Max answered almost absently. "I did. She'll be here."

Maria sighed. "We didn't have to bring her here." Max stared at her as if she were crazy.

"She's right, Max." Michael pointed out. "You could've healed her. No medics, no witnesses . . ." Max fixed him with a look that stopped him cold.

"I can't believe what you're saying." The words were quiet; Max's eyes made them ominous. "You're thinking about us, aren't you? Us, as usual. Heal her myself and I might cause God knows how many changes, but that doesn't matter. We're safe!" The last two words came out like a hiss, and Michael almost flinched. His friend didn't get angry very often, but when he did, there was hell to pay.

"Max, he didn't mean it like that!" Maria sounded desperate. "We don't know if they can save her in time! At least with you .. . "

Max sank down in the seat across from them. "With me she'd stand a better chance. Oh, God, I wish I wasn't . . .what I am. I wish I didn't always have to make these kinds of decisions!" He covered his face with his hands. Just then Nancy Parker entered the waiting room.

"Have you heard anything? Does Jeff know?" she asked.

Maria shrugged. "We don't know if the doctor's told him or not, Mrs. Parker."

"I hope she doesn't. Jeff doesn't need anything else to worry about right now!"

Max's head came up sharply. "I'm sure he'll be told as soon as there's news." The words were cold, but Nancy didn't seem to notice.

"God! If he hears about this, he might drop dead. That girl has caused him so much stress lately!"

Max rose and faced Nancy. "Blame me for the stress if you like, Mrs. Parker, but "that girl", as you call her, is your husband's daughter. He has a right to know what's happened to her." Once more the calm words and the cold tone, but the eyes told everything. Mrs. Parker grew pale, but before she could say anything, Dr. Conroy entered. "How is she, doctor?"

The doctor seemed quite surprised. "I . . . She's all right. I really don't know what you kids were worried about. It was just a little cut." Everyone stared at her in amazement.

"That's impossible!" Maria gasped. "She was bleeding! It was pouring out of her!"

"I thought that too, at first." said Conroy. "I thought she'd need a blood transfusion. I didn't know if I could find a donor or not. I went back into ER, and she was fine." Conroy still looked vague. Max, Michael and Maria exchanged bewildered looks.

"Why didn't you get Mr. Parker's blood?" Max asked. Dr. Conroy was doing a drum solo with her stethescope and looked up distractedly.

"Excuse me?"

"Mr. Parker, her father, is here and her mother too. You could've gotten blood from one of them."

"NO!" Conroy looked adamant and the drumming increased. Nancy was exasperated.

"Doctor, please may I see her and Jeff too?"

"Of course, Mrs. Parker. Come with me." The two women departed. Michael gazed after them.

"She's a strange one."

"Which one?" Max asked him. His friend looked surprised, and Max went on. "Well, Michael, face it. Liz gets hurt, and Mrs. Parker isn't concerned about her at all. She's too busy worrying about her husband!"

"Yeah, I never thought the 'forsaking all others' bit meant forsaking your children. If she is Mrs. Parker's child, that is. What do you think, Maria?" He broke off at the sight of his girlfriend's face. "What is it?"

"That drumming. That drumming sound the doctor was making." Maria looked as if she'd seen a ghost. "You two wouldn't recognize it, maybe, but I could!" They still looked confused. "Remember Alex and Kyle? Tess?" Max and Michael stared at her.

"Mind warping." Max said. "You think someone's done that to the doctor?"

"It would explain her seeing only a little cut instead of the real thing. But who could have healed her?" Michael asked. "Liz couldn't do that herself."