this chapter isnt very good, i apologize for any mistakes, i didnt have time to read over it. i hope you enjoy it.
Like a robot Nathan moved around the hotel room gathering his things. Knowing he couldn't drive, Rob drove him to the airport and got him on the first flight out to Tree Hill, which was luckily right away. Nathan thanked his lucky stars for that one.
"Nate just go home and be with your family. Don't worry about basketball, I'll take care of everything here for you okay? You just take care of Haley." Rob assured his friend. Nathan nodded almost imperceptibly and turned to board his plane.
Brooke was panicking, she hated hospitals. She hated them even more when it was someone she cared about in the hospital. She watched people run down hallways, and seen doctors having muted conversations with one another. She wanted to know if they were talking about Haley. Brooke wanted to know anything about what was going on. Haley was her best friend and she couldn't lose her like this. It wasn't fair, that something like this happened to a good person like Haley. Needing something to do, she called home to talk to Lucas. She was worried about Everleigh, even though she was too young to know that her mom was in the hospital. She sat there crying for the next little while until a doctor came out to talk to her.
"Miss? You are here for Haley Scott right?" the doctor asked.
"Yeah." she said looking up.
"I just wanted to let you know that we are taking her into surgery now, and we'll keep you posted." he told her kindly.
"Thank you." Brooke said before putting her face back in her hands and crying
Nathan mechanically stepped off the plane and found his car in the parking lot. He knew that in his current state he would have to be extremely careful, so he paid extra attention to the road while driving to the hospital. Driving gave Nathan something else to worry about while on the few minute drive to Tree Hill hospital. His nerves flew back when he pulled into the hospital parking lot. He ran into the hospital and immediately made his way to the emergency room waiting room where Brooke said she'd be. It didn't take him long to find her. She was sitting on a chair with her head in her hands.
"Brooke?" he said sitting next to her.
"Nathan! I'm so sorry Nathan. The accident was all my fault. I shouldn't have asked her to bring Everleigh over earlier. This wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for me." she cried apologizing profusely.
"Brooke. Brooke! Stop! It's not your fault. It would have happened anyways whether she brought Everleigh over or not. At least Everleigh wasn't in the car with her when she got hit. Everleigh was safe because you wanted to spend the night with her." Nathan assured her.
"But Haley wouldn't have even left the house if I hadn't called her." Brooke told him tears still streaming down her face.
"Yes she would have. She would have gotten bored sitting at home, that she would have went to visit you. The accident would have happened anyway, its not your fault." he tried to tell her.
"okay." Brooke said weakly.
"Now what are they doing with her?" he asked the evident worry coming through in his voice more than ever.
"In surgery. They'll come and alert us when she's out." Brooke told him.
Nathan nodded imperceptibly. "Where's Everleigh?" Nathan asked noticing for the first time that she wasn't there.
"With Lucas and my house. I didn't want her in the hospital." Brooke explained.
"That's a good idea." Nathan said before lapsing into silence. He couldn't help it but he started imaging what life would be like if he lost Haley. It wasn't a world that he ever wanted to live in.
They sat there for what seemed like days, but what could have only been a couple hours when the doctor came back. Nathan saw Brooke jump up, so he followed her when he seen her going towards a doctor.
"You must be Mr. Scott?" the doctor asked.
"Yeah. How is she?" Nathan asked worried.
"She's out of surgery, in intensive care now. You can go in and see her if you wish." the doctor told him.
"I want to see her. I know Brooke does as well." he told the doctor.
"Okay, I will let you both in there. But only you two for now, until she's stable enough to be moved. Okay?" he explained to them. They nodded and followed the doctor into Haley's room. The sight of seeing Haley in a hospital bed looking so broken threatened to destroy Nathan. He took the chair to the left of her bed and took her hand in his. Brooke did the same on her right side. They sat there not speaking for a little while, until Brooke kissed Haley's hand and got up to leave.
"I better get going. I want to stay but it would make Everleigh more comfortable if I was there, and me too." she said patting Nathan's shoulder on her way past. After Brooke left, Nathan leaned forward on his chair and pressed his face into his hands and finally cried out all the tears he had been storing up since he found out about the accident. He looked at his wife so broken in the hospital bed, he didn't hear the doctor come in.
"Mr. Scott, can I speak with you for a minute?" he asked kindly.
"Sure." Nathan said weakly.
"I just thought I'd go over her injuries with you so that we're all on the same page here." the doctor explained.
"ok." Nathan said trying to urge the doctor on.
"Now while I'm not going to be her continuous doctor. Her doctor will be back tomorrow. He is great, he has a medical degree in pregnancy and trauma. Perfect doctor for your current situation. But anyhow, she has several broken ribs and her right leg is broken. We know nothing about her babies yet since she needs to be awake in order to check that. She suffered a lot of trauma so that explains the coma, she'll wale when she's ready." the doctor explained.
"ok." Nathan said again before leaning over and kissing Haley' s hand.
"I'll leave you two alone. Press her button if you need anything." the doctor said before walking away. Nathan sat like that for the next few hours, just holding her hand. Thanking God that at least she was alive.
It was 2 days later and Brooke walked into Haley's hospital room. Haley had been moved to a private room, since they deemed she was no longer in need of intensive care. Brooke saw Nathan sleeping in a chair, in the same clothes he was wearing when he got here two days earlier. She walked over to him and shook his shoulder.
"Nate. Nate. Nate." she said shaking him.
"Brooke?" he answered groggily.
" Any change?" she asked.
"No." Nathan said dejectedly.
"oh. Well I think you need to go home for a while. Haley's family needs to know about this. And you need to change your clothes, shower and maybe eat and sleep." Brooke suggested.
"I cant leave her." Nathan said.
"Just for a while. You need to take care of yourself too. It's not healthy to stay up here all day, Nathan." she suggested.
"Fine." he replied standing up and leaning over to kiss her forehead before walking out the door. Nathan slowly went to his car, and drove over to Brooke and Lucas's to pick up Everleigh. Then he drove home. To further his bad mood, there was a car parking in his driveway that didn't belong there. He picked Everleigh up and carried her into the house. Nathan walked past the couch and seen Rachel sitting there.
"Rachel what are you doing in here?" he demanded.
"Waiting for you. Where have you been?" she asked.
"Busy. Now get out before I call the cops." he demanded.
"what is your problem?" she asked.
"My problem, is that I just got back from the hospital where my wife is fighting for her life, and I come home to find my ex sitting on my couch like she belongs there. Now get out." he told her.
"Fine. I'll leave." she said getting up.
"I want the key back, You shouldn't have a key to my house Rachel." he said holding out his hand. She put the key in his hand before getting up and walking out the front door. Nathan sighed and put Everleigh on the floor. Nathan took the phone and sat down on the couch and started calling Haley's family. The conversation with her parents was the hardest one because they were devastated and intended on coming to Tree Hill right away. The rest were hard but not as hard as that one, Haley's siblings were going to come down on the next flight, but they didn't panic like her parents did. Nathan walked around the house and it felt empty without Haley in it He knew that it was Haley that made their house a home. He sat back down and watched Everleigh play on the floor, she turned and smiled at him,, and it amazing him how she could just keep playing and how she couldn't tell that something had went completely wrong. He started going through the messages on their answering machine. There were four from the high school asking where Haley was. Nathan took a deep breathe and decided that they needed to know about the accident. Nathan hooked Everleigh into her car seat and drove to the school. When they arrived, he took Everleigh and went straight to the office.
"Principal Tuner is in Haley's classroom, since she has been unexcused for the past few days." the secretary told him.
"Thank you." he said and he headed to Haley's classroom to talk with the principal. He paused outside the door and knocked. Principal Turner answered.
"Nathan Scott? Where is your wife?" Turner asked.
"I need to talk to you about that." Nathan confessed while shifting Everleigh slightly.
"Oh." Turner said trying to urge Nathan on.
"A couple days ago, she was in a car accident and is now in a coma. She's been unconscious so therefore unable to call you. I don't know when she'll be back." Nathan said.
"Oh. I'm sorry Nathan, I didn't realize. Do you want to tell her students? They've been asking about her a lot lately. I think they actually miss her." Turner said smiling.
"Sure." Nathan said walking past Principal Turner into the classroom.
"Hey everyone. I need to talk to you all for a minute." he said sitting down on the edge of Haley's desk and seating Everleigh on his lap.
"Where is she?" one boy piped up.
"when is she coming back.?" another student said.
"Is she okay?" came another question from the class.
"Mrs. Scott was in a car accident a couple days ago, and is currently in a coma in the hospital. I don't know when or if she's coming back, she needs to wake up first. Her leg is broken and a few ribs but other than that the injuries are pretty minor, the worst part is her pregnancy. We don't know if the babies are still alive." Nathan said not sparing any details. The class looked on shocked, while Principal Turner just stared silently at Nathan.
"Nathan, I am sorry. I didn't even think that something could have happened to her. I'm sorry for all the voicemails on your home phone." Turner said profusely.
"It's fine. But I have to go, I need to drop Everleigh off with my dad then go back to the hospital. Dan was more than willing to take his granddaughter so his son could be with his wife. Dan had been looking for an opportunity to make things up to Nathan since he had screwed up his relationship with his son. First Nathan went home to grab a bag of Haley's favorite things just in case she woke up. While he was packing there was a knock on his front door. Praying it wasn't Rachel, he opened the door to find Haley's parents.
"Nathan, I didn't expect you to be here." Lydia said.
"I'm just on my way to the hospital. I just wanted to pack some of her favorite things in case she wakes up." Nathan explained.
"How is our baby girl and her babies?" Jimmy asked, his voice shaking.
"Um, technically she's better, but she's still unconscious. Doctor Meyer says she'll wake up on her own time." Nathan said reluctantly , he still wasn't comfortable having Ryan being his wife's doctor in this case.
"Can we come with you?" Lydia asked tears falling down her cheeks, unable to hold them in any longer.
"Of course. Let's go." Nathan told them walking out to his car. Jimmy and Lydia climbed in behind Nathan and together they drove to the hospital.
"So how are you holding up Nathan?" Jimmy asked.
"Sometimes are better than others. The nights are the hardest, especially the ones I don't spend at the hospital with her." he admitted. Jimmy nodded his understanding at Nathan's answer. Once they got to the hospital Nathan walked the familiar trek to the Haley's hospital room. He saw Brooke sitting by her side holding her hand crying. Obviously she still blamed herself for Haley's condition. He could hear her muttering "I'm sorry." over and over again. Nathan walked over to where she was sitting and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Brooke, its not your fault. You have to stop blaming yourself." he told her softly. Brooke nodded and stood up.
"I'll let you guys visit for a while. I'll talk to you later Nate." Brooke said brushing away her tears and leaving the room. Nathan knew it was going to take a while for Brooke to stop blaming herself. Nathan took Brooke's vacated chair and took Haley's hand.
"Hey baby, your parents are here. I know you probably don't want them to worry but no matter what since they are your parents, they will always worry. I'm gonna give you guys some time alone. I'll come visit later baby, I love you." he told her leaning over to kiss her forehead. Nathan got up and walked over to Lydia and Jimmy.
"You guys can talk alone for a while, I'll just be downstairs having a coffee if you need me." Nathan said before leaving the room. Jimmy and Lydia took the chairs on either side of their daughters bed and took her hands. The tears were falling down Lydia's face so Jimmy started muttering encouraging words to Haley. Telling her it was time to wake up among other things. They stayed like that for a few minutes before the sound of someone clearing their throat at the dorrway. Jimmy turned to see their kids, the sound had obviously came from Taylor. They filed into the room except for Taylor.
"I'm only here because they forced me to come. I have no need to see her like this or otherwise." she said coldly, before leaving the room. Everyone knew not to take Taylor's actions to heart, she was always like this no matter the situation, but it always hurt a little bit. Haley's brothers and sisters took turns telling Haley they loved her and squeezing her hand. While the parents looked on proudly.
Taylor ended up downstairs in the cafeteria where she saw Nathan sitting with a cup of coffee.
"Hey Nathan. What's up?" she asked.
"Not much. Just giving Jimmy and Lydia some time alone with Haley." he answered.
"It looks to me like your avoiding going up there. I don't blame you, I didn't like hanging with Haley when she was healthy. It would be even worse now." she said.
"I am not avoiding it. I am having a coffee so your parents and siblings can have alone time with her. Why are you like that" he asked.
"because I don't like her." she said getting up to leave, not wanting to argue with him. Nathan stared at her as she left, he didn't understand how someone could dislike her sister so much.
Soon enough Lydia, Jimmy and Haley's siblings all left. Instead of going right up to Haley's room, he left to let everyone into the house and go check on Everleigh. When he finally got back to the hospital, he stopped outside Haley's room to see Taylor sitting by Haley's bed. He stood there and tried to make out what she was saying.
"Haley, baby sister. I am so sorry for the way I acted towards you your entire life. It's just a defence mechanism, you are the only person I love in this crazy messed up world. You have to come back to me, so I can show you how much I love you, and how much I need you to show me the way. Haley you're my sister, and I love you. I know I have never showed you before but it has always meant everything to me that you've always been there for me. So let me be there for you. I couldn't say this in front of everyone because I cant be weak around them. I know you can here me, so just open your eyes and go back to Nathan. He needs you, your beautiful daughter needs you. I better go baby sis, I'll come back and talk to you tomorrow. I love you." she said turning to see Nathan at the door.
"I heard what you said, I knew you couldn't be as bad as everyone thought you were. Now why don't you stay a while. I'll be back in a few minutes, I just need to go pray for her in the chapel. It's been something I have been doing everyday since the accident." he said leaving the room.
Nathan sat in the chapel and prayed while Taylor talked to Haley. She continued to apologize over and over again to Haley for the way she treated her. Trying her best to urge her to wake up. Taylor was talking about how horrible of a sister she was when she felt Haley's hand move in her own. She looked up to see Haley's eyes opening.
"Oh my God, Haley. You're awake. Thank God. I have to go find Nathan. He'll be so relieved. I'll be right back Hales." Taylor said excitedly. She asked the receptionist where the chapel and followed her directions before she ended up outside a light brown door. She quietly opened it and walked over to where Nathan was sitting.
"Nathan?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah." he answered concerned.
"Haley's awake." she told him.