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Chapter 16

" Michael" John said softly as the Buchanan's gathered around him. Asa started to open up his mouth and Clint gave him a look telling him to not to.

" She's out of surgery, we successfully removed the bullet and there wasn't any complications. She's in the recovery room but she hasn't woken up yet. She'll probably be out of it for a few more hours." Michael said as everyone let out a sigh of relief. Michael saw the relief on John's face and walked over to him.

"I told you to trust me," Michael told him as he gave John his goofy smile

"Yeah, Mikey, you did." John said as he gave Michael a smirk back and he reached up and gave him a man hug.

"Can I see her, I know she's still asleep but can I sit with her? Please?" John asked Michael.

" Yeah, I think that would be alright, give me a minute and I'll take you to her" Michael said as he walked away for a few minutes. John picked up his cell phone to call Rex. John knew as soon as Natalie woke she would be asking about Lauren so he needed to make sure she was alright. John called Rex and told him about Natalie and asked about Lauren. Rex told John Lauren had, had a nightmare but he handled it and was able to get her back to sleep. John ended the call with Rex as he saw Michael come walking over towards him. Michael and John walked thru the halls till they got to Nat's room.

"Remember she probably won't be waking for a few hours and when she does it's normal for her to be out of it." Michael told John and then Michael excused himself.

John moved a chair over by the bed and sat in it holding her hand. Her hand had a slight chill to it and he rubbed it a few times to try and warm it up. He continued to rub her hand as he stared at her and then he started talking to her while she was still asleep.

" Michael says you're going to be alright, Nat. he says there was no complication and you'll have a full recovery. Doesn't that sound great?" John was getting emotional, very emotional to the point where he let those emotions talk.

"I know you were wearing the ring, Michael gave it to me when they brought you in. OMG Natalie, I can't believe I almost lost you; Lauren and I almost lost you. I can't believe you moved in front of a bullet meant for me. Don't ever do it again! I mean it Nat don't ever put yourself in a spot where you can get hurt, very badly hurt to try and save me, what if something was to happen to you, what about Lauren, what about me." John stopped his lecture to regain himself, she was going to be alright and he had to let it go, let it all go, the fear of losing her, the fear of what Chris could've done to her if he hadn't gotten there in time. Chris he thought, anger rose from his soul just thinking his name. 'That Son of a Bitch will get his, he'll be spending plenty more time in Statesville, I'll make sure of that' he thought

It had been three hours and John's mind was racing back and forth so fast he couldn't keep up with any of his thoughts, all he knew was that she should have woken up by now and she hadn't. He had one of the nurses page Michael for him and he waited. Michael walked into the room to see John pacing the floor. When John saw him walk in he turned to face him with tears in his eyes.

" She hasn't woken yet, Mikey. It's been three hours and she's still not awake" John said as he ran a hand thru his hair.

"Calm down John, It's alright. It doesn't mean that anything's wrong, when people have been put thru trauma's such as Nat has sometimes it takes them a little longer to wake up. It's as if their body needs time to recoup it's self. Trust me, Nat knows how good she has it, she won't be leaving you anytime soon." Michael said trying to reassure John that everything was going to be fine but he wasn't sure if John believed him.

"I can't calm down Mikey, it's almost morning and she... she isn't awake yet, Lauren will be waking up soon and what is Rex suppose to tell her? Tell her that the selfish asshole that she thinks is her dad shot and almost killed her mom. Huh? How do you think that's gonna go? Or he can tell her that her mom had surgery and hasn't woken yet, or maybe that the man that she doesn't like very much is her real dad and he has no idea what he'll do if her mom doesn't wake up!" John said going on and on and on in a rant. John was definitely losing it. He was pacing back and forth the whole while in his rant when he and Michael both heard a faint word or two. They both looked and she was waking up.

"Will you smack him already to get him to shut up" Nat said as Michael realized she was talking to him telling him to hit John to stop him from ranting. Michael smiled and John became frozen in his pacing, John stood there not moving as if he was afraid it was wishful thinking. He had to blink a few times to make sure she was really waking up. John realized it was real and was speechless as Michael walked over by Nat to examine her.

"You know Nat, you're the only one who has this affect on him, He hasn't said these many words to me our whole lives, I think maybe you should be honored." Michael said as he smiled at her.

" Lucky, lucky me" Nat said and gave out a small smile. Michael finished checking her and he excused himself to give them sometime alone. He told them he would give them about twenty minutes before he told her family so they could have a little privacy. John was still standing over by where he was pacing when she woke again.

"Are you just gonna stand over there all day or do you think maybe you can come over here and hold my hand? " Natalie asked softly as she held out her hand for him to take. John still felt frozen, he didn't move.

"First the right, then the left" she said as he started walking towards her. He took her hand and he sat in the chair next to the bed and he tried to talk but he couldn't form any words. He reached into his pocket where he had safely put her ring a few hours ago and pulled it out. He looked at her and then he asked.

"Natalie, will you marry me?" John asked softly almost a whisper as he didn't wait for her answer and he pushed the ring on to her finger. John smiled with tears still in his eyes when he heard her joke some more.

"I think I'm suppose to answer you first before you put the ring on my finger." Natalie said with a smirk

"Nah, doesn't matter cause I know your answer" John said as they both continued to stare at each other.

"So you think you know me so well, huh? " Nat asked as his hand let go of hers and he placed it on her cheek. He moved slightly on the empty space on the bed next to her and brought his face within inches of hers.

" I know you very well," John said and he leaned in for a kiss when Nat brought her hand up in between their lips and briefly stopped him. She went to say something but before she got it out he beat her to it.

"Lauren's fine" He said and he saw her smile, then he tenderly kissed her. They continued to kiss till they heard someone clear their throat. They both looked up to see almost all the Buchanan's there, watching them. John and Nat looked at each other and gave a quick smile as John got himself off of Nat's upper body for which he was leaning on.