Twenty

Max POV

I paced my bedroom furiously, fists curled and trying to calm down. How could Fang not tell me any of this crucial information? That his heart stopped not two days ago, and again barely half an hour ago? Mom was downstairs hooking him up to monitoring systems so that she could check on him periodically throughout the night. The rest of the flock had retired to their bedrooms. Angel had been crying. When Fang's heart stopped she said she couldn't find anything in his mind, and it really scared her. I had wanted us to leave here tomorrow afternoon to start our search for Iggy, but now mom wanted to watch Fang closely until his system flushed all of this strange drug out. I knew Iggy wouldn't have much time to wait, so every second counted.

I wandered down the stairs towards Fang's room. The house was dark and silent, my footsteps nearly silent on the soft carpet. Only streaks of moonlight peered through the windows and the soft whir of the air conditioning unit in the hallway soothed my nerves. Fang's door was cracked open and I lightly pushed it open. The room was dark except for the beam of moonlight coming down onto the center of the floor. The soft, green glow of the heart monitor was eerie and the fast but steady blips didn't help that fact. Fang was fast asleep on the bed on his back, his dark hair over his closed eyes. He looked so peaceful, a rare sight for him. The entire scene was quiet and calm, except for the slight prickle of the hairs on the back of my neck. I glanced down towards the foot of the bed and saw a head peeking out shyly.

"Jesus, Nudge. You about gave me a heart attack." I whispered as she slowly stood up. "What are you doing?"

"I wanted to see him, but I thought you'd think I was crazy." She said quietly. I sighed and pulled her closer into a hug. She buried her face in my shoulder and I felt the wet tears on her face. She was slightly shaking, holding back sobs.

"Hey, hey, it's ok." I tried to reassure her. I rubbed her back gently in between her wings the way she liked. "We had a pretty rough day today."

"Yeah." She shuddered and looked over at Fang. Mom had given him a strong sleep aid for the night, and it was the only reason he hadn't woken up yet from the noise. "Was he serious? About Jeb being dead?" The question felt like an electric bolt had ripped through me.

"I don't know honey." I said honestly. It was a question I had been turning over in my head as well. I didn't know what had happened at the school while Fang and Angel were there, or what led to the destructive fire that set us free. Nudge let me go and stood by the side of the bed. I sat in the chair next to the heart monitor and we fell silent for a few minutes. Fang's breathing was slow and even, his chest rising and falling steadily. He had scared everyone tonight, and I had never seen Gazzy so worked up.

"Max?" A small voice asked and I looked up to see Gazzy and Angel standing in the doorway. They were in matching pajamas and looked exhausted. "Is Fang ok?"

"Yes sweetie." I said to Gazzy as he walked into the room holding Angels hand. His large blue eyes looked over all the gadgets attached to Fang and the heart monitor. "Why are you guys up? It's late."

"I couldn't sleep." Gazzy said, not looking away from Fang. It was his way of saying he was worried for Fang. It warmed my heart to see everyone here. We were a family, no matter what. I noticed that Angel was carrying some blankets and her pillow.

"I'll grab my blankets." I smiled and Angels face lit up. Looks like we were having a sleepover in Fang's room tonight. Nudge ran out of the room quickly to grab her own blankets.

Barely five minutes later we had all set up our sleeping arrangements. I was next to Fang's bed, Angel next to me, and Nudge and Gazzy were across from us. It reminded me of old times when none of us left each other's side during unplanned stays at hospitals.

"Feeling better?" I ruffled Gazzy's hair and he smiled up at me, then yawned. He lay down in his pile of blankets, pulling his pillow over his head. Nudge was already curled up in her nest of blankets, her eyes closed. Angel was sitting up, watching Fang carefully. "You ok, honey?"

"Yeah." She said quietly.

"Fang will be ok." I yawned, laying down on my blanket pile.

"He's right about Jeb, you know?" She said and I shot up to look at her. "He killed him."

"You can see that?"

"Yeah. But Fang didn't watch him die, only dropped him." She looked at me, her eyes shining in the moonlight. "So we don't know 100%."

"Did Fang start the fire then?" I asked, feeling uneasy. Angel nodded. "And he dropped Jeb?"

"Out a window."

"God." I leaned back down onto my blankets. "He might have been the only one who knew where Iggy was."

"They put a tracker on him."

"A tracker?" I was up once again. Why did she feel the need to give vital information at the worst of times? "How do you know this?"

"Because Jeb was thinking it." She said, her face turning back to Fang. "He's dreaming about you."

"What?" I felt my face flushing. Angel was smiling as she watched him carefully.

"He's dreaming about flying with you. It's late evening, the sun is setting. There's no one else but you two, and you're just enjoying yourselves. You're laughing and he's smiling, there's nothing wrong with the world. He really does love you, Max."

Fang POV

I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept so well in years. I looked around at the small room. The sun was shining through the window and onto blankets on the floor. Confused, I propped myself up slightly and saw that everyone was in here. They were all sleeping in blanket nests on the floor. It reminded me of old times, that weren't so great. I heard the heart monitor next to me beeping steadily and I remembered last night. I never wanted to worry everyone.

"Good morning." Max's mom said quietly, and I realised that she had just walked up to the cracked open door. Everyone woke up from the slight noise and Max was even standing.

"Mom, hi." She said sleepily. Valencia walked towards me, stethoscope around her neck.

"I have pancakes ready if anyones hungry." She smiled and I saw Gazzy's face light up. He stood quickly but then stopped as he saw Valencia take off her steth. I tensed lightly as she placed the cold bell on my chest, pausing to listen. She nodded and looked up at me.

"How is he?" Max asked anxiously.

"I think the worst is over with, but I can't be certain." She said and I inwardly groaned. I was fine, and we needed to get moving if we wanted to find Iggy.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and watched Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge skip out of the room towards the kitchen. Max was left stretching as she yawned. The enticing smells of bacon, eggs, and french toast were making my stomach growl.

"How long are we going to be here?" I asked curtly, standing up and pulling off all the leads and stickers.

"As long as you aren't going to fall out of the sky, we're good." Max said but didn't look at me. I knew she was still mad about last night, but I knew her better than she thought.

Iggy POV

I didn't know how long I'd been here, or really what was going on half the time. I knew that some woman whom I'd never met would have me run as long as I could, then stick me into another cell for the day. After I had recovered and eaten, I'd do it all over again. Whatever shot they had given me on the second time I'd run, I noticed I could go for much longer. But the more I ran, the more worn out I'd be at the end of every session. Barely able to breathe, wheezing, coughing, even down on my knees shaking, and it didn't seem to phase the scientists around me.

"Stand." A man's voice echoed through my cell. It was the beginning of another test run. It was the same process every time; stand, walk forward with wrists out, I'd get cuffed and then forced into the run room with the treadmill. It was the same routine, except this time he had a different pitch to his voice. Something was off, and it made my heart race.

"Walk forward, wrists out." This part was the same and I hesitantly obeyed, expecting a prick of a needle or an electric shock. Instead I felt the familiar metal of the cuffs being locked. The door noisily rolled open and I was pulled forward. Usually we'd take a hard left and walk a little ways before I'd be shoved forward the the cuffs removed. We took a right this time, and then a right, another right, before stopping a little ways more forward. I was pushed forward, the cuffs pulled away, and the door slammed shut. I faintly heard the voices of the whitecoats talking outside the cell. The floor felt like it had hinges built into it, the walls behind me were made of a mesh like material. I heard a loud buzzer which made me jump, but at the same time the floor dropped out from under me.

Instinctively, I unfurled my wings. Not even sure if I had enough room, I beat them hard to go airborne, the ground gone at this point. I found out quickly that this cell was rather large, large enough for me to fly in a small circle or hover in place. I felt a breeze start to pick up in front of me. The breeze turned into a light wind, which elevated into a strong force or air. I had to beat my wings hard in order to stay in place, or risk being whipped into the ground. Then it dawned on me; I was in a wind tunnel. Instead of running today, I'd be flying. Fear and dread creeped into my veins like ice and I swallowed hard, fighting against the wind. I tried to coast with the wind instead of beating my wings. It worked for a little while, but I had to continue to adjust my feathers and the angle of my wings in order to stay balanced.

My heart felt like it was going to crash through my ribs, and every breath burned like fire. My wings were like heavy slabs of lead and were not nearly as agile as they were an hour ago. I frequently had to catch myself from falling, desperately trying to stay steady, but my lungs just couldn't get enough air anymore. I felt myself slowing down, the wind pushing me closer to the screen wall behind me. I figured I had about ten feet between me and the floor. Feeling the light tendrils of unconsciousness tugging at my mind, I folded in my wings and I landed hard, falling onto my hands and knees. No longer in the air, my pounding heart made my mind fuzzy and unfocused. I fell onto my side, my body shaking lightly as I tried to breathe. I faintly heard the door open and felt someone cuff my wrists once again. I couldn't do anything but focus on my breathing. I heard someone yelling, but they were so far away and faint, I wondered if I had only imagined it. Unconsciousness finally took hold, however, and I slipped into darkness.