Lucas felt as if he had been waiting for years. He looked at his phone and saw that it had only been 5 minutes since he had checked the time. He was getting impatient. He just wanted the doctor to come out and say that Brooke would make a full recovery. At the same time he didn't want the doctor to come out. What if it was bad news? At least this way he could continue to convince himself that everything was going to be okay. That Brooke was going to be fine. He rubbed his face in frustration, and scanned the people who were waiting for the doctor with him.
The Dr. Reid guy seemed nervous. He was fidgety and just kept looking around. He had went to go get a cup of coffee at least 4 times now, and they had only been waiting for 30 minutes. Clearly this guy had a crazy caffeine addiction. The other agent, Prentiss, was sitting next to Dr. Reid and just kept looking at everybody with concern. She repeatedly looked up and down the hallway just to make sure the kidnapper wasn't going to pop out of nowhere. Haley had her knee's up on the chair and her forehead resting on them. She seemed so fragile and child like. Lucas still had his arm comfortingly around her. Making sure she knew that he was there for her.
Then he looked at Nathan. His best friend. Whom he had never seen so distraught in his whole entire life. They had known each other for almost their entire life and during the past few days was the only time that he had seen him cry. Usually Lucas was the sensitive one and Nathan would always be there to cheer him up with a game of basketball or going out for a couple of beers with the fake id's Nathan had made for them. But now, his best friend had his head in his hands for the past 30 minutes. He wanted to say something comforting, but what could he say? What words could fix this situation? No words could fix it.
He heard Dr. Reid get up, for another cup of coffee most likely. He unwrapped his arm from Haley and got up to follow the doctor. He was a doctor after all, maybe he had some answers. He followed Dr. Reid to the cafeteria area, where he was indeed getting another cup of coffee. Dr. Reid looked up and only seemed to notice that Lucas had followed him then.
"Lucas." He said questioningly curious as to why the young man had followed him.
"I need to ask you something… What are the chances she will be okay?" He needed to know. He needed to know what to expect when the doctor came out with and told them Brookes fate.
Reid just looked at Lucas sympathetically. That wasn't what Lucas had wanted, he wanted answers.
"Don't look at me like that, with that pity, just answer my question… please." He said please in a low whisper, Reid had barely even heard it.
"I don't know." Was all Reid could reply. "I wish I had more answers for you and your friends but I don't. I didn't see her injuries, I didn't see anything. I wish there was something I could say to make things better for you and your friends. I wish I could say, don't worry about it, she'll be fine… but I cant." Lucas could tell that he was sincere. He just seemed like a genuinely sincere person. Lucas nodded at him understandingly and went back to wait. Waiting was all he could do anymore.
When he had walked back to the waiting room with Reid and Prentiss had looked at the latter questioningly, but he just shook his head as if to say don't worry about it. The waiting then began again.
-20 minutes later-
The doors from emergency finally opened and a doctor came to the waiting room.
"Who's here for Brooke Davis?" He asked.
Nathan got up quickly, Lucas and Haley followed and the BAU agents followed.
"Brooke suffered from some severe internal bleeding and had many broken ribs, we were able to fix it. She has a concussion and also has a broken leg. We got her into surgery the perfect timing. Brooke should make a full recovery." The doctor announced.
The looks of relief that spread across the faces of the three teenagers brought a smile to the BAU agents. They had finally caught a break. Brooke was going to be okay. However they both knew that emotionally, she would not be.
The doctor however continued.
"I know you all must be excited to know that she will be fine, but that is physically, I want you all to know that going through what she went through is one of the most horrible things that could happen. It will take time for her to heal emotionally. She's going to need a lot of love and support."
The looks of relief on the faces of the teenagers were replaced by worry and realization. This still wasn't over. Brooke would be broken. They were still broken thinking about how broken she would be. She was alive. But would she ever be their Brooke again.
"You'll be able to see her as soon as we have her set up in her own private room. She is currently unconscious and due to the medication, she wont remember what happened, but she will remember tomorrow." The doctor explained.
"Is there any way to make her forget altogether?" Nathan asked with a hopeful voice. Maybe she didn't have to know what happened to her. Maybe she could continue to live her life.
"I'm afraid not." Of course there wasn't, Nathan thought to himself. He didn't live in some sort of magical world where you could control what you remember and what you don't. He lived in the real world. Things just couldn't be that simple and easy.
The doctor then left the waiting room. Haley looked at the agents and asked the question they all had been wondering.
"Will she ever be the same?" Her voice was barely a whisper. It was as if she spoke any louder she would just break down.
"It will take time and patience. She's been through a lot. She'll need you guys now more than ever, even if she is pushing you away. She's just really screaming for help." Reid replied. He seemed to be speaking from experience but no one really said anything. Prentiss just looked at him understandingly as he avoided eye contact with her.
"What's going to happen after this? Are we going to go home or are we staying in New York?" Lucas realized that with the psycho still on the run, they may not be able to just go home. He did still have Brookes purse so he'd be able to go to Tree Hill and find her.
"You two should go home." Nathan told both him and Haley.
"What are you nuts? We're staying with you Nate." Lucas was shocked to think that he or Haley would even consider going back home. They wouldn't just leave their friends when they needed them most. He couldn't speak for Haley but he would leave only when they left.
"Luke, I appreciate it man, but you both have lives, you've been gone long enough. You shouldn't stay here." Nathan told him. He appreciated that his friend was so caring, but it was best for him if he left.
"Nathan. Shut up." Haley yelled. She wasn't one to raise her voice, but everything was just making her angry, and now Nathan was telling them to go home. No way was she going to do that. They all looked at her surprised. "There's no way either of us our leaving. We're family. We love you both. We're not going to just leave you when you guys need us. Hell, I need to stay for selfish reasons too. I need to be here to be for Brooke. I need to make sure my best friend will be okay. I'm staying and there's no way you are making me go. Don't even try to argue. I'm pretty sure Lucas feels the same." She looked at Lucas who nodded at Nathan.
All Nathan had wanted to do was protect his two friends. But he knew that no matter what they'd be staying. They'd be by Brooke's side just as he would be.
Prentiss then chimed in.
"It'll be best of you all stay together. He may try to use one of you to get to Brooke. You'll all be placed in protective custody. We don't know where yet. Agent Hotchner is figuring out the details." Nathan knew there was no arguing. Whatever was safest for all of them is what he would do. So he just nodded.
The doctor then re-entered the waiting room. He told them that Brooke had been moved to a private room and was awake. He also told them that she wouldn't remember them. The medication was that strong.
The agents stayed in the waiting area, giving the kids privacy, as the doctor led them to Brookes room.
Nathans heart was pounding. He was scared to see his own sister. How weird was that? He didn't want to see her bruises. He didn't want to see her in pain, he wanted to see her usual happy self. He wanted to see her teasing him. He wanted to see her being his Brooke.
He wasn't prepared to see what he saw when he walked in. She was bruised all over. It was hard to find a patch of skin that wasn't purple or blue. His eyes began to water. She, however, was smiling. The pain killers really were working. She didn't seem to feel any pain.
"Hi." She said with her dimpled smile.
Nathans heart was breaking by the second. When would she be like this again? When would she be the happy Brooke again? This would probably be the only time he'd see her like this for a long time.
"Hey." Both Lucas and Haley responded with a smile. Nathan however couldn't say anything.
"Not trying to be rude or anything but who are you?" She asked them innocently.
"I'm Haley. You and I are actually best friends." Haley to her with a smile. It was hard for Haley to see her to bruised but she was happy to spend time with Brooke before she remembered. She was glad to spend some time with sweet, happy Brooke before the broken Brooke would take over.
"I'm Lucas, we're pretty good friends also." He said with a smile which made her giggle.
"You're cute." She told him, which made both Haley and Lucas laugh.
"Thank you." He said with another wink. But she didn't notice. She was looking at Nathan who was still at the doorway.
"Hi." She told him again. She had a nervous smile on her face.
"Hi." His voice was whisper. A broken whisper. Before any warning he stormed out of the room, leaving a worried Lucas and Haley and a confused Brooke.
"Did I do something?" She asked nervously. The last thing she wanted to do was anger anyone. The boy in the doorway seemed to upset. She hoped it wasn't her fault.
"No of course not, Brookie, he's just been through a lot lately." Lucas let his nickname for her slip, forgetting that she wouldn't remember that she was Brookie.
"My names Brookie?" She asked them, relieved that she hadn't done anything to upset the brown haired boy.
"No, it Brooke, a lot of people just call you Brookie." Lucas informed her.
"Oh cool. So who was that guy who just stormed off?" Her curiosity was something that still hadn't changed. She had always been the curious type.
"That's Nathan. He's your brother." Haley told her.
"I have a brother? Awesome!" The excitement over having a brother was quite evident on her face. All Lucas and Haley did was smile at her. They then continued to answer her questions, avoiding the ones that had to do with what had happened to her.
Meanwhile, after storming out of Brookes room, Nathan had stormed right past Prentiss and Reid in the waiting room and went straight to the men's room. Reid looked at Prentiss in concern and then hesitantly followed Nathan. When he walked into the men's room, he saw Nathan hunched over the sink with tears in his eyes. He looked at Reid in the mirror and wiped away his tears quickly.
"You don't have to be ashamed of crying. It's completely understandable that you would given the circumstances." Reid knew he was talking to once of those guys who would continuously hide their feelings in fear of looking weak.
"Not according to my father. He always said that crying was a sign of weakness, no matter what the situation was." Nathan was angry at his parents all over again. They had left him to deal with one of the most horrible situations possible, not even thinking that he would need them, that Brooke would need them.
"You're fathers wrong. Can I asked you why you stormed out of your sisters room?" Reid didn't want to push the young man into telling him anything. It was clear that he was guarded and probably wouldn't trust someone he'd met only a couple of days ago.
"I walked in, I was already scared. I saw her, she had patches of blue and purple all over her skin, yet she was smiling. Then she said hi, in her old shy innocent way and I realized this would probably be the only time I'd see her like that in a while. The only time I'd see her smiling her dimpled smile for months, maybe longer. What am I suppose to do? How am I suppose to make her smile again? How am I suppose to make her the Brooke that everyone knows and loves again? You're a doctor and you see stuff like this everyday! TELL ME! Tell me what I'm suppose to do!" Reid was surprised that Nathan actually told him anything.
"I can't tell you how to fix things. Trust me when I say, I wish I could. I see horrible things everyday in my life. But I never see what happens afterward. All I can tell you is as much as she tries to push you away, hold on to her. Be there when she's ready to talk. Don't stop asking her how she is, even if she gets upset at you for asking her so much. Just be there for her. That's the only advice I could give you. She seems like a strong girl. I know that you're a strong man. I know you'll all make it through. It will just take time." Nathan seemed confused at Reid's response.
"You say you never see what happens afterwards, but how do you know so much about how she's going to feel?" Nathans voice was full of curiosity.
Reid hesitated before responding. Normally he would brush it off, but since Nathan had been so honest with him, he decided to do the same.
"A few months ago, I was kidnapped and tortured by a man who was suffering split personality disorder. He was himself, his father and the angel Raphael. Him just like Brookes kidnapper, had my whole team watch as I was tortured. He wouldn't stop until I confessed my sins. Religion is what had drove him to do such things. What was sad was that the man was a good person, it was his other two personalities that caused him to do such horrible things. It took a while for me to recover, but I did, just as Brooke will." Reid said that last sentence with such confidence. Like he knew for sure. Nathan hoped to god that he was right.
"I'm sorry you had to go threw something like that." Nathans voice was sympathetic. The genius wasn't much older than he was and he had went through something almost as bad as Brooke had.
"Things happen. Its tough, but you grow. You just need support." With that Reid left the men's room leaving Nathan with his thoughts.
This chapter is dedicated to belle teamcullen. I don't know anything about you but I know that you're a survivor. You're also the reason why Brookes alive in this story. After reading your review, I knew I had to make her live.
Thank you for reviewing.
Thank you to all of my reviewers. You all are great! Continue to review please!
Much Love!