One Tree Hill: Proving a Point

Author: L

Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of its characters.

Chapter 10

Haley knocked softly on the door before opening it and entering the room. She smiled at Sam and Brooke, who were sitting next to each other on the hospital bed, and slid into a chair beside them.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" she asked Sam.

"I'm feeling great," Sam replied. "The doctor wants to see the results from the tests I took earlier before he discharges me. It's totally just an excuse to keep us here so he can flirt with Brooke," she added with a teasing smirk.

"He was not flirting with me," Brooke protested. Turning to Haley, she swiftly changed the subject with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. "So, have you got any gossip on Tree Hill High's corrupt Principal?"

With a small laugh, Haley shook her head slightly and said, "I was called into the school for a meeting this morning but I'm not allowed to discuss this."

"Haley, everyone in Tree Hill is talking about this," Sam pointed out.

It remained as the top news story throughout the day and they had even heard two nurses speculating over the reason why Jo had given Principal Rimkus money. The theories which had been sent into the news station ranged from ridiculous to impossible.

"Come on, Haley. You can tell us. We won't breathe a word of this to anyone," promised Brooke. She was wearing a pout Haley had not seen in almost five years.

Haley smiled to herself as she remembered the memories they had shared together in high school. Sighing reluctantly, she said in a hesitant tone, "Okay, but this is just what I've been told. I don't know if it's true."

She knew she was being paranoid but Haley couldn't help glancing over her shoulder and making sure the door was closed before she launched into the story.

"Josephine comes from a wealthy background. She has two older sisters who were really smart and well-behaved in school; both of them were made valedictorians. From what I've heard, Josephine used to be really bright, but when she came to the conclusion her parents were always going to put her sisters on a higher pedestal than her, she just stopped trying.

"She started to skip school and stopped handing in her homework assignments. When her parents found out, they were furious. Josephine has been expelled from seven schools in the past two years and prior to moving to Tree Hill, her parents gave her an ultimatum: either she behaves or they send her to a boarding school. She's been doing really well but her parents didn't take any notice."

"I always feel like my parents are disappointed in my grades. I saw an opportunity to get a better grade and I just wanted to impress my parents for once."

The words swam around in Sam's mind until they finally sunk in. "That's why she wanted us to switch essays," Sam murmured as the pieces slowly joined together. "She wanted to impress her parents by getting a good grade."

Haley nodded, confirming Sam's assumption. "The school believes that, because Josephine didn't want her parents to find out about this incident, she paid Principal Rimkus in order to ensure she received a minimal punishment."

"I don't understand," said Brooke in a confused tone. "We met Josephine's mother when we spoke with Principal Rimkus so doesn't it mean her parents already know?"

"This is where things start to get slightly more complicated," Haley admitted. "I met Mrs Thomas today and she looks nothing like the woman who came into the school with Josephine last week. The board has advised Josephine's parents to withdraw her from the school if they would like to avoid a public scandal, or she will face an expulsion."

"What's going to happen to Principal Rimkus?" asked Sam. There was not a hint of emotion in her voice. They had always shared a mutual contempt for each other.

Haley paused momentarily and decided she could trust them to keep quiet about this until the school released an official statement. "She has been suspended until further notice," Haley told them. "The school board is hoping she will offer her resignation so they won't have to fire her."

"I never liked her anyway," Sam muttered.

Haley and Brooke laughed at her comment until a comfortable silence washed over the room, and Haley found her gaze settling on the two brunettes. Brooke had wrapped her arm protectively around Sam's shoulder and Sam was leaning towards Brooke, enjoying the security.

"Hey Brooke, now that I've told you my secret, don't you think it's time to share yours?" Haley couldn't stop the grin from spreading across her face as Brooke shot her a confused look. "The secret you've been keeping for almost two months," Haley added with a knowing smile.

Brooke instantly caught on and tried to steady her nerves as Sam turned to her with an enquiring expression. She glanced up at Haley who just smiled encouragingly at her.

"I've been speaking with my lawyer," Brooke confessed. "And I asked him to send me –"

"Adoption papers," finished Sam in a casual tone.

Brooke and Haley exchanged surprised looks with each other while Sam just watched them with an amused smirk.

"W-when did you find out?" Brooke finally asked.

"On the same day you received them," Sam replied without missing a beat.

The confusion was etched across Haley's expression. "How did you find out?"

Sam blushed and slid into the covers slightly. "Well," she began in a cautious tone. "I was having breakfast while Brooke was going through the mail and then out of nowhere, she started to get really excited. Before I could ask her about it, she received a phone call from you and went into her bedroom so..." Sam lowered her voice to a mumble. "I stole a look at the letter."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Brooke questioned softly. A wave of dread washed over as she waited for Sam to reply. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer.

Dropping her gaze to the covers, Sam whispered nervously, "I was waiting for you to ask me but you never brought it up and I thought..." She hesitated and lowered her voice even more. "I thought you'd changed your mind about adopting me."

"Sam –" Brooke started to protest but Sam intercepted before she could continue.

She lifted her gaze to meet Brooke's. "It's okay if you don't want to adopt me. I think it will be better this way," she murmured, forcing a smile. "If I screw up after we make it official then you won't be able to get rid of me as easily. I just want you to know that, even before I found the adoption papers, I had already started to think of you as my mom. You're the only parent I've ever had, and you're the only mom I ever want."

Haley turned away from them, hiding the tears which had gathered in her eyes. Brooke allowed her own tears to fall freely down her face as she wrapped her arms around Sam tightly.

"Sam," Brooke whispered, struggling to keep her voice steady. "I will never ever kick you out. I'll even ground you for life if that's the only way to keep you around. I wanted to wait until you were comfortable with calling me 'Mom' before I asked you about the adoption."

There was a knock on the door and the doctor walked into the room. The bright smile on his face disappeared and his expression changed to one of alarm when he found all three women crying.

"Is everything alright?" the doctor asked nervously. "I can come back later," he added, shifting awkwardly in the doorway.

Brooke hastily wiped away her tears and shook her head. "No, it's okay. Do you have Sam's results?" she asked, changing the subject quickly.

The doctor still appeared uncomfortable but he smiled to cover his unease and nodded. "There are still some traces of the drug in Samantha's bloodstream but it won't be harmful to her." He turned to Sam and said, "You should drink lots of fluids when you get home. We'll just need your –" He glanced at Brooke and scanned through his notes, looking for her relationship to Sam.

"Mother," Sam finished for him.

He looked up with a confused expression. "Excuse me?" he asked politely.

"She's my mother," Sam repeated calmly.

There was a flicker of surprise across the doctor's face but he recomposed himself almost instantly. "Oh, I'm sorry. I just..." He hesitated, afraid to continue in case he offended them.

"It's okay," Sam shrugged, trying to hide her amusement. "Your reaction is normal. My mom actually had me when she was eight. She is the youngest mother in the world."

Haley began to cough uncontrollably in an attempt to disguise her laughter while Brooke mirrored the doctor's stunned expression.

Brooke let out a small nervous laugh. "She's just kidding," Brooke insisted.

The doctor still looked puzzled. "So you're not her mother?" he asked in a weary tone. He was nearing the end of his twelve-hour shift which had left him exhausted.

"Well, I am..." Brooke trailed off and shot Haley a pleading look as the doctor looked even more baffled by the conversation.

Haley fought to suppress her laughter and quickly joined the conversation. "Will you be discharging Sam now?" she asked.

Clearing his throat awkwardly, the doctor tried to maintain a professional attitude. "We need you to fill out some forms first before Samantha can be discharged but they should only take a few minutes to complete."

"Okay. Thank you, doctor." Brooke waited until he had left the room before turning back towards Sam, wearing an astounded expression.

"He's not too bright, is he?" smirked Sam. With a playful smile, she added, "Being your daughter is fun."

The disapproving frown on Brooke's face vanished almost immediately. "We'll wait for you in reception," said Brooke with happiness lacing each word as she practically bounced to the door.

"Hey Mom," whispered Sam.

The words were spoken so softly that Brooke almost missed them. Her eyes lit up as she turned to face Sam with a huge blissful smile spreading across her face.

Sam got out of the hospital bed and threw her arms around her mother, pulling her into a hug. "I just wanted you to get use to hearing it."

The End

Author's Note: I think that may have been an awkward place to end. The conversation with the doctor was inspired by TutorGurl's review for Chapter 7, and the clue in Chapter 4 was the white envelope on Principal Rimkus' desk. I really want to thank everyone for reading and reviewing my story because you were my motivation.