"He was given the wrong medication. One that had a potentially fatal interaction with one he'd already been given."
Natalie looked at him trying to figure out the train of thought his mind was on. "You think that was deliberate?"
"I don't know," Michael said pensively, "I mean I work here. I know mistakes happen, it's the sad truth, but something just doesn't feel right about this. I mean Dr. Miller's an administrator she's not even supposed to be treating patients and I can't believe she-"
"Wait," said Rex inserting himself between the two of them, "not that I was listening in or anything but what time did John get this medication?"
"The order was marked at like 9:21," Michael said.
"I was talking to Dr. Miller then. She wasn't writing any orders," Rex said.
"See," Michael said, "it just doesn't make any sense."
"So what are you saying?" Natalie asked, "That the order was forged?"
"I don't know," Michael said, beginning to sound frustrated, "I can't think who here even knows John much less wants him dead."
"Well maybe whoever did this isn't the one who wants him dead," Rex suggested, "Could be someone here was paid off or coerced."
"Which means it could be anyone," Natalie sighed.
"Well who wants McBain dead?" Rex asked. "Can't be that many people."
Natalie turned to Michael, "What's he been doing since the suspension?"
"I don't know," he said with a shake of his head, "he hasn't really wanted to talk to me."
"Me neither, "she said pursing her lips in thought. "I'm going over to his place. Maybe there's something there that will-"
"Wait-wait-wait!" Rex said, "That's exactly the kind of thing you should leave for the police."
Natalie gave him an irritated look. "I talked to Uncle Bo. He's convinced John did this to himself. Besides, the cops won't know if something's out of place."
"No offense," Michael interjected, "but you might not either. Place is kind of gone downhill since you were staying there."
"Okay," she nodded, "so you'll come with me. You might notice something I'll miss."
"I don't know, Natalie," he said uneasily.
"Michael, someone is trying to kill him," she said in a fierce whisper, "If we don't find out who it is soon they might just succeed. I'm heading over there—you can come or you can stay. It's up to you."
"Okay," he said still sounding reluctant, "I'm in."
"And I guess I'll come along for adult supervision," Rex said with a sigh.
"No," Natalie said, "I need you to stay here and keep an eye on things. Make sure whoever this is doesn't try again."
"All right," he said, "but be careful."
"Always," Natalie said with an attempt at a reassuring smile.
"I'll see if I can find out anything around here while I'm at it," he said.
"Hey," Michael said, "would you tell my mom and Marcie that I left for a little bit. Don't tell them why though."
"If you want to go say goodbye to Marcie-" Natalie offered but Michael held up his hand.
"Bad idea. Mom'll start asking questions and I can't ever lie to her so she'll figure out something's up."
"Okay then," she said, "you ready?"
Though she wasn't quite surprised by the chaotic state of John's room, there was something about it which hit her hard. He had always been so precise, so orderly with this kind of thing that to see clothes and trash strewn on the floor made her pity him in a way she wouldn't have thought possible a few days ago.
"What are we looking for anyway?" Michael asked as they stepped inside.
"I don't know exactly," she said, "something that looks out of place… I mean beyond the obvious. Anything showing who he might have been in contact with. Something that proves he didn't do this to himself."
Gingerly they each began picking their way through the room. "Oh," Natalie said suddenly reaching into her purse, "before you touch anything…" She tossed him a pair of latex gloves.
Michael gave her a bewildered look as she put a pair on herself. "You carry these in your purse?"
"No," she said as though the suggestion was crazy, "I lifted them from the hospital on the way out."
"I didn't see that," he said.
She shrugged as she began opening drawers on the dresser, "I was raised by Roxy. There were skills I had to learn."
As Michael disappeared into the bathroom she began rummaging through the dresser. The first two drawers seemed normal, but in the third, under a pile of unmatched black socks, she found three tattered, old Fed-Ex envelopes. Pulling them out and standing them up right like folders in a filing cabinet she took the one from the bottom and carefully slid the contents onto the dresser top.
It was an assortment of photos, ticket stubs, newspaper clippings and other souvenirs. Things she'd seen once before, though it seemed the collection was somewhat smaller than before. Natalie stared at John's collection of Caitlyn memorabilia with a peculiar sinking feeling. He'd put her away, as she had once asked him to, but he had kept her close.
Telling herself that this at least represented progress she put it all back in the envelope and emptied the second one. This time she covered her mouth with her hand in shock. The contents were similar to the other envelope except that the pictures were all of her. There were newspaper articles spanning from Cristian's death to her kidnapping by Hayes. The note he'd taped to the door the night they first made love. Tears filled her eyes as she stared at the memorial John had collected of their relationship but she quickly put it back in the envelope, reminding herself that she didn't have time to indulge in that sort of thing.
She steeled herself as she opened the third envelope, wondering what else John had felt the need to enshrine like this. Most of the contents were a yellowing collection of newspaper articles and the bulletin for the funeral mass of Thomas McBain. As she began flipping through the articles about John's father she heard Michael call from the bathroom.
"Well if I didn't believe you before I do now!"
Still holding the articles she hurried in to find Michael with a mass of pills splayed on the counter. "What's this?" she asked.
"This," he said, "is the painkiller I prescribed him after he hurt his leg. The prescription was for sixty tablets. There are still sixty here."
"So…"
She began as Michael finished for her, "Either he was drugged some other way or the toxicology reports were tampered with."
"I knew it!" she said.
"What do you got there?" Michael asked noticing the papers in her hand.
"Newspaper articles," she said, "about your dad."
He nodded. "Yeah, he's been obsessing about that lately. I actually suggested he look into the case, thought it might give him some closure."
"Did he?"
"I don't know," he said, "you think it's somehow connected?"
"I don't know," she said, "but I don't have anything else to suggest. Maybe…" She thought for a moment then said, "Okay, it's probably a long shot, but I've heard both of you say your father wasn't really killed by the bullet but by the drunken surgeon."
"Yeah," Michael said trying to follow her.
"Well is there any chance maybe that doctor works at Llanview Hospital and John tracked him down and-"
Michael laughed slightly. "That'd be a little hard."
"Why?"
"Because he's dead," Michael explained, "he lost his license after what happened to Dad and just went down hill from there I guess until-" He stopped himself and looked at Natalie as a revelation hit him.
"What?" she asked.
"He got drunk one night and took a bunch of pills and wandered into a deserted area of town and shot himself in the head."
"My God!" she said softly in shock.
"This is too much to be a coincidence," he said, fear evident in his voice.
As they headed back to the hospital Natalie called Rex and asked him to meet them at the entrance and as they arrived he climbed into the car so they could talk without being overheard. "How is he?" Natalie asked wanting to make sure nothing else had happened before they discussed the matter at hand.
"Stable," he said, "they're letting him have visitors again." He looked at Michael, "Your mom's in with him now. So I take it you found something?"
"Not a whole lot," Natalie said, "but his painkillers are all still in the bottle so we know he didn't drug himself. And Michael just remembered that the drunk doctor who operated on their father committed suicide under identical circumstances."
"That's kinda creepy," Rex said.
"It has to be connected," Natalie said, "but I can't figure out how."
"What's bothering me the most is if it really is someone who works at the hospital then John's vulnerable as long as he's here," Michael said.
"Could we get him transferred?" Natalie asked.
He shook his head, "That would be pretty dangerous too."
She thought for a few seconds, "Okay then, we'll just have to divert whoever's attention away from John."
"How do we do that without knowing who it is?" Rex asked.
"What eventually happens every time someone's trying to get to John?" she asked.
Michael's forehead wrinkled as he thought but Rex understood what she was saying immediately and quickly said, "No!"
"Rex!" she protested.
"I'm lost," Michael admitted.
Natalie turned to him, "Every psycho who's gone after John since he got to town has eventually decided to get to him through me."
"And usually you wind up almost getting killed," Rex pointed out, "we're not doing it."
"We'll be ready and I'll have you to look out for me," Natalie said giving him a smile, "you'll make sure it doesn't go too far."
"If John were here he'd veto it in a second," he insisted.
"But he's not," she said, "That's the whole point. That's why I have to try."
"Not that I'm agreeing," Michael said, "but how would we make the person turn to you anyway."
Natalie sighed. "There's something I need to tell you."
Who needed a massage when you could spend a couple days in coma? He could feel his muscles more relaxed than he remembered them being in a long time. If he just let himself drift it all felt like floating in a cool pool. Not that bad.
But somewhere in the back of his mind something kept reminding him that this was wrong. That he couldn't give into it. His mother was here, she kept telling him so.
And Natalie. Had Natalie really been here or was that a dream? Did you dream in a coma? Where was she? He needed to talk to Natalie.
As they returned to the waiting area it was clear Marcie was not thrilled with the manor of Michael's exit. His mother wasn't there; she was still sitting with John. "It's bad enough you just took off," Marcie said hands on her hips, "but then you don't even bring back the coffee you promised."
"Sorry sweetie," he said kissing her lightly, "tell you what, I'll go get you one now."
"Could you get me one too?" Natalie asked.
"No," he said giving her a meaningful look.
"Michael!" she pleaded.
"We talked about this," he said, "I'll be happy to bring you back some tea."
Natalie rolled her eyes, "Whatever."
As he disappeared Marcie turned to her, "What was that all about?"
"Long story," Natalie said, "he thinks I drink too much caffeine."
"Ah," Marcie said as though she weren't quite convinced, "doctors are kind of always on duty."
Eve rejoined them at that moment saying, "Natalie, you're back. Is Michael with you?"
"He just ran for coffee," she said, "how's John?"
"The same," she said, "they're letting him have visitors again, I'm not sure if it's just family or not."
"I'll go check," Natalie said standing up and walking towards John's room as she looked around for a doctor. Spencer Truman was standing outside one of the rooms nearby looking at a chart with his usual self-satisfied smile. "Excuse me Dr. Truman?" she said.
"Ms. Buchanan," he said, "how can I help you?"
"You're one of John McBain's doctors, right? I heard he was allowed visitors again but I wasn't sure if it was just family. I'm not quite family but I- Well I was hoping…"
His smile broadened, "I'm sure it would be all right for you to see him. His room's right over here."
"I know," she said with a smile as he motioned. She walked into John's room with, oddly enough, less trepidation than the last time. The door didn't shut behind her but she didn't turn to close it. Instead she sat down beside him and took his hand in hers.
"Hey there," she said, not caring if she was loud enough to be overheard from those passing in the hallway, "our last visit didn't end so well I know, but I also know you woke up for me. I need you to do that again."
She kissed her fingertips and pressed them lightly to his lips. "You have to come back to us John," she said kissing his hand, "I need you. And so does our baby."
She was still sitting beside him ten minutes later when Rex stuck his head in. "Can you come out here? There's something you need to see."
She rose and joined him and Michael in the hall. "What is it?"
"John's cell phone," Michael said, "it probably should have gone to the police but it got stuck with his personal effects."
"Yeah?" Natalie asked.
Michael handed her the phone, "Look under 'Received Calls'."
She complied and her jaw dropped. "Why was she calling him at two in the morning?"
"Good question," Michael said.
"I think we need to pay her a little visit," Rex suggested.
To be continued.