Dr. Benson looked between Chase and Lucas to see they were glaring at each other. This was going to be an interesting case he could tell already. Just as he was about to say something to the two men, Riley spoke up.

"Dr. Benson, let me help you with this. First of all, her name is Ashlee Davis not Ashlee Scott. Second of all, this guy is her father biologically but that's it. Third, this other guy is the only father Ashlee has ever known. So whatever updates you have, make sure you tell the right guy and Chase, is the right guy to be telling," Riley explained carefully finishing with a menacing smirk in Lucas' direction.

"Thank you, young man. Chase, would you please come with me?" Dr. Benson replied as he motioned for Chase to follow him away from the others.

Lucas stood there shocked into silence as he watched Chase walk away behind Dr. Benson. His attention didn't stay there too long before he whipped around to glare at his son who completely betrayed him. Ashlee is his daughter, not Chase's, and Lucas wanted to know when people were gonna get that.

"What's the story doc? How's my little girl?" Chase asked anxiously as soon as the two were by themselves.

"Well it seems that she's got a severe break in her left leg along with significant ligament damage to her left knee. There are multiple cuts and bruises on her body as well," Dr. Benson answered.

"What about her head? Anything there that I need to know about?"

"We're not sure yet. Right now she's a little out of it from all the testing and the drugs we gave her to complete those. We'll be able to assess that as soon as her test results come back and then even more so when the drugs wear off. I'm sorry I don't have a better answer for you regarding the state of her head or her brain. But I promise you whatever the case may be we're going to take real good care of her. She's in excellent care here."

"I know she is. This is the best hospital staff I've ever dealt with in my life. And I've dealt with this staff a lot in the last two years or so, especially for my daughter. I know it's not common for parents to not want to go right into see their children but I'm waiting for family, so could you tell me where I can find Ashlee when I am ready to go see her."

"Certainly. She's in room 435. If there's nothing else I can do for you right now or no other questions you'd like to ask me, I've got to make my rounds however I'll be sure to let you know when we have her test results back or if anything else changes."

"Thank you I appreciate that."

Dr. Benson nodded before walking down the corridor to make his rounds. Chase turned and walked back out to the waiting room. He was scared out of his mind that Ashlee would have severe head trauma and think that Brooke was still alive or worse, have some serious head injury that could ultimately kill her. Chase immediately shook that thought from his mind knowing that his daughter was a tough girl and there was nothing that could keep her from fighting for her life if she would need to do so.

Haley was about 10 minutes from NBMC when her cell phone rang. She answered it while never bothering to look and see who was calling.

"Hello," she said.

"Hales, it's me. Are you at the hospital yet?" Nathan asked.

"No but I will be in 10 minutes, where are you?"

"Stuck in traffic about an hour outside of Tree Hill, hopefully things will clear up soon. Tell Chase I'll be there as soon as I can and tell my niece that Uncle Nate's on his way."

"Okay I will. Please be careful baby. I love you."

"I will. I love you too. Bye sweetheart."

"Bye."

Haley closed her phone just as she was approaching the entrance to the hospital parking lot. As soon as she parked her car and got out and started walking toward the entrance, Haley's nerves kicked in and her imagination went into overdrive. She was pretty sure that if Ashlee didn't make it out of this alive that she was going to kill Peyton for not being more careful in this crappy weather. After the year that Ashlee had lived with her and Nathan in Raleigh following Brooke's death, the two girls had formed a deeper bond than what was already in place to the point where Ashlee was more like another daughter instead of a niece to Haley. There was no way that she would be able to cope if Ashlee didn't fight her way through this obstacle that presently lie before her now. It would be too much like losing Brooke all over again and that was hard enough on Haley.

Finally, Haley was in the hospital and she broke out into a dead sprint as soon as her eyes fell on Chase. She was holding onto the hope that Ashlee was okay and that everything was going to be fine with her. No sooner had she spotted Chase did Haley see Lucas and Peyton sitting not so far away. Between the three adults, she saw Riley sitting in a chair with his arms crossed over his chest scowling in Lucas' direction.

Just before she opened her mouth to speak, Chase realized that Haley was in front of him and quickly rose to his feet enveloping her into a hug. He was so relieved to see that she was there finally. It felt as if he was going to burst if he had to spend another second in that hospital with Lucas still there and no Haley or Nathan present.

"Hales, where's Nate?" he asked.

"On his way here. He's stuck in traffic about an hour away," Haley replied.

"Okay at least you're here now. I'm so glad to see you."

"I'm glad to see you too but I do wish it were for happier circumstances."

"You and me both."

Haley didn't miss the anger in his voice or the fire in Chase's eyes for that matter. Of course she didn't blame him for being angry at Lucas but when she turned her slightly, Haley realized that it was actually Peyton he was glaring at instead of Lucas. But then she saw his gaze shift slightly so that he was in fact glaring at Lucas now.

"Walk with me, Hales. I want to talk to you but I don't want him to hear," Chase said as he offered his friend an arm.

Haley nodded with a smile as she looped her arm through Chase's and allowed him to guide them through the halls of the ER. He told her what he knew so far about Ashlee's condition as well as the stunt that Lucas pulled with her name. As he expected Haley was absolutely livid that Lucas was pull something so childish as to give a false name for Ashlee just because he felt like he could. But at the same time she wondered if maybe even after all these years, Lucas never knew whose last name Brooke had given the twins, hers or his.

"Are you sure he knew that Scott isn't her name though, Chase?" Haley asked hesitantly.

"Haley, I'm absolutely positive. He did that just to piss me off. Why are you defending him? This is your niece we're talking about here!" Chase practically barked in response.

"Whoa, Chase. I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you anymore then you obviously already are. I just thought maybe it was an honest mistake. But I guess you do have a right to be upset about the name thing. I'm pretty sure I'd be upset too if it were me in your shoes."

"Of course I have a right to be upset Hales! Ashlee is my daughter, not his. She never was his daughter, nor will she ever be his daughter."

"I know Chase."

"No, Hales. There's something I need to tell you. Something that I've held inside for the last 7 years about Ashlee and Ezra."

"What is it?"

"When the twins turned 13, Brooke told them the truth about who their "father" was. She also gave them the option of taking his name if they wanted it. Ashlee was torn up about it for the longest time. In fact, a year and half before the accident, Ashlee was on the brink of changing her name but she wanted to see Lucas and talk to him before making the final decision. I'm not totally sure what happened that day but when she came home, she was ticked off and said that she wasn't taking his name after all. I guess Brooke never told Lucas that Ashlee didn't go through with it. Not that I blame her, of course."

"Wait I'm confused. Brooke gave them the option of taking Lucas' name and you didn't protest?"

"How could I?"

"How could you not? Chase, they've known you as Daddy since they were born."

Chase knew that Haley was right but he also knew at the time that it was right for Ashlee and Ezra to have a choice if they wanted to take their biological father's name or not. It wasn't something that Brooke told them on her own, she and Chase had discussed it multiple times before she went to them about it. Chase wanted to adopt them but since adoption was such an expensive ordeal, they never went through with it.

"Hales, it's a name though. It's not that big of a deal. Besides, with or without the name Adams, Ashlee and Ezra will always be my kids. Who knows maybe someday they'll wanna change their name to Adams on their own and should that day come, I'll be there for them and if it never does happen, I'll never love them any less."

They were heading back to the waiting area when they heard screaming voices. As they got closer, they realized that Riley and Lucas were going back and forth at each other. Not wanting to let them make a bigger scene what they had probably already caused, Haley and Chase rushed back into the waiting area to separate the two. Haley going to Lucas and Chase to Riley.

"Lucas what the hell is wrong with you?" Haley snapped when she had him backed into a corner.

"None of your damn business, Haley," Lucas barked icily.

"Oh right, I hear you barking at my nephew but it's none of my business. That's a load of crap Luke and you know it. Now tell me what your problem is before I throw your ass out of here so Nathan doesn't kill you when he gets here."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure Nathan is gonna kill me. It's not like it's his daughter that got hurt. She's my daughter!"

"Don't start that shit again. You know you lost the right to be her father and Ezra's father a long time ago. In fact, I'm pretty sure you lost that right when you bailed on Brooke while she was still pregnant. So I don't wanna hear anymore of your crap. I'm serious too, you better tell me what the hell you were yelling at Riley for or I won't give Nate the opportunity to kick your ass, I'll just do it myself."

"No Hales, I never lost the right to be a father to my daughter. Cause I can't lose what I never had. Brooke never gave me a chance to be a father to Ashlee or Ezra. And now nobody is giving me that chance to be the father that I should have been a long time ago."

"You think maybe there's a reason Brooke never gave you a chance to be a father to the twins Luke?"

"Yeah, it's called she was always a selfish fucking bitch who never thought about anyone but herself."

Lucas had no sooner finished speaking before Haley's hand swung and met with his cheek full force jerking his head to the side. She couldn't believe he had the nerve to call Brooke a bitch, or even a selfish bitch for that matter. If she had less self-restraint it was a strong possibility that instead of slapping Lucas that Haley might have kicked him for his below-the-belt comments about Brooke.

The two were still standing there glaring at each other when Nathan walked into the hospital. His expression was clearly readable that he was worried out of his mind about Ashlee. Some of the worry let go into anger when he saw his brother there and heard him screaming at Haley. Not wanting to make things worse he quietly walked over, doing his best to keep his emotions under wraps and led Haley away gently by her arm. He would deal with Lucas later since the only thing on his mind at that point was Ashlee he wanted to talk to Chase.

"Chase, how's Ashlee? Have you seen her yet?" Nathan asked upon reaching his friend.

"No, I was waiting for you guys. I figured Lucas would be less likely to follow me into the room if I had you with me then if I were to go alone. Since as you've obviously noticed he somehow feels entitled to be here or something stupid like that. I really don't know but I can tell you that I'm glad you're here now since he doesn't seem like he plans to leave anytime soon."

"All right, just give me five minutes and I'll get him and Peyton out of here," Nathan said as he turned and made his way back to where Lucas and Peyton were sitting.

"Luke you and Peyton need to get out of here. There's no reason for either one of you to stick around anymore. Hales and I are here now," Nathan said calmly hoping to get the message across that they were no longer welcome to wait around.

"You don't get to tell me that I can't be here for my daughter Nathan," Lucas replied evenly.

"Actually, since she's my niece and I'm just looking out for her well being, yes I do get to tell you that you can't be here for Chase and Brooke's daughter. Now get out, both of you before I report your sorry ass to security and they have to come down and escort you out."

Lucas could see that Nathan was serious but he didn't really care. Nathan could see that Lucas knew he was pissed but it was obvious to Nathan by the lack of movement from both Lucas and Peyton that neither of them cared that he was threatening to have security called on them. In fact, Nathan almost wondered if Lucas was challenging him to do just that. If that were the case, however, Nathan wasn't playing. He wanted them out without a fight and he wanted them out now.

"I'm not asking you again, Luke. Get out," Nathan said with clenched teeth.

"I don't have to listen to you. It's a free country. I can stay here if I want. It doesn't matter if you like it or not Nathan. Peyton and I aren't going anywhere until I see my daughter."

"Well I guess you two are never leaving those chairs then because you don't have a daughter Lucas. You never have and you never will. So do us all a favor, grow up and get out of here."

Nathan didn't bother waiting to see if Lucas was listening to what he had just said. Nor did he care if Lucas had anything else he wanted to say to Nathan because there was no way Nathan was gonna listen to anything else that came out of his mouth. Especially, none of the garbage about Ashlee being his daughter instead of Chase's daughter that made Nathan want to either throw up or punch his brother in the mouth.

"Hon, let's just get out of here. I'm tired and hungry and I just want to go home and be with my husband for a while," Peyton said after a while.

Lucas looked at his wife in disbelief that she was actually trying to convince him to leave his daughter. He shook his head violently in opposition but quickly changed his tune when Peyton whispered something seductive in his ear and winked at him.

As Lucas and Peyton made their way out of the ER; Chase, Nathan and Haley walked toward Ashlee's room to go sit with her.