Chapter 8

They all arrived back at the hospital and made their way up to the ICU that Nate was lying in. The nurse told them that they could not see him until the doctor had made his rounds and given them permission. They all reluctantly took their seats on the long row of plastic chairs lined up against the walls to wait for the doctor to make his appearance.

Twenty minutes later the doctor walked into the ICU. He emerged ten minutes later and walked up to Sophie and the rest of the group.

"Mrs Ford, Mr Ford is stable, he had a good night. Now he has still shown no signs of awakening, but his vitals are stable and like I said he is fighting." The Doctor said. "Now you can go in and see him, but only one person please."

"Thank you doctor." Sophie said.

Sophie stepped into the room and walked up to Nate's bed. She could hear the heart monitor beating out a steady heartbeat. Moving to his bedside he took his hand in hers.

"You have to pull through Nate, we need to talk about that kiss. We need to talk about everything, I think it is time don't you?" She said then leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss on his lips. "Besides if you die you know Eliot will never forgive himself. None of them will handle it well Nate, they need you, I need you, so you come back to me to us you hear."

"Mrs Ford you will have to leave now." The nurse said as she approached her and started running through Nate's vitals and making notes on his chart.

"I love you Nate, I never told you that, but I do." She said softly squeezing his hand gently.

"How is he?" Eliot asked as she exited the room.

"He is holding his own Eliot." Sophie said seeing the angst on the man's face. "The nurse said we can see him again at visiting time, that is in four hours, so let's go get some breakfast shall we?"

They all made their way down to the cafeteria to get some coffee and breakfast. Then Sophie suggested that they go shopping because none of them had any spare clothing, toiletries, and other necessities. By the time they were finished and back at the hospital it was visiting hours again.

"Eliot, you go in and see him." Sophie said surprising the Hitter with her suggestion. "I think it is only fair." She smiled at him.

Eliot nodded at her and then walked into the ICU and up to Nate's bed.

"Nate, you need to pull through, you need to because, because I need you, we need you. I should never have allowed this to happen, I should have seen the danger, that is my job, and I didn't. It is not your job to take the hits, not from bears or from people, that is my job. Dammit Nate you can't die on me you hear me."

"I hear you." A weak voice replied startling Eliot.

"Nate…" Eliot said leaning into the man.

"Where am I?" Nate asked as he opened his eyes and stared up at his Hitter.

"Hospital, Mercy General."

"How are you?"

"I'm fine." Eliot said. "Sophie and the others are outside."

"Sophie?"

"Yeah she had a feeling you needed help, so they came, they found us, and helped get you to the hospital."

"Don't remember."

"I know." Eliot said softly and then Nate was out again. Eliot turned and signalled to the nurse to come over to them.

"Is something wrong."

"No, no he woke up, he spoke to me."

"Oh I see." The nurse said making a note in the medical file and then telling Eliot his time was up and he had to leave.

"See you later Nate." Eliot said as he turned and left the ICU.

"Eliot?" Sophie asked seeing a smile on the Hitters face.

"He woke up." Eliot said taking Sophie's hand. "He woke up Sophie."

"That's great." Sophie said feeling a pain in her chest that she was not there when he woke but happy that he had.

The doctor made his appearance a few minutes later and disappeared int the ICU ward. He was in there for a good half hour before walking over to Sophie again.

"Well your husband is doing very well Mrs Ford. He awoke earlier and is awake now. Now we will keep him in ICU for the rest of today and tonight, but tomorrow I am happy to transfer him to a private ward if all goes well."

"Thank you so much doctor."

"It's a pleasure Mrs Ford. As I said he is awake again now so I will allow you to go in and see him again for a few minutes."

"Thank you." Sophie said looking at Parker and the others.

"Go." Parker said. It was agreed they would take turns to see Nate and it was her turn, but Sophie needed to see him and talk to him and she could wait.

Sophie took her hand and squeezed it before turning and going into Nate's room and up to his bed. As she took his hand his eyes flickered open and he stared up into her brown eyes.

"Sophie."

"Nate…you have to stop trying to kill yourself." She said the emotion plain in her voice.

"I wasn't, I promise you."

"No you are just a magnet for trouble, and you like to just step in giving no thought to anything and, and… and..."

"I had to do it Sophie."

"I know." She smiled down at him. "I know it's just…well I can't…I don't want to…"

"You won't Sophie, I am not going anywhere I promise you."

"Good."

"So can we talk about that kiss now?"

"Maybe." Sophie said leaning in and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Nate smiled at her and then watched as she walked out of the door tilting his head slightly to the side as he did. Then he put his head back and closed his eyes drifting back into sleep.