Stephanie heard sirens outside. Her head snapped around as she heard a gun cock behind her. Was he back?

Thankfully, he was not. It was only a police officer, Officer Johnson.

That's right, Jason had called 911.

He was a really nice man and tried to calm Steph down as paramedics placed Matthew, Jason, and Chris on stretchers and wheeled them outside into an ambulance, all three still unconscious.

Steph recounted the events for the officer as a sketch artist stood behind him, attempting to draw a sketch of the man.

Steph managed to keep her composure all the way through, much to her surprise.

Once she had finished her story, a paramedic appeared in the doorway.

"Your husband and friends are stable for now. If you want to ride in the ambulance with them, I suggest you move quickly."

Stephanie shook hands with the officer, thanked him for being so kind, and followed the paramedic outside.

Matthew got the best deal. He had two bruises on his forehead but was otherwise unharmed.

Jason had a bruise on his left temple, where the man had punched him, along with a concussion.

Chris had a bit of bleeding coming from his forehead, where there was also a severe bruise where he'd run into the wall, along with a concussion about as serious as Jason's. Worse yet, he'd injured his head when he fell, but not very badly.

Steph was thrilled to see that Matt had regained consciousness about halfway through the ambulance ride, and kissed his lips as hard as she could.

"Woah, Steph." Matt chuckled weakly, glad to see his wife alive and well.

"It's not like I died or anything."

"Shut up, Matthew, I'm not done kissing you." Steph laughed as she bent down for another kiss.

Soon they were at the hospital, and Matt was well enough to not have to be wheeled in on a stretcher.

Jason and Chris were a different matter, however, as neither had even woken up yet and the Patricks were beginning to fear for their safety.

Jason and Chris were wheeled into different hospital rooms, while Matt and Steph also went into one to get Matt's head treated.

Ten minutes later, he was released and felt fine.

Steph went into Chris' room to check on him while Matt went into Jason's.

He got a phone call in the hallway, however, and stopped just outside of Jason's room.

"Hello?"

"Matt, where the hell have you been? We were supposed to be at VidCon an hour ago!"

Matt's stomach dropped slightly as he remembered his promise to go to the convention.

"Sorry, Ronnie, it's just...I'm just kinda going through a hard time right now."

"What? Are you okay?" Ronnie's voice grew slightly panicky.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he said.

"It's Jason and Chris. Some psycho fan just broke into our house about two hours ago, trying to kill us. Steph's fine, I'm fine now, but Jason and Chris are still out. I don't even know if they're even gonna survive, to be honest, the doctors didn't give us much info."

Ronnie seemed to pause for a moment.

"Which hospital?"

"The, uh, the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center."

Another pause.

"I'll be there in a few hours."

"No, Ronnie, you don't have t-"

CLICK

"I guess he does have to, then." Matthew muttered under his breath, before entering the room with Jason, who he was overjoyed to see awake, sitting up in bed, and watching TV.

Jason smiled weakly.

"Hey, Matt."

Matt smiled, unable to contain his joy.

"Hey, buddy! Glad you're okay!" he said, walking over to Jason's bed and patting him on the back before looking up at the TV and frowning.

"Are you watching soap operas?"

"It's a form of art, Matt."

Matt revealed the same dolphin laugh that he'd let loose earlier on the couch with Stephanie, causing Jason to smile, remembering that moment earlier in the day.

At that moment, Steph appeared in the doorway.

"Jason!" She smiled at him.

"Glad to see you're alright! Someone's here to see you!"

Jason looked at the doorway as his wife walked in behind Steph.

"Jason?"

"Gen!"

Genevieve Parker rushed to her husband's side, giving him a long kiss on the lips. 

Matt and Steph smiled, both knowing that this is exactly how Stephanie would act if Matthew was in that bed instead of Jason.

A few days later, Jason and Chris had both recovered nicely, with barely any trace of their injuries, aside from a bruise or two, and the four were sitting around in the Patrick's living room, talking about video games. They were in the middle of a heated argument about whether or not FNaF 6 would ever be announced when they heard the doorbell ring.

DING DONG

"I'll get it!" Matthew said cheerfully, jumping from his seat on the couch and making his way through the door.

Jason was just starting to argue that FNaF 6 would break the formula of "Five Games at Freddy's" when Matthew came back, a look of panic on his face.

"Matthew?" Steph asked, getting a little worried.

"Steph, run, hide, now."

"What? Why?"

"He's back."

WHAM

"Go!"

Steph bolted to the bathroom, locked the door, and started to dial 911. She just hoped Matthew wouldn't do anything foolish.

"Guys. Stay here."

"What?!" Chris responded as if Matt were crazy.

"Matt, that's a very stupid idea." Jason warned.

"You read the letter," Matt told his friends.

"He won't hurt me."

"Uh, objection, your honor." Chris said, raising his hand in protest.

"Matt, he damn near killed you a few days ago, according to Steph. I don't think he cares anymore." Jason said, trying to reason with his friend and boss.

"Just trust me." Matt said, refusing to give up. He started to creep towards the dining room. Jason and Chris looked at each other.

"Are we actually gonna let him do this?" Chris asked Jason.

"Hell no. Wait until he can't see us though."

"Hey!" Matthew shouted at the man.

The man turned around.

"Hello again, Matthew."

"I don't suppose you'd just kill me and leave my wife and friends alone?" Matthew asked, half-heartedly wanting the man to actually do just that.

"Nope. Sorry, Matt."

Matt shrugged.

"Figured."

"But I will kill your wife and leave you and your friends alone. One-time deal."

Matt's stomach turned inside, but he tried to hide it.

"Nope."

"Fine." The man snarled.

"I don't need your permission."

He took a step forward, but Matt blocked his path.

"Matthew, I don't want to hurt you, but I will. Move."

"No way in hell." Matthew said defiantly, blocking the man's path.

"Matthew, please."

"Do you really expect me to just hand over my wife to you? What the hell is your problem?"

"She has to die, Matthew."

"Oh, why? Because she married me? Because she's human?"

"Because I want her to, and I get what I want."

Enraged, Matthew threw a punch at the man, only to be grabbed and slammed into the coffee table in front of him.

Jason and Chris jumped at the noise and turned to look at each other.

"Jason! Help!"

"That can't be good." Jason said, turning to look towards the dining room.

"Nope." Chris replied.

"Should we go help?" Chris asked, before realizing that Jason was already speeding towards the dining room.

"Hey, wait up!"

A few seconds later, Jason appeared in the doorway of the dining room, skidding slightly on the linoleum floor, just like how Skip does when he runs across a wet floor. Speaking of Skip, where was he? Jason hadn't seen him in a while.

Jason entered the dining room at a run. The man pulled out a small .32 caliber handgun, but his arm was grabbed by Jason before he could fire it. As they wrestled for the gun, Chris appeared in the doorway.

BANG

"Oh god, Chris?!"

Jason and Matthew watched in terror as their friend collapsed on the floor, a bullet wound in his head.

The man took advantage of Jason's shock and pushed him backward, knocking him onto the dining room floor, causing Jason to hit his head, knocking him unconscious.

Matt watched in shock as he saw his friend pass out, then glanced over at Chris' limp form. He then looked up at the attacker, who was holding his pistol on him.

Matt closed his eyes, waiting for his life to end.

Several seconds later he heard a voice.

"Nah, you're powerless. I can now accomplish my mission."

And he blacked out.

Matthew woke up with a headache, but not a complete concussion.

Groaning and holding his head, he pushed himself up off of the floor. 

It was then that he remembered.

  "You were jerking around and yelling in your sleep."  

  "You know I'd never let anything happen to you."  

  "I can't lose you."  

  "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, Matt. I love you, and I will make sure we never get separated by any means."  

  "Matthew. I love you."  

This was playing out just like Matt's nightmare several nights ago. Was this real?

Matt shook his head, hoping to wake himself up, but he didn't wake up.

He spotted Jason lying on the floor in front of him.

"Jason?"

Matt took Jason's pulse.

"Thank God." Matt sighed, feeling relieved that his friend was alive.

He spotted another body lying in the doorway.

"Chris?"

Matt bent down to take Chris' pulse. He felt nothing.

Tears began to well up in Matt's eyes. He hadn't known Chris for very long, and now he'd never get to know him.

But the biggest fear, sadness, and concern that he had was for his wife. Had the attacker found her? Did she hide somewhere safe?

"Steph?"

"Stephanie?"

"Steph?"

Matthew walked through his house, calling out his wife's name. Where was she?

"Steph?!"

Still no answer. Matthew saw the bathroom door was open, so he walked up and peered inside, his soul feeling darker every second.

"Oh god, please no."

"STEPH!"

"Matthew, wake up!"  

But this time it wasn't the voice of his beautiful wife. It was his own, hoping to wake himself up at any moment. But he didn't wake up. This was real.

Stephanie was lying on the bathroom floor, a bullet entry wound in her forehead.

Matt rushed to his wife's side, and checked her pulse; she was miraculously still alive, but barely. Matt started to perform the CPR that he'd learned while studying neuroscience on Steph, desperate to keep her alive.

Officer Johnson came running into the bathroom, followed by a team of paramedics.

Matt was confused at first, but then realized that Stephanie must have dialed 911 while hiding in the bathroom.

Steph was attached to a ventilator and placed on a stretcher. Jason and Chris had already been wheeled outside, only Chris' body was covered by a tarp.

Matthew sat by his wife's hospital bed, deeply distraught. Would he ever see her walking again?

As worst case scenario's started to run through Matt's head, his entire world started to fall apart, as he uttered four meaningful words to himself.

"I can't lose her."

Hey guys, Scottsc20 here. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm trying to make them longer. This is, again, the longest thing I've ever written with a word count of 1905. Please vote and comment, I love to hear feedback. Anyway, I'll see you in the next chapter!