(Intensive Care Unit)
"Miss Davis…" he began in one final attempt to convince her to stay. "Please just think about this some more…"
Brooke looked between Peyton and Haley and closed her eyes before rubbing soothingly at her forehead. She wanted to go home more than anything, to get out of this place so that she could go back to her life in Tree Hill. However, looking at her friends now, Brooke wasn't sure if she could do that…
Brooke looked once again between Peyton and Haley, noting the worried expressions on their faces and sighing before eventually turning back to face the doctor.
Deep down Brooke knew that she was about to do the right thing, but if that were true than why was it hurting her so much.
Brooke closed her eyes a moment to avoid Peyton and Haley's gaze as she spoke to the doctor standing before her.
"Please," Brooke began tiredly, her voice hoarse with emotion. "Can you ask them to leave?"
On hearing Brooke's words, an expression of shock came across Peyton's face, an expression that was quickly followed by hurt.
"Brooke…" Peyton said sadly as she took a step towards her friend.
"Please?" Brooke asked him again, slowly opening her eyes to look at the doctor.
The doctor turned towards Peyton, Haley and Lucas and threw them an empathetic look.
"I'm sorry," he said shrugging slightly. "But I'm afraid that you'll have to wait outside…"
"Brooke…" Peyton pleaded again as she broke free from Lucas' embrace to approach where Brooke was still sitting on the edge of the bed. "Please…don't do this…"
Brooke avoided Peyton's glance, instead focusing on a spot on the floor and pretending not to have heard her.
The doctor walked over to Peyton and placed a hand gently on her arm.
"I'm going to have to ask you to leave," he said kindly.
The doctor knew how Peyton and the others must have been feeling right now. All they wanted was the best for Brooke, but for some reason she didn't appear to want that for herself.
Peyton nodded slowly as she continued to watch Brooke, her stare unrelenting. She wanted Brooke to look at her, to somehow make her realise that this was a mistake…but Brooke never looked up. Not once.
Peyton felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Lucas standing behind her. He smiled sadly at Peyton and reached down to take her hand in his own. Lucas glanced sadly at Brooke before turning and leading Peyton towards the door after Haley.
Just as Peyton was about to leave she paused in the doorway, looking back at Brooke with tears in her eyes.
"Brooke…. you're not alone anymore…. please…don't shut us out." Peyton said crying before turning and exiting the room behind Lucas and slowly closing the door.
The doctor watched as Peyton and the others left before turning around to face Brooke. Almost immediately after looking at Brooke, the doctor averted his gaze, feeling as though he was intruding on a very personal moment. Before him, Brooke had broken down into tears, her eyes closed and her hand covering her mouth as she sobbed uncontrollably.
It was in that moment that the doctor finally saw Brooke Davis for the person that she was, vulnerable and scared.
(Intensive Care Unit)
Once outside the room, Peyton stood looking slightly confused as she paced back and forth in front of Lucas and Haley who were sitting in some empty chairs side by side.
"I don't understand," Peyton mused. "She was fine a couple of hours ago, what happened?"
Peyton stopped in her tracks to face both Lucas and Haley.
"I mean, did she seem ok after we left?" Peyton asked him worriedly. "Did she say anything to you about wanting to go home? Or…"
Lucas stood from his chair to approach Peyton and placed a hand reassuringly on her arm.
"Peyton," Lucas interrupted her. "Brooke is trying to deal with a lot at the moment. I just…I think that maybe she feels as though it's all getting a bit too much for her, you know? All you can do is be there for her when she needs you, she'll come to you when she's ready."
Peyton pulled Lucas into a warm embrace and he wrapped his arms around her back protectively.
"I know Brooke," Peyton started sadly over Lucas' shoulder. "If something is too hard, or too painful for her to deal with she starts pushing people away, closing herself off…how can I be there for her if she won't let me?"
Haley stood up from her seat and walked over towards Peyton as her and Lucas separated. When she reached Peyton, Haley took her arm in her own.
"You know, you two are more alike then you think in that respect?" Haley commented. "I mean, what would Brooke do, those times when you tried to close yourself off? How would she be there for you?"
Peyton looked at Haley and laughed slightly, wiping at her eyes with her free hand.
"She just…would." Peyton said remembering back to after her mom died. "She wouldn't take no for an answer, she'd just turn up…she'd sit with me all day even if we didn't speak…"
"Then maybe you shouldn't take no for an answer either?" Lucas suggested to Peyton. "Maybe what Brooke needs is some tough love?"
"Maybe what she needs…" Haley suggested. "Is to know that she's loved."
Lucas looked at Haley a moment, a sudden thought coming to mind. Peyton watched him curiously as she noticed his change in expression.
"What's the matter?" Peyton asked him quietly after a moment.
"I think Haley's right," Lucas said looking down at Peyton before him. "Do you have a number for Brooke's parents?"
"Uh…yeah," Peyton said fishing inside her bag for her address book.
Peyton handed the book to him and Lucas took it gratefully.
"What are you going to do?" Haley asked as Lucas flicked through the pages until he found the number he was looking for.
"I'm going to call them," Lucas said looking up to meet her questioning gaze. "After all they should know what's happened."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Haley asked him. "I mean what if she doesn't want them to know?"
"Trust me Hales," Lucas said placing a hand on her shoulder. "I think this will help."
Lucas turned to Peyton and kissed her affectionately on the forehead.
"I won't be long," he said. "I'm just going to go and find a pay phone and see if I get a hold of them."
Peyton nodded gratefully at Lucas.
"Ok," she said quietly as Lucas kissed her once again.
Both Peyton and Haley watched in silence as Lucas made his way up the corridor. Behind them, Haley and Peyton heard someone clearing their throat and turned to face them.
"I thought I'd let you know that Brooke's agreed to stay here for a couple of days," the doctor said to them once they were facing him.
"Really?" Peyton asked feeling slightly more relieved. "What made her change her mind?"
The doctor shrugged at Peyton's question.
"Honestly," he said in response. "I don't know."
"Can we see her?" Haley asked the doctor.
At Haley's question, the doctor glanced down at the floor to avoid her gaze.
"I'm afraid that she doesn't want to see anyone." He answered sadly. "I'm sorry, but I have to abide by my patient's wishes."
Haley and Peyton exchanged a quick glance whilst the doctor continued.
"Personally," he carried on. "I think that Brooke just needs to talk to someone about how she feels. She's obviously scared and it's understandable with everything that's going on."
The doctor paused momentarily giving Haley and Peyton a meaningful glance.
"I suppose… if you two should happen to go in there without my knowledge," he said knowingly. "Then there's not much that I can really do about that."
Peyton smiled at the doctor kindly.
"Thank you," she said nodding appreciatively.
"Just give me a couple of minutes to disappear," he said smiling back at the girls and winking kindly before turning towards the desk and leaving the pair of them standing together in the corridor.
(Honeygrove Memorial Hospital: Outside)
Lucas hung up the receiver after leaving a message on the Davis' answer machine. He'd attempted to call them three times before finally deciding to leave them a message.
Just as he was about to head back inside to meet Peyton and Haley, Lucas heard someone call his name from the parking lot and turned to look at them.
"Hey Luke," Nathan called as he, Skills and Mouth approached.
"Hey guys," Lucas said as they reached him. "You finally decided to join us huh?"
"I was tired," Skills protested.
Lucas laughed at his answer and turned to Nathan as he spoke.
"Besides Haley and Peyton were getting a little restless back at the motel so they drove your car back here a little earlier… without us." He added laughing
Lucas looked at Nathan slightly confused.
"Then how you get here?" Lucas asked Nathan puzzled.
"We went to pick Brooke's car up from the garage and I drove that." Nathan answered him, flashing Lucas, Brooke's car keys in his hand.
"What were you doing out here?" Mouth asked Lucas.
"I was trying to get hold of Brooke's parents." Lucas replied, throwing Mouth a meaningful glance.
"Any luck?" Skills asked him.
"No," Lucas said sighing heavily. "I just got their answering machine."
"Damn," Skills said.
"I left them a message," Lucas shrugged. "But I don't know, perhaps they're on vacation or something."
"Wouldn't surprise me," Nathan agreed before asking. "Are Peyton and Haley upstairs with Brooke?"
"Uh, yeah." Lucas said hesitantly as Nathan began making his way towards the building with Skills.
When he noticed that Lucas wasn't following, Nathan turned back to face him and Mouth.
"You guys coming?" he asked them.
"We'll be up in a minute," Lucas said. "I think I'm going to try Brooke's parents one last time."
"Ok, see you a minute." Nathan said before turning and continuing into the hospital with Skills.
Once they'd disappeared Lucas turned to Mouth who was watching him closely. Silently Mouth removed his cell phone from his pocket and handed it to Lucas who scrolled through the outgoing messages and smiled to himself.
"Perfect," he said looking at Mouth and patting him on the arm firmly. "I think maybe we should move onto the next part of the plan." Lucas suggested.
"Are you sure Luke?" Mouth asked anxiously. "I mean he's still your dad."
Lucas smiled at Mouth and nodded.
"Yeah…I'm sure," Lucas said putting his hand on Mouth's shoulder reassuringly. "It's time Mouth."
(Intensive Care Unit: Corridor)
Haley and Peyton sat outside Brooke rooms together whilst the doctor wrote notes at the nearby desk.
Both girls were eager to go back inside and see Brooke, however, they wanted to give her some time to herself before they did. Maybe once she'd had some time to think, she'd open up to them a little more. At least, that's what Peyton was hoping.
As they sat there together, Haley and Peyton noticed Nathan and Skills as they walked towards them.
Haley stood up to greet her husband, hugging him warmly as he reached her.
"Hey," she said kissing him. "Did you get some more rest after I'd left?"
"A little," Nathan informed her. "I couldn't really get back to sleep."
Haley brushed the side of Nathan's face gently with her hand before kissing him again.
"B. Davis kicked you out?" Skills asked them when he realised they weren't sitting with her.
"Actually," Peyton said as she stood up. "She did."
"What?" Nathan asked looking between Haley and Peyton. "Why?"
Both girls shrugged in response to Nathan's question.
"Hey," Haley asked Nathan and Skills realising that only the two of them were here. "Where's Mouth?"
"I'm here," Mouth said as he approached them with Lucas.
"How'd it go?" Peyton asked Lucas as she wrapped her arm around his waist.
Lucas reciprocated the gesture as he answered her.
"No luck," he said sighing heavily. "They weren't home."
"Well, we'll just have to keep trying." Peyton said optimistically. "They have to be in at some point right?"
"Yeah maybe," Lucas said not sounding too convinced.
After all if Brooke hadn't been able to contact them in two months, what were the chances that they would.
For a moment the six of them stood in a comfortable silence. After a minute, Mouth caught Lucas' eye quickly before facing the others and speaking.
"Hey listen," Mouth started tentatively. "I was thinking about what Brooke said earlier. About us heading back to Tree Hill without her…I think maybe she was right."
"Yeah, well if you'd said that to her twenty minutes ago, she'd be coming along too." Haley said quietly.
Nathan, Skills and Mouth all looked at Haley questioningly.
"What do you mean?" Nathan asked her.
"It's… a long story," Haley said waving it off.
"So what do you guys think?" Mouth said glancing between the faces of his friends and trying to get back to the original issue. "
"Well, I'm staying." Peyton said looking at the uncertain faces of the rest of the group. "Someone has to be here to drive her home when she's discharged, but I agree with Mouth… I think you guys should go."
"When were you thinking of going?" Lucas asked Mouth.
"I don't know," he said. "The sooner the better I suppose. I mean we've got a two hour drive ahead of us..."
"Yeah that's true," Nathan agreed turning towards Peyton. "And besides you said that Brooke's refusing to see anyone at the moment anyway right?"
Peyton nodded in response.
"So are we all agreed?" Mouth asked them.
Nathan and Skills both nodded in response, but Haley and Lucas didn't.
"Maybe I should stay with you?" Haley said quietly to Peyton. "I mean you shouldn't have to wait here on your own…"
"Haley I'll be fine, I promise." Peyton reassured her. "It's only a couple of days before you know it we'll be home."
"Are you sure?" Haley asked her. "I mean I can afford to miss a couple of classes…"
"I'm sure," Peyton said rubbing Haley's arm comfortingly.
Haley placed her hand on top of Peyton's one on her arm and tapped it lightly.
"Ok then," she said before pulling Peyton into a warm hug and adding. "Just make sure you both take care of yourselves."
"I will," Peyton said hugging Haley back.
Once they'd separated, Haley stepped back towards Nathan who wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him so the her head was resting on his chest.
Lucas approached Peyton next and brushed a stray piece of hair out of her face with his hand.
"Are you sure that you don't want someone else to stay with you and Brooke?" he asked her lovingly.
Peyton smiled at his offer.
"Thanks," Peyton said sincerely. "But we'll be ok."
Lucas watched Peyton closely for a moment before finally nodding his head.
"Ok," he said as he leant down and kissed Peyton affectionately.
Peyton kissed Lucas back deeply for a moment before they finally separated.
Lucas kissed her gently on the forehead before he next spoke.
"Call me later," he said.
"Yeah I will," Peyton reassured him as Lucas stepped back away from her.
"Tell Brooke we're thinking of her," Mouth said to Peyton as the others began to make their way down the corridor.
"Of course," Peyton said smiling back at him.
Mouth smiled back at Peyton in response and turned to follow the others.
Peyton watched as they disappeared out of view, Lucas and Haley pausing briefly before they vanished around a corner and out of sight. Once they'd all gone Peyton turned back towards Brooke's room.
She noticed that the doctor was no longer working at the desk and decided to take this opportunity to go in and see Brooke, whether she wanted the company or not.
(Intensive Care Unit)
As Peyton entered the room, she noticed that Brooke was once again lying back in bed, her oxygen mask once again covering her as she slept.
Peyton closed the door quietly before making her way over to her friend and standing beside her bed.
For a couple of minutes Peyton just stood there watching Brooke, not sure if she should wake her or not.
Slowly Peyton sat beside Brooke's bed in one of the chairs positioned there and continued to watch her friend as she debated what she should do next. However, the decision was soon taken out of her hands when she heard Brooke speak beside her.
"You know," Brooke began her voice muffled by the oxygen mask, which was covering it. "It's kind of off-putting to have someone watch you sleep."
"It's a good thing that you're not sleeping then." Peyton said smiling as Brooke opened her eyes slightly to look at her.
"I knew I couldn't trust that doctor to keep you outside," Brooke said tiredly. "You're extremely sneaky when you want to be P. Sawyer…"
Peyton laughed slightly at Brooke's words.
"Yeah well I learnt from the best," Peyton said in response.
"I'm not going to argue with that," Brooke said tiredly as she added. "So where are you hiding the others?"
"They just left," Peyton, informed Brooke, who once again opened her eyes to look at her. "They're on their way back to Tree Hill."
"About time," Brooke said laughing slightly. "I thought that I'd never get rid of them."
"Well, as much as they hated admitting it, you were right." Peyton said laughing. "Besides I think the prospect of school seemed more entertaining then sitting here and talking to you."
"Hey," Brooke complained playfully. "My conversations are highly entertaining thank you very much."
Peyton laughed and reached out to take Brooke's hand in her own.
Brooke winced at the touch causing Peyton to relax her hold a little.
"I'm sorry," Peyton said quickly. "Was I holding it too tight?"
"Uh… no." Brooke said softly looking at Peyton. "You just caught my cannula that's all. It's a little sore."
Peyton didn't say anything in response, instead wondering to herself whether she confront Brooke about what had happened before and risk her closing off again.
"So…" Peyton pressed hesitantly breaking the sudden silence that had fallen over them. "Are you going to tell me what happened earlier… or do I have to guess?"
"I don't know…" Brooke said teasingly. "I mean the last time I told someone to guess it didn't end so well for me."
"In that case," Peyton said smiling. "It'll probably be better for you if you just told me."
Brooke shifted her position slightly so she was facing Peyton a little more before speaking.
"What do I get in return for my honesty?" Brooke asked playfully.
"You know," Peyton said watching Brooke closely. "You seem a lot happier than when I last saw you, did the doctors give you something?"
"Only some more painkillers," Brooke said smiling at Peyton. "You didn't answer my question you know? What's in this for me?"
"How about I promise not to slap you across the back of the head?" Peyton offered.
Brooke pretended to consider the offer for a moment before answering.
"No deal." She said finally. "Come on P. Sawyer, it's going to have to be better than that."
"Ok," Peyton said in response. "How about the fact that you finally get to be honest about how you're feeling and stop acting like a tough Brookie?"
"How long have you been waiting to use that?" Brooke asked smiling.
"It just came to me," Peyton said laughing.
Brooke watched Peyton closely for a moment struggling with whether or not to share her feelings.
"Come on Brooke, would you talk to me? Please?" Peyton said rubbing her hand.
Brooke sighed for a moment before nodding.
"Fine," she said sadly. "If it'll make you feel better, I'll talk to you."
Peyton smiled sorrowfully at Brooke.
"Brooke, this isn't about me feeling better." Peyton explained to her friend. "It's about you."
"That's the thing," Brooke said to Peyton honestly. "I don't feel like this is about me. I don't care if I feel better or not because I don't think that I should. I mean ill you know? I shouldn't be feeling well."
Brooke paused for a moment before continuing.
"I make decisions on how I think they'll affect other people, not because it's what I want. I stayed here because I saw how upset you were about me wanting to leave, even though deep down I wanted to more than anything."
"Brooke…" Peyton said pulling her friend into a warm embrace.
"Peyton don't feel guilty about it," Brooke interrupted her. "I know I was acting a little crazy before and I'm sorry if I upset you…it's just that…I feel as though I'm losing control of my life. Like everyone is telling me what I should and shouldn't be doing."
Peyton wiped at Brooke's cheek as she started to cry.
"I guess what it all comes down to is that I'm scared Peyton." Brooke confessed. "It just seems like my whole life is slipping away from me and no matter how much I try to hold onto it, I can't… and if that's the case, then I want to enjoy as much of it as I can… whilst I can. I don't want to be stuck in a hospital, missing out on spending time with my friends and the people that I care about…"
"Ah Brooke," Peyton sighed as she felt tears forming in her own eyes now. "I get that ok, I do…but you have to be sensible about this. As much as you don't want them to, things are going to change…but that's life…you know? It's always changing, whether you're ill or not…you just have to change with it."
Peyton paused for an instant to brush the side of Brooke's face gently with her hand.
"It can't stop you from doing the things that you love, if you don't let it Brooke. Obviously you might have to slow things down a bit …but you normally function at 100mph anyway so you can afford to." Peyton said laughing slightly.
Brooke smiled at Peyton and pulled her into another warm embrace.
"I'm glad you didn't listen to me when I said I didn't want to see anyone," Brooke said sincerely.
""Well," Peyton said over Brooke's shoulder. "I thought it was the least I could do after all the times you ignored me when I didn't want to talk and told you to go away."
"What was I supposed to do?" Brooke asked laughing. "Leave you alone to brood, I mean you're my ho, I couldn't do that…"
Peyton laughed.
"Yeah well, ditto." Peyton said smiling. "Because you're my ho too B. Davis."
