When we were Young – chapter ten
"And Sammy passes it to Isabella who nearly falls back when she catches it, she throws it to dad whose being crowded by other members of the team, the championship player has to throw it back to Sammy, the real question is can Sammy get the orange in the fruit bowl?" Lydia said standing up on her chair using her best commentator's voice, she had practiced with Mouth. They all watched intently as Sam levelled his aim before throwing the orange which they watched in the open air before it landed in the middle of the fruit bowl and they all cheered "IT'S A SWISH" Lydia yelled at the top of her lungs as her mother walked into the room behind them with the washing basket on her hip, she let out a laugh as she watched her children quickly scattered and cleaned up the mess they had created.
"Okay cheeky monkeys go and get ready for bed, you two dishes stat" she said pointing to her husband and her eldest daughter who groaned at the word dishes. They walked all the dishes over to the kitchen, getting into an intense bubble fight as Nathan washed and Lydia dried, Haley stood making packed tomorrows lunches for the twins laughing at the relationship that Nathan and Lydia shared, thanking her lucky stars that she was with Nathan and that he was the father of her children, she was drawn out of her world of adoration when the phone rang from where it sat on the kitchen table, Nathan turned all gloved up and she quickly realised that she was going to have to answer it, she put the glad wrap down and walked across to the table as the twins ran past her in a haze and joined in with the madness, and because of the laughter surrounding her she answered the phone with a smile on her face "Hello, yes this is she" she said her smile quickly transforming to a frown, a finger going in her ear to try and block out the noise from the kitchen and grasp the information, when the information finally reached her brain one moment she felt lightheaded and felt herself let out with painful noise and the next she was in her husband's arms, and the phone was no longer connected to her ear, her kids were looking at her so confused, Lydia was slowly making her way around so much being said in her vulnerable eyes and her two littlest kids were looking at her petrified from where they sat on the bench but right now she couldn't care, she instead looked up to Nathan who had gone as white as a ghost. Nathan hung up the phone and she clutched at him, the voices that surrounded her didn't seem to exist in this moment in time but through it all in a haze she could hear her daughters pleas for them to tell her what had happened.
"Okay" Nathan said to make sure that his voice still existed still gripping onto his petrified and sobbing wife "There has been an accident, Jamie.." his name was mentioned in that sentence and he was forced to watch as his eldest daughter broke down and his twins faces droop "Jamie was in the car with Chuck and they had an accident" he had to remember that his kids didn't need the main details of it all that they still remained just kids "Chuck is okay"
"And Jamie?" she asked tears streaming down her face, doing everything she could to stay standing
"Jamie hasn't woken up from the accident" he said breaking down into a pile of tears as the rest of the family did the same thing barely noticing as the front door swung open and the high heels clunked up the hallway
"I said I would return your dvd's" she said with a smile as she walked into the room her heart sinking as she looked at the faces of the broken Scott family "What happened?"
"Jamie" was all Lydia could manage to get out before Brooke slid behind her catching her before she could fall.
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Nathan and Haley were now on the drive to hell, the drive to their son who may never wake again, a son whose smile they may never see again. They had managed to fill Brooke in who despite the fact that she was going to burst into tears at any second she sprung into perfect Brooke Davis action and sent them out the door to be with their son, swearing that she would fill everyone in so that they didn't have to deal with all of it and taking care of their other three kids who were all emotional wrecks at this very moment in time and she didn't blame them. James Lucas Scott was the families' big tall hunky rock that would do anything for his family and his friends, the little kid who brought hope and inspiration to those that surrounded him. Brooke had called everyone she could think of, some close family driving up to the hospital to be with Nathan and Haley but most coming to Nathan and Haley's house because huddling together brought some comfort in events like this, Brooke wanted to be up at the hospital to wait with her family but she knew that while she couldn't do anything other than wait at the hospital while if she was here she could attempt to soothe Lydia, Sam and Isabella in any way that she could. She hadn't broken down yet and she wasn't going to break down, it was her job to be strong but when he husband walked in with her two teenage boys who idealised the ground Jamie walked on and Lila-Mag over his shoulder sleeping, the severity of it all hit her, Chase and Alex were on their way to be by Chuck's side through this and with the sight of her husband she was crying and running into his arms a look of equal horror on his face.
Jude walked past his parents and the massive group huddled in the living room surrounding a phone clutching at coffee cups that Karen had brought in for them, not stopping for anything, this isn't where he needed to be at that moment in time and while his mum yelled after him he found himself darting up the stairs and up the hallway to the bedroom door that made his heart skip a beat but he put that aside and knocked "Please leave me alone" she yelled from inside the room, he could tell she was crying and without hesitation he threw the door open "I thought I said to, oh" she said turning around and seeing him, he looked at her brown eyes that were now red and streaks down her gorgeous cheeks.
"Everyone else is down stairs do you want to come?" he asked knowing full well what the answer would be she shook her head as more tears fell from her eyes, he found himself without a moment of hesitation sitting down on her bed and wrapping his arms around her
"He has to be alright" she sobbed body wrenching tears, tears that a girl her size shouldn't have been able to muster "He is my Jamie, I need my Jamie" she sobbed as she held onto him for dear life.
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Jamie had been in a side on collision with another car whilst driving home from a party with Chuck, Chuck was driving when the car had hit, while initially thrown by the crash he was left relatively unharmed and quickly ran to the side of his best friend who remained unconscious the whole time, he sobbed as he waited for the ambulance. Chuck only needed a couple of stiches where Jamie needed lifesaving surgery.
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Haley stood anxiously at the nurses' station; her head turning furiously as the nurse standing in front of her ask her about one hundred seemingly useless questions, her long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, her eyes puffy, her mouth pursed and an exhausted and emotionally drained look on her face, her husband watching her from where he sat in the waiting room, his attention not leaving his fragile wife. Nathan felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to where his brother stood a sombre look on his face, his wife Peyton standing next to him with a tray filled with coffee in her hand; he stood up hugging both his brother and his sister in law.
"This is useless, how the hell is this going to help my son?" she said louder than she expected as she threw her hands down hard onto the cold silver counters of the hospital, she was so overwhelmed and tired, she felt all alone in an unfair world where you had to wait for what seemed like forever to know the fate of your own son, she felt his warm hand on the small of her back and she instantly crumbled into his arms, he folded her into him and held her as tight as he could making it feel as though they were one and the truth of the matter is that is how he usually felt when he was around her, Nathan knew that all the family and friends who were beginning to mosh pit the waiting room were watching them but that didn't matter, his son mattered and his wife's heart breaking mattered to him, his children at least an hour away were suffering and he couldn't be there for them, that was what mattered right now, what others thought didn't even warrant a second thought in his brain right now. He kissed the top of his wife's head and she looked up at him with her big Haley James eyes of gorgeousness "I'll fill these out, you go sit down babe" he said pulling her in tightly for one more moment before releasing her and picking up the pen that the nurse in front of him with the sympathetic eyes passed to him, he turned and looked back to his wife who sat with her head on the shoulder of Lucas who had one arm around her as she held the hand of Peyton, Clay walked in and leaned down in front of her with Quinn standing behind him, he turned back and looked down at the sheet in front of him "Name" he mumbled under his breath as he put pen to paper "James Lucas Scott".
Even though she was surrounded by friends and family, even though she was in the arms of her best friend, Haley felt cold and alone. While she was finding much solace in staring off into the distance, letting her mind wander and worry about her amazing son, but out of the corner of her eye she saw his face and automatically she felt herself moving, ignoring her family as they called her name.
"I'm so sorry Mrs Scott" he said as she approached him, a look that he had never personally seen but one he had heard of, the protective mother 'you have hurt my kid and now are dead to me' look
"Were you drinking Chuck?" she said looking at him straight in the eyes and not giving anything, no emotion, just a dead pan stare waiting for him to respond as she heard the foot steps behind her, she knew exactly who it was
"Hales" he said as calmly as he could, he knew how to deal with her, he knew how to soothe her, well of course he did he had been her best friend for as long as she could remember. Lucas placed his hands on either arm trying to get her to back away from it all, at the same time that Alex and Chase walked in and stood next to Chuck, he had become his surrogate father through the years and along with that came a strong relationship with Alex and their only daughter Lila-meg
"I just want to know if when he nearly killed my son he was under the influence of alcohol" she said getting angry with every word as she shrugged out of Lucas' grip
"Come on Haley this isn't going to help" she felt her sister Quinn tug at her arm softly, just attempting to pull away, but she wasn't going anywhere Haley stood perfectly and gracefully still.
"I am so sorry Mrs Scott" he pleaded his eyes welling up with tears, Alex doing the same beside him
"He trusted you" she said briefly succumbing to emotion and choking up before bursting into heart breaking sobs
"Come on Haley" Lucas said again taking grip of her arms and she finally fell back into it and let him and her sister drag her away back to the group, her body hunching over as she cried
"I'm so so sorry" he said bursting into tears as Chase grabbed him in an attempt to soothe him, practically bear hugging him as Alex kissed his head and patted her husband's arm before walking and sitting with her upset best friend.
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After an incredibly long night of sitting with their little community and trying not to cry, a night filled with holding the people that you loved tightly so that they knew that despite in that very moment when if words were spoken they would seem untrue or turn into a puddle of tears but that grip and that embrace was word enough. It was like a silent vidual in that house and with that Brooke decided that if she was going to watch these kids and try and get them through this horrible time that she needed to get them out of that house and to a spot where sadness was welcomed but often expressed in other art forms, whether it was Peyton writing lyrics or the thumping of a basketball on the court and through the hoop. She sat with Lydia in her arms at the river court on the picnic table, watching as people gathered and participated in both art forms, the smell of spray paint in the air immersed her as she watched people beginning to gather and paint messages of love and support for Jamie Scott and his recovery and then at the other end of the court stood her two sons and the rest of the bigger kids trying to distract the little kids by helping them shoot baskets. All practically walking zombies, her little blonde god daughter a little less bouncy and savvy walked towards them, this frown on her face as she came and sat down with them hugging her best friends legs, it reminded Brooke of her relationship with Peyton when they were their age without the love triangles and slapping, she hoped. Brooke kissed the tops of her nieces heads and then stepped down from her spot on the table, running into and apologising to some random sad kid that walked past her, she stood on the edge of the court with her hands in her back pocket trying hard to not cry but to smile at all that was happening around her but she just couldn't, she looked down at the message at her feet, she remembered when she came back to Tree Hill after college, she had fell in love with the filled with wisdom and kindness boy with the infectious smile, the kid who was willing to take his own stand, listen to her rants and watch soap operas with her. James Lucas Scott would always have the most special spot in her heart, he gave her life clarity when it had little and he gave her love when she felt like she was all alone. Brooke fought back the tears as she looked up and locked eyes with the warm upset eyes of her friend, someone who had been equally touched by little Jamie Lucas, his Uncle Skills was and still was his best friend and Brooke was one of the only people who knew exactly what he was feeling right now and she assumed that Skills knew that as well, she gave him the faintest smile and a wave as he did the same before walking forward, she wrapped him in her arms, he was taller than her when she wasn't wearing heels so she had to stand up on her toes to do so but he accepted it and put his chin down on her shoulder "That kid" he said breaking down into tears as she did the same
"I know" and with that he knew that no more words were needed, that all they had to do was hold each other.
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Each person that crowded in the hospital would take turns of pacing up the hallway with Haley, she was a wreck and after the third time she aimlessly wandered without thinking, allowing her memories take over her body and got lost they decided without words that that is what they would do, plus about five minutes into every pace she would burst into tears and need a hug to soothe her, just enough for her to keep going, no hug was going to soothe her, she knew that the only thing that would make all of this any better was if her son woke up. On her tenth lap of the same drab hallways with Peyton at her side Brooke Baker walked towards her with Skills at her side, they had been standing at the river court and decided that the rest of the adults that had flocked and accumulated at the river court were perfectly capable of doing what they were doing for the kids, bare minimum, and that they needed to be at the hospital even if all they could do was sit and wait.
"HALEY" Nathan yelled as he ran up the hallway and she wanted to throw up, Skills was right there behind her and she held onto him for dear life so that she didn't fall over as her husbands concerned face approached her, she couldn't bring herself to form words she just looked to her husband with her teary eyes and waited for him to tell her "Jamie is out of surgery" he said it and she smiled, but when her husband didn't smile she knew something was wrong, that he wasn't telling her something she watched as he gulped, not wanting to tell her "But he is in a coma, they said that it he will probably wake up in time and that we just have to be patient, just wait out the storm" he didn't know why he had said the last part, he supposed it had something to do with him wanting to get that horrible look off his wife's face but he knew he didn't have the power to do that. Through the tears and the people holding her up knowing that she needed the help but just couldn't ask for it, Haley looked up to Nathan full vulnerability in her expression
"Can I see him?" he nodded holding back his own tears as he stepped towards her and grasped her shaking hand.
They walked up the long hallway and it felt as though with every step they were getting further away, it was like they were never going to reach that destination that they would kill to be in, finally they approached room two hundred and eleven and Haley took the deepest breath as her husband lead her in. Jamie's complexion matched the pasty white walls of his hospital room, other than the occasional pink irritation of skin from the minor injuries he had gained from the accident, the green blanket up to the middle of his chest leaving little view of the hospital gown that he had been dressed in. His clothes and wallet had been put on the nightstand, his dark blue jeans cut down each side so that the doctors could get him out of them, from the sight of him she just wanted to collapse, collapse into a puddle, disappear but she knew that she had to be strong, had to be for her whole family, she also knew that Nathan, the most wonderful husband in the world was right behind her and there was no way that he was going to let her fall, he had her back. So instead of collapsing she stood up tall, releasing her husband's hand and walking over to her son's hospital bed, taking his hand and taking a seat, determined that she wouldn't leave that spot until her sons eyes opened and bore into her own. Nathan walked over and kissed his son on the head whispering some words in his ear before excusing himself and heading towards the phone to let not only the waiting room posy but the whole clan in Tree Hill who were anxiously waiting to hear some sort of news about his little boy. Haley nodded and acknowledged him as he kissed her and walked out of the room before leaning forward and grasping Jamie's hand tighter "Hey Jimmy Jam" she said taking a deep breath in, wanting so desperately for her voice or those words to spark some response in her still son. "It's me, mum, but you probably know that, James Lucas Scott wake up, wake up right now or I will ground you so hard that you will think that the summer of 2013 was a breeze" she said before again breaking down into tears, she wondered how she had any more to cry "Jamie the truth is I need you, I have always needed you. You are my little ray of light, you can make me laugh on the worst of days, you help to bring me back to reality when I'm so far off the ground, You have the kindest heart and the most beautiful soul and to be honest any day when you aren't in my world isn't as good as it could be which means that any day without you in this planet would be impossible to live in" she took her other hand and began stroking his forehead watching as his chest heaved upwards and downwards "James Lucas my baby boy you wake up when you are good and ready okay? Just know that we will all be here waiting for you, loving you until and when you do" she said kissing his forehead and sinking back into the chair.
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"Hey brother from the same mother" she said as she took up the seat left warm by her mother who had gone to check on the twins who had just arrived at the hospital "Can you remember when mum and dad would take us down the beach in the summer holidays and we used to bury each other in the sand and we would try to make it as compact as we possibly could so that it was harder to get out of and at the end we would pretend that we were turning into the hulk and explode from the sand, but when I was little mum used to tell you off because you would always make it too compact and I could never break out of it, and she used to tell you that if the tide came in all of a sudden and you had to run and get the towels that I wouldn't be able to get out of the sand and I would probably drown, we used to tease her about it" she said with a laugh using her free hand to wipe away a tear that slid down her face "Well right now I feel like I'm little again and that you have buried me in the sand and the tide is coming in fast, your running up the beach to get the towels but I can't get out of the sand, I know I'm going to drown and I know that this is a lot to ask and demand of you in your current state" she laughed "But you do look great, I just want you to come and dig me out of this hole and stop me from drowning"
"Hey girly Scott" he said standing in the doorway, she looked up at him and could tell from the look on his face that he was hurting, she stood up and walked towards him "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to Lydia I promise but if you want to hit me or shoot me or even hit me with another car and if it will make you feel better I'm happy for you to do all of the above" as she got closer she saw how red his eyes were and how tears were welling up in his eyes, Chuck had been her brothers best friend for her whole life, he was like a big brother to her and so as she came face to face with him she got up on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. She held on as tight as she could, Lydia went to let go but she felt the hesitation in Chuck's body, he was still holding her tightly around her waist and so she got back up on her toes and hugged him for an extra moment, he did eventually let go and she looked at him "He is going to be okay, He is a Scott and Scott's are strong" she said tapping his shoulder and walking out of the room.
"Hey James L Scotty Scott" he said walking up to the bed and sitting where so many people had been sitting the last two days "I don't know if you can hear me but if you can you need to do me a favour man. You need to wake up, wake up, just wake up" he yelled and pleaded and sobbed over and over again before placing his head on Jamie's stomach and crying. He felt someone move and then he heard a groan which made him sit up as fast as he possibly could, he smiled and laughed passing the guy who had been unconscious for about the best of two days a cup of water
"Your awake, your awake" he said so much excitement in his voice as he took the cup of Jamie and smiled and nervously laughed as Jamie's eyes continued to stay open
"I had to wake up" he said, his throat coarse "I had to write your eulogy for after my mum killed you"
"Your mum" he jumped up from his seat "I have to get your mum"
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"And here is another blanket" she said putting about the fifth blanket on Jamie as he lay down on the couch, he had just gotten out of hospital and he was going to stay with his family as he recovered
"Mum no more blankets please" he said with a dry laugh as he held onto his surgical scar under his t-shirt, she smiled and kissed his cheek before going and standing next to the rest of the family who literally had stood and watched him like a hawk the whole time, from when he had gotten into the car at the hospital to well right this very second. "Guys, I'm fine now stop looking at me, now disperse" he said as his family pretended to move around the room but continued to look at him, his mother and father staying a moment extra
"Now what is the promise?" she asked as she smiled at him
"That I won't go anywhere ever that could potentially endanger my life"
"And they said your brain may have been affected" she said with a smile as she kissed her husband's cheek before going over and kissing her son for about the hundredth time today and she knew that it wasn't going to be the last one of the day either by a long shot.
To be continued