Dan Scott stepped off the hospital elevator still unsure why he was here. Not 24 hours ago Lucas had told him to leave and never come back. Then, this morning he gets a call from Lucas telling him to meet him at the hospital.
He knew his forgotten son Lucas Scott had been through hell. He had come so close to losing his wife Peyton and unborn child. Maybe Lucas wanted to apologize for his actions and harsh words. Dan didn't expect it but he hoped that was the case. He knew what he had done to Lucas and how he had treated him, but Dan was growing older and facing his mortality and that made him think of all the evil deeds he had done and how had treated those around him.
Dan turned right and just as he was making his way down the hospital corridor, Lucas stepped from around the corner and directly in front of him.
"Dan," Lucas said in a tone of mild shock. "You came."
"You called," Dan answered back quickly.
Lucas looked as if he was truly shocked Dan had come when he called.
"What is it, Lucas," Dan asked. "Is it Peyton?"
Lucas stepped back slightly. He hated this man even saying Peyton's name. It was as if him saying her name soiled it a bit. He couldn't stand to think Dan near Peyton, he hated him that much. But Peyton wanted to see him, but seeing him and getting him to tell her what she wanted to hear, would be two different things -at least, if it was up to Lucas.
"In a way it is Peyton," Lucas shifted on the balls of his feet. "She wants to see you, wants to talk to you."
"About what?" Dan was intrigued now.
"About this," Lucas told him. He reached around and pulled a letter out of his back pocket. He unfolded it and handed it to Dan.
"What is this?" Dan opened the flap of the envelope and took out the lone sheet of paper. It was folded in two perfect halves and after Dan opened them he read the first line and his face went white.
"Where did you get this?" It wasn't an accusing question. It as a question born of shock.
"Peyton found it in the torn lining of a music box that belonged to her mother," Lucas told Dan. "She read it and that is what started all this." He waved his hand wide and then threw Dan a hard stare.
"It's true, isn't it?" The comment was phrased as a question but it was more of an accusation by Lucas. "You fucked up their lives as well."
"It wasn't like that, Lucas," Dan tried to explain. He put the letter back in the envelope and held it in his right hand. "Things happened, got out of control."
"Damn, I have never been so glad that Peyton was adopted," Lucas chuckled slightly though it was far from a jovial laugh. "Wait, you didn't know Ellie too did you?"
"No," Dan shook his head. "Ana was there for me through a rough time, in fact I was there for her as well."
"I bet you were," Lucas' comments were dripping with condemnation.
"You weren't there, Lucas," Dan said. "You…." he tried to continue before Lucas stopped him.
"Look, I don't care about taking a trip down the life and times of Dan Scott," Lucas walked closer to Dan standing directly in front of him. "What I care about is in that room down there." Lucas pointed to room 601 where Peyton lay.
"Now, I have never asked you for anything," Lucas continued. "But I am today." Lucas took a deep breath. "When Peyton asks you about that letter, you lie to her. Tell her nothing about you and Ana."
"But, Lucas," Dan tried to say before held his hand up and shook his head.
"No, I mean it, Dan," Lucas pointed his finger at him. "She had this one perfect memory of her mother, of her mother loving her father. I will not take that away from her, I will not let you take it away from her. Do you understand?"
Dan shook his head yes. How could he deny Lucas this one request after all he had put him through, all he had done to him, all the things he never did for him. And Ana's daughter – she deserved happiness and Lucas could give it to her. He was always there to protect and save Peyton. Ana would have loved Lucas, his son.
Dan never thought how perfect it truly was. When he was with Ana he was a different man, she made him want to be different. Want to be good, to be better. He wasn't bitter, he wasn't regretful, he was just happy. He saw that in Lucas when he was with Peyton. Dan knew Ana never really loved him, like he loved her. Ana's heart was always with Larry, she just got confused for a while, and Dan was part of that confusion. Giving her up was hard, but knowing her death was his fault nearly broke him. Perhaps that was where his true bitterness was born, that happiness slipped through his fingers and he cost so many others their happiness as well – a young girl lost a mother and a young man lost the love of his life.
But today he could repay that debt in a way. Look into the eyes of Lucas' young wife and lie to her. Tell her that the Dan in the letter was not him, that it must have been someone from Ana's past, before Larry. Give these two, Lucas and Peyton, the foundation for a sound, true and happy life. It wasn't much, it would never bring Ana back, but maybe it would give him a semblance of peace and maybe show his soulful son Lucas that he could change, that Dan Scott was once a good man all those years ago when a girl named Ana loved him.