Sadie finally seemed to snap out of her Maria-induced trance. 'Oh, yeah,' she said. 'I asked for a banana split and he said there were no bananas, so I said he could make me a banana split hold the bananas, but he said there's no such thing as that because if there are no bananas then how can it be a split… '
'Gotcha,' Maria interrupted. 'You want a sundae in a banana boat.'
'Yeah!' Sadie cried. 'See? You totally get it. You and I must think exactly alike.'
'Whatever,' Maria muttered, turning away. This girl was starting to get on her nerves. It was nice to be hero-worshiped and all, but Maria just wasn't in the mood today.
'Maria?' Sadie called after her.
'What?' Maria asked without turning around.
'Can I wear one of those antenna headbands like yours?'
Maria couldn't help smiling. Maybe her day was starting to look up. She snatched the too-tight headband off and spun back toward Sadie. 'Tell you what, you can have mine,' she said, plopping it on the girl's head. 'And you don't even have to give it back.'
Liz pushed through the swinging door into the back room. Maria was sprawled on the couch, taking a break from her shift. She took one look at Liz's face and held out her arms. 'Come to Mama,' she said.
Liz threw herself onto the couch next to her best friend. 'I had to get away from Max,' she told Maria.
'Why?' Maria asked.
'Because he's all mopey about my new job at Meta-chem,' Liz said. 'He thinks it will keep me from spending any time with him, so he resents it.'
'He said that?'
Liz sighed. Max would never say anything unsupport-ive. But she could tell what he was thinking. 'No. But he doesn't have to say it. He's right.'
Maria frowned in confusion. 'About what?'
'About Meta-chem,' Liz replied. 'This job will take up all my time, so I won't be able to see him.'
Maria studied her for a moment. 'You don't sound too upset about that,' she said. 'I'm thinking you want the time away from Max. Am I right?'
Liz nodded miserably. She loved Max more than anything, but it was just too hard to be with him. 'I need some space to think, you know? I need to figure out whether I should start dating Max again.'
'I thought you'd already made that decision,' Maria said. 'We all assumed you two were back on again.'
'We were,' Liz said. 'I mean, we had that one date… '
'And then Max went all freaky-alien on you and started obsessing over his son,' Maria finished for her. 'So we're back to the King Max and Queen Tess issue.'
Liz sighed. 'Max told me he wanted to start over, that he wanted to forget about Tess. But now that he knows his son has been born, he feels he has to go after him. It's his number one priority.'
'And you think he should put you first?' Maria asked.
'No, of course not,' Liz protested. 'Max has a child out there, and he's in danger. He wouldn't be the Max I love if he didn't put his child's welfare above everything else.'
'But…,' Maria prompted.
'But I don't know if I want to be with someone who can't make me his highest priority,' Liz admitted. 'I love Max, but that doesn't mean it's healthy for me to be with him.'
Liz put her head on Maria's shoulder, and the two girls sat in silence for a moment.
'So what are you gonna do?' Maria finally asked.
'I was thinking today that maybe I need to find my own
life,' Liz said slowly. 'One that's about what I want and not about some guy and his needs.'
'Sounds like a plan,' Maria said.
Liz sat up straight. 'It is a plan. From now on I'm going to concentrate on my new job and my goals for the future. And the Max thing will just have to work itself out.'
She met Maria's gaze. Her best friend was smirking at her.
'What?' Liz demanded.
'Your plan is to hide at Meta-chem so Max can't find you and make you all swoony.'
Liz stood up and tossed her hair defiantly over her shoulder. 'Exactly. Nothing bad can happen if I'm stuck in a lab all day.'
2
Are you ready for Liz Parker to start?' Maris Wheeler asked.
Dr. Alan Sosa was pacing around the office, looking agitated. 'I still don't see why she has to work here. We already have everything we need from this girl.'
'She was the first one healed by the Healer,' Maris said. 'The guy literally repaired her gunshot wound just by touching her, at least that's the theory. So I'm thinking she must know something about him.'
'Maris, you already have the waitress uniform with Liz Parker's blood on it. That's the most important thing she'll be able to contribute to your search for the Healer.'
Maris regarded him coldly. 'The name is Ms. Wheeler,' she reminded him.
He threw up his hands. 'Fine. Ms. Wheeler, I respectfully suggest that we're putting ourselves at risk bringing this girl into Meta-chem.'
'I never realized you were such a coward, Alan,' Maris remarked. 'I'm simply trying to hedge my bets. If she
knows who the Healer is, maybe we can find out from her. And if not, we can use her as a guinea pig.'
Alan stopped pacing. 'What?' he said.
'I want you to test your serum on her,' Maris informed him. 'She'll be in your lab every day, so you'll be able to monitor what effect it has on her.'
'That's crazy,' Alan said. 'We haven't even tested it on actual guinea pigs! We don't even know what it's made from.'
'It's made from the Healer's DNA,' Maris said.
'DNA taken from corrupted cells found on two-year-old fibers lifted from a waitress uniform,' Alan said disgustedly. 'You have no idea where that DNA came from!'
'Don't be so dismissive, Alan,' Maris snapped. 'It took millions of dollars and not a few criminal misdeeds to get that waitress uniform from the FBI. It's the only physical evidence we have of the Healer.'
Alan frowned. 'You don't know for sure that it's the Healer's DNA.'
'It's unrecognizable DNA,' Maris said. 'We don't know what this Healer is… an alien, an angel, I don't care. But he doesn't have the same genes we do.'
'Even if what you're saying is true, we don't know that his healing power has anything to do with his DNA,' Alan protested. 'We have no reason to think that turning his DNA into some sort of serum will have any healing properties at all.'
Maris took a deep breath. Why did Dr. Sosa have to be so difficult? He was a brilliant genetic scientist, but not much of a strategic thinker. 'Look, Alan, my husband is getting older and sicker by the day. I have to face the fact
that I may not find the Healer in time to save him. So I have to have a Plan B.'
'The serum,' Alan said miserably.
'Exactly. You were kind enough to turn the Healer's DNA into a serum for me. And now you're going to be kind enough to test it on Ms. Parker.'
'You have money for lunch in the cafeteria, right?'
Liz stared at her father, trying to keep a straight face. 'Uh, yeah,' she said.
'And you'll call me when you want to come home?' Jeff Parker added.
Now Liz did laugh. 'Yes, Dad,' she said. 'It's not the first day of kindergarten, you know. It's just a new job.'
Jeff nodded. 'I know. But it's so important! This is the first step to the career you've always wanted. This job
