I was very sick and that's the reason for this late update, sorry that you had to wait for it so long.

Chapter 18

Atlantis slowly pulled away from Matthew's lips and her eyes drifted away to the invisible spots on the pillow as the tears glittered on her eyelashes. She swallowed the sobs, yet couldn't stop the warm tears that rolled down her cheeks.

"Hey, hey, don't cry. I'm okay, Atlantis", Matthew tried to calm her down, but his words weren't getting through to her.

"I've put you through this", she mumbled.

"Atlantis, no…" Matthew tried to stop the train of her words, but she shook her head.

"You would never have been hurt if I wasn't here."

"Atlantis, listen to me…"

"I'll just destroy your life, this was all wrong, I can't…" she rambled on and on, but the gentle squeeze of Matthew's good arm on her upper arm caused her voice to drift away and she heard his words.

"Will you stop it?" His voice was full of pain. As he didn't get a reply from her, Matthew said, "Look at me."

As her eyes remained on the pillow, he desperately tried once again, "Atlantis, look at me!"

As her brown eyes met his gaze, Matthew used his good hand to wipe the tears away from her cheeks and softly said, "I love you."

As those words left his mouth, he noticed how more and more tears collected in Atlantis' eyes, her chin started to shiver as she fought with all her strength not to cry. "You brought me back to life, Atlantis. I would be hurt if you weren't here, sweetheart. This was NOT your fault, Atlantis, do you hear me? This was NOT your fault. I will help you to get out from that hell. This was the hardest step, but now there will be no problem to keep them away from you."

"I'm scared, Matthew," Atlantis whispered through tears. "I almost lost you. If you didn't make it, I…I… I don't think that I would survive."

"Oh, Atlantis, honey…" Matthew caressed her cheek. "I'm all right. This all will be in the past once. And when all that is over, I just want to have you and Matthew in my life. Forever. Cause you're my life now."

That was it for Atlantis. She smiled through her tears and gently wiped the sweat from Matthew's forehead as her lips kissed him lovingly, showing him without a word how much she loved him.

~*~

Atlantis lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling. She was back in her recovery room because Dr. Mike and Colleen had to change Matthew's bandages and check on his wounds, but she couldn't go back to sleep.

Sully was here a few minutes ago, bringing her son back, and the encounter was heartbreaking as the little boy clutched to his mom, terrified to the bone. Even though he hadn't seen what actually happened, little Matthew knew that his mommy always got a bruised face after having a fight with his father. That meant only one thing; His father was back and that was what scared him. It took Atlantis hours to try to calm down her darling child, but the little one slept soundly in her arms now. She, however, couldn't welcome the sleep.

Her head was aching from thinking of what happened. Thank God Dr. Mike was around, otherwise Atlantis wouldn't know what to do. She would have taken both bullets instead of Matthew, but destiny doesn't allow you to choose, ever. Hours ago, when she and Matthew were talking, even though he tried to be strong for her, she could see that he was in pain. Dr. Mike and Colleen had quite some trouble to talk her out of staying with them and help them to take care of Matthew. Dr. Mike insisted that she get some rest and promised that she would come to tell her if there were any changes in Matthew's condition. It was Colleen who practically dragged her back to her room after Matthew fell into a restless sleep, fever taking over. Atlantis was crashed because they didn't allow her to stay, but she tried to stay strong and brave for her son that Sully brought back just that minute.

Now she was lying in her bed, her eyes blinking tears away.

"Please, God, let him be all right. He suffered enough. Give me all his pain, let him be all right. Please, don't take him away from me."

~*~

Colleen squeezed the water out of the sponge and gently rubbed it over her older brother's forehead and cheeks that were bathed in sweat. She was trying hard not to cry loudly. Being a doctor meant to treat every person the same, but this was her brother she always looked up to. She felt like she was failing him with each minute that passed in fever for Matthew.

She was so happy for him the last couple of days. He was coming back to life. Watching him with Atlantis and little Matthew warmed Colleen's heart, and she prayed to God to let her brother and her friend find happiness again.

Even before Emma entered Matthew's life, Colleen was thinking about how it would be if Atlantis came back. She remembered quite well the first time they met and still felt a bit guilty that she didn't tell Atlantis about Ingrid back then when it was more than obvious that her friend had feelings for Matthew. It would have stopped Atlantis from getting hurt.

But all of a sudden Atlantis was back – and Colleen was the first one who noticed a change in Matthew's behavior. He wasn't in a dark mood all the time, he took some days off, didn't bury himself in the job like he used to… And she was thrilled to see that. She loved her brother so much and wished with all her heart that he find happiness again.

Her eyes were red from crying as she caressed Matthew's dark blond hair and whispered, "You fight there, Matthew, do you hear me? I wanna see you happy again. I wanna see you getting married, having children and I am warning you, Matthew Cooper," by now, sobs controlled her voice, "I wanna spoil rotten my nephews and nieces, so don't you dare to let me down now, do you hear me?"

The door opened and Dr. Mike entered the room, carrying some medicine. Colleen quickly wiped her tears away, but Michaela saw it.

She came toward her daughter and softly rubbed her back. "He'll be fine, Colleen," whispered Dr. Mike as the tears flew down her cheeks.