'That's very good,' Valenti answered in his Mr. Rogers voice.
'Yes, very good, Igor,' Michael mocked.
'Watch yourself, Michael. We do have punishments for attitude problems, you know,' Valenti snapped back. He stared at Michael for a moment, then walked away, pulling the doctor with him.
As he whispered orders to the doctor, Michael's anger took hold of him. The 'dad' stuff was just too much. Watching Adam's boyish face as he looked admiringly at that evil man. Michael couldn't deal with it anymore; Adam had to know the truth about Daddy Valenti. What if, he thought, Adam connected to… ah, yes.
'Adam,' he said impishly. 'Go play the game with Daddy Valenti. I know it's not really for daddies, but I bet he'll think it's really cool.'
A wide smile broke across Adam's face. He leaped up and hurled himself at Valenti. Before Valenti could react, Adam grabbed his hand.
Michael knew the second Adam made the connection. He let out a high, keening wail that Michael could feel in the center of his bones.
'If Michael had told Valenti the truth about you and Isabel, neither of you would be sitting here right now,' Alex said. He glanced around the Evanses' living room. Liz, Maria, Max, and Isabel all seemed to agree.
His gaze lingered on Isabel. Why was she sitting in the armchair? The minute they'd walked in the room, she practically ran toward it. It's not like he had to be within touching distance of her every moment of the day, though he wouldn't complain. But she didn't have to avoid him.
Oh, man. What did I tell you about hanging out with Liz and Maria so much? he asked himself. You're suffering from an attack of girl brain. Guys don't analyze garbage like this. If you don't watch yourself, you're going to start actually wanting to see movies with Meg Ryan in them, and then-
'I don't know why we're even talking about this,' Isabel said, pulling Alex out of his thoughts. 'Michael would never give Valenti information about any of us.'
'That's a little, uh, naive, don't you think?' Alex asked. 'Valenti has ways of making people talk. I'm sure he could make me squeal like a pig and tell him everything he wanted to know.'
'Yeah, but you're not Michael, are you?' Isabel asked.
Ooohhhh. That was harsh, even to a guy brain. Like Michael was just way more tough, or strong, or action- hero-like than Alex could ever dream of being.
Which maybe was true. But Isabel was supposed to be his girlfriend. Wasn't that supposed to mean that-
'So when are we going in after Michael?' Maria asked. Alex forced his attention back to the conversation. 'It's been three days already.'
'I don't think three days is long enough,' Liz said gently.
'After the stone incident, they're going to be well prepared for escape attempts,' Max added.
'Yeah, I think it's too soon,' Alex agreed.
'You think,' Isabel said. 'That's all we've been hearing is what you think. What about what the rest of us think?'
It's temporary insanity, Alex told himself. Michael's practically like her brother. Cut her some slack. 'Max, Liz, and Maria just said what they thought,' Alex answered, trying to keep his tone neutral. 'What about you? What do you think we should do?'
Isabel hesitated. 'I think we should wait,' she finally mumbled.
Silence filled the room. Alex could hear the clock in the kitchen ticking.
'So we'll wait,' Max said at last. 'We should all just be thinking of ways to get into the compound so that we'll be ready when we can do it.'
Maria stood up. 'I've got to get home. Mom's still in her post-divorce dating frenzy, and I want to make sure she doesn't raid my closet again.'
'You want to do the bio homework together?' Liz asked Max.
'Sure,' he answered, and they headed off down the hall toward his room.
Alex and Isabel were alone. Alex wished they'd all stayed in the living room awhile. Which was the opposite of the way he usually felt.
Isabel didn't make any move to come over to the couch or even look in his direction. She has to be terrified, Alex thought. Not just of what's happening to Michael, but of what could happen to her.
He stood up and walked over to her chair. He sat down on the arm. Isabel didn't look at him. He reached out and smoothed a lock of hair off her forehead. 'I know you're scared-'
Isabel jumped up, then spun around to face him. 'You have no idea what I'm feeling,' she cried.
'So tell me,' he answered. He could hear the anger creeping into his voice, and he tried to clamp it down.
'Why should I?' she demanded. 'Just because we've gone out a few times, that doesn't mean you have the right to know my every thought!'
'I don't think we need to be hearing this,' Max said. He swung his bedroom door shut.
'Yeah,' Liz agreed. Whatever was going on out there was between Alex and Isabel, and they definitely didn't need an audience.
She sat down on Max's bed and pulled her bio book out of her backpack. 'I haven't read any of the chapter yet, have you?' she asked.
'No. I keep-'
'Thinking about Michael,' Liz finished his sentence. 'How do you think he's doing? I mean, what have you been feeling from him?'
'Anger. A lot of anger and frustration. But no pain. And not as much fear. I think they must be treating him okay,' Max answered. 'I can't stop picturing him down there, though. It makes me nuts. If anyone should be down there, it should be me. I'm the one who needed the crystals.'
'Michael and Isabel are going to need them, too,' Liz reminded him. 'You just happened to go through your akino first.'
'I know, I know. I keep telling myself that,' Max answered.
'Well, start listening,' Liz answered. She rooted around in her backpack until she found a rubber band. She tossed it to Max. 'You should try this.'
Max stared at it. 'I don't get it.'
'Put it around your wrist. Then every time you start thinking about how all this is your fault, you snap it, to sort of snap yourself out of it,' Liz explained. 'That's what my mom did when she wanted to stop smoking.'
Max slid the rubber band over his wrist and then snapped the band. 'That stings.'
'It's supposed to,' Liz said. 'That's the point. It's supposed to jerk you out of your thought pattern or something. Although there is another method you could try.' She tried to sound all serious, but she could feel her lips curving into a smile. 'It's kind of experimental, though.'
'It doesn't involve anything like placenta, does it?' Max asked. 'It seems like every new cure has something to do with placenta. Did you see in the news about using blood from the placenta as sort of a substitute for a bone marrow transplant?'
'It has nothing to do with placenta,' Liz promised. 'It has to do with kissing me. See, whenever you're about to step on the plane for another one of your guilt trips, you kiss me instead.'
'Well…' Max hesitated. 'I guess I should keep an open mind about these new experimental treatments.' He slid one hand under her hair, skimming his fingers over the sensitive skin of her neck. 'I'm actually starting to feel a little guilty right now.'
'Oh, really?' Liz wrapped her arms around his waist. 'Well, let's see if the Ortecho method works.' She kissed him-a long, slow kiss that spread warmth through her entire body. It was so amazing to be able to kiss Max whenever she wanted to. That was one good thing that came out of him getting so sick. He finally realized what a waste it was for them to be just friends.
Liz raised her head a fraction of an inch. 'Did that help?' she asked, her lips still so close to Max's that they
