The next morning found Maxine and Amy at the dinner table, drooling at the delicious smell of banana pancakes wafting from the frying pan in Skips' hand.

"How much longer?" whined Amy.

"Just about... done" said Skips, satisfied with the golden pancake and placing it on the stack before dividing them up on separate plates.

"Thanks, Daddy!" Maxine said happily as grabbed herself a plate and drowned her pancakes in syrup.

"Yeah, Mr. Skips, your pancakes are boss!" said Amy as she dug into the pancakes without any.

"Well I've got to work now," Skips said as he skipped to the front door, "you know where to find me if you need me."

They both mumbled unintelligibly in response, their faces stuffed with pancakes. Skips chuckled and made his way out of the front door. Within minutes the pancakes were gone and the dishes were put away. Amy let out a most unladylike belch as she leaned her chair back. Maxine wrinkled her nose distastefully at her friend's manners and pushed Amy's chair back straight.

"Get up, Sweat hog," Maxine said, grabbing her checklist from her bag, "we have stuff to do for tomorrow."

"I thought you were going to take care of that," Amy said, "That sounds like too much work."

"Don't screw me on this Amy," she said exasperated, "All we have to do is make sure we have everything on the list and then you can loaf around to your little heart's content."

Maxine walked outside to the van while Amy followed suit at a snail's pace.

---

"And we're done!" announced Maxine happily as she checked off the last item on her list.

"Finally," Amy groaned, "And it only took what, 12 hours?"

"Of course not," the yeti said looking down at her watch, "It's only... 9 o'clock? I have to go say goodbye to Malachai before he goes to bed!"

"Yeah count me out on this one," Amy yawned, "I'm gonna go crash on your couch."

"I'll be back," Maxine said, jumping in the car.

She looked down at the fuel gauge and noticed that it was running on E, and decided to stop at the gas station a few miles down the road before stopping by Malachai's place. As luck would have it, halfway there the car conked out in the middle of the road. She let out a very annoyed sigh as she threw open her door and slammed it shut after she got out. It wasn't the first time she was in a situation like this, but it still pissed her off to no end. She then remembered the pay phone that was a little less than a mile away, so she trekked down the dark road towards it. After a what seemed like forever, she finally came across it and made her phone call.

"Hello?" came her dad's voice from the receiver.

"Hehe hey, Daddy," Maxine said, "You'll never guess what happened."

"You ran out of gas on the way to the gas station."

"How'd you guess?" she asked.

"I've gotten this call at least 5 times in the past," he said, "I can tell."

"So... could you come get me, Daddy?" she asked, "It's dark and I need to get to the pipsqueak's house."

"Alright, alright I'll be down there in a minute," Skips said, "Don't move from that spot."

"Ok, Daddy, I'll see you in a minute," she said before she hung up.

Maxine reached in the pocket of her bellbottoms and pulled out her cigarettes for a quick smoke before her dad showed up. As soon as she did, though, the loose change in her pocket came out with it and scattered everywhere. She cursed loudly as she chased after the coins that were rolling in the street. The next thing she knew, she was face down on the concrete, finding it very hard to move.

"Oh my God!" she heard a shrill voice, "You fucking hit someone!"

Confused as to what just happened, Maxine tried to move her head toward the source of the voice but a horrific pain spread throughout her body, stopping her. Tears of pain pricked her eyes as she attempted to scream out, but her cries only came out as pathetic sounding groans.

"See? She's breathing so she's ok," came a nervous second voice, "just get back in the car and let's haul ass out of here!"

"Don't-" she whimpered, "D-don't leave..."

Maxine finally managed to turn her head only to see a red car drive off quickly. After a good ten minutes of vain cries for help and excruciating pain, she passed out. When she came to a second time, she felt like her body was moving and she could see Amy's worried face above her. Maxine then realized she was in the back seat of her dad's car and her head was propped up against Amy's legs.

"She's awake!" Amy cried out slightly relieved.

"Good! Keep it that way!" came Skips' voice from the front seat, "Don't let her fall asleep!"

"You hear him? You can't fall asleep," she whispered, running her fingers through the fur on Maxine's arm which was sticky from her blood.

"It hurts," she cried out as the pain seemed to increase over every bump and turn the car made, "I'm scared."

"It's ok, Max," Skips assured her, his voice shaking a little, "We're going get you to the hospital and they're going to fix you up, good as new. I promise."

"You'll be alright," sobbed Amy, "You better be alright. You just have to stay awake."

"I don't..." Maxine strained, the world around her began to spin around her.

Skips quickly whipped into the hospital and parked. He scooped his semiconscious daughter from the car while Amy ran in ahead to alert the doctors of their situation. A stretcher was ready for her by the time Skips quickly skipped inside. He laid her down on it, and the nurses carted her off to surgery.

---

Amy couldn't sit still in the waiting room. When she sat, she began rock back and forth and when she stood she began to pace. It grated on many of the other occupants' nerves. Skips' sat quietly resting his elbows on his legs with an unreadable expression.It seemed like hours the two waited on news.

"Mr. Skips? Miss Amy?" a doctor called out to them, "Can I see you two for a moment?"

They both jumped up at the sound of his voice and quickly followed him into the hallway.

"There's no easy way to say this-," the doctor began.

"Oh god no," Amy interrupted him, starting to cry again.

"We've done all we can," the doctor continued, "but she suffered extensive damage and she died on the table a few minutes ago. I'm so sorry."

Amy broke down and sobbed right there on the hospital floor. Skips' face held a blank expression as he helped her up off of the floor and walked her to his car and took her home. He waited until he was home and safe from prying eyes before he leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor with his head in his hands.