Nineteen

Max POV

It had been nearly 5 hours. The sun was setting behind snow capped mountains and the familiar pink, red, and golden hues bathed the landscape. My mind felt fuzzy, unfocused, and distant. I felt like my mind was drifting away from my body. I blinked hazily, focusing on my family in the back seat. Everyone was asleep. Nudge and Angel leaned against one another. It was the most peaceful I had seen them in a long time. Gazzy had his head in Fangs lap, looking frail and weak. Fang leaned against the door, his black hair brushed slightly over his closed eyes. The passing street lights overhead illuminated bruises and various other injuries on all of them. I looked back out the windshield at the snow flurries flying by, felt the heat emanating from the car vents. It almost didn't feel real.

"We're almost there." Mom smiled softly. I met her gaze. Her voice sounded so far away, like a gnat buzzing in my ear. "Just sleep, Max."

"Iggy." My feeble mind realized he was missing.

"I know, don't worry." She mumbled and I felt her cool hand on my forehead. She said a string of other jumbled words but I couldn't make them out. I was too tired to keep my eyes open anymore. I couldn't fight the darkness.

"Max." I faintly heard someone's voice calling. "Max, wake up." I opened my eyes and barely made out mom's face in the dark. The car was stopped and the door open, my mom standing there. I jerked up, suddenly aware that I couldn't remember the past 6 hours.

"What happened?" I asked, forcing myself to stand on shaky legs. Mom took my hand and carefully led me towards the house. The front porch was lit up and I saw Ella standing in the doorway. She ran out to me and wrapped me in a huge hug.

"I've been so worried." She said, letting me go. She had a large smile on her face. "You look horrible."

"Feel about that way too." I smirked and she opened the door for me. Inside I could see the rest of the flock on the couches. Fang was the only one still standing, and looked relieved when he saw me come in.

"Did you guys want to eat before bed?" Mom asked and everyone's heads looked up in unison. "Ella made macaroni."

An hour later we were scattered around the living room, eyes barely open, and exhausted. I couldn't remember the last time I was actually full, and I missed the feeling. The kids were already passed out on the large main couch, leaving Fang and I on the second and third. He lay on his back, one wing extended slightly over the edge of the couch, the other folded over his arm. I was on my stomach, enjoying the extra soft pillow Ella had given me.

"What do you think they're doing to him?" I said quietly. Fang took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh.

"Tests. Making him fly until he breaks. Then doing it again and again." He said hazily, his gaze focused on the ceiling. His jaw tightened as he ran his fingers over a spot on his arm. I glanced down at it and saw the healing needle punctures. It sounded like they had done this to him as well.

"You know that?" I asked, concerned now. He nodded, and laid his arm back down.

"Jeb has a new drug." Fang said quietly. "Meant to enhance your natural stamina."

"We have to stop him."

"No." He shifted uncomfortably, his hand moving to his chest. "We don't need to worry about him anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because he's dead, Max." He met my gaze for a moment. He winced and inhaled sharply, making me nervous. I looked over at my mom as she poured herself a cup of tea.

"Are you ok?" I sat up and pulled my blanket over my lap.

"Yeah." His voice sounded strained though, and his breath was shallow. Mom had taken notice by now too. She was watching us carefully when I looked at her. His breathing then was wheezy and labored.

"Fang!" I jumped up and was at his side in an instant, right as his eyes closed and he went limp. His hand fell from his chest and hung off the edge of the couch. Mom was at my side now. She had her stethoscope out and placed the bell on Fang's chest. The commotion had woken the kids and they were standing around me as well. Nudge was panicking, Angel was starting to cry.

"Max, he's…" Angel started but my mom was quick in her movements.

"He's not breathing." She said quickly. My blood froze in my veins. "I'm starting CPR, Nudge, go grab my epipen from my medical bag. It's in the back room."

"Is he…" I asked, unable to complete the sentence.

"No, but his heart is in V fib." She was doing CPR fast and hard. "I need a defibrillator."

"Meaning what?" Gazzy was pacing behind the couch, his hands shaky and clenched. Nudge came running back into the room with mom's medical bag. She opened it and took out a large plastic pen like object. She plunged the needle into Fang's leg.

"I need you to get out that box, Max." She said, forcing me to snap out of my panicked state. I grabbed the box and opened it, seeing a couple stickers and a screen that whirred into life. It started speaking, telling me to place the stickers on Fang's chest. "Do as it says."

"What is it?" I said shakily as mom cut Fang's shirt away. I put the stickers in their correct positions as per the helpful pictures on each one.

"It's going to restart Fang's heart. Clear!" And she pushed the large red button.

Valencia POV

Everyone was a mess and panicking over Fang's critical condition. I had no idea why his heart was failing, but I was desperate to restart it. The machine delivered the first shock and began reassessing his heart rhythm. That's when I noticed the bruising on his sides and chest that looked awfully familiar. Like he had had this done to him quite recently.

"Shock needed." The machine said in a monotone voice. I made sure no one was touching Fang, and pressed the button a second time. I placed my stethoscope over his chest once again and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Fang opened his eyes and inhaled deeply, his eyes meeting mine.

"What happened?" He muttered quickly, trying to sit up. He looked at the machine next to him and at all of us standing around him.

"You tried to die on us." Max said through tears and wrapped him in a big hug. Everyone came forward and hugged him as well, so that he was surrounded. Once they let him go, I listened to his heart again and was completely baffled. It sounded totally normal, other than being slightly fast.

"Can you stand?" I asked him and he tried to sit up. A pained look came over his face and he stopped to breathe. Max helped him the rest of the way. "We're going to the back room."

I had Fang sitting on the examination table, shirtless, and clearly nervous. Although he didn't look nearly as worried about the fact that he nearly died several minutes ago. With some persuasion, I was able to get an IV line in and a heart monitor attached. The screen showed fast, regular blibs, his normal heartbeat. Max was standing next to me, also watching. I turned and flicked the overhead lights on so I could get a better look. That's when I noticed the large red area of skin on his neck and going down his collarbone.

"Fang, what is this?" I asked and reached out to touch the area. He flinched slightly but forced himself to relax some. Max noticed the bruises now.

"And these?" She moved around his back and to his wings to try and find more.

"This has happened before." I concluded, his gaze meeting mine. "At the school, probably two or three days ago?"

"Two days ago." Fang said calmly, his gaze unfaltering. "They thought it was an allergic reaction."

"And you never told us this, because?" Max was fuming, now standing next to me again.

"It didn't matter."

"You died! Again! What if we hadn't gotten here tonight? What if we were still in that cave?" Max was fighting back tears. I put a hand on her shoulder but she shrugged me off. "What if it happened while we were flying?"

"Max, it's ok." I tried but she turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door. I looked back at Fang, whose face was still calm but his eyes were pained. "You guys have been through a lot these past couple of weeks. It'll be alright."

"Just do what you need to do." He said, shifting nervously.

"I'm going to keep you here overnight just to monitor your heart. I'll need to draw some blood as well." I said carefully and he nodded, though tense. "You should have told us, Fang."

"I know." He sighed. He most likely didn't want to worry Max, thinking it would never happen again. But now I was worried about what his system was reacting to, and how to counteract it. If we couldn't get control of this or eradicate it, I didn't know how they could go looking for Iggy.