Chapter 36
Another two weeks passed and still Nate's condition remained the same and even though she tried to keep her hopes up they were slowly fading as the days and weeks passed. She and the others spent most of their time at the hospital. Maggie remained with them as well, but Paul had returned to his parish only visiting on occasion. Eliot watched over them all ensuring that Sophie did in fact go home and get the rest she needed, that they all got their rest and ate at least one good meal a day. It was his duty now as he saw it, to watch over Nate's wife and son and the rest of his family.
"Anybody heard anything about Moreau and what happened to him?" Maggie asked one morning as they gathered at the hospital waiting for visiting hours to commence.
"No, I called Penton, but she said that Moreau had been taken into custody by the Italian and that was the last she heard. I suppose he is either dead or in some undisclosed prison." Eliot told her, he had wanted to know if there were any danger remaining to them or to Nate. He had tried to contact the Italian but with no luck after being told she had taken Moreau.
"So there is no more danger?" Maggie asked, she had also been concerned like Eliot that there might be some remaining danger to Nate or to the others.
"I don't think so Maggie." Eliot said, he could of course not be sure, but he was sure if there were any danger the woman would have contacted them and let them know.
"Do you think they are right Eliot?" Sophie said as he sat down beside her. "Is he not making it back this time?"
"I can't say Sophie." Eliot said turning towards her. "He lost a lot of blood and the trauma to his organs was…great. Sophie nobody can really say, not the doctors and not me."
"But what do you think?" Sophie asked.
"I think that Nate is a fighter, and he is fighting, but this time that may not be enough." Eliot said his eyes full of sorrow.
"Do you think that we should…that I should…that, that the doctors are right?" She asked, should she be letting Nate go, giving him peace.
"I don't know." Eliot said. "The only thing I do know is that he loves you, and that he always will no matter what." He did not want to say what he thought she should do he would follow her lead no matter how he felt or what he believed was the right thing to do.
"I love him so damn much, I don't want to believe he is gone Eliot I don't want to but, this is not what he wanted is it?"
"No." Eliot said softly.
"I just can't…I can't let him go." Sophie whispered her eyes filled with tears. "I can't…his son will never know him Eliot and that is not fair. I can't give up on him I have to…I can't…"
"I know." Eliot said pulling her into a hug. "I know Sophie and it is alright." He said looking up and into the eyes of Parker who stood watching them. "Just give it time Sophie, if he comes back to us then he does, if he doesn't…well then we will deal with that too. He is not in pain, he is not suffering and when you are ready, when we are ready then we can make that decision."
Before anybody else could say anything the nurse came to inform them that Sophie could go in and see him. She nodded then handed Michael over to Parker and left the room following the nurse. She entered the ICU unit and walked up to Nate's bed. He lay as he had for the last weeks, unmoving with only movement the rise and fall of his chest. She reached out and took his hand as she leaned over him and gave him a gentle kiss on his forehead.
"Nate I don't know what to do." She said softly. "I know this is not what you wanted, but I can't give up on you, I can't give up on the hope that you will come out of this and return to us." She said wiping the tears from her eyes. "The doctors are telling me there is no hope but…but they don't know you like I do." Suddenly she looked up as the sound from the monitors surrounding Nate suddenly changed their beat and the nurse was immediately at Nate's bed asking her to leave. "Nate…" She called out as she was ushered out of ICU and the doors closed behind her.
"Sophie what is it?" Maggie asked as they approached after seeing her ushered out by the nurses.
"I don't know…his heartbeat changed and then the nurses came and…I don't know." She said not taking her eyes of the door. Was this it, was this the end she thought as tears gathered.
A few seconds later the doctor moved passed them and entered the ICU unit without saying anything to them.
"Sophie let's take a seat ok." Eliot said guiding her to the wall and the nearest chairs. Parker moved over and handed her Michael before taking a seat beside her. Maggie took a seat and looked over at Sophie her heart breaking at the look in her eyes, it was the same as Nate had in his eyes when they had lost Sam. Were they about to lose Nate she wondered as she fought to keep control of her own emotions.
Silence fell over the group, all of them consumed with their own thoughts and their own fears. It was about fifteen minutes before the doors opened and the doctor emerged.
"Mrs Ford." He said as he came to stand before her. Sophie looked up at him questioningly. "Mr Ford is awake and asking for you." He said smiling at her. "I am not sure what happened, but he has defied the odds, we have removed the ventilator as he has started breathing spontaneously and his heartbeat is strong."
Sophie said nothing but stood up with Parker taking Michael and then rushed forwards passed the doctor and into the ICU. She approached Nate's bed and as she took his hand his eyes fluttered open.
"Nate…" She said as she leaned in and placed her lips on his gently. "Thank you my darling, I knew you would never leave me and Michael."
"Soph…" He managed to croak out as he looked up at her. "Love you." He said then his eyes closed again sinking back into unconsciousness.
"He is still very weak Mrs Ford, and it is going to take a lot of time for him to recover." The nurse said as she saw the distressed look on her face.
"That's ok I understand." Sophie said wiping away the tears. "He can have all the time he needs as long as he recovers." She said then bent down and kissed him gently again before leaving to go and give the good news to the others.
Nate was transferred out of ICU after another three days and then after anther two weeks the doctor agreed to discharge him on the condition that he took it extremely easy as he still had a long recovery period ahead.
"Let's go home shall we?" Nate smiled at Sophie letting her help him out of the bed and into the waiting wheelchair on the morning he was being released. He had accepted that he was not going to be at his best for a few months at least, the internal injuries were far from healed and still very weak. Unlike a broken bone they would take a lot longer than a few weeks to completely heal.
"Yes let's." She said as she handed him their son who sat happily on his fathers' lap gurgling as Eliot pushed them along.
As the exited the hospital Eliot stopped and Nate looked up to see Isabella Bianchi standing alone and waiting for them. Sophie tensed as did the rest of the group. Nate handed Michael over to Sophie and then told them to give him a minute as she approached. Reluctantly they moved away from Nate and went to stand a little distance away.
"Mr Ford." Isabella said looking down at him. "I am glad to see you are leaving the hospital alive."
"I am sure." Nate said wondering what she was doing there, was his team still in danger, was he?
"I came to tell you that Moreau will never bother you or your team again."
"I see, is that because you have put him in prison?" He asked already knowing the answer.
"Unfortunately or fortunately depending on the way you feel about him, Damian Moreau died trying to escape the custody of Interpol." Isabella said leaning down and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "You are welcome." She whispered.
Nate looked at her with a grim look his face, that was not what he had wanted but when he had heard she had taken him into custody he had thought that it might happen, the woman wanted the man dead and this had been her opportunity.
"Don't take this the wrong way but I hope I never see you again Isabella."
"The feeling is not mutual." She smiled at him. "However I will respect your wishes."
"Thank you." He said then smiled a sad smile at her. "I hope you find some peace now."
She looked at him and nodded, perhaps now she could really put her ghosts to rest and move on from her father and brother's deaths.
"Grazie e arrivederci." She said then turned and left not even looking at the rest of the team as she passed them by.
"What was that about Nate?" Sophie asked as they walked back to him.
"Moreau is dead." Nate said looking at her and holding out his hands for his son. "Now let's go home, I believe we still have a birthday party to plan." Although Michael's birthday had passed they had not celebrated and he wanted to do that, he wanted to celebrate his son, his life, and the fact that they were together and safe.
"Yes we do." Eliot smiled as he took the handles of the wheelchair and pushed it towards the door as Parker and Hardison moved quickly in front of them to get the van.
"I love you Mr Ford." Sophie said as she leaned in and gave him a kiss as Eliot opened the door then turned ready to help Nate in.
"I know." Nate smiled at her as he handed her their son. "I love you too Sophie, you, our son, our family, you are what is most important to me and always will be."
"Ready?" Eliot said as he watched the two.
"Ready." Nate said allowing Eliot to help him up and into the van.
"Paul and Maggie are joining us for dinner is that ok?" Sophie asked as she sat beside him in the van.
"I would like that." Nate said. This would be the last time he saw them for a while as they were headed back to Portland the next day.
Arriving back at the safehouse they all took their seats in the living room. By mid afternoon Nate was exhausted and went to lie down and take a nap. Sophie stayed with him until he fell asleep then returned to the others.
"Well Moreau is gone forever." Eliot said as he handed Sophie a glass of wine.
"Yes but Eliot there will always be a Moreau, always be somebody, we made a lot of enemies and they all identify Nate as the one who took them down not us as a group."
"I know Sophie and we can't change that. Hardison has us covered, he watches everybody, and so does Nate, this was…different." He said, if it had not been for Sadiski and the insane serial killers deranged actions none of this would have occurred, Moreau would never have come after Nate like he did.
"That's true Sophie, I have our backs."
"I know that Hardison, but I have a son now, and I…I never want to lose him or Nate, I couldn't…I can't go through this again, not now, not ever."
"So what are you saying Sophie?"
"I am saying that Nate took us out of the game for a reason, now I think it is time we…we found a new home, a safe home, away from all of this." Sophie said, she did not want to leave them, but she had to think of her son and her husband now. Nate had almost died, she had almost lost him, and she had been thinking about that every day since he had woken up in the hospital.
"You want to leave?" Parker said her eyes wide as she stared at Sophie. She was fine with them being out of the game, but this was her family, and she did not want her to leave, she did not want Nate to leave.
"Sophie leaving Portland is not going to stop people coming after you guys, it is not going to keep you safe. If any of our previous marks do come after him, you are going to need us."
"We can go far away from here, to another country, I have homes all over the world, we can go where we will be safe, where I can keep them safe." Sophie said looking at the Hitter and he could see the emotion in her eyes, this was not easy for her.
None of them spoke as they thought about what Sophie was saying, she was not talking about just moving away from Portland but away from America so far away that they might only see them on the odd occasion and none of them liked that thought. Parker stared at her for a second her mind racing, did Sophie also mean she wanted them out of their lives because they could bring danger. Then she drew in a deep breath, this was the Grifters family, her son, her husband, a man she had loved for a long time and she knew the woman was scared and thinking only of what might have happened and what might happen again.
"I understand how you feel Sophie." Parker said sitting down beside her and taking her hand. "If that is what you and Nate want I will support you." She said, if that is what they wanted to do then fighting it might mean never seeing them again and that she was not happy to accept under any circumstances.
"We will support you." Eliot said.
"But you and Nate are going to need help for the next while, so you will stay here until he is strong enough to take care of himself and his family." Hardison added.
"Of course we will." Sophie smiled at them tears forming in her eyes. She loved them all, they were her family, but her first and only priority had to be Michael and Nate. She knew she could find a place where they could live peacefully and without fear and she felt that is what she had to do.
"Good, well I am going to start dinner, Maggie and Father Paul should be here soon." Eliot said as he turned and walked into the kitchen. Maybe in the next few months while Nate recovered they could make Sophie see that they needed them and leaving was a bad idea, but until then they would take the time they could and spend it with them both and with Michael.
The evening was spent enjoying the company of friends and family although to Nate if felt like there was something missing, something off, he did not think too much about it, assuming it was because of the tension of the past weeks, the fact that he had almost died and all the drama at the hospital and Peter. Finally after Maggie and Paul had left they decided to call it a night. Sophie and Nate checked on Michael and then retired to their bedroom.
"Nate."
"Mmm."
"I think. I think we should think about going away somewhere."
"A vacation?" Nate asked as he lay running his hand up and down her arm as she lay resting her head on his chest.
"No. I mean go away, you me and Michael."
"Sophie…"
"Let me talk Nate." She said as she pushed herself up in bed to sit and look at him. "I nearly lost you Nate, Michael nearly lost his father and I never, never what to go through that again."
"Sophie…"
"Let me finish please." She said taking his hand in hers. "I have houses all over the world, we can go somewhere nobody knows us, nobody knows what we did, we can be safe. Staying here with them it is dangerous and you know I love them as much as you do and I know they love us but…but you and Michael are my priority, I need to know we will be safe, our family, you me and Michael."
"You finished?" He smiled at her and squeezed her hand, he understood what she was saying but he could not do it, the only reason he was here with her and his son who lay in the nursery next door was the three people she was talking about leaving behind. So this was what the feeling had been at the dinner table, she had obviously already spoken to the three of them about her plans for the future.
"Nate…" She said her eyes filling with tears as she looked down at him.
"It is true, I almost died, but that was not their fault Sophie, it was not even our fault, it had nothing to do with our previous lives…"
"How can you say that Moreau…"
"Was brought in by Sadiski." Nate told her. "It was him that found Moreau and unleashed him on us. Now we did dangerous jobs and I pulled us out for a reason but running away from everything and everyone does not work, it does not keep you safe, leaving your family does not solve anything, ask me, been there and done that Sophie."
"Nate…"
"But you are my family, you and Michael as much as they are, you are the most important to me so I will let you decide ok. If that is what you want, then I will go along with you, but think about it Sophie, think what you will be losing if you decide this is the way, but if you want it then we will go." He said kissing her hand gently. "Now Mrs Ford I think we can both do with a good night's sleep." He said pulling her down to lay beside him again.
"I love you Nate." She whispered.
"I know Soph." He whispered back kissing her on her head. "Now get some sleep."
Sophie was asleep ten minutes later, but Nate lay staring up at the ceiling listening to her steady rhythmical breathing. He thought about what she had said, did she really want to leave them behind and did he want to? He loved them, it had taken a long time to get to the point they were now at and he was happy, what had happened was an abortion and surely Sophie knew that. Could she leave her theatre, their life here in Portland, their family? He sighed heavily and then closed his eyes cursing Sadiski and everything he had caused to happen over the last weeks before drifting into sleep.
