Cold. That's all I felt. There was no warmth, no comfort. Just a cold, black abyss of nothingness.

Then I felt a presence. Steel, part of me recognized.

:: Max? Max, it's time to wake up. :: Steel said. I didn't want to stay here, so I agreed.

:: What do I need to do to get out of here? :: I asked Steel.

:: Just think about the real world. Molly, Forge, and Berto. You know, everyone you care about. ::

:: Okay, :: I replied. Then I thought about everyone I cared about and loved. Mom and Sydney, Forge and Berto, Kat and Jefferson, Kirby and Butch. I needed to get back to them. I needed them.

Slowly I started to realize that I was lying on a bed. There was an excruciating pain on both my chest and face, and I wanted to scream, but I found that I couldn't make a noise. I then felt a weight on my face, not heavy but I knew it was there. I guessed it was a breathing mask.

I tried to open my eyes, begged and demanded my brain to open them but to no prevail. I could twitch my finger just a little bit, though. But after that, I was exhausted, and was about to sink into darkness again. Before I did though, I heard a machine beep and someone rush over.

"Max?" Someone asked. "Max, can you hear me? Move your finger if you can."

Right before I was gone again, I managed to twitch my finger one more time. But then I was in the abyss again.

Maybe it was only hours before I woke back up, or maybe it was days. This time my chest didn't hurt as much, and I could feel something, maybe a brace, stationed over my lungs. It was very lightweight, and it felt like it almost wasn't there.

The machine beeped again, and this time my eyes opened a fraction of an inch. My voice croaked out a "Hello?", and someone came rushing over. It was Berto, and he looked excited.

"Max? Max, you're awake!" Berto yelled in joy, and pressed a button on one of the other machines close to him. Almost immediately, Mom, Uncle Forge, Jefferson, and Kat came rushing into the room.

"Max, how are you feeling?" Berto asked me.

"My..chest hurts," I managed to choke out. I sounded hoarse and I could tell my voice was filled with pain, I could feel it, too. It hurt a lot when I tried to talk.

"Does it hurt to speak?" Mom asked with concern. I nodded my head faintly. I was starting to get exhausted, and I knew that soon I would pass out again.

Berto seemed to sense this and told the rest, "I think that Max needs to get some rest."

They all nodded. "You get better, alright?" Forge said.

"Just rest, sweetie." Mom told me.

"Okay," I replied with some difficulty. Then I let it pit of darkness swallow me once more.

The next time I woke up wasn't that great. As I opened my eyes and adjusted to the bright light of the room I was in, the machine started beeping rapidly and I felt white hot pain flaring in my lungs, and it hurt to breathe. I started thrashing around, trying to get my voice to work so that I could yell for help.

Suddenly, a nurse barged in the room, took one look at me, and pressed a button on a machine near her. She then prepared what I guessed was a sedative, and injected it into me.

Slowly, I stopped thrashing and felt my muscles go slack. My chest still hurt a lot, but now I was a bit calmer.

Soon, a couple of people rushed in. Berto, Uncle Forge, and a doctor I didn't recognize. The doctor looked at one of the screens that monitored my lungs and paled.

"Max, one of your lungs has just collapsed more. We need to get you into a stronger brace for now, and I need you to be awake during it. Do you understand?" The doctor asked me.

I nodded, even though pools of dread were filling up in my stomach. From the way that he talked, I was almost completely sure this was going to hurt. A lot.

As the doctor prepared a new brace, Berto and Uncle Forge each took one of my hands.

"Hermano, this is going to hurt, but we need you to try to stay conscious, alright?" Berto asked me with a soothing tone. I nodded, even though my chest was really hurting now, I couldn't imagine what more pain would feel like.

"The brace is ready. Max, you ready?" The doctor asked me, holding the brace they were about to put on me. It was black and bigger than the one currently on me, and had a lot of screws and levers that I guessed were for tightening it in the parts it needed to be.

I took a deep breath, well as much of a deep breath I could since it was still hard to breathe.

The doctor slowly took off the old brace, and I shivered unintentionally when cool air hit my torso. I shouldn't have. That sent hot flares of pain racing through my body.

Once the old brace was on a nearby table, the doctor picked up the new one and slid it on, not putting it on fully yet. Uncle Forge looked at me with sympathy, and I knew how much this was going to hurt.

As the doctor quickly tightened the straps, I gripped Uncle Forge and Berto's hands when I felt something inside me shift, and a sudden spasm of agony took over. It lasted less than three seconds, so soon I was limp again.

Then the doctor tightened it super fast, and once he was done, I writhed in pain again before my body went completely still, as I had slipped into the unforgiving blackness again.

After a few days, I finally opened my eyes again, and I felt a lot better. The scratches still burned like fire, but I forced myself to get used to it. I guessed that this was going to just be a part of life from now on.

I felt someone exit from my chest. "Steel!" I exclaimed happily, but it still hurt to talk, and my voice was hoarse and sore like before.

"No, no, no, Max." Steel said sternly to me. I shrank back a little, confused and a bit hurt. Steel saw this and felt it so he quickly said, "I know that talking is hard for you, so for a while, I'm going to talk for you. And before you go against it-" Steel said, holding his 'hand' up as I was about to speak. "I can hear what you think anyways, so it won't be a problem for me."

I contemplated it. :: Fine, but only if I say so and I physically can't speak at all. And thank you, :: I said to him through my thoughts.

:: No problem, :: Steel told me. :: But I'm glad you're finally fully awake. After last time, you were out for about three days. I should call Forge and tell him to get his butt down here! ::

I laughed mentally, a small though weak smile spreading across my face. :: Thanks Steel, :: I told him.

Steel just gave me a happy face and proceeded to call Forge.

"What do you wa- Steel!" Uncle Forge exclaimed. "Max is up for good?"

"Yup," Steel said happily. "You can see him yourself," Steel told him, letting Uncle Forge have a look at me. At the moment I was propped up on the bed, using some pillows for support.

"Max! This is great! Wait till I tell the rest about this!" And with that, Uncle Forge ran off, and Steel cut the connection.

:: Thanks, :: I told Steel.

:: No problemo, :: Steel replied.

Soon enough, Uncle Forge, Mom, Berto, Jefferson, and Kat were in the room with me. I smiled weakly and said, "Hi guys."

A moment later, the room erupted in cheers. I startled, shocked.

Mom came to my rescue. "We're just so happy you're awake, honey." She told me, kissing me lightly on the cheek and patting my arm. This time, I didn't mind.

Kat came over and scolded me. "Don't ever do that again!" She said fiercely. "You were in a coma for three months! Three months!" She yelled.

I froze. "Three months?" I asked quietly.

Kat froze. "I-uh, wasn't supposed to tell him that, was I?"

"It's alright. We were going to tell him soon anyways." Uncle Forge told her.

"Hermano, we were really scared that you were going to-you know.." Berto said tearfully.

I shook my head. "I'm pretty hard to kill, you know."

"But that doesn't mean you're invincible." Jefferson told me.

"I know," I replied, and faced all of them. "I'm really sorry I worried you."

"It wasn't in your control," Uncle Forge said. "Now, you're bedridden for at least five days, and since today is Monday, next week I think you can go to school. No training or superhero stuff until you're completely healed. Understand?"

I nodded, then thought about what he said. Oh no, he realized. School! "Umm.. Does the school know about, well, this?" He asked, pointing to himself.

Uncle Forge seemed hesitant. "No, but you can say that you were in an accident and had to recover."

I stared at him incredulously. "For three and a half months?"

Suddenly I felt a stronger flare of pain in my chest and I gasped, gripping the bed for support and screwing my eyes shut. Berto checked one of the screens and turned to me, smiling sympathetically.

"Max should get some rest now. His lungs are flaring up due to him talking a lot." Berto told everyone.

I nodded and laid back against the bed, closing my eyes. Soon the darkness swallowed me.

Over the course of the next five days, I woke up about three times and each time, the doctor from before asked me questions about how I was feeling. I learned his name was Dr. Robertson.

He told me about what happened when I was in a coma. I went into cardiac arrest two times, and they had to refit several braces. The good news was, my lungs should be healed completely within about seven months. Until then, I had to wear a very lightweight brace for my lungs. I didn't even notice it was there most of the time. You can't see it when I have a shirt and jacket on, too.

After the five days were up, on the sixth day, Saturday, they let me start walking around a bit.

"Max, just be careful. I'll be right behind you just in case." Uncle Forge told me gently. I nodded and pushed myself up.

I slowly swung my legs over the bed, and when I tried supporting myself, I cried out on pain as a wave of agony took over my body. I started to crumple to the ground, but Uncle Forge caught me and held me up. Black spots danced across my vision before I regained my footing and stood back up on my own.

"Thanks," I told Uncle Forge, walking around slowly. I looked at all the machines that were connected to me. Dr. Robertson had already taken everything off except for the IV, which had wheels so that it could roll around with me.

After a few wobbly steps, I got used to the pain and walked more surely. "So," I looked to Berto, thinking of something. "What happened to the steel suit? I mean, I know I can't do anything with it, but what happened?"

Berto looked a little hesitant. "I think Steel should tell you."

Steel rolled his eye and looked at me seriously. "The steel suit was well beyond repair, and it can take up to months for me to rebuild it. It will be a long process. But, you don't need it to contain your TURBO energy, since I will be linked up to you almost all of the time."

I nodded seriously. "So, on Monday it's back to school?"

Uncle Forge looked conflicted. "I don't want you to be doing things this soon after what happened," he said to me. "But I think it would be best."

"Okay," I said. "I think I'm going to sleep for a little bit." I told him, yawning.

Uncle Forge nodded at me. "Alright," he said, stretching and getting ready to leave the room. "Come on, Berto." Berto nodded and followed him out.

I sighed and went over to the bed, laying down. Steel relinked with me, and before I closed my eyes and fell asleep, I felt Dr. Robertson reattach the monitors.

Then I let sleep take me.