Author's note: Sorry about the delay; I've had a bit of writer's block on this one. Next chapter hopefully up much quicker.

"What time is it?" she asked, pushing up on her elbows.

"Little after five," he said not moving. Not knowing which way to move. She hadn't acknowledged the kiss, much less reacted to it. At what point had she awakened? Did she even know he'd kissed her?

She rose up to sitting and swung her feet to the floor. "I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"It's okay," he said, "I dozed off myself for a while."

"I should get home," she said standing up, "Make sure Mom's not wondering where I am. I need to shower and check in on Jess before work."

"You need a ride?" he asked, standing up himself with his ability to move suddenly restored.

"No, I'll be okay, I-" she stopped suddenly, staring at him with a look that changed rapidly from confusion to horror to an embarrassed laugh.

"What?" he asked, looking down at himself and feeling somewhat self-conscious.

"I am so sorry!" she exclaimed covering her giggle with her hand.

"For what?" he insisted, not enjoying being left out of the joke.

"You're wearing my foundation," she said pointing to a pale smear on the shoulder of his black shirt.

He looked down at it in amusement, "What? You don't think it's my color?"

She walked over to him and began brushing at the spot. "Not quite. I am so sorry. Seriously."

He caught her hands in his. "Don't sweat it; I need to wash these every now and then anyway."

She pulled her hands away, seeming somewhat flustered by the contact with his skin. "I'll wash it," she volunteered.

"You don't need to do that," he said, trying very hard not to laugh at her embarrassment.

"Please," she said, blue eyes looking up at him earnestly, "It'll make me feel better."

"What? Is there some kind of special solvent required to get this stuff out?" he licked his finger and rubbed at the spot.

She smiled. It was such a 'guy' solution to the problem. "Just give me the shirt, John."

He shrugged and started unbuttoning his shirt. She took a sharp breath in and turned away; she hadn't thought clearly enough to realize that giving her the shirt would necessitate him taking off the shirt. It wasn't anything she hadn't seen before, and it wasn't that she didn't enjoy the sight of his bare chest—she definitely did, she just wasn't quite prepared for it.

He seemed to enjoy his ability to make her blush. He was actually quite surprised at it; after everything that had happened and not happened between them he didn't expect her to be so bashful. He tossed the shirt to her.

"Okay," she said folding it into a sloppy ball, "I'll get this back to you soon." She grabbed her purse off the floor and turned to go, but turned back before she reached the door. "Thanks, John," she said.

"You don't need to thank me for anything," he said shaking his head and walking towards her.

"Yes, I do," she said, "There's a lot I have to thank you for." She put her arms around his neck and hugged him, trying not to hold him to tight. Trying not to enjoy the sensation of her face against his bare shoulder, his arms wrapping around her waist. This was not the time or place. She needed to concentrate on Jessica, not on her own idiotic romantic pursuits. As she pulled away, his hands lingered on her hips, as if he wasn't quite ready to let her go. "Well, I'll see you at work," she said slipping out of them.

"Yeah," he said as she opened the door and shut it behind her.

In the hallway Natalie took a deep breath. The last 24 hours seemed hazy and surreal, from finding Jessica lying unconscious on the ground to waking up with John's lips touching hers. Had that really happened? Or was it one of those dreams that you have as you're waking up that seem so real you have to clear your head and remind yourself they're not? He hadn't said anything about it, but then neither had she. She reminded herself again of her resolution to concentrate on others for a while, not her own problems.

"You work fast," she heard a voice behind her say. She turned to see Michael McBain, his arms folded over his chest. There was a look in his eyes she couldn't quite read; it looked as though he was trying to seem amused, but there was a darkness behind it somewhere between anger and hurt. "One week you're sneaking out of my room, next week you're sneaking out of my brother's…"

She hugged John's shirt to her self consciously, as if holding his shirt was more incriminating than emerging from his room. "It's not what if looks like," she stammered.

"Really?" he asked skeptically.

"I just… we were watching movies; I fell asleep. Nothing happened."

Michael cocked his head to the side, "But how did you end up in his room in the first place?"

"I was upset about Jessica, John found me, and invited me back here to watch your B-movie collection."

"My movie collection?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"It was his idea," she said.

"How much of it was his idea?"

"The whole thing. Michael I swear this wasn't one of my crazy schemes."

"So you didn't happen to put yourself somewhere you knew John would be so that he could find you all distressed?" he asked with a smirk.

"No," she said, "Trust me Michael, for once he was actually the last thing on my mind."

Michael didn't say anything, he just stood there looking at her and smirking. It was unnerving. "What?" she finally asked.

"So what happened?"

"Nothing," she repeated, "you of all people should believe me considering you're always telling me that nothing's going to happen between me and your brother."

"Exactly," he said, "and before tonight you've found some hidden sign in everything Johnny does which you say proves that he's secretly in love with you. So the only reason I can think of that you would spend the night in his room and say nothing happened would be if something really did happen."

"Yeah, I think you need to go to sleep, doctor," she said, "because you aren't making any sense."

"And why are you holding his shirt?" he added.

Natalie looked down at the ball of black fabric that she'd tried to scrunch as small as possible. "I fell asleep on his shoulder and got make up on it. I felt bad so I offered to clean it."

He made a face like he'd just smelled something unpleasant, "You aren't going to do anything weird like douse it in your perfume so it smells like you are you?"

Her jaw dropped in indignation, "Michael! Do you really think I'd do something that childish?"

He shrugged, "I've learned never to underestimate you."

Natalie rolled her eyes. "I'm going home." She walked a few steps down the hall then turned back, "Hey, Michael, did you happen to see Jess while you were working tonight?"

He nodded, the smirk leaving his face. "Yeah, she's doing okay. I mean, considering." There was sympathy in his eyes all of a sudden; she tried not to notice. Too much sympathy in those eyes had gotten her into trouble not so long ago.

"Thanks," she said, "I really gotta go. I want to stop by and see her on my way to work." She scurried down the hall, grateful to escape Michael and hoping to escape any further confrontations.

Natalie stood in the doorway to her sister's hospital room. Jessica was sleeping, and she probably needed the rest; no point in going in and disturbing her. She'd only been able to get sketchy information from the nurses, but they confirmed that she would definitely be fine, physically. They would be moving her to a different room today and she would have to stay at least a few more days for observation. They didn't say so, but Natalie had the impression that the reason for this observation had more to do with Jessica's mental health than the physical.

She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and heard her mother's voice say, "Natalie honey?"

"Mom," she said, "Hi. I didn't realize you were here."

"I've been here about an hour. I just stepped away to get a cup of coffee. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said tucking her hair behind her ears, "I'm just worried about Jess."

"The doctors say she's going to be okay," Viki said with a tone that said she wasn't completely convinced either.

"I know," she whispered.

"I was a little worried about you when you didn't come home last night," Viki said pointedly.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to worry you," she said. Now was not the time to try to explain the latest in the situation with John; her mother had been advising her to stay away from him and they didn't need to argue right now. "I just crashed at Rex's. He was trying to cheer me up."

"Well, that was very nice of him," she said. "And you're a grown woman, you can certainly sleep where you like, I just… need to know where all my babies are right now." She wrapped her daughter in a tight hug.

"I'll call next time," Natalie promised. Over her mother's shoulder she spotted Rex standing near by giving her a curious look. "Well, I have to get to work," she said, "I just wanted to come by and see how she was."

"Okay, baby," she said releasing her, "I'll see you tonight?"

"Yeah," Natalie said, slipping away from her mother. She watched her mother disappear into her sister's room before walking slowly over to Rex.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed.

"I came to see Jess," he said, sounding shocked that she'd had to ask, "She was my sister once too, you know."

"And you used that to try to get money out of her," she said.

"I'm a changed man!" he insisted.

"She's asleep right now," Natalie said, "Mom's in there

"I saw," he said, "Mom keeping tabs on you, huh?"

"Yeah," she said looking back towards Viki, visible through the open door to Jessica's room, "she's gotten a little paranoid with everything that's happened. Likes to know where we are."

He nodded. "You know, I don't mind being an alibi, but you might want to warn me first. What if I'd run into her and said something?"

"What?" she asked.

"Well, I overheard you telling her that you crashed at my place last night, and I happen to know you didn't."

"Yeah," she said, "about that-"

"Just tell me you weren't with Michael McBain again."

"No," she said, "the other one."

"Really?" he said sounding surprised and impressed.

"But it wasn't what you think," she added.

"You sure?"

She shook her head, "He was trying to cheer me up, we were watching movies; I fell asleep."

"And that's all?" he said raising his eyebrows.

She looked a little uneasy. "Not quite."

"Not quite?"

"It's weird," she said.

"Do I want to know?" he asked.

"It's just…," she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to a couch in the waiting area, further from Jessica's room and the earshot of anyone who could be listening. She took a breath, "While I was sleeping he kissed me."

"Okay… How do you know?" he asked leaning in conspiratorially.

"Because I woke up, but the thing is… we didn't talk about it. Like we didn't even acknowledge that it happened. I'm not sure he knows I know he kissed me."

Rex stared at her in disbelief for a moment then dissolved into laughter. Loud laughter. Which didn't stop; he doubled over, nearly falling on the floor, but did not stop laughing.

"Stop it," she hissed, smacking him on the shoulder and looking around at the strange looks the nurses were giving him.

"Okay, okay," he said as he bit his lip to control his laughter.

"What is so funny about this?" she demanded.

"You realize there are no two other people who could wind up in a situation this ridiculous, right?"

"Probably not."

"Probably? After all this time you spend the whole night in his room and the only thing you're stressing about is a kiss? He kissed you, you know he kissed you, but you don't know if he knows that you know he kissed you? Natalie, come on!"

"Okay," she conceded putting her face in her hands, "it's ridiculous; I sound like a teenager-"

"Or a fifth grader."

"Whatever," she groaned, "But what do I do?"

"Well this is pretty radical," he said, "but you could just go into his office and say, 'Hey Johnny, you kissed me this morning and I think we need to talk about that.'"

"No," she said, dismissing the suggestion immediately.

"Of course not," Rex said waving his hand, "you should definitely do something more sensible like endanger your life or get wasted and wander into other people's beds. Talking would be much too sane for you two."

"Thanks for the moral support," she said glaring out of the corner of her eye. He had a point though. Not that she was going to admit it.

"Or you could just kiss him out of the blue and see how he likes it," Rex suggested a bit more seriously.

"I need someone to gather intell for me is what I need," she said thoughtfully. "If I could just get someone else to find out how he feels about the whole thing and tell me…" She gave Rex meaningful look.

"Don't bother looking at me that way," he said, "McBain's not likely to open up to me."

"Yeah, like there's someone he is likely to open up to," she groaned.

"Well…" he said slowly, "there's always the Little McBain."

"Little McBain?"

"Well, I mean maybe he's not. You're the expert there," he grinned.

Natalie popped the back of his head in response and gave him a death glare. "I'm just saying," Rex continued, "he'd have the best shot of getting big bro to talk."

"Yeah, 'cause he's gonna want to help me out. And even if he did," she said, "it's not going to happen in the next fifteen minutes and I have to go to work and he's going to be there. What do I do?"

Rex turned on the couch so that he could look at Natalie more clearly, "You want some serious brotherly advice?"

She nodded.

"Don't plan it. Just go to work and let whatever happens, happen."

Her forehead wrinkled, "That sounds more like Viki than you."

He shrugged. "Well, y'know, normally I'm more for the active approach, but you, my dear sister," he said putting an arm around her, "will over analyze things if you let yourself and that just usually mucks things up."

"You know what's really funny," she said looking off into space, "is I swore yesterday, right before I ran into him I was going to give this whole thing a rest. I was going to concentrate on the other people in my life."

"Like Jessica?" he asked sobering suddenly.

"Yeah," she whispered biting her lip.

"What happened?" he asked uneasily.

"I don't know," she said looking down, "I mean, she'd been acting strange lately. Like you remember when she came in that night when we were in my kitchen?"

"Yeah, I was quite shocked at some of the things that came out of her mouth."

"Well there's that and she hasn't been showing up places where she says she'll be and there's all these things she says she can't remember."

"But you didn't have any idea she would-"

"No," Natalie said shaking her head sadly. "And now I want to help her, but I just don't know what to do."

"I know the feeling," a voice said behind her. She turned to see Antonio looming over them. How did someone so short loom so successfully? It was something he did quite well.

"Hey Antonio," she said, "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine," he said, "how's Jess?"

"Better, I guess," she said standing up so that she could talk to him without straining her neck, "she's sleeping."

He nodded slowly, processing this information. "Every time I looked in yesterday she was sleeping. But you're uncle came by and she woke up to talk to him."

"You think she was faking being asleep?" Rex asked.

"I think Todd knows something about what's going on that he's not sharing with the rest of us," Antonio replied.

Natalie sighed. "You're right, I think anyway. That's the impression I get."

"Have you asked him about it?" Antonio asked. There was a sharp edge to his voice; Natalie knew it wasn't directed at her, it was anger at Todd and frustration over not being able to help Jessica.

"Antonio," she said, "Todd and I aren't close like he and Jessica are; he's not going to talk to me. Especially if he won't tell my mom, which he won't."

"I guess not," Antonio said clinching his jaw. "But if he does say anything, please, let me know."

"I will," she promised. "I need to get to work. When Jess wakes up can you tell her I'll come by later?"

"Yeah," he said, "I'll see you later." Antonio's attention had already left Natalie completely and shifted to Jessica who he could see through the open door of her room. He'd watched her sleeping in his own bed so many times and it had always made him feel closer to her. Watching her sleep in that hospital bed now only emphasized how separated they'd become. He loved her; perhaps more intensely than he'd ever loved another woman. He wanted to protect her, to help her, but clearly she didn't want his help. Which left him with the inevitable conclusion that he was at least in part the problem which had landed her in that bed.

To be continued.

Author's note part 2: Sorry also if this chapter was less than thrilling. It's stuff that needed to happen to move on, I promise further chapters will be more exiting.