A/N: so... here's the last chapter for that story. hope you enjoyed reading this. because it made fun and was a great experience to write it. so.. thanks to you guys too! I 3 YOU

Chapter 6: Happily ever after

It had been two weeks since Mac had been shot. They had been hard. Especially when his heart wasn't strong enough to take the pain anymore. It had stopped beating.

Stella didn't want to remember it, but it was necessary to get over it. The best thing to do when you want to get over a thing: Think about it. Analyze it. Give it a try to bring you down. Then kill it.

As she walked through the hospital doors for the last time, her mind fade away. She remembered the hardest hours in her life.

Stella walked over to the coffee machine in the nurse's room. She made coffee for the whole team. It had been long days. The waiting for Mac to come out of surgery, they waiting for him to be awake another time…

It was hard to see the best friend broken like this. But Stella felt Mac cured more when she was around. Like best friends should do.

Just as she came back, Sheldon and Adam, both tired, walked to her and took their coffee mugs out of Stella's hand to "help her" as they said.

Lindsay and Danny also took their mugs and sat back on the chairs in front of Mac's hospital room. It had been quiet for hours in there so they thought he was asleep.

As soon as Doctor Johnston arrived they looked up. "When the shots cure well, you can take him home tomorrow. But you have to watch out. The stitches are not fully healed."

Every one nodded, knowing that after he would have been released from hospital, Mac would appear at the lab to work again, even if Sinclair would tell him to stay home. That was Mac. You could call him a workaholic in a way.

But only Stella knew why he staid at work every night he could. It was because the dead of his wife, Claire Conrad, on 9/11 hurt him so much that he couldn't sleep anymore. Then it had been Stella to bring him back to life again.

After all they had been friends. Even if they were arguing some times, they were and would be friends.

Stella sighed. Then she turned to Mac's room and went quietly in, watching the doctor carefully. She wasn't allowed to talk to him, but she needed to.

As she had closed the door, she went over to his bed and sat down on a plastic chair. As he looked her in the eyes, she looked away.

"What?" he asked raspy.

"Just wondering if you are okay."

"Yes, I am, Bonasera. Why are you really here?"

"To tell you you'll be released tomorrow if you are a good boy tonight. And I hope you are. Because your badge and gun are already missing you."

He smirked, the sentence even made him chuckle a bit. But then the pain shot through his chest again and he began to cough.

Taking his hand in hers, Stella leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. It was so natural to them, even if they were co-workers.

They exchanged a long, long look, his sapphire eyes in her lightening green eyes. Both sighed at the same time, making Mac cough another times. Stella yawned and tried to hide it from her best friend, but, as usual, he saw that, too.

"When was the last time you slept, Stel?"

"Not important."

"Oh, yes, right. And you're not looking tired. I heard that before. Several times from you, then from me… It's always the same. What's bothering you so you can't sleep?"

She looked on the ground, realizing she was still holding Mac's hand. She didn't want to tell him, but otherwise she had to.

"When… you get shot… I thought you would die… And I couldn't mention a life without you, Mac."

He looked at her, not in surprise, but understanding.

"Then… as you were in surgery… I was so afraid that I could lose you. I was afraid of telling your mum that her son had died. I was afraid of being alone again…" Stella started to sob. She couldn't hold it back anymore. All the feelings she had held back the past few hours rushed over her like a wave.

Mac noticed her fear deep in his heart, too. He had felt the same way. So he moved a bit in the bed, making place for her, so she could lay down to rest. There was the pain again, but he ignored it.

Stella smiled and laid down beside him, knowing that it would look wrong in so many way. But she was so happy she had someone like Mac. Cuddling up on his shoulder, she closed her eyes. When he winced, Stella looked up.

"Did I hurt you? I'm sorry…"

"No… It's my fault…" Mac mumbled under his breath.

Then he laid an arm around Stella to keep her warm in the more or less cold hospital room. Stella fell asleep soon and just woke up when someone carried her out of the room.

She looked up and saw Flack's worried face, his eyes full of pain.

"What happened?" she asked weak as they reached the waiting room again. As he let her down on a seat, she saw Danny, Lindsay, Sheldon, Sid, Flack, Adam… and suddenly she knew what happened. Felt it in her heart.

Linds walked over to Stella and touched her shoulder softly. She began to cry and sat down beside Stel.

"I'm so sorry…" she said.

Stella couldn't believe what she just heard. What had happened? Something with…

"Oh no…" she said. "No, no, no, no, no!"

At least she began to cry to and rested her head in her hands. The whole team came over and hugged her. Don held her a bit longer than necessary but it felt good.

Then it was time to wait again. But it was longer than the other time. It was more painful than every other time. It hurt even more.

Stella knew from Sid, that when she just fell asleep, Mac had started to cough and spitting out blood. He was bleeding inside and couldn't breathe any more. The doctors had taken him to surgery, but didn't want to wake Stella up and bother her with this.

Now they sat four ours in the waiting room. It was quiet, uncomfortable and sad. Then Don and Danny began to fight. Over what, Stella couldn't recognize it.

All she remembered was that she ran to them, pushing them to opposite sites and screaming: "Could you please stop yelling at each other? Mac's still in surgery and you have nothing to do than fight over harmless things? You're not better than Jessica."

Then she broke down.

Now Stella reached for Mac's hospital room and entered. As she closed the door again, she saw Mac, sitting on the bed, trying to put is grey NYPD T-shirt on. He looked up and kinda smirked.

"Hey…" he said.

"Hey. Can I help you?"

He rolled his eyes.

"No, I can take it myself, thank you. So… are you taking me outta here?"

"Yeah, I'm your ride home. If you wanna go yet."

Stella came over to him and took his t-shirt over his head. She saw the bandage over his chest and began to wonder how he was going to take the pain. She knew it hurt.

He watched her, raising his eyebrow just like he always did.

"What?" he asked.

Stella grinned. "You know how sexy you look with that bandage? Honestly, really sexy."

"'Honesty is such a lonely word` as Billy Joel sang." Mac answered. "'But it's all I want from you.'"

They both smiled at each other. Then Stella took Mac's knapsack and carried it out the room after letting him out. Good to walk again, he thought.

As they reached her car and got into it, Mac said quietly:

"When I passed out… I… I saw someone, talking to me. I'm not sure who it was. But I believe… it was you. This someone told me to hold on and stay. To stay to save someone's life because this someone loves me. I couldn't speak, but this someone read my mind and answered all my questions.

"If you are okay? What is it like to die? Is there a heaven? But this someone told me, that you are okay and dying is like sleeping, but never wake up until you're in 'heaven'. This someone then led me through a big, bright light. And then… I saw Claire.

"She told me everything would be okay and she was very proud of me that I moved on. That I finally found someone who loved me as deep as her love had been. And she said that she didn't felt something. Or… the baby."

Mac took a deep breath, telling his best friend the greatest secret he ever had. That Claire had been pregnant when she died in 9/11. Even if she didn't want to have children at that time. But Mac had been so happy.

Stella looked at him surprised. She hadn't wanted to ask about what he felt or saw when he almost died that day but wanted to know. Now, that he came out with the truth, he spitted out everything he could to weak his pain.

"She just told me that she was pregnant just five days before the… World Trade Centre. I was so happy but… she didn't want to have children. But I made her keep the baby. And that was why she actually went there. I told myself that it wasn't my fault but… when she phoned me there to tell me, that she wanted to get the baby away… The plane crashed into it."

As Stella now watched his eyes, they filled with water and ran down his cheeks. They arrived at the lab, Mac noticed that but was to concerned to ask. They went out the car. Before he could get into the building, Stella held him back by his arm and pulled him into a hug, trying to steady him.

"Mac? I will be there for you. Every time you need me. I promise."

He smiled. Then there was a cough behind them. There were Danny, Lindsay… the whole lab including Mac's goddaughter Lucy. And Chief Sinclair. He kinda smirked which made him look very strange. He stepped forward and began:

"Sergeant Mac Taylor? Welcome back. You can start work as soon as you want. And I apologize for every thing I've done to you. Now… Detective Stella Bonasera? I want to say greetings from your collegeaus in New Orleans. They all wish the best for you. Welcome back to you, too. You're officially working in New York again."

As Mac and Stella exchanged a look, they both grinned goofy and hugged another time. Then Mac took her head in both hands and kissed her. As their lips met, there was applause on every side of them.

"WELCOME BACK!" they all screamed.

A/N: I'm very proud of myself now xD finished my first story. yippieh xD hope you enjoyed reading and please...

REVIEW for the last time!