Every Breath You Take
As Lucas held Max’s hand, saying her name over and over, calling out to her, the monitor showed her heart rate and pulse rising. And then she let out a quiet cough. “Max!” Lucas called again, squeezing her hand and her shoulder even tighter. He couldn’t believe this was actually happening. Was this real, or was he just dreaming? Could it really be true that after all this time, Max was suddenly waking up—to his new tape of Every Breath You Take of all things?
After Max had coughed, she slowly and painfully started to open her eyes. Lucas watched as she blinked several times, clearly struggling just to keep them open. But in the end, they really were open. “Oh my God, Max!” Lucas breathed out, squeezing her hand again and leaning even closer over her. In their last shared memory, Max hadn’t been able to see at all. Her eyes had been white and bloody, and Lucas had spent all that time wondering if she maybe was blind now—if she’d never be able to see again. But now, as she blinked up at him, he could see the normal, beautiful blue of her eyes again. There was no sign left of Vecna’s attack in them, at least not on the outside. Lucas couldn’t stop tears from filling his own eyes, his whole body starting to shake. The moment was just too intense, too emotional. He felt so many different things at once: relief, hope, fear, guilt, compassion, concern,...
And then Max actually managed to say one word: His name.
Lucas let out an uncontrollable sob and clung to her hand. “Yeah, Max, I’m here!” he assured her again, his voice trembling. “Can you see me?” He tried to lock eyes with her. It was unreal—Max really had woken up. But at the same time, Lucas was scared by how pained her voice sounded. “Are you hurting?” he asked, still completely unable to process any of this. It had all happened so suddenly, so unexpectedly.
“I can’t believe you woke up…” he mumbled, his voice thick and overwhelmed with emotion. He brushed his hand shakily over her shoulder, still holding her fingers with the other hand—probably even a little too tightly. “Did you hear the song?” he asked, completely overwhelmed, hardly able to believe any of it, as tears streamed uncontrollably down his face. Maybe he should call the doctors now. But he wasn’t able to move away from Max’s side just now. /@madxmayfield


















