A/N: Here it is, sadly, the last chapter. I have loved writing this story. It just seemed to write itself most of the time! I hope all of you lovely readers out there enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. I won't say goodbye, though, because I have a bunch more stories running through my head, trying to get out. So long, for now!

Chapter 39

A rhythmic beep and irritating hissing sound penetrated the darkness first followed by an acrid chemical smell. Nyah's eyes flickered open in the dimly lit, unfamiliar room. It took a few heartbeats to realize she was in a hospital room. The sounds she was hearing came from a machine next to her bed, near her head. The smell was coming from a tube wrapped around her face and positioned under her nose: oxygen. She lifted a hand to remove the tube and felt an uncomfortable tug. Frowning, she turned her head and saw an IV line in her arm running to the machine.

She heard a soft snore to the other side and turned her head towards the sound. Curled up in an uncomfortable position in a chair under a window that had the blinds and curtains pulled closed to block out the light from outside, Matt was sound asleep. His face was soft and relaxed in his sleep, with none of the intensity that he carried when he was awake. She could watch him like that for eternity and never tire of it.

Her eyes burned unexpectedly with emotion and a lump formed in her throat at the memory of the pain she had heard in his voice before she passes out. How was she going to live with herself when all she could do was cause him that same pain every month with no reprieve? Could she be that selfish? It wasn't fair to him to have to live that way for the rest of his life.

The slight choking noise she made trying to stifle a sob made Matt's eyes flutter open. He immediately jumped to his feet and closed the distance, picking up her free hand and kissing its bandaged back.

"Welcome back," he smiled down at her. He had obviously been in the same suit for more than 24 hours, if the wrinkles in it were to be trusted, and there was a brown stain on the shirt he was wearing. His hair stood up in places and was plastered against him head in others. Dark circles under his eyes made his face look haggard and much older.

She smiled weakly back, "you look like hell." Her voice was hoarse from disuse and the dry oxygen she had been breathing.

"You don't look too hot yourself."

"Are you kidding?" she croaked. "I rock the hospital chic look."

He chuckled weakly, then sobered quickly as he studied her face.

"Hey," she whispered, "it's okay." She tried to squeeze his hand, but the bandages on hers made it difficult to move her fingers.

She frowned, her mind suddenly racing. The IV, oxygen, and bandages could only mean one thing: she hadn't died from the knife wound. If she had died, her regeneration would have wiped away all her injuries.

"Matt," she said with alarm, "what day is it?"

She tried to sit up, but he put a hand on her shoulder to hold her down. Panic rose in her throat. The sun peeking through the blinds meant it was still Monday. She had to get out of the hospital before it went down. There was no way she could avoid exposure if she died in the hospital in front of a medical staff.

"Calm down, Nyah. You'll pull out your stitches and start bleeding again." Matt grabbed her hand to keep her from pulling out her IV.

"No, Matt, you don't understand. I've got to get out of here before sundown."

"Nyah, it's too late. It's Thursday." When she continued to struggle, he let go of her hands and grabbed her by either side of the face, forcing her to look at him. "Listen to me. It's Thursday. The moon is back."

What he was saying sank in and she stilled. Thursday? Her eyes flickered to her bandaged hand that was wrapped around his wrist.

"How?" she licked her dry lips, but her tongue was too dry.

"Here," Matt released her to grab a cup with a straw in it and held her up while she took a sip.

"I don't know exactly. When I found you, you were bleeding out. Diego had stabbed you through the liver and had nicked an artery. By the time the EMTs got there, you were ice cold. To be honest, I only called 911 because I panicked. Afterwards, I was worried you would disappear on the way to the hospital."

"I guess I didn't. What does that even mean?"

"I don't know. I was told later that it was close, but you never coded. You were in surgery for over 5 hours, then in ICU for two days." He took her hand again and lowered his voice, "Boyd has been here constantly, waiting on you to wake up so he can take your statement."

Her eyes darted past him to the door that was only partially open, "I don't think I'm ready yet." Her eyes were feeling heavy, "I'm tired."

"That's the morphine in your drip." He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead in the same place Diego had kissed after stabbing her. "Get some rest, Boyd can wait. It's not like Diego is going anywhere," he chuckled.

Boyd did get his chance to take her statement the next day. Diego's DNA had been found on all the bodies buried on Hog Island and, when the FBI searched his home, they found dozens of videos of him and his victims. He had been killing for over twenty years and they were still unearthing bodies on the island. In addition to dumping bodies for the trafficking ring, he had been a prolific serial killer.

When Nyah asked Boyd if anything unusual about Diego's body had been discovered during the autopsy, he didn't understand what she was asking about, and she let it drop. If there was something special about her attacker, it went with him to the grave.

She wasn't allowed to leave the hospital until Monday, and when the nurse wheeled her out in the cool autumn air, she threw back her head and just breathed it in. Karen and Foggy waiting for her on the curb alongside an Uber since Matt was in court and Nyah had refused to allow him to postpone the hearing. The couple had come to visit her at the hospital every day during her stay, and Karen always sat with her while Matt was at court or busy with a case.

Her recovery went smoothly over the next two weeks. She gained her strength back and was able to be more active each day. She was still staying with Matt at his apartment, but they had yet to talk about long term plans. She was content for the time being to leave it at that.

On Monday the third week since her release from the hospital, she convinced Matt to let her walk back to work with him after he came home to have lunch with her, a habit he had developed the last weeks. Holding on to him as they descended the stairs, she stopped at the sight of a familiar face outside the door on the ground floor.

"Mrs. Vitalidi," she greeted the older woman in Greek with a smile, "how is Marina doing?"

She as enveloped in a hug and received a kiss on her cheek.

"She's doing well, thanks to you." Mrs. Vitalidi stepped back but held on to Nyah's hand with both of hers. "That's why I came by; we are leaving tomorrow to fly back to Greece."

"Really? Are you being deported?" Nyah was already planning to call agent Boyd and get him involved.

"No, no, Dear, nothing like that," she patted Nyah's hand. "While Marina was recovering, she started doing some research into our family. She even called some of our distant relatives in Greece. She found out that our family has a long history that goes back hundreds of years and that the two of us are the only remaining members of our branch of the family."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Nyah was really surprised, these Romani families could be secretive to the point of paranoia about their histories and that was why there were very few official records for them. She had tried many times over the years to discover something about them in hopes of discovering a way out of her curse, only to come up empty handed and frustrated every time.

"Now Marina wants to go back to Greece to meet them and learn about her heritage." Mrs. Vitalidi's voice lowered into a conspiratorial whisper, "Her therapist thinks it will do her some good to get away from the city for a while and all the bad memories."

Nyah nodded, "I can see that. Can I do anything to help? Do you need anything?"

Again Mrs. Vitalidi patted her hand, "No, Dear, you've already done enough. Your efforts and those of this handsome young man saved my daughter and saved our family from dying out forever on top of that." She lowered her voice into a whisper again and leaned in close, wagging her eyebrows at Matt beside them, "Besides, you need to start worrying about your own family."

Nyah blushed furiously as the woman hugged her again and wishing her a large family with dozens of happy children, then she surprised Matt by hugging him and squeezing his butt with a hilarious cackle. Waving at the two of them, she hustled to a waiting Uber and was driven away.

Matt looked at her with a bemused look, "what was that about?"

Nyah laughed, "damned Gypsies!"

"What?"

"I'll tell you later," she took his arm again. Let's get you back to your office."

Nyah and Matt settled into an easy rhythm as she took up the reins of the women's center once more and he stayed busy with cases. The days flew by, and before she realized it, the new moon was once again upon her. Matt's court schedule, unfortunately, was empty so he spent the day hovering around her at the center. She understood his concern but found herself short on patience as the day wore on.

During the early afternoon, distracted by his constant pacing in her office, she put down her tablet and stood.

"Let's go."

Matt froze in midstride. "Go where?"

"Home." She walked around her desk and wrapped her arm around his, "you are driving me nuts and I can't concentrate with your hovering. So, it's either we go home and find something to do to pass the time until the sun sets, or I just kill you right now. Your choice, darling."

His mouth quirked up at the corner, "I think it might be fun for you to try to kill me." He poked her midsection, "you're getting kind of soft. You could use the exercise."

She pinched his arm that she held captive, "did you just call me fat?"

"Not even I'm that stupid," he answered and planted a kiss on her temple. "Let's go."

They passed the time sparing in the open area of her apartment. Nyah found herself thinking that Matt might be right: she was getting soft. As their dance flowed back and forth across the space, she felt some unfamiliar twinges. She had just been out of the hospital for less than a month, so she waved it off. She used the opportunity to try out a few moves requiring less twisting that she seldom used due to their complexity.

"You need to show me that one again," Matt commented after one that put him flat on his back.

"Oh, I don't think so. I'll keep that one to myself to use on you again. I kind of like you one the ground at my feet," she grinned as she reached down to offer him a hand up.

He reached up to take her hand then gave it a tug to pull her down on top of him.

"Nice move," she pushed herself up enough to plant a kiss on him lips.

"Yeah, I save that one for all the hot women I fight."

"How's that work out for you?"

"I'll let you know in a few minutes," Matt murmured as he rolled over to pin her under him.

Over an hour later, the two of them lay in her bed, the sheet in a tangle at their feet. Nyah snuggled next to him and traced patterns on his bare chest.

"We should do this every month."

"No argument from me," he took her hand and raised it to his lips, "I thought I'd never get you out of that office."

"Oh, so today was all just an act to lure me into your bed?"

"Absolutely. Everyone knows how calm, cool, and collected I am. It's practically legendary."

Nyah couldn't contain her laugh, "oh, I'm sure. Let me call Foggy and ask his opinion." She leaned away to reach for her phone, only to erupt into peals of laughter as Matt pounced on her.

"Oh, no you don't!"

They wrestled on the bed, Matt trying to tickle her and Nyah trying to stop him, until they both rolled off, landing with a loud thud on the floor.

"Stop it!" she giggled. "See what you did?"

He pulled her onto his lap in a hug, "Yeah, you're right. That downstairs neighbor of yours likes to ease drop."

The two of them sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Matt took a breath and blurted, "I love you."

Nyah twisted in his arms to face him and he pressed a lingering kiss to her lips.

"You don't have to say anything. I know you love Wen Lei," he said against them. "You may never be able to love me like that, and I understand." He leaned his forehead against hers and sighed, "I just want you to know I'm here for you, and I plan to stay here until you tell me to leave."

Tears gathered in her eyes and a drop rolled down her cheek as she reached up and placed her hands on either side of his face, "I love you, Matt Murdock. I think I have for a long time, but I let what I thought I had for Lei get in the way. But I finally realized that what I feel for you is real and not some fantasy."

A smile lit his face like the sun peeking through the clouds after a storm, bright and full of hope. He kissed her again, this time passionately and she returned it just as passionately.

Breaking the kiss reluctantly, he said, "I'm not the easiest person to live with. I've got some bad habits."

"Yeah, I've noticed. You always leave the toilet seat up and dirty socks on the floor of the bathroom." She poked him in the chest playfully, "then there's your habit of wearing spandex and running around town all night long."

"It's not spandex, it's state-of-the-art…,"

"Oh, shut up and kiss me!"

As they kissed, Nyah felt for the first time since Lei's death that maybe, just maybe, that she finally found something to live for. Something that made her truly happy. Not just survive from one new moon to the next, but something that gave her life meaning.

At that thought, she stiffened and pushed away from Matt.

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"What time is it?" She scrambled to reach her phone. The screen read 7:45.

"Oh, merciful Eternal Sky," she breathed.

"What? What is it?"

"The sun set almost thirty minutes ago," she whispered weakly.

Matt stopped to digest her statement. "And you're still here."

She nodded, tears running down her cheeks.

"What does this mean?"

"I think," her voice broke. "I think it means the curse has been broken."

"How is that even possible?"

She hickuped and giggled, shaking her head, "damn Gypsies."

"What Gypsies?"

"I'll tell you later," she said as she flung her arms around him. "Shut up and kiss me!"

The End