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Brooke POV

I barely remember the commute here. Everything whirled around me as I rushed through the airport, hassled the cab driver to hurry his ass up,and practically trampled an old lady on my way into the hospital. It was all just the white noise to my one single thought. 'Peyton, I have to get to Peyton'. It wasn't until I stood at the entrance desk that I even saw or thought clearly. I stepped up to see the middle aged woman on the phone, completely ignoring me. Taking a breath before I tore her head off, I tried to nicely get her attention.

"Excuse me, I need-"

"One moment-," she held her finger up at me without even glancing my way before she continued her conversation. "Yea, I know. I know! I don't know how she could sleep with him either! Girl!"

Feeling my temper flare, I reached out and slammed the receiver down on the phone holder. The woman shot me a pissy look before attempting to say something, but I beat her to it.

"Listen bitch, I don't give a shit about you or your petty conversations. In case you haven't noticed this is a hospital. People come in here nervous and afraid and just hoping to whoever will goddamn help that their loved one isn't dead. Now I hope you have more respect for those people, than to sit here and chit chat about how some cunt got crabs. Now, you WILL tell me where my girl is right NOW, or so help me I will have your job. And trust me, it'd be pretty damned easy. A big name like Brooke Davis giving a donation to this place, they'd throw out someone I didn't like in a matter of seconds."

Looking completely bewildered, the woman fumbled to get onto her computer. "Um, I'm sorry. W-who was it you said you were here for?"

Giving her a snide smirk I replied. "Peyton Sawyer."

"She's in ICU right now, room 1018. Would you like me to show you-"

"No, I'll find it myself." I cut her off and sent one last dirty look before setting off towards my destination. It didn't take long for me to find the ICU and upon entering their doors I went straight for the nurse's station. "Hello, I'm here for Peyton Sawyer."

"Brooke Davis?" She asked after picking up a Manila folder.

"Yes, the doctor called me." I answered quickly, now anxious about seeing the blonde and whatever state she was in.

"I'll page the doctor and have him meet you here. He wanted to speak with you before you visited."

I offered a nod before waiting impatiently for the doctor to arrive. Time had never passed so slow. I couldn't help but worry about why the doctor had wanted to speak with me before even allowing me to see her. Was it really that bad? She would be okay right? They expected her to live, to survive this?

My torrent of thoughts and worries was interrupted by a soft hand on my shoulder. I turned to see an old man in a white doctor's coat. His face was kind and he spoke gently to me.

" ?"

"Yes, that's me."

"Good. I've been worried about your friend and was hoping you'd show up soon."

"What's wrong with her?" The fear in my voice was almost palpable.

The doctor took a small breath before explaining the situation. "Well, you see, there are two big problems with . Obviously, her health and the physical damage from the accident. The other problem is more complicated though. I'm hoping you can help."

I stayed silent and nodded for him to continue.

"Her environment. You are the only person we have managed to reach for her. You are also the only one who has shown up or even asked about her. We were able to track down where she lives and works. Considering the long term effects of her injuries, her work place has terminated her. We are also concerned about her living alone, let alone in an apartment with only stairs."

Not liking the sound of that, I immediately question him. "Wait, why would that matter? So she can't live alone or do stairs? Wait, is she paralyzed? Can she not walk?" Tears filled my eyes before I could even finish speaking.

"No, no." He was quick to assure me. "She will temporarily be wheel chair bound, but with physical therapy, she should be up and going again just fine. Due to this though, living alone would be a major problem."

"She'll move back in with me. I live in New York, in the nicest of apartments. She'll be fine. I can take care of her and we have elevators-"

"Miss Davis, I don't believe a big city would be a very good option for her. The noise and business could very easily...overwhelm her at this stage."

He must see the confusion on my face because he lets out a sigh and continues. "Miss Sawyer is extremely lucky to be alive, much less to only have the damage she does. The downfall though, is that what damage she does have is quite extensive and long term healing wise."

I finally get the courage up and ask, "what exactly happened?"

"Miss Sawyer was T-boned by another vehicle. The driver was drunk and ran a red light. He hit her driver's side door and pinned her in it. Most of the damage is limited to the left side of her body. The door crushed her leg and managed to fracture her femur, dislocate her knee, and break her lower leg in two places. One of her ribs is cracked and her whole side is bruised. There was some internal bleeding, but we were able to stop it with emergency surgery. Her left arm has been broken. Both her leg and arm have already been set and put in casts. Her arm will be in a sling for about 3 weeks, then she should be fine with just the cast."

I took a breath and allowed myself to take this all in. She was broken and bruised, but she'd be okay.

"Now the tricky part is her head injury. When the other vehicle hit her it caused her head to hit the side of her door and bounce back once or twice. She initially lost consciousness, but on the ambulance ride here managed to wake up. She was actually conscious until we put her in a medically induced coma to let her body heal some."

"That's good than right?"

"Well, yes. However her behavior is what has me worried."

"Why? What happened?"

"Well, we will need to do more test when she reawakens, but when she was awake she was showing signs of amnesia and possible brain damage."

"What!?"

"Now, it's not as bad as it sounds. She simply couldn't seem to recall any previous events or information from her life. That isn't uncommon for anyone with a head injury. Chances are it's temporary and she will eventually regain at least some of her memory, if not all. It was slightly difficult to examine her though, because the other effect the impact seems to have had is that she has forgotten how to speak."

"So-so she's mute?"

"Not quite. We tested her brain activity and anatomy of the vocal chords and such. She is physically fine and should be perfectly able to speak. I believe it's more of a matter of forgetting how to do it. It's really just another part of the amnesia. Although it isn't very often, it does occur enough to be normal for a regular body function to be temporarily forgotten in a case of amnesia. She would simply need to be encouraged to speak and retaught. Usually patients with these problems remember how to properly do the function once they start to catch on in the relearning process."

"O-okay."

"Now, she would need 24/7 care, at least until she gets up and gets moving with her physical therapy. It is also very important that she is constantly supervised. She may still show the intelligence of an adult, but her exposure would be more like that of a child."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for instance, she may remember and automatically be able to eat perfectly fine, but even if she is eating her oldest favorite food, it may seem like she's eating it for the first time. It'd almost be new to her. It's hard to determine exactly though. Amnesia isn't something that's set in stone. Anything can be forgotten and anything can be remembered. Each individual experiences it differently."

"Okay. That's all fine. I can give her everything she needs. Can we move her to Tree Hill Hospital? It's in North Carolina"

"I thought you lived in New York?"

"I do, but you said that would be too busy for her. We both grew up together in Tree Hill. It's just a small, hole-in-the-wall town."

"That sounds like an excellent idea then. Perhaps being in her home town will help boost her memory too. Once we have her stabilized we will send out the recommendation. They will help take care of her from there and she should only need to stay there for about a week before she could be released into your care. Will you be sticking around until then?"

"I won't even leave her side."

The old man smiled before asking if I had any other questions. After answering no, he lead me to Peyton's room, warning me one more time how she might look a little rough, before leaving me alone.

I took a deep breath before opening the curtain to her little room. My eyes teared up the second I saw her. She looked so small, all wrapped up in that plaster and bandages. The stark white sheets made her look pale and small in the hospital bed. I gulped and slowly stepped over to her. Gripping her good hand in my own, I looked her over with tears cascading down my cheeks. She was so beautiful. No longer the girl I had known. Now she was the woman I wanted to love for the rest of my life. Her hair had lowlights now and sat in bigger, looser curls than she used to wear as a teenager. Her skin was smooth and clear as I swept my other hand across a bruised cheek. I placed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"Peyton. Pey baby. It's me..." I trail off and lose my voice in a sob. I squeeze her hand as I regain control. "I know it's been a long time...too long. And I know that's my fault. And I am so, so sorry for that. And you may not remember all of that, but I am gonna make it up to you when you wake up. I am going to love you and give you everything, and I swear, when you get your memory back, I will be there for you. I will be whatever you want me too be, cause you're my P. Sawyer. And I'm your B. Davis. Me and you against the world blondie. Always and forever." Sobbing again, I squeezed her hand and whispered hoarsely in her ear, "I love you Peyton." And I let the tears fall freely as I laid a kiss firmly on her forehead and just let it rest there. I let myself be weak now, because I knew once Peyton woke up, I'd have to be strong enough for both of us...