Thanks for all the lovely reviews, it was so nice to get such great comments and to know people are still reading this. As for updates I won't be able to update again before Xmas but I will try my best to make it before the New Year.

7. "Let the children's laughter remind us how we use to be. Everybody's searching for a hero, people need someone to look up to I never found anyone who fulfilled my needs."

Lucas watched as Brooke and Summer lay curled up in the hospital bed fast asleep, it had been nine hours since she'd been admitted and already his little fighter was showing a strength and spirit that amazed him more and more every second.

Just like Brooke's ability as a mother continued to amaze him, he knew that she had been doing this much longer than him but the was she was in tune with everything Summer needed had him remembering what it was he fell in love with all those years ago.

"Luke?" Brooke yawned, her eyes flickering open.

Moving the chair closer to the bed Lucas kept hold of Summer's hand. "I'm here."

"Has the doctor been back?" Brooke asked as she carefully untangled herself from a sleeping Summer she made her way over to the small reclining chair in the corner of the room.

"Not since we both spoke to him last," Lucas reassured her. "Can I get you anything?"

Brooke shook her head. "Summer should sleep for an hour or more so I'm going to get and get some fresh air and a coffee. Do you-"

"I'll stay with her," Lucas promised, without her even having to ask.

"If she does wake-up before I get back, tell her I've gone to get Cat and I'll be back soon," Brooke asked as she kissed her sleeping daughter before whispering something only they could hear into her ear.

Once Brooke was gone Lucas sat by the edge of the bed, taking in every little thing about his little-girl. She had a few wisps of dark hair left behind her ears and the longest, darkest eyelashes he had ever seen, her mouth and dimples were perfect; just like Brooke.

Everything about her was perfect, even more so because she was his and he was her father, And before anything else in the world Lucas knew that from this moment on Summer would always come first.

"Momma?" Summer whimpered pushing herself up in the bed.

Jumping to his feel Lucas helped her sit up so that she didn't get tangled up in her central line which was currently connected to fluids and antibiotics.

"She's just gone to get Cat, she'll be back soon," Lucas told her.

Summer nodded, reaching out her arms to him. "Snuggle?"

"I …er…"

"Momma always lets me snuggle when we're in hospital," Summer told him.

Nodding Lucas carefully moved the reclining chair closer to the bed, lifting her into his arms he sat down and let her snuggle against him, her head resting on his chest with one arm under her cheeks whilst she sucked her thumb on the other.

"Daddy?" Summer yawned, as Lucas covered them both with Summer's blanket.

"Yes Princess?" Luke asked, his heart filling with more love than he ever thought possible every time she called him daddy.

Summer closed her eyes and snuggled even further into him. "I'm glad you're my Daddy."

"So am I Summer, so am I," Lucas whispered as he reclined backwards in the chair so that they were both comfortable before closing his eyes and allowing himself to fall asleep.

Outside of the hospital Brooke sat cradling Cat in one hand a hot cup of coffee in the other as she watched the sun begin to rise over the car park as the day shift started to arrive.

"Brooke?" Peyton called out as she approached the tiny brunette.

Taking a sip of her coffee Brooke sat Cat in her lap before nodding in Peyton's direction, silently letting her know that it was alright to sit down.

"How's your daughter?" Peyton asked, not knowing what else to say, if someone had told her six years ago that things would be this difficult between her and Brooke she would have laughed at them, because back then she always believed that no matter what their friendship would prevail.

That was before Brooke walked away, without telling anyone where she was going and leaving her relationship with Peyton in tatters.

"She's going to be alright, for now," Brooke whispered.

Peyton took hold of Brooke's hand, just like she would have done six years ago. "If there's anything I can do."

Brooke nodded. "Haley said you had an internship in LA, I'm pleased for you … it's what you've always wanted."

"Yeah," Peyton breathed, not wanting to burden Brooke with her problems when she was already going thorough so much of her own.

Taking another mouthful of her coffee Brooke watched as Peyton nervously rung her hands together. "How did we get here Peyton?"

"You left," Peyton shrugged.

"You broke my heart, you and Lucas, twice," Brooke whispered.

Slowly Peyton nodded. "I know. But the Brooke Davies I know would never have just run away, she would have stayed and fought."

"Maybe, but it wasn't just about me anymore Peyton, I had mu baby to think about." Brooke informed her.

"You mean-"

Brooke bit her bottom lip before nodding. "Summer is going to be five in July."

"I just assumed that you two got back together after graduation, I assumed that you came back to Tree Hill after I left for LA," Peyton explained.

Brooke shook her head. "I was pregnant when I left."

"You mean that night at TRIC when you swore to Lucas that you were not pregnant-"

"I lied," Brooke admitted. "I was pregnant, broken, scared and drinking I didn't feel like I could stay for my sake and my unborn child's I had to leave."

Peyton nodded, knowing it wasn't her place to judge Brooke, not when she has no idea what had gone on between now and then. "When did you come back?"

"A few weeks back, Sunny-"

"Sunny?" Peyton asked.

"Summer, my daughter, she needs a bone marrow transplant and they can't find a match on the register, I needed to know that I had tried everyone possible so I came back," Brooke explained.

Leaning back against the bench Peyton watched as the clouds appeared to move across the sky. "How is Lucas dealing?"

"He's a long way from forgiving but we both know that we need to try and get past it for Summer's sake, he's been amazing with her," Brooke smiled.

"I can imagine," Peyton agreed. "I know it's not my place to ask but Summer, what's wrong with her?"

Brooke took a mouthful of coffee, wincing as the sour taste assaulted her taste bids. "She has Leukemia, she was diagnosed nearly two years ago now and after the first time she was in remission for eight months but now she's relapsed and … well you don't need to know all the boring medical stuff but basically her only chance is a bone marrow transplant."

"Has anyone matched yet?" Peyton asked.

"Nathan is a close match, he matches five of the six markers needs," Brooke explained.

Peyton nodded. "That's good right?"

"Summer has already been through so much that they thing to reduce the risk of post-transplant complications she needs a perfect match," Brooke whispered.

"What happens if you can't find a match?" Peyton wondered.

Holding Cat tightly in her arms Brooke closed her eyes as she brought the soft toy up to her face and inhaled her daughter's familiar scent. "If there is no other choice we'll go with Nathan … but the risks are increased and Sunny … she's already been through so much that I'm scared, scared that her body won't be able to take it."

"Brooke-"

Wiping at her eyes Brooke cut her friend off. "But what I'm more scared of is that I'm being selfish, what if I'm putting my little-girl through all of this pain because I'm not ready to let her go, what if all the pain and suffering she's going to have to go through is my fault."

"This isn't your fault," Peyton tried to reassure her, not knowing what to say, this wasn't like when they were nine years old and Brooke had spilt cranberry juice on her mother's one-of-a-king Chanel dress.

This was the life of an innocent four-year-old girl they were talking about, this was about as life and death as it got and Peyton didn't know what to say, her oldest friend was hurting and she had absolutely no idea what to say or do to make it even a little better.

Suddenly realizing that she had shared her darkest thoughts wit Peyton after five-years of estrangement when it was a fear she hadn't voiced with anyone else Brooke stood up, desperate to get back to her daughter.

"I have to go, Summer she'll be waking up soon," Brooke stammered as she fled inside the hospital, not stopping to give Peyton a chance to say anything.

Practically running up to Summer's room Brooke found herself frozen to the spot as she arrived to find Lucas and Summer curled up fast asleep on the recliner. Smiling she felt all of her fears momentarily wash away as she finished her coffee, kicked off her shoes and laid down on the bed, watching them as they slept.

"Ms. Davies?" the doctor called as he entered the room.

Brooke looked up, motioning for the doctor to be quiet she followed him out into the hallway so that they didn't disturb the sleeping father and daughter.

"How are things?" Brooke asked.

The doctor smiled, in a hope to put her at ease. "Things are looking good, this momentary setback doesn't appear to have had any long-term effect on Summer's counts, we knew her neutrophils were non existent and infections were a possibility but Summer's shown her strength and resilience, she should be ready to go home tomorrow if things continues as they are."

"Really?" Brooke asked.

"Really," the doctor reassured her.

Brooke couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. "That's so great, at least that way we can give her a whole four days at home before the next round of chemotherapy starts."

"Exactly," the doctor agreed. "And the recent test results show that Summer is technically in remission, her blast percentage was less than 2 which is good, it means that we're ready for transplant as soon as a match is found."

"How long do you think we can wait until we have to go ahead with the near match?" Brooke questioned.

The doctor could see the hope and fear fighting for prominence in the young mother's eyes. "There is no concrete answer to that, after this final cycle of chemotherapy we were hoping to go straight to transplant, if that's not an option then we can hold off for a short while but not too long, we need to make sure Summer's stays in remission so it would mean going off-protocol with treatment which we don't want to be doing in we don't have to."

"Ok, so we give it until the end of this cycle and then we go ahead with Nathan," Brooke decided.

"That will be our safest option, but take your time, talk to Summer's father and then we can all sit down and come up with a concrete timetable," the doctor suggested.

It was new territory for Brooke having someone else to make the decisions with her, she had been a single parents for so long the relinquishing some of the control and decision making to Lucas was going to be hard, but she also knew it needed to be done. "Thank-you."

As she entered the room Brooke could see that Lucas was starting to stir. "Morning," she smiled.

"Morning," Lucas echoed, unable to keep the smile from his face as he looked down at his daughter, fast asleep on top of him.

"It's pretty amazing huh?" Brooke asked.

Without even asking Lucas knew what she was talking about. "She's pretty amazing."

"We did that Lucas," Brooke whispered.

"No," Lucas corrected. "You did that Brooke, I wish I could take credit for how amazing she is but it was all you. She's lucky that you're her mother Brooke."

Nodding Brooke didn't event try to stop the tears from falling. "Thank-you Luke. I think I really needed to hear that right now."

"Did you get Cat?" Lucas asked.

Holding up the well-worn Cat, Brooke smiled. "Sure did. I also spoke to Rachel and she's driving back from New York later so she's going to bring some of Summer's things with her, that way when she has the next round of chemotherapy we can make her room feel more like it's hers."

"How long does she usually end up having to stay in each time?" Lucas wondered.

"Usually with each cycle it's about three to five weeks, once after the third cycle it was nearly seven because she ended up in PICU for two weeks after catching chicken pox, it sent her in multi organ failure and they thought she was going to die, she didn't though, she proved them all wrong," Brooke half-laughed, half-cried her voice full of pride and admiration.

Holding back tears Lucas closed his eyes and allowed himself to feel comforted by the feel of his daughter's breath against him and the constant rhythm of her heart beat, hearing the pain in Brooke's voice he hates that he wasn't there, he hates that Summer and Brooke went through all of that without him.

"It's not your fault Luke, if anyone is to blame for you not being there it's me," Brooke reminded him.

"I hurt you Brooke," Lucas whispered.

Brooke walked further into the room. "That isn't what's important here."

"I know that," Lucas agreed. "I know that Summer is all that matters but we need to make sure that we're alright because we have to come together on this Brooke, you and I we're all she's got."

In Lucas's lap Summer shook her head as she sat up, looking up at her father first she then turned her head in the direction of her mother, as if she sensed her presence before seeing her. "Momma. Cat."

Leaping down off of her father's lap Summer was about to run across to her mother when Lucas quickly leapt into action and pulled her into his arms so that she didn't pull her lines out. "Woah there Speedy."

"Oops," Summer chuckled as she suddenly remembered that she was attached.

"Someone looks like they're feeling much better," Brooke pointed out.

Summer nodded, before frowning at her mother as she headed over towards her. "My tummy and head still feel about yucky, but not yucky enough to stay in hospital."

"I'm afraid we're stuck here for today Baby-Girl," Brooke told her.

Stamping her foot on hard on the ground Summer placed her hands akimbo style on her hips before sticking her bottom lip out. "But I don't want to."

"I know Baby-Girl but some times we have to do things we don't want to," Brooke softly told her.

From his position in the chair Lucas was trying hard not to laugh at his daughter's amateur dramatics. "We'll both stay here with you … we can make it fun."

"It doesn't sound like fun," Summer pouted.

"We can have a mini party," Brooke added.

Relaxing her stance a little Summer contemplated the offer. "Can Lily come?"

"She'll be first on the guest list," Lucas assured her.

"Well I guess it could be fun," Summer breathed. "Do you know what would make it really, really fun though?"

Brooke already knew what was coming so she decided to leave it to Lucas this time. "Why don't you tell Daddy exactly what would make it really fun."

"If you brought my Wii into the hospital and my High School Musical game and we all had a singing competition," Summer explained, her eyes lighting up at the prospect.

"Would it now?" Lucas laughed.

Summer nodded, her facial expression stoic and serious. "Yes. It would."

"Well we'll have to see what we can do about that," Lucas replied, not wanting to commit to an answer before he'd spoke to Brooke.

"That's not a proper answer," Summer frowned.

Lucas laughed gently. "Maybe not. But it's the only one you're getting today," he informed her as Brooke dissolved into a fit of laughter as she watched the interaction between father and daughter.

"The nurse should be coming in to disconnect you wiggly soon," Brooke told her daughter. "And you know what the means."

Summer scrunched up her face. "It's time for a wash and time to get dressed."

"It sure is," Brooke nodded.

"I should go," Lucas announced. "I'm in desperate need of a shower and clean change of clothes," he added.

From her place on the floor Summer pinched her nose. "Yeah, you're kinda smelly Daddy."

"And you're kind of cheeky Sunshine," Brooke laughed as she picked Summer up, gently plastering the little-girl with kisses being careful not to disturb any of her lines.

Lucas knew that if he didn't leave now he would never be able to tear himself away from his daughter, even if it was only for a few hours. "Brooke … Can I?"

"Sure," Brooke agreed, placing Summer back down on the bed and following Lucas outside.

Once outside the room Lucas watched as Brooke leaned tiredly against the wall, a part of him wanted to take her in his arms and let her sleep, something he knew she hadn't been getting much of. But he knew that going down that path right now was the last thing they both needed. He had Lindsey, they were getting married and Brooke, well she had Summer to think about.

"I was wondering," Lucas began. "If it would be alright if I stopped by the toy store and picked up a Wii and some games for Summer," he asked. "Only I've never brought her anything before and I'd like to."

"She'd like that," Brooke smiled, not mentioning that Summer already had one in New York.

Lucas smiled, he was about to lean forward and give Brooke a kiss when he thought twice about it and instead rested his hand lightly on her shoulder before heading into the room to say goodbye to Summer.

Watching through the window she wiped at the tears that were falling freely down her cheeks, not saying anything to Lucas as he passed her by she watched through the large window as Summer carefully colored in the pages of her book, hoping that someday soon her daughter would have the chance to get dirty and play outside in the rain like other children her age.

Over an hour away at the state penitentiary Nathan sat nervously waiting for Dan to be brought out, his hands were clenched tightly by his side and he could feel his body shaking, but he knew that he needed to do this, for himself and for Summer. Ever since Brooke had re-entered their lives bringing her daughter with her Nathan had managed to pull himself out of his pity pit and realize that losing his chance at basketball wasn't the end of the world, not when he had so much else in his life.

Being given the opportunity to help his niece had helped him in more ways that he thought possible. Even if he couldn't help them to find a perfect match then he was willing to step up to the plate and donate his marrow, hoping that the one marker short wouldn't matter.

"Nathan," Dan stammered as he sat down opposite his son.

Nathan clenched his hands tighter against his side, watching as Dan undid the button on his orange suit and rolled his sleeves up.

"It's good to see you Son," Dan smiled. "After all your letters came back unopened I thought that you'd never want anything to do with me."

"And I don't," Nathan frowned.

Dan's smile disappeared. "Then any are you here?"

"I'm here to give you a chance to do something good with your miserable existence," Nathan spat.

"That's no way to talk to your father," Dan retorted.

Nathan shook his head. "You're no father of mine. But unfortunately we are blood relations and that's why I'm here. As much as it pains me to say it you could be our only chance."

"Are you … are you sick?" Dan asked, suddenly fearful.

"No," Nathan breathed. "I'm not here on my behalf."

Dan felt his fear double. "Please tell me it's not Jamie?"

"Jamie is fine, he's healthy, thriving and perfect," Nathan proudly replied, hoping that Dan realized just how much he was missing out on because of his actions.

"Then I don't-"

"I'm not your only son," Nathan reminded him.

Realization dawned across Dan's features. "Lucas. If Lucas needs something from me then he can ask me himself."

"It's not Lucas, not exactly anyway," Nathan breathed, he could see that Dan was desperately trying to gain what control he could out of the situation.

"Like I said if Lucas wants something then he needs to come and ask me for himself," Dan repeated.

Nathan considered his next move really carefully. "I'm not asking you for him, Lucas doesn't even know I'm here."

"Then why are you here?" Dan asked.

"Because Summer needs me and it's time I stepped up to the plate," Nathan replied, knowing that his reply would only confused Dan further, but also needing to get to the point of the situation.

Dan dropped his hands to the table and faced his son so that they were eye-to-eye. "I'm pretty certain you're not talking about the season so I'll take the bait. Who is Summer and what does she have to do with me?"

"She's your granddaughter," Nathan answered. "And she's dying, or at least she will be if we can't find a bone marrow match for her."

Of all of the things Dan had been expecting to hear that wasn't one of them. He was many things, he was a control freak, killer, manipulator and general bad guy but even he felt something at the idea of a young child suffering through all of that.

"Lucas … Lucas is a father?" Dan asked.

"Yes, he has a daughter, beautiful little-girl, her name is Summer and she's four-years-old and she's sick, she has leukemia and without a bone marrow transplant she probably won't live to see her sixth birthday. So if you do one good thing with your life then please … let it be this," Nathan pleased.

Dan was silent for a moment as he considered what his son had, said he knew that he was going to do it, that he would agree to whatever it was that they were asking but he needed to see what he could get in return.

"And what do I get out of this?" Dan wondered.

Nathan immediately saw red. "Seriously? I tell you that you're granddaughter is dying and all you can think about is what might be in it for you?"

"Well it gets kind of lonely in here, a man needs something to get him through the cold nights," Dan shrugged.

"You have no one but yourself to blame for the situation you are in, Summer on the other hand is an innocent four-year-old who has done nothing wrong and hurt no one," Nathan practically shouted.

Dan nodded, keeping his face free of emotion. "I want to meet them. My grandchildren that is and Lucas … I want to see Lucas."

"Lucas, I'll need to speak to him and well Jamie … he's been asking questions so you can meet him, once and once only," Nathan agreed, he's already predicted that this was coming and spoken about it with Haley into the early hours of the morning.

"And Summer?" Dan questioned.

Nathan shook his head. "I don't think you understand the gravity of her situation," he began. "She has leukemia, she's having high dose chemotherapy and has no immune system, Brooke and Lucas barely let her outdoors let alone to for a day out to the local, friendly prison."

"Brooke. Brooke Davies?" Dan questioned.

Slowly Nathan nodded. "She's Summer's mother."

"Well, well, well that is a surprise, I always thought he would end up with Peyton," Dan chuckled.

"Not that it's any of your business but they're not together, not really, I mean they are together as Summer's parents but Lucas he's engaged to someone else," Nathan stammered.

Dan's eyes were bright with amusement, he'd received more information about life on the outside in the last ten minutes than he had over the last four years. "Some things never change do they."

"Will you do it?" Nathan asked as one of the guards started to call time.

Crooking the right side of his mouth up in a half smile Dan nodded. "I'll do it, I'll get tested but first … first I want to see Lucas. I want him to ask me himself."