Here it is… the end of my first story on fanfiction. I hope you all enjoyed reading this story with humorous but most of all dramatic moments. I want to thank all those thousands of readers who put some time in reading this story and reviewing it. My spare time is very little and I am also writing a story about House M.D. at the moment, but when people are in the mood for it please let me know and I maybe will continue this story with another one :) but first of all… enjoy and review!

Don't start reading this chapter before giving a loud applause to Fruitbat, she beta-ed most of the chapters and also supported me in giving me thoughts about the storylines and the details of it. Fruitbat, without you this story would have been a lot less entertaining and a lot more out of character and most of all… unreadable because of my imperfect English. Thank you very much.

Chapter Seventeen: The End

The weeks came and went rapidly.

After Stella had informed the others about the change in Mac's condition, they all had come to the hospital within 30 minutes and were all so happy to see him that way. He was quickly moved to a normal room and that room soon filled itself with flowers and gifts and cards from everyone at the lab. Everyone had come to see him, most of them to tell him how brave he had been or how grateful they were that he was still alive.

No day went by without Stella by his side, and that made Mac happier than he could ever be. He recovered slowly; he had to learn to walk again and to use his arms and hands properly. He also had some problems with his memory, which sometimes brought up some funny situations with colleagues he couldn't remember.

His breathing was often irregular and his ribs didn't heal very fast, which slowed his recovery. Most of the day he was tired and therefore asleep. But he tried; he tried hard to get some sort of a normal life back again, to at least get out of this hospital and into his own home again.

The smile on his face came by more often, especially when he saw his team near him. His voice still remained a painful obstacle though; when he had woken up, he didn't care about his legs not able to move, his arms unbearable painful and non-usable, his memory full of holes… he just wished he could talk. He had always been a private man, he didn't need much words to explain the things he wanted or the things that needed to be done. But after all this.. after not been able to talk through the whole situation he went through.. things had changed. He wanted to talk so badly, talk about all the unnecessary things in the world. The main reason was his mind.. his mind drifted off to himself pinned against the wall again with a chain around his neck every second he didn't talk about something else. When he found out it was impossible to talk properly, he got frustrated every so often. He tried hard to talk again, he forced himself, almost tortured himself, but his voice never became normal again. He saw the looks in the eyes of every member of his team turned into sad ones when he spoke, his voice reminding them of the kidnapping, the fear they felt about him being dead, the uncertainty they had if they would ever find him, the anger towards the ones who had hurt him, the guilt of this all being their fault.. His voice tortured all of them at the same level as it did him. But he wasn't able to change it, he had to come to terms with the voice he had now, he had to make it his own even though it wasn't his voice at all. That would probably be the most difficult task of his whole recovery. But after a while, he got used to it. He got used to his permanently altered voice, the changing of it every couple of words. It all didn't bother him as much as it did in the beginning of his recovery. He finally realized that he was only glad he could even speak of his life in the present tense. If his luck had run out and he hadn't survived all of this then he wouldn't have been able to tell Stella she was the love of his life.

After almost six months, he was finally released from the hospital. Out of protocol he had to be driven to the exit doors in a wheelchair. When they made it to the doors, Dr. Lohe watched happily from behind the wheelchair as Mac stood up. The latter turned around and faced the doctor.

'Thank you for everything you've done, doctor. I will never forget it.' Mac felt a little embarrassed when his voice changed sound every couple of words, but Dr. Lohe pushed the wheelchair aside and embraced him.

'It was an honor to have you here in the hospital, detective, and to take care of yourself. I wish you every bit of luck and happiness in your life and I hope to see you another time somewhere out of this hospital, to grab a beer.'

Mac smiled at his words and returned the embrace. 'I will, doctor. Thank you again.' With that, Mac turned around and pushed the doors open and walked into the sunlight that could be so rare in New York. He closed his eyes and inhaled the sweet smell of the city he loved so much.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw his team gathered around him. 'Congratulations! You're back!' They said in unison. Mac smiled when one by one they came towards him and embraced him. Stella was the last, and to turn the world around, he walked towards her with an unsteady pace. He touched her face.

'I love you, Stella Bonasera.' He gave her a gentle kiss, which soon turned into a passionate one. They pulled apart when they heard the others applauding loudly and laughing at the same time. Red from embarrassment, they just smiled at each other as Mac got a couple of friendly pats on his back from the guys. Mac pulled Stella closer to him as they walked away from the hospital, out onto the streets and into a new life. As they made their way into Central Park, Mac couldn't control himself any longer.

'What would you think if I asked you to move into my house? To help me a little, but most of all, the warm me up when I'm in bed at night, or any other second of the day I'm missing you.' Stella turned her head towards her new boyfriend, grinning widely. Mac looked at her with a questioning look. 'What?' Stella kissed him again.

'I thought you'd never ask.'

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