The incessant ringing cut through the quiet of the still night and Max awoke with a start. He glanced over at his phone, waited for it to ring once more, then rolled over and picked it up. He remained lying in bed as he carefully placed the phone to his ear. "Hello?" he answered rather groggily.

A distant voice was heard on the other end. "I need your help."

Max sat up in bed. "I told you never to call...." he said harshly.

"No, it's Maria. She's dying."

Max sighed and hung up the phone, then rolled over once more and wrapped his arm around his wife lying beside him.

"Who was that?" she asked, still half asleep.

"An old friend...." Max returned, "Go back to sleep honey."

He heard her murmur a few more words before finally falling asleep again. Max slipped his arm away from her waist and pulled the covers up further around her. As quietly as he could, he got out of bed and began to dress, pulling on his pants and shirt. He searched the closet for a small duffel bag and filled it with another pair of pants and two more shirts. Then he went into the bathroom and threw in his toothbrush and comb, along with any other items he might need. He went back to his sleeping wife, kissed her softly on the forehead, then made his way down the stairs as quietly as possible. Before leaving, he wrote a short note: There's been an emergency,
I'll call you tonight.
I promise not to be gone for more than 2 days....

Love, Max

Then he grabbed his doctor's bag from the couch in the foyer, opened the front door, and was gone.

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

Roswell
Later that day

Michael was waiting for him as he stepped off the plane. He offered to take one of Max's bags. "I'm fine," Max replied, "let's just get this over with so I can go back home."

When they finally arrived at his apartment, Michael led Max back to the bedroom. Maria was lying on the bed, completely covered with the thick bright blue comforter. She opened her eyes at the sound of them entering the room, but said nothing.

Michael cleared his throat and began to talk. "Two months ago Maria was diagnosed with cancer. She has a malignant mass growing in her brain. Eventually it will cut off the supply of blood and kill her. The doctors say she's in her last days." He managed to choke back a sob. "I just can't let her go."

Max stood over her, as if in contemplation. "Maybe it's her time, Michael."

Michael shook his head in disbelief. "No, no, it can't be. Please help her Max, I'm begging you."

Max sighed and laid his hand on Maria's forehead. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Maria's body arched in the air as she gasped for air and fluttered her eyelids. After a few minutes Max removed his hand and Maria's body fell limp once more. "She's healed," he declared. He picked up his bags and left the room saying, "I need to make a phone call."

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

Max sat in the spare guest bedroom, talking on the phone. There was a knock on the door and Michael entered. Max turned from him and proceeded to talk into the phone. "I'll be home tomorrow night. I think my plane gets in around 6:00. But I'll call you again tomorrow okay? I have to go now darling...I love you too, bye." He hung up the phone and turned back towards Michael standing in the doorway. "What do you want?" he asked rather harshly.

"I just wanted to thank you, I'm sorry I even asked, it's just, I didn't know what to do, you know."

Max nodded. "Yeah, whatever," he muttered under his breath, not caring if Michael heard or not.

Michael pointed to the doctor's bag sitting at the foot of the bed. "Are you a doctor now?" he asked.

Max rolled his eyes and sighed. "No, it's just a cover. I became a doctor to heal people - funny how I've never used anything in that bag," he waved his hand in the air, "just this." He allowed himself to smile for a moment before looking back at Michael. "Now if you don't mind, I need to get some rest, I leave first thing tomorrow morning."

Michael nodded, "Of course." He walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Max lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Being back in Roswell was almost too much for him, he would be glad to leave tomorrow. Michael seemed to have a decent life now. He was living with the girl of his dreams in a huge apartment with expensive furniture, all paid for by a respectable job. And he had a whole different demeanor about him like he had finally grown up and learned to take things seriously. Max reached for the phone again, determined to call home. Talking to his wife always made him forget.

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

Max woke up to the sound of the alarm clock that read 7:15 am. He got up and dressed quickly, hoping to leave before anyone else awoke. He was almost out the door when Michael called out from the kitchen, "leaving so soon?" Max cursed under his breath, threw his bags down at the door and walked towards the brightly lit kitchen. Michael stood over the stove, busy making omelets and hash browns. He swung the spatula around in the air as he spoke, saying something about making breakfast as a token of appreciation, but Max wasn't paying attention to him. As he sat down at the table he grabbed the newspaper and pretended to read in an attempt to avoid a conversation.

Michael slid a plate full of food in front of him and said, "Just try it, it's really not that bad."

Max pushed the food around with his fork. "I hope Maria's feeling better," he said not looking up.

Michael stood against the counter. "She feels much better, she's just sleeping late, Maria never wakes up before 10:00," he said with a chuckle.

Max pushed the plate away from him and stood up. "Well, I have a plane to catch, I should really go."

Michael nodded his head, "You're right, you should be on your way."

There was a moment of awkwardness as Max stuck out his hand, expecting to shake hands with Michael, but he picked it up for closer inspection. "What the hell is this?" Michael questioned about the gold band around Max's finger, "You're married now?"

Max pulled his hand away from Michael's. "I've left Roswell behind...I have a life now."

"As I recall you had a life here in Roswell once too," Michael laughed bitterly, "It's just amazing, you know, how you've managed to forget about everything that once mattered to you."

Max stared at him. "Like what?"

"Like Roswell, like me and Isabel and your fucking soul mate Liz!"

Max shook his head. "It's called 'starting over' Michael, and it's what I did with a new city, a new job, a new wife, and new friends. Anyways, Liz left me - she forgot about me!"

"No, she didn't! That day, when she walked away from you, she was expecting you to walk after her! She left you because she didn't want to stand in the way of your goddamn 'destiny'!"

Max shook his head again. "I don't want to get into this, I have to go."

Michael interrupted him, "And then, in the same day, you left us - me and Isabel, even Tess! Did you really expect us to go on without you, our leader?"

Max cut him off yelling, "You never believed in any of that destiny crap!"

Michael yelled back, "How do you know? You weren't there to ask me!" He went on to say, "God, when Liz left, you went insane! You left Roswell, you moved to New York, and you completely forgot about us."

"I am over her Michael."

"You think you can just forget about her by moving as far away as possible and starting a new life?" Michael laughed again. "You're only covering your pain with lies."

"Since when have you become such an expert in life?"

"Since I grew up and got one of my own."

Max stared at the ground. "You don't understand."

"No Maxwell, you're wrong! I do understand. I've tried to forget about Maria, failed miserably, went back to her and we've been happy together ever since."

Max looked up again. "It's not the same...Liz...." A look of pain came across Max's face. He realized that was the first time he had mentioned her name in over eight years. This was reopening too many scars - he had to leave before....

Michael interrupted his thoughts. "You can go back...."

Max took a step back trying to regain composure. "No."

"You can go see her...."

Max shoved his hand in front of Michael and waved his wedding band in his face. He pointed to it for added emphasis. "You see this!?" he said, "This is why I can't ever see her again." He backed away with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry, I can't do this." Then he turned and picked up his bags, slamming the door behind him as he left.

Maria appeared from behind the corner. She came up behind Michael and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Did you hear?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," she replied just as quietly.

"It didn't work."

"At least we tried." Maria held out her hand. "Do you have it?"

Michael reached into his pocket and pulled out the small tape recorder. He pressed stop and took out the cassette and handed it to Maria.

"We can't let her know," she said taking it from him.