Chapter 23

When they arrived at the hospital they found Sophie pacing in the waiting room.

"Sophie…"

"Eliot they took him into the ER and I haven't heard anything. He was not breathing when we got here. They think it was a heart attack like you said. I told you he shouldn't have been doing that. Why did we let him? The doctor…

"Sophie…. Sophie… shhh… let's sit down and wait for the doctor ok, he's alive and that is good." Eliot said as Sophie started rattling off her thoughts tears spilling from her eyes and her body shaking.

He led Sophie to the seats and sat her down, Parker sat down next to her and took her had. Sophie looked up at her and smiled trying to calm herself down. Nate was not going to need a hysterical woman, he would need her, his Sophie. She smiled at that thought, his Sophie that is what she was, his and only his.

Eliot did not sit, he paced and kept his eyes on his team. Sterling came in an hour later to find them all still waiting.

"Nothing yet?" He asked Eliot.

"No."

"Well that's good isn't it?" Sterling said, after all if Nate was dead they would have heard already.

Eliot did not respond he just kept pacing and Sterling watched him for a while and then moved over to the seats nodding his greeting to Sophie and the others. They patiently waited for what seemed like an eternity before a doctor eventually made his appearance approaching the waiting group.

"Mrs Ford?" He asked Sophie looking for the patients' family.

"Yes." Sophie responded ignoring the look from Sterling.

"Well Mr Ford had a major cardiac event. It was lucky that you started CPR when you did or he would not even have made the hospital. I did notice that he had some severe bruising on his chest and two gunshot wounds."

"Ah yes…" Sterling said stepping forward. "Mr Ford is working with us, it's classified." The doctor looked at Sterling's credentials and then nodded.

"Is he going to be alright?" Parker asked interrupting them.

"Well he had a major cardiac event as I said. The damage done by the blunt force trauma to his chest did not help, although there was no internal bleeding or any further damage to the chest cavity. Now we have stabilised him and he is in cardiac ICU. He is breathing on his own which is good, but his heart is very weak and another cardiac event is not out of the question."

"Can we see him?" Sophie asked.

"Not right now I am sorry. You will be able to see him tomorrow. I will let my nurse give you the details. Mrs Ford you husband is a very lucky man to be alive and unless I miss my guess he is a fighter."

"Yes he is thank you doctor." Sophie replied.

"He's alive." She said sinking back into her seat.

"Well Nate is a survivor if nothing else." Sterling said smiling at the woman.

Sophie looked up at him and nodded. She still did not like this man but he was the one who had made Nate see that he needed them and then he was the one who had saved him at the warehouse and now he was the one who had protected them at the hospital. They owed him now.

"Anyway I'm going to be off, lots of paperwork…" He said turning to leave.

"Thank you Sterling." Sophie whispered and he waved his hand as he walked away.

"Ok I think we should all go home. It has been a long day and we need to clean up and be ready for tomorrow." Eliot said holding his hand out to Sophie.

She looked at him wanting to say that she would stay but could see in Eliot's eyes that he would not allow that. They could not see Nate until tomorrow and it had been a harrowing day for all of them. Taking Eliot's hand she walked with him toward the exit with Parker and Hardison bringing up the rear. Not much was said on the drive home and as soon as they arrived Sophie excused herself to go to her room for a shower and a change. Parker and Hardison flopped down on the sofa and Eliot brought a beer for each and then joined them.

An hour later Sophie emerged from her room feeling a lot fresher than she had. They could see she had been crying but said nothing.

"So what is Nassar?" Eliot asked none of them in particular.

"No idea, but whatever it was it worked."

"Was that Plan C, G, F…?" Hardison asked looking at Sophie. He was always surprised at how many plans Nate had in his head at one time for one con.

"I don't know Hardison."

"How many of those plans do you think he figured he died in? I mean he said I die in M and others but he never said how many he died in."

"If it was to protect us… all of them." Sophie said and the others nodded their agreement. Nate always took care that they were safe, and if the original plan did not work then he made a plan that would, usually putting himself at risk with the mark in order to do it.

"Well, I don't know about you all but I am starving. Eliot are we having supper tonight?" Sophie asked, they all needed a distraction and none of them were going to get a full night's sleep worrying about Nate so a good meal would not be amiss and then they could let the rigors of the day go and unwind.

"Yeah, but first I am going to clean up." Eliot said getting up and heading for his room. Parker and Hardison said they were also going to get cleaned up and left, leaving Sophie alone with her thoughts.

Later that night they sat around the dinner table talking about how they had all first met Nate. How he had chased them and then about the jobs that they had done where he had come up with the most ridiculous plans to take down marks that they never thought they would be able to. They talked late into the night none of them wanted to go to sleep in case they missed a phone call from the hospital, in case Nate needed them again. Finally they all decided it was time to call it a night and headed off to their rooms.

"He'll be fine you know Sophie." Eliot said as he stood at his door and she at hers.

"I know, he's too stubborn to die, to afraid I would tell him 'I told you so'." She smiled through the tears.

"Night Sophie."

"Night Eliot."