Chapter 34

Max's POV:

Holy shit. I woke up feeling like I had died and then pitifully brought back to life. Maybe I had.

"Maxime? Are you awake?" I vaguely heard my Mom's voice floating to me through all of the fog and beeping around me.

I heard my Dad's voice and the voice of a stranger but didn't hear the one voice I was straining myself to hear.

"Lizzy?" I needed the reassurance that he was here. That she was here with my family. Hell, she was my family now.

"Maxime, open your eyes. Can you do that?" the stranger's voice was ordering me do this but my eyes didn't want to cooperate.

Finally I started to open them, my pupils protesting against all of the light hitting them now. "Where's Lizzy?" I asked trying to see through my slitted lids. I looked for her blonde head like I always did and came up short. She's not here?

"Maxime, she's working." My Dad spoke for the first time. Working? Why?

"You had an accident Max" my Mom stated once I could fully see what was going on around me. Somehow I had wound up in the hospital but I couldn't remember what had happened before any of this. The last thing I remembered was talking to Lizzy in the locker room after my game.

"You were speeding and you had an accident" my Mom explained hovering over my bedside. "Lizzy stayed with you until you started to wake up and then she had to leave to go take care of things for you. You scared her Max."

"I don't understand. What is she taking care of?" What was so important that she couldn't be here where I could see her? Touch her.

"She has to take care of your legal mess" My Dad said looking none-too-friendly at me.

"Was it that bad?" I said looking to my Mom now. If my mind was fuzzy before, it was clear now with all of the unease I was feeling from everyone around me.

"You gave her a really bad scare" my Mom stated choosing to leave it at that. I had fucked up is what she actually wanted to say but wouldn't.

"Mr. Talbot? The doctor will be in shortly to go over everything with you" the nurse stated on her way out after she finished changing liquids in my I.V. and writing on a chart.

"She'll be back Maxime" my Mom stated reading my mind. I knew that she would be back, I was just worried about what her actual reaction would be. I had obviously done something stupid and was sure that I was going to pay for it one way or another.

Eliza's POV:

I hung up the phone unable to sit through another phone conversation that included being put on hold 5 freaking times. It was 6am and I had been awake literally all morning trying to get this mess figured out. For anyone else this could have been a relatively easy process, but with Max and his status as an NHL player, it was messy. There was the press to deal with, sponsors paying him to be in shape and play well, and all of the paperwork that needed to be filled out. Not to mention the police. After listening to the officer handling the case and all of the charges against Max for speeding, I knew that I had my work cut out for me. The only saving grace in all of this was that he hadn't hit anyone or any personal property. He had merely wiped out on the road and hit a tree. Yeah, merely. Therefore, the police department couldn't take action against him there. Alcohol levels in his blood had come back normal which also eliminated the possibility of a D.U.I. charge. Due to some smooth talking and a lot of bargaining, I had gotten Max cleared of all possible charges, including points to his license. The only thing I couldn't escape was the staggering spike in his monthly insurance bill.

Part of me was still so angry at him for risking his life and everything else that I was almost tempted not to argue him out of doing community service. That small part of me wanted him to suffer for scaring me like this but I didn't do it. I, like a good lawyer ought to, fought for the best possible solution for my client. Who sadly was the man I was in love with.

Everything was taken care of for now and because of Max's status as a Penguin's player, it looked like all of the paperwork was going to go through quickly and with little to no complications.

"Eliza? You really should get some sleep. I can take care of everything else. You've already done pretty much all of it. Did you issue a press release?" Jeremy was staring at me worriedly from my office doorway.

"Yeah, I called the number you gave me and talked to them about issuing the release. I didn't want to call anyone in the PR department because of how early it is. I did the whole 'He is stabilized, please respect the privacy of the family' quote and left it at that. You know everyone will have a different take on the story anyway" I said shrugging and not really caring either way. Max was so well liked in Pittsburgh that it was doubtful anything could really hurt his career. Knowing his luck, he would get the sympathy of the city and it work in his favor somehow.

"Okay superwoman. Seriously, go back to your man now. Last I heard, he woke up and was fully conscious again. He was even joking with Mario when he called to check on him."

"Okay, I think I'm going to call off later this morning, is that okay? I can do anything else you need from home." He waved my comment off telling me not to even bother coming in.

"You've taken care of everything already so get some rest. We'll need you around next week but I don't want you falling asleep on your feet here in the office."

I thanked him and headed out on my way back to the hospital. When I did get there, a few of the other players had gathered already as well as Emma and the rest of the Lemieuxs. Everyone rushed to me and greeted me with hugs and lots of "it's great that he's not really hurt!" Yeah, great. Everything's just perfect. My face was starting to hurt with the amount of fake smiles I kept plastering onto my face.

It was almost a party in the waiting room down the hall from his room. So much fun was being had that I wanted to scream at everyone to get out. Couldn't they see that he could have died? Would they be cracking jokes then too?

"Hey, are you sure you're okay?" Emma asked pulling me aside from the small throng of people that had gathered. "Come on, I can see that you're upset" she said seeing that the small smile on my face definitely did not reach my eyes. Even smiling is painful right now.

"No" I sighed giving into the urge to let her hug me. "He could have died" I said trying to relax in her arms.
"But he didn't" she said trying to reassure me. "He's okay. It was just one stupid accident and it all turned out okay."

"Yes, it was stupid. My Dad's accident was also stupid but that didn't turn out well at all." I was on the verge of blubbering now and really, the only thing that could make this night worse would be breaking down in front of all of these people. Why were they still laughing?

"Lizzy? Do you want to come back? Max has been asking for you since he woke up." Lucy had appeared by both of our sides. She looked exhausted and had probably been on her feet since we originally arrived here.
"How about I go get some coffee for you guys?" Emma offered breaking away to head to the cafeteria.

Lucy led me down the hall to where Serge was still sitting with Max by his bed. Max looked a lot better than he had when I first saw him after the accident and it reassured me that he really was okay.

He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something and tried to meet my lips when I leaned down to kiss him on the cheek. I turned and kissed his cheek instead. He looked at me in surprise but neither of us said anything, just stared at each other.

"Oh look, Emma has coffee!" Lucy announced brightly. "Come on Serge, you need some coffee." Both of them left quickly subtle again, Lucy leaving Max and I alone in the room together.

"Don't shut down on me" he stated quietly after a period of awkward silence.

"I'm not shutting down. I'm just tired." I said trying to avoid the subject. I wasn't going to talk to him like this in a hospital room.

"I know you're tired, but you're also shutting yourself away from me. I've been with you long enough to recognize the signs." As he said this, he kept his eyes trained on me as if to catch me literally building a wall between us. Believe me, I was tempted.

He was pissing me off a little bit just with this know-it-all attitude that he was sporting. Who was he to tell me that I was putting up walls between us right now? He didn't know anything about the way that I was feeling.

Max's POV:

I watched her fiddle with her hands and pick at her nailpolish as if she wasn't interested at all by anything that had happened in the past 24 hours. It was what she always did when she was upset about something but didn't want to talk about it with me or anyone else. She hadn't let me kiss her either and that was what I had needed from her. I had needed the reassurance that she wasn't going to do exactly what she was doing right now. Shutting me out.

I got it. I fucked up and scared the shit out of everyone, so what else was she holding against me right now? I wanted to know so that I could fix it or at least convey that I was sorry. I knew that I couldn't just say sorry to her and expect for it to be better. She deserved better than that from me but I couldn't begin to make things right if she shut me out and left me in the dark about what she was feeling.

"I took care of everything" she said finally saying something and killing the awkward silence between us. "I got your charges cleared from the police but you'll still have to pay insurance penalties for the next year or so."

"Okay, thanks" I said not knowing what else could be said to a statement like that.

I asked the first question that came to my mind. "Are you okay?" I asked wanting to just hold her and look into her blue eyes knowing that we were still okay.

"Eliza, I brought you coffee" My Mom entered the room again handing Lizzy a small, steaming cup and cutting off anything she might have said.

"The nurse said that they'll release you within the next few hours. All of the tests came back fine and there's no reason to keep you. You're just on concussion watch." A few minutes later, the doctor came in to explain the same things over again to me. I wouldn't be able to play the next few games due to my mild concussion but other than that, they thought that my shoulder was going to be okay and that was primarily what I was concerned about besides Lizzy.

Now if she'd only show me some emotion other than 'I won't talk to you right now.'

Eliza's POV:

Within a few hours we were home again and I was helping Max into the still tossled bed from the night before. I obviously hadn't made the bed before rushing out of the house and so it was weird to see it messed up from my slumber when this whole mess had occurred. I washed my face again and brushed my teeth feeling dirty from a night spent awake in worry and fear. Max and I hadn't said anything to each other since walking through the doors of the house. Lucy and Serge had gone to bed immediately and Max and I were now following suit.

"You got it?" I asked making sure that he could reach down far enough to pull the covers up over himself without straining his shoulder even more. He nodded and waited for me to join him in bed before scooting closer and pulling me against him into the position we usually fell asleep in. I know that he felt me stiffen in response at first before my body relaxed on its own. It was as if my body had a mind of it's own and was going to snuggle with his body despite what my angry, confused and hurt brain was telling it right now.

For the first time all night, I felt whole again. I had felt drained and empty up until this point. Sure, I was still mad as hell but as we drifted off to sleep, I pushed any other lingering thoughts aside. It can all wait until we can both think straight.