When they arrived at Melinda's home, Jim helped Kirk out of the car and helped him settle down on the couch. Melinda had called Kirk's father, Miles, and told him to come to her house. He arrived a few minutes after Melinda. Jim carefully tended to Kirk's cuts and scrapes, checked his vital signs, and made sure there was nothing seriously wrong with him. Meanwhile, Melinda explained what had happened to Miles.
About halfway through the examination, Kirk turned to Melinda. "Who was the ghost? You said his name was Matthew, but Matthew what?"
Matthew was in the room at the moment. Melinda looked over at him. He was now clean from every trace of blood, and the scars were visible. He nodded, giving her permission to tell him. Melinda turned back to Kirk. "Shepard," she said. "It's Matthew Shepard. He was twenty one years old when he became the victim of a hate crime. It was because he was gay. He didn't want the same thing to happen to you."
"Where is he?" Kirk asked.
"Right beside me," Melinda said.
Kirk turned his head so he was looking over Melinda's shoulder. "Thanks, man," he said.
"You're welcome," Matthew said with a smile. "I'll keep an eye out for you as long as necessary."
"He says you're welcome," Melinda said. "And he says he'll keep an eye out for you for as long as he has to."
Miles looked at his son. "It sounds as if you have a guardian angel, Kirk."
Matthew looked down, embarrassed, "Well, I wouldn't say I'm an angel," he said.
"Between us you should be safe," Miles finished. "But I'm still going to tell the police you were attacked." Melinda hadn't told either of them the names of the attackers, so she and Matthew felt this was safe.
