Chapter 4

Lucas and Nathan walked down the hospital corridor both a little afraid of what they might see in Whitey's private room. Peyton and Haley were sitting in the waiting room, they had said only one visitor at a time but Nathan had convinced them to let them both see him at the same time. Coach loved it when the Scott brothers were together.

Nathan walked into the room first and closed his eyes when he saw Whitey. He didn't even look like himself. He had lost a lot of weight and Coach had always seemed so full of life. Now he was pale and so still it didn't seem real.

"Wow, he looks horrible," Lucas said trying to lighten the mood.

Nathan rolled his eyes as he smacked Lucas on the back. He moved to sit in the chair next to his hospital bed. "Do you think he can hear us?"

Lucas walked to the other side and grabbed Whitey's hand. "Well, when I was in my coma, I heard some things." They were both quiet for a little while, both trying to get their thoughts together. They didn't want to say the wrong thing.

"Hey Coach," Lucas said squeezing his hand. "It's just me, Lucas. Well, I guess I should start out saying I'm a bit pissed you didn't call me when this first started. You were there for me when I was in the hospital, I would have liked to be here for you." When Whitey didn't move or make a sound he continued. "I know the doctor's say this is the end and they don't believe you will wake up again, but we both know doctor's don't know everything. So wake up coach, you've been asleep long enough."

Nathan waited a couple seconds to make sure Lucas was done before he started. "Hey Coach, it's Nathan, you know, your best player." He smirked when Lucas shook his head at him. "This is so not cool Coach, I've never seen you so quiet, you are usually busting my a$$ when I make some dumb mistake. And I know I'm bound to make a couple more and no one yells at me like you do. C'mon wake up Coach."

Lucas could feel the tears start to run down his face when Whitey didn't open his eyes. Before this moment he had hoped that by some miracle, Coach would wake up, would somehow be ok. But looking at him now, he didn't see that happening. Whitey was sick, really sick. How come nobody had noticed and called?

Peyton leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees and put her head in her hands. She hadn't been in this hospital since Nathan got in that car accident. She still hated hospitals and now she hated them even more. She still remembered when Whitey had been there for her, answering all her questions about her mom, about death and about moving on. And now she might have to say goodbye to that man, and she wasn't ready.

"Do you think they are ok?" Haley asked sounding more and more concerned.

"Haley, they are both fine, I promise," Peyton said without moving from her current position.

"Well, then what's taking so long?" Haley asked standing up and pacing back in forth.

"Haley, they've only been gone ten minutes, give them time," she said softly.

"Peyton?" someone said from the door.

Peyton froze, she didn't move, she didn't even breathe. Her mind had a million thoughts running through her head but she could only make sense of one. She had never thought she would hear that voice again. When she had said goodbye that night, she had promised to wait. And when a year went by without any contact, she had said goodbye again, and broken that promise. Now another four years and she heard that voice.

"Jake?" Peyton said looking up at him in shock.

Haley slowly backed out of the waiting room, wanting to give Peyton some privacy. She'd never talked to Peyton about Jake, only hearing bits and pieces from Lucas and Nathan. But seeing that look on Peyton's face, made her think she should have pushed the issue a bit more. There was pain, shock of course, but mostly, all Haley saw was the fear.

"Hey Peyton," Jake said taking another step into the room. He couldn't look away. She hadn't changed a bit. It had been five long years but the thought of this girl, this woman, had got him through every agonizing day. She still had that wild curly blonde hair, blue eyes and she even dressed the same. He took in everything wanting to record this moment, to remember it.

"Jake?" She said again standing up and backing away slowly.

Jake took a step back when he realized she was afraid. He didn't let it show how much that hurt, because he deserved it. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it when he didn't know what to say.

"What are you doing here?" Peyton asked quietly. "Dumb question, Coach." She turned away and walked over to the window that looked out over the parking lot. She didn't know what to say, or actually. She had so much to say, so many questions, except she didn't know how to word it.

"Actually, I live here," Jake said and paused when she whipped around to face him. When she didn't say anything he continued. "In Tree Hill, I mean, I moved back here about 3 years ago."

Peyton stared at him for a couple minutes before asking the next logical question. "And Jenny?"

"She's here, in kindergarten actually," Jake said smiling at the thought of his little girl. When Peyton just nodded and didn't say anything else Jake decided he better start explaining things a little more. "You see, about five minutes after I pulled away, I realized that riding off on my motorcycle to look for Nikki wasn't my smartest move. But it wasn't until I reached the hotel that night that I thought to call my lawyers and tell them what happened."

"So you found her?" Peyton asked.

"Took a couple months but they did find her. In New York City, she was hoping to get lost in the big city I guess," Jake said nodding his head when he saw the next question in his eyes. "I didn't come back here right away. We had a long court battle, and by the time that was over I went back to Florida first, needing to relax and just catch up with my daughter."

Peyton nodded and turned away again. "I'm glad Jake," she said honestly. "I always wondered if you had found her."

"Well I did, but by the time I had enough courage to come back to my home, the one person who I loved most in the world besides my daughter was gone. She moved to the big city and became this columnist for some teen magazine. I didn't want to interrupt her new life, it wouldn't have been right," Jake explained wishing she would turn around and look at him.

Peyton shook her head slowly trying to get her thoughts together enough to say something, anything. But she didn't have anything to say. She had this huge lump in her throat and she didn't want to lose it. She wouldn't let herself cry in front of him. So she did the next best thing, she ran. She turned around and walked around him fast and out the door in a couple of seconds, she heard him call her name but didn't stop. She had to think about things before she could face him again. She had to get everything under control, and most of all, she had to quit crying.

Brooke walked into Karen's Café knowing she was taking a big risk by coming here. But there wasn't any food at the house she rented and even if there was, she wasn't much of a cook. And she was hoping Karen would be there.

"Brooke Davis is that you?" Karen said from behind the counter.

"Yeah its me," Brooke said giving her a small smile unsure if Karen was happy to see her. But when she came out from behind the counter and gave her a hug she found herself blinking back tears. She had missed this.

"When Peyton said she couldn't get a hold of you we all thought you wouldn't make it here in time," Karen said pulling back so she could look the young girl in the face. "We missed you Brooke."

"Of course you did," Brooke said smiling trying to be the same girl she used to be but she knew Karen saw right through it. Brooke looked down at the ground before continuing. "I just wanted to stop by and get a bagel and some coffee to go, if that's okay?"

"Are you sure you can't stay for some breakfast, it's been so long Brooke. And I know Lucas and Peyton can't wait to see you, they should be in here soon." When she saw the panicked look that came into Brooke's eyes she pulled away and walked around the counter and got her bagel and coffee to go. "Here you go Brooke," she said handing it over the counter to her. "It's on the house."

Brooke nodded and grabbed them from her. "Thank you Karen, and I…I'm sorry I can't stay but…I just…I'm not ready. Does that make me a coward?"

Karen smiled. "No, makes you human. And I want you to know Brooke, there hasn't been a day that's gone by that we haven't all worried about Brooke Davis, especially Lucas. He's missed you Brooke."

Brooke nodded. "I've missed him too." She turned to go and made it to the door before turning around. "Thank you Karen."

Karen watched her walk out the door and shook her head while smiling. A part of her wanted to run to the phone and call Lucas and let him know the one girl who has had a hold of his heart was back, but she held back. Sensing that if she said a word, Brooke would be gone just as quick as the last time. Sometimes, you just had to sit back and let nature take its course.