Here's the next chapter. i wanted to clear something up. I don't hate Clint. LOL I really don't. This story came from some spoilers I heard about the time John recieved the letter from Natalie. The spoilers implied that Clint was behind the letter and was manupilating the situation. This is just my take on that and I needed a villian for the story and decided that Clint would make a good one. I don't intend to have him do anything bad enough that a daughter who loved him couldn't forgive him for. But it will get worse between them before it gets better. Thanks for all the reviews and reading my little story. Hope you enjoy this new chapter.
Chapter 7
John's heart was in his throat as he looked at the little guy in Lulu's arms. "Liam," he chokes out as he stares at his son with tears in his eyes. "Liam, what are you doing here?" He asks the baby as if he could answer.
Liam, seeing his daddy for the first time in months, squirms in Lulu's arms. "Dada," he says in his little baby voice as he reaches his little arms out to his daddy.
Standing up, John is unable to resist taking him in his arms and holding him tight. "I have missed you so much, Buddy. I can't believe how much you have grown in just a few months. But how are you here? Where's your mommy, huh? Where's Natalie?" He asks looking around before his eyes landed on Lulu and Starr again. "Why do you have my son? Where is his mother? Starr, did Natalie ask you to keep him?"
"Yeah, in a way," Starr stalls.
"What do you mean in a way?" He questions suspiciously. "What's going on here? Why is Liam here without Natalie? She would never allow him to be in the same town as I am without her being here, too. The last I heard, she and Liam were in Llanview. How did he end up here with the three of you?"
"That's what I was about to tell you." Dante says motioning for John to take a seat again. Once John sits with Liam still in his arms, Dante continues. "Natalie is here at the hospital. They have her in one of the exam rooms now."
"Why? Is she ok? What happened? I have to go see her." John starts to get up but Dante puts a hand on his arm stopping him.
"Patrick Drake is in with her now and he should be out soon. You need to wait til they are done checking her out. They need room to work on her if necessary."
"Why would they need to work on her? What's wrong with her?" John asks looking at the three of them catching the look of guilt and worry on their faces. "One of you need to tell me what's going on before I tear this place apart looking for her."
"You need to tell him, Dante." Lulu says
"I was just about to tell him before the two of you interrupted us. John if you will sit back down I'll explain everything to you."
John takes his seat again, settling Liam on his lap once more. "Alright, now tell me what's going on with my girlfriend."
"Lulu and I were walking on the docks earlier today when we heard a woman screaming. We ran to see what was going on and we found a woman and a baby being attacked by two men. The baby was on the ground crying and the woman was fighting the men like crazy to protect her child."
"It was Natalie, wasn't it?" John asked.
"We didn't know at first." Lulu answered. "She was having a hard time staying conscious and all she cared about was making sure her little boy was ok. She was able to tell us to call Starr to take care of the baby before she passed out. We called an ambulance and they brought her here. Liam and I rode in the ambulance with her. When Starr got here she told us who they were."
"But I had already figured out who they were." Dante said. "I recognized them from the picture you have on your desk. That's how I knew to call you."
"Was Liam hurt?" John asks looking over his son.
"I think he was just bruised, but I promised his Mother that I would look after him, so I thought it would be best if a doctor checked him out." Lulu explained.
"How bad was Natalie hurt?"
"We're not sure yet. She grabbed her head like she was in pain before she passed out. Like I said earlier, Patrick Drake is in there with her now. Hopefully he will be out soon to tell us how she is." Dante said.
"Why would she have you call Starr? I know you are her family, Starr, but you have never been close as far as I know. I understand why she wouldn't call me cause she mad at me right now. But why wouldn't she call her family?" John asked.
"That's what I asked." Starr spoke up for the first time. "I couldn't figure out why she wouldn't call Jessica. I know they had some trouble last year, but Mom said they seemed to be getting along good now. And you know how close she is to her family. They would do anything for her just like she would for them. So why would she call me instead of them?"
"I don't know," Dante said. "But she insisted that they not be called. She acted like she was scared to death that they would find out where she and the boy are."
"None of this makes any sense. Why would she even be in Port Charles? She has a restraining order to keep me away from her in Llanview. Why would she come to a town where she knows I'm staying and she wouldn't have her family here backing her up in keeping me away from them? " John asked bouncing a fretting Liam on his knee while he thought for a moment. "Did you catch the guys who did this to her?"
"Yeah," Dante answered. "But I haven't been able to question them yet. I was more concerned about getting her the help she needed, so I called a couple of uniforms to take them in. But they had to be brought here first. She gave as good as she got."
John let out a small laugh. "That's my girl. She always has been a fighter."
"Let's just say I wouldn't want to tangle with her." Dante chuckles. "I have a feeling she could have taken them if she was only fighting one, but the both of them were to much for her."
"Do you know who they are?" John asks.
"No, but I intend to find out as soon as we find out how Ms. Banks is."
"I think I can help you with that." Doctor Patrick Drake interrupts Dante. "Or I could if any of you were her family."
"Natalie is my cousin." Starr steps forward. "Can you tell me what's going on with her?"
Patrick shrugs. "She's awake and talking. She has a slight head injury but everything looks ok for now. We are going to be running more test to make sure there is nothing more serious then a mild concussion going on."
"Do you think she could be seriously hurt? Cause if she is I don't feel comfortable making decisions for her." Starr says.
"I don't think so. But given her most recent medical issues I want to err on the side of caution." Patrick explains.
"What medical issues?" John asks. "Starr, what is he talking about?"
"I don't know John. I haven't talked to Natalie since I moved here and Mom told me that she hasn't been seen a lot around Llanview lately. We just thought she was hiding out after her breakup with you, kind of licking her wounds. Mom never said anything about something being wrong with Natalie. Has she not said anything to you?"
"She's not exactly talking to me right now." John tells her before turning to Patrick. "What are these medical issues you are talking about?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that without her permission and she specifically asked me to not talk to anyone about it." Patrick explains.
"Look Doc, I understand about the whole doctor/patient confidentiality thing." John starts, standing up to face Patrick with Liam in his arms. "But we are talking about the Mother of my son. I think I have the right to know what's going on with her."
"Maybe so, but all I know is that if she wanted you to know she would have told you. And if she decides you should know after all, then she has to be the one to tell you. It would go against all medical ethics for me to tell you." Patrick says.
"Listen, Doc, I know all about medical ethics. My brother is a doctor and I know how he is about keeping a patient's confidence. But I have been shut out of her life and my son's life for months now because I made a huge mistake and I don't intend to let that continue."
"Well, you will have to take that up with Ms. Banks." Patrick explains. "But if you are who I think you are, you might just get the chance."
"What do you mean?" John asks.
"Are you John McBain?" Patrick asks.
"Yeah, I am. Why?"
"Cause she's asking for you." Patrick tells him. "She asked me to call you and I was going to after I talked to Dante and checked on her son for her. But since you are here already, you can go see her. She's in the exam room down the hall. Just don't upset her. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to check on the test results for my patient." Patrick walks off leaving a stunned John in his wake.
John stares down the hall at the room Patrick said Natalie was in, knowing all he had to do was walk to the room and he could see the woman he loves for the first time in months. But for some reason he couldn't seem to get his feet to move. He stared down the hall in a trance until he felt a hand on his arm. With fear in his eyes, he turns to face Starr.
"John, are you ok?" Starr asks.
"Yeah, I don't think so. I finally have the chance for something I have wanted for months and I can't seem to get myself to move down the hall."
"Why, John? You two have loved each other forever. Why can't you face Natalie?"
"I don't know. Maybe I'm afraid to hear what she has to say. Maybe I'm afraid that once I talk to her I'll have to accept that its truly over between us once and for all."
"That doesn't sound like the John McBain I know." Starr says with a smile on her face. "The John McBain I know isn't afraid of anything."
John smiles back at her. "Yeah, nothing but Natalie. She the only one that could really destroy me." John sighs as he tries to get his courage up. "But its time I man up, like Natalie would say. I need to go see her. But I think I'll take Liam here with me so maybe she won't yell at me as much. What do you think, Buddy? Do you think you being there will be enough to protect daddy from mommy?" He asks his son while making funny faces at him, causing Liam to giggle. "Yeah, I don't think so either. But what do you say we go and find out? Yeah, let's go see mommy." He says as he starts to move down the hall.
Before he could walk off though, a nurse walks over to them. "We're ready to check on little Liam now."
When John seemed torn between going to see Natalie and going with Liam, Lulu stepped forward. "I promised his Mother I would make sure he was ok, so why don't Starr and I go with Liam and you can go see Natalie? It might be better that way. I promise we won't leave his side."
"She right, John." Starr told him. "There's no telling what Natalie might have to say to you. Liam doesn't need to be around if you two start to fight."
"Alright. But one of you come and get me if they find something wrong with him." John tells them, handing Liam over to Starr.
"We will." Lulu promises.
John leans over and kisses Liam on the top of his head. "I love you, buddy. Don't worry, I'll see you as soon as I'm done talking to your Mommy. You be good for Starr and Lulu."
"Don't worry, he will be just fine." Starr assures him.
"Well, while you guys are gone, I'll see what I can find out about the two low lives that attacked Natalie and Liam."
John nods and walks off. After he's gone Lulu looks over at Dante. "Why didn't you tell him?"
"I just figured it was better if he found out on his own." Dante explained.
"Find out what?" Starr asks
"Natalie is pregnant and I don't think John has a clue about it." Lulu explains as they walk towards the exam room with Liam.
John stood in front of the door to Natalie's room trying to gather his courage. Taking a deep breathe he opens the door and walks into the room. Standing there for a moment he looks at the beautiful redhead laying on the bed with her eyes closed. Frozen for a moment he drinks in the sight he had missed for so long. Deciding he needed to see her eyes, John cleared his throat. "Hi, Natalie."