Dan Scott was in a coma. His heart monitor was beeping steadily, but he was in critical condition.
The driver hadn't been found and the elder couple who wittnissed his accident claimed it was a hit and run because as soon as Dan was hit, they drove away quickly.
The police assumed it was just some stupid drunk kids who weren't paying attention. The car was never found.
For a while, Nobody came to visit him. Not even his own sons, except Nathan who stopped by only to see if he was still alive and drop off flowers.
An idea Haley suggested, for Nathan felt guilty.
Though nobody knew it, Dan would not wake up for two weeks.
Two hours earlier
Dan felt a new emptiness within him. He had just learned the man he had spent time with had passed away.
So Dan sent for flowers and left the hospital, still knowing he had a chance for redemption.
And for the first time in a while, Dan smiled.
He went outside into the darkness, feeling happier than ever before. Just as he was walking across the street he noticed an elder couple getting out of their car.
The man dropped his cane.
What would the old Dan Scott have done? Well that didn't matter, Dan had changed.
"I got it." he said, kindly picking the mans cane up and handing it to him. "Let me give you a hand here." he added, helping the couple across the road and onto the sidewalk.
The elder man gratefully accepted Dans help. He began walking across the street once again, turning around to speak to them.
"You folks be careful!" he warned them "You could get yourself killed out here."
No sooner then Dan had spoken those words had a car hit him. All he really remembered was the squel of the tires and then he was out of it.
The windshield shattered and the former mayor rolled over the top of the car, landing hard on the ground and bleeding alot, for the window had cut into him apoun impact.
The horn of the car honked loudly though Dan didn't even hear it.
His heart monitor fell from his hand and beeped, the lights flashing. A bad sign.
Fortunately, Dan was right out front of the hospital and within moments of the crash, he was inside the emergency room.
One week later.
The minute Jamie overheard Nathan and Haley discussing the accident, he grew worried. That night Haley was tucking him in when he looked up at her.
"Momma, is grandpa Dan gonna die?" he asked. Haley looked at Jamie, almost shocked that he found out about the crash.
"Well buddy, sometimes when people get really hurt, the can't be fixed." she explained, knowing the chances of Dan surviving weren't very good.
Of course, she remembered her own crash. It happened the night of the state championship and Haley woke up, seeing Nathan right at her side.
She never felt simpathy for Dan until thinking back to the fact nobody cared enough to be there for him.
Deb hated him. Nathan didn't seemed too worried. And Lucas ran off to Las Vegas with Peyton.
"So grandpa Dan isn't going to live?" Jamie asked, his eyes shining sligthly. Haley grabbed a tissue and wiped his eyes.
"I know it's not easy to understand, nobody know for sure though." she explained.
That was all Jamie needed to be hopeful. And since Nathan and Haley told him how to pray, that's just what he did.
Lucas Scott and Peyton Sawyer
One week ago
Peyton and Lucas sat together on an airplane. They were on their way to Vegas.
When Lucas first called Peyton and asked her to marry him, he really expected her to say the one thing he didn't want to hear ever again.
No.
But instead, she paused, as if thinking about it. Then said yes.
So there they were, about an hour from their arrival. Since nobody could contact Lucas because his phone was shut off, he still hadn't learned about Dan's accident.
Peyton stayed quiet, staring out the window and Lucas wanted to say somthing, anything to shatter the silence between them.
Finally Peyton leaned over and looked Lucas straight in the eyes. Somthing she hadn't done since high school. "I can't believe we're doing this." she said.
"I can't believe you're doing this." Lucas replied. Then, for the first time for quite a while, the two of them kissed.
It didn't last long enough for either of them, but they were still happy.
Almost an hour later, they landed in Las Vegas. It was then that Lucas recieved a phone call from Nathan telling him about Dan.
Two weeks later
Dan Scott woke up. His head was killing him and at first, he didn't know where he even was. There was a faint beeping sound in the background.
The room was white, fluorescent white really. Then Dan tried to sit up to find that he was in the emergency room.
Wires and cords were hooked up to him.
It was then that Dan heard a cheerful, excited voice. "Grandpa Dan!"
He looked over to see Jamie sitting by his bed along with Nathan and Haley. He was actually shocked, despite the circumstances.
Then the memories of the car crash came back to him. Thought there weren't many.
"Grandpa! you're awake!" Jamie said, leaning up and wrapping his small arms around Dan's neck.
Nathan and Haley stood up as well and that's when it hit Dan.
They care.
He patted Jamie's back. "Hey buddy." he said weakly, noting that his right arm was in a white cast.
Nathan crossed the room to the bed. Jamie let go of Dan. "Hey Jamie, let's go out in the hallway for a second and let Nathan and Dan talk."
"Okay momma!" Jamie said happily.
The two left the room together, Haley talking about buying Jamie some pretzels.
Dan's eyes flickered up to his son. "How long's it been?" he asked in a hoarse voice.
"Oh, about two weeks." Nathan informed him. Dan groaned and moved a hand to his head, feeling a large bump.
"Dan, there's probably some things you want to know." Nathan added.
"First of all, Lucas got married. He's still in Vegas with Peyton."
"Peyton?" Dan asked, mildly surprised. "Yeah, they're going to be home tomorrow morning." Nathan answered.
For a moment they both stayed silent. "Why did you come?" Dan asked finally.
"You might not be a good person...but you're still my dad." Nathan responded quietly.
Dan was absolutely shocked by that. "And Jamie was really worried about you." he added.
Almost as soon as Nathan mentioned him, Jamie came running back into the room with chocolate all over his mouth. Haley followed him, laughing.
"What's this?" Nathan asked jokingly, turning around and facing his son and wife. "They had chocolate pretzels." Haley explained.
Dan remained quiet for a while. Despite his injuries, he felt great.
Three days later
Dan laid in his bed at Nathan's house. They agreed to let him stay until he was better.
He learned that he had a concussion. His right arm was fractured and his wrist broken. His left leg was also broken, but the doctor assured him it was healing just fine.
Lucas came back and not once did he even call to check up on Dan.
It wasn't until that evening Dan had a thought.
Whoever hit him hadn't been taken into custody, or even found for that matter.
Maybe it was only an accident, but Dan thought otherwise.
Now alot of people hated Dan Scott. Alot of people.
So what if one of those people was angry enough to purposely harm him? But who would do that? And why?
At first it wasn't a grea idea.
But the more Dan thought about it, the more he realized it was certainly a possibilty.
Of course there was not much he could do about it at the time. He wasn't expected to walk again for at least another two to three weeks.
But when he did, Dan was determined to find the hit and run driver himself.