I’ve been in the hospital for a few weeks. I was stabbed in the chest, by Ruby Pegg. I don’t have much memory, except that Elliot and I were staking out one of her potential victims as she was putting in her due diligence and casing the neighborhood. Apparently she saw me sitting in the car, and had seen the car months ago when we stopped her from murdering Stacey Collins. Elliot managed to scare her off in the middle of the attempt.
It took days to stabilize me, and several blood transfusions. Melanie took time off from work and stayed down in Ohio with me. While I was out of commission for those days, and basically incoherent for the next couple of weeks, she wrote notes about what had happened and what she knew. She knows that I keep this journal, and wanted me to have some record of what happened, in case this becomes important for me in the future.
Her first page of notes is warped from tears in several pages, and barely legible. She wasn’t sure I was going to live.
Despite knowing that you make it back to help save Sam, having confirmed that, it still feels out of body. It’s like tightrope walking over a safety net. My fear of heights is there despite the safety measures. The person who could calm me down, who could give me peace is you, but your eyes haven’t opened for more than a moment yet.
There was a part that was crossed out, but I was able to read it from the indents in the paper.
You’ve received six bags of blood. How will we know if you’re safe?
I haven’t told her that I think I won’t be able to be tested successfully for a couple years, but I also don’t know the exact date the test will be available on the market. I hadn’t planned on any real risk of HIV when I traveled back. I hadn’t planned on getting in a relationship, and I certainly hadn’t planned on needing a blood transfusion.
Underneath the crossed out section, there were two final sentences.
I want to marry you. I don’t care what that means.
Since I woke up, we’ve talked about those two lines, and she’s clarified. She means that she doesn’t care if we have to have a sexless marriage, but more importantly, she doesn’t care if it means we won’t be able to have children. She told me that she has the feeling that we will have Elliot in some way for the rest of our lives, and I tend to agree with that.
When I was released yesterday, we drove back to Massachusetts. Before we went home, we went to city hall, and applied for a marriage license. We were required to get a blood test, and there is a three day waiting period on the license itself. Our plan is to get married at city hall next week.
Melanie says she’s happy with a three week engagement, and just Judy and the Elliots being present for it. I had been fine with something more extravagant and inviting her family. She said she didn’t want to wait after what happened to me, and her parents said they understood completely. We will celebrate with them in due time.
Michael Christopher Cole 
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