A/N: Here is the next chapter for you all. At the end of this update, I'll have a question up for you guys at the end of this chapter and I would really like to hear your responses to it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural

Every few minutes the hospital would burst with a sudden jolt of energy. Incoming patients were being brought in on gurneys, nurses rushed down the corridor to answers the monitors that were going off. The hospital was finding ways to keep itself busy. All of the minimal chaos that erupted, only proved to being a minor disturbance to Sam and Dean. The two of them have done nothing, but wait. Waiting for news on Natalie's condition and whether she would be alright. The boys had put it to the forefront of their minds, that Natalie was going to be just fine and that she was going to get through this.

Dean continued his slow pacing, in front of the hallway where Natalie was taken. The entire time they had been waiting, Dean had kept himself up on his feet, refusing to lounge around in some uncomfortable chair. Keeping himself moving, was his way of not going crazy from his impatience. He had gotten a hold of Jake's number from Natalie's phone, which had fallen out of her pocket when they arrived at the hospital.

The phone call was short, due to Jake and David still being back at the village, and Dean was only able to tell him that they had made it to the hospital and that was that. Dean didn't want to complete the task of telling Bobby what had happened. He and Sam both agreed to wait to tell Marina until Natalie was out of surgery. But, they knew the next person they would have to tell was going to be Bobby. Dean had already surmised an idea of how Bobby would handle the news and he didn't want to go through that. Dean finally stopped his pacing and leaned against the opposite wall, his eyes looking over at his brother, who was sulking in his chair.

Sam's face was ashen and grim, his eyes were focused on the ground before him and his hands were rested, numbly, in his lap. Sam had been repeating the events of the night over and over again, which only caused him to sink more within his thoughts. He began to run through everything, examining every detail that he could recall, debating whether there was anything he could have done to prevent all of this. Despite, his constant prodding and dissecting of everything, there was nothing he or Dean could have done differently. What had happened, was simply something that happened by chance and there was nothing he could do to change it.

Sam could feel his throat begin to constrict and his eyes began to burn at the tears that were beginning to brim his sight. He let out a pained huff and leaned his elbows on his knees, covering his face in his palms, trying to keep a hold of his composure. Dean's gaze fell from his brother, and bit down on his lip. His ringtone soon pierced the silence that had been prominent between the brothers and Dean looked down, seeing that Bobby was calling him.

Dean sighed, trying to brace himself for the conversation he was about to have with Bobby. His eyes closed as he slowly brought the phone to his ear. "Bobby..." Dean said, his voice was hoarse and low. Sam looked up at Dean.

"Finally. I've been trying to call all three of you for the past few hours. Guess you three didn't have a signal out there."

Dean's brows raised and he blinked his eyes a couple of times. "Uh, yeah I guess, sorry about that...but, we are back in town right now."

"Good. Well, I'm not gonna ask you about the job, since we'll talk about it later, but how is everyone? How's Nad?"

Dean bit the inside of his cheek, wanting to just end the call right there, but he knew Bobby would give him crap if he did. "Bobby...Nad, she...something happened."

"What happened?"

Dean cleared his throat after hearing the worry in Bobby's voice. "W-while we were at the job...Nad got, um...she got shot." Dean could hear the last words seemingly fall past his lips. There was no attempt to try and ease the information on Bobby. There was a silence on the other end of the line and Dean knew that Bobby was trying to process the news. "Bobby? You still there?"

"How bad is it?"

"It...it was pretty bad, Bobby. I mean she was just bleeding...everywhere." Dean said, running a hand down his face. "But, we are at the hospital...she's in surgery now."

Bobby let out a heavy breath and cleared his throat. "She'll be fine, Dean. Nad is resilient. How is Sam doing?"

Dean took a side glance back to Sam, his hands were now drapped over his knees and his gaze remained off of Dean. "I don't think he's good. I've never really seen him like this."

"I can imagine both you boys are not in a good light right now. I'll let you go then. Just call me when you hear news on Nad."

Dean nodded, "I will, Bobby." He hesitated for a moment before ending the call and placed the phone back in his pocket. Dean turned away from Sam, dragging his hands down his face, trying to wipe away any trace of weakness that he was showing during his conversation. He took a deep breath and turned back around, walking over to a spare chair and sat down next to Sam.

Dean looked over at Sam, who had still not given him any kind of recognition, and rested his hand on Sam's back. "Hey, Sam." Dean was trying to coax Sam into talking just a little bit. He wanted to try and get Sam's mind off of all of this, just for a while. "Sam. Nad is going to be fine, alright. There is no need to simmer in the guilt you're feeling right now."

Sam sighed and leaned back against his chair, prompting Dean to remove his hand from his back. "I know." Sam finally said. "I've been going through everything that has happened tonight. Trying to think of anything we could have done differently..." Sam went silent and slowly shook his head. "...there's nothing. All of this was by chance. Nad picked the right house at the right time. Maybe if she hadn't wandered off, it could have been avoided."

Dean let out a breath and hummed. "Well, you know how Nad is. Always wandering off. Hell, her very first hunt she wandered away and got herself into trouble."

Sam's lips twitched at the corners. "You would think she would have learned after that."

Dean smiled faintly at the memory of her first hunt. Thinking about it made it feel like it was years ago when it wasn't. "But, Nad always gets through it. I mean think about it, all that she has been through...Nad always comes out on top. She's a fighter. And there is no way she's going to give up this easily."

Sam rested the back of his head against the wall, his body finally released the tension it had been holding for the past hour. "I just want this waiting to be over."

Dean nodded his head understandingly, "I do to."

The brothers once again descended into silence, both of them feeling a sense of peace come over them. Now that they had talked, even though it was only for a small moment, doing this managed to ease their tension away, allowing them to relax for only a few moments. Dean caught the figure of someone walking towards them from the hallway that led to the ER and he immediately jumped up from his seat. Sam looked up at Dean curiously, and turned to see a middle aged woman making her way towards them and stood from his seat.

The woman stopped in front of them and let out a tired sigh. "Well, she made it through the surgery and we have her prepped in her room right now. Let me show you to her room and the doctors will give you the details of the surgery." Sam and Dean simply nodded and followed the woman back down the hallway, both of them were anxious, they just wanted to see Natalie.

The nurse stopped in front of a door, just as an older man walked out of the room. He turned to Sam and Dean offering them a smile, before looking at the nurse. "Thank you, Nurse." The woman nodded and carried on down the hallway.

"How is she?" Dean finally asked.

"She is stable. The surgery was completed without too many complications. Fortunately, the bullet didn't cause any severe damage to her internal organs, which was our main concern. Now, her muscle tissue was severely damaged in the area and we had to remove the dead tissue. The amount of blood that she lost, was not massive, but enough to where we put her on a blood transfusion. But, she should have a full recovery. It will be painful, but she will make it."

"Can we go in and see her?" Sam asked almost to anxiously.

The doctor nodded sympathetically. "Yes, you may. She is still under Anesthesia, but she should wake up in a few hours."

Dean nodded, "Thanks, Doctor."

The Doctor offered them a small smile. "I'll be back to check on her, soon." He patted Dean on the shoulder and walked down the hallway, leaving the brothers to simmer in silence.

Both of them stood in the middle of the corridor, their eyes fixed on the door that led to Natalie's room. Dean took a breath and looked over at Sam, who gave him a tired yet expectant expression, then reached forward and opened the door. Dean held it open for Sam to walk in first, then followed him into the room. The room was only lit from the lights that were placed on the wall above the hospital bed. The repetitive beeping of the heart monitor echoing in the room was mixed with Natalie's gentle and slow breathing. Her face was pale and her body looked like it had been dragged through hell and back again. Sam cringed faintly at Natalie's battered body, before walking over to the side of the bed, pulling a chair up with him, and sat down next to her.

Dean continued standing in his spot, watching Sam with a careful eye. He watched silently as Sam took a hold of Natalie's hand and held it in a firm grasp. Dean's eyes roamed over the small scene for a brief moment, until he pulled himself out of his daze and walked over to the other side of Natalie's bed, and sat down in the chair that was placed there. Dean took a moment and absorbed Natalie's physical condition and began to feel a sense of relief. Despite of how bad she looked, Natalie made it through the first major hurdle. Even though they had to wait for her to wake up, Dean knew that now everything was going to be fine. Natalie got the help that she needed and now she can focus on just recovering from this.

Sam's gaze moved to their entwined hands and he began to gently rub the top of her hand with his thumb. The last time Natalie had been in a hospital was when Sam and Dean found her in the wrecked car with her brother. Even then, she wasn't in as bad of shape as she is now. Though, seeing Natalie lying in this bed, made both of the boys think back on all the three of them had been through. From their first meeting at Bobby's house, to Natalie's first hunt and then seeing her deal with the loss of her mother and brother. All of this happened in such a short span of time and yet to them it felt like years.

Sam thought back to the conversation he and Natalie had the night Jo and Ellen had died. Only now, Sam realized the truth behind Natalie's words. She expressed how she could die on the next hunt, which she almost did. This made Sam realize that no matter how hard he and Dean try to protect those they care about, they can never fully protect a person. Every individual makes their own choices that have different outcomes. It was Jo's decision to go after the hellhound that had taken down Dean, it was Ellen's choice to stay behind with Jo back at the hardware store and it was Natalie who chose to go on her own way that got her shot. Dean and Sam can only do so much to control someone's fate, when it wasn't theirs to control. That was the fact that both of them came to the realization to. They can only protect someone they love for so long, before something snaps. Natalie was only just another grim reminder for Sam and Dean, but she, unlike most of the others, she was lucky enough to survive.

I know this was kind of short and it was mostly a filler chapter, but I wanted to get Sam and Dean's post-reaction. Now onto the question I wanted to ask you all. So the next few chapters are going to deal with Natalie being in the hospital and healing. But, I wanted to take that time to try and progress Sam/Natalie's relationship. In order to do that, I want to know what you guys want to see. I know there is only so much you can do in a hospital, but how would you like to see Sam and Natalie progress from here. Anything in particular you want to see happen, anything at all. Just post it in a review and I will try and put them in the next few chapters. Xx