Attn: Don't own them. I would love to own them but alas I can't afford them.

Chapter 9

Rex hurried to the hospital in the morning. Natalie was awake!

When John McBain had informed them all that not only had their dreams come true but that he had her with him and was bringing her to the hospital Rex hadn't known whether to be happy or worried. He settled on both as when he saw the state Natalie was in. She looked exhausted and beat to hell. Her feet had been covered in blisters and her body in bruises. Never had he been happier to see her face.

Michael McBain, her doctor, had kept her pretty much sedated to allow her body to heal so she hadn't talked to anyone since John McBain literally picked her up from the side of the road. It was a miracle that he had found her and one for which he would be forever grateful.

Rex stopped outside Natalie's door and showed the standing guard his ID. Bo's idea. He feared that Natalie for Natalie's safety since it was painfully obvious from the condition that John found her that she had been held against her will. That done he entered and immediately smiled. Natalie was awake and reading a magazine or something.

"Natty!" he rushed to hug her. Wrapping his arms around her slim body he squeezed her hard. "I missed you so much!"

"Rex!" Natalie cried happily. She had feared she would never see him again. She returned his hug until finally she had to say, "Uhh Rex. Need air to breath."

Rex laughed and stepped back. "Sorry." He sat down next to her on the bed and just stared at her face. It certainly looked better than before. "Do you have any idea how lost I was without you, sis?"

Natalie smiled anew at the endearment. Something he only said when he was really emotional. "You have no idea how much I missed you little bro."

"What happened to you?" His tone gentle and loving.

Natalie squeezed her eyes shut trying to block out all the horror then looked at Rex and said softly, "It was Carlo, Rex. He isn't dead."

Rex froze for half a heartbeat then said, "Jesus." He pulled Natalie into another hug as he thought of the man that had hurt his sister more than anyone. He still couldn't believe she had once been married to that man. Still was in fact. After Todd had saved Natalie from Carlo and he had appeared to be dead they thought she was free of the evil man. Obviously they had been wrong. So very wrong.

For a long time neither of them spoke then Natalie told Rex everything. Softly, haltingly she went thru everything she could remember until there was nothing left to say. "He'll look for me you know. Whatever he has planned, he isn't gonna stop this time. Not until he is finished."

Rex knew she was right and it scared him. If Carlo could get her once, he could get her again.

John came back to Natalie's room to find Rex in talking with her. He didn't want to interrupt so he went to the nurse's station to see if he could find his brother. He was supposed to be working this shift. After finding Natalie he felt an intense need to protect her so he had appointed himself her personal bodyguard. He wasn't even sure why he felt so strongly about her. Maybe it was because after her "death" he had gone thru every piece of her life, had stared at her face every day; he felt as if he knew her.

He had felt something last night when he had held her in his arms, comforting her. Something he couldn't define and definitely something he didn't want. Emotional attachments were something he usually avoided at all costs but just looking at Natalie he felt a pull that he never felt before. And to top it all off she was not only married but married to a psycho who not only kidnapped her but wanted to take down her whole family. Figures he snorted to himself.

John asked the nurse if Michael was around and found out he was doing his rounds. Turning around he stopped short when he saw that Asa Buchanan was standing there. The older man had been out of the country when Natalie he had found Natalie but apparently he was back.

Asa stood in front of the man that saved his granddaughters life and held out a hand. "Thank you. You saved my granddaughter and I can't thank you enough. Anything you want, its yours."

John was uncomfortable with the offer but took Asa's hand. "That's not necessary. I was just doing my job."

Asa sized John up then let go of his hand. "You know, I don't like cops. Well except my son of course. I generally have no use for them." He paused a moment then went on, "I'm not sure whether I like you or not yet but I sure as hell am grateful to you."

John stood there not sure what to think. Finally he said, "Uh, ok. I need to get back now."

Asa nodded, "I meant what I said, anything you want. It's yours."

John just nodded and went back to Natalie's room to see if she and Rex were done yet. Seeing that they weren't he waited outside the door and talked with Officer Jenkins, the guard.

Carlo dealt with the news that Natalie had been found badly as first then calmed down enough to think. After tearing apart his hideout he began to form a new plan. First he needed to know if the treatments had been successful and if so just how successful they had been. For that he would have to wait, lay low until he knew one way or the other. If the treatments worked he needn't do anything but watch but if they didn't then he would have to do things the hard way. Starting with killing that trouble-making wife of his.

"But uncle Bo! That's ridiculous! I want to come back to work!" Natalie paced Bo's office in agitation. She had been out of the hospital for over a week and there was no sign of Carlo. She knew he was out there, waiting, but she didn't want to stop living her life until he was found.

"I mean it Natalie. One more week! You just got out of the hospital. Take some time off. You need to recover from what happened." He loved his niece but sometimes she just took on too much. " Natalie you know I love you but I am not letting you back to work until your doctor signs off on it." Bo stared her down and when she sighed and sat down in the seat across from him he knew he had won.

"I'm fine," she muttered.

He could see she really wasn't fine. She was scared out of her mind but trying to hide it. She was also angry and determined to get back to her life. "I know," he lied, "why don't you do to Rodi's and play some pool." He suggested pool because he knew that it calmed her down and usually made her feel better.

Natalie sighed in defeat. She knew Bo wasn't going to change his mind. "Nah Jess wanted to talk to me. I guess I'll head over to Llanfair and see what she wanted." Jess had come back from London for a short trip, ironically enough for Natalie's funeral. Now she was extending that trip to reconnect with her family. There was something different about her though. Something sadder more lonely than before she had left. Natalie suspected it had something to do with a man she had been seeing.

Bo smiled. It seemed like the whole family was coming back together due to Natalie's ordeal. Getting up with Natalie he hugged her goodbye and watched her leave, the bodyguard he had assigned to protect Natalie trailing behind. Satisfied that Natalie was protected against Carlo, at least for the moment, he went back to the paperwork he had been working on before Natalie had come in.

As Natalie left Bo's office she bumped into John. He stayed with her almost the entire time she had been in the hospital. After she had gotten out he went back to work but had promised to be there if she needed anything. For some reason she felt comfortable around him even though they had just met. Maybe it was because he had saved her or it could be something else, she wasn't sure. Smiling, "Hey John!"

John looked up at the person who he had just bumped into and smiled widely. "Back to work already?"

"No. The boss won't let me back yet." She said it with a smile but John could tell she was down about it.

"Hey, chin up, you'll be back to work soon," he said jokingly. Then more seriously, "Listen, you been thru a lot, you know. Its good to take some time and get your life back in order before you jump back into work."

Natalie smiled a bit at that, "That's kinda what Uncle Bo just told me."

"Well Bo's a smart man. He cares about you a lot. He just wants you to be ok."

Natalie suddenly had the urge to hug him but instead, "I know." She sighed then looked up and gave him a huge smile, "Hey, I'm going to Rodi's tonight. Want to stop by and shoot a game of pool with me?"

John was pleased that she asked. It almost seemed like a date though. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He was attracted to her, no doubt about that, but she was the type of woman that looked for commitment. He was unsure until he looked into her eyes. 'What the hell?' he thought, "Sure I got to eat somewhere," he said with a slight laugh.

To be continued...