“I promised her I wouldn’t tell you.” She spat out.

“Promised who?”

“Liz, she made me promise that I wouldn’t tell you or anyone. And I tried, but now, it’s just getting too painful for everyone. I think I need to tell you the truth.” Her eyes were wide, and tears slowly rolled out of them.

I grabbed her shoulders, trying to get her to calm down.

“Maria, just tell me.” I pleaded.

We went into Brody’s office and sat. I gave her a few minutes to compose herself.

“Last year, at the end of October, something major happened. You, no, a future version of you, 14 years to be exact, came to Roswell. He used the granolith to come back. He went to Liz, and told her that he needed her to make you fall out of love with her.” She stopped, and took some deep breathes.

Oh God. It wasn’t real. She hadn’t slept with Kyle. I had been so harsh and uncaring to her, and the whole time she was keeping this secret inside.

“So, the first attempt was to get you and Tess together, which as you know, failed. Then, she went to your room, and it didn’t work that time either. So finally, she went to Kyle and they made it look like they had slept together,” She gave me a comforting pat on the shoulder. “She told me right before she left. It was eating me up inside not telling you.”

“Maria. What have I done?” I stared at the floor, thousands of thoughts running through my head.

“Max, you can’t blame yourself. There was no way you could’ve known.” She said softly.

“I need to talk to her, to tell her how sorry I am. That I never stopped loving her.” I ran out of the office, and headed for the Crashdown, Maria was right behind me.

“Hey Max, Maria!” Mrs. Parker said cheerfully when we entered.

“Hi, is Liz here?” I got right to the point.

“No, she and Madison went out to tour the city. Not that there’s much to tour.” She laughed.

No, I needed to talk to her right now.

“Mrs. Parker, there’s someone on the phone for you!” Jose, the cook called.

My gaze followed Mrs. Parker across the room, and watched her pick up the phone. Something didn’t seem right. Something was wrong.

“Yes, this is Nancy Parker.” She spoke into the receiver, “What? Oh no. No.”

She was crying now, and Mr. Parker ran to her. He grabbed the phone.

“This is Jeff Parker, what is it?” It seemed like the whole world slowed down, “O-okay. Thank you.”

His face went white as he hung up the phone, and he pulled Mrs. Parker into a hug. Maria leaped up and ran over to them.

“What’s wrong? Nancy? Jeff? What is it?” Her voice was panicky.

“It’s Liz.” Something inside me died. “There’s been an accident.”

------------------------------------------------------

“Could you please just tell me if she is all right?” I begged.

“We can’t give out any information until her parents arrive. Please Ms. Fox, just try to relax.” He smiled, then walked away.

Relax? Relax? How could he even think that I could relax! When my best friend was half-dead, lying in a hospital bed all alone. Where were Mr. and Mrs. Parker?

“Just calm down.” I whispered to myself, even though I knew it wasn’t possible.

I heard a commotion coming down the hallway. Didn’t people have any respect? At that moment, Liz’s parents, accompanied by a cluster of her friends, bounded into the waiting room. Thank God!

“Madison!” Mrs. Parker sobbed, then pulled me tightly into a hug.

“What happened? Are you all right?” Mr. Parker said, quickly.

“I just got a broken arm, and a few bruises.” I pointed to the wounded arm for proof.

“Mr. and Mrs. Parker?” The doctor I had spoke to moments ago, returned to the room.

Everyone’s eyes turned toward him.

“How is she? Is she going to be okay?” I couldn’t tell who had asked.

“I think we should all just sit down.” His voice still held it's calmness.

I took this opportunity to look around the room and see who was here. Maria and Michael were holding hands, Alex and Isabel were standing close to each other. There were three people I didn’t recognize. A blonde girl, and 2 dark haired boys were standing next to Mr. and Mrs. Parker.

Maria glanced toward me, obviously noticing my confusion.

“Madison this is Max, Kyle, and Tess. Guys, this is Madison. Liz’s friend, from Ohio.” We all tried to smile, but failed.

“Doctor, could you please tell us how our daughter is?” Mrs. Parker sobbed.

He took a deep breath. All of us were on the edge of our seats, waiting, preparing.

“There was mass internal bleeding. A skull fracture. She lost a lot of blood externally also.” His eyes drifted to a tile on the floor.

I felt something rising up my throat.