Chapter 5

John looked at Michael as he came out of the operating room, he looked grim and that scared John more then anything else ever hadin his life. Seeing Natalie wheeled in the hospital and rushed straight into the O.R. had just about broken his heart. If she didn't make it, if Natalie wasn't ok, he didn't think he would survive.

"How is she Mike? Will she be ok? Can I see her?" he asked, the words tumbling out quickly. As if he lingered on them he wouldn't get the answer he wanted, needed.

Michael looked at John and the rest of Natalie's family and dreaded what he had to tell them. It was never easy breaking bad news to the family but this would be so much worse, because it was Natalie, John's Natalie. John had never some out and said that he was in love with Natalie but everyone in the room knew and if they hadn't already they would have known now. John looked like he had just been hit by a bus both physically and emotionally. Michael took a deep breath as he prepared to break news that might destroy his brother for good this time.

"Well? How is my daughter?" Clint asked as he held Vicki giving her support. Beside him were Bo and then Rex. Kevin and Kelly and Nash and Tess were also there. Though Tess was trying to appear bored and uninterested she also was concerned about Natalie.

"When the plane went down Natalie suffered a head wound that bled quite a bit but that is fixable. Natalie also suffered some trauma in her side. It looks like she was stabbed by some debris and it caused some internal damage. Whatever she was stabbed by caused internal damage. We were able to repair it but she's lost a lot of blood. She has been out of surgery for a while and she should have woken up by now but she hasn't." Michael told them.

"What exactly does that mean Michael?" John asked fearing not what Michael was saying but what he was not saying.

"It means the longer she is unconscious the better the chances are that she might never wake up." Michael said sadly. "I'm sorry there is nothing more we can do for her. Its up to Natalie now."

John almost collapsed at that. "Oh God" he choked out. His own injuries forgotten, he focused his tortured gaze on Michael. He had just opened his mouth to speak when Vicki voiced the question that he had been about to ask.

"Are you saying Natalie could die?" Vicki asked in a pained voice.

"Or slip into a coma." Michael replied flinching at the shocked and terrifies faces in front of him. "I'm sorry," he repeated, thinking of nothing else to say.

"Can we see her?" Clint asked.

"Yeah. I think that would be just what she needs to come out of this. Maybe if she knows your all here and want her back she will fight harder to come back to us." Michael said. "Only two at a time though." Finally looking at John again Michael saw him in a chair away from the rest of the group. He had his head in his hands and his shoulders were shaking. Michael walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "John she is strong. She'll make it."

John looked up unaware of the tears on his face and in his eyes. "It's my fault she is here Mike. If only I hadn't asked her to meet me at the airport she wouldn't have been on that plane." Looking at Michael, "Oh god Mike I love her! I don't think I can make it with out her," he whispered.

Michael's eyes widened at John's admission of love. Not that he was surprised that John loved Natalie just that John had admitted it to himself much less anyone else. He squeezed Johns shoulder gently, mindful of the bumps and bruises that John had sustained during the crash. "Its not your fault John. She would have gone to that airport whether you asked her to or not." Michael told him, believing it. John wasn't the only one who knew Natalie. Michael knew that Natalie would have felt the need to see him off regardless of what John said.

John sighed, "I know. But what am I supposed to do with that? How do I just sit here and do nothing while she is in there fighting for her life?"

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Natalie felt like she was under water. Like she was floating. She could hear voices, her mother and father, begging her to come back but they sounded a long way off. She tried to push through the void, the black that held her but it was too much. There was too much pain. She stopped fighting and let the blackness overcome her, let it drag her back down to the nothingness and she heard no more.

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John finally was let in to see Natalie. He was shocked when he saw all the machines she was hooked up to and the monitors. She looked terrible. She was white as the sheets she was lying on and she looked so frail.

John sat down in the chair next to the bed and took her hand in his. "Come on Natalie, Wake up." He said to her hoping she would open her beautiful eyes and look at him. Bringing her hand to his lips he softly kissed her fingers and held them to his cheek, just needing to feel her. "I'm not giving up on you Natalie. You can't leave me I need you." He told the unresponsive woman on the bed.

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2 days later.

"You can't die Natalie! I love you! You have to come back to me!" Said a voice Natalie knew almost as well as her own, "You can't die, I won't let you. Do you hear me I won't lose you too, I won't let you die Natalie!" Then dissolved in to tears.

Natalie fought against the pain and darkness inside her. She had to get to John. He was crying and he needed her, she had to get to him. She pried her eyes open and the light streaming from the window stung her eyes and the room spun like a top when she tried to focus her eyes. When she was finally able to see clearly the first thing she was John sitting beside her bed holding her hand. He was crying as he squeezed her fingers bloodless. Reaching out her other hand to him she caressed his face, "Don't cry," she told him her voice husky from disuse.

John felt a hand on his face and looked up. He found himself staring into the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. "Natalie!" he gasped out before he was pulling her into his arms and hanging on for dear life. "I'm sorry," he murmured over and over into her hair.

"Sorry? What happened John? Are you ok?" Natalie asked when he finally let go enough to breath.

"We thought you were gonna die! Oh god Natalie you have no idea how sorry I am. This is all my fault. If only I hadn't asked you to meet me." John said remorsefully.

Natalie was having a hard time following his words but when she finally understood him she brought both her hands up to cup his face, wincing when the action pulled at her side. Forcing him to face her she said, "John its not your fault. I was going to go to the airport before you asked me. I would have come even if you had told me not to. It's not your fault. Its no one's fault but Margaret's."

John smiled a bit at her fierce defense of him, "You have no idea how much I missed you!" Pulling her back into his embrace gently he kissed the top of her head.

Feeling his lips on her head Natalie smiled and knew that the past didn't matter, that all that mattered was here and now. Knowing this she said into his shoulder softly, "I love you too John."

John pulled back again at her words and looked at her in wonder. "You love me?" At her nod he smiled the most joyous smile he had ever smiled and kissed her very softly, tenderly, lovingly. "I love you so much Natalie!" He said as he pulled back from the kiss.

"I love you too." Natalie repeated and pulled John into a kiss unlike any other they had ever shared. This kiss spoke of love and life, of the future, their future...Together...

The End