Max smiled as he thought about the quiet dinner they'd shared the night before. Liz had been grading papers for her lab section, and he had been looking for more practices to apply to. They had decided to order pizza and had sprawled out on the living room floor, Liz with her papers and Max with the phone and his contact lists. Max had tried to make it romantic and lit a couple of candles around the room but Liz wasn't paying much attention.

He remembered how the silver band on her finger had shined in the reflection of the candle light as she looked over the lab reports in her lap. He had been mesmerized by the slight movement of her hand as she wrote and flipped pages back and forth, back and forth.

***"You're amazing, you know that?"

Liz had looked up from her papers, giving him a small grin. "No, I'm not."

"Yes you are. After everything that's happened to you in the past week, you still find the strength to sit there and grade labs." He had shuddered mockingly as he took another bite of pizza.

"I enjoy science. You know that." Liz had said, shrugging off his question and returning to lab reports.

"You also enjoy pizza... but you have hardly touched your piece. Is everything alright?"

She had sighed, putting her hands to her head and dropping her pen. "I'm fine, Max. You don't have to babysit me all the time. I'm just trying to get things back to normal... one of those things being grading lab reports."

Max had looked over at her with hurt in his eyes. "Liz..."

She had returned his gaze and was shocked at the sadness in his eyes. "Oh, Max. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to jump down your throat." She had crawled on her hands and knees over to where Max was sitting and had given him a soft kiss on the cheek.

"I understand." He had said, smiling. "I'm just worried about you."

"I'll be fine." She had said, returning to his face and caressing it with her hand. "You don't need to worry."

"I can't help it, Liz. That maniac is still out there... and I just have this feeling..."

"What? What feeling?" She had asked, her eyes bright with fear. He had seen how scared she was so he decided to drop the subject.

"Forget it." He had said, reaching out for her hand and holding it gently. She had looked into his eyes and realized that he was genuinely worried about Simon. It had scared her even more. ***

"Dr. Evans!" The nurse shook him out of his daydream. "Dr. Evans..."

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry. What is it?" Max asked, blinking his eyes a few times and looking down at the nurse sitting beside him.

"Dr. Evans, it's pretty dead around here... and it's seven... why don't you go home and get some rest?" Nurse Teri asked him.

Max nodded. "Of course. You have everything taken care of here?"

"Yes, Doctor. Now, go home to that lucky woman of yours." She winked at him. He rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Thank you, Teri."

After retrieving his things from the doctor's lounge, Max walked out to the ER parking lot to find his car to start the drive home. Opening up his car door, he smiled when he found Liz's University of Washington sweatshirt lying casually in the passenger seat. He pulled the oversized shirt over his head and relished in its warmth.

Max started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot, turning in the direction of home. He began fiddling with the radio but was disappointed to find that there was nothing but talk shows on, so he popped in a nearby tape.

He pulled into the left lane to turn onto the highway and panicked as he saw a dog run out into the road.

"Shit!" Max screamed, jerking the wheel to the right to avoid the animal and landing upside down in a ditch on the side of the road.

And the world went black.

* * * * *

"Teagan Alexander Whitman, it is time to go to school! If you're not sitting at this kitchen table at the count of five, you're in big trouble, buddy!" Tess called up the stairs to young son who seemed determine not to make it to class today. She rolled her eyes and sighed as she heard him padding down the hallway, followed by his big sister Angelique.

"Mom, he's coming. I was just helping him with his hair." She said quietly, her blonde curls pulled in a high ponytail as she patted Teagan's dark brown hair gently. Tess smiled at her kids and felt guilty that she'd yelled at her baby.

"Mommy, what's for breakfast?" Teagan asked as he pounded into the kitchen and sat at the table.

"Your Dad fixed eggs for you before he left for school."

"And I can make toast, cause I know how." Angelique smiled proudly. Tess nodded her head and grinned, walking into the kitchen to get plates out for breakfast. As she pulled the dishes out of the cabinet, she was hit with a shooting pain that rocked her body. The force of it was so great that she dropped the dishes, shattering them on the floor. Both children screamed and ran over to where their mother was huddled on the floor.

"Mommy!" Teagan screamed.

"Mom, are you alright?" Angelique cried, sitting behind Tess on the floor and cradling her head. She was slow to respond so Angelique shook her lightly. "Mom! Wake up!"

"Max..." Tess groaned, holding her head and fluttering her eyes open. "Something's happened." She said with renewed force.

"Something's wrong with Uncle Max?" Angelique asked as Tess shuffled to her feet.

"Mommy, are you okay?" Teagan asked, flinging his arms around her legs and holding her tightly.

"I'm fine, sweetie. Remember how I told you that sometimes I can feel what Uncle Max is feeling?" Tess asked her son as she leaned against the kitchen counter for support. She could still feel pain throbbing in her head and her chest.

"Yeah," Teagan asked, tears shimmering in his eyes. "Is he...hurt, Mommy?" Tess gasped for air, clasping her hand to her chest.

"Mom?" Angelique asked. "Mommy, why don't you sit down? You're scaring me!"

"Someone's near... he's in danger." Her eyes glazed over with a look of fear that terrorized Angelique. Teagan climbed into Angelique's arms as their mother blindly reached for the phone.

* * * *

"Max, don't leave us. We need you. We love you."

Max opened his eyes as the darkness that had passed over his brain seemed to fade into the light, and he swore he could hear Liz calling to him. But as the lightness grew, he knew he was wrong. The voice was distinct and different than Liz's. It belonged to Tess.

Fear crushed around his heart as he realized where he was once again. His car had rolled upside down into a ditch and he was currently pinned inside of it. He shut his eyes tight and concentrated on shattering the window and melting the seat belt off his body so he could escape. His body inched slowly out of the car window, trying to avoid the large shards of glass poking out from the side. As he was able to slide completely out of the car, he laid still for a moment until he saw a red-haired man hovering over him with a look of concern.

"Are you okay, man?" He asked, extending a hand to help Max stand up. Max placed his hand in the stranger's as he helped him to his feet. "Jeez, not a scratch on you! You're lucky, pal." He put his hand on Max's shoulder and Max suddenly had a flash of Liz in the throws of pleasure, moaning and pulling at the sheets around her as she reached her final peak of ecstasy. Max broke the connection quickly, staring at the stranger with confusion. He didn't think that was a flash from his *own* fantasies, even though it very well could have been...

"Yeah," Max stuttered out finally, leaning against the wreckage that used to be his car. "I'm... I'm fine." He looked at the man again before turning to look at his car. "I'm fine, thanks for stopping... but you don't have to stay."

"That's okay dude, I can stay with you. You look pretty shaken up. Do you want to use my cell phone?" The man asked, gesturing to the phone in his pocket. Max looked around for his bag and found it lying about ten feet from the car.

It began to ring.

He ran over and retrieved the phone out of his bag, picking it up with a shaking hand and placing it by his ear. "H-hello?"

"Max! It's Liz. Are you okay? Tess called frantically saying you were in danger or something? She was crying and I couldn't really make it out. She said she's flying up tonight... that someone was going to try to kill you?" Liz asked as she paced around the kitchen of Max's apartment.

"Liz." He said firmly, looking towards the man whose eyes had lit up when he heard her name. "Sweetheart, Tess overreacted. I'm fine. I was in an accident." His heart sped faster as the stranger continued to eye him as he spoke.

"Oh my God! Where are you? I'll be there right away!" Liz cried as she stuffed books into her messenger bag.

"No, don't come down here!" Max cried frantically. He didn't want her anywhere near this guy!

"Max, don't tell me what to do!" Liz screamed at him. "You need someone to wait with you until the cops and the tow truck come, right?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you. I just meant, don't come down here-- cause you have school." Max soothed her.

"I don't have class for two more hours. I can come down there and wait with you and I'll drop you back home."

Home. She called his apartment her home. He loved that. "Liz... please don't..." He pleaded with her. He just did not feel good about this guy.

"Max! If you don't tell me where you are right now, I'll drive around Seattle until I find you. And don't think I won't do it!" She cried in frustration.

Max sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get his way with Liz. He smiled as he thought she is a lot more stubborn than she used to be. He loved that about her. "OK. I was turning left onto Highway 90 to come home when I saw a dog run out in the road. I swerved to miss him. Now my car's stuck in a ditch right next to that gas station on the corner, right down the street from the hospital. You know, next to the grocery store?"

Liz nodded. "I'll be right there." As Max hung up the phone, he looked back over at the man, who was leaning up against his car, on the phone with the police. There was something vaguely familiar about him. Max couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew the guy- of that much he was sure. But why in the hell did he get such an intimate flash of Liz like that? It felt more like a memory than a fantasy- like it had actually *happened*. That was the moment Max knew that the flash hadn't come from his own brain. He and Liz had never made love.

He looked once more at the guy as he made his way back over to Max and the wreckage of his car. "I just got off the phone with the police. They should have some guys down here soon." Max just nodded, placing his cell phone back in his bag and dropping it to the ground by his feet. "So, who did you call?"

Max looked at him with surprise. "Um, my... friend."

"A friend, huh? She seems like she's more to you than just a friend, man..." The guy said, raising his eyebrows. Max remembered the flash he'd seen when the guy had touched him and he retched. He couldn't take seeing Liz like that, not unless she was close enough for him to touch...

"She's my best friend, and she's going to be here any minute, so you can leave now if you'd like. I wouldn't want to take up any more of your time." Max said, motioning towards the stranger's car.

"It's not a problem, man." The guy repeated.

Max glared at him. "I *said* you can leave now. Liz will be here any minute. She can take me home. Thank you for stopping," He said strongly and slowly. The stranger held his gaze for a moment and began walking towards his car.