And then, suddenly, miraculously, the pain was ...ebbing away. It was as though someone had poured warm water over his head, and it seeped over him, down, over his shoulders, his short arms, to the very end of his fingertips, tingling, and covering his chest, the hole in his stomach, his hips and down over his legs, right down to his toes. Max released a long breath and closed his eyes, welcoming the painless darkness that wrapped him in soft wings.

-

He was floating lightly through endless black. He couldn't feel anything- heat, pain, emotion... he couldn't see anything, couldn't hear... he didn't remember anything either. He didn't know who he was. What was his name? Who was he? Come to think of it, if he didn't know who he was, how was he to know he was a 'he' at all? 'They' seemed much more fitting.

They continued to float through the dense darkness, unfeeling and unknowing. Suddenly a pin prick of light appeared in the distance. They focused on it, and it grew- or were they being pulled towards it? They couldn't tell. The light soared towards them- or, it expanded greatly- and soon it was blinding. They had to look away, but they had a great urge to go into the light, to go further, to see what was beyond. They allowed themselves to be pulled steadily towards the light. They were going to go in. This was it. They were going to--

Warmth, pain and memories hit Max square in the chest and he was yanked back, away from the light.

He yelled in surprise and felt himself hurtling backwards, his stomach churning, the darkness whipping by so fast he felt ill. There was a ringing in his ears. He had control over his limbs again; they felt heavy and numb. He was sucked right back into his body, lying on a blanket, bandages wrapped around his stomach, and people kneeling all around him.

Faintly, he heard something... someone... David... saying,

"Are you sure about th-"

And then Max opened his eyes.

Everybody gasped, David screamed.

"Max!" He grabbed Max by the shoulders, lifted him and pulled him into a tight hug.

"David!" Max wheezed, patting him shakily on the back.

"Steven, it can't believe it worked!" David said when he released Max, beaming at Steven. "He's alive!"

"Well..." Steven looked shifty.

"What's going on?" Max asked. He looked down at himself and let out a yelp. "Shit!" He cried. "I'm pink!"

And he was quite right. His skin was a dark coral colour, and when he grabbed his hair and pulled it in front of his eyes, he saw that it was silvery white. He put a hand on his stomach and felt it was whole again. The stab would had healed.

"Oh god," he whispered. "What happened to me?"

"Um... you died," David said gently. "But Steven brought you back to life with his magic tears!"

Max blinked.

"Say what now?"

"It's a little more complicated than that," Steven said. "I don't fully understand it myself. Basically, I have healing tears. But... you... ah... I wouldn't say you're fully alive..."

"What?" Max shook his head. "Then how come I can move and talk and think and stuff?"

"Do you have a heartbeat?" Steven asked.

"I dunno..." Max said slowly. "David, do I?"

David put his ear to Max's chest. He stayed there for a few long moments.

"You... do," he said, uncertain, "but it's very slow..."

"Oh fuck," Max had to try very hard to keep from panicking. "Oh hell... oh sweet Jesus what am I going to do?"

"Hey, hey, it's okay," David said calmly, putting an arm around Max. "Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine."

"Don't lie!" Max suddenly screamed, turning on David. "Look at me! I'm a pink zombie! I'm a monster! How is any of this fine? I've got to go back to school, I've got to go to camp, I've got to go back home, how am I going to survive looking like this?!"

"Max, calm down!" Amethyst said. "You don't need to worry about that. I'm purple and I get around just fine! No one will mind as long as you're not dead."

"You don't know my parents..." Max said quietly. "I mean... yeah, okay, school won't be too bad... might get bullied a bit more, but... camp, camp'll be fine... Nikki and Neil... they won't mind... but... my parents... they'll never let me look like this, I'm a freak!"

"Max," said David very seriously.
"I'm not going to make you go back there."

Max looked up.

"You what?"

"I'm not going to make you go back home," David repeated.

Max was speechless.

"You're not?"

"No, I'm not. Whatever they did to you... I'm not going to let it happen ever again, you understand? I'll do it all properly- I'll contact the police and social services and all that hooey, but I'm going to make sure you never have to go back home."