Chpt. 7--Fighter
By Christina Aguilera

When Peyton opened her eyes, the first thought that made it through the haze was 'Ouch.' Grimacing in pain as her mind began to slowly recognize the trauma her body had gone through, she struggled to keep her eyes open and her thoughts in focus. But she couldn't staunch her disappointment, her sadness, as she stared into the eyes of hazy green widening above her. Those eyes, filled with surprise and a hint of fear, just weren't quite right. Peyton snapped her own eyes shut in dismay when she realized that even though she must be in the hospital, and even though she felt like she had been run over by a car, her waking thought was, as usual, of Lucas.

So when she heard his voice raised in anger near her, she knew she must be dreaming. Angry with herself, angry with him, and drifting in and out of consciousness, Peyton allowed herself to slip back under the first layers of slumber that had held her so safe and warm for the last day. But the veil had been lifted and that voice, his voice, would not go away.

"What do you mean she's awake?" Luke rushed to Peyton's side and grabbed her hand. "She's not awake."

"Listen, man, I'm telling you she opened her eyes."

"Peyton. Peyton, honey, listen to me." Luke leaned close to Peyton's ear. "We need to know if you're awake. You need to open your eyes Peyton. Just once. Just open them once, baby. Or squeeze my hand. Come on Peyton. You can do that."

'That can't be Lucas,' Peyton thought. She didn't know what kind of drugs she was on but in all her dreams, his voice had never sounded so clear. He was begging her to open her eyes. And Julian--that was Julian's voice she heard as well, asking her to open her eyes. She could do that. She could open her eyes once more. Just one time, to make the voices in her head shut the hell up. Summoning all of her strength, she blinked her eyes open once again. When she did, there was no denying the reality of the brilliant blue eyes above her, nor the hard leap her heart took in her chest. 'Lucas,' she thought, but she couldn't speak, even when he desperately pressed his lips to hers. Closing her eyes at the pressure of his mouth against hers--and, oh God, to have his mouth against hers--Peyton couldn't separate her joy that he was standing at her side from the anger and grief cracking inside her chest. It was as though she was straddling the gates of Heaven and Hell, with one foot trapped firmly inside each open door.

"She's awake." Peyton couldn't open her eyes again but Luke knew she had at least once. "She's awake. We need the doctor. I need to…"

"No. You stay here; I'll get the doctor." Julian hurried out of the room while Lucas simply laid his head at Peyton's side.


Stepping out of Peyton's room, Julian turned when he heard someone call his name.

"Mr. Baker?" The two familiar police officers approached him. "Mr. Baker, you need--"

"Peyton's awake. I need to tell the doctor."

"Mr. Baker you need to come with us."

"What I need is to talk to the doctor." Julian turned to walk away but the older officer twisted his arm behind his back.

"Julian Baker, you are under arrest for the death of Mrs. Ashley Turner. You have the right to remain silent--"

"What the fuck?" Julian struggled but the officer efficiently cuffed his hands.

"Julian? What's going on?" Brooke quickly walked down the hall and approached the officers. "Who's Ashley Turner?"

"Ms. Davis, right?" The younger officer spoke to Brooke. "Please step aside ma'am."

"Wait. What the hell is going on?"

"Brooke. Peyton's awake. Go get her doctor."

"Peyton's…Oh God. I…"

"Go."

"Ms. Davis, please step aside." Brooke took one last long look at Julian before she rushed to find Peyton's doctor.


When Dr. Stevens entered Peyton's room, with Brooke following close behind, Peyton had not opened her eyes another time. Luke's headed was rested next to her side as he spoke to her gently, "Peyton, babe, the doctor's going to want to see what I saw. He's going to want to see those beautiful eyes honey. At least once. We need to know you are ok." Turning to the doctor he shook his head, "her eyes were open. I swear they were."

"I believe you, Mr.…"

"Scott."

"Mr. Scott. She is on a lot of medication for the pain. If her mind is beginning to awaken, the medication for her body may be dragging her back into the oblivion. Her mind can't fight both the pain and the medication for long periods of time. I'll need to dial back the morphine drip so we can ascertain her levels of responsiveness."

"Will she be in a lot of pain?" Brooke wondered out loud.

"The mind fights pain with the body, Ms. Davis. She's going to hurt, but once she's awake she should be able to handle it. And we will continue to administer lower doses of medication." While the doctor spoke he efficiently adjusted dials on the tubes leading into Peyton's arm. "It may take a little while before she begins to respond again. I'm going to let you both stay here but someone needs to come get me the minute she wakes up."

"Ok. Dr. Stevens? Thanks." Brooke nodded to him.

"You need to thank Ms. Sawyer. She did most of this herself. That girl is a fighter." He smiled at Brooke as he walked out the door.

"God Luke, she woke up?"

"She woke up, Brooke. I saw her eyes. Those beautiful green eyes, just staring at me in confusion." Luke didn't tell Brooke that he saw pain and anger in those eyes as well. He knew some of that was directed at him; he knew he deserved it but he hoped it was just his imagination running wild in that moment.

"Did she…Could she talk?"

"I don't think so. I think she struggled to open her eyes the second time."

"The second--"

"Oh, yeah. I didn't see her open her eyes the first time. That guy, Julian? He was talking to her and I was yelling at him and--"

"Yelling at…Ok, someone needs to start at the beginning. Did you get in a fight with Julian? Is that why he got arrested in the hallway? What's going on?"

"Wait, what? Arrested? No, he got the doctor. He…" But Luke began to realize that if Julian had gotten the doctor, he should be back by now. "What do you mean he got arrested?"

"I saw him. In the hallway. They said he was under arrest for the death of some girl named Ashl…" Brooke trailed off as she began to put the pieces together. "Oh holy shit. Oh no. Oh." Brooke closed her eyes in dismay.

"Brooke? Brooke, what the hell is going on?"

"Julian told me it was a woman who hit them. And that she was hurt. I don't know how bad, but I know she was hurt. Luke, what if--"

"That fucking son of a bitch."

"Luke--"

"No Brooke. If he had anything to do with Peyton lying in this hospital bed, I'll kill him. I swear I will."

"Lucas! Get yourself together. They said death, Luke. I think someone died and I think somehow it was Julian's fault. This will devastate her, Luke." Brooke gestured to Peyton, still lying with her eyes quietly closed. "You know what her Mom's death did to her. You know how she used to fight fate and run red lights in Tree Hill. How do we tell her something like this? What if Ashley was somebody's mother? Somebody's daughter or best friend. How will Peyton live with that? What do we do?"

"We wait."

"Lucas…"

"No, Brooke, listen to me. She's barely awake. That son of a bitch--" Luke hadn't yet gotten a handle on his anger-- "is in jail. Or wherever he is. We don't know what happened. We're just guessing. I mean I think you're right, but you're just guessing. She needs us focused on her right now. That's what you told me before, right? This is about her. So we wait until we know details and she's ready to handle them."

"And when she asks for Julian?"

It stabbed through Luke's heart like a knife that Peyton would look for Julian or would need him there. "He was breaking up with her when I came in. Told her he was a bastard and that he was leaving her in the fucking hospital. So we tell her the truth: she's better off without him. Its you she's going to want anyway. You're the one she'll let take care of her." Luke's voice turned miserable as he realized that Brooke was the one person in Peyton's life she would count on. Even when the two weren't speaking in high school, it was Brooke who realized something must be seriously wrong for Peyton to skip prom. It was Brooke who went to save her. And when Luke broke Peyton's heart, he knew without asking that it was Brooke who picked up the pieces.

"Luke…" Brooke responded to the sadness in his voice. "She'll want you too Lucas. She won't be able to help herself. She just won't want to want you."

"What do I do Brooke?"

"You do what you just said. You wait. You wait till she can handle it, handle you. And you do what you have never done before." Luke shook his head in confusion. "You fight for her."