TITLE: JUST HOLD ON
AUTHOR: OTHNALEYFAN101
SUMMARY: Guilt ran through his body like blood runs through veins. Overpowering and controlling his heart and his actions until all rational thought was erased. His shining light was fading fast, and there wasn't a thing he could do to reignite it.
DISCLAIMER: I AM IN NO WAY ASSOCIATED WITH ONE TREE HILL OR ANYTHING INVOLVED WITH/RELATING TO THE SHOW. I OWN NOTHING. THE ONLY THING THAT IS MINE IS THIS STORY.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a one-shot I have written about what I think should have happened after Haley was hit by Daunte in Episode 9 - 'Some You Give Away'.
However in this story, Haley did not have to go to the hospital that day.
Also, sorry to everyone who reads 'The Best Intentions'. I am working on chapter 13; it's just taking much longer than expected.
XX—XX—XX—XX
JUST HOLD ON
"HALEY, BABY, BABY! OH GOD!"
"WHAT HAPPENED?" Lucas yells
"They just hit her, man!" cries Nathan, with so much terror in his voice. They just hit her! That evil son-of-a-bitch!
Lucas runs to Haley's side and grabs her hand! Come on, Haley… please!
Nathan lifts her head on to his lap as he pulls out his cell phone and dials 911. He caresses her cheek and doesn't even notice when a tear falls from his face and onto his hand. I can't lose her… I can't lose them…
A few minutes later, the ambulance pulls up beside them and the paramedic attends to Haley.
"Sh…she's…preg…she's pregnant" Nathan finally manages to say.
"How long has she been pregnant for?" the paramedic questions.
"A few… a few months… two, maybe three", Nathan stuttered.
"We need to get her to a hospital, now! She has internal injuries and this leg is badly broken!" the paramedic ordered, while being helped by his partner to lift Haley onto a stretcher and into the ambulance. Nathan just watched his worst nightmare unfold.
Oh my god! This can't be happening to my Haley.
"What…what…do you mean 'internal injuries? She's gonna make it, right?" Lucas stammered.
The sound of Lucas' scared voice made Nathan look up at him. It was the first thing Lucas had said since emergency help had arrived. The shock of what Lucas had said was beginning to sink in for Nathan.
Haley is dying?! No, that's not possible! Everything I care about is slipping away!
"NO!" Nathan shouted, "She is not going to die, Luke!"
"She can't…" he began to sob still clutching at his wife's hand as she was prepared for the journey to the hospital.
"We need to go, but only one person is allowed to come with us" the paramedic explained.
Nathan and Lucas just looked at each other and nodded.
Lucas bent down and kissed Haley's cheek and began to leave.
"Luke, it was Daunte. I saw him just before he hit her. It was Daunte." Nathan brokenly stated to his brother before climbing in the back of the emergency vehicle with his injured wife.
As they were closing the doors, Nathan sat down beside Haley and began to shake, his body rocking backwards and forwards in a soothing, swaying motion.
My whole world is slipping away and I can't do a damn thing to stop it!
"I'll meet you at the hospital. I gotta go back to the café and tell them" Lucas yelled to the retreating ambulance.
This can not be happening. Not to Haley. It wasn't right; she was too much of a good person for something like this to happen. It wasn't fair. She has too much to live for!
But it wasn't time to dwell on why it shouldn't have happened, because it had happened and he needed to be there for his best friend and his brother. Lucas turned and ran, back to the café, back to his worst nightmare – telling everyone he cared about that the girl he loved like a sister was possibly dying. His worst nightmare had become reality.
XX—XX—XX—XX
"Just hold on baby" Nathan said as he heard Haley's uneven breaths.
Why is it taking so long? It can't take this long to get to Tree Hill Hospital!
Nathan stroked her hair tenderly with his free hand as he gripped her hand tighter with his other hand. "Please Haley, just stay with me."
Lucas ran as fast as he could to the café. It was only a block away but he felt as if it was unreachable. As though the closer he got to it, the further away it seemed. When he finally reached the café he burst through the door and stopped. Everyone was staring at him.
"Haley…there was an accident…with a car…Nathan's at the…hospital…Daunte" he stammered, still trying to comprehend the reality of his own words.
Karen gasped and Brooke and Peyton began to cry. Dan just stood their horrified, before he realised what had happened and then angered.
"That bastard" Dan muttered to himself. Peyton, Karen and Brooke turned to him with confused looks, tears still lining their beautiful faces.
"I'm going to kill you for killing Haley" he yelled and ran out the back door.
He ran about a block before he saw Daunte's car. It was smashed into a construction worksite and it looked bad. "Good, you deserve it". With that said, Dan turned and ran back to the café.
XX—XX—XX—XX
"What do you mean Lucas?" questioned Peyton as she walked over to him and grabbed his arm.
"There was an accident… with a car… Haley was hit and she is hurt real bad. Nathan has gone with her to the hospital" Brooke gasped and sobbed even more than before.
"Its bad, its real bad mom" he said to his mom who had come to hug her son.
"They don't think she will make it" he whispered but loud enough for his mom and Peyton to hear him.
Karen pulled back from her son's embrace and spoke forcefully, "That is not true. Haley James-Scott is a fighter. She is going to make it. She's too strong and beautiful not to, not to mention too bloody stubborn!"
"We should go to the hospital" Dan spoke from the counter. He had re-entered the café, unnoticed by the shock stricken occupants of the small building. The kindness in his voice caused everyone to turn around. "I'll take you both. Come on Karen and Lucas".
"I'm coming" Brooke stated and Peyton nodded her head in agreement.
"We need to go now" Lucas replied and they all left the café.
XX—XX—XX—XX
Nathan ran with Haley's bed as the emergency team wheeled her into surgery. He reluctantly let go of her hand, his fingers brushing with hers and then she was gone.
He walked over to the waiting room and sat on the chair. He broke down and he didn't care who saw or heard his sobbing. Tears streamed down his face and he barely felt the hand that was on his shoulder. He looked up, out of curiosity and looked into the eyes of Whitey. The man who had been more of a father to Nathan than his real father had. The man who had helped bring understanding to his life during confusing times. All Nathan could do was stand there and sob. He sobbed as Whitey's arms came around him and patted him on the back.
"It's going to be alright Nathan. She's a fighter, all three of you are" Whitey spoke with such confidence and determination. "I just know it so hold on Nate, because it's all going to be fine".
"Thanks Coach and I hope you're right" he let out a sob.
"Of course I'm right, and you better believe it", he said sternly before sitting across from Nathan in the waiting room and smiling in such a comforting way that it made Nathan feel just a little bit better.
XX—XX—XX—XX
"There has got to be a faster way to get to Tree Hill Hospital!" Lucas screamed at Dan who was trying to manoeuvre his way through lanes of traffic.
"What do you expect Lucas, it was the State Championship tonight! Everyone is this bloody town is trying to get back to Tree Hill!" Brooke snapped back at him.
"Well maybe if someone would yell at them, instead of me, we would get there a hell of a lot faster!" he screamed back.
"Brooke, Lucas, please stop yelling! None of it is helping" Karen spoke softly, her voice strained from trying to keep her tears at bay.
Haley was like a daughter to her, ever since she walked into the café at the tender age of five. She smiled as she recalled when Haley walked in, dressed in pink overalls, asking if she could buy a cookie with all the money she had saved. Granted, it was only a quarter, but she looked so adorable that Karen didn't have the heart to say she couldn't afford one.
After that day, adorable little Miss Haley James came by the café everyday to see Lucas and Karen, her family away from her family. Lucas and Haley had been joined at the hip ever since. Now, her baby was fighting for her, and her own baby's, life in the hospital. What had she done to deserve this?
XX—XX—XX—XX
Nathan Scott was the picture of a broken man. He sat on a hard plastic chair in the waiting room of Tree Hill Memorial Hospital; waiting to see if his beautiful wife and baby were still alive. Glancing towards the doors that his entire family were behind, a silent tear trickled down his face. Then another one and another until there were too many to count.
Guilt ran through his body like blood runs through veins. Overpowering and controlling his heart and his actions until all rational thought was erased.
"Nate?" the older Scott brother asked, placing his hand on his younger sibling's shoulder.
Nathan shrugged the shoulder off, standing and making his way to the chapel. Making his way inside, he attempted to light a candle, but the match kept going out.
Was that meant to mean something? As if no matter how hard he tried to relight the match, he could not keep it going. Just like Haley? She was the match, the bright light, and he could not keep it alight.
Taking a seat in the pew, the young husband hung his head. He sat in silence, too lost in thought to hear the sounds of the bustling ward outside.
XX—XX—XX—XX
"What is taking so long?" Lucas demanded of no one in particular, his question floating in the air.
"Lucas, I'm sure they're doing the best they can and will be here to tell us something very soon." Dan soothed.
"I know that, but my best friend is lying behind those doors," he furiously waved his hands, gesturing to the double doors that separated the waiting room from the resuscitation areas "and I want to know if she is okay!"
"Just believe Lucas; just believe that she is going to be okay" Peyton whispered as she wrapped her arms around the emotional young man.
The rather large group consisting of Lucas, Brooke, Whitey, Karen, Dan and Peyton raised their heads when they heard loud footsteps approaching, the rubber of his basketball shoes squeaking against the shiny sterile floor.
Karen's heart broke when she saw how shattered Nathan looked.
"Nathan…?" she whispered, afraid that if she spoke too loudly, she would startle the distraught boy.
The entire group whipped their heads towards the double doors when they heard them slam shut.
"Family of Haley Scott?" a kind, older looking doctor with slightly graying hair inquired.
Nathan leapt forward, Lucas only two steps behind him. Everyone else sat on the edge of their chairs, waiting on bated breath for news on their beloved wife, friend, daughter and daughter-in-law.
"I'm sorry, we did everything we could, but we couldn't save her."
XX—XX—XX—XX
Everyone, except the two Scott brothers, took a sharp intake of breath before breaking down in tears. Nathan just felt like he was going to sick. Lucas' eyes were wide with fear and disbelief.
"Hales…" Nathan whispered, the feeling of his whole world being ripped away from him, flowed through his body.
"But your wife will be fine and we have high hopes for your son."
AUTHORS NOTE: Okay, so I read some of the reviews and they said that you didn't understand the ending so I am going to explain it. In my AUTHOR'S NOTE at the beginning, I said to keep in mind that Haley did not go to the hospital that day. Therefore, she did not find out the gender of her baby.
Didn't understand the ending? – The doctor came out and said "I'm sorry, we did everything we could but we couldn't save her" but he never said who he was talking about. When he says this, I was actually referring to Naley's daughter, meaning Haley was pregnant with twins and she lost the little girl due to the crash. That is why at the very end it says "but your wife will be fine and we have high hopes for your son."
Hope that clears up any confusion. Jay