Lucas Scott was perfectly aware of the fact that he had screwed up, perhaps beyond repair. Two nights ago, his girlfriend Brooke Davis had broken up with him in a way that left him dizzy. She had stopped missing him, in her words. But he knew Brooke. And he knew that there had to be something more behind her words that he was missing. He also knew that saying "I'm sorry" had not been the proper choice of words on his part.

Sitting at the Rivercourt, he contemplated the events of his relationship with Brooke, and could pinpoint several moments where he had most definitely made mistakes. Given, he could also pinpoint a few mistakes on her part as well.

His cell phone suddenly vibrated next to him, breaking him out of his brooding thoughts, and he saw that it was his best friend Haley. Flipping open the phone, he answered warmly.

"Hey Hales."

"Lucas," she said, her voice sounding panicked. "It's Brooke. She's in the hospital."

He leapt from the bench he sat on, the energy suddenly filling his bones. "What? What happened to her?"

"I'm not sure. I was here with Nathan, and I went outside to get fresh air. She came out of an ambulance, Luke, and she didn't look good. They won't let me see her, and I don't know what happened..." Haley was crying now, falling to pieces on the phone.

"I'll be right there," Lucas said. "Just...hang in there. And call my mom."

Lucas grabbed his keys out of the pocket of his sweatshirt, dashing to his car in only a few strides. Driving well over the speed limit, he wondered what on earth could have happened to Brooke. Was she in an accident? That seemed the only logical explanation. Brooke hadn't been sick. He wondered who had called the ambulance for her. Or had she called it for herself? Last he had heard, she was living with her former enemy Rachel. Should he call the redhead? No, he decided. He wouldn't. He would just wait until he got to the hospital to figure out what happened.

When he arrived, Haley was pacing the waiting room, holding herself tightly. "Luke!"

"Did you talk to my mom?"

"Yes, she's on her way."

"Okay. She can probably help with this. I'm sure she can."

"Okay," Haley whispered, sitting down. "I'm scared, Luke. It's all falling apart. Everything, I mean. Nathan's still in the hospital. Brooke is, too. But she needs to be okay. She's the only one, out of all of us, who hasn't been in this hospital in the past two years."

"I know," Lucas sighed. He had always wondered how Brooke managed to avoid the brunt of every car accident, every school shooting, every major issue. He had considered her untouchable. She was Brooke Davis. Beautiful, confident, wealthy. There was nothing that could harm her. Besides him.

A doctor, with blood smeared on his scrubs, appeared in the waiting room. "Are there any family members of Brooke Davis here?"

Haley suddenly stood confidently. "I'm her cousin Beth. Her parents are too far, so they called me."

Lucas looked at her in surprise for a second, before rolling with it. "And I'm her boyfriend."

It was Haley's turn to look at him in shock. She was fully aware of what had happened between her two best friends. Shrugging it off, Haley and Lucas followed the doctor.

"Miss Davis is not doing well," the doctor warned. "An overdose of this amount is generally life threatening. Which is, of course, the intent."

"Overdose?" Lucas repeated numbly.

"Yes. Miss Davis took a lethal dose of anti-anxiety medication. She also lacerated her wrists, but we were able to stop the bleeding and give her a transfusion."

"I don't....I don't understand," Haley stuttered. Her big brown eyes were rapidly filling with tears. "Brooke has been fine."

"We often see this in our terminally ill patients," the doctor said calmly. "After being given a bleak prognosis, they often do not see a point in putting up a fight."

"Prognosis?" Haley questioned.

The doctor looked surprised for a moment. "She must have not told you. Miss Davis was diagnosed with lymphoma three weeks ago."

Haley gasped, holding a hand over her mouth. "My tigger," she breathed.

Lucas blinked, his brain seeming to cease action. She had been diagnosed with cancer, while he was kissing Peyton during a school shooting. Maybe this is what she had meant when she asked him to save her. And of course, he had been so wrapped up in rescuing Peyton that he hadn't even noticed that his pretty girl was falling apart.

"Can we see her?" Lucas asked, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Yes," the doctor said. "She's sleeping, and she may be groggy when she wakes up. Of course, we're going to have to put her on psychiatric hold."

"No," Haley said immediately. "She can come live with me. And do outpatient therapy."

"Well, she'll have to be on hold here for forty eight hours, but after that, she should be fine to go live with you."

Haley grabbed onto Lucas's arm as the doctor led the way into Brooke's room. Tears were streaming silently down Haley's face, and Lucas was trying his best not to cry. Brooke Davis was happy, and bubbly, and cheery. Brooke Davis would never try to kill herself. How could she? When she knew how many people loved her...

She was laying in the bed, her dark hair sprawled around her pale face on the pillow. She looked peaceful, as if she was only resting, and Lucas wished more than anything that it was true. He and Haley sat in chairs next to her bed. Haley instantly grabbed her hand, staring blankly at the gauze bandages around her best friend's wrists.

"How could we not notice?" Haley cried. "How could we not have known that she was falling apart?"

"I don't know," Lucas whispered. He put his head in his hands, thinking back on every moment he spent with her over the past three weeks. She had tried to tell him, he realized. She had tried to tell him several times.

"Brooke," Haley cried, but did not continue.

Just then, Karen came flying into the room. "Good lord, Lucas, what happened?"

"Mom," Lucas cried, standing up and finally crying as his mother took him into her arms. "She, she tried to kill herself mom. She has lymphoma and she tried to kill herself."

He began to sob, and Karen instantly felt warm tears coming down her face. Over her son's shoulder, she looked at the broken doll of a girl who she had long considered a major part of her life.

"Oh, Brooke," Karen whispered.

Just then, Brooke's eyelids began to flutter.

"Haley?" she croaked. Haley gasped and instantly grabbed her in a hug, and Karen watched as Brooke's eyes remained empty, her arms unmoving, gazing straight ahead at the blank wall in front of her.

"Brooke," Haley cried. "Brooke, I love you. You're my best friend. I need you. You should have told me, Tigger. The doctor told us, about the lymphoma. You should have said something."

"I'm sorry," Brooke said, and finally, Karen watched as tears of emotion filled her eyes. "I'm so sorry. I just...I felt so alone. I felt like I had nobody, and I'm so scared of what's going to happen to me."

"You should have come to us," Karen said softly, approaching the bed. "We love you, Brooke, and we're going to get you through this okay, sweetie? It's all going to be all right."

"I'm sorry," Brooke repeated, sobbing. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Brookie," Karen soothed, stroking her hair. "We're going to make it all right, okay? It's all going to be okay."

Lucas watched as Brooke's eyes met his, and she closed them, turning away.

"Pretty girl," he choked. "You should have told me. I could have helped you."

"Don't," she sobbed. "I'm not Peyton! I don't need you to save me! Go back to your Barbie, Lucas."

"Lucas, maybe you should leave," Haley said tentatively.

"No," Luke said firmly. "Brooke, you told me once you wanted me to fight for you. So that's what I'm doing. I'm not leaving you. I'm not giving up on you."

"You gave up on me the second you kissed Peyton," Brooke whispered, voice full of pain.

"You what?" Haley said, her voice full of surprise.

"Brooke..."

"No, Lucas. Please, just...please just go."

"No," Lucas said firmly. "Brooke, please. Let me be here for you. I can prove to you that I love you, Brooke. I miss you."

Brooke blinked up at him. "This is too much for me right now, Lucas. Not now, please."

"Lucas," his mother said warningly. He turned on his heel and left, walking only a few feet down the hallway before sliding down the wall and putting his head in his hands. What was he supposed to do now?