Lily's POV

"Oh my god, Nathan!"
My feet carry me without even thinking, and I am by Nathan's side with Mariano in my arms. He is on his knees holding his side. I can see the blood seeping through his fingertips. His breathing is quick and shallow. My fears begin to surface again. This can't happen again. I can't lose him.

"Baby, talk to me."
"Ngggh, I'm okay. What are you doing out here? You and the baby could get hurt."
"I'm fine, and she is dead."

I hear running, and someone kneels down next to me.

"Nathan, are you okay?" Mike asks.

"Yeah, I'm just ready for that run now."
"Always the smart ass, I've called for an ambulance. Just stay down, and they'll be here soon."
He stands up and looks around.

"Who the hell fired that shot. I told each and everyone of you that I wanted her alive!"
"It wasn't us. It came from the trees over there!" Detective Scott answered.

"Then go find whoever it was. I want them found, now!"
Nathan groans as he falls to his side, and Mike rolls him over. Connor runs over with a towel he got from the house.

"Move your hand, Nate. I've got to put pressure on it. Say with us, man. You have a family that needs you."
"Damn, that hurts!"
"I've got to put pressure on it. Where the hell is that ambulance?"
"It's on its way. Should be here soon." Mike answers.
"Where's my Lily?" Nathan groans.

"We're right here, baby."
"I love you, you know that right?"
"Yes, I love you too."
The look in his eyes tells me what he is not saying. He better not. He's going to make it. I can't do this on my own, and I can't lose another love. He's going to be fine. He has to be.

"You're going to be fine. Nate, stay with us. Leo needs you......I need you."
Just then, the ambulance pulls up, sirens blaring. The emts quickly get out and run over to us. They get to work and put him on the gurney to put him in the back of the ambulance.

"Go with Connor. I need to stay here and figure out where that bullet came from. I will meet you at the hospital later. Now go with our boy."
"Connor, take my car. It has the car seat in it. I will call Abby on the way."
He runs inside and grabs the keys. I get Mariano settled in his seat, and we speed off to the hospital. Once we are there, I get Mariano out of his car seat and we run into the ER asking where Nathan is. The nurse has us take a seat, and she will be with us soon.

"You should let the doctors look at your wounds too."
"I'm fine. I need to be here for Nathan."
"He is being taken care of. You need to be, too. I will watch Mariano while they look at you."
I huff in annoyance as he calls a nurse over. She takes me back and cleans my lip, and calls in a doctor to stitch up my arm. When they are finished, I walk back out as everyone runs in.

"What's going on with my son?" Abby asks as she sits down next to me and hugs me. I lean my head on her shoulder. The stress is getting to me. I haven't heard anything, and I'm starting to panic. She takes a sleeping Mariano from me, and I get up to pace the floor. Connor walks over, pulling me into his arms. I lean into him and the tears start to fall.
"He's going to be fine. He's strong. He's not going to leave his family. He loves you too much."

"I'm just scared. I can't lose him."

I hear another set of hurried footsteps.

"Have you heard anything?" Eric asks as he walks up.

"Not yet." Connor shakes his head.

"Where the hell is that doctor?" Mike exclaims frustrated.

We hear the doors open and a familiar voice.

"You lot just can't stay away, can you?" Dr Johnson says, shaking his head.

"How is my son?" Abby asks worriedly.

"The knife missed all vital organs, and we were able to stop the bleeding. He lost a lot of blood, and needed a transfusion. He is resting now."
"Oh, thank God. Can we see him?" I ask.

"Only two may go back. Visiting hours are over so the rest can come back tomorrow."

"Go with Abby, Lily. We all can come back tomorrow. I've got to finish up with the body."Mike assures me.
"Did you find out who did it?"

"No, they were gone, and my men couldn't even find anything out of place. It's like there was no one there."
"I can't say I'm upset that she's gone."

"It does kinda save me some headache. Now go see your man and we will see you tomorrow."

Abby and I head down the hall with the doctor. He stops outside the door before opening it.

"He's still sleeping but should wake up soon as the anesthetic wears off."
He opens the door, and we walk in. He is lying so peacefully. It's almost scary if not for the beeping of the machines. I quickly walk over to the bed and sit down next to him, cupping his cheek.

"Oh, Nathan, I am so sorry. If it wasn't for me you wouldn't be here."

I hear his gravelly voice as he reaches up and softly takes my wrist. His eyes slowly blink open.

"It's not your fault, baby. I would do it over and over again if it meant you were safe every time."
"I love you, my hero."
"I love you too, come here."

He opens his arms for me to cuddle up to him. I am careful not to hurt him and am glad his wound is on the other side. His mom walks over with Mariano and sits next to the bed.

"I was so worried about you both."
"We're ok, mom, and now everything is over and we can live our lives."
I feel the adrenaline wearing off, and I struggle to keep my eyes open.

"Lily, you are exhausted. Let's get you home."
"No, she stays here with me."

"I'm fine, mom. I just need her here in my arms."
"I know you do, but the nurses will ask her to leave. You both need rest, and you won't be able to do that in that tiny bed."
"She's fine here."

I listen to them argue until I am fast asleep

I wake up and look around in the darkness. The room is dark and silent. There is no beeping, and the room is empty. Nathan is not here, I look around and see someone standing in the shadows, and something is lying at their feet. I strain to look, and they step over the heap, and I see who it is.

"Look what you've done. He wasn't going to be mine, and I couldn't let you have him, so now he's dead, and you're to blame. At least I still have this baby, so my plans change a little. I will still have my throne." Jennifer sneers at me.

I can see what she is carrying, and I look down and can see that the heap is Nathan and he is covered in blood. This can't be happening.

"NO! You're dead. You can't have him! I won't let you!"
"You can't stop me. Once I kill you, I can finish this."

"Give me my baby!

**********************************

Nathan's POV

I am quickly woken up by Lily thrashing next to me, and I sit up to try and wake her up.

"Baby, wake up."
She keeps thrashing and hits my wound. I try to hold in the groan and ignore the pain that rips through my side.

"Come on, Lily, wake up. You're safe. No one's going to hurt you. Come back to me."
I finally get her hands held down with one hand and gently stroke her hair and cheek. She stills and slowly blinks her eyes. She looks around and finally sees where she is and looks into my eyes.

"There you are. Where did you go?"
"It was dark, and Jennifer was there. She had Leo and was going to take him away. She had killed you, and you were covered in blood. She was going to kill me."

"Baby, we are here and safe. She is dead and can't ever hurt you again."

"Where is Leo?"

I can feel her panic begin to set in as she looks around the room.

"He is with mom, at the house. She is bringing him back with a change of clothes for us. I didn't want him here in the hospital to catch something."
She lets out a breath and calms down. All of a sudden the nurses and doctor come through the door.

"Are you okay, Mr. Thomas?" Doctor Johnson asks.

"I am fine. Lily just had a nightmare."
"After what you two went through, I can understand."
"She shouldn't be in bed with you. Now your wound is bleeding." The nurse huffs in agitation.

"They are fine, nurse. Go get me some more bandage material."
She leaves in a huff, and he gives an apologetic look.

"Sorry about her. She is a stickler for rules. Now let me look at that incision."
Lily gets off the bed and sits in the chair next to me as the doctor removes the bandage and checks the incision.

"The good news is you didn't break any sutures. We'll just need to clean this up again and reapply the bandages."
He gets to work cleaning up the wound as the nurse comes back with the bandage materials and takes the doctor's place. She is not so delicate, and I hiss as she applies it.

"Alright, your vitals and everything looks good, so I am going to go get your release papers and pain meds for you to go home. I will be back soon."
As he leaves mom and the guys walk in.

"Good morning, son. How are you feeling today?"
"I am feeling good, but I think it is the meds taking effect."
We are glad to see you awake. You had us worried there for a bit." Connor adds.

"Rufus is doing great, too. The vet said he had been drugged, and it was a good thing we got him in when we did. It could have killed him." Eric informs us.

"I am so glad that she is dead. I don't feel bad for it either."
"Yeah, she was gone before she hit the ground. It was a clean shot." Connor states.

"One of Mike's men get her?"
"No, it came from the woods near your house." he adds.

"We don't know who did it. My unit went to look for anything, and it was like no one was even there. Nothing was disturbed. They didn't even find any shell casing." Mike says as he enters the room.

"Who would have done it?" Mom asks.

"Who knows. I'm sure that she had a lot of enemies." I return.

"I'm sorry that she died, but I am glad she is out of our lives. Now hand over the baby." Lily exclaims.

Mom laughs as she brings Mariano over to Lily, and he immediately cuddles up to her.

"Hey baby boy, did you miss mommy?" She cooes at him as he begins to nuzzle into her chest.

"Seems like someone is hungry." I smile.

"He may be. He was good though, last night. He slept right through. He had issues with the bottle this morning, so he didn't eat well. He finally got frustrated and went back to sleep."

She bares her breast, and he latches on instantly. I smooth his hair down and kiss the top of his head inhaling his baby scent. When I saw them yesterday with Jennifer threatening them, all I could see was red. Papa bear reared his ugly head. I wanted to snap her neck right there. I am glad she is gone, but another part of me just wanted her to pay for what she did. Now, I just need to get out of here and figure out a way to propose to my girl.