Unbreakable - A Beautiful Lie · (Roswell Fanfiction) · √

THIRTY-ONE

"Your head hurts, doesn't it?" he whispered.

My eyelids were so incredibly heavy as he brushed a tendril of my hair behind my ear, looking at me closely.

I nodded, slowly blinking, and looked at the grim set to his mouth. I was lying on my side, on the bed in the nurse's room. Max had pulled up a chair next to the bed and had, without hesitation - as if it was the most natural thing in the world - immediately taken my hand as he had sat down. He was now occasionally skimming the fingers of his free hand across my face, down my neck.

The touches were gentle and soft, but had a sense of purpose.

I wondered if he was checking my pulse when he touched the side of my neck, if he was checking if I had a fever as he brushed my forehead, and deciding if my pale cheeks were as cold as they looked as his thumb lightly stroked the sides of my face.

I had the strongest feeling that he was keeping a very close watch on my health status; second by second.

The nurse had left barely a minute ago to get some things and Maria (who had been seriously hovering, worried beyond rationality) had just admitted to having drunk about 33 ounces of Coke before she had run into Max. After a minute of restless dancing on the spot, Max had ordered her to go to the toilet.

Max and I were finally alone.

"How did he get in?" I whispered, and Max seemed to know what I was referring to, even without me having to use more explanatory words in my fatigued state.

How had Sean managed to gain access to my mind?

Max was brushing his fingers across my forehead when I asked. Even though his touch was the gentlest of touches, his eyes darkened at my question and I noticed him subtly stiffening.

"You turned off the bond."

What? I frowned. No. I didn't. How could I? Was that even possible? Max had told me that only aliens possessed the power to do that and in some cases not even they could affect connections.

Reading my confusion, Max said tensely, "Yeah, I don't understand how you did it either. You're not supposed to be able to do that." His eyes were turning increasingly stormy and his hand fell away from my face.

"Are you angry with me?" I whispered, my voice breaking with the emotional strain of the conversation.

He practically glared at me before pulling away from me and straightening. Clenching his jaw, he bit out, "Yes."

Hurt crept into my being and I restrained my own glare before I could add more gasoline to the brewing fire. "Why? It's not like it was my fau-"

"Do you have any idea what kind of danger you put yourself in?" Max hissed.

"I didn't-"

But Max wouldn't let me defend myself. His anger was flaring up. "I felt your fear and I reached out for you, trying to find you-"

Yes, I heard you. I thought back to his voice in my head (how had he been able to speak to me, by the way, without a close connection), asking where I was. Just before...

Shit. I had pushed him away. I hadn't wanted Max in my head at that time.

He caught on to the moment it dawned on me and his lips tightened, "Yes. That. Suddenly you were just gone. It was just quiet. Empty." He lowered his head and I saw his fists clench. Barely controlling his voice, he added under his breath, "I thought you were dead."

My mouth went dry and my heart ached with guilt. I hadn't meant to do that. He was the last person that I wanted to do that to. "You really thought I turned it off on purpose? That I even know how to do that?"