A/N:I'm so sorry this has taken so long to get out, I'm studying like crazy for my upcoming 7 exams, yes, 7. But since I've basically been a hermit over these holidays, I figured why not do some writing? So I did, and this is how this came about! I know I'm terrible at regular updates, y'all can tell me that in a review or something lol. I honestly don't know what to do with myself now that OTH is over, it saved my life on so many occasions, and it got me through when times were hard. Now that it's over...I honestly feel like a piece of me has died, or like my heart was ripped from my chest. Sounds cheesy but that's generally how I feel. I'll stop there before I start sobbing again.

Review replies:

Godschildtweety: Thanks! :)

DallasMarieJensen: Sorry it's taken so long, hope you enjoy this chapter!

naley12: Thank you! :) I'm glad you're enjoying it. Sorry it's taken so long to get this out.

hey-torch: I did indeed, hahaha. I was sick of my old username and this one works better. :) I'm glad you're liking it! :D More flashbacks in this chapter and probably the next one too. I didn't actually plan on it being this long, I originally said I was only going to do about 8-10 chapters, but I just can't stop, so yeah. Hope you enjoy this one! x

Shout out to othfan1919 my wonderful beta! And to alwaysthemockingjay and ObsessivePrincess, y'all are awesome. Breyinnley:)

Chapter 11

Hours had passed since Nathan had called Haley's parents, and since then he'd been rooted to the same spot, not being able to move. He was desperate for some sort of news on Haley's condition, but nobody could or would give him anything. He was distraught, to say the least. He'd known, somewhere in the back of his mind, he'd known something like this was liable to happen. He'd tried to convince Haley to come away from the edge, but she was just as stubborn as ever.

He knew he shouldn't, but he just felt so guilty. He felt like he could have done more, like he could have stopped this somehow. He didn't know what he could have done, but he should have done something. Maybe if he'd've just got up off his ass and gone over to the bank and got her down from there himself, maybe, just maybe, they wouldn't be here right now. Lord knows he was strong enough to pick her up and throw her over his shoulder, so why didn't he?

All of the horrifying thoughts of what could've been continued to swirl around his head, as he buried his face in his hands and freely cried. He hadn't cried at many times in his life, he didn't even remember the last time he had cried, but right now, it felt like the end of his world and he didn't have a clue what to do other than to cry it out.

He hoped that sooner rather than later, someone, he didn't care who, would be able to give him something on Haley's condition. He just had to know something, just something that would give him some sort of hope that she would be ok.

He briefly looked up for a moment, only to see Lucas, Brooke and Peyton entering the hospital with worried expressions etched on their faces. He figured he'd leave the doctors to tell them what happened, especially since he couldn't bear to relive the horrible moment, but apparently they had other plans. When they saw him, they came running towards him, already out of breath from no doubt running in here, and all started struggled to say a word.

"Nate, what happened? Where is she? Is she ok?" Lucas was frantic, desperate to know anything Nathan did. He was practically Haley's brother, it was no shock he was frantic and desperate.

"I don't…I don't know. One minute, we were just hanging out; by the river, a quiet little spot we always go to, and the next she was falling down the riverbank and unconscious. She fell, and I couldn't get to her. I called 911 and rode in the ambulance with them, but nobody will tell me anything. Her parents are here somewhere, but I haven't really spoken to them. I can't face them." He choked out between sobs. "It's my entire fault." His voice cracked with emotion, and came out dry and hoarse.

"No, it's not! Nathan this is not your fault." Brooke tried to comfort him, but to no avail.

"It is! I could've just gone over there and picked her up, and got her out of danger. But I didn't. If I had, we wouldn't be here right now."

"Nathan, Haley needs you right now. So do her parents, and we do too, and you can't believe this is your fault. If there's one thing you believe, believe it isn't your fault, because it's not." Brooke pleaded with him.

"Whatever." He sighed. He'd never stop blaming himself for this horrific turn of events, no matter what anyone said, it couldn't take away the overwhelming sense of guilt inside of him. "Look, I don't know anything. I haven't heard anything in hours, and I'm just so worried about her. I can't…I can't even begin to process the idea of losing her. She's everything to me." The tears continued to stream down his face, and he had no shame in it.

"Oh, Nate, I'm sorry." Brooke sighed and moved closer to him, pulling him into a hug to offer some sort of comfort. He hugged her back and cried onto her shoulder, as she rubbed his back. "She'll be okay. She's a fighter, you know that. We're all going to get through this, I promise."

"I'm not so sure."

Another few hours passed, and still nothing new on Haley's condition. Nathan was beginning to lose his patience; he just needed to know that his girlfriend, the love of his life, his everything, was going to survive this and that she'd be okay. Lucas, Brooke and Peyton had stayed at the hospital with him and Haley's parents waiting for news on her condition, though their efforts seemed futile as nobody had given them anything.

Eventually though, just as Nathan was about to ask someone what the hell was going on, a doctor came around the corner and seemed to be heading in their direction. All 4 teenagers and Haley's parents sprang to their feet as he approached them, all desperate to hear what he had to say.

"I take it you're all here for Haley James?" He asked, getting frantic nods from each of them in response. "I think it best we step into my office." He motioned for them to follow him as he walked in the direction of his office.

As they all entered the room, Haley's parents took the two chairs in front of the desk, while Nathan, Peyton, Lucas and Brooke stood behind them, all six of them anxiously awaiting the arrival of the doctor. As he entered the room, Nathan spoke up.

"Doc, I don't mean to be rude, but can you just tell us how Haley is? We're all just so worried about her." He begged, way past the point of desperation.

"I'm sorry for the wait, but there were some…complications, with Haley's treatment." He sighed, observing the looks on their faces.

"Complications? What does that mean exactly?" Lydia asked, worried for her daughters health.

"Mr and Mrs James, Haley's injuries were severe. We were trying to stabilize her condition for hours, and she wasn't responding to any sort of treatment. She's been unconscious for a fair few hours, as you know she was in that state before she was brought in. Luckily, she's starting to respond to treatment. She is still unconscious, however, and probably will be for a few more days. The blow to her head was worse than severe, and due to that we'll need to wait until she wakes up to see if there's any lasting damage to her brain. If there's anything I can do, or if you have any questions, please, feel free to ask."

The room was silent for a moment, as the four teenagers and Haley's parents processed what they had just been told. None of them could quite believe it; it was all too surreal for them to believe. Potential brain damage was still just potential, but what if it wasn't just potential? What if she did have some sort of brain damage? Not only would they be devastated, so would she. Haley had worked towards Stanford for as long as anyone could remember, it was her dream. If she was to have that taken from her, what would she do?

"Where is she?" Nathan asked, trying to hide his emotions from the others in the room. He just wanted to see his girlfriend, the love of his life, his best friend, just wanted to see her and –

Well, what could he do?

The damage had been done, and he couldn't protect her from that anymore. He just wanted to take it all away from her, just make her better and take all the pain and the hurt everyone was feeling from them. But he couldn't. Though he'd gladly take Haley's situation and inflict it on himself if it meant she would get to live her life and be better, he couldn't. As much as he tried, or as much as he wanted to do something, there was nothing he could do. Nothing but sit and wait and pray for her recovery.

And that he did. When the doctor led everyone to Haley's room, and instructed they go in a maximum of two at a time, Nathan let everyone have their time with her, before he asked to be alone with her for a while. Haley's parents agreed to his request, knowing how much Nathan was hurting and knowing he'd need some time to himself to process it all.

He took a deep breath as he opened the door to her room, and walked in hesitantly, before sitting on one of the chairs beside Haley's bed. He tried not to let the sight of the machinery around him, each one carefully monitoring Haley's condition, phase him, but it was all too much. All of this, the machines, the bed, the tubes and the wires, it was all too much.

He pulled the chair closer to her, before taking one of her hands in his own and kissing it gently, before using his other hand to stroke a stray piece of hair across her forehead. He took a deep breath and looked to Haley's closed eyes, before he began speaking.

"Hi, beautiful. I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm holding onto the hope that you can, because right now, if I don't have hope, what have I got? I gotta tell you, Hales, I feel like I'm responsible for all of this." He sighed, looking around. "And I know if you could, you'd be berating me for even thinking that, but I have to get it all out. I was more than capable of getting you away from that river bank, I knew it was dangerous but I just let you carry on. I wish I did something more for you, Haley, because now you're in here and unconscious and I have no idea when you're going to wake up, and I feel so terrible. Maybe if I just took it upon myself to get you out of danger instead of just standing back and watching you then you wouldn't be in this situation right now.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, Haley, I really wish that I had, and I've never felt worse than I do right now. I don't think there's much that could make me feel worse, unless you never woke up. But that isn't gonna happen, right? You're going to open those beautiful brown eyes and take my breath away, just like you always do. I love you so much, Hales, please, just come back to us. Please, wake up." He all but begged, letting the tears that had once threatened to fall roll freely down his face, even though he was unaware whether she could hear him or not. The doctors had told him that talking to comatose patients sometimes helps to bring them round or to provoke a reaction in their brain to let everyone else know they're still with them. At this point, he'd do anything to get her back. He felt so bad for his 'part' in this, even if it wasn't much of a part, and he just needed to be certain that she'd wake up and she'd be okay, because he wasn't sure he would be okay if she didn't wake up.

Around a week had passed since Haley's accident, and every day Nathan would sit at her bedside and pray for her recovery, though he felt he was losing the tiniest slither of hope with each passing day. But then, who wouldn't, if put in his position? He knew he had to hold onto the hope as it was all that was left, all that he had, and if he didn't have hope, he'd have nothing, but with each day that passed with no sign of Haley's awakening being any time soon, it felt as though he lost a tiny bit of hope.

And with each day that passed, came another bout of guilt and another wave of regret that he hadn't done something to stop this all from happening. All he could do now was pray that she'd wake up soon, and they could get back to living their lives, and being happy with each other.

She'd graduate high school, valedictorian, of course, and go to Stanford, as was her dream, and major in her chosen subject, get a fantastic job, and be extremely successful. As for Nathan, he'd graduate high school (with Haley's tutoring, of course), and go to Duke to play basketball, as was his dream, and get drafted into the NBA for a big league team.

And best of all? They'd do all of it together.

Or at least, he hoped they would. He didn't know what he'd do if Haley didn't wake up, and he didn't want to find out, either.

He kept going to school, even if he didn't want to, he knew Haley would want him to. Plus it provided the slightest distraction during the day so he didn't have to think about his comatose girlfriend.

Every day after school, he rushed to the hospital, hoping there'd be some kind of change, and always disappointed when there wasn't. He sat with her late into the night, every night, hoping that she'd know, even if she was unconscious, that he was there, and he hadn't left her side other than for school. Somehow it comforted him knowing that if he was there, she wouldn't be alone, and he hoped it would be comforting for her, too. Plus he didn't want her to wake up alone, and sitting by her bedside everyday lessened the chance of that happening.

One day, around two weeks after the accident, Nathan arrived at the hospital as usual and took his place by Haley's bedside, filling her in on what she missed at school that day and telling her how much he loved her. His faith was starting to run out, and he started to believe she would never wake up. But, just as he went to leave that night, something happened.

He pressed his lips to her forehead, as he always did just before he left, her eyes started to flutter. As soon as he noticed this, he forgot all about leaving and took her hand in his.

"Hales? Haley if you can hear me, open your eyes or squeeze my hand or something, please."

And sure enough, after a few minutes of pleading with her to open her eyes, she did. Slowly but surely, her eyelids began to flutter and she squeezed her eyes shut before opening them and adjusting to the light flooding her room. Nathan could've cried in relief when he saw her eyes open for the first time in two weeks, but he kept it together so as not to overwhelm her.

"God, Haley, I can't believe it. You're finally awake." He laughed slightly, almost in disbelief. "Just…stay like that, ok? I need to get a doctor." He continued before she had a chance to reply, and dashed out of the room faster than he'd ever run before to get her doctor.

He returned in a minute with her doctor in tow, trying to stay calm for her sake. He didn't want to lose it in front of her, especially since she'd just woken up.

"Haley, it's nice to see you awake." Doctor Song smiled, before picking up the chart on the side of Haley's bed and looking over it. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Sorry, I don't mean to be rude but, what? I don't…I don't remember what happened. Where am I? How long have I been here? Why am I here?" She was starting to hesitate; she couldn't remember a thing about the last two weeks. For all she knew she was just waking up to this new life, with no recollection of what happened.

"Okay then." Doctor Song sighed as she wrote something down on Haley's chart. "Haley, you had a very nasty fall. You've been unconscious for two weeks. You're in the hospital." She explained, noting the confused expression still drawn on her face.

"Oh…um…okay then. Was anyone else hurt?" She asked warily, still not completely understanding her situation.

"No, Haley, just you. You're lucky your boyfriend called 911 when he did, any longer and you probably wouldn't have made it."

"My boyfriend?"

"Haley, you know who I am, right?" Nathan asked, beginning to worry.

"Sure. You're Lucas' brother." She replied, confused. "What are you doing here, anyway? We're not friends."

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