Maria gritted her teeth and growled. Before she said anything she would regret, she turned her back and moved over to join the others.

"Okay, so have I said recently how thrown-together this plan is?" Maria asked quietly as the group, minus Michael, walked away from the van and made its way toward the hospital entrance. The others ignored her.

"We don't know this place," Max said, his voice hushed. "I'm going to need as many distractions as I can get if I'm going to have enough time to find the patients we're looking for. “

"Hold on a second," Isabel said, and the group stopped. "One more thing before Liz goes in." She reached forward and put her hands to either side of Liz's head. A slight glow spread out from her palms, and Liz's raven-colored hair changed to a light blond.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Maria said. "Blond? Let's play into the stereotypes. “

"Hey, whatever helps the actress get into character," Isabel said. "I can change it back later. “

"Yeah, thanks," Liz said, her tone a little grumpy.

As they neared the entrance, Max split off to one side, heading around the building toward a secured side door they had spotted. Isabel and Kyle squatted in the shadows, behind a bench.

Maria took a deep breath, then looked at Liz. "Ready, girlfriend? “

"Yeth, thertainly," Liz said in a singsong lisping voice.

"Oh, Lord, please don't do Cindy Brady," Maria said as the sliding doors opened in front of them.

The two girls moved across the lobby, where two women and a male nurse were working behind a semicircular desk. As they approached, one of the women took a set of clipboards and a tray and exited through a side opening in the counter. She didn't acknowledge their presence, but instead hurried over to an elevator and punched the call button.

"Can I help you?" the male nurse asked.

Liz put on her best smile and flipped her hair back with a toss of her head. "Hi," she said. "We were wondering how those poor people who were in that big car accident were doing? That girl and that other girl? Or lady or whatever? “

The nurse frowned slightly. "They're both currently in critical condition, but we're hoping for the best. Do you know them? “

"Yeah, um, okay, like we think we know the one girl," Maria said, putting on her best airhead voice. "The picture they showed on the news looked like this girl that's in our trigastronomy class, and we, like, thought maybe she'd want some good wishes from her classmates, you know? “

The man looked befuddled. "You must mean Shania Cameron. But you do realize that it's two-thirty in the morning and… “

"Yeah, that's it. Shania! Liz said, turning to Maria and slapping her on the hand. "1 told you." She turned back to the nurse. "She thought it was Monique. But I told her it was Shania. Like that singer, you know? “

Maria saw the female nurse roll her eyes and turn away, intent on her work… or trying hard to appear to be. "Okay, Gabrielle, I get it. You're smarter than me. Whatever." Maria looked back toward the male nurse. "So how's the other lady? She was, like, driving, when they had that big accident. “

"Mrs. Dobbs is in critical condition, like 1 said," the nurse replied. "But visiting hours are… “

"Is your job hard?' Liz asked, her voice raised slightly. She moved away from Maria, down the counter, toward the female nurse. "Me and Tamara have talked about, like what we want to do when we get old, you know, like you! We thought nursing might be fun. 'Cause we like to help people and stuff. “

The female nurse glared up at her, one eyebrow cocked. "First, I’m only twenty-six, which is not 'old.' Second, and no offense intended, but I'm not sure nursing is the right profession for you, miss. “

Liz put her hand up to her mouth and directed her comment to the male nurse. "Oooh, guess I hit a nerve. “

As Liz was doing her shtick, Maria moved up on her tiptoes and scanned anything on the desk that might tell her where the critical patients were. She thought she could see something on the monitor, but if she looked closer, she'd risk the male nurse seeing her snooping.

Suddenly Liz let out a yelp, then fell to the ground, out of sight on the other side of the desk. The two nurses rushed out to help her.

"Are you all right?" the male nurse asked.

"I think I twisted my ankle," Liz said. "I'm not used to walking in flats. “

"Let's get you over to the couch," the female nurse said, gesturing over to the waiting-area couches nearby. A television set mounted on the wall was tuned to a news channel.

As soon as the two nurses were occupied with Liz, Maria nudged the computer monitor and quickly scanned the screen. Bingo. The information she needed was there. She moved around the desk and, in a plaintive wail, asked, "Where's the bathroom? I really have to tinkle. “

The female nurse called out to her. "It's around the desk, to the right and down the corridor. “

"Thanks," Maria said. "I'll be right back. “

Behind her, she heard the male nurse ask Liz if she had been drinking tonight. Maria moved quickly down the corridor, and as she neared a unisex bathroom, she saw the door creak open. Max was inside, with the lights turned out. "You scared me!" Maria said.

"Sorry," Max responded. "Best place to hide. “

Maria sneaked a quick look down the hall and closed the door behind her. "Okay. The critical care ward is on this floor, just down the next hallway. You want the rooms of Shania Cameron and Denise Dobbs. I think they're in 120 and 126. Check the charts to be sure. “

"Good work," Max said. "How much time do I have? And is anyone else around? “

"There's one nurse doing rounds, but she went up in the elevator. I think you're okay for a bit. Liz and I will distract them for a few minutes more, and then it's Isabel and Kyle's turn. “

Max opened the door and peered around the frame.

"Good luck," Maria whispered as he moved quickly down the hall.

As Max jogged down the darkened hospital corridor, he could feel the pain around him. He wasn't generally any more empathic than humans, but his sensitivity always kicked in the strongest whenever he was in a hospital. And in the last few years, he had been in hospitals far too many times.

Growing up, he and Isabel hadn't often been sick, so they had rarely needed medical attention. The Evanses had just thought they'd adopted extraordinarily healthy children. Little did they know at the time that the emphasis should have been on the word extraordinarily.

But Liz had changed all that. Since sharing for the first time with a nonalien the secrets of his past and present, Max had been involved in medical emergencies and traumas at least half a dozen times. Sometimes he had used his powers to heal, and other times he hadn't. But everything changed during Christmas 2000, when he hadn't used his powers to save the life of John Littlefield, a young father. Littlefields ghost had haunted Max, telling him to "restore the balance." At the time, he took it to mean the balance of one man's life for the children, but he finally understood that the use of his innate powers was a gift he could give others; it was healing and positive, in stark contrast with his other, more offensive powers. That was the balance.

Still, the others were right to be concerned about the aftereffects of his healing powers. Liz had indeed inherited something from him, and it now appeared that Kyle was developing extra-normal powers as well. What exactly would happen to the ward full of children whom he had healed in Phoenix that Christmas? What was going to happen to Jim Valenti? Max found Room 120 and checked the chart on the door. It read DENISE DOBBS, the name Maria had given him. He moved toward her in the dim light of the room, shuddering momentarily at the sight of the various medical machines to which the woman was connected. They looked so invasive, and yet he knew they were keeping her alive. Still, his mind flashed briefly to the White Room and Agent Pierce, who had intended to take him apart surgically, piece by piece. Shuddering, he forced himself to concentrate on the task at hand, and took notice of the readings on a few of the machines.