Brooke was still inconsolable when they reached the hospital. When the others arrived it was Lucas she collapsed into, knowing that if there was anyone who felt the way she did, it was him. Lucas closed his eyes, unable to comfort her with anything but his embrace. He knew then, if he had ever needed it proven to him, that if there was anyone in the world who loved Peyton Sawyer as much as he did, that person was Brooke Davis.

"Brooke, where's Peyton?" Haley understood what her friend was going through but she still wanted to know what was going on.

"I don't know, they wheeled her somewhere and made me stay here. I don't know where they took her. What if I never see her again?" Brooke broke down against Lucas again.

"Shh, Brooke. We will see her again, okay? She's a fighter, we know that." Lucas tried his best to console her, forcing himself to believe his own words.

A nurse approached them quickly. "Excuse me, I'm looking for Brooke Davis." Brooke turned her head at the sound of her name.

"Yes, I'm Brooke Davis."

"I need you to sign off on these forms. You're listed as Ms Sawyer's emergency contact and I need you to sign these so we can prep her for surgery," the nurse explained to Brooke.

"Oh god! Surgery? Is she okay?"

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything right now until we can assess the extent of the injuries. We will do all we can but the quicker you sign these forms, the quicker we can start helping your friend," the nurse was firm, but friendly.

Brooke nodded her head slightly as she took the clipboard and signed the papers.

"Now if you'll all follow me, I'll take you to the friends and family waiting room and as soon as we know anything we'll be with you."

Lucas, Brooke, Nathan and Haley followed the nurse down the hall.

They all took a seat in the waiting room. Haley sat between Brooke and Nathan and did her best to comfort her friend. She looked over at Lucas and suddenly remembered Lindsey.

"Luke, I know this may not be the time, but you need to talk to Lindsey."

"No, I'm not going anywhere. I want to be here when she wakes up."

"I know, but I didn't get to tell her."

"What?! Great. Just great."

"Lucas, I'm sorry but when I got back to her, we heard the crash and then it wasn't my top priority. My son and one of my closest friends were," Haley fought back more tears, upset and angry that Lucas was blaming her. Lucas looked over and regretted using the tone he had. He walked over and pulled her into a hug.

"Hales, I know. I'm not angry with you, it's not your job to do anyway. I shouldn't have asked you to do it in the first place." Brooke was puzzled about what Lucas had asked Haley to do.

"What are you going to do?"

Before Lucas could answer his cell rang in his pocket. He took it out and looked at it, dreading the call to be from Lindsey and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it wasn't.

"It's my mom. I'm gonna take this outside. I'll be back." He closed the door to the waiting room behind him.

"Haley what's going on? Why was Luke even outside in the first place?" Brooke asked quietly.

Haley broke down when she thought about how he hadn't reached Peyton in time. She knew he would be irreparable if Peyton died before he got to tell her how he felt. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

"He, uh, he realised that he didn't want to marry Lindsey and that he never stopped loving Peyton and is still in love with her," she paused as her voice began to break. Nathan rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

"He was outside because he wanted to tell Peyton that he loved her and that he was sorry for everything but she was right, he still felt it and that it wouldn't be right for him to get married when she wasn't the one standing opposite him. But when he got outside, he saw the car- and he-" Haley couldn't continue. For the first time she let her emotions consume her and she cried freely.

Brooke didn't know what to say. Fresh tears flowed down her cheeks as she thought about how elated Peyton would have been to hear those words. Brooke was angry and disappointed in Lucas for letting things get as far as they did but she would never have wished this to have happened. She would have given anything for Lucas to reach Peyton in time. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I can't even imagine what he's thinking or feeling right now. I'm going to go and find him." Brooke wiped her eyes and left Nathan to console Haley.

Brooke stepped out of the waiting room and looked down the hall to see Lucas sitting against the wall with his head in his hands. She walked over to him and sat down next to him.

"My mum called to say she was at Haley and Nathan's with Deb and Jamie. They figure it's best not to bring them to the hospital but she'll be here later."

Brooke nodded. "Haley told me what happened this morning and why you were outside."

"And now I might never get to tell her. Brooke, if she, if she…" he couldn't bring himself to say it, "then I don't know what I'll do, knowing that all she'll ever know is that I didn't love her, when I did, I never stopped…"

"Lucas, listen to me," it was Brooke's turn to be the strong one. "I think that deep down, she always knew. I think that's what hurt her so much. She knows you love her but she didn't know what else to do to get you to show it. And, you're going to tell her. She's going to wake up and when she does, you're going to take her hand and tell her that you love her. Okay?" Lucas remained silent, staring straight ahead. Brooke bit the inside of her cheek to control her tears. She put her hand on Lucas' arm. "Okay?" she asked again, more forcefully.

"Okay," he whispered.

"Okay, good. Now can I make a suggestion?" Lucas nodded.

"As soon as she is out of surgery, go home and get changed. No, Lucas, listen to me," Lucas made to interrupt her. "Peyton is not going to want to wake up and be instantly reminded of what today was supposed to be. And she is not going to appreciate you telling her that you're still in love with dressed in the suit you intended to marry someone else in. In fact, broken ribs or not, she'll probably kick your ass. And trust me, she may look small but she can punch." Lucas chuckled softly and Brooke smirked. "So, go home, get changed and maybe tell Lindsey what's going on."

She stood up and held her hand out to Lucas. "But for now, lets go be with our friends. We all need each other more than ever, right now."

When they got back to the waiting room they saw that Skills and Mouth had joined them.

"Luke, I'm sorry, man."

"Why, you didn't do anything?" Lucas was short with him even though he didn't mean to be.

"If I hadn't have given J Luke that ball then Peyton would never have been in the road-"

"Don't be ridiculous Skills. You didn't cause this and neither did Jamie," he said turning to face Haley and Nathan. "Now we could all sit and blame ourselves for all the ways this could have been all our faults or we could support each other and help each other through this. Which do you think Peyton would prefer?" Lucas looked around the room. He didn't realise but his words had given each and every one of his friends a new sense of strength and solidarity. Brooke walked to his side.

"Luke's right. Peyton would be kicking everyone's ass right now if she knew that this is what we were all doing. What happened is nobody's fault. It was a horrible accident but none of us are to blame. So we need to sit tight and wait for P. Sawyer to wake up. And she will, she's a fighter. She's a fighter," she repeated the last words for herself more than for the others.

The door to the waiting room opened as Brooke finished speaking and they all looked over to the doctor.

"Is she okay?" Brooke and Lucas both rushed to him.

"I'm pleased to say the damage was less severe than we were expecting and she only needed a small operation to close an internal wound." Everyone in the room let out a huge breath. "But there's still a way to go. Miss Sawyer took quite a knock to the head, which she should make a full recovery from, and her body is dealing with the trauma of the accident. She has several broken ribs and she dislocated her shoulder and while they will heal in time, our main concern is her waking up."

"There's a chance she won't?" Brooke's lip trembled and she grabbed on to Lucas for support.

"We are all expecting her to wake up. There's always a small chance that she won't but that's not what we are expecting here. The sooner she wakes up, the better, but it's up to her when she does. It could be a few days, so don't be too disconcerted if she hasn't woken up by tomorrow."

"Can we see her?" Lucas asked.

"Shortly you can yes. She's being transferred down to this ward. The nurses will need a little while to get her stable and comfortable and then you can see her. Two at a time though for now please. But I will lift the visiting hours restrictions. You are all welcome to maintain use of this room and visit your friend whenever you wish."

Brooke rushed forward and wrapped his arms around him. "Thank you." He seemed slightly surprised but he took a small step backwards, nodded his head and touched Brooke's arm. "A nurse will come and tell you when you can see her. And please, when she does wake up, be sure to alert a nurse immediately."

"Of course," Lucas said as she stepped forward to shake his hand. The doctor nodded and left the waiting room.

Brooke turned to everyone in the room. "Okay, now we know she's going to be okay everyone can do what Peyton would want them to do. There's no point in all of us being here, she probably won't wake up for a while. So, Lucas, go and change and speak to Lindsey. Nathan, Haley, go home and see your son. He's going to need you after seeing what he saw."

"And what about you B. Davis?" Skills looked over at her with an eyebrow raised.

"I'm staying here, until Lucas gets back. When the nurses are done I'm going to go and see her and tell her to wake the hell up. And when Lucas is back, I'll go home and get changed and get some stuff for Peyton. Anyone got a problem with that?" she finished with an eyebrow raised. Everyone remained silent. "Good."

Nathan and Haley walked into the kitchen. Haley dropped her bag on the table, took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair.

"You okay?" Nathan put his arm around her.

"She saved Jamie's life, Nate. If she hadn't have got him out of the road it could have been our son in that hospital."

"Don't think like that Hales. She's going to be okay."

"I know, but I feel awful. I've been horrible to her since she came back and now she's lying in a hospital bed and if she doesn't wake up and I don't get to apologise then-"

"Shh, Hales. Stop thinking like that. She'll wake up."

Karen and Deb came rushing into the kitchen when they realised Haley and Nathan were home.

"How's Peyton? Is she okay?" Karen moved towards Haley.

"Yeah, she's out of surgery. She has some broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder. It's just a case of waiting for her to wake up now."

Karen let out a huge breath. "Thank god."

"Deb, where's Jamie?" Haley became concerned realising her son wasn't with his grandmother.

"He's up in his room. He wanted to go and see Chester."

"Is he okay?"

"Not really. Seeing Peyton get hit really scared him. You two should go and see him."

Nathan and Haley walked up to Jamie's room and found him putting some clothes into a rucksack.

"Jamie, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to the hospital and then Aunt Peyton can come home."

"No, buddy, it doesn't work like that. Why would you going to the hospital mean Aunt Peyton could come home?"

"Because she only got hurt because she was getting my ball so if I go to the hospital instead of her then she can go home and you and Daddy and Aunt Brooke and Uncle Lucas won't be sad anymore."

Haley's heart broke at the sincerity of her son. Nathan stepped forward and pushed the bag to one side. He sat on the bed and pulled Jamie on to his lap.

"Jamie what happened to Aunt Peyton wasn't your fault, okay? And she wouldn't be very happy to know that's what you thought. And if you were the one in the hospital, then we'd all still be sad and so would Aunt Peyton. And I love you for wanting us to stop being sad but Aunt Peyton's going to be fine. She's just sleeping now. But when she wakes up, we'll go and see her and you can thank her for making sure you didn't get hurt."

"Okay. Can I make her a card?"

Haley knelt down in front of her son and her husband. "Of course, buddy. I think Aunt Peyton would really like that. We're going to go back to the hospital but you stay with Nanny Deb and Karen and they'll help you make your card. When it's finished and when Aunt Peyton wakes up, you can come and give it to her."

Jamie jumped down off his bed and ran down the stairs. Haley rested her head on Nathan's shoulder. "We have an amazing son."

"That we do. Come on, get changed and we'll head back and wait for Sawyer to wake her stubborn ass up."

Lucas pulled his tie off as he stepped through the front door. He leant forward, resting his hands on the back of the sofa. He was disgusted with himself and the decisions he had made over the last few months. He'd told everybody at the hospital not to blame themselves when in reality it was all he had been doing since he saw Peyton's body crash to the floor. If he hadn't have gone so far with this charade there wouldn't have even been a wedding. Peyton wouldn't have been there at that time and she wouldn't be laying broken and bruised in a hospital bed. There wouldn't be a possibility of her never knowing just how much he loved her because if he had done things the right way he would have been telling her that every day for the last four years. In that moment Lucas Scott renewed the vow he made at sixteen years old: to protect Peyton Sawyer for the rest of her life. He also made a new one: to spend the rest of his life telling and showing her that he loved more than anything else in his world.

"Lucas!" Lindsey shouted as she stepped out of the bedroom and realised he was home. Lucas winced at how angry and upset she sounded. "Where the hell have you been?"

"At the hospital waiting to find out if Peyton was going to be okay."

"And is she?" Lindsey tried to sound concerned but the humiliation from Lucas running to the hospital without saying a word prevented her from feeling anything but bitterness and anger.

"It looks like it. We're just waiting for her to wake up. I just came back to get changed before going back."

"That's it? You have nothing else to say to me? You ran off on our wedding day. You ran to Peyton's side when you should have been standing next to me."

"Are you serious? You think I would have married you knowing that her life was hanging in the balance? You think my friends would have stood around watching this spectacle when somebody we love was fighting for her life?"

Lindsey dropped her head recognising how irrational she sounded.

"Of course not, Lucas. I'm sorry. Look, it's fine you can go back to the hospital and then once we know that Peyton's okay we'll rearrange the wedding." She stepped forward and embraced Lucas. Lucas stepped out of it.

"Lindsey, listen. There's not going to be a wedding. We're not getting married."

"What? What do you mean? Obviously, not right now-"

"No, not at all."

"I don't understand."

"I can't marry you, Lindsey. It's not right. I'm still in love Peyton, I always have been, I'm sorry-"

"You have got to be kidding me? Lucas, I can understand that maybe you're feeling like this now because you thought you were going to lose her, but-"

"No, Lindsey. I realised before then. That's why Haley came to see me and what she was going to tell you before the accident. I was outside because I was going to tell Peyton that I loved her. I should never have let it get this far, Lindsey. You don't deserve this at all-"

"No, you're right I don't. I would have given you everything Lucas, I've already given you all that I am. But no matter what I did, or what I could do, nothing will ever replace her will it? I have been worried about this since she got back here and all this time I was right."

"I never meant to hurt you-"

"Well, that turned out great didn't it? Did you ever love me?"

"Yes, of course I did. But never like you deserved."

Lindsey nodded as fresh tears fell. "Okay, well, there's nothing left here is there and I can see that you're just itching to get back to her, so go. I won't be here when you get back."

Lucas grabbed a pair of jeans and a clean shirt and turned to the bedroom door.

"Oh and Lucas?" He turned back to face Lindsey. "I hope she forgives you for the hell you've put her through. In some ways I feel more sorry for her. Maybe you didn't mean to hurt me, but I think you meant to hurt her, to punish her for breaking your heart. All this time it was her I was angry at, but all she did was love you like she said she would. She would have even stood by and watched you marry someone else. I think it's time you start loving Peyton the way she deserves."

Lucas nodded. He wasn't hurt by Lindsey's words. He knew that every single one of them was true. "I really am sorry, Lindsey." He closed the bedroom door behind him, changed his clothes in the bathroom and headed back to the hospital.

Brooke stepped into Peyton's hospital room and took a deep breath as she took in the bruised appearance of her best friend. She pulled a chair towards the bed and sat down. She took hold of Peyton's hand.

"Hey, P. Sawyer. Can you hear me?" she looked down at Peyton's hand expecting some movement to tell her she was listening but there was nothing. "Well don't think that's gonna stop me talking." Brooke smiled, but it soon cracked and she was fighting back tears again.

"I'm sorry, I'm trying so hard to be strong for you but I'm scared, P. I need you to wake up, okay? You have to wake up because I don't know what to do without you. Lucas is here, honey. He's waiting for you to wake up and seriously you don't wanna miss what he has to say. Come on, P. Sawyer, stop scaring me and just open your eyes or I'm going to beat your fake blonde bony ass."

In spite of her tears, Brooke laughed slightly. She looked over to see that Lucas had returned. "Okay, P, I need to go change and get you some clothes and a hairbrush and some crappy CDs. But Broody's here, so you won't be alone." She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Peyton's forehead. "I promise you, you'll never be alone," she whispered.

A/N: As always, a huge thank you to everyone who's read or reviewed. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint, it's a bit longer than others I've posted. What did you think of the Jamie thing? It popped into my head and I thought it was a totally Jamie thing to do/say but was wondering what everyone else thought? Yay or nay, it's all good. Oh, that reminds me, just go with the Carrie thing not happening. Thanks!

In the next chapter there will be the standard 'everyone talks to Peyton' thing. It's predictable but it's a way for me to explore the things I wish had been said at other points in the series. And it should be a bit happier from then on.