Johnny picked up her glasses. How could he have let this happen?! Maybe he could go with her.

"Can I-"

"No."

Wow. Was Captain Jack really that serious? But then, all at once, he wasn't.

"She isn't usually scared like that. Is she?"

He looked down and sighed, "No. Never. Or a least, you'd never know." Johnny thought about Max. His Max was strong. The ironic part was that she was afraid to show fear.

"She never shows pain or screams," Toast continued. "Never loses her temper. Never cries. Never asks for help." He clenched my fists then loosened them, remembering about the glasses, "She thinks no one will want to..."

"Wow..." Jack breathed. "THAT'S why she was so..."

"She might have been scared to come here."

"But she seemed willing."

Johnny shook his head, "After only a month of knowing her I know that Max is practical. She had some sort of plan. Maybe no to escape, but get out by good behavior like a prison. Which I guess that's what this is."

Jack nodded, "She's smart. But she trusts you. How'do you get someone like her to trust you?"

He looked at Max's glasses. "I helped," he said simply. "Well, I'm trying to. As you saw, she has trust issues. I want to do all I can... She needs me..."

He was in tears now. It was that strange middle between just fine and bawling like a baby.

Toast was glad he could have helped. But he was also devastated that he had let Max get hurt to the point of screaming.

~~~~~~~~

I was done crying. Everything still hurt but I wasn't going to cry about it. As you know by now: I hate crying.

Rosetta was in front of me, patching my wounds while Lucy was behind me, stitching my wing.

They were both real gentle.

Or maybe I was still numb. It could go either way.

"There you are." Rosetta said soothingly, after applying the final bandage on my cheek. "That's the last one."

"And I'm almost done with your wing," Lucy chimed.

I swallowed the last lump in my throat. "Thanks... I'm glad someone was there this time. I don't think she was gonna stop..."

"Wow," Lucy marveled, "It took me YEARS to master knife work like this for surgeries."

Rosetta shook her head, "I can't believe someone could do something like this. Even if they AREN'T human."

I couldn't believe she cared. "Then you think right."