Hey there everyone! Yeah, this story is almost done! This chapter is the penultimate chapter before the end of the story, but I hope you liked it. As I said, it's a 'happy ending' AND I will have a big surprise for you at the end of the next chapter (hope you will like the surprise).

Tell me what you think about this chapter!

Chapter 17: Forgiving

Today was a special day for all the firemen. It was the Academy Dinner, and this year was going to be special. Well, according to what all understood and heard here and there. What they knew was that they had to wear their uniform, that each year had never been asked. It should be a very special day. It has been two months since this 'accident' in Humboldt Park: it was a bomb, but it had never been to the firefighters, but to the ex-husband of the owner of this house. He left her just like that without explanation and she wanted revenge by trapping a room in the house. But the firefighters had been involved in this case and six of them had been injured. Jimmy, Tony, Kelly, Gabby and Hermann had recovered will, even if it was harder for Gabby: Matt didn't want to talk to her since the near loss of their baby. He blamed himself, but he blamed the woman he loved more than himself because she didn't listen to him. And she felt guilty to have done nothing to protect her baby, but her love for Matt and the fear felt had been much higher than the possible loss of this baby. Dispite this, she continued to take care of him with the help of Christie and the other firefighters because he had to stay in bed. After barely two days, he became crazy and no one had been able to approach him about being injured. Matt was a munual, he had to do something rather than lay in bed waiting to heal. Kelly was the only one who could approach him without too many problems. As he knew nothing about medicine, the doctors, the nursing staff of Chicago Med, the paramedics and Gabby had trained him so he could take care of Matt and help him as he could. At first, it was very hard but he learned quickly and after one to two weeks, it became mechanical. As expected, when he heard about the annual Academy Dinner, Matt insisted to come, finding an umpteenth excuse to get out of bed that became for him what he called ironically his 'tomb'. After a few days of intense debate, Kelly finally gave up and promised to Matt to take him to the Dinner, in one condition: he had to stay in a wheel chair and in any pain, they would come back home. Matt had reluctantly promised, sighing, to remain in the wheelchair and tell to Kelly when he would start to feel any pain. But he wanted to much to go to this Dinner.

Kelly began his day early, preparing his uniform and Matt's one before anything else. Gabby couldn't understand Matt and Kelly.

"You're sure it will be okay? With Matt I mean".

Kelly turned mechanically to Gabby and smiled slightly, shrugging one of his eyebrows.

"Why it won't?"

"You know very well what I mean Kelly".

Yes, he knew perfectly. But what he also knew was that Matt was going crazy in bed, he had to get out a bit, and it would be good for everyone.

"Matt is a big boy Gabby. He knows that if he goes to the Dinner, he will have to be careful. And if he wants to go back to work, then he'll have to heal and it takes time. He knows that, he's aware".

"I'm not saying this to punish him Kelly!", she whispered a little loud. " It's just that... Is he really ready to sit for a long time like this? I mean... The only time he sits down, it's when he takes a shower, and if I remember well, I hear hil screaming in pain almost every time".

"The last time he took a decent shower, it was two weeks ago. We wash him by hand, I wash him by hand. If he feels he can't do it, he will tell us".

"Do what you want then", Gabby said dryly, as she left.

Kelly sighed, desperate. Since that call, Gabby wasn't the same anymore. It was hard to endure the accident with the baby, Kelly saw it. And it was understandable, he didn't blame her. What he blamed, it was the lack of confidence she gave to Matt. He turned and took the road to Matt's room. He opened the door and saw Matt, gesticulating in bed. Kelly laughed.

"What?" Matt said when Kelly burst into laugh.

"What!" he repeated.

After a few long seconds, Kelly calmed down, wiping the tears from his face and rubbing his belly.

"You looked like a turtle on its back!"

Matt raised an eyebrow and sighed.

"Thanks to cheer a suffering..."

"Suffering?"

Kelly and Matt shared another laugh. He then sat next to his best friend.

"It's the big day".

"Today? Already?"

Kelly nodded smiling. Matt, who had straightened a little, let his head hit the pillows.

"You don't feel ready?"

"It's not that, it's just..."

Matt looked away, as if he was ashamed.

"They will look at me as a cripple. And you know me, when you look at me with pity..."

"You're ready to hit someone, I get it", Kelly finished.

"And... I'm scared to be in pain".

It was the first time in two months that Matt was talking about it by himself, or didn't try to avoid the subject. Kelly opened his mouth but didn't talk for a while.

"It's been two months Matt. The doctor explained that the bed rest had to last six to eight weeks. You can sit now, and begin your rehab soon".

Matt closed his eyes for a moment.

"You're right. Come on, help me please".

As every time Matt was going to take a shower, Kelly took him as he could in his arms to take him in the shower and keep him standing while he was washing himself. But this time, Kelly had a much better idea.

"I will help you to sit, hold you up, but..."

He got slightly out of the room to bring something that Matt laughed to death.

"You're fucking kidding me?" Matt threw to Kelly when he returned with a wheeled walker in the room.

"Not at all! Will thought it would be a good idea to make you work here. You can have rehab here when you're not in PT!"

"It's true that lie or you still want to attack the most vulnerable?"

Kelly let out another laugh.

"Well... Both. I can't deny that, I think I will laugh a lot to see you carry around an old granny! Be careful with the brake, I greased them", he chuckled.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny Kelly".

In fact, a few seconds later, he began to laugh too. After several minutes, Matt became serious again.

"Thanks. To still be... you".

"What?"

Kelly didn't understand, and Matt seemed embarassed.

"I mean... You're still the same after all that happened and... And the others look at me as of I wasn't the same anymore when I haven't changed".

"Hey hey..."

Kelly sat again on the bed near Matt and took his left forearm.

"They're in pain for you, and they miss you as a firefighter".

"You're not in pain for me?"

"Yes, yes I am. It's just... I know you, I know what you went through, I was there, under the rubble with you. I brought you back in the land of the living, I kept you alive twice at least. And I'm your friend, your brother".

Kelly smiled slightly and taped his shoulder.

"Thank you for being here for me".

"Always".

The two brothers looked at each other for a long time, without speaking. No need.

"Okay, can we go now? Take this shower?"

"Yeah".

As usual, Matt lifted his arms so that Kelly could take him in his arms, but instead of that, Kelly shook his head from side to side.

"No, no. I'm done with this buddy! I will make you sit down, get up, you'll grab this!" he said, grabbing the walker. "And no discussion!" he continued, seeing that Matt wanted to protest.

Matt sighing, smiling.

"I can't believe it..."

Kelly helped Matt to tip his legs out of bed to allow Matt to straighten. He escaped a cry, not of pain, but because he was getting sore in that bed. He then sighed in relief when his feet reached the floor of the room.

"You okay?" Kelly asked,slightly worried.

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay. It's..."

"It feels good?"

Closing his eyes, Matt nodded, making his best friend smile in relief.

"Now, you'll catch the wrists and I'll help you to get up. Okay?"

Matt inhaled and exhaled deeply. He was scared. So scared to hurt himself.

"Hey Matty, I'm here okay? No reason to be scared".

"When it's you, I'm scared", Matt said, laughing.

The two brothers laughed again.

"If Gabby could hear us!"

This last sentence uttured a cold silence in the room. Matt looked down, Kelly realizing that Gabby was a sensitive subject.

"You must forgive her Matt. She did it to save you, and you... You're rejecting her".

"She almost killed our baby Kelly. How I can handle this?"

"You think she's not blaming herself already for... Almost killed your baby, as you say? She blames herself enough like that. See things differently: if she hadn't gone down, you'd be dead and she wouldn't feel able to raise your child. She came down to save you, taking the risk of losing the baby, but knowing that if she saved you, you might have more children together".

Despite the closed door, Gabby could hear their conversation. It was still hard for her to see Matt because indeed, she felt guilty for the almost loss of their baby. But what was hurting her the most was this look of hatred he had when he looked at her. And this hurt her to know that Kelly was caught in the middle, but was trying to solve the problem between Matt and her.

"You're right", she heard.

Her heart sank by hearing Matt's voice. And instinctively, she stroked her stomach. After five months of pregnancy, there was already a big bump.

"Let me some extra time and... And I'll talk to her".

She bit her lower lip, lowered her head and wept. Not of sadness, but of joy. She joigned the living room to prepare her uniform and take a shower in the second bathroom.

"Come on bud'. Get up!"

Kelly gripped his pants to help him with his balance while Matt made a huge effort to get up. It hurt him but he said nothing. Once standing, Matt stepped on the brakes to not go forward. Still held by Kelly, he inhaled deeply.

"You still okay?"

"Yeah... Yeah, just... Nauseous".

"Will said it was expected. First time actually standing in two months, it's alright".

unwittingly, Matt let out a small cry of pain.

"I think... I'm gonna be sick".

Looking around, Kelly ran into the bathroom to grab something and placed it at Matt's mouth. The latter puked a major part of his breakfast in the bowl while closing his eyes. His stomach ached, sending successive waves of nausea. Kelly rubbed his back, making some soft circles with the palm of his right hand.

"It was also expected?" Matt asked.

"I think so. You want... I can call someone or... Or Gabby?"

Matt thought. Deep down, he wanted more than anything to see the woman he loved the most, but did she want to see him? Finally, he nodded.

"Okay. I'll get Gabby. Promise me to not bite".

"I promise".

Kelly helped him to sit down the time to get Gabby and bring her in the room. Entering the main room, he saw that she was preparing her uniform. Gabbylooked up and faced Kelly's look.

"You're not with Matt?"

"I...", he began, unable to speak. "I gonna need your help. I don't have enough experience for that".

"You think I have?"

"You're a former PIC, I just had the basic training Gabby. So yeah, you have the experience. Please".

Kelly almost begged Gabby to come and help him with Matt. She didn't know what to do: should she say 'no', afraid to face again and again Matt's hatred look, or should she overpass this to help him?

"Okay, I follow you".

She dropped what she was doing and followed Kelly in the room. Upon entering, she smelt a foul odour. Wincing, she turned to Kelly.

"When he stood up, he became dizzy and nauseous, and... And puked".

She finally understood why Kelly needed help. Matt had his eyes closed, avoiding her gaze. She sighed and stepped forward.

"After two months in bed, it's logical to have nausea and vomitting. It'll pass in a few days. The body needs time to get back to stand".

She avoided to talk about Matt directly, and to Matt directly.

"Can you go to the other side Kelly?"

He nodded and came on the left of Matt while Gabby was on his right. They helped Matt to get up and go to the bathroom at his own pace, one helping him to walk, the other holding the bowl in case Matt wanted to vomit again. After five minutes, they had arrived and Matt sat on the toilet, sighing in relief. It hurt him so bad, but he wouldn't admit it, scared that Kelly would refuse to let him go to the Dinner.

"It hurts, uh?" Gabby asked.

For the first time in months, Gabby spoke to Matt. And she was also touched his shoulder. Matt was enough alerted to open his eyes and face her, plunging his eyes into his beloved. He then turned his head and nodded. He admitted it.

"It's normal. Your femoral neck was fractured, your sacrum too. It takes time to recover fro mthat. But you'll get there. We'll get there", she finally said, insisting on the 'we'.

Kelly was embarassed to be between the two lovers. But he said nothing.

"Okay. We'll get there", Matt said finally, making Kelly smile.

His efforts began to pay: Gabby and Matt were talking to each other. A huge step.

"Alright. We'll remove your clothes, take a shower, and make you beautiful for the Dinner".

"We?"

Matt was surprised, Kelly to. And this surprised Gabby even more. The sentence got out of her mouth just like that, without wanting to actually say that. She was beginning to realize that Matt needed to go to the Academy Dinner. And she began to understand his point of view: if their role had been reversed, she wouldn't probably taken the brunt of the almost loss of their baby, it would have been unbearable. And Matt had warned her that it was dangerous and he wanted the baby and her safe. But she didn't listen to him and had let her heart talk before her reason. Now she understood. It had taken some time, but she understood.

"Us. I also have to take a shower and make me beautiful. We'll do this together".

Matt plunged his eyes into his half. Her look had changed. There was like a taste of forgiveness. He thought then to what Kelly had told him: she blamed herself for their child, but mostly because she couldn't have supported to lose the man she loved the most in this world. And Matt was this man. She preferred to save him to have other children with him than losing him and raise their child without his help because he was dead. He also understood her point of view. He wouldn't have made another choice in her place.

"Together".

Gabby smiled slightly, took off his shirt. Kelly understood that Gabby had the situation in hand and left the bathroom to go to the living room. He took her clothes and placed them on the bed, then grabbed his clothes and placed them on the couch. This made Kelly smile, but he worried too.

In the bathroom, Gabby helped Matt to undress completely. The hard part wasn't his pants, but his underwear.

"Wait, I'll do it", she finally said when she saw that he couldn't do it.

Slowly, he nodded, and put his hands on her shoulders when she sank so he couldn't lose his balance. As slowly, she reached his underwear and brought it down gently to not hurt him. He bit his lower lip: he felt embarassed by this situation despite the fact that Gabby had seen him naked more than once. After all, they were together. She stopped her gaze on his scars: one was crossing a part of his leg and his hip, one was crossing his abdomen and the last one was almost imperceptible on his left thigh. One was made to repair the femoral neck, one to reach his sacrum and consolidate it and the last one because of the angioplasty. With her fingers, she traced his scars gently, touching his skin. He tensed for a moment, fear of pain, scared... Just afraid to hurt her. Seeing that she was gentle, he relaxed, let her touch him, let her massage him. She helped him sit down on the toilet while she was undressing. He didn't want to look because he was pretty sure that his body would react. After thrity seconds, he felt a hand under his chin. He forced his eyes open, meeting her eyes. She had a smile on her lips.

"You're ready?", she asked.

He shook his head up and down, trusting her. Gabby had always been there for him, in his most hardest and darkest time: the death of Andy, the death of Hallie, his head injury... Still there despite his own angry outbursts, despite everything that could have separate them, and she was still there, not giving up on him, clinging to him. He helped him get up, walk to the shower, sit on a little bench Kelly had placed so that he could enjoy a real shower. The one he hadn't had for two months. Gabby turned on the water, trying to find the best temperature for Matt. He tried to get up, but he couldn't. He wanted to enjoy, enjoy this moment when he could finally stand up without too many problems. Gabby knew what he wanted to do, and it scared her.

"Matt, for two months you didn't light up, you lost your muscle mass in your legs. You can't stand alone".

This broker her heart, because she knew what he went through the past two months. She went through this too. He looked down, disappointed, ashamed to not even be able to stand aone.

"Oh fuck! Give me your arms".

Surprised, he looked up, plunging his eyes into the one he'd rejected. She raised her eyebrows and held out her arms. He understood: she wanted to help him up. Slowly, hewrapped his arms around hers and used all his strength to get up while Gabby balanced them. He lost his balance, but Gabby caught him in time. She turned him so his back was on the wall. She then put the bench near him.

"In case you're tired", she assured.

He was looking at her intensively. He didn't really see her for a long time. They understood the motivations of each other now. It took all this time to understand.

"Matt... Forgive me. What I did..."

"No", he interrupted. "I blamed you for saving me. Because you hadn't thought of our child".

"I thought about our child. But... But then I thought about you and... And what would be a life without you. And I wouldn't have supported a life like this, without you by my side. I'm sorry".

She lowered her head, but Matt put his right hand under his chin to straighten. She plunged her wet eyes into the one she loved. And he smiled.

"You saved my life. You're alive, our baby is alive. That's the matter right now".

He pulled her and took her in his arms, closing his eyes to enjoy this hug. He felt her stomach on his belly. He didn't want to spoil this moment, the moment when they were all three together. And Gabby either. She wrapped her arms around him, her head on his chest and closing her eyes too.

"I love you Gabby", he finally said.

Her heart beated faster. She had waited so many weeks to hear these words escape Matt's lips, the man she loved more than anyone else.

"I love you too Matt", she said in a trembling voice, tears in her eyes.

After several minutes glued to each other, he broke their hug, to see this little belly he felt on his own. There was a large bump, and this made him smile. He gently put his hand on this bump, stroking it. He felt something move, and scared, he withdrew his hand.

"It's nothing Matt. Five months of pregnancy, the baby is kicking".

He raised his eyes to see her face light up. She smiled, and so he did. He placed his hand again on her belly as he was now in tears. He wondered why he hadn't seen the most important thing earlier. Why he hadn't seen that the woman he loved and his child were alive, healthy, and why he blamed her for saving his life. So many questions and guilt had gnawed him. He began to cry.

"Hey, hey Matt. You hurt? What is it?"

He shook his head vigorously, pulling his hand on her belly.

"I was so an ass the last two months... I didn't see the point... The fact that you were alive and... And that our child too..."

Closing his eyes, he decided to open up to her. Finally.

"In the rubble... When I saw you, I thought that... That you were going to die and... And I never could have supported it and... And I never could have supported the fact that you could lose our baby... That's why... I asked you to get you..."

Gabby let him talk to her. She knew it was hard for him to share his feelings, she didn't want to interrupt him while he confided.

"When I arrived at your side... Kelly was on you, performing CPR despite his broken arm. At this moment, my heart stopped and I panicked. I injected three doses of epi before your heart restarted... I... I thought about what would be the life without you... Raising our child, living without you. I would never have supported this either. I know what I did was stupid, but I had to do it Matt. I had to".

He took several seconds to look at her cry, before deciding to move his fingers on her cheeks to wipe the tears that caused him so much pain.

"I don't blame you. Not anymore. I get it, I know why you did it".

"And I know why you wanted me to get out...", she anwsered, putting her hand on his.

With his other hand, he raised her head. He gently put his lips on hers, his eyes closed. He broke this sweet kiss, waiting for a reaction from Gabby. She opened her eyes, plunging her eyes into his. She approached him, put her hand on his neck and brought his face close to hers. And she kissed him, with more passion, more punch, more... love. They clung, playing with all their senses. Being pregnant, pleasure was at least a hundred-fold in Gabby. Matt could feel her bump move, much more than previously. This little buddy they concieved seemed to like this passionate and intimate moment. They continued to kiss, not wanting so stop this moment. But finally out of breath, he broke their tender kiss again and smiled.

"What?"

Matt smiled even more.

"Do you know what happened? While I was hallucinating?"

Gabby thought back about Matt had told her in the rubble.

"The songs of the birds, the sun, the sea... And Hallie".

He nodded.

"We talked. She... Hallie made me realize that... That I shouldn't live in the past. But living with the past and think about the future".

Gabby knew perfectly that despite his love for her, Matt still loved Hallie. And she couldn't blame him.

"She told me that I saw her because I wanted to tell her that... That I was happy with you and... Happy to be a father".

Gabby was the happiest. Although it was nly a hallucination, she took it as a sign. A sign that Hallie gave them her blessing and wanted Matt to be happy with her. She sighed in relief and shed a few tears.

"I will... Enjoy you. Our baby. Our future".

With these words, he put his lips on hers; Gabby and him had forgiven each other, and found each other again. And this little buddy to be born in nearly four months would unite them forever. For ever.