Prologue

Disclaimer: I am in no way the owner of One Tree Hill or it's characters. They all belong to Mark Schwann, the genius.

June 25, 2012

He wasn't prepared for this, that much he knew. Nathan Scott stared out the window of the taxi that was slowly but surely driving him to his worst nightmare. He hadn't thought much when he hopped on the next flight to Tree Hill. One phone call had him throwing things into a suitcase and rushing to get here. Now that he had time to think, he realized he probably shouldn't have moved so fast. It was too late to turn back now, though. He had to be there.

He hadn't been in Tree Hill for more than four years. The day his father turned himself in to prison was the day he resolved to never return to the place he had once called home. When he made that decision, however, he hadn't counted on things to go so wrong. Sure, he had fulfilled his dream of playing for the Duke Blue Devils. It was everything and more. Not soon after his senior year had started, he was approached by the NBA. The rest, they say, is history. He had just finished his first year with the New York Knicks and he had done well. Really well. He had everything he could ever want: his dream, money, a good life. There was something missing, though, and had been for a while. Now, he was going to find out why. He wasn't ready for this.

He heard the ringtone on his phone go off for the hundreth time and was unsurprised to see it was Clay, his agent and best friend, again. He had left Clay back in New York with no clue as to why he was leaving so suddenly. They had actually been in the middle of an important meeting when he got the phone call. After he had hung up, he told Clay he had to go and then he was gone. He wasn't sure whether to tell him what this was all about. Clay was his best friend but this was something he would never understand.

The cab finally pulled up to its destination. He handed the driver a hundred dollar bill and waved him off when he offered change. Grabbing his small bag from the trunk, he sighed as he took in what he was about to do.

The sliding doors opened when he stepped near and he took slow, tentative steps through small hallways of Tree Hill Memorial Hospital, wondering how things had ever gotten to this point. The elevator ride was too slow for his liking and when he finally reached the third floor, he told the nurse sitting at the front desk who he was looking for. The nurse smiled kindly and pointed him toward room 312. He tried to calm his shaking hands by sliding them into the pockets of his jeans, but his nerves still jittered inside of him. God, he wasn't ready for this. Reaching the cracked door of room 312, he took a deep breath and pushed it open. If he thought he was unprepared before, he felt completely overwhelmed now. This sight was something no one could prepare for.

Tubes were coming from every which way, attached to various machines and gadgets. They completely overtook the person to which they were hooked to. He felt as though gravity had just increased drastically and almost let his knees buckle. He would have went down if somene weren't there to catch him.

"Easy, Nate," they said softly guiding him to the nearest chair. When he looked up he was greeteed by a pair of eyes that matched his own, only they were bloodshot and puffy, indicating many shed tears.

"Luke..."he said, his voice cracking. He wanted to ask so many questions but he couldn't. Its as though his entire body had shut down.

Knowing what he wanted, Lucas told him every thing he knew. Nathan was frozen still. He was angry at himself for not being here but more angry at the entire situation. He was angry at the last year.

"No one could have known," Lucas told him, seeing the gears turning inside his younger brothers head.

Nodding, he focused his attention on the bed where he could barely make out a person underneath everything.

"The doctor says we should just talk," Lucas explained, "There's no telling if we're being heard, but maybe."

Again, Nathan nodded but said nothing. Lucas gave his brother a sad smile, knowing how difficult this was. Lucas had already gone through these stages; disbelief, anger, and the hardest of all, grief.

"I'm going to go get some coffee," he told him, "I'll leave you alone for a few."

With another pat on the shoulder, Lucas disappeared, closing the door behind him. Nathan was left in silence, except for the beeps of the machinery and the sound of the oxygen being pushed into lungs. He inhaled deeply and pulled his chair up to the bed. Taking the hand closest to him, he felt his heart nearly fall to his feet. The fingers were ice cold. He wanted to be sick, punch something, and break down all at the same time but instead he only held the hand tighter and did as Lucas said. Swallowing the large lump that had formed in his throat, he spoke.

"Hey, Hales."