Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of the characters.
Pain. It is a simple concept, the feeling of extreme discomfort, the shooting agony every time you breathe. Textbook definition: physical or emotional suffering to any part of the body. There are different variations of pain; from as minor as a tiny bruise that only hurts the moment you get it to the burning horror of a heart attack to the mental destruction of breaking up with your soul mate.
Lucas Scott was no stranger to pain. Being only twenty years old and already having been the survivor of back-to-back heart attacks, a serious break-up with his girlfriend, a falling out with his brother and sister-in-law, a car crash, and ending up in a coma for indefinite periods all in the same day would make even the strongest man alive feel it. Pain, anyways. Who wouldn't after all that happened?
They all felt so guilty as they gathered around the hospital bed, each of them feeling guilty in their own way. Each had their reasons for feeling guilty, though none of them felt as bad as the brunette twenty-year-old man with his head hung in his hands, sitting on the edge of his hospital chair, waiting for the blonde in the bed to show some sign of movement.
It had been over two months since the accident, and yet, the survivors of it still bore the scars as if it had only happened the second before. The scars were not physical, however; those had healed long ago. The emotional scars ran deeper than the pale pink scratches that dotted many of the group's faces and arms. They all remembered the accident so vividly, so acutely, that it might as well have happened yesterday.
The only time any of them had ever felt this guilty was two years ago that day when another horrible car crash had landed two of the group in the hospital already. It was the same brunette who felt the worst about the latest accident. The torture he had been put through when he saw Lucas's car flip over the side of the road and roll down the hill could only be matched by when his wife was hit by a car… and Lucas collapsing of a heart attack.
Two years exactly on the day of the tragic event. Two years since they had all celebrated the win of the basketball state championship. Two years since they had all mourned the near loss of two great friends and family members. Two years since the happiness a certain curly blonde had felt over getting the guy of her dreams, the guy who lay barely alive in the hospital bed now. Two years since the brunette and his wife found out that they were having a boy… It all seemed so far away, yet so close in light of recent events.
The sad part was that everyone knew that in their own way, they could have prevented the accident that left the core of their group fighting for their life. The phrase 'You never know how much you are going to miss someone until they're actually gone' is on everyone's mind.
Two months, though not as long as two years, was still a lot of time that had passed since the accident. Only five people were left hanging on to the hope that Lucas Scott would wake up. They were Peyton Sawyer, Nathan Scott, Haley James Scott, Karen Roe, and Dan Scott. Lucas was the light of the group, and without him, life didn't seem worth living. Four of them sat around the hospital bed, praying to God that Lucas would wake up soon, the fifth regretting the decision to ever have called his family that fateful day two months ago.
Short, I know, but it is only a teaser. The accident and such will be explained in time. The next chapter picks up right at the State Championship aftermath and then from there jumps ahead. All will be revealed in time.