Chapter 23

The clock on the wall ticked at its own chosen speed, the sound of it echoing back from the walls of the recovery room. Atlantis barely heard its sound. Her hands caressed Matthew's back and shoulders as his sobs disappeared in the warmth of her chest. She could literally feel the pieces of burden that were hidden for so long deep inside him falling off his heart with each tear he shed. Atlantis didn't even try to stop his strong crying. She knew that he needed it; so she just gently rocked him like she had done with her son for years. She could feel his arms around her waist as he held onto her for dear life. Sharp pain was piercing her heart and she felt the tears rolling down her own cheeks at seeing him so broken. Yet, she didn't stop it, didn't try to hush him down. She knew that he needed to let it all out and that he hadn't allowed himself to do that before, protecting others. That was Matthew – and she loved him dearly for it, but she also had learned that so much swallowed heartache could break a person. She didn't want that to happen to the man she loved with every part of her heart, and she swore she would stand beside him through it, no matter what.

Quite some time had passed before Atlantis felt Matthew's breathing slowing down and setting into a peaceful pace. Her fingertips gently caressed his hair as her other hand held him firmly close to her, still rocking him gently. The silence that prevailed and the sound of his breathing growing deeper and calmer were a sign to Atlantis that Matthew has fallen asleep. Smiling sadly, she placed a gentle kiss on his hair and relaxing against the pillows, she allowed herself to let the sound of his breathing beside her lull her into a peaceful sleep, too.

~*~

The train whistled loudly before it stopped, letting out steam from the locomotive. Citizens of Colorado Springs rushed to meet their relatives and friends that were on board. Matthew stood a little bit away from his family and Atlantis, his face serious as he watched a tall, grey-haired man descending the few steps of the wagon. Firmly but politely Matthew approached him, "Judge Harrisson?"

The passenger looked at the young man over the edges of his eyeglasses, "Mr. Cooper, I assume?"

As Matthew nodded, the judge accepted his outstretched hand and they shook them.

"I appreciate that you've come so fast, Judge," Matthew stated seriously.

"Luckily, the case I had to work on at the time you wired for me was close to the end, so I made sure to book a ticket for Colorado Springs as soon as possible because this sounded like a very serious case."

"It is," nodded Matthew. "But first, let's get you settled."

As the older man agreed with a simple nod of his head, Matthew and he walked toward Preston's hotel.

Nervously rubbing her right palm against her left palm, Atlantis watched the two men. Noticing her friend's anxiety, Colleen placed one hand on Atlantis' shoulders. As she looked at her, the young doctor warmly smiled, "Atlantis, don't worry about a thing. Matthew knows what he is doing."

"I know," Atlantis breathed out, still not able to completely calm down.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Matthew, not at all. She trusted him with her life. It was just that she was afraid of what was to come; the trial and the fact that she'd have to face Heart and Paul again. She didn't know how she would do it. She was too scared.

Michaela could also feel that Atlantis' nerves were on edge, and she decided to help Colleen in calming the young woman down.

"Atlantis."she gently called.

As Atlantis looked at her, Dr. Mike gave her a comforting smile, "Colleen is right. Matthew is one of the best lawyers in Denver; he won cases that people thought were hopeless. He will get you out of that mess, trust me."

"I do trust you, Dr. Mike," was Atlantis' silent reply. "I… I just… I'm just too scared to face them again," she finished, taking in a shivering breath.

"Don't worry, Atlantis. We're all gonna be there for you," Colleen's voice was heard. As Atlantis looked at her thankfully, Colleen hugged her friend.

~*~

Taking her stethoscope out of her ears, Michaela looked at Atlantis, "Well, it seems as if everything is fine. Your lungs sound clean and healthy and the cough has been gone for over a month."

A wide smile lit up Atlantis' beautiful face as she asked, "So I'm gonna be all right?"

"Absolutely," smiled Dr. Mike. "But I still want you to look out for yourself. Be careful that you don't catch a cold and drink some more tea, just in case. You also have to eat to recover your strength, but other than that, you will be just fine." Those words said and Michaela was greeted by a strong hug from Atlantis, causing her to smile in surprise.

"Thank you so much, Dr. Mike. For everything," whispered Atlantis. Michaela smiled, pulling away, "You're welcome."

In that moment, there was a knock at the door and after Mike's "Come in" they opened and Matthew entered the room.

Knowing that Atlantis went for an examination today, he could neither hide the concern in his voice nor on his face. "How is she?" he asked, stepping closer.

Michaela smiled at her son, "She's just fine. She still needs to get her strength back, but the pneumonia is gone."

"So, she can go home?"Matthew impatiently asked.

That caught both Dr. Mike and Atlantis off guard. Michaela stumbled over her next words, "Well, there's no need for her to stay at the clinic anymore."

"I guess I should start looking out for a place to stay with the trial coming up," Atlantis glanced at Michaela, and the doctor nodded.

"Nonsense!"Matthew chimed in. "You and Matthew are staying with me."

"Matthew!" Michaela couldn't hold back her astonishment and Atlantis' cheeks blushed intensively.

As her eyes met her oldest son's eyes, Michaela whispered, "Matthew, I know that you're just trying to protect both of them, but… I don't think that it's a good idea…"

Before she could go on, Matthew stopped her, "Dr. Mike, I know what are you thinking and honestly, I don't care what people will say. I talked to Judge Harrison about this whole thing and he said that it shouldn't affect the case if Atlantis and Matthew moved into the homestead."

"They can stay at our place. I'm sure that Katie would love to have Matthew around," Michaela tried one more time, but Matthew was ready for this as well. "Dr. Mike, your place is crowded. With Colleen back and Katie, you and Sully barely have some time alone." He couldn't hold back a smile as Michaela's cheeks reddened. "And I have plenty of free room left," Matthew's face grew serious again. "Dr. Mike, I couldn't risk you, Colleen, Sully and Katie get hurt if someone shows up looking for Atlantis. We don't know whether Paul has some allies. And I couldn't trust anybody else to look after the two of them like I would."

All this time, Atlantis was quiet. The mere idea of living with Matthew made her heart skip a beat. She understood Dr. Mike's point of view; she was sure that people would talk. Jake and Hank would probably place some bets about it. But as she watched Matthew's face while he talked to Dr. Mike, she could see that he didn't care about it.

Michaela always knew when she was defeated. Over the years, she often argued with Matthew because of his stubbornness and his rushing into something unknown. But, she had to admit to herself that the last argument they had was years ago. It was just like Sully said not so long ago – Matthew WAS a grown up man now. There was no doubt about that. His actions never caused her to hide her eyes from others in shame; on the contrary – Matthew made her proud of being able to call him her son. He'd grown into an honest, loyal and hard-working man who was respected by everyone.

So she took her stethoscope away from her neck and placing it back into her medical bag, she simply nodded, "Well, I'm not the one you have to talk to."

Glancing over at Atlantis, Michaela excused herself and went out of the clinic, closing the door behind her.

The words Dr. Mike had said had reached Matthew's ears and he turned toward Atlantis. Seeing the color of her cheeks, he gently smiled, "So, what do you think?"

Atlantis swallowed hard, watching his blue eyes. "Are you sure you're okay with that? I mean, you grew up here, everybody knows you and Dr. Mike is right, people will talk. I don't want to put a bad mark on your reputation," she nervously rambled.

Before she could even finish her sentence properly, Matthew leaned down and placed a loving kiss on her lips. As he slightly pulled away after a few seconds, Atlantis felt the shivering breath escaping her mouth as he whispered, "You talk too much, Atlantis."

With his face so close to hers, Atlantis blushed intensively again and whispered back through a teasing smile, "Well, I was a performer for years. One of my main tasks was to talk."

"Ah, I see. Professional deformation," Matthew nodded, pretending to be slightly frustrated, causing Atlantis to chuckle. She felt his smile as he closed the small space between them one more time and caressed her lips with his, his hands wrapping around her waist. As she managed to catch a short breath she whispered, "Are you sure this won't affect the case?"

As Matthew nodded, she quickly added, "You… you think that Paul might have some allies?"

Hearing the fear in her voice, Matthew carefully said, "I am not sure, but it is the best that we take all the possibilities into consideration. I don't want to risk you and Matthew getting hurt again, and I couldn't trust anybody else to look after you. I wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully and would probably go mad out of worry."

Atlantis watched his sparkling eyes, his words calming down the fear that had already started to consume her. She knew that he would never allow that anything happened to her or her son.

"So, I guess that I can't say no, now can I?" she teasingly smiled.

Matthew raised one eyebrow, accepting the playful banter. "Well, you can try, but that would mean that I have to persuade you."

Nodding with the smile growing wider on her lips, Atlantis whispered, "And how would you do that, Mr. Cooper?"

"I guess I would do something like this," was Matthew's reply before his lips brushed against hers in a slow motion, gentle as a breeze.

He was holding her so close to him that he could hear her heart beat against his chest and as he felt it quicken up, his kiss turned into a passionate one, causing Atlantis to softly moan, her fingertips sneaking up into his hair and on the nape of his neck, drawing him closer to her.

Collecting all the strength he had in himself, Matthew pulled away an inch from Atlantis' lips, "How's that?"

Breathing heavily, Atlantis decided to play along. "I don't know. I still think that we will cause quite a gossip around town…"

She was interrupted in the middle of her sentence with one more of Matthew's heated kisses that set her entire body on fire. As his right hand reached under her white blouse, Atlantis silently gasped at the feeling of his fingers on her bare skin. It nearly sent her over the edge; her whole being was aching for his touch. "You're not playing fair, Mr. Cooper", she whispered against his lips receiving a devilish smile from him. "You know what they say, Atlantis: all is fair in love and war."

"Ah, so we're at war, aren't we?" she smirked.

"Only if you decide to say no," replied Matthew, winking at her and Atlantis couldn't help but chuckle.

Her palms caressed his shoulders as she searched his eyes, suddenly falling serious. "Matthew… are you sure you want this?"

He touched her cheek with his palm and gently caressed it, looking lovingly deep into her beautiful brown eyes. "Of course I do. I never wanna let you go again."

He kissed her shortly, but long enough to send warmth down her spine. "So…what do you say?"

Atlantis' vision got slightly blurred as her eyes filled with happy tears and she whispered, "I'd like that."

As she said that, Matthew leaned down and kissed her forehead, pulling her in a warm, strong embrace the next second. She leaned her face on his chest, letting out the breath that she had been keeping inside of herself for such a long time.

Finally, she could see the future in front of her, and for the first time in so many years it didn't frighten her. On the contrary; she was looking forward to it and couldn't wait to reach it, taking one step at a time. She knew that Matthew would be beside her no matter what.