Don't own OTH or any of the characters. Just sayin'.
They say right before you pass on into the afterlife, your life flashes before your eyes.
And unfortunately, Dan Scott was one of the people that had this occurrence.
He thought of how he'd treated Karen, how Lucas wasn't in his life. How Nathan was raised by him, and he didn't want him either. How no one wanted him. How Deb divorced him. Why she divorced him. He thought of Keith. He thought of how he treated Keith. He thought of how he treated so many people, and how it came back to him.
He thought of what made him this way.
He remembers in high school, when he was looking into Karen's beautiful blue eyes, how he said he'd love her forever. How he'd never do anything to hurt her.
He thought of prom, how she thought they might get married.
He flashed to when she told him she was pregnant, and he so cruelly told her to have "it" removed.
Dan Scott didn't consider that a cruel choice. He thought it'd be better that way, for the both of them. If "it" had been removed, they could get an education, get a home, get a good job, raise a family when it was an option, when they could take care of him or her.
He didn't have time to tell her these things before betrayal and hate swirled in her eyes and she slammed the door on her way out.
He thought of how much he loved her, and how heartbroken he was when she left. But she obviously didn't want him. Besides, Dan knew somehow, there would be someone to take care of her.
And so, he went to college, met Deb, made a mistake, ended up married with a kid.
But, even with his beautiful wife, amazing dealership, and athletic son, he found himself thinking of Karen.
He remembers how he pressured Nathan, and he thought it was for the best. He knew it'd morph him into a great player. Scouts would love him. And they did.
He remembers how he saw Lucas, dropping Nathan off at school, or at a ball game, but didn't have the courage to talk to him. He knew what he'd did, he knew he'd never forgive him. How Keith was his real father.
He remembers how jealous he was when he saw Keith with Karen.
He remembers how Keith died.
He remembers Deb admitting to the fire.
He remembers shame, guilt, at what he'd done.
He remembers everything, and it swirls in his head, and a single tear falls down his cheek.
He thought of Karen. How he loved her. How maybe if he'd made the right choice, he wouldn't have gotten into this mess.
He knows that's what drove him to cruelness, bitterness, coldness.
He then realizes that Karen never would've loved Keith.
He then realizes they'd loved each other all along.
He then realizes that Nathan wouldn't have been a great basketball player - in fact he'd never had been born.
Maybe everything does happen for a reason.
But then he ponders, that maybe, just maybe, their lives would've been better with compassion, sensitivity, simply caring. That Keith would've been alive.
Yes, it was true. If Dan Scott had made the right choice as a boy, they all would've been a lot happier. Or would they?
And with these final thoughts, Dan laid his head against the soft, welcoming pillow as he drifted into darkness.
And the doctors heard that menacing sound of a flat line.
