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.

.

Lucas taps his foot against the linoleum floor as Brooke glares at him from a few seats away. Her stare is hard to ignore as he leans back against the uncomfortable plastic, neon green chair.

"Could you stop it?"

"Stop what?" She questions, her tone icy.

"Staring at me like I'm a fucking criminal."

"Why are you even here Lucas? It's not like you cared enough to be there for the first 17 years of her life."

"Why am I here? I'm here because I found my daughter passed out in front of her so-called mother's house and I'd like to know if she's alive.

"So she's your daughter now? And I'm the bad mother?"

"Why didn't you get her tested for HCM?" Lucas asks quietly, his face contorted in confusion.

"I did." She mumbles. "I did. She told me she was negative. The paper said she was negative. I didn't- I didn't know…"

"Brooke-" Lucas starts.

"This is all your fault." Brooke says standing. "You gave her this! She could be dead now, because of you!"

I know how you feel, no secrets to reveal, nobody knows me at all
Very late at night and in the morning light, nobody knows me at all

Brooke stomps her high-heel clad foot on the floor and to Lucas the sound is deafening. She's on the verge of tears as she walks over to Lucas and shoves him.

"I hate you." She says coldly as tears slide down her cheeks, beating her fists against his chest. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

By the Brooke's finished she's screaming and crying and falling into Lucas's arms. Her chest heaves as she takes deep breaths, trying to calm down as he rubs her back soothingly.

"Mr. and Mrs. Scott?" The doctor asks, searching the room for an interested face.

"Davis." Brooke says, collecting herself. "Mrs. Davis, Mr. Scott."

"Well, your daughter has a condition called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, commonly HCM. Muscle thickening occurs without an obvious cause and normal alignment of muscle cells is absent."

"We know." Lucas interrupts. "I have it, and so does my father."

"Sorry. We just, is Ellie alright?" Brooke asks.

"Your daughter suffered a mild heart attack. I'm going to prescribe medication that must be taken everyday that should control her condition. She's out of surgery and still under anesthesia but she should be awake soon." The Doctor says coldly. "You can see her whenever you're ready."


When I was a child everybody smiled, nobody knows me at all
Very late at night and in the morning light, nobody knows me at all

Now I got lots of friends, yes, but then again, nobody knows me at all
Kids and a wife, it's a beautiful life, nobody knows me at all

"So. Are we gonna do this?" Lucas questions quietly.

"I can't. I can't do it. What if she-"

"Brooke. Relax, ok? We're going to go in there and you're going to be fine. And Ellie is going to be fine."

They both walk silently to the door and Lucas looked down towards his hand, linking it quietly with Brooke's.