Fang felt like he was about to throw up. He sat in a chair beside a hospital bed, which Max was laying in. The covers were drawn up to her waist. Fang could see where they cut a part of her dress away, the bandages covering the wound.

It was like Gazzy's, but more serious.

It had been five days since the Holiday Dance. Since then, Max had been unconscious. Her mom visited her as often as she could, but she had Angel and the Gasman to take care of. Fang barely ate since the Dance, either. He slept in the chair, even though the doctors wanted him out. But he stayed put.

Now, a nurse came in the room and fed Max through an IV. Fang watched.

"Can she hear us?" He asked quietly.

The nurse looked startled to see him there, like she hadn't noticed him at all. "It depends. Is she in a coma?"

Fang shrugged. "The doctors won't tell me anything."

"If she is," the nurse said, lowering an injection, "then she probably can hear us."

Fang stood up and walked beside Max's bed. He looked down at her pale face. Her eyes were closed, and her lips had lost their color. Fang had to look at her moving chest to convince himself she was alive.

"Is she going to wake up soon?" He asked.

"I hope," the nurse said. She wrote something down on her clipboard, looked at Fang one last time, and left.

"Hi, Max," Fang whispered. "I don't know if the nurse was lying to me or not, so...do something to tell me that you can hear me."

Max didn't move.

Fang grasped her lifeless hand and continued to speak softly: "Angel misses you. So does Gazzy. We all do." Tears filled his eyes. "You better live, Max. If you don't, I'll resurrect you back to life and kill you myself, then bring you back to life again and let you live." He smiled inwardly at the phrase they often used. "I feel like such an idiot; here I am, supposedly talking to you. But I have a feeling you hear me.

"Remember that time with the swing? You were crying so loud I almost went deaf. And that time with the marshmallows. I told Angel about that. She comes here every night and we both stay here. She asked me to tell her a bedtime story, so I told her about our childhood. She didn't really go to sleep; it just made her more awake. She fell asleep, soon, though.

"Yesterday, your mom came in here with a stray puppy. She cured it at the vet hospital and adopted it. Guess what she named it? Total. Well, Angel named him. He's a Scottish terrier. And I know you're never going to let me hear the end of this, but: I think he's cute. The Gasman wanted to name him Farts, and Iggy wanted to name him Overcooked Bread, with the puppy's black fur and all. Nudge wanted to name him Arinensyl Khrylia Flyte, but Dr. Martinez told her it was a boy puppy. Naturally, Angel had the most decent name, so they went with Total.

"I miss you a lot, Max. I don't smile much like I used to. Well, not that I often smiled, but you get it. Nudge thinks I'm depressed." And Fang went on telling her about what had happened over the past five days, and he made sure he sounded neutral. Just in case Max could hear him. After he finished summarizing, he found himself smiling. Finally, he said, "Max, I've been wanting to tell you something, and I was planning to do it the night of the dance. But, um, you beat me to the punch. I never got to tell you that I loved you, too."

He'd said it. Those three words.

"And I hope you meant what you said. Because I've been in love with you since we were eight, but I didn't know it then. It hit me right after Jeb took you away. Yeah, I had a crush on Dawn, but I didn't like her as much as I did you."

Fang paused. He looked down at Max. She was still in her dress--it was now stained with blood.

"Can you hear me?" Fang put both his hands on the bed and leaned down. "Max." He kissed her lightly on the lips.

When he pulled away, he was sure he saw her smiling.

--

It was 2:06 in the morning. Fang remembered clearly opening his eyes and looking at the digital clock.

2:06 am

Angel wasn't with him tonight; her mom wanted her to stay home. The room was dark, but he could see an outline of someone on Max's bed. His heart raced and he stood quickly, ready to chase away whoever was trying to kidnap Max.

"F-f-fang?" A girl's voice trembled.

Fang faltered and his eyes widened. Was she really...?

There was some rustling, then he felt a hand caress his cheek. His own came up and rested above the girl's.

The digital clock on the side table was enough to give him a clear view of the girl. As she leaned forward, he grinned.

Max.

He wrapped two arms around her waist and pulled her to him, smashing her lips against his. Max's hands came up and tangled themselves into his hair. She angled her head to the side, trying to get closer to him. A sudden pain burst from her bullet wound, and she jerked back. Fang heard something being knocked over as Max pulled away suddenly. People seemed to hear from outside and Fang heard someone coming. A doctor barged into the room. Light filtered inside, and Fang raised a hand to cover his eyes from the sudden brightness.

But through his hand, he could see his Max, staring at him. She was smiling, leaning back on the mattress of the bed. Even though her hair hadn't been combed, and her dress was still stained in red, to Fang, she looked beautiful.

End of Separation.

Thanks, you guys, for following along with this story and helping me reach at least 560 reviews. You guys are awesome!!

The sequel is out now. The title is Around the World. Go check it out. :D

~Zikkie

P.S. And, yes, I made Max live.