Chapter 9

Blood Brothers


The morning light sifted through the blinds as Deb and Dan quietly moved from Nathan's room into Luke's. They were both exhausted, having been up every hour on the hour to make sure that both boys were okay and to switch out their oxygen. Nathan seemed fine, as evident by his midnight movie fest with his tutor, Dan thought, as he moved toward Lucas' bed. The boy was curled up on his side, twisted among the various covers on the bed.

Deb straightened the covers a bit and smoothed Lucas' hair away from his face. He looked so much younger than usual, as if the weight of the world wasn't pressing down on him in his sleep.

"He seems to have gotten some color back and he looks a bit stronger," Deb said, examining the boy lying in her guest bed. Dan mumbled something incoherent as he gently lifted Luke's head and placed the oxygen canola under his nose.

"You're very good with him," Deb noticed, watching as Dan gently laid the boy's head down on the pillow. He sat back and looked at his wife. "It's easy to be good with him when he's unconscious, Deb. I just worry about what will happen when he's not drugged."

"You have to start somewhere. Just look at this as a beginning, and realize that he's got 16 years of complaints built up," she warned, laughing at his pained expression.

"And I thought Nathan was unbearable. To have two teens in the same house is nearly unthinkable," he replied.

Deb looked at the clock and decided it was time to do a wake up call. "We might as well get it over with now," she said to Dan, who leaned over and nudged Luke's shoulder. Deb watched for a moment before getting up to leave. "I am going to go get him some water and broth. The doctor said we needed to start him on some liquids today."

Dan watched her leave with a pained expression on his face. He was beginning to think that Deb did her best to leave him alone with Luke as much as possible. He leaned over Lucas again and tried to wake the boy. "Lucas, come on, you have to wake up," he cajoled.

Lucas' face scrunched up, his eyes squinting in the relative light of the room. His eyes focused, and Dan's face came into focus. Lucas immediately closed his eyes, as nausea grabbed his stomach. His head was pounding and his lungs felt like they couldn't get enough air into them. Luke's thoughts were as jumbled as his brain, with everything moving in and out of focus. He fought to remember where he was and why his body ached, when a gentle hand pressed up against his forehead. "Keithhhhhhh…." Luke slurred, his voice was rough, betraying his sore vocal cords.

Keith had always been there when he was sick. He remembered Keith holding his hand when he had his tonsils taken out when he was five, and he remembered waking up to find his Uncle when he'd fallen out of his favorite tree and broken his arm when he was 11. He didn't know much right now, but he knew he was sick. Luke tried opening his eyes again, but didn't see Keith.

If Luke hadn't been so confused he'd have been convinced that Dan was sitting next to him on a bed. "Keith?" he asked again, his voice hoarse and confused. Dan's stomach constricted for some unknown reason, at hearing his son call out for his brother in that needful tone. "Your mother and Uncle are on vacation right now," he retorted, not sure where this anger was coming from.

Luke smiled a goofy smile upon hearing those words. "Good….want them together," he croaked. It had been his childhood dream that his mom and Keith would get married. Then Keith could adopt him and officially be his dad. He wanted a dad to call his own.

Looking down at his dazed son, Dan felt his chest tighten with some unknown emotion. Keith had always won of the hearts of everyone around them when they were kids. Sure the girls would give Dan their bodies, but their hearts always went to puppy dog Keith. Even their parents always had a soft spot for his underachieving brother. No matter how many scoring titles Dan won, he never won anyone's love before Keith.

And now 16 years after he'd thrown Karen away for Deb, he was actually jealous of the idea of his brother getting together with his ex. Dan had shoved any feelings he had for Karen out of his life a long time ago. It was easier to forget her than to remember that she always brought out the best in him. Everyone had always commented that he'd be unbearable if not for her influence. He momentarily forgot Lucas and got lost in the past and memories of his times with his high school sweetheart.

Dan snapped out of it a few minutes later and looked down to find his son staring at him with Karen's eyes, as if he could tell that Dan was trapped in the past. Not knowing what to say, Dan abruptly stood up and headed for the door. He turned back to find Lucas staring silently after him. "Drink something, will ya Kid? I don't need any more late night runs to the emergency room," he said before turning on his heel and leaving the room.


Haley carefully balanced the tray with Nathan's dinner on it as she opened his door. Deb would not have asked her to carry the tray up with all this food on it if she knew how clumsy Haley could be. She could just envision that vegetable soup all over that pristine white carpet. Who had white carpet anyway? Didn't anyone actually live in this monster of a house, she wondered?

Nathan lazily looked up from his bed as she entered his room. Gez, she thought. The boy practically oozed sex. He smiled at her in a way that twisted her heart and sent chills up her spine. "Not even officially a couple and you're already waiting on me hand and foot."

She stood over him a second with the heavy tray and smiled. "I'd take back that last comment unless you want to be wearing your dinner," she said in a serious manner. There was sexy and then there was sexist, and she didn't want him to think she'd be his beck and call girl when he was healthy.

"Can I at least convince you to help me eat," he asked in that sweet voice he used when he wanted something. "After all, I am fairly weak, and I don't know if I have the strength to lift the spoon."

Laughing, Haley picked up the spoon and threw it in the general direction of his hand. "I didn't notice that you were too weak last night, lover boy," she teased. He finally gave up and began eating, enjoying her company. He felt stronger and his throat didn't feel nearly as bad as it had the night before.

Later he tossed his spoon down and declared, "That was it. I can't eat anymore."

Noticing that the bowl was mostly empty, Haley cleared the tray off his bed and sat down beside him. "That ought to satisfy your mom. She's a bit worried that neither you or Lucas are eating anything."

Wincing at the sound of Luke's name, Nathan cautiously looked at Haley and asked, "Is he going to be okay? I haven't heard him in the bathroom or moving around in the other room." He didn't want to get attached to the idea of having a decent relationship with his half brother if they were just going to go back to hating each other again. But Nathan had to admit; it was kind of nice having another guy to share all the parental dysfunction in his life with.

"He's been out of it for most of the time. I spent a few hours with him around dawn, and he wasn't actually talking. But the surgery took a lot out of him and the doctor's told us not to expect anything out of him until later today," she explained, noting the look of relief on his face.

"So will he be able to play when school starts up," Nathan innocently asked, not sure if he wanted to know that Luke would be back in the lineup before he was. If he ever got back into the lineup with his burnt hands.

Gently grabbing his hands, Haley kissed the fresh bandages before kissing his lips. "You have nothing to worry about, Nate. The doctors said that your hands would be fine in a week or so. The burns weren't that bad and they just need time to heal."

He looked down at his hands, before reaching out to touch her cheek. "What did I do to deserve you?" he asked, his voice sweet and earnest. She smiled at him and said, "We'll have to figure that one out later. I need to go check on Lucas."

He pouted for a few seconds and refused to let go of her hand. "I don't want to share you with him," he admitted in a small voice. He was sharing his team, his dad and now his house. He wanted Haley all to himself; he wanted to revel in her presence alone, without Lucas interfering.

"Nathan, I spent most of last night with you. The entire point of me being here is to make sure that Lucas doesn't go ballistic when he wakes up. I can't do that if I am in here all the time," she argued, seeing the reason sinking into him. "But I can promise that once this is over, I will spend a lot of Lucas free time with you."

He smiled at her words and then frowned. "Just how badly do you think that Luke will react when he comes to?" he asked, sincerely interested in his brother's state of mind.

Haley sighed. "Lucas hates Dan so much, it's hard to describe all the anger he's got built up inside of him. He doesn't really talk to anyone about it, except me. Karen is too close to the pain of it, and Luke doesn't want to cause any more problems between Dan and Keith," she explained. "So all the questions he has about the past, and all the pain he has about the way Dan ignores him just kind of builds up inside of him, with no place to go. I just worry what he'll do when he realizes that he's essentially under Dan's control."

Nathan listened to her words carefully. He'd not really considered how hard it must have been to grow up in the same town with a father who didn't care if you lived or died. All those times at junior league games when Nathan would deliberately flaunt his dad in front of Lucas came back to him with a rush. Nathan lowered his eyes in shame. "It's gonna be a bloodbath, isn't it?" he asked to himself, as Haley walked out his door.


Haley watched as the clock in Lucas' room hit midnight. She'd spent the past two hours lying next to him, reading a book and occasionally murmuring comforting words when Luke tossed and turned. He'd spent most of the day asleep; aside from the brief conversation she'd overheard Dan recap to Deb.

Deb moved quietly in the adjoining bathroom, having just left Nathan's side. She wanted to check on Lucas' stitches before heading to bed. Lucas was heading out of danger and she and Dan would not have to wake him up constantly tonight as they had last night. She paused, hearing low voices on the other side of the door. Smiling, she realized that Lucas was awake and that Haley was there to comfort him. At least something had gone right with her plan to get her husband and son closer to Lucas.

She quietly opened the bathroom door and stood unobtrusively in the doorway, watching as Haley gently coaxed Lucas out of his stupor.

"Hales," Luke croaked out, his voice still rough. "I had the weirdest dream. I dreamed that I woke up and saw Dan staring at me. It was …creepy," he said, for lack of a better word.

Cringing, Haley was thankful for the low light in the room. All Luke needed to see was her reaction to his present situation. "It's going to be okay, Luke. You just need to relax and not move around too much. The doctor's said you have a concussion, and any sudden movement might make you sick," she informed him, not knowing how to ease into the discussion of his current situation.

Luke struggled to sit up a bit against the dark wooden sleigh bed. He paused, and looked around the room, taking in its heavy furniture and ornate furnishings. This was definitely not his house, or Haley's or even Keith's apartment. "Hales, where am I?" he asked, his voice showing the first signs of panic.

Deb hesitated, not knowing if she should rescue Haley or if she'd just succeed in freaking Lucas out even more than he currently was. Even across the room, she could tell the boy was panicking at his unfamiliar surroundings.

"Lucas, I need you to listen to me, okay? You have to hear me out," Haley instructed. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed a hold of his hand and continued. "There was an accident with the team bus. You were trapped on the burning bus with Nathan, Brooke and Peyton." She watched as he searched his memory for any recollection of those events. She tried to sooth him as his brow creased and he winced in pain.

"The doctors said you might have a short term memory problem," she explained, trying to get him to relax a bit, before he totally made himself sick. "You have a serious concussion, smoke inhalation, and a busted lung. The doctor's did emergency surgery and patched the lung up, and you need rest and time to get over the head injury."

He looked at her in confusion, but with complete trust written on his face. "Okay, Hales. So where are my mom and Keith. And why can't I remember anything," he asked her, his chest constricting as he fought to sit up. He needed to clear his head and remember what was going on.

"Your mom and Keith went to Florida to take care of Karen's aunt. Remember, she had surgery and your mom was going to make sure she was okay," Haley reminded him, trying to buy time before she dropped his location on him. She looked over at Deb, who nodded in encouragement.

"Haley, where am I? Cause I know I don't remember this place," he said, referring to their upper class digs. No one he knew had such nice stuff.

She grabbed his hand, trying to calm him down. "Luke, you need to relax and save your voice. You have to make sure that you don't stress your throat or vocal cords." Seeing the look on his face, she knew she couldn't avoid it any longer. "Okay, here's the sitch. The hospital had to have someone sign a consent form for your surgery. With Keith and Karen out of town, the only person who could legally sign for you was Dan," she admitted, relieved to finally get it out.

Luke struggled to get out of bed, lamely attempting to get out from under the blankets and sheets heaped on top of him. "Tell me you didn't let them bring me to HIS house, Haley. Tell me you insisted that they leave me on a street corner without surgery before they let HIM sign anything for me," he bitterly threw out, his voice cracking with the strain of both emotion and anger.

Haley jumped off the bed in time to grab Luke and keep him falling to the floor. He was so very weak, and all this moving around couldn't be good for either his concussion or his back wound.

"Not HIS house, Luke, Nate's house. It's okay, I am staying here with you and I promised Karen that I wouldn't let him hurt you," she said, tears nearly springing to her eyes at Luke's frantic efforts to get away. "You can't leave, Luke. You are too sick to be alone, and you'd never make it down the stairs," she explained, seeing how logic was totally gone in Luke's animalistic survival mode.

Luke flailed forward, knocking the alarm clock and a lamp off the night table. Deb rushed forward, realizing it was time to intervene. She helped Haley lift him off the floor and back onto the edge of the bed, and she put a calming hand on top of his. "Luke, do you know who I am?" she gently asked, drawing his attention away from Haley. "I am Nathan's mother and you'll be staying with me for a few days."

He attempted to shake his head, before the pain shot through his head and he doubled over in pain. Deb helped maneuver the boy back into bed, as Dan rushed into the room. Luke threw Dan as nasty a look as he could muster under present circumstances, before Deb drew his attention back to her.

"Lucas, I talked to your mother an hour ago. She's going to leave Florida as soon as possible. She told me to tell you to behave, and she'll be here as soon as possible," Deb explained, all the time rubbing his hand and doing her best to reassure him and calm him down.

Luke groaned as another shot of pain moved through his head. It was nearly too much to take in at once, he realized. "I want my mom or Keith. I don't want to be here," he said, coughing as he struggled to breath.

Motioning toward Dan, she said, "Oxygen from Nate's room, now." Luke watched as the older man jumped at his wife's order and left the room. He croaked out a laugh, realizing that all he'd ever really seen of Dan Scott was his back, as he was always walking away from him.

His struggle to breathe continued, as Luke panicked at the thought of being under Dan Scott's control. It was bad enough having to deal with him at official team functions, but to have to rely on the man for food and shelter was beyond his ability to accept. Living with Dan, even for a few days was putting him into a subordinate position, and that was something Luke couldn't fathom. He closed his eyes and tried to relax. There would be a better time to escape, once all these people left, he thought.

Hearing a floorboard creak, Luke's eyes opened to see Dan putting something around his neck. Luke tried to jerk back, but he had little room to move with Dan in front of him and the headboard behind him. "Relax, Lucas. Its just oxygen and it will help you breathe better," Dan said, in a somewhat soothing tone. Dan had been disconcerted by the feral look he'd seen earlier in his son's eyes. The need to get away from his father had been instinctive for the Luke.

The oxygen made Luke feel even more light headed. His eyes dropped as he felt Deb change his morphine patch, and everything began to blur together. He felt himself drop off a few times, before he looked over and saw Haley next to him. She patted his forehead and leaned over to gently kiss his cheek. "It's going to be okay, Luke. Please trust me, if you can't trust them."

He dropped off into sleep before he could form his last objection to this situation.


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