Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with All My Children or ABC. I am not making money off of this story.

Zach made his way up to Recovery and quickly found Ethan's room. Simone was there sitting by Ethan's bed; her eyes were bloodshot, she clearly had been crying. He knocked on the door frame. "Can I come in?" he asked.

Simone looked up at him, and nodded, too exhausted physically and emotionally to say or do anything else. Zach entered and stood at the foot of Ethan's bed. Seeing Ethan hooked up to all those tubes and wires…it killed him to see his son like that. He wished with his whole heart that it was him lying in that bed instead of Ethan.

Simone looked over at him. "They told me you saved Ethan's life."

Zach replied. "It wasn't just me, Tad and Aidan were there."

"In other words, 'yes I did find Ethan but I'm going to be my usual self and not claim to be a hero even though I am.'" She managed a smile.

Even Zach had to give a smile at that too, which quickly vanished as he looked back at his son. "Joe Martin said that he's going to need a new kidney."

Simone nodded. "I know, he told me."

"I'm going to give him one of mine,"

She looked up at him. It was a moment before she could finally say "Thank you."

Another few seconds of silence passed before Simone reached into her purse and pulled something out. Zach raised an eyebrow in curiosity when he saw it was a razor.

"Do you carry a razor with you everywhere you go?" he asked.

Simone moved closer to Ethan's head. "Yeah. Just in case I look down and see I missed a spot while shaving I can quickly fix it." She then put the razor to Ethan's face and started shaving him as he was showing several days' beard growth. "Ethan told me he hated beards," she explained.

Zach managed a smile. Even though Simone was doing what Ethan probably would have wanted, she was still obviously acting in shock by the fact that Ethan was alive. "Just be careful not to cut him," he said gently, unable to think of anything else.

Neither of them said anything for a minute. Then Simone said "I'm sorry Zach. I'm sorry for how rude I was to do after Ethan…after we thought that Ethan died."

"You don't have to be sorry. You were grieving and I blamed myself too." And he thought "I still do, for Alex's death."

"No please Zach. Please accept my apology. 'Cause if you tell me not to feel guilty than I'm just going to feel guilty for feeling guilty and where would that leave me?" She took a breath. "Please, just forgive me so we can all move on."

Zach was able to smile again. It looked like the spunky woman that his son fell in love with and who had been trying to get them to reconcile was returning. "Alright, apology accepted."

Simone finished shaving Ethan a little while later. She was putting away her razor when she heard a soft moan. Ethan was stirring. She went back over to him and exclaimed "Oh my god, Ethan!" Tears started falling down her face again. "Ethan, I'm here. You're alright."

Ethan slowly opened his eyes. "Simone?" He was so exhausted that his voice was barely higher than a whisper.

Simone nodded, smiling and crying openly at the same time. "Oh Ethan…" her voice trailed off.

"Simone…" As weak as he was, it wasn't containing the joy in his voice. They kissed and embraced. Ethan had tears in his eyes too.

Zach stood back. He didn't want to interrupt their reunion, and furthermore, he wasn't sure how Ethan felt about him.

He didn't have to stand there long. Simone sat close to Ethan and held his hand. "Do you remember what happened?"

"I…don't…wait," it took a second for him to recall. "Yeah, I do." Ethan took a deep breath. "I didn't think I was ever going to get out of there. At least, not alive."

"But you did," Simone responded. "Thanks to your father."

"Yeah," Ethan remarked, processing what Simone said. Then with a sigh he added, "Thanks to my father". Another second passed. "Where's Zach?" he asked.

Simone looked back toward Zach, who said, "I'm here…son". Cautiously he approached Ethan, making his way to the other side of the bed opposite Simone.

Ethan didn't say anything for a moment. He just stared at his father. And Zach wasn't sure what to make of that. But then shocking both Zach and Simone, Ethan reached for his father's hand and squeezed it. "Can I thank you now?"

It took a second for what Ethan just said and did to register in Zach's mind. But when he finally realized that his son didn't hate him – and maybe, just maybe, they'd be able to work things out – he smiled and squeezed back. "Yeah," he nodded.

Neither of them knew what to say. Both were thinking about the time they lost and all of their regrets because of it. Ethan broke the silence, a sudden feeling of sadness hitting him. "I know what it feels like now to lose your brother. How you must have felt when you learned Michael had become a monster."

Alex. Once again, a pang attacked Zach as he remembered the son who he had lost before he had found him, and who died hating him. "That's my fault too."

"No it isn't."

"I abandoned Michael and he became a monster. I denied you and Alex and he almost killed you in revenge."

"Don't blame yourself, Dad. I tried to get revenge on you too. Maybe if I talked him out of it instead, none of this would have happened."

Simone joined in the conversation. "I don't think either of you should be blaming yourself. The past can't be…" something that Ethan said then hit her. She looked up at Zach and saw from the look on his face that it hit him too.

"You called me 'Dad'," Zach said.

"That's what you are, isn't it?" Ethan remarked, as if him calling Zach "Dad" had been something he did all the time. But his tone soon grew serious. "Sitting there with a gunshot wound in my side while watching the brother I thought I knew live my life gave me a lot of time to think."

He continued, "I heard everything you said, after the explosion, when Alex was dying. You apologizing, telling him you loved him. And then in the morgue." He looked back over at Simone. "You didn't see him. In the morgue after I died, he broke down sobbing, saying he was sorry." He looked back over at his father. "I knew you had to be sincere."

Zach didn't say anything, taking everything Ethan said in. But tears were welling up in his eyes.

There wasn't a dry eye between the three of them. Ethan continued talking. "I am so sorry for what Alex put you both through."

"Ethan, it wasn't your fault," Zach said.

Once again, Simone tried to be the voice of reason. "You can't go back and undo things. It's better for both of you if you let it go and move on with your lives."

Zach couldn't. "All you boys wanted were my love and acknowledgement. If I had given that…"

Ethan interrupted him. "I know that's what I wanted. But in the end I don't know what Alex wanted anymore, except revenge…and Simone." He looked back over at his fiancé. At that, Zach looked over at Simone and then to Ethan, and then back to Simone again. His son had been forced to watch someone else live his life…and Simone had been completely unaware the man she was with wasn't her fiancé. His heart broke for both of them.

Simone shook her head, clearly uncomfortable. "I don't want to think about him."

"I'm trying to forget about him myself." Ethan looked back over at Zach. "And I think you should forget Alex existed too."

Zach nodded, but he still wasn't sure what he was going to do in regard to Alex, it was his son after all.

He asked one more question. "Do you know why Alex caused the blackout?"

It took a short while for Ethan to answer. "I'm not sure. Maybe he just enjoyed playing god. Maybe he wanted to set you up for a fall. I'd rather not know what went on in that sick head of his." There was a pause before he continued. "I can't believe you actually took the blame for him."

Zach shrugged. "I thought I was protecting you." He looked into Ethan's eyes. "I thought I was protecting my son."

"Going back to what I said earlier," Ethan began, "I did want your love and acknowledgement, but I know I didn't exactly make myself easy to love when I accused you of murder."

Zach answered with a half-smile, "You're right, you didn't."

Ethan gave a half-smile in return. "Can we start over?"

Zach nodded. "I'd like that very much." Tears welled up in his eyes. "But I need to ask you, do you forgive me?"

Ethan nodded. "I forgave you when I saw you apologizing after the explosion." He paused. "I don't know how often I'll say it. Or how often I'll call you 'Dad', but I'll say them both now. I love you, Dad."

Zach smiled. Both of them were pretending there weren't tears falling down their faces. He leaned over and embraced his son, his very much alive son, and kissed him on the temple. "I love you too, son, I do." Both privately vowed to never let go again.

Simone look up at the ceiling and exclaimed "Thank you!" Both men had to laugh.

After Zach and Ethan released each other and Zach sat down, Ethan asked the inevitable, "When can I go home?"

Simone and Zach just looked at each other. Ethan could tell it wasn't something he wanted to hear.

Simone explained gently, "Ethan, they had to take out one of your kidneys and the other one is failing."

"What does that mean?" Ethan asked, not liking what he was hearing. "I'm going to need a kidney transplant?"

Zach quickly said, "Don't worry. You're getting one of mine once you've healed enough."

Ethan stared at his father and wasn't sure what to say. "You're giving me a kidney?" His own feelings of guilt at having treated his father so badly and having kept Alex from him and everything Alex did and the love he was feeling for his father all kept him from expressing his gratitude.

Zach simply nodded understandingly, as if he had been reading Ethan's mind. He brushed the hair across his son's forehead. "You're going to be okay," he gently told him.

Simone reached for Zach's hand and took hold of Ethan's with her other. "We all are."

Ethan managed to smile. He was exhausted and overwhelmed, but happy. "Thank you."

Zach smiled too. "Just get better quickly".

Ethan chuckled. "Trust me, I'll try." Simone and Zach grinned in response.