Author's note: This is only part five of the story. It is incomplete for now, but I expect to have about two or three more parts to finish the story. Thanks to those who have reviewed and please keep it up to let me know what you think!!
When two thirty came, Harm was reluctant to leave. He stroked her face where the bruises were disappearing. "I'll bring Natalie back in a few hours." He stood and left her room quickly to get down to his car.
Natalie ran out of school eagerly, for being at school had almost made her forget about her mother lying in a hospital bed. Not that she wasn't happy to see Harm waiting for her outside with Emily and A.J, but she was used to it being her mother or Mrs. Smith, the babysitter from the daycare.
She ran right up to Harm and gave him a big hug. "Hi!" she squealed as he tickled her quickly and made her giggle. A.J. and Emily laughed also when he turned to them and did the same.
"Okay guys, lets get you two to your house and Natalie, you and I will go have a snack."
A.J. groaned. "Do we have to go right home? I mean, can't you stay and play for a while?"
"Not today. But I'll come next weekend if your parents aren't busy. Nat and I will come together so Emily can have someone to play with too, alright?" said Harm.
"Okay," A.J. said as he fell back into his seat.
"Yeah!" shouted both Emily and Natalie because they had taken such a liking to each other.
After dropping the kids off, Harm took Natalie back home to get a snack. "What do you usually have for snack?" he asked, looking puzzled as he peered into his cupboard shelves.
Natalie tilted her head to look at him. Her long brown hair fell to the side as she said," I always have an apple and a glass of milk."
"I have milk and I have apples. Do you want it cut up?" Harm asked as he took the milk and a red apple out of his fridge.
"No. I eat it whole. Thank you," she said before she took a bite and sat at his table. "I'm lucky today. My teacher didn't give us any homework today or yesterday, so I don't have any make-up work to do. So we can go see mom in a while, right?''
"Definitely. The doctor thinks she's getting better, but she might not wake up for a while."
"I know, but she will wake up soon, I know it!" she exclaimed as she jumped off her stool and ran to her room to put her backpack away.
"Natalie, don't get your hopes up too high, it might still be a very long time."
She didn't say anything; she just ran out the door and down to his car. When they reached the hospital, Natalie ran to the elevator and bounded through the hallways until she reached her mother's room. She waited impatiently for Harm to join her, then walked in.
Natalie sat down; obviously disappointed that Mac hadn't woken up yet. Harm sat next to Natalie and took Mac's hand in his own. Natalie watched him with wide eyes as he sat there with her and talked aloud.
Her voice cut through his clearly. "You like my mom, don't you?"
"Of course I do. She was my friend and I'd liked to be friends again."
"No. I mean, you really like her. The same as Jimmy likes Danielle. They're boyfriend and girlfriend," she said with her hand cupped as though it were a secret. Then Natalie turned serious again and said, "Are you going to ask mommy out when she wakes up?"
"I…I don't know," he said, taken by surprise at her questions. "What if I did?" he asked quietly.
"Then maybe mommy would be really happy. Do you love her?"
"Do I love her? I don't know Natalie. I loved her a lot, but that was a long time ago. When your mom wakes up, she and I are going to talk. Okay?"
Natalie nodded. Before she could say anything else, Harm saw a slight movement from the corner of his eye.
"Mac, what was that?" he asked as though she would jump up and answer him. "Come on, do that again. Did you see that Natalie?"
"Yeah! Mommy moved her foot."
Carol walked into the room to see Natalie and Harm coaxing Mac to move again. "What happened?" she asked with a drawl.
"She moved her foot."
Carol looked at their hopeful faces and hated to burst their bubble, but she spoke up anyway. "I know you're hopeful, but that's called posturing. She might do it often, but it doesn't necessarily mean she's waking up yet."
Their faces sagged a bit, but not as badly as she had expected. She moved over to take vitals on Mac, then left the room to make rounds.
By dinnertime, Natalie was ready to leave. Harm reluctantly left because Natalie needed to go to school the next day.
During the night, Harm woke up again after dreaming of Mac. This time, it was to the smell of baby powder and soap, and a little body next to his. Natalie, dressed in her small cloud pajamas, was lying beside him, breathing softly. Harm knew she was asleep and didn't want to wake her so he carefully climbed out of bed and grabbed the phone from the kitchen.
He dialed the hospital and told them the patient name when asked. The nurse came back on the line a moment later. "Her condition remains the same, but she has been moved out of the ICU."
Harm thanked the nurse and hung up. He returned to his room and checked on Natalie, who was still sleeping peacefully, then wandered back into the living room to kill some time. The next thing he knew, it was five a.m. and the phone was ringing non-stop.
"Hello?" he asked sleepily.
"Harm?" asked a voice with a drawl.
"Carol?"
"Yes, this is Carol, Sarah's nurse. Harm, she's waking up. She's reacting to pain, and her eyes have been flickering. Dr. Pendrey believes she'll wake up today!"
Harm's expression changed from pure exhaustion to happiness. He grinned and said, "That's great! Can we come and visit her right now?"
"Yeah, I figured you'd want to."
"Thanks so much for calling. We really appreciate it," he said as he grinned again and hung up.
He went back into his room, where Natalie was still curled up on his bed. He decided not to wake her yet and that she wouldn't go to school this morning. I'll call Harriet later, he thought as he pulled on a Navy sweatshirt and a clean pair of jeans. He grabbed another sweatshirt and carefully put it on Natalie without waking her.
Then he lifted her into his arms easily and brought her down to the car. After buckling her in, he took off for the hospital.
After arriving, Harm carried a sleepy Natalie to the fourth floor and deposited her into the chair next to Mac's bed. The doctor was right, he thought eagerly. Her eyelids were flickering just so you could see the white beneath. Carol picked up Mac's hand and pressed her thumbnail down with a pen. Her response was to pull it back quickly.
Harm watched Mac's odd movements of her foot and arm with amazement. "You're right. She looks like she's almost awake already," he whispered.
"Based on her improvement in the past few days, the doctors are very impressed."
He nodded and looked down at her again. Carol watched for a moment, then walked out of the room, leaving only Harm awake.
They sat by her bedside the entire day, but she didn't awaken. By that night, they were both frustrated by the waiting. Natalie fell back asleep in the chair, and Harm ended up carrying her back out to the car and into the house.
That night, he tucked Natalie into her bed, knowing that she'd never stay there all night. Then Harm climbed into his own bed and turned out the lights. He made sure the phone was next to him, and soon fell into a restless sleep.
By three o'clock the next morning, Natalie was safely tucked into his bed beside him. Harm jolted awake immediately, but it didn't stir her. He expected the phone to ring, but it didn't. This is torture, he thought as he put his head back to the pillow. But he had a strange feeling about Mac. He didn't want to ignore it; he wanted to go right to her, but Natalie needed a full night's sleep.
So he did the very best he could to go back to sleep. Of course, he was once again awake at six thirty and ready to get going for the day because it was obvious he wasn't getting anymore sleep. Natalie hadn't woken up, and he wasn't planning on waking her for another hour or two, but he felt like he should be at the hospital immediately, so he pulled another shirt over her head and stuck a pair of pants in a bag.
He didn't waste time calling the hospital, he just put Nat in the car and drove them there as fast as possible. But when he entered Mac's room, she was still asleep, as she had been for five days. Harm sighed with disappointment and sat down in the easy chair with Natalie asleep in his lap. He was so tired, his eyes were drooping immediately, and soon he couldn't hold off sleep. It was easier to sleep knowing Mac was right next to him and Natalie was in his lap. When Carol made a check in half an hour later, she saw two sleeping forms and decided not to wake them until later.
But Harm didn't sleep for much longer. After waking to see that Mac was not yet awake, he walked out in the hallway to let Natalie catch a little more sleep. He was going to go out to the desk to find Carol, but she wasn't there. Instead a policeman standing next to the desk called out his name. "Harmon Rabb."
Harm looked at him in surprise. It was the same policeman who had brought Natalie to his door. "Sir?" he questioned.
"I'm Officer Grant, the officer who informed you of Sarah Mackenzie-Brumby's accident."
"I remember. Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"Officer, if I may ask, what was the cause of the accident? I never asked and it hadn't occurred to me until just now."
"The cause of the accident was a drunk driver."
Harm got angry. "A drunk driver did this to Sarah? Did you get the guy?"
"Oh yeah, we got him. He's in the morgue."
Harm's face sagged. It would have been easy to be angry with the person who caused the accident, but to deal with death, made everything seem so real. He couldn't even mutter another word about the accident. "Thank you so much for everything Officer Grant."
"You bet."
And with that, Harm walked away. He returned to the room to find Natalie still sleeping. He sat back down on the chair, now worn out after hearing of the other person's death. He placed her back in her lap so she could be comfortable, and then decided to sleep some more himself.