A/N: hallo mein leiblings! I'm getting this out fast, mostly cause I have a whole period to type and have nothing better to do. So yeah not much more to say other than enjoy.

Disclaimer: *Praises the HimaPapa*

Chapter XXVII

Matthew's POV

I wake to someone shaking me. When I look up, Liz is standing over me. She and Roderiech must have arrived while I was sleeping. Looking at the clock, I see that it's one in the morning, four hours after Gilbert and I arrived at the hospital. Turning back to Liz, I see that she's smiling at me.

"Bonjour," I murmer, slipping into French as I have tendency to do when I have just woken up.

She just continues to smile softly at me and tells me, "The doctor told us that Gil has stabilized. Only one person is allowed to go in to see him. We want you to be that person."

My eyes widen. "B-but you guys are his family. One of you should be the ones to go see him."

"True, but we can see how important you two are to each other. Your parents did the same for Gilbert when it was you who was hurt. It's only fair that we return the favor," she explains. I smile gratefully, looking at Gil's family.

"M-merci. Th-thank y-" I begin, but am cut off by Gilbert's grandfather saying, "You are important to Gilbert, Matthew. We believe that if he wakes to you at his bedside, it will make him much happier than if it was one of us. Now go."

He motions for me to follow the doctor who is waiting to show me the way to Gil's room. He's average height with pale, almost silver blonde hair. A pin shaped like an upside down cross holds his bangs back, and a random curl seems to float in the air at the back of his head.

I stand and say, "Please take me to where Gil is."

The doctor nods and leads me through the hospital's maze of hallways.

"Mr. Beilschmidt is unconscious at the moment, and he still has a high risk of relapse, but the way things are going now, it looks like he should make a full recovery. Oh, my name is Doctor Køhlar, by the way," the doctor informs me.

"Oh, are you brothers with the police officer who came in earlier to question me?" I ask. "I think his name was Matthias, if I remember correctly."

"No; he's my husband, unfortunately," he corrects me.

"Oh. Well, thank you very much for cAring for Gilbert. He means a lot to me, Doctor Køhlar," I tell him.

"Please call me Lukas. 'Doctor Køhlar' makes me sound old. And I know; I recognized your name from a couple of friends of me and my husband, Berwald and Tino Oxenstierna."

"S-so you know, too?"

"About what you've been through? Yes, and I'm sorry."

"Don't be. The things that happened to me then led me to Gilbert, and I don't regret meeting him one bit," I say.

Lukas looks at me silently for a bit, before the barest hint of a smile appears on his face.

"I can tell. We're doing all that we can to make sure that he recovers," he replies.

I smile back at him and say, "Thank you. It means so much to me."

"It's nothing. It is my job, after all. If I can't give my all to save someone, then I wouldn't be a very good doctor, would I?"

"I suppose not."

"Exactly. Now, here we are. I'll let you have your time alone with him. Press the blue button on the wall by his bed if he wakes up or starts to take a turn for the worse. It will page me immediately," he instructs me. I nod my head in understanding and go into Gilbert's room.

He's lying on the bed, sleeping peacefully. His skin is even paler than it usually is, making him as white as the sheets on the bed beneath him. Bandages are wrapped around his shoulder and torso, going down below the blankets that are over him. There's an iv in his arm, as well as one of those tubes in his nose that I think are supposed to help him breath.

It scares me, because he looks so fragile. Gil has been my rock, and to see him in such a weak state terrifies me.

i sit in the chair that's placed next to his bead. With shaking hands, I reach out and take his hand in mine. It feels cool under my fingers. I rub my thumb across his knuckles and hold it as if it's made of glass. Looking at Gil's face, I'm surprised to find myself speaking.

"Hey, Bear. It's Matthew, your Birdie. I…I don't know if you can hear me but, I want to say thank you. You've done so much for me. You've saved me…multiple times over, and now…you took two bullets because of me. I can't possible ever even hope to thank you enough for everything you've done. All I can do is pray with all my heart that you'll wake up. If you don't wake up, I …I don't know what I'm going to do. You're so important to me, Gilbert. You're everything to me. I can't go on without you, so please, please don't leave me, Bear. I need you. Je 'taime, Ich liebe dich, I love you, I will always love you. You have my heart, Bear. You have it now and you will always have it, forever. Just please, don't leave me. I don't want to be alone."

There's a silence for a while, broken only by the sounds of my quiet sobbing. I can't stop the tears that roll down my cheeks, nor can I stifle the choked sobs that slip through my lips. I stop, though, shocked, when a quiet voice speaks.

"I won't leave you, Birdie. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I abandoned you like that? I don't intend to leave you alone now, or for a long time coming."

I gasp and look up from staring at Gil's hand in mine to see those perfect, amazing, awesome crimson eyes gazing back at me full of love and an adoration that I don't think I'll ever really deserve.

"B-Bear?"

"The one and only awesome," he says, grinning at me the best he can with the tubes in his nose.

The tears in my eyes find new strength, but this time form joy as I stand and throw my arms around Gil, pressing my face into his neck as my shoulders shake with sobs.

Gil grunts lightly, wrapping his arms carefully around my back, carding his fingers though my hair as he says, "Easy, Birdie. Everything's going to be just fine."

When I hear him grunt, I quickly pull back, looking over him worried.

"Are you alright, Bear? I didn't hurt you, did I?" I ask him, concern filling my voice.

He chuckles and plays with my hair a bit. "I'm fine, liebe. Just a bit tired."

I sigh in relief and say, "I was so scared, bear. I thought that you weren't gonna wake up."

"I know, Birdie. I felt the same way after you tried to kill yourself. I'm so sorry that you had to experience that fear," he replies.

"It's alright, Bear. Just so long as you're okay in the end, I'll be okay too," I tell him.

"Still, you've been through enough pain and suffering to last a lifetime already."

I smile and kiss him lightly, "I'm stronger than I seem. Now, we should call the doctor. Also, a police officer is gonna come and question you about what happened. He already questioned me, but he needs to make sure that he gets the whole story."

"Sounds fine to me, just so long as you promise that you'll stay by my side. I don't want there to be any chance for you to run into Carlos without me."

"Don't worry. Carlos is in the hospital, too. They brought him here to treat his wounds. He's being kept under close watch, though, I think. He started yelling at me when the paramedics got there, so they know that he's dangerous to me. I won't run into him, but even so, I'm not gonna leave your side until you're better. I promise," I reply as I press the button to call the doctor.

The rest of the day is a flurry of activity. Lukas does a bunch of tests on Gil to make sure that he's healing as he should be and that he really is as fine as he says he is. Thankfully, he's healing just fine, and quicker than Lukas had originally anticipated.

Matthias returns to the hospital and questions Gilbert about what happened. The only difference between his story and mine is that Gilbert is able to tell him where he got the gun from.

Apparently he'd had a feeling that he would need some sort of protection, so he'd gotten permission from his grandfather to bring it with him. He had a license back in Germany to let him handle guns, and he is in the middle of getting one for here in America.

Matthias says that he might have an issue with that but knows the judge and is sure that he will see that it's viewed as a special case and allowed to slide. He also tells us that Gil might be able to get off free since what he did was self-defense, and at most he'll probably get a fine, which Gil's grandfather says he will gladly pay.

I keep my word, staying by Gilbert's side, even after visiting hours are over. Lukas receives special permission to allow me to stay given the circumstances. He has a nurse bring me a blanket and pillow so that I can sleep on the small couch under the window of the room.

The next day is much calmer. Me and Gil just talk and watch the television in the room as he complains about the crappy hospital food. He only stops complaining when I promise to make him as many pancakes as he can eat once he gets let out.

Later in the afternoon, we're watching some show called NCIS that Gil seems to love, when there's a knock on the door.

A nurse enters and says, 'You have two visitors, Mr. Beilschmidt."

He steps aside to reveal Alfred. There's someone behind Al, but I can't quite tell who it is until he follows Al into the room. I'm frozen in shock and some fear to see Ivan Braginski in Gil's hospital room, looking nervous for the first time since I meet him.

End of Chapter XXVII

A/N: yeah I'm evil. I can't really say more other than don't stop reading.

As always a word from gorgeous my Beta Sakura 414:

I'm sorry it took so long for me to edit this thing! I'm sure my fellow theatre kids can attest to the fact that tech week pretty much entails zombie-like behavior and/or full-on death, so I didn't really have the time to... well, do much of anything, really. West Side is over, though, so now we have time together with time to spare... time to look... time to care... SOMEHOW! SOMEDAY! SOMEWHEEEEEEERE! ...Ahem... Please excuse me...

Don't worry Sakura the reviews understand. Trust me guys when I say that Sakura was seriously zombie-fied. She even caught a cold since lack of sleep lower her immune system. But she's getting better and we're both going to Zenkaikon. I'll be heading there after school tomorrow and Sakura will attend on Saturday and Sunday. I'm gonna be Nepeta and Sollux from homestuck on Friday and Saturday and then Prussia for Sunday and maybe part of Saturday. If you're going don't hesitate to say hi if you think it's me. I'd absolutely love to meet some of you in person.

SO yeah updates should be back to normal since the show is over so thanks a billion for being patient with us.

Until next time leiblings.

Wolf-chan out.