On the way, Melinda called Miles and told him what had happened. Miles met her at the hospital. They and Matthew went to the waiting room. After Kirk had been dropped off, Jim came to the waiting room. "Are you okay?" he asked Melinda.

"I'm fine," Melinda answered, "really." She glanced over at a corner of the waiting room where Matthew was standing. His scars and bruises had disappeared, but he seemed upset. "Matthew, on the other hand, looks anything but okay."

Jim gave her a slight push. "Go on, talk to him," he said. "He needs you."

Melinda looked over at Miles and said, "I think there's someone who needs you, too," she said.

Jim glanced over at Miles, nodded, and went over to talk to him. Melinda and Matthew sat down on the hard plastic seats at the other end of the room.

"Are you holding up okay?" Melinda asked him.

Matthew shrugged. "I don't know," he said, then buried his head in his hands. "I feel like I don't know anything any more."

"Romano doesn't know what he's talking about, Matthew," Melinda said. "He was preying on your doubts, fears, and failures. He's evil Matthew. He wants you not to cross over. He wants you to join his army of evil spirits. The same army that provided the spy who gave Aaron and Russell Kirk's name. Do you really want to be responsible for causing more of that kind of thing?"

"Of course not!" Matthew exclaimed, pulling his head out of his hands and looking at her. "That would be wrong. I…I couldn't do things like that." Then he paused and asked, "Is there any way to protect myself from him?"

Melinda thought for a moment. She remembered how Romano hadn't come into the shop the night Andrea crossed over because of the overflowing love surrounding her, Melinda, and Mitch. "Evil spirits feed off negative feelings such as hatred, fear, doubt, pain, and anger. Let me ask you something, Matt. Did you ever beat yourself up over a mistake?"

Matthew chuckled, "Often," he said.

"Did you ever tell your family about your mistake?" Melinda asked.

Matthew nodded, "Yeah."

"How did they react?" Melinda asked.

"They always forgave me or told me that the person I had wronged wasn't upset with me," Matthew told her.

"Did it help?" Melinda asked.

"Always," Matthew said with a smile.

"Well, okay," Melinda said. "Whenever you think about something bad you did in your life, remember how your family reacted when you told them. Remember their love and forgiveness. Evil spirits have no power over you when you're surrounded by love."

Matthew smiled again. This time it seemed less strained. "Thanks, Melinda," he said. "I'll try that."

Just then a doctor came into the waiting room. Melinda and Jim both looked up. "Is he going to be okay?" Melinda asked.

The doctor nodded, "Yes," he said. "He was badly beaten up, and we had to perform surgery, but he will be fine."

Matthew gave a wry smile. "If he'd been left there until the next morning that wouldn't have been the case."

"Thank goodness," Miles said. "Can we see him?"

"He's still unconscious," the doctor said. "One of you can go and be with him, though."

"You go ahead," Jim said to Miles, "Mel and I will go home. Keep us updated."

"I will," Miles said. "Thank you both for what you did for Kirk and for me. I don't know if I would have been able to stand losing him, too."

"You're welcome," Melinda said.

"Go on, Mel," Jim said, nudging her in the direction of the door.

"I'm going, I'm going," Melinda said, rolling her eyes as she allowed Jim to shepherd her towards the parking lot.