Like a butterfly, Ellen emerges from her cocoon during the month of May. The scene is set when Ellen decides to let Matt know that she has feelings for him. She goes to his apartment, only to find Grace there, in a state of partial undress. Grace has spilled Chinese food down the front of her clothes, and she changes to one of Matt's t-shirts; her legs are bare. Ellen excuses herself and leaves, after telling Matt that she had come to tell him that she has decided to move to San Diego. Later, Matt, suspecting that Ellen had other reasons for coming, goes to Ellen's apartment to explain to her that nothing had really happened between him and Grace. Responding to Matt's gentle urging, Ellen tells Matt that she has feelings for him, and that she is ready for him to make love to her. Even though Matt knows that Ellen has decided to take the job in San Diego, he spends the night with Ellen. (See Matt & Ellen, May 1998)

The morning after they made love for the first time Ellen is preparing to leave for San Diego. The scene is beautiful and quite emotional. Matt softly says to her, ''I'm never going to forget what it felt like to breathe you in''. Ellen emotionally says, ''You know, last night was so unexpected....and so perfect. I never dreamed that I would feel that way again. I couldn't even admit that I wanted to.'' Matt replies lovingly, ''If you ever start to feel that way again, I just want you to close your eyes, Ellen, and you remember what we felt like together last night, okay." A teary-eyed Ellen says, ''Matt, you've touched my heart, and you've gotten through a barrier that I thought no one ever would.'' Matt tenderly says, ''I always want to know where you are.'' Then, fighting back tears, they hungrily kiss over and over. Finally, he kisses her hands, tenderly touches her face, throws her a final kiss, and sadly rolls out the door. Ellen is all alone in her empty apartment.

Matt goes to the hospital, where a circus party is being given for the benefit of the children there. All of the doctors and nurses are dressed like clowns. Grace is there, and she has been looking for Matt all morning. She finds him in the clowns' dressing room. Matt tells Grace that he will never have the same feelings for her that she has for him. Grace is devastated, and she leaves, telling Matt that he will never know what he missed. Matt is very upset over having had to tell Grace of his feelings.

Later, at the height of the circus party, someone goes into the clown dressing room where Grace is repairing her makeup, and strangles her with a stethoscope. The scene is depicted by shadows cast on the wall, and one can see that the killer is someone taller than Grace, dressed like a clown. When her body is found, the stethoscope is identified as Chris Ramsey's. Matt emerges from surgery, where he was assisting at an appendectomy, and he is shocked and saddened upon learning about Grace's murder. He blames himself, saying that if he had not told her about his feelings, she would have been with him and would not have been killed. The other interns try to reason with him, as they begin to realize that Grace's murder is the work of a serial killer who is following the murders laid down in Kevin's book, General Homicide. They all realize that any one of them could be the next victim. Matt confronts Chris Ramsey and accuses him of the murder. Chris denies it.

Matt slowly works through his feelings of guilt over Grace, and his longing for Ellen. He submerges himself in his work. About two weeks pass, and we see Matt at the 6th floor desk talking to Eve and Jake. Jake and Matt have been joking with each other about which of them was going to win the Quartermaine Residency. They both agree that it should not go to the "weasel" Chris Ramsey. Chris has been steadily seeking ways to discredit Matt and the other interns, and he has been ingratiating himself to his superiors.

In the course of the conversation between Matt and Jake, Eve casually informs them that someone has told her that Ellen Burgess was seen in Port Charles. She has returned without informing Matt, and he is very surprised and hurt that she has not contacted him.