Max (Maximum Ride 5)

"Help my mom!" I cried to the medic who was already rushing in.

Fang ran in and knelt next to me, and then I was surrounded by the flock.

A few more seconds, and my mom started coughing and gagging, spitting salt water out. I patted her hand, praying that she would be all right. She looked thin, pale, weak, and beaten up, and a wildfire of rage swept through me as I thought of what they had put her through.

"Mom! It's me!" I said. "You're safe now. You're on a sub, and we're headed back to Hawaii." I couldn't believe we were together again at last, that she was alive, that we had reached her before it was too late.

Her brown eyes blinked groggily several times, and she winced as the medic started an IV in her arm. "Max?" she croaked.

"I'm right here," I said, holding her hand. My eyes felt hot, and I blinked several times.

Blearily, she looked up at me, tried to focus. "I knew… you'd come," she said.

My throat threatened to close, but I managed to say, "I'll always, always come, Mom. You can count on it."

My mom smiled faintly, then closed her eyes again.

Fang put his arm around me. "You did it. You saved her."

That was when I should have jumped up and done a victory dance, whooping my way down the corridor to the bathroom, where I could change into dry clothes.

Instead, I burst into unexpected tears, covering my eyes and gulping in breaths like a big baby. Fang put his arms around me.

Sometimes I just don't understand myself.

76

AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE, I was thrilled to get off that submarine once and for all. We docked, the top hatch opened, and after the medics took my mom out on a stretcher, I was the next one off. I rushed up the ladder, over the gangplank to the dock, and then—

On the dock I wobbled, couldn't walk straight, and ended up falling over, feeling like I was going to hurl. I watched the medics hurrying away with my mom, and I would have to crawl to follow them.

Captain Perry knelt next to me. "You'll get your land legs back in no time," he said kindly.

Irony sort of reaches up and slaps you in the face sometimes, doesn't it?

Anyway, let's just resume our scene with me already sitting at a table, sucking down Fanta.

My mom was in the infirmary, where they had found she was way dehydrated, really banged up, and needed IV fluids and rest. Every time I realized she was back and alive, a new rush of warmth went through me.

And here I was with my flock, Fang's hand in mine beneath the table. Dejected because of his many failed attempts to create huge snot bubbles, Gazzy slumped in his seat. Nudge, Iggy, and Angel were on their fourth round of ice cream.

"Max!" Total raced up and jumped on a chair next to me. He enthusiastically licked my face, which, after being encased in a snot bubble, frankly didn't seem so bad. "Dude, I missed you guys so much! I'm so glad your mom is okay, Max. God knows the loss of a veterinarian would be a terrible thing. Ooh, Fanta!"

We got him his own Fanta and stuck a straw in it. He slurped it up delicately. "So much has happened," he said, wagging his short tail. "There's s

o much to tell you!"

I blinked. Total thought a lot had happened on his end? I felt like catching him up on our shenanigans would take about three weeks!

Akila ran up, leading John and Brigid to our table. She gave several short, happy barks, and Total turned to grin at me.

"Gotta go. Timmy's in the well. If you know what I mean." He winked and trotted off with Akila while we all tried very hard not to think too much about his last statement.

"Max! Max Max Max Max Max!!"

"Ella!" I got up and managed to run to my half sister without disgracing myself. We hugged each other, doing the weird rocking and patting motion that people do when they hug.

"Hello, Max."