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 "They're not answering," wails Maria.
"Hey, relax," says Kyle, "maybe they're out high rolling or something."
"Liz always answers her cell phone," says Maria.
"Okay, maybe they're having sex."
Isabel stifles a laugh. Maria gives her an annoyed look.
"Well, it's a reason not to answer the phone."
"Kyle's probably right," says Michael. "Max couldn't wait to see Liz, right. He went straight to Boston. Never came up for air."
Something's wrong," says Maria. "It's not like Liz."
"You're probably overreacting," says Isabel. "Max and Liz can take care of themselves."
"I have a really bad feeling about this," says Maria.
"Look, they're going to be here tomorrow, so let's not worry until there is something to worry about."
Max cradles Liz in his arms. He can't breathe. This is not how it ends, he reminds himself, this is not how it ends.
"We need a medic," radios a SWAT leader.
"Just what the hell were you doing?" says the senior FBI agent.
"She was reaching for a gun," protests the junior agent.
"They were sleeping, for Chrissakes!" yells the police sergeant.
Another policeman goes to the nightstand and picks up Liz and Max's marriage certificate.
"Aw, man, they just got married," he says, shaken.
An agent picks up the laptop on the floor and takes the CD on the table and inserts in the disk. It's a DVD of an old film.
"Nothing," he says, "there's nothing here. Where the hell did this information come from?"
Paramedics enter the room.
"What a f***** mess!"
"Leave us alone!" cries Max, as the paramedics attempt to pry Max's arms from Liz.
"Come on, fella. We're just trying to help. We can't do that if you don't let go."
Max looks at them. He knows he can't do anything while everyone is here. He lets her go.
They roll Liz away from Max, back onto the bed. Max watches as they do her vitals. He feels woozy. The room goes dark.
The junior agent smiles nervously.
"Get him out of my sight before I kill him," says the SWAT leader to the senior FBI agent. He smells an internal investigation of mammoth proportions.
The junior agent, taking the hint, exits the room, out into the hotel corridor. He walks down the hall, looks back, and when no one is looking, slips into the soda machine room. He shapeshifts and comes out of the room carrying an ice bucket just as the paramedics wheel Liz and Max down the corridor.
The shapeshifter stops a policeman following the paramedics.
"What happened?" he asks.
"There's been a shooting."
"Are they okay?"
"It doesn't look good. If they make it to the hospital, I'll be surprised," he says, pushing his way past the shapeshifter.
Max regains consciousness in the rescue squad ambulance. The sirens blare. He feels weak, but his senses begin to sharpen. They are monitoring Liz.
"We're losing her," says one of them.
Max rips the IV from his arm while they concentrate on Liz. He sits up and incapacitates them both.
"Well the hell ..." says the driver.
"Pull over," says Max.
The driver pulls over. Max pulls off the pants and shirt of one of the paramedics and the shirt from the other. He dons on one set of clothes.
"She's going to die if you don't get her to the hospital," he says.
"She's going to die anyway," says Max, thinking about what lay ahead. "Get out," he continues.
"What are you going to do?"
"Get out," says Max again. Max pushes the paramedics out the back.
The driver gets out. Max jumps into the driver's seat and speeds away.
"What did you say?" asks the SWAT team leader.
"He took the ambulance," says the driver.
"Impossible!"
"Look, he left me with two disabled paramedics by the side of the road. I'm telling you, I SAW it. I can't believe it, but I was there."
"Okay, what's the plate number."
Max pulls the ambulance into an alley. There is no one around. He gets out and runs around to the back. His wound aches and saps his strength, but he knows he can't worry about it now. He throws opens the back doors of the ambulance and climbs in. He pulls off Liz's oxygen mask.
"Liz," he says.
No response. Max looks down at her. The bullet, which had entered her back had exited through her chest near her heart. He visibly upset, but he knows he has little time. He unhooks the IV and takes her hand.
"Liz," he says. No response.
His own chest hurts and he rubs it. Blood seeps through the bandage, but he can't worry about that. ... It's Liz he needs to take care of first.
He takes his hand, removes the bandage, lays his hand over the exit wound and begins the healing process. It takes all his effort to focus.
Her hands begin to move, her eyelids flutter open.
"Max?" She's a bit disoriented.
He stumbles back, drained.
"Max?"
She sits up and sees the bloody bandage.
"Are you okay?" he asks.
"Yeah, I think so," she says, picking at his seeping bandage.
"Max, you're bleeding."
"I know, but we need to find a car before they find us."
" I can't do it like this," she says, realizing she has nothing on. Max hands her a shirt.
"This will have to do," he says.
They abandon the ambulance. Liz supports Max who labors for breath.
She notices an unattended white convertible not far from the alley and heads for it. She opens the passenger door and helps Max in, then runs to the driver's side and starts looking for keys.
"Damn," she says, not finding any.
Max takes his hand and starts the ignition. Liz shoves the car into gear and heads out of Las Vegas south.
"Are they dead?" asks Kivar.
"They just wheeled them out of the hotel a few minutes ago," says the shapeshifter. "The paramedic says they won't make it to the hospital."
"Good," he says. "Then we can begin."
Kivar switches off his cell.
"Party time," he says.
"So what do we do?" asks Maria.
"We need to stay here," says Michael. "If Ava is really infected with something, then we're exposed and we can't risk exposing anyone else."
"You mean, we're all going to die?" asks Kyle.
"I don't know."
"I wish Max were here," says Isabel.
"I'm sorry," says Ava, "I don't mean to cause trouble."
"It's not your fault," says Isabel.
Maria tries Liz's cell phone again.
In the hotel room, Liz's phone rings again.
"Where is that damned phone?" asks the SWAT leader.
A detective picks up Liz's bag.
"Answer it," says the SWAT leader.
The detective rummages through the bag and takes Liz's phone out. He looks for the on button and pushes it.
"Hello," he says.
No one replies. The line goes dead.
In the desert, Liz pulls the car off the side of the road. Max still feels woozy, but he's breathing a little easier. Liz turns to him to see how he's doing. Max sees the concern on her face.
"Can you fix it?" she says.
Max nods.
"I just need to rest for a while."
"You're losing too much blood," she says. "We have to stop the flow."
Max nods. Liz looks in the back of the convertible. There's nothing there.
"I'll have to use your shirt," says Liz.
She unbuttons the blue paramedic shirt and gently slips it off Max's shoulders. He lets out a moan as she lifts him forward to pull it off of him.
"Did I hurt you?" she asks as she lays him back against the car seat.
"I'm okay," he says.
"You're not," says Liz. "I'm going to put some pressure on this. It's going to hurt."
Max nods and steels himself. Liz works quickly, fashions her makeshift compress, places it against the wound, and puts as much of her weight her to hands as she can to help stave off the blood flow. Max's blood oozes through her fingers. He grimaces through closed eyes.
"God, I wish I could heal you," she says, "like you can heal me."
No sooner had the words come out of her mouth then her hands began to glow. It scares her and she withdraws her hands to look at them. The glow fades.
Max opens his eyes.
"What's wrong?" he asks.
"Nothing," she says, looking at her blood-soaked hands, then at Max. "I think my wish has been granted."
"What's wrong?" asks Isabel.
"No answer," says Michael.
"No, someone answered," says Maria. "... but it wasn't Liz."
"Max, then," says Michael.
"It wasn't Max. I don't know who it was," says Maria. "They're in trouble."
"Oh, God," says Isabel. "This whole plan hinges on Max and Liz. What are we going to do?"
"What do we need to do?" asks Kyle.
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