Matt & Eve are on duty, when, once again, Sebastian is brought into the ER. Matt telephones Ellen and lets her know that Sebastian is in the hospital; she comes running to be with him. Ellen tries to convince Matt that she wants to be with Sebastian because he is all alone in Port Charles. Observing Ellen with Sebastian, Matt realizes that Ellen has deep feelings for him, and it becomes increasingly difficult for Matt to separate his personal from his professional feelings.

Sebastian tells Ellen that he wants to go back to New Orleans - with her - one last adventure before he dies. She rationalizes that she can give Sebastian his dying wish, Sebastian will soon die, and she can come back to Matt. She is torn between wanting to go with Sebastian and her feelings for Matt. Sebastian tells Eve that Ellen is going to New Orleans with him. Eve, out of loyalty to Matt, tells Matt. Matt decides to confront Ellen and ask her outright if she's going to New Orleans with Sebastian. As Ellen walks into the OCR, Matt is seated on the sofa. She gives Matt a kiss on the cheek and goes to pour herself a cup of coffee.

"Did you buy your ticket yet? To New Orleans?" Matt asks her. Ellen replies, "How did you know about that?" "Well, obviously, not from you. Are you going?" Matt asks. "I haven't made my decision yet," she says. "So - flying away with Sebastian - that falls within the realm of possibility, Ellen? Hmm?" "Well, part of me was considering it," she says. Matt then asks her, "What part of you considered telling me?" Ellen turns and walks towards him "If I decided not to go, I'm not sure I ever would have told you." "What about all those conversations we had Ellen, about living honestly, with no secrets?" he asks Ellen. Ellen replies, "I want that too, but I cannot see the point of us hurting each other for no reason." She sits next to Matt on the sofa, and Matt says, "Listen, I know how Sebastian feels about you. What I want to know - from you - is whether or not this trip will be strictly platonic - from your point of view?" Ellen tells him, "Matt, I am so confused about all that has happened - I'm just trying to handle it the best way I know how ..." "You know Ellen, you know what - you didn't answer my question ..." Both Matt and Ellen are painfully aware that she cannot answer that question, and her silence tells Matt all he wants to know. Matt tells her, "Well, I guess that is my answer. I have work to do." Matt angrily transfers from the sofa to his chair and exits the room - Ellen jumps up, crying, "Matt, please wait - Matt ..." Ellen cries out to him, but there is no answer.


Matt then confronts Sebastian in the waiting room as he is signing out of the hospital. Matt tries to make Sebastian understand that Ellen has a life in Port Charles and that she has had ten years worth of living since she spent that one day with Sebastian in New Orleans. Matt tells him that he is tearing Ellen apart. He says that Sebastian is asking her too much of her by asking her to go back to New Orleans with him. Sebastian tells Matt that he loves Ellen - Matt tells him he's being selfish. He leaves Sebastian with doubts about whether he will insist that Ellen accompany him to New Orleans. Ellen, in the meantime, is waiting for Sebastian at his hotel room. He tells her that he's changed his mind about taking her. She convinces him that she wants to go. Sebastian is elated.











In the following scene, we see Matt entering Ellen's apartment with a huge bouquet of red roses. He calls out for Ellen, but she isn't there. He places the roses on her coffee table, and, sadly, leaves the apartment.


Later, as Ellen is packing to leave with Sebastian, there is a knock at her door. It is Matt. He says, "Hello." Ellen invites him in. Matt looks around the room and says, "So - you're going away with Sebastian." "Yes, I am, Matt," Ellen replies. Matt shakes his head in disbelief. Ellen moves towards him, "Matt, I'm not going for good. I'm coming back to Port Charles." "Are you?" Matt asks. Ellen says "Of course - I wouldn't even be going if Sebastian wasn't dying - it's his last wish ..." Matt looks closely at her, "But you're not going just because he's dying." Ellen says, hesitantly, "I do feel something for Sebastian, but there is no way I can sort it out unless I go. Please Matt, understand ..." Matt shakes his head, "Don't, don't go - don't go ..." "I'm not going with Sebastian forever - or not even for a very long time - I'll be back just as soon as ..." Matt interrupts her, "As soon as he dies. Look - I don't want you going off with any man, for even one day ... Suppose an old girl friend told me she was dying, and that she wanted me to go away with her for an indefinite period of time?" "I hope that I would understand that there were extenuating circumstances ..." Ellen replies. "Well, I guess you're just a bigger person than I am," Matt says. "Matt - I have to do this - this has nothing to do with us. It has nothing to do with how much I love you," Ellen tells him. "You do what you have to do. So will I - and I won't be waiting for you when you get back." Matt moves towards the door. "Matt, don't do this ..." Matt turns around to face her. "I can't wait here for you and keep my self respect ..." Ellen looks at him incredulously, "So that's it - it's over, just like that?" Matt replies, "Don't go to New Orleans." "I have to," she answers. "Then I guess we're over - just like that," Matt tells her. Matt turns and leaves out the door. A saddened, frustrated Ellen looks after him, and she cannot believe that Matt broke up with her.


Ellen meets Sebastian in his hotel room. She has her suitcases with her. He tells her how happy he is that she's going with him - and then he collapses. Ellen rushes him to the ER, where she learns that Sebastian will have to undergo surgery for an aortic rupture, and Matt is the surgical resident on duty. Matt performs surgery and saves Sebastian's life. Matt is emotionally devastated over Ellen's apparent love for Sebastian. The surgery on Sebastian merely bought him a little time - one or two months, at the most.







In the days that follow, Matt observes Ellen's attentive gestures towards Sebastian, and, realizing that his personal feeling are interfering with the accomplishment of his medical duties, he withdraws himself from Sebastian's case.

When Sebastian is ready to leave the hospital, Ellen announces that he will be moving in with her so that he can recuperate from the surgery. When Matt learns of this, he tells Ellen that he will be by to pick up his things from her apartment. When he arrives, he sees Ellen's mother, Alice, who is shocked and saddened to learn that Matt and Ellen have broken up. She later tells Ellen that she believes that Ellen is transferring her feelings for her deceased husband, Sam, to Sebastian. Sam died suddenly of a brain aneurysm, and Ellen never did reach emotional closure over his sudden death. With Sebastian, Ellen can play out some of her feelings for Sam that she never got a chance to do. Ellen denies that this is so.

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Copyright 1999 by Barbara Allen & Alayna Proffit