Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with All My Children or ABC. I am not making money off of this story.
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Zach stood in the chapel doorway for a few seconds before finally walking to the front of the chapel and sat down. It was another few seconds before he finally talked to God. "I didn't know Ethan and Alex existed. I didn't watch them grow up. I didn't raise them. I didn't love them. And then when I found out Ethan existed, I turned him away, and in doing so turned Alex away. I thought I was protecting him…them. Instead I hurt both of them more than I can imagine." He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. "Alex went insane because of me and tried to kill his brother." He shook his head. "I know I don't have the right to start being a father to Ethan now, after how I treated him, but…" he looked up toward the ceiling. "…I love him. Simone loves him, and he loves her. I will do anything You want of me, but please help my son pull through."
From the doorway, Kendall said "You do have that right."
Zach looked down from the ceiling again and quickly wiped his eyes before turning around. "How much of that did you hear?"
"Most of it," Kendall answered walking into the chapel and sitting down next to him. "You saved Ethan's life, and from the way you told your story it seemed like he was grateful to you."
"That doesn't mean he forgives me," Zach replied solemnly.
Kendall gently said "I think he does." Zach looked up and stared at her. It seemed as if he was studying her face, searching for something.
Kendall knew what he was looking for. He was searching for them. "I'm sorry for being angry with you about the blackout."
He shook his head. "You thought it was me who was responsible, you had every right to be angry."
Now it was her turn to shake her head. "Maybe, maybe not. Even if you did do it you would have only done it out of love. Gd knows I've done crazy things myself in the name of love." She paused. "But it wasn't you in the end. You were covering for your son. That's admirable." They didn't say anything for a moment.
Zach broke the silence. "Kendall…" He wasn't sure what to say. "Do we still have a chance?"
"Do you love me?" she replied.
"Only you, Kendall. Only you." Zach answered, but he could tell from the look in her eyes, that it wasn't meant to be a question and that she already knew the answer. A tiny smile crept onto his face. "Do you love me?"
Kendall smiled back. "Only you, Zach. Always." She barely finished her sentence before she and Zach melted into a passionate kiss. When their lips parted they didn't say anything but held each other in a tight embrace.
A few moments later they heard a tap at the chapel doorway. They turned around and saw Dr. Joe standing there with Ryan, Aidan, Tad, and Derek. "Ethan's out of surgery," he said. "He's in Recovery."
"When did you guys get here?" Kendall asked Tad and Derek.
"Just now," Tad answered.
Zach stood up, his face expressing his concern for Ethan. "How is he?" Joe sighed, which to Zach meant that it couldn't be good. "What's wrong?"
"The good news is that's he's hydrated and his fever's down and we've gotten the infection under control. But if he had gotten here immediately after he was shot we might have been able to save his kidney, but by the time we were able to operate we had to remove it; it was completely destroyed."
"But is he going to be alright?"
Joe took another deep breath. "Unfortunately, the infection spread to his other kidney. And it's failing too. We won't be able to save it."
"Are you saying Ethan's going to need a new kidney?" Kendall asked, joining the group.
"Yes."
Zach immediately volunteered. "Test me."
Joe nodded. "We already did, and you're a perfect match."
Without hesitating, Zach responded "Okay, then. Let's do this."
Joe shook his head. "We can't perform a kidney transplant right now. We need to wait until Ethan's fever and most importantly, his infection, are completely gone before we can go forward."
"Alright, then. Just let me know when you can operate." Joe nodded. "Can I go see Ethan?"
"Go right ahead."
Zach quickly left the room. Kendall stared after him. Ryan stared at Kendall, realizing that he lost her and that her heart was entirely with Zach.
Tad stared after Zach too. The lack of hesitation the latter had when offering up a kidney to save his son brought him back to what he saw at the warehouse.
After Aidan and Zach left with Ethan, Tad called Derek and explained everything to him. It took him a little while, but Derek finally believed him and said he was on his way. When that phone call was finished, Tad went back upstairs to the office they found Ethan in.
The spot where Ethan had been lying in was covered in dried blood. Tad shook his head. Ethan must have been there quite a long time. He looked over at the tv screen, still flashing static. To have literally seen someone else take over his life…he could only imagine the kind of suffering Ethan went through.
He took a few steps toward the tv screen and hit the rewind button again, soon passing the point he saw with his father in the morgue finding the video camera in "Ethan." Tad then realized what he was doing was a big invasion of privacy. Ethan hadn't given him permission to watch his life like that. He reached for the stop button but his finger slipped and he ended up hitting play. Looking up at the screen, he saw Zach in the morgue now, clearly on the verge of tears. The tears started falling as he bent down, and Tad heard what sounded like a kiss. Zach stood up again and said "I'm sorry, son. I'm sorry." And then after choking on one sob, he soon lost it.
Tad immediately hit the stop button, rocked by what he'd seen. To see Zach break down like that…at the time that "Ethan" died he used to think that Zach was stoic and didn't care very much. He now knew from the way that Zach was acting earlier when they found Ethan that Zach obviously loved his son. But to see him break down like that…never again would he look at Zach Slater in a negative light.
Seeing Zach grieve over losing his son prompted Tad to call Jamie. "Hi, Dad. I actually can't talk right now, I'm in the middle of work," Jamie answered on his cell phone.
"I know, but this won't take a minute. I just wanted to tell you that I love you."
Jamie was clearly confused as he answered, "I love you too, Dad."
"Bye, son."
"Bye, Dad"
Tad wiped his eyes as he hung up the phone. He went back downstairs to wait for Derek and the police.
"I'm going to go find Jamie," Tad said, his thoughts back in the present.
"That's a good idea, I'll come with you," Joe said as well. He and Tad looked up at each other. Joe clearly was thinking about Zach's love for his son and it was affecting him too. "And maybe call Jake, Tara, and Jeff." Tad nodded understandingly as they both left the chapel. "And Bobby too if I can find him."