Author's Note:This story takes place after BIY.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot.

Part 2

The uneasiness in the room was unmistakable. The air felt dead. The silence was thick. No one knew where to go from here.

Isabel entered the living room. Everyone looked up.

"How's she doing?" Kyle asked. Isabel stared at the young man before her. His eyes were red from crying and his voice was shaky.

She took a deep breath. "She's still resting."

Resting. It was so much easier to say that she was in a coma. A coma that no one knew how long she would be in or if she would ever wake up from it at all. The healing stones had stopped the bleeding but it couldn't fully reverse whatever Nicolas had done to her. Just like they couldn't save Nasedo, their technology was limited in dealing with the skins.

Max sat by the side of Tess's bed, the same spot he had been for hours, watching over her. His head was in his hands in an attempt to slow the tears that kept falling.

"It's looks like she's sleeping."

Max's head shot up. It was Michael.

"Yeah," Max said sadly.

Michael sighed. "She a fighter, Max. She'll make it through."

"How do you know that? She's not as strong as you think," Max snapped. "I was supposed to protect her. I should have done something, Michael. I could have stopped this. And now our son is dead," Max said, his voice breaking. "And I don't even know if my wife will ever wake up."

When Michael looked into Max's eyes he was scared by what he saw. At first he going to suggest that Max should go home and try to get some rest but Max had the look of a man who had lost everything. He realized that Max had to stay in this room or else he would completely shut down.

"Sorry, I was just trying to help. I'll go," Michael said.

Max suddenly felt guilty. He knew Michael was trying to help and he knew he said those words as much to himself, to deal with the situation, as to help Max.

"Michael," Max said. He turned around.

"Yeah?"

"What hurts the most that she might die without knowing that I love her. From the first time I laid eyes on her I knew that I loved her... and now for the life of me I can't figure out why I never told her."

"I think she already knew that," Michael said. He looked at Max sadly and quietly left the room.

To Be Continued...