Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of its characters Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of its characters.
Author's Note: I have returned!
Iraq
Headquarters Hospital
Intensive Care Unit
Time Unknown
The cottony feeling in his mouth would not go away, nor would the stabbing pain in every single muscle and joint in him. His head pounded painfully, his heart ached with each breath he took, there was something forcing air into his injured lungs, and it felt as though he had a two ton truck sitting on his leg. But he was alive. His body was on fire, he could barely stand to breathe, but he was alive. After everything that had happened, that was what mattered.
Iraq
Headquarters Hospital
Time Unknown
It had been three days since Nathan, Derek, and Rachel had gone on the rescue mission to rescue Lucas. Three excruciatingly long days. Lucas was already beginning to show signs of recovery underneath the gentle care of General Clearwater. He had gone under twice since arriving at the hospital the first day, but his heart rate was getting more stable and he was beginning to breathe on his own without the help of the ventilator. General Clearwater was becoming cautiously optimistic that Lucas would wake up.
Lucas's injuries had been numerous and severely life-threatening. His heart attack alone was a serious concerned, coupled with the blood poisoning from the bullet wound and a collapsed lung, he had been in critical condition and very touch and go. His lungs wouldn't operate on their own, so Lucas had been hooked up to a ventilator. Lucas had also had multiple back lacerations that went pretty deep. Unfortunately, there was no skin whatsoever on his back, so General Clearwater and her steady stream of nurses had to wait until the wounds had scabbed over before they could bandage them. It would cause more damage to bind them right now then to let them heal on their own.
Lucas's less serious injuries included a shattered leg that had been rebuilt with pins, screws, and plates, a sprained elbow, a mild concussion, and an infected scratch that he had received somewhere along the way.
After nearly an entire day in surgery, Lucas had been put in the ICU of the large headquarters' hospital. He hadn't responded to treatment of his heart at first; it failed again within three hours of coming out of surgery. Somehow, though, General Clearwater had been able to revive him and now Lucas was beginning to heal.
Peyton, Haley, and Brooke had not been able to make it out to Baghdad yet. All the flights into Iraq had been cancelled due to a suicide bomber in the main airport and a shooting in one of the minor ones. All air traffic in and out had been halted immediately, preventing them from coming. Planes wouldn't be allowed to land in the airports of Iraq until the day after tomorrow. Haley had already booked three seats on the first flight to Iraq. She would be there at two o'clock in the afternoon with Peyton and Brooke. Nathan and Derek could hardly wait.
Derek had fallen into a quiet, moody funk since Rachel had been pronounced dead. Nathan figured that he had really liked the redhead, more then he would ever let on. He had tried to get the other man to talk on several occasions over the past three days, but the only subject he would respond to was Lucas. The rest of the time, he would just stare broodingly out the tiny, plastic window of the hospital, leaving Nathan to his thoughts. Nathan was beginning to see that Peyton had a lot more in common with Derek then she originally thought.
Nathan sat in the hospital chair next to Lucas's bed, flipping randomly through an old newspaper, not really reading it. He was keeping a steady eye on the clock, knowing that in ten minutes, Haley would call, wanting news of how Lucas was doing and what the situation was over there. Nathan could hardly wait to hear her voice. He had only been away from her for four days, but he felt as though it had been four years instead. He missed her terribly, and felt a shameful sense of gladness that Lucas had taken his place in this war. Nathan knew that he wouldn't have been able to stand the six scheduled months away from Haley. It was wrong to feel this way, Nathan knew, but he couldn't help himself. He just hoped Lucas would wake up and everything would be all right again.
As if tuned into Nathan's exact thoughts, Lucas's uninjured hand slowly drifted away from his side and found its way to Nathan's outstretched one. Nathan blinked in surprise, tearing his eyes away from the clock and newspaper to Lucas's face. Lucas was staring steadily back at him.
I know, I know, too short and not one of my best, but I did this as a filler chapter so you guys could find out what happened to Lucas and find out whether he would be okay. This will probably be one of the final chapters in this story… though I might be tempted to do another one. Might.
I'm sorry for the delay in updates. I have been really busy lately. I will probably start updating on Sundays only for a while… I have other stuff to do during the week.
Please, continue to read and review! I appreciate them greatly and without them, I would have never written this much. Thanks to all of you!