LOVE IS THICKER THAN BLOOD
Summary: Haley and Brooke are adopted sisters (not blood-related) who have been abused repeatedly by their adoptive father and practically ignored by their adoptive mother. Now their father is dead and Haley is in the hospital. What will happen to the girls?
Chapter Four: Tell Me Your Story
"Please, Haley. Please wake up. If you can hear me, wake up. Move your fingers or your toes or open your eyes or something. Please…" Brooke laid her head on the bed and began to sob. She looked up, however, when she felt Haley's fingers move slightly. "Haley? Can you hear me?" she whispered softly.
Haley's eyes fluttered but didn't open. Her mouth opened slightly and she groaned quietly, then laid still again.
"Umm… OK, Haley. Come on, Sis. Wake up. You're nearly there." Brooke stood up and touched Haley's face softly. "Come on Haley. Please wake up. I need you." She squeezed Haley's hand again and waited.
After a minute she realized that Haley must have fallen back into unconsciousness again. She slumped back into her seat and waited. At that time, Jennifer and a doctor walked into the room. They had already apparently been talking in the halls.
"So what can we expect now, Dr. Mikowski?" asked Jennifer as she walked closer to Brooke.
"Well, we just need to wait for Haley to wake up. Most of her injuries will start to heal once she wakes up and decides to heal herself. Her bones have been set, her concussion has been taken care of and everything points to her making a full recovery as long as we can get her to wake up soon."
Brooke looked up at the doctor. "I think that she's starting to try to wake up. A minute ago, she moved her fingers and she kinda groaned a little bit, but then she got still again."
Dr. Mikowski nodded. "That's a good sign. Make sure that you talk to her and let her know that you are here for her. The more support and love she has, the easier it will be for her to wake up." After a slight pause he continued. "Well, I will leave you all alone for a while. A nurse should be in soon to check her vitals and everything and I will be back later on to check on her again. Please let one of the nurses know immediately if anything changes, OK?"
Brooke and Jennifer nodded. "OK, Doctor," responded Brooke. "Thank you for taking care of my sister."
The doctor nodded again. "You're very welcome."
He left the room and Brooke turned back to Haley. Jennifer sat in a chair at the table that was near the window. Neither of them said anything for a while. Finally, Brooke turned to Jennifer. "Did he tell you how long it would be before Haley wakes up?"
Jennifer shook her head. "No, Brooke. He said that it was all up to Haley at this point. She has to decide when she's ready to wake up."
Brooke nodded and turned to Haley again. "You hear that, Hales? Everybody's just waiting for you. You can wake up whenever you want to. It's OK. You're safe now." She squeezed Haley's hand before getting up and walking to the window. She looked out and smiled softly to herself. "We're both safe now, Haley."
Jennifer's cell phone rang loudly at that moment, scaring both of them. She flipped it open quickly. "Hi, Jake. What's up honey?" She paused as she listened to her son. "Well, I'm still going to be at work for a while longer. Can your brother pick you up after practice?" Another pause. "OK. Well then I'll see you when I get home. Have fun with Lucas and Nathan. I love you. Bye." She hung up and smiled at Brooke. "That was my youngest son. He plays basketball at his high school."
Brooke half-smiled back. "That's nice." She sat down across from Jennifer. "So where do you live? I mean, do you actually live here in Wilmington?"
"No," said Jennifer with a smile. "I was never a fan of big city life. I live in a small town just south of here called Tree Hill. It's a really great place."
Brooke nodded. "Will you tell me about it?" Jennifer looked at her, puzzled. "Just until Haley wakes up, you know? I need some kind of a distraction."
Jennifer smiled at her. "Sure, Brooke. What would you like to know?"
They spent the next hour or so talking about Tree Hill. Brooke was indirectly introduced to all the important characters in Jennifer's life. There were, of course, her sons. Joshua was 21 and was in his senior year at Chapel Hill. He and his girlfriend, Leah, were getting married the following summer. And Jake was 17 and was just finishing his junior year of high school. He and his girlfriend, Peyton, had been together for nearly three years and were very happy together. Jake's best friends were Lucas and Nathan Scott. They were cousins who grew up as close as brothers. Nathan lived with his parents, Deb and Dan Scott, while Lucas lived with Keith and Karen Scott. All of the boys had known each other since they were little and had been best friends since the first day they met. Deb, Karen and Jennifer were all close friends, as well. Karen ran a café and a nightclub while Deb was a high-powered executive in a movie production company. And Jennifer, as we know, was a social worker. Dan and Keith were brothers who owned a car dealership and repair center. They had been working together for a long time. Jennifer's father, Brian "Whitey" Durham, lived with her and Jake ever since her husband had left her. He coached the boy's basketball team at the high school and kept an eye on all the kids to make sure they stayed out of trouble.
"And that's it. We all lead very small, mostly uninteresting lives. But we enjoy them, and each other, immensely."
"That sounds wonderful," said Brooke with a sigh. "To be able to be so close to so many people and have such wonderful friends to rely on. It sounds almost like a dream."
"You and Haley must have had some great friends, though, Brooke. Tell me about them," Jennifer urged carefully. She wanted to find out more about her charges, but she didn't want to push.
Brooke eyed her suspiciously for a minute before deciding that she was just asking out of curiosity. There was no ulterior motive that she could see. Finally, she nodded. "Yeah, we had a few good friends…"
Brooke took her turn introducing Jennifer to her and Haley's world. Of course, neither of them had been close to their adoptive parents and neither of them knew who their real parents were. But they had some friends who loved them despite what they went through at home. There was Rachel Gattina, the wonderfully fiery redhead. She could always be counted on to lift the girls' spirits when they were sad or depressed about their lives. She could distract someone better than anyone Brooke knew. There was also Chase Adams. He had been closer to Brooke than to Haley, although he cared deeply for both girls. They had tried to date once, but Brooke just couldn't do it. It was too hard to let herself be that open to someone. Chase knew everything about her, but not like that. Skills Taylor was like an older brother to the girls. He was a year ahead of them, and was constantly looking out for them. He was the one who had insisted that they call the cops the times that they had. He tried to help them as much as he can. He had an apartment because his parents had left to travel the world and the girls stayed there often because he made them feel safe. Then there was Chris and Chastity Keller. They were twins that the girls had met their freshman year of high school. They were also adopted, although their adoptive parents were wonderful, so they understood somewhat how the girls felt. Haley and Brooke were always welcome at their house and had spent many nights there when their dad came home wasted and they were scared.
"They all really helped us out and took good care of us when we needed it," said Brooke. "I don't think either Haley or I would have made it this far without them. They saved us both a few times."
"They sound wonderful, Brooke. It sounds like you really did have a great support system with your friends. You and Haley both."
Brooke nodded. "Yeah. But Haley's the only support that I really NEED. As long as she believes in me, I know I can do anything. And vice versa. We're not really blood sisters, you know, but that has never mattered. She's been my sister since day one and she feels the same way. Not that having our friends was a problem or anything. I love them for everything that they've done for us. I just wish that they could be here now for Haley. Maybe I'm just not enough to wake her up."
Jennifer lightly place her hand on top of Brooke's and was pleasantly surprised when she didn't pull away. "You ARE enough Brooke. Haley just needs to wake up on her own time. She'll know when she's ready. I promise."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Brooke. She pulled her hand from beneath Jennifer's after a minute, uncomfortable with the closeness, and sat back. They fell into a comfortable silence and glanced between the window, each other, and Haley for a while.
Just when they started to feel a little tense, a croaky voice came from the bed in the middle of the room. "Brooke?"
Author's Note: GASP! Haley's awake!! Yay!! I know that this story has been mostly Brooke, but Haley will slowly become a bigger part of the story. And this chapter was great for introducing the other characters in the story. Obviously, some things are different. But most things are the same. I like the idea of Whitey really being a grandfather to one of the kids, and for some reason Jake seemed the likely choice. We'll see how well that plays out. Or not, I suppose. Well, I didn't get any reviews (not even one… sniff sniff) on the last chapter, so that makes me think that I'm not making this story interesting enough. But a lot of people added it to their favorites, so I don't know. But I will try to continue to write. Hopefully you all will start to review!! Please review!! Thanks for reading!
