“Max…oh, my God, is that Liz?” Dr. Mason said as he came in to help. “What happened?”

“I’ve been able to stop the bleeding, but she lost a lot of blood,” Max answered as he continued working on Liz. “Where’s that blood?!” Max yelled in frustration.

*********************************************************************

Max sat holding Liz’s hand as he watched the blood come down through the tubes into Liz’s arm. Until now he was able not to cry. He concentrated on saving Liz. But now all they could do was wait and see. And his eyes filled with tears.

“Max, we got the tests back,” Sam Mason said as he walked in. Max looked up at him. “She stopped hemorrhaging. She did lose the baby, though.” Max closed his eyes and covered his face with one hand. “I’m sorry,” Sam said and then left, understanding that Max needed to be alone with Liz. Max exhaled, trying to compose himself. Then he looked at Liz, again. All that mattered right now was that she woke up.

**********************************************************************

“Dad.” Sarah ran up to Max and put her arms around him.

“How is she?” Maria asked as Maria, Alex, Michael, and Isabel got up from their seats and came up to him.

“She’s …uh…she’s gonna be fine,” Max answered. They all exhaled with relief. “They just moved her up to her room.”

They all got their things and left the waiting room. Max was the only one left. He just stood in the middle of the room, feeling lost.

**********************************************************************

Max stood in the washroom, trying to wash Liz’s blood off his hands. He tried to look at it as a doctor, not as a husband. But as he looked at his reflection in the mirror, he couldn’t hold it in anymore. He held his head in his hands as he broke down and cried.

**********************************************************************

Max sat next to the bed, holding Liz’s hand in his, while Sarah sat on the opposite side in a chair, lost in her thoughts. The rest of the family sat outside the room, giving the three of them time together. Liz was still unconscious and so they waited and waited for her to wake up.

There was a knock and then the door opened. “Sarah, there’s someone here to see you,” Maria said quietly.

Sarah looked at Max as if asking him for permission to leave.

“Go ahead,” he said.

As Sarah walked through the door she saw Ben standing by the nurses station.

“How’s your mom doing?” Ben asked when she walked up to him.

“She’s gonna be fine,” she answered.

“Can we talk?” he asked.

Sarah nodded and they walked towards the lounge.

When they were alone in the lounge, Ben said, “Look, I know that it’s probably the wrong time to talk about this, but I was just thinking a lot…about what you said…what you told me about yourself.” When Sarah didn’t say anything, he continued, “Look, I know that I acted like a jerk and I’m sorry…about that. I realize now that it doesn’t matter…what you…who you are, it doesn’t really matter to me. You are the same person that I fell in love with.” When he said the last words Sarah looked at him surprised. “What you are makes you that person. I always knew you were special. Now I know how special.”

“Ben…” Sarah tried to interrupt as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

“No, I know that it will probably be hard. I mean, it’ll probably take some getting used to the whole I-have-powers thing, but it’s Ok.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Sarah, I’m sorry that I freaked out, but…”

“It has nothing to do with that.”

“Then what?”

“Ben, what happens in my family and to my family…it’s not something that happens in other families. And a lot of times it’s dangerous. I mean, look at what happened to my mom.”

“I thought it was…”

“A miscarriage? Maybe…but I’m not willing to…risk your life. I’m not willing to put you in danger like that. And being with me…it puts you in danger. To do that would be selfish.”

“I don’t care,” Ben said honestly.

“But I do. I should have never told you the truth,” Sarah said as she wiped away the tears.

“No, you did the right thing. I’m glad you told me.”

“We can’t do this, Ben. I can’t do this,” she said with a resolved expression.

“Do what?” he asked.

“Us…we don’t belong together. I knew it all along. I just didn’t want to admit it. But it’s true.”

“So, that’s it? You’re just giving up on us?” Ben asked, upset.

“Yes. I’m walking away,” Sarah said. She then turned around and left.

***********************************************************************

Sarah sat on the bench outside thinking about everything that happened.

“Mind if I sit?” Michael asked her. She just shook her head in response.

“So, what are you thinking about?” he asked as he sat next to her.

“Just…things,” she answered.

“That guy…Ben…he really came through, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Can I tell you something?” Sarah looked up at him.

“You can push away the people you love, the people who love you. You can hurt them, you can lie to them. You can do whatever you think will make them turn away from you, but it won’t work. If they really love you, if they really want to be with you, nothing you say or do will make them leave you. Believe me, I’ve tried. And until you realize that it is their choice to be with you, you’ll be making his and your life miserable. But in the end, he’ll still be here…waiting for you to let him in.” Sarah understood what Michael was talking about. She nodded slightly.

*********************************************************************

Liz slowly opened her eyes. Everything seemed like a bad dream. It took her a few minutes to figure out what happened and where she was.

“Liz,” she heard Max’s voice. She turned to him. She saw how tired he looked.

“Max,” she whispered, still feeling weak from the loss of blood.

“You’re Ok now. It’s Ok,” he said trying to make her feel safe.

Liz put her hand over her stomach and then she remembered everything that happened. She realized the horrible truth.

“I lost it? I lost the baby?” she asked him crying, already knowing the answer.

“Shh, shh, it’s ok,” he tried to calm her down. She turned to him and he held her while she cried. “It was Kate. It was Kate,” she said through tears.

**********************************************************************

Two days later…Max and Liz’s house

“So, I don’t understand,” Michael said. Liz just finished telling them all the details of what happened. “Why didn’t they just kill Liz?” Max looked at him with anger. “I mean, why go through so much trouble to make it look like a miscarriage?” Michael tried to explain.

“Well, I guess they really didn’t want me dead. They just don’t want this baby to be born.” Liz said trying to figure it out just like the rest of them.

“I still don’t get this whole prophecy thing,” Maria said. “Does that mean that the previous two miscarriages were also because of them?”

“Probably,” Max said.

“But why?” Maria asked.

“Maybe they’re just scared to go after us directly? This way they just made it look like a natural thing,” Isabel said.

“Why would they be scared to go after us? I mean, they’ve obviously been watching us for a while now,” Michael said.

“Maybe they think that we’re stronger than they are. Maybe there are just a few of them,” Max tried to come up with a reasonable explanation. “All I know is that we’ve gotta be more careful than ever right now. I mean, we have no idea who else might be a skin around us. Maybe you should stay here for a while,” Max said to Isabel, Alex, Michael, and Maria. This way we’ll all protected.” They nodded. “Now we have to figure out what to do next.”

********************************************************************

Max was sitting in the back yard when Michael saw him. Michael sat next to him and they both sat in silence for a few minutes.

“There’s no chance in hell that they’ll leave us alone, is there?” Michael finally said.

“I really doubt that,” Max answered.

“And now they know that we know,” Michael continued.

When Max nodded, Michael continued, “And they know that we’ll go after them.” Again, Max nodded. “So, the only thing they have left to do is to go after us.” Michael finally said what they both knew was going to happen. They looked at each other, knowing exactly what needed to be done.

*********************************************************************

“What?” Liz couldn’t believe her ears. “No, I am not leaving.”

“Liz, they’re gonna come after us. It’s just too dangerous to stay here.”

“Ok, so let's just all leave together.”

“They’ll follow us. Besides, as long as you’re around me, you won’t be safe.”

“I don’t care about that. If I did, I wouldn’t have married you.”

“Liz, what about Sarah? Remember, we always put Sarah first. You made that rule.”

“I never thought I would be the one making that choice,” Liz said, upset.

“You’re not. I am,” Max said calmly.

“Ok, then let's just leave together…just you and me. That way everybody else will be safe,” Liz was grasping for straws.

“It would be too dangerous. I would never do that to you.”

Liz knew he was right. He would never put her in that position. Just like she would never do that to him. She began to give in and her eyes filled with tears. He came up to her and was about to hug her, as she suddenly said, “No! No! I am not leaving you.”

“Liz…”

“NO!…No…” she gave in as he held her in his arms.

*********************************************************************

Sarah knocked on the window of Ben’s bedroom.

“Sarah?” Ben, who just woke up, looked surprised to see her. He opened the window. “What are you doing here?”

“Something happened. I just…came to say good bye.”

“Good bye?” He didn’t understand what she was talking about.

“Yeah, I’m …my mom and I …we’re leaving.”

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know.”

“For how long?” He asked as his heart began racing.

“I’m not sure. My dad wants us away from here until…well, it’s a long story, but it’s dangerous for us to stay here for now, She tried to explain. “Anyway, I just wanted to say good bye. So, good bye,” she said and she was about to turn around and leave.

“Wait,” he said as he caught her hand.

Sarah looked down at where his hand was holding hers and then up at him. At this moment she knew that Michael was right. She leaned in and kissed him.

************************************************************************

Maria was finishing packing. She had a few last things to put into the suitcase. Her back was turned to Michael as she saw that she held his shirt by accident. She didn’t say a word when he told her that she had to leave. She started packing right away, nervously running around their room trying not to forget what she needed. But now, that she was almost done, she couldn’t hold it in any longer. She covered her face with her hands that were still holding his shirt and began crying uncontrollably. Michael came up behind her and put his arms around her. Gently he turned her around so that he could see her face.

“It’s gonna be over soon,” he tried to reassure her.

“I’m pregnant,” she said suddenly and then looked up at him.

Michael didn’t expect that. His eyes got bigger in surprise. He felt like he lost all ability to speak. After he got over the first wave of shock, he hugged Maria closer to him and then kissed her passionately.

“Maybe it would be better if you stayed with your mom instead,” he said when they were both able to speak again.

“Roswell?…No, I’d rather go with Liz,” Maria said.

“Right…I mean, Liz will need you,” he said understanding.

“I’ll need her, too,” Maria said honestly. Michael nodded in understanding.

**********************************************************************

As the early morning came everyone in the house was awake. Isabel and Alex were rechecking everything. Michael held Maria as she slept. Terry and Sarah were sitting in silence in Sarah’s room. Max and Liz were laying in their bed, just holding each other, trying to enjoy the last minutes of being together.

The alarm went off.

“It’s time,” Max said quietly to Liz.

*********************************************************************

They all were standing in the garage now. The last bags were put into the van and Alex and Isabel were the first ones to say good bye. Isabelle hugged Michael and Max.

Maria and Michael were standing to the side, kissing.

Sarah hugged Max. Max kissed her forehead, like he’s done so many times before. As they broke the hug, Sarah said, “She’ll be Ok, dad.” Max smiled at her slightly.

As Sarah got into the van, Liz, who heard what Sarah said, came up to Max. They just stared at each other for a few minutes. As Liz began crying, they hugged each other tightly. “I love you,” Liz said.

“I love you,” he answered as he, too, began crying.

She pulled away and they both now stood holding each other’s face in their hands and kissing and crying.

“You have to go,” Max whispered after some time. Liz just shook her head, not willing to let go. Max took her hands in his, trying to move them. It was time for them to leave. “Liz…”

“No,” she shook her head again.

He pushed her away. “You have to go,” he repeated.

She took a step back, still not letting go of his hand. Neither one wanted to let go first. Liz took another step back and let go. They looked at each other for another moment and then Liz got into the van.

Michael closed the door behind her and as the van pulled out of the garage, Max, still with tears on his face, and Michael stood there watching.

When the van disappeared from their view, Michael said, “It’s the right thing to do, Maxwell.”