Chapter 25

They arrived at the hospital and again Nate was taken directly into surgery with the rest being left to wait for news in the waiting room. Sophie sank down on the hard-plastic chair and buried her head in her hands as she tried to calm herself down.

Eliot watched her but did not speak he simply took a seat beside her and sighed heavily. Parker and Hardison too took seats and waited. All of them wondered how long Nate's luck would hold, would he be able to get through this as well, another bullet wound that made five in only a matter of weeks. Couple that with the added trauma and the additional blood loss that the man could not afford and it did not seem likely and that thought scared them all.

Sterling joined them after about four hours and he too took a seat in silence to wait after receiving the news from Eliot that Nate was in theatre and they had heard nothing yet. He also informed them that everything was taken care of and they were in the clear and so was Nate. He had taken the responsibility of the killings saying that Moreau had waited for him and his team and attacked them. Having had the run in with them after Nate had given them up had bolstered his story as the FBI knew that Sterling was following the man. He doubted that Nate would have planned that, but it had worked out well for everybody.

Two hours passed before the doctor approached them. It was the same doctor who had treated Nate previously.

"Mrs Ford."

"Doctor how is he?"

"He is in critical condition and I am afraid this time he was not as lucky." The doctor said seriously. "The bullet did not do much damage, but the additional blood loss which as you know your husband could ill afford has caused some problems. He is in recovery and then we will move him to SICU."

"What are his chances?" Eliot asked stepping forward.

The doctor looked at the man and then back to Sophie and sighed heavily.

"I am afraid that Mr Ford's condition is such that, well it would be best if you prepare yourself for the worst."

"But he is going to be alright…right?" Parker whispered.

"I am afraid that this coupled with his previous injuries and trauma, well I am not optimistic, I am sorry." The doctor said softly. He knew it was hard for them to hear but they had to be prepared. The man had taken more than most could, and this was perhaps just a step to far for him.

"Can I see him?" Sophie asked trying to take it all in. Nate may die, the doctor did not think he was going to survive. She needed to see him is all she could think.

"Not today I am afraid, you can go in and see him tomorrow." The doctor said.

"Ok, thank you doctor." Eliot said. "We will be here if anything…happens." He said knowing that Sophie was not going to leave in case something happened, especially after what the doctor had said.

Has his luck run out?" Sophie whispered and Eliot looked at her with sympathy. "He told me if he lived like his father some day your luck just runs out. Has his luck run out Eliot?" She asked turning to Eliot.

"I don't know Sophie." Eliot said honestly.

Had Nate's luck finally run out. The man was irresponsible and reckless especially when it came to cons and keeping his people safe, Eliot had always known that. He had never hesitated when any con involved danger to himself, with them he took care, but with himself, well it was as if he had not cared what happened to him. He knew that after Sam's death Nate had not cared if he lived or died, but he had supposed that after they had become a team and then a family, that had changed, but thinking back Nate had always been reckless with his life even after that. He knew how much a bullet wound took out of you and Nate had taken, now a total of five bullets in a short amount of time, four of them to the chest. Maybe the man's luck had run out and this was the end of his journey with them and he felt a lump in his throat and a knot in his stomach at that thought.

"Well I am going to get us some coffee, this is going to be a long night." Sterling said, he would also stay as he thought Nate would probably not make it through the night although he would not voice his thoughts.

Parker looked at Eliot and Sophie then at Hardison. She could see that they were preparing themselves for bad news, she knew they were thinking that Nate was not going to survive and would probably not survive the night. She could not bring herself to believe that. Nate always got them through, all of them. She felt Hardison pull her closer and wrap his arm around her tightly. She knew he felt the same, they could not lose Nate, she would not be able to deal with that.

By the next morning at seven the doctor made his appearance again. He informed them that Nate was holding his own but was still critical as his heart function was low and his lung function was also low.

"Can I see him now?" Sophie asked, almost begged him and he nodded at her.

"Just for a few minutes." He said.

"Thank you."

Sophie walked into the ICU room and stopped. Nate lay surrounded by medical equipment. He was pale and the only sign of life was the slow beeping of the heart machine. She walked up to him and took his hand in hers. She did not say anything she just stood staring down at him. She did not know what to say. He knew she loved him more than anything and he had still done this. He knew she had wanted to keep him safe, but he had still done this thing. She was angry with him, so incredibly angry and although she was scared he would not make it this time she could not get rid of the anger that boiled within her for his actions. She squeezed his hand gently and then the nurse told her she had to leave. She bent down and placed a kiss on his forehead and ran her hand through her hair but said nothing, she did not trust herself to say anything at that point without a dam bursting inside of her.

"How is he?" Parker asked as Sophie walked out of the room and towards the group.

"Alive." Sophie said softly and Parker could hear the emotion in her voice. "He's still alive Parker."

Parker nodded and then turned to sit again. She was tired, they all were, and the emotions of the last few days and weeks were starting to take their toll on them as well.

Eliot watched Sophie and the others and knew that something was going to give and soon if they did not get some good news. They had to rest, but he knew that none of them were going to be prepared to leave the hospital in case something happened with Nate. Sterling had left shortly after five to go and sort some stuff out at the office. There were questions about what had happened, and he had to go and make sure they were all covered. This whole thing had been a fiasco from beginning to end. Well Eliot thought resignedly that is what happens when unexpected jobs came out of the blue and they involved psychopaths that were looking for revenge.

By the late afternoon tensions were running extremely high. Everybody was on edge, none of them had slept, except for the odd nap on the hard-plastic chairs, for almost two days and their tempers where fraying.

"Sophie I think we need to make a plan to get some rest." He said taking a seat beside her. "I know you don't want to leave here but Hardison can organise something and we all need to get some sleep." He said holding his hand up before she could rebuff him making it understood that it was not negotiable.

"Yeah I can do that." Hardison then took his phone and started to hack into the hospital system to get them a room that would be suitable to their needs.

"We will take turns Sophie and we all need to rest please."

Sophie looked up at him and suddenly realised while he was worried about Nate he was also worried about all of them and he could see on his face that he could not take much more either. She sighed and nodded at him bringing a tight smile to his lips.

"Mrs Ford." The doctors voice brought her attention to him. She had not seen him approach and suddenly her stomach knotted.

"Doctor." She said standing up to face him.

"Your husband is awake and is asking for you." The doctor said with a smile realising that she had thought it was bad news by the look on her face.

"He's awake."

"Yes and he is quite adamant he wants to see you." He confirmed.

"Thank you doctor." She said then moved passed him and into Nate's room.

Eliot watched her go and smiled blowing out a breath he had been holding. Parker and Hardison also watched her go and then turned to the doctor who had not yet left.

"So he is going to be ok?" Parker asked brining the man's attention to her.

"He is awake, but I am afraid he is still in serious condition miss."

"But…"

"But I am more optimistic." The doctor smiled at her then turned and left them alone.

Parker watched him leave then turned and pulled Hardison into a tight hug.

"Hey girl." Hardison said holding her.

"He is going to be alright right?" She whispered.

"Yeah girl I think he is." Hardison said softly. "I think he is."

Sophie walked into Nate's room to see him sitting half propped up in his bed.

"Sophie."

"Nate." She said stepping closer to his bed and taking his hand that he held out to her.

"I'm sorry Soph…"

"Not good enough this time Nate." Sophie said withdrawing her hand from his. "You…just not good enough." She said trying to hold her emotions in.

"Sophie he…Eliot was hit, Parker…"

"I don't care Nate." Sophie said softly. "You had no right. You have a plan then you tell us and let us help, or better yet you take care of yourself considering you were already weak and had been shot not once but four times and then you just go off and have us stopped and…" Sophie stopped and drew in a deep breath. "Not good enough this time Nate, sorry just does not do it."

"Sophie please…I'm fine."

"Really?"

"Well I will be fine." Nate said softly. "I had to do it you must understand. He was going to make another move and you could have, well he could have hit you and…"

"And it is fine if it is you because your life doesn't matter to you. You don't care about how I feel about it, or anybody else, you do what you MUST do to keep us all safe right and we would be quite happy to see you die."

"Sophie…"

"Enough Nate…" Sophie said feeling her anger rise in her again and she did not want this confrontation here and now, he was weak and she felt like a monster but she was so angry at him she did not know what to do. "I…I need some air." She said as she turned and left the room with Nate watching her his eyebrows knotted.

"How is he Sophie?" Parker asked with concern as Sophie walked out the room and she could see she was upset.

"He's fine Parker." Sophie said smiling at the woman. "I am just going to go home and get some rest ok." She said as she passed them to the elevator. They watched her go all of them wondering what had happened in the room with Nate.

"What the hell?" Hardison asked looking to Eliot.

"I don't know Hardison." Eliot said although he had an idea. Nate had been an idiot and Sophie had had enough of his way of doing things, especially in these types of situations. One thing he did know is that Nate was doing ok because there was no way Sophie would leave the hospital if he wasn't no matter how angry she was at him.

Eliot turned and looked at Parker who had a pout and Hardison who looked concerned and sighed. Then he turned and walked into Nate's room and closed the door behind him.

"Nate."

"Eliot." Nate said as he opened his eyes and looked at his Hitter.

"Sophie…"

"Gone home to get cleaned up and get some rest. You have put us through hell, put her through hell you know."

"Eliot I did what needed to be done."

"No you did what you thought needed to be done. Dammit Nate after all these years you just don't get it do you?" Eliot said stepping closer to the bed.

"Look Eliot it was a risk yes, but…"

"No buts Nate. You had no right to do what you did, and you could just as well be dead now as lying here in this hospital again. You forget I am the Hitter not you."

"You were hit."

"Oh and you weren't?"

"Eliot."

"No Nate. No more of this, we can't take it anymore, she can't take it any more understand?"

Nate just looked at him. They had to understand he had had a plan and it had worked. Yes maybe he had taken another hit but that was…well it was better than any of them, especially Sophie. They just had to accept that he would do what was needed to get them out of things and besides Moreau was after him, he was his to deal with and he had to do what he did. He put his head back and closed his eyes. He felt old. He felt old and tired. This whole thing had taken a lot out of him he could admit that.

"Think about it Nate." Eliot said watching the man. "Now get some rest and we will see you tomorrow." He said then turned and left the room leaving Nate to contemplate his actions and the way they felt about them.