If it wasn't for the fact that they forced her to go home at night she suspected she would have lost track of time completely. As it was she could only barely wrap her mind around the fact that it was only the second day since John had been shot. Maybe she was only seeing what she wanted, but his color seemed better this morning. And the spots around the wound that had been shaved were starting to grow enough stubble to prevent that naked, raw look they'd had on the first day.
Suddenly having the sensation of being watched she turned to see Cristian standing in the doorway watching her. "Cristian!" she gasped, trying not to sound too startled, "hi."
"How's he doing?" he asked, motioning to John.
Standing up and walking closer to him she said, "He's stable. The tests look good. But they won't really know much till he's awake."
Cristian nodded. There was a dark expression on his face; one that she suspected had nothing to do with concern for John. It was one of those expressions that the man she'd married had never worn that had only crept in after his return. His face was neutral but there was a seething anger visible just below the surface.
"Cristian?" she asked hesitantly.
"You really think I did this?" he finally spat out.
"What?" she asked in confusion and surprise.
"Evangeline came to see me last night," he explained. "She started asking me all these weird questions. About where I was the night he got shot. It finally hit me why."
"And she said that I sent her?" Natalie asked.
He shook his head and scowled. "No, she covered for you. At first she kept insisting she was just curious, but I finally got her to admit you guys thought John didn't shoot himself. Wasn't hard to figure out the rest."
"Cristian," she said solemnly, "I never believed you had anything to do with this. And I didn't ask Evangeline to go over there and question you. She threw out the suggestion and I said it was impossible. But I thought she agreed--I don't know why she would question you."
"Neither do I," Cristian said coldly. She could tell he didn't quite believe her. "For the record I was asleep. I don't have anyone to corroborate that because I sleep alone these days."
"I believe you Cris," she said closing her eyes, "I know you couldn't have done this. I'm sorry she even asked you."
He looked her up and down, "She told me something else too." Natalie's heart sank as she realized what Evangeline must have told him, but she remained silent and waited for him to continue. "She told me that you're-" he made a hint of a gesture towards her abdomen, apparently unable to say the words.
"Yeah," she confirmed softly.
He nodded slowly; she could tell how hurt he was by this news. "Is there a reason you didn't tell me?"
"I'm sorry, Cris," she said, "I didn't mean for you to find out from someone else. I hadn't told anyone until two days ago. I haven't even known myself for that long."
Cristian's eyes shifted to John's unconscious form. "I hope he knows what a lucky guy he is."
"He doesn't," she said, wishing she could find a viable escape from this conversation, "I mean I hadn't told him yet."
Cristian gazed at John and then at Natalie. "You ever wonder," he said wistfully, "if it hadn't been for everything that happened in Vegas… we might have a child by now."
Wrapping her arms around her chest and avoiding his gaze she said, "Thinking like that doesn't do anyone any good. I try not to."
"Yeah well congratulations," he said quickly, though from the tone of his voice he didn't mean it. "I hope he gets better fast. And next time you have a question to ask me do it yourself." And with one last glance towards John he spun around and left.
Natalie watched him go, trying not to cry and wondering how she could feel so uncomfortable around a man she'd once loved so much. She turned to John and mumbled, "Fringe benefits of being in a coma. You get to avoid awkward scenes like that."
Michael forced himself to focus on the chart in his hand. His mother had pushed him to go back to work today and he'd agreed only because it still kept him in the hospital around his family.
"I talked to Cristian," Evangeline said approaching him.
"And?" he asked.
"He said he was asleep. He doesn't have any witness who saw him there, but I don't think that's really unusual considering the hour," she said.
Michael sighed. "Okay, well if you believe him and Natalie believes him and you two know him better than me..."
"So who else are you looking at?" she asked.
Knowing full well he couldn't tell her they had suspicions about her sister he shrugged. "No one really. I guess that's why I latched on to Cris."
"Well have you figured out how my number got on John's caller ID?" she pressed.
"Um… I don't know," Michael said uncomfortably, "You'd really have to talk to Natalie or Rex. This is more their thing."
"Natalie's not going to tell me anything," she said with a shake of her head, "and I have a hard time believing she'd accept that I didn't make those calls unless she'd come up with an alternative explanation. Please, Michael, I want to help."
"Look," Michael sighed, "In case the chart in my hand and the lab coat didn't clue you in, I'm working right now. And-"
"Why did you tell Cristian I thought he was involved in John's shooting?" Natalie asked Evangeline angrily as she approached them all of a sudden.
"I didn't," Evangeline protested.
"He was just here," Natalie said, "he said you went to talk to him last night."
"I did but-"
"I told you I knew he didn't do it," Natalie said, not letting the other woman finish her explanation, "so why did he show up here saying that you were asking him about an alibi?"
"I went to see him last night," she admitted, "but I didn't tell him you sent me."
"What?" Natalie scoffed, "so now you're telling me you do think he did it? Why would you be asking him for an alibi?"
"Because I asked her to," Michael interjected. "She wanted to help and Rex and I thought it would be a good idea to explore any leads we had. So blame us, not her."
Natalie gave Michael a quick glare which let him know he'd be getting a lecture later before turning back to Evangeline, "And why did you tell him that I was…?"
"I'm sorry about that," Evangeline said, "I just assumed he knew already."
"Why would I have told him when I hadn't even told John?" Natalie asked raising her voice slightly.
"You know what?" Michael said moving between the two of them, "it really doesn't matter. And you're not going to help John by cat fighting in the hospital hallway. What happened to your concern for John outweighing any hard feelings towards each other?"
"I'm sorry," Natalie said to Michael, not Evangeline, "I didn't mean to make a scene. I'm just kind of on edge."
"Which is kind of understandable," he conceded.
"But I really do want to help," Evangeline said. "Give me something to look for. Something to track down."
"I don't know," Natalie said wearily, "I'm kind of out of ideas, but if you can think of something-"
"Maybe I can get a hold of the security tapes from my apartment building," she suggested, "find out if someone could have broken into my apartment that night because I really don't have any other explanation."
"Unless someone else has access to your phone," Michael said.
Natalie shot him a meaningful look letting him know he'd said too much, but it was too late. Evangeline turned to him, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing," he said quickly.
Evangeline thought for a moment and her eyes widened, "Layla? Are you accusing my sister?"
"We're not accusing anyone," Natalie said.
"That's completely ridiculous!" Evangeline continued, "she barely even knows John, why would she-?"
"I'm sure she wouldn't," Natalie said, hoping at least she could prevent Evangeline from discussing this so loudly in public, "it's just like with Cristian, we're running over every possibility."
"Well allow me to rule that one out for you too," she said caustically, "I'll see if I can get those tapes." As she clicked away on her high-heels Natalie turned an annoyed gaze to Michael.
"I'm sorry!" he said holding his hands up, "I told her to be discreet if she talked to Cris."
"Why did you tell her to talk to Cris at all?"
"Because I don't think you can be objective when it comes to him," Michael said leaning forward so he didn't have to raise his voice. "And John's my brother and I need to get to the bottom of this as much as you do."
Natalie sighed, "I'm sorry. I see why you would suspect him, I just… And I'm really not sure about bringing her in on this."
"Yeah," Michael said, "and I understand why, but I really do think she wants to help. And I figure at this point we aren't in a position to turn down help."
"I guess," she said rubbing the back of her neck, "I just wish she hadn't found out about the Layla thing."
"Sorry about that," he said, "but maybe it'll be good. Evangeline can keep a better eye on her than any of us, and if she starts acting strange she might pick up on something."
"Hopefully," she said, changing the subject she added, "I think John was looking a little better today, don't you think?"
Michael looked down the hall towards John's room. "Mom in there now?"
"Yeah," she said.
"I'm gonna peek in real quick before I get back to work," he said, "you get yourself something to eat and take it easy."
"Michael," she groaned, wondering if the men around her were this bad when she was faking a pregnancy how bad they would be if she ever really had a baby.
"Hey," he said patting her on the shoulder with a wink, "I told Rex I'd take care of you two. Don't want him all pissy with me when he gets back."
"Gets back from where?" a soft voice asked.
Natalie turned to see an anxious looking Adriana Cramer. Michael patted her on the shoulder once more and said, "I'll catch up with you later." Watching him walk away Natalie made a mental note to glare at him later for leaving her alone with a former in-law she barely knew. "Hi," Natalie said.
"I'm sorry to bother you," Adriana said, "Rex left me this cryptic message saying he had to go out of town but he didn't say where or how long or why. I was hoping you might know something."
"Adriana," Natalie began slowly.
"I just want to know if he's okay," she said.
"He's fine," Natalie assured her, "it's kind of a strange situation though. I don't know when he'll be back. But soon hopefully."
Adriana let out a small sigh of relief. "I'm sorry," she said, "I don't know why I'm worrying so much."
"Because it's hard to feel like you're being kept in the dark by the man you love," Natalie said sympathetically, "it hurts."
The younger woman seemed startled by her words, "Oh, I don't know if I would call Rex-"
"Okay, you're gonna want to save the denial for someone else," Natalie told her, sounding a little more harsh than she intended, "I just got a real big reminder of how stupid it is to not tell people you care about them, so I'm not really feeling patient with other people who do it."
"I'm sorry," Adriana mumbled. For a moment she looked like she was going to leave, but then she spoke hesitantly again, "By the way, you were asking me about Layla the other day…"
"Yeah," Natalie said, suddenly snapping to attention.
"Well I just thought you might want to know she's been acting kind of strange the last couple days," she said, "and when I saw her today she was asking me about Rex and why he was asking questions about John."
"What did you say?" Natalie asked urgently.
"That I didn't know," she said, "which is the truth, but I don't think I would have told her anyway. There was something strange about it all."
"Thanks," Natalie said.
"Do you think Layla had something to do with what happened to John?" she asked.
"We're not sure," Natalie said, unsure whether to say anything. She was sure Adriana was trustworthy but somewhat concerned that in her naïveté she might say something to the wrong person.
Almost as if she understood this Adriana squeezed Natalie's hand and said, "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."
He'd always hated hospitals. Ever since he watched them wheel the shrouded gurney with his father's corpse down the hallway of the hospital in AC. He'd never understood how Michael could spend so much time in them. Maybe Michael wasn't really old enough to remember that day.
He needed to remember how he'd wound up here. It didn't do him any good to figure out what had happened if he couldn't figure out why. Why? He wracked it brain, searching through the memories of the days that led up to this…
They'd believed a lie for twenty-five years. He found that out the day before. He thought about telling Michael but Michael would have asked for answers he couldn't give yet. Because uncovering a lie and uncovering the truth were never quite the same thing.
Natalie was returning from the hospital cafeteria when her phone rang. Seeing Rex's name on the caller ID she flipped it open quickly. "Hey what's up?" she said.
"How much do you love your darling little brother?" he asked.
"You found something?" she guessed, "what?"
"First you have to promise never to doubt my magical powers of persuasion and information gathering again," he said.
"Sure I promise," she said impatiently.
"Okay," he said taking a deep breath, "you remember how Michael said the doc who worked on Daddy McBain was mugged a little bit before the incident?"
"Yeah?" she said.
"He filed assault charges," he said, "somehow he found out the identity of his attacker. Turns out it was a juvenile so the records were sealed."
"Damn!" Natalie said through gritted teeth.
"Eh eh eh," Rex said, "you're doubting me."
"You got a hold of the records?" she asked eagerly, "how?"
"Better I don't tell you," he said, "you'll want deniability. Anyway, turns out this kid is someone we know."
"Who?" she demanded.
"David Truman. Better known to the good people of Llanview as David Vickers."
But it didn't do him any good to remember anything if she was here for the reason he suspected. Damn. He hated feeling so helpless, so feeble. What could he do to stop her in his present condition?
Focusing all of his thoughts and energy on one task he finally managed to speak to her, though he suspected she might have been the only one who could hear him. "Go," he said, "Caitlyn, leave. Please."
To be continued.