A/N: (blows trumpet) Second to LAST chapter has now arrived! I took a few minutes thinking of what to say here (hence why it's long) so I want to start by saying something about the content and to give you a warning. No, there will be NO SEX in this fic. My other one coming up with Bobby and my next Jack one, why yes, but this one? No. That would be a very 'off' thing for my character to do and I don't see why a fic has to have sex in it just to validate itself or please people. I'm an adult at 22 years old and I can tell you it's not everything, sex is very overrated, that's why it's always perfect in books and movies. I'm not saying I'm against it or that it's evil by no means, I even enjoy writing it but for this fic, it's not going to happen. I wanted this fic to be romantic but drama and angst filled and in the end a happy thing. I wrote this story for me and for those who might enjoy it but overall, it's what I want to write and the decisions are mine in the end. Some things in the story you may not like but they DO get you to react and leave a comment, and they do (hopefully and from what I've seen) have you coming back to read the next chapter. I appreciate all the reviews, the kind words, the people I've met from writing this story. It's been a joy writing it. Chapter Ten is already written and being checked by my beta at the moment but it IS done. I was hoping to get 100 reviews by the time I reach the finish line and you guys are so amazing that it might come true. (I turned off the anony blocker btw for those of you wanting to chime in that don't have accounts. Feel free!) And on a final note, just a fair warning that the annual Mary Sue cconvention was held at my house and Natalie was voted #1 this chapter. (laughs) I'm so proud of my little OFC. The next couple chapters and the info is a bit flowery but you know what? Deal. LOL. Thanks again. Enjoy it.

Chapter Nine

He was glaring at the both of them, the muscles in his jaw twitching and his eyes flashed. "I said," Angel barked stepping further into the living room, "What the fuck is going on?"

"Papi, you left the bags in the …" Sofi's voice trailed off as she came up behind him, eyes scanning the three of them and she instantly shrank back into the kitchen.

"Nothing's…"

"We were…."

"Shut the hell up." Angel grabbed Natalie by upper arm, snatching Jack's ear as he passed and both yelped in protest. He moved them towards the couch, pushing Jack down with a careful eye on his leg as he shoved Natalie down beside him. Angel stood back and placed his hands on his hips, looking between the two of them. "Spill it."

Jack crossed his arms, glaring up at Angel with the fire of determination in his eyes. "I don't think this concerns you Brother."

Natalie crossed her arms as well. "There's nothing to be concerned with in the first place."

"You both are shitty liars." Angel chuckled, the firm anger still not lost in his voice. "I was there at lunch, I know what I saw. I've been seeing it since the hospital. If you two are bumping uglies…"

"We are not… bumping anything!" Natalie cried out glaring at him.

"Yeah, nice vocabulary skills." Jack chuckled. "It's called having sex or fucking, not bumping uglies."

"We are doing none of those things!" Natalie shoved away from the couch pointing at Angel. "And don't you dare touch me like that again."

Sofi had reappeared in the doorway, biting at her lip nervously.

"Jack and I haven't and aren't planning and aren't going to sleep together! How dare you accuse me of that, look at him!"

"Hey!"

She flinched at Jack's cry of objection but ignored him. "He's injured, he's heavily medicated, and he's at home under the same roof as Bobby now. I wouldn't betray Bobby that way."

"Betray me what way?"

"Jesus Christ!" Natalie slapped at her forehead, not looking as she listened to the front door shut behind Bobby and he came into the living room, glancing around in confusion as he jerked off his gloves.

"I asked a question. Is someone gonna answer me?"

"Yeah," Angel crossed his arms, eyeing Natalie with a smug look. "He asked you a question girlie."

"I didn't come here to get attacked." Natalie's voice betrayed her strong words as it quivered with uncertainty. "I came here… I don't know why I came here to be honest. This was a mistake." She shook her head. "Excuse me, please."

She shoved past them, bounding up the steps and was halfway when Bobby stopped her, grabbing her arm. He was frowning; eyebrows furrowed in that Bobby way that always led a person to think they were about to get smacked around. She had no fear of that yet the brooding look still caused her to step back towards the wall.

"Tell me what's going on Natalie." Bobby demanded. "I come home to find everyone shouting at each other, and you and Angel squaring off as if you're about to throw down. What did I just interrupt exactly?"

She rubbed at her face with her free hand. "I can't do this Bobby. I thought I could and I just can't." Natalie motioned down to her arm he held in a tight grip. "Please release me."

"Do what?" He did as she asked but she knew if she moved, he'd only grab her again. "What can't you do?"

"I can't be here!" She exclaimed. "I'm no longer Jack's nurse, I have no right to barge into your life anymore, it's only complicating things. I… I just can't be your girlfriend anymore, I'm sorry."

"Wait. You're breaking up with me?"

"I'm sorry."

"What the fuck for?" Bobby spat hotly. "Just this morning everything was fine and now you're fucking bailing ship."

"Don't cuss at me Bobby."

"I'll cuss if I fucking want to Natalie. You're an adult; don't act like you've never heard the words before. You're breaking up with me for no reason, just like that, and you expect me to just be okay with it and let you go on your merry way?"

"Don't act like this is breaking your heart Bobby!" She gathered up all the courage she ever had found in her body and straightened her back as much as she could. "And don't act like this is the first time a girl has ever dumped you." Natalie pushed away from the wall. "I'm leaving and that's it. We're done; I'm done. End of story."

"This isn't just a switch you turn off and on when you want to Natalie!" Bobby reached out for her but she flinched, bumping hard into the wall, and it caused him to stop, eyebrows furrowing from the mixture of anger and confusion. "We were fine up until now, up until I came back after leaving you here with Jackie."

She froze, eyes locked on his and she wished for nothing more than to sink into the wallpaper as a light of realization sank into his eyes.

"What'd he do?" Bobby demanded hotly. "What' d he say to you?"

"He didn't-"

"Bullshit Natalie, stop protecting him all the damn time. He's not some kid!" This time he ignored the flinching of her body and grabbed her arms, shaking her slightly but not to where it hurt her. "Tell me what he did! Did he say something to you, do something you didn't like?"

Natalie broke away from his arms, falling against the wall again. "I kissed him, okay!" She wiped at the tears that had begun to stream down her cheeks. "I kissed him and I liked it!" Natalie twisted away from him. "That's why we're done Bobby. Because I'm not worthy of being in this house with you any longer."

Natalie saw his body stiffen out of the corner of her eye and turned her head to see his eyes turn cold, his jaw muscles popping as he ground his teeth.

"You're right. We are done." Bobby whispered strongly. "And I think it's time you left."

She turned without a moment's hesitation, bounding up the steps, and flew into the room she once shared with him, gathering her things as quickly as she could.

Bobby was gone when she came back down, no one else meeting her eyes except Jack. He remained sitting on the couch watching, his face showing no emotion, and he didn't remove his eyes until the front door shut firmly behind her.

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One Year and Several Months Later –

"Dr. Hamilton to the front desk, Dr. Hamilton to the front desk please. Code 7-11. Code 7-11."

Natalie sighed with a shake of her head, glancing up at her patient with a gentle smile. "I'm sorry Mr. Vargus, I'm gonna have to take that." He nodded and she glanced towards the nurse at her right. "Nurse Shaver, would you mind finishing up here?"

"No problem Doctor."

Natalie nodded and left the room, quick steps taking her to the nurses' station without pause. She fixed Melissa with a curious gaze as she stopped at the counter. "We don't have a 7-11 emergency code."

"I know." Melissa pointed to her plastic drink cup, the 7-11 gas station symbol displayed proudly on the side. "We do however have a serious problem. Seems that Daniel Beckford's test results came back from the lab and they're all positive."

"Oh no." Natalie took the file Melissa extended, flipping it open. "Every single test?"

"Afraid so."

"Has anyone called him yet?"

"We figured you'd like to do it since you're his doctor."

Natalie nodded. "Fine, I'll take care of that now." She walked off without another glance at Melissa, her full concentration on the folder until she entered her office.

The phone call lasted only 20 minutes. Daniel took the news that he had liver cancer better than his wife, excusing himself so that he could comfort her. Natalie agreed, scheduling him quickly for an appointment, and she hung up the phone, staring at it in silence.

"It's always hard when you have to give bad news, not good like you want."

Natalie nodded covering her chin with her hand as Dr. Stewart entered and closed the door behind him. "I know you're right but it still gets me every time."

"Try dealing with it for twenty-five years. It's going to happen Natalie. You can't save them all."

She nodded again then straightened up in her chair. "What can I do for you Thomas?"

"You have a visitor that's been waiting for an hour. Says he's not leaving until he speaks to you."

Her heart stopped then began to beat rapidly against her chest but she nodded, flinging a hand over her hair. "Show him in."

Thomas disappeared back into the hall and Natalie stood up, smoothing down her white regulation coat as she cleared her throat. He opened the door again and she almost choked as the patient entered in behind him.

"Mr. Drowser." She greeted the old man. "What a surprise to see you. Let me guess, you ate peanut butter…. again?"

Thomas rolled his eyes, shutting the door quietly behind him.

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Natalie cursed as the machine ate her change once again. "Of all the days…" She dug into her pockets again, smiling as she found a crumpled dollar. This time it took her money without hesitation and spit the bottle of flavored water down the shoot to the bottom.

She smiled, nodding at people who greeted her in the hall as she made her way towards her office, but her mind was elsewhere.

It had been foolish for her to even think that it had been Jack who had been waiting to see her. She had done her best to stay out of the Mercer family's way during their visits for Jack's therapy sessions. Even though they were on a different floor, she had made sure she locked herself away in her office until his time was up.

It had been almost two years since she had felt Jack's lips against hers, had seen the anger and hurt in Bobby's eyes as she had seemingly betrayed him. She had done what she had to because in the end, all you had was family. She had returned to hers and left theirs before it began to crumble.

It didn't stop her from waking up some nights crying. At first she had thought it to be nothing but guilt. After the third night in a row, she had woken up, the streams of tears blurring her vision. Her mind however was clear, the image of Jack's face still lingering from her dream.

The hospital staff had immediately noticed the change in Natalie's focus and attitude upon her return. The gentle smile and caring nature was still there, but she had turned into a woman possessed, taking double shifts whenever she could. She had thrown herself into extra classes at the University and Medical program as well, earning her diploma and license for practice in the fastest time ever recorded at the hospital. Despite this, she refused to slow down.

At the news of her success and no doubt the increase of her paycheck, her mother had seemingly forgotten their previous battle of words. She called every day at the hospital and at the house, even leaving messages on the machine when Natalie refused to pick up. Her sister Amelia was divorced, working to her mother's disgust down at the local mall, and to top it off, her father's business had dipped somewhat and he had turned back to alcohol to cure his ills. Natalie had leant a sympathetic ear but that had been the extent of her kindness. She had no doubt in her mind that her mother would find a way to survive; she always did, at any cost.

She approached her office, nodding at a passing nurse and entered as she took a sip of her water. Natalie paused at the door as her eyes caught sight of the masculine figure standing by her desk. His back was to her, the familiar leather jacket still on as well as the black beanie on his head. Natalie cleared her throat, shutting the door, and she made her way around her desk.

"Mr. Mercer, this is a pleasant surprise…."

Bobby nodded still glancing around at the papers and plaques on her wall. "You've been busy."

"Way of the world I'm afraid." She sat down the bottle as she took a seat and motioned for him to do the same. "It is a hospital after all." Natalie smiled, the expression not quite meeting her eyes. "What brings you to my domain?"

She wasn't surprised when he didn't sit. He brought his eyes back to hers. "I'm wasting time while Jack finishes up his session. He only has one more after this one."

Natalie kept the smile frozen on her face. "I'm glad to hear that Mr. Mercer. The hospital and its staff are always happy to hear when successful case has recuperated."

"Why do you keep calling me Mr. Mercer Natalie, you know my name."

She wiped the smile off her face. "I'm on the clock." Natalie tapped at the top of the small clock near the edge of her desk. "Tis the time for such formalities." She leaned back in her chair. "I hate to be short with you Mr. Mercer but I do have patients I need to see and attend to. If there's something I can help you with, I'd be more than happy to-"

"You lied to me."

"Excuse me?"

"You lied to me that day." He smirked shaking his head. "When you told me you had kissed Jack."

"I had-"

"After he kissed you first." Bobby interrupted. "He told me all about it. I knew he would tell me the truth eventually; he doesn't keep secrets that well, you know how girls are."

Natalie clutched at her water bottle as he continued.

"He told me you tried to stop him, that you were arguing with him over it when Angel came back." Bobby shrugged. "I have to say, it happened a lot faster than I had anticipated."

"What do you mean?"

He looked away moving to the wall to tilt one of her plaques up with the tip of his finger. "I knew Jackie had a soft spot for you since day one. Everyone could see it but I didn't want to. I thought it was just a crush and seeing as how at first you didn't seem to feel the same, I chose to ignore it." Bobby turned back. "Bad call on my part."

Natalie shook her head. "That's all it was Bobby, a stupid crush. It happens sometimes with patients, they get connected to a doctor or nurse on a personal level. I'm sure Jack's fine by now and has moved on to bigger and better things. I have."

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "I can see that." He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. "I'm sure all these plaques and awards have really filled that void in your life."

"There is no void."

"Natalie…" Bobby shook his head as he approached her desk from the side. "You never were really good at lying to me." He ignored the scared expression in her eyes as he reached out and took her chin in his hand. "It's okay to feel something for someone more than just as a doctor Natalie." Bobby released her and stepped back. "God knows of all people you should be happy." He glanced down at his watch. "I gotta get going before Jack thinks I bailed on his ass." He shot her one last look. "Remember what I said Natalie."

"Goodbye Mr. Mercer." She turned away from him and picked up the phone. "It was a pleasure to see you again."

"You too Natalie."

She didn't release her grip on the phone until the door had shut after him. Natalie lowered the phone back down to the receiver and wiped at the tears that had collected on the lashes of her eyes. Her shoulders began to shake but she jerked back as the phone rang, snatching it back up.

"This is Dr. Hamilton." She paused as she wiped at her face. "….Okay, be right there."