Chapter Twenty-Seven

The first thing John saw when he rushed into the ER behind Dr. Crosby was his brother. Michael was standing by the nurse's station, but his head shot up when he saw John carrying Natalie.

"What happened? Is Natalie hurt?" Michael yelled out as he ran over.

But before John could answer, Dr. Crosby stepped forward and starting yelling out a slew of medical terms. Though confused, Michael and a team of nurses helped place Natalie's body on a nearby bed, and whisked her toward an ER room.

Once Natalie was gone and Dr. Crosby went to consult with Dr. Jamison, John anxiously paced the waiting room until Michael came out ten minutes later looking very confused.

"How is she?"

"We gave her the sedative that Dr. Crosby asked for, she's still out. It appears that she passed out, a stress based anxiety attack. What the hell was that about John? Why is Natalie unconscious and being sedated?" Michael asked worriedly.

John cautiously looked around before pulling his brother into the closest exam room. Making sure the door was tightly shut and the curtains drawn, he faced his brother with a serious look. "What I tell you stays in this room Mike. You can't mention this to anyone, not Mom, not Marcie, no one."

Nodding, Michael took a seat in one of the chairs and looked at John.

John also took a seat and just went right to it, "Natalie witnessed dad's shooting."

"What?" gasped Michael, his eyes widening. "How is that possible?"

John sighed and proceeded to fill Michael in on everything. He started at the beginning and explained about Walter being alive, then being poisoned, and ended with Paige and Spencer's involvement."

At first Michael had been incredulous, unable to believe that the two doctors he admired so much were capable of those actions, but at the same time he knew his brother. No matter what John always looked out for him and had always told him the truth, so Michael knew what he was hearing wasn't a lie.

"Can't you arrest them?" Michael said with a hint of anger to his voice. "How can they get away with this?"

John sighed. "We are doing everything we can, but we need more evidence. Mikey, you can't let on you know until we have enough."

"What about Natalie? She recovered those memories, won't that be enough?"

"If she recovers it will be." Seeing Michael's blank expression, John knew he had to fill Michael in on what had happened during the hypnosis session. "Rather then just remember the experience during hypnosis, Natalie actually re-lived it."

"It was that bad?" Michael asked, knowing from his training that it was rare for that to occur during hypnosis.

John nodded, "yeah it was. Truman and Walter used Natalie as bait that night. They knew dad was on to then, so they put her in the alley and waiting for him. God Michael, you should have heard her screams." John choked out as he began pacing the room. "Why does Natalie keep doing this? She's constantly putting herself in jeopardy for me?"

"Because she wants to help you…" Michael said softly.

"But why can't she see that if I lose her, it will destroy me? Dad, Caitlyn – I could handle those, but Natalie? I love her too much that if I lose her, it will destroy me."

Though shocked that his brother that finally admitted he loved Natalie, Michael decided not to press on it. "She won't know until you tell her John."

John sighed. "I tried. In Grand Cayman, but we got in a fight. She says it's too late for us."

Michael stood up and went to stand beside his brother. "John, you have to fight for her. Make her see that it's not too late."

Dr. Crosby was sitting at Natalie's bedside when she finally regained consciousness. Knowing he needed to act fast and get her out of the hypnotic state, he went to work.

"Natalie, it's Dr. Crosby. Do you understand me?"

"Yes."

"Good. I need you to count backward from 10. When you reach one I will snap my fingers and you will be brought out of hypnosis and remember everything that has occurred. Do you understand this?"

"Yes."

"Count please."

Within seconds Natalie was sitting up, fully alert. "Where am I?" she asked, still groggy from the sedative.

"You're in the hospital; you passed out during our session."

Suddenly the memories of that night in the alley came flooding back. "Oh god…" she moaned. "I was there, I watched him die."

"Natalie, you can't lie here and dwell on those memories. You need to push them away and move on..."

"That's easy for you to say. You aren't the one that has to live with themselves for being part of the trap," she said bitterly.

"You aren't to blame."

Natalie just rolled over and stared at the wall. Knowing there wasn't much more he could do, Dr Crosby pulled out his prescription pad and began to scribble on it. "I am prescribing you some Lorazepam Natalie. It's an anti-anxiety drug. I want you to take one when you get home and just sleep."

"Will you tell John what happened for me?" Natalie asked softly, not sure if she could face him.

Dr. Crosby sighed. "He already knows Natalie; he was in the room the whole time."

The combination of the sedative, the memories and the news that John was there, caused Natalie to start crying. Dr. Crosby moved toward her, but stopped when the door opened and Michael peeked his head in.

"How is she?"

"I managed to get her out of the hypnosis, but she's still very agitated from the memories."

"I am still here you know." Natalie snapped through her tears.

"I can handle it from here," Michael said softly as he walked the other Doctor to the door. Once he was gone, Michael went over to Natalie and took the seat that was facing her, Natalie however just turned away.

"Go away Michael."

"No."

"I don't want you here."

"Too bad."

"You don't know what I did…"

Michael sighed. "John told me."

Natalie rolled over and finally faced him. "So you know I was part of the reason your father was shot? That I was the bait? How can you even look at me?"

"Because you weren't to blame. Natalie you were five years old. A helpless child. You didn't pull that trigger."

"I didn't do anything to stop it from happening."

"What could you have done?"

Natalie just remained silent. Michael inched the chair closer to her bed and took her hand. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Because of your courage we know who shot our father. You put yourself through hell for us Natalie. Thank you."

Seeing how drained Natalie looked, Michael stood up. "I guess you want to get out of here."

Natalie managed a weak nod.

"I'll get the release papers for you to sign," Michael said as he left the room. Once he was back in the waiting room, John rushed toward him.

"Is she okay?"

Michael's face was serious but he nodded, "she's still heavily sedated and shook up, but she will be fine."

Without even asking permission John all but ran into her room, needing to see for himself that she was fine. When he entered the room, Natalie looked toward him for a second but then looked away.

"Hey," he said softly as he lingered in the doorway.

Once again, she didn't respond.

"Are you okay?"

She just nodded.

"God Natalie…." He began but stopped when Michael came back into the room. Though aware he was interrupting, Michael did not care. "So I have the release papers here. Did you want me to call Rex or someone to pick you up?"

Natalie began to nod but John cut her off. "I'll take her."

"John you don't…" Natalie began.

"I'm taking her."

Seeing that this wasn't something up for discussion, Michael just nodded. "Sign there and you are free."

Natalie weakly scribbled her name, and then tried to get up. The sedative was still in effect, so she swayed slightly. "I'll help you to the car," Michael said as he took a hold of her arm.

The entire ride to Llanfair was spent in silence, Natalie still feeling guilty over her part in the death of Thomas McBain, and John trying to control himself. He still hated that she had put her own health on the line for him.

Natalie didn't speak until John began to pull into the driveway, "keep driving past the main house and toward the pool, the Carriage house will be on your left."

"The Carriage house?" he questioned.

"Dad had my things moved in there while we were in Grand Cayman," Natalie said weakly. "He just thought with Jess having the baby any day I could use the space."

John nodded and continued driving. After pulling into the small driveway he helped Natalie out of the car and up to the doorway. "Natalie…" John sighed, "why did you do it? Why did you put yourself through that?"

"We didn't have any other leads," Natalie said very softly, unable to meet his eyes.

John shook his head. "We would have found something, you didn't need to put yourself through that. God Natalie, I was in that room, I heard your screams. I watched you re-live that experience. Why did you put yourself through that?" he repeated.

Natalie just stared at him for a few seconds, then she turned and unlocked the door. Steeping into the Carriage house she fixed him with one last look, "If you don't know the answer to that John, then we have absolutely no chance at all."

Without waiting for a response, Natalie closed the door and retreated from his view.