Here is the Next Chapter!

Enjoy . . .

"Nathan, your dad is on the phone for you," Deb said as she placed the phone on the counter of Karen's café. Dan refused to tell her why he needed to speak to Nathan; all she knew was that Dan sounded frantic. Maybe with any luck, Dan's auto-shop burnt down.

Nathan spun around and stared at his mother, his eyebrows arched in curiosity. "Mom, can't you see that I'm a little busy?" Nathan had no time to listen to his father spew off answers to last nights' Laker game.

Only when Deb gave Nathan a warning glance did he let out an exasperated sigh. He shuffled to the counter and picked up the phone. "Dad, I'm kind of busy some people think they may have seen Lucas and . . ."

"Nathan shut up," Dan interrupted. "We found Lucas,"

Nathan couldn't find the strength to speak; he was shocked into silence. He wanted so badly to just crumble right there. After regaining some amount of composure, he spoke. "Is he okay? Where did you find him?"

"When I found him, he wasn't breathing. Someone really did a number on him; it looks like someone mugged him. He was handcuffed to the chain link fence in the alley beside TRIC, I couldn't see him at first because he was hidden behind one of those damn dumpsters." Dan looked over to see the officer staring at him.

Nathan felt sick, he had gotten out of the hospital only a few hours ago and this new could definitely put him back. "Is he . . . alive?" Nathan croaked out of his unusually dry throat.

"I started CPR and got him breathing again, Karen found us and she called the paramedics, she and Lucas should almost be at the hospital." Dan stopped when he heard a deep sigh of relief. "It's okay son, I'm sure he'll make it."

When Nathan didn't answer him, Dan got worried. "Nathan, are you there?" still no answer. "Nathan!"

"I'm here dad," Nathan whispered into the phone. The younger Scott rubbed his left temple with his free hand. Something in his dad's voice told him that Lucas was a lot worse than he had let on.

"An officer is escorting me to the hospital, so I'll meet you there, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll tell everyone and we'll be there soon," Nathan answered, feeling his knees getting weaker. You'd think that after almost sixteen years of basketball he'd be able to control his legs, but at the present time he was finding it very difficult.

After they said they're good-bye's Nathan rushed off to find Peyton, Brooke, Mouth, Jake, and finally his mother. He told them what he had just barely found out, and they raced off hoping that they're friend was okay.

Karen's world came tumbling down in that instant. She watched as the paramedics worked frantically to save Lucas. His lips were growing an increasing shade of blue, as was his face. "Come on baby stay with me," Karen pleaded.

Red tinged bile spewed again from Lucas's mouth, as one of the paramedic's started compressions. "Be careful Mack, we just confirmed that the kid has internal bleeding," The man nodded but continued, except this time he worked with agility and precision.

The time seemed to drag on, and the fight for Lucas's life got even more frantic.

Karen remembered back to when Lucas was eight; he had been riding his bike down Willshire lane. The little boy was so keen on showing off for Haley, only this time he had decided that it could be more exciting to ride the bike off of Haley's parent's house. The boy had thought that he would land safely to the ground. He was wrong.

Lucas didn't believe in helmets, and this trick was no exception. Haley had peeved him on, telling him that there was no way he could execute the jump. So like any other eight-year-old trying to empress a girl, he had carried his bike to the roof.

Haley had a bad feeling about this, but Lucas wouldn't listen to her. She didn't mean to make him angry, but she had, and now he was on the roof preparing to jump off with his new bike. "Your gonna get hurt Lucas! Please come down!" She pleaded in her squeaky voice.

The boy rolled his eyes and thought girls were so annoying. He was going to be fine, sure it was the first time he had ever jumped from a height that long but he had to start sometime.

The bike flew high, and in mid air Lucas lost his grip. The bike turned one way and he turned another. The last thing Lucas heard as he plummeted to the ground was Haley's terrified scream. After the hard contact to the ground he knew no more.

Haley was in shock; Lucas was face down on the ground he wasn't even slightly moving. She remembered clearly the sounds of Lucas's body smacking into the ground. SNAP! When she kneeled down beside him she realized that there was a growing pool of blood surrounding his head. She needed to find help, but her parents had gone to the store, they promised they would only be a few minutes.

She turned her unconscious friend over, but gasped in horror when she saw Lucas's face. He was covered in gashes and scrapes; his arm was bent at a weird angle. After realizing that she couldn't do anything, she broke down and began to cry.

Karen snapped out of her memory when a hand tapped lightly on her shoulder. "We got him back Mrs. Rowe." Karen sighed loudly and brushed the hair from Lucas's brow.

Karen had been sitting silently at home reading the newspaper when she got the call. "Karen? It's Haley's mother, I have some news, Lucas was showing Haley a trick and he decided to get on the roof, he didn't make the landing . . . he got hurt."

"Mrs. Rowe? We're here," the lady told her. Karen looked up to see the brightly lit hospital lights.

TBC . . .