"Momma, Daddy" Liam yelled.
That was the noise they woke up to. John went to sit up and Natalie leaned into him, trying to do the same.
"Did you sleep well, brother?" Michael asked.
John ran a hand over his face, still trying to wake up, and finally moved back to the chair next to the bed as Natalie sat up.
"Yeah" John said, happily taking the cup John Michael held out to him, and Natalie did the same.
"Liam wanted to see you first thing, dear. He was sad he missed you yesterday"
"We stayed for awhile, Momma, but the doctors were with you for a long time" Liam said, sitting in Natalie's lap.
"Yeah, they were. I heard you spent time with your Dad, though"
"Yeah, we had a lot of fun" he said, "Grandma and Daddy let me eat 2 cups of jello after lunch"
Natalie shot Eve and Michael and appreciative smile. The fact that Liam and John went to the cafeteria meant that John had eaten something. Sometimes, she forgot she'd given Michael that talk about how to take care of him in crisis mode, but she was beyond thankful that he'd listened to her then, because it meant that he was being taken care of now, even when she wasn't able to take care of him. She was just worried about how he'd fared away from her and Michael over the last year.
"Oh wow, you must have been bouncing off the walls"
"Nuh uh" he said, smirking.
"Well, then are you being good for your grandmother?"
"He's been an angel"
"Grandma's been telling me so many new stories"
"Oh yeah?" Natalie said, smiling, "I hope you remember them, otherwise you're going to have to ask your dad"
"I can always call Grandma, she said so" Liam said.
"Of course" she said, "you thought of everything, didn't you?"
He nodded.
"How was yesterday?" Michael asked.
"Good, it wiped me out, though" Natalie said.
"Yeah, it'll do that"
"How long?" she asked him.
"I'm not your doctor, Natalie"
"Michael, give me something"
John looked at his brother, pleading to give her some good news.
"If you took to it, a few days. I'm sure someone will come by to do a test to see if you took to it"
"They said they got it all in surgery"
"That' s good. Radiation is just prevention, then"
"You'll be out of here in no time" John told her.
"You think so?" Liam asked John.
"You're mom's pretty tough. She can handle it, don't you think"
"You're right, Momma can do almost anything"