She turned her head and realized that the person holding her was Michael. She relaxed slightly—she could trust Michael, he wanted John to get better as much as she did. And he understood what was going on better than she did. If he could be calm…
"Michael, what's happening?" she asked.
He didn't answer and she realized that what she'd interpreted as calm a moment ago was only an exterior masking fear and concern. She turned back and watched the doctors working, murmuring a prayer that they could save him.
Finally the high pitched whine in the room changed into a steady beeping and she felt Michael relax behind her as he let out a breath. That must mean good news. She turned to face him. "What happened?" she demanded.
"His heart stopped," Michael said without taking his eyes off his brother, "but they restarted it."
"I don't understand," she said trying not to cry. "You said he was stable. He woke up, he-"
Michael looked past her to a doctor who was coming out of the room. "Greg," he said, "what happened?"
The doctor shook his head. "He arrested. Not sure why but he appears to have stabilized again. We're gonna run a CT—check for bleeds, run some labs. I'll let you know as soon as we know anything."
"Can I go back in?" Natalie asked.
He shook his head. "No more visitors for now. Sorry."
As she watched him walk away in dismay Michael tugged her by the arm back to the waiting area. Marcie had apparently just arrived and was talking rapidly to Mrs. McBain. When she saw Michael, however, she ran over and threw her arm around him saying, "Oh my God, Michael!"
Michael hugged her back tightly, his eyes closed for a long moment. "How is he?" she asked as they finally separated.
Michael hesitated and Eve recognizing something in his face tensed as she asked, "What happened?"
"He's okay," Michael said to calm her before explaining, "his heart stopped but they were able to revive him."
"My God!" Eve whispered putting her hand over her own heart as Natalie sat down in one of the chairs across from her.
"It doesn't make any sense," Natalie insisted her voice cracking, "he woke up. He talked to me."
"Head injuries are tricky," Michael said as he and Marcie sat beside his mother. "Sometimes they're hard to predict."
"Natalie said he woke up though," Marcie said, "is that a good sign?"
"Maybe," Michael said pensively, "it's really hard to say."
Eve looked at Natalie suddenly. "You said he spoke to you. What did he say?"
"He said…" Natalie paused, she wasn't completely sure of what she'd heard, "it sounded like… I don't know, maybe I was just hearing what I wanted to but it… it sounded like he said, 'me too'."
"Me too?" Marcie asked, "I don't get it—what does that mean?"
Natalie sighed, slightly embarrassed. "It… I had just told him that I loved him and-"
To everyone's shock and bewilderment Michael snorted as though holding back a laugh.
"Michael!" Marcie reproached him.
"What?" Natalie asked him.
"Never mind," Michael said shaking his head but still fighting a laugh. Noticing everyone's continued looks of curiosity he added, "It's really inappropriate."
"Well you can't just leave it at that," Natalie pressed, "What is it?"
Michael shook his head again.
"Come on Michael," Eve pressed, "I think we could all use a laugh right now—appropriate or not."
"It's just-" Michael had to take a deep breath to speak through his laughter. He looked at Natalie and said, "I mean the two of you are just… Everyone knows how you feel about each other, right? With the possible exception of the two of you. And the last couple months, you know, he's just been giving you those tortured looks from across the room and trying to give you your space and all I've been thinking is 'Damn, Johnny, would it kill you to tell the girl how you feel?'"
Eve smiled and Marcie laughed out loud. Through the tears in her eyes even Natalie laughed softly. "I guess it just about did," she said.
"And speaking of lighter matters," Eve said slyly, "Michael, were you going to tell me about that rock on Marcie's finger?"
Marcie blushed and tried to hide her hand as if everyone hadn't already seen the diamond ring she was wearing. Michael laughed nervously, "Oh that."
"Mm hm," his mother said trying to sound very stern.
"We were going to tell you," Michael explained, "when Marcie got back from the book signing we were going to go up to AC and tell you in person, but then…"
"Well I'm very happy for you," she said kissing her son on the cheek before standing up halfway so she could reach around and hug Marcie.
"Congratulations," Natalie said managing a smile, trying to be happy for Michael and Marcie and not think about the mess her love life had always been.
Rex returned at that moment and looked at their smiling faces curiously, "What's going on? Did you get to see him?"
Natalie nodded sadly, "Yeah, for a minute. He actually woke up and talked to me for about half a second before he flat lined."
Rex looked at her in shock, "But he's not-"
She shook her head as he sat down beside her, "No, they got him stabilized again but we don't know what happened…" She trailed off seeing the doctor who had run the code on John approach with a grim expression on his face.
Michael noticed him too and straightened up. "Hey Mike, can I see you for a second?" the other doctor asked.
"Yeah," Michael said standing up and following him a short distance away. Natalie watched them closely trying to figure out what the doctor was telling Michael, but Rex distracted her.
"So'd you talk to Bo?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said.
"What'd he say?"
She looked at him hesitantly not wanting to say much in front of Marcie and Mrs. McBain. "He said to let the police do their jobs," she said, her voice betraying how unsatisfied with that answer she was.
"Good advice," Rex said, receiving a glare in response from his sister.
"Let the police do their jobs in regards to what?" Eve asked.
As Natalie searched her mind frantically for an excuse—she wasn't quite ready to tell John's mother that someone had tried to kill her son. Especially when she had no idea who.
Fortunately, Rex jumped in to get her off the hook. "Hey, where'd Evangeline go anyway?"
Eve smiled tautly. "She left. I promised to let her know if there was any change. I didn't think John would want a big crowd here at the hospital."
Natalie tried not to look too relieved by this piece of information. As much as she could logically acknowledge that Evangeline had every right to be there and really was concerned about John, she just really didn't want to deal with her at the moment.
Michael walked back over to the group a stunned expression on his face. "Michael?" his mother asked her voice thick with concern, "What is it? Is it John? Is something wrong?"
"No," Michael said, "no it was something about a patient of mine from yesterday." Michael cast a meaningful look at Natalie and asked, "Hey, you up for that coffee run yet?"
Grasping his meaning immediately Natalie stood and said, "Yeah, I better. Otherwise I'm gonna go into caffeine withdrawal and it won't be pleasant for the rest of you."
"Can I get anything for anyone else?" Michael offered.
"I'll come with you," Marcie volunteered starting to stand up, but Michael waved her back down with his hand.
"No you stay here, I know what you drink," he said, "Mom?"
"I'm fine," she said eyeing him suspiciously. She knew he was up to something but didn't want to press the issue yet.
When Natalie and Michael were a safe distance away she asked, "What did he say?"
Michael stopped and turned to her. "I think you were right. I don't think John did this to himself."
"What brought this on?" she asked.
Michael leaned forward and said quietly, "I know what sent him into cardiac arrest."
To be continued.