Liz shut her locker door with a bang, twisting the lock absentmindedly and shifting her backpack over her shoulder and her books in her arms. She turned at the sound of Maria’s yell, smiling at her friend.

"Liz! Wait up girl!" Maria said, finally catching up with her. Maria took in Liz’s tired eyes, something she was accustomed to seeing in the last two years and tried to suppress the twinge of worry she felt for her friend.

"Where are you off to?" Maria asked cheerfully. Liz fixed her with a look, knowing perfectly well that Maria knew where she was going.

"I’m going to the Evans’. I always go there after school on Thursdays, you know that Maria," Liz said impatiently, steeling herself for what she knew was next.

"And Sundays and Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Liz, you spend so much time there, I don’t think it’s healthy for you," Maria tried to say gently. Liz tensed up and began to walk away, her stride swift.

"Maria, don’t start. You sound just like my parents. You know this is important to me! I have to be there for him, I have to be there when he wakes up!" Liz said strongly. Maria caught up with her outside on the grass in front of the parking lot, grabbing her arm to stop her.

"Liz, I’m saying this as your friend. I love you and I’m worried about you. Max has been in a coma for almost three years. You’ve gone above and beyond the call of friendship by spending so much time with him when he probably can’t even hear you," Maria paused as Liz shook her head adamantly.

"No, he can hear me! I know he can," Liz said desperately. Maria’s lips tightened and she tried to control her tone.

"Liz, think logically. You’re a scientist. Remember what the doctor said? He’s locked up in his mind. His body may be trying to heal itself, but we don’t even know how that might work in a Czechoslovakian. It’s a miracle he’s even alive. Please Liz, I don’t want to see you lost in there with him," Maria said, tears forming in her eyes.

Liz hung her head, hearing some of the truth in her friend’s words. And she knew that the last two years had been the hardest in her life. She wondered if it would be that easy to just let go. Thinking of Max and the short time they’d had before the crash made her resolve harden. She couldn’t let go.

"Maria, you don’t understand. Max was perfect. He was everything I thought I ever wanted. The day I was shot in the Crashdown was the luckiest day of my life. As long as there is a chance he’ll wake up I will not give up on him. I already have to face leaving him this fall when I go to Harvard. How do you think I feel about that? I can’t leave him, but I have to. I don’t know how to do it, Maria, and I don’t want to," Liz said simply.

Maria studied her best friend, seeing the determination in her eyes. Eyes that were older than her eighteen years. They’d been that way since she was sixteen, Maria remembered with regret. Sighing, Maria put an arm around Liz’s shoulders and guided her towards the parking lot.

"Ok, I’ll get off your case. I’ll even give you a ride over there," Maria said. Liz simply nodded.

"Thanks Maria."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Mrs. Evans? Hello?" Liz called, letting herself into the Evans home, firmly locking the door behind her. Diane Evans came through the kitchen doorway, drying her hands as she saw Liz and smiled at the young girl.

"Liz, it’s nice to see you," Diane said. Liz smiled slightly, seeing the same tired eyes that she wore on the face of Max’s mother. Liz had built a special relationship with her over the years. They shared and felt a similar pain.

"Is he in his room?" Liz asked. Diane nodded.

"Yes, the physical therapist was here a few hours ago to work his muscles, but he hasn’t been outside today, if you want to take him out there," Diane suggested. Liz nodded thoughtfully.

"That sounds good, we’ll be out there in a few minutes," Liz said, turning down the hall to Max’s room.

As she entered the room she still had to resist the urge to knock. Even after all this time she couldn’t help it. As she entered the room she smiled at Max, looking for all the world like he was soundly sleeping. She leaned over and touched his face briefly; her fingers brushing back the hair at his forehead. His face was so warm under her fingers.

She closed her eyes, thinking back to the last time she’d seen his eyes open, looking at her, a smile on his face.

It had been right before the crash. They’d both loved the song playing on the radio. And then her world had turned upside down.

At the hospital Isabel and Michael had been sure Max would wake up right away. They’d begun to worry as the day turned to light and Max stayed unconscious. Somehow, even with Alex’s initial reluctance to help Michael had been able to stay ahead of the doctor’s and nurses, keeping Max’s blood samples human.

It had taken a week before Diane finally insisted on bringing her son home for the duration of his coma. The doctors couldn’t pinpoint why he was in a coma and claimed it was like he was "just sleeping". Liz had walked around in a daze that first week, spending every waking hour at the hospital while the others kept watch in shifts to make sure the doctors wouldn’t find evidence of Max’s real biology.

The months blurred for Liz as they past. Max slept on and the world kept moving and time passed around him. The others came by a few times a week, but those few times became fewer and farther between until finally they were irregular and not very often.

Liz continued to spend all the time she could by Max’s side. She brought her homework over and sat on his bed next to him, reading or figuring chemistry problems. Max had occasional doctor’s visits, which always concluded that yes, he was still in a coma. A physical therapist came by every few days to keep his body moving.

Any time Liz wasn’t working, she was at the Evans’. Diane made her a set of keys. Max’s parents would often find her curled up at Max’s side, her head cradled in the crook of his neck. Diane and Philip allowed her into their home and embraced her as the one who truly hoped, prayed, and believed for Max.

And that hope, that prayer, and that belief had worn on her as the sole bearer. Everyone missed Max, Liz knew that. But she had lost something unique when Max closed his eyes. So she stayed by his side faithfully through the years, the strange looks, and the whispered gossip. But Liz didn’t care, as long as Max was still breathing.

Liz walked over to the bedside, pulling Max’s wheelchair over next to him.

"Hey Max, it’s Liz. Though I’d hope you would know my voice by now," Liz laughed a little. She pulled back the sheets on Max’s bed, noting the white t-shirt and flannel pajama pants he wore. She leaned over, her arms reaching under Max’s back and hugging him close as she lifted his limp body away from the bed and into the wheelchair. The physical therapist had shown her how to handle Max with ease and she sadly noted that he didn’t seem to weigh as much as he should.

She settled him into the wheelchair and walked around to the back, grasping the handles. Max’s head rested against the headrest and she slowly pushed the wheelchair into the hallway and through the house to the backyard, guiding it down the ramps put in place.

Liz wheeled Max into the sun, next to a chair on the grass. She settled him, making sure he was sitting in the chair right, before she sat in her own chair, bringing her backpack out next to her. She pulled out a chemistry book and showed it to him.

"You’re favorite subject," she said with a smile. She pulled the book into her lap and flipped through the pages, coming to the chapter she had to read. She read a few paragraphs before she looked up at Max, biting on her bottom lips in hesitation.

"Max, you can hear me, can’t you?" she whispered. Sighing, she rubbed her eyes. She wanted to believe he could hear her, at least in some way, but it was hard. Even if he couldn’t hear her, she knew she had to tell him about Harvard. If only to make herself feel better.

"Max, I have to tell you something. Graduation is only a few weeks away. After the summer I have to go away. I got into Harvard. I know you’d be proud of me," Liz said longingly, her mind flitting to the fantasy she’d often had of the two of them, opening their acceptance letters to Harvard together, celebrating together.

"I don’t know what I want. It’s been my lifelong dream to go to Harvard. But ever since I met you, I’ve wanted us both to be there, together. And I don’t want to leave you; I wish I didn’t have to. My parents already aren’t happy with all the time I spend with you. I guess I understand that they think I’m wasting my time, but I wish that they’d understand what we had and why I can’t let go," Liz said quietly. She glanced up at Max and sighed. As usual, no response.

It used to make her mad. Once, she’s stood over him, her face mere inches from his and yelled at him to wake up. She’s screamed and cried and begged until her voice had gone hoarse and she fell on the floor in a heap, crying herself into an exhaustive sleep. That had been her one outburst and since then she’d managed to get past her feelings of frustration.

"Liz, why don’t you bring Max in now? It’s getting a little dark," Diane called from the kitchen window. Liz nodded and stood; turning Max around and pushing him back to his room.

Carefully, she lifted him back into bed and brought the covers back over his chest. Her hands drifted over his arms, still defined from the exercising the therapist did.

Suddenly, a wave of sadness swept over her and her hands flew to her face, trying to cover her mouth and keep the sobs from escaping. What if he never woke up? What if the three months they’d had together was all the happiness she’d ever know?

She sank to her knees by his bed and leaned over his head, taking deep gulps of air in between a quiet prayer, a litany that ran through her head on an endless loop every hour of every day.

"God, please open your eyes, Max"

She hardly noticed as her tears fell on his face, but she blinked and wiped at her eyes, her voice repeating over and over again.

"Please open your eyes."

She closed her eyes briefly and whispered a final plea.

"Max, open your eyes."

She sniffled quietly, taking deep breaths to try and calm down, when she glanced at Max and saw his eyes open, blinking, and staring up at the ceiling. His head turned a little and his brown eyes looked at her, suddenly clouding with confusion.

She felt her own eyes instantly widen and fill with tears as he finally looked at her, his eyes alive and warm, for the first time in over two years. She couldn’t help the shock she felt as she stared at him, her greatest wish, looking back at her.

Liz realized he was trying to sit up and her arms immediately went around him, helping him lean against the pillows. He cleared his throat, trying to speak and when his voice finally came out, rumbling and harsh from not speaking in so long, Liz felt her stomach flip over. She’d forgotten how his voice had sounded.

"Liz—Liz, what am I doing in my room?" he asked, clearly confused. She closed her eyes briefly, relieved that he knew who she was. It had been a gnawing fear for her over the years, that he might wake up and have no clue who she was.

"Max, where else would you be?" she asked, not wanting to confuse him more right away.

"Michael’s apartment, I guess. Liz, I was having this amazing dream. It was our wedding and we were finally happy, we were leaving Roswell to get away from everything. Everything was finally how it was meant to be," his voice had a faraway effect to it and she studied him closely, realizing how much had really happened in the last two years that he knew nothing about. He noticed the confusion on her face and his own face dropped. Pressing on, she squeezed his hand gently.

"Max, what’s the last thing you remember?" she asked. When he looked at her strangely, she wondered what kind of life he’d lived in his head.

"The wedding. It was so real, I though it was actually happening. Before that, graduation," he said haltingly. She couldn’t help her reaction as she covered her mouth with her hands. Wedding? Graduation? What had happened to him? And what had she missed?

Taking a deep breath, she reached out and took Max’s hand, choosing her next words carefully.

"Max, you’ve been in a coma for almost three years. That day sophomore year when you and I cut class to go for a drive on the old freeway you swerved to avoid a horse and we crashed. You never woke up after the crash, until now."

TBC . . .