Nathan, Haley and Peyton had only been waiting in the seating area for 15mintues but it felt like forever, they'd hardly spoken a word to each other since Haley had told them that Lucas couldn't face seeing Brooke. Rachel then walked over, remembering the way Lucas had acted the last time she'd seen him, she wondered why he wasn't there, but didn't want to intrude in their lives at a time like this
"Ok, I've spoken to Brooke, and surprise, surprise she has a couple of rules she wants me to run by you before you go in…" Nathan, Haley and Peyton stood up to hear what Rachel had to say "…Ok, she wants no sympathy from anyone…if you cry, or even look like your about to cry she will throw you out…she wants you to talk to her how you normally would do, that means no sympathetic head tilts, or awkward silences…" Brooke had obviously wanted the last weeks of her life to be as normal as she could make them. Peyton, Haley and Nathan all took a deep breath "You wanna do this one at a time?" Rachel said, both Haley and Nathan looked over at Peyton
"Ok…alright" Peyton breathed
"…Lets go" Rachel said, leading her over to Brooke's room. Peyton rested her hand on the door handle, she felt a wave of sadness rush through her, but she didn't want to get upset. She turned back to where Nathan and Haley were watching, they gave her a faint smile, and she then walked in, she closed the door quietly behind her, before she even glanced at Brooke. She then turned from the door, and saw her laid out on the bed. It looked like Brooke, she'd obviously asked one of the nurses to do her hair and makeup before letting anyone in…it just didn't feel like Brooke. Usually she'd be bouncing off the walls, shouting, screaming, and just being loud and energized. What Peyton was seeing was totally different, and she didn't like it. She felt another wave of sadness rush through her
"Hey girlie" Brooke said, quite cheerily. Peyton wondered how she could sound so happy after the events that had unfolded that day. Peyton shifted closer to Brooke's bedside, whilst looking around the room
"Hi…" she whispered. Brooke then gave her a faint smile, at that exact moment Peyton felt her emotions take over her, and tears began flowing down her cheeks. She looked to the ground so that Brooke couldn't see her upset, but she noticed anyway
"Did you not listen to the rules?…go" Brooke waved her towards the door
"What?" Peyton asked, confused
"Out you go, ill have no crying in here…send the next one in…" Brooke said, again, in quite a cheerful manner. Whilst Peyton looked a little hesitant "…go" Brooke said, waving her out of the door. Peyton, still with tears streaming down her face, looked at Brooke and then left the room. When she got out of the room, Nathan and Haley ran towards her
"What's happened? Is she ok?" Nathan asked, panicking
"Yeah, yeah. She's ok" Haley and Nathan waited for a reason why Peyton left the room "…I got upset" Peyton said, nodding her head "She was serious when she said she'd throw you out…" Peyton continued, she then sat down on one of the seats and grabbed a tissue from her bag. Nathan and Haley both stared at each other
"Together…" they both mumbled at the same time, then they both nodded in agreement with each other and made there way towards the door. Haley opened the door, to reveal Brooke laid on the bed, with a smile plastered across her face. The exact same emotions that had befallen Peyton a few moments ago, were beginning to take over the minds and hearts of Nathan and Haley. Nathan, being the stronger of the two, edged his way towards Brooke first, with Haley following
"Decided to conquer me in pairs I see…" Brooke joked, whilst Haley and Nathan smiled, falsely
"How you doing?…" Nathan whispered, whilst sitting beside her, Haley sat the other side
"I'm ok…I mean if your gonna blackout, its good to do it in a bikini…its easier to attract the doctors that way…" Brooke joked, once again. Whilst Nathan and Haley looked uncomfortable "So…where's Lucas?" Brooke asked Haley and Nathan. Somehow they managed to convince themselves that she might not have noticed Lucas was missing. Haley and Nathan both looked at each other
"Lucas left…" Nathan said, as he shifted about in his chair
"…He's really upset, Brooke. He said he couldn't see you like this" Haley said, as she held Brooke's hand. Brooke felt disappointed and upset that Lucas had left, she wanted so badly to see him, to talk to him and to explain the situation. She couldn't believe he'd left, she needed him now more than ever. "…He'll be here Brooke, he just needs some time" Haley whispered, when she saw the disappointment written on Brooke's face
"That's exactly what I don't have, Hales" tears began to fill Brooke's eyes, she took a deep breath "Great, now I'm going against my own rules…what a baby" Brooke said, to herself. Nathan and Haley gave a small but genuine laugh at Brooke's words, Haley hugged Brooke. Peyton then opened the door, and quietly shifted towards the bed. Brooke could tell she'd been crying because her eyes were puffy and red. Brooke smiled at her best friend, and held out her arm to invite Peyton into the embrace they were all sharing. Peyton fell into Brooke's arms, and they all held each other whilst tears streamed down their faces.
Peyton had been ordered to take some time away from Brooke's bedside after she'd been there for several hours, so she decided to go home and cancel the flights they all had booked for tomorrow. There was no way any of them were going anywhere at a time like this, they were gonna be there for Brooke till the end, no matter what. After doing that, she decided to walk back to the hospital, she thought that this would clear her head so that she could be stronger for Brooke when she got back there. She got close to Karen's café, and thought that she might as well drop in and see how Deb was doing whilst Karen was on her honeymoon. She opened the door and heard the bell jangle, everyone in the café turned to see who had just entered, just as they'd always done. Everyone that was except for Lucas, who seemed to be in his own cocoon. He was slouched over the counter, staring into his coffee. Peyton walked over and sat next to him, whilst ordering a coffee from one of the waitresses behind the counter
"Hey…" she said, quietly as to not disturb him too much "Haley told me what you said…" Peyton continued, but Lucas didn't even acknowledge her presence "She wants you there, Luke. She needs you there…" still Lucas didn't say or do anything, he didn't even flinch "…I'm not gonna lie to you, Lucas, I'm not going to wrap it up in cotton wool…its hard to see her like that. The first time you walk into that room and see her laid up in that bed…it breaks your heart, it really does…" Peyton said, getting slightly upset "…But its still Brooke…she's still the same person she's always been" the waitress gave Peyton her coffee, she stood up and began to walk away but turned back to face Lucas "I understand that your scared, Luke. But, she's got two weeks left to live…how scared do you think she is right now?" Peyton said, before exiting the café. Still Lucas didn't flinch.