed an angry bear.

"We needed to leave before they could find us, and Murphy never would have left us alone." I poked a stick into the fire, hating my own explanation. I lay down onto my back. rubbing my feathers into the fine silt of the cave floor. I swear I could still smell the bacon this far away from the hospital, but I knew that it was only my hungry imagination. It didn't stop my stomach from letting out another low growl though. I ignored it and rolled onto my side to look at the fire again. We'd wake up early and move out at first light. Max and the flock couldn't afford any more wasted time...