Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of its characters.

Overdose of Pain, Onslaught of Reality

Chapter 23

Lucas could barely breathe due to the fierce aching in his ribcage. He knew that Peyton was talking to someone on the phone, for he could hear her voice. Other than that, he wasn't aware of anything.

"Peyton," he managed to yell before he sank into a dark oblivion.

Peyton heard Lucas yell and quickly left the kitchen, completely forgetting about Keith and Deb on the phone. She entered the living room only to see Lucas passed out on the sofa, clutching his ribs. His face was chalky white and sickly.

"Oh god," she whispered, sinking to the floor in horror. Lucas looked worse than dead. "No, this can't be happening! Lucas!" her voice rose to a scream.

"Lucas!" Keith heard Peyton yell dimly through the phone. He rolled over in bed, taking the phone from Deb, who was getting dressed.

"Hello? Peyton! It's Keith. Peyton, pick up!"

"Keith… It's Lucas," Peyton said, her voice extremely worried. Keith felt his stomach drop through the floor. "He's passed out and barely breathing. What should I do?"

"Uh, take him to the hospital. We'll meet you there," Keith ordered.

"Hurry!" was all Peyton said. With a click the line went dead.

Deb looked at Keith worriedly. She had heard Keith's end of the conversation.

"What's happening?"

"Lucas is hurt. I'm going to the hospital."

"I'll come with you."

"No, Deb. Call Dan and tell him to meet us at the hospital. You owe it to your husband."

With those last words, Keith grabbed his discarded jeans and shirt and went into the bathroom to get dressed. Deb glared at the closed door, knowing that he was at fault as much as she was when it came to them cheating on Dan.

She grabbed her car keys off of the shelf in Keith's bedroom and walked out the door, deciding that it was time to come clean to Dan about the whole affair.

Nathan felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket about halfway through the movie Haley had put on. They weren't really watching it; it was just background noise so they could talk. Or, make out as they had been doing for the past half an hour.

"I wonder who it is," Haley murmured, pulling away as Nathan moved his hand to his pocket to shut the phone off.

"It's Peyton," Nathan said, a sinking feeling entering his stomach. "Lucas is with her. Crap!"

He had tried to move, and as a result, a sharp, shooting pain went through his knee. He winced and grabbed his knee.

"Are you okay?" Haley asked.

"No, not really. Here, answer it," Nathan managed to bite out, tossing her his cell. She clicked the button.

"Nathan, it's Peyton! Lucas is at the hospital. His ribs… there's something wrong. Get to the hospital as soon as you can!" Peyton's frantic voice filled the entire bedroom.

"Peyton, it's Haley. What's the matter with Lucas?"

"I don't know. He was taken into the ER, but no one can do anything without parental permission since he's under the age of eighteen. Keith is on his way, with Deb. Can you two make it?"

"Um… We'll try, Peyton, but Nathan's knee is really hurting him right now."

Nathan was glaring at her.

"Tell Peyton we'll be there in half an hour," he said through gritted teeth. "I'll be fine."

"All right," Haley said slowly. "Peyton?"

"I heard. Hurry!"

Haley hung up and handed the phone back to Nathan.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?"

Nathan shook his head and shrugged.

"Can anyone give us a ride to the hospital."

"Maybe…"

Nathan's face darkened.

"This evening was going too perfectly. What time is it?"

"Nine-thirty. Why?"

"I'm going to call my dad. Maybe he'll actually grow another heart and be able to pick us up on the way there."

Haley nodded; to worried to care who took them to the hospital. It could be a damn stranger for all she cared. Lucas was in trouble and that's all that mattered.

Lucas opened his eyes slowly and blinked a few times so his eyes would adjust to the blinding light that shone down on him. He was dimly aware of a dull ache in his left side and a numbing sensation in his legs. When he tried to sit up, something stuck him in the arm. Lucas looked over to see an IV drip in it.

"How are you feeling?" an unfamiliar voice asked. Lucas blinked as his vision blurred and saw a doctor standing over him.

"Like I've been hit like a bus," Lucas muttered, knowing full well where he was now. I really should look into reserving a room ahead of time, he thought darkly. "What time is it?"

"Nearly ten o'clock."

"What happened to me?"
"Your ribs are in the middle of healing and you overdid it today, which caused the extreme pain you felt. You also were severely dehydrated. We put you on morphine to keep the pain away."

Lucas nodded, too numb to say anything at the present. He couldn't feel his legs and already the pounding in his side had gone down. He slowly closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Peyton paced the waiting room anxiously, waiting for word on Lucas and for everyone to show up. She knew she probably overreacted, but it was it was too scary seeing Lucas like that. It was straight from one of her nightmares, only in that one she hadn't been able to do anything about it.

"Ms. Sawyer?"

Peyton was pulled out of her thoughts by a nurse who was holding a clipboard and a pen.

"Is Lucas all right?" were the first words out of her mouth.

"Yes, he'll be fine. I would advise him to take it easy for the next few weeks though. He passed out because he overdid it. He was also severely dehydrated, but he'll recover without any long lasting damage."

"O-okay. Can I see him?"

"His room is right this way. He's asleep for now, but he should wake up in a few hours. We'll release him then when a parent or guardian arrives."

Peyton followed the nurse to Lucas's room. She was left in peace as she went in.

"Hey, Luke. I just wanted to say how happy I am to know that you're going to be okay. I was so scared that you were d- that you had left me," she whispered to him, taking his limp hand. It was comfortably warm, like it usually was. She squeezed it gently.

Sitting in the silent hospital room, Peyton slowly drifted off to sleep, holding Lucas's hand as she did so. She would have no nightmares that night.

Deb quickly unlocked the door to the Scott Family mansion and threw the door open. She was in a rush to tell Dan what had happened to Lucas and to tell him the truth about Keith. She would have no such luck, for the house was empty. A note was scribbled down on a piece of paper and left on the table.

Deb- Lucas is in the hospital. Nathan called and I went to pick him up and to bring make sure Karen's son is okay. I'll be back before midnight. I want you packed up and out of this house before then. –Dan.

Deb reread the last line and slowly felt her heart break. As much as she hated Dan, this still came as a huge shock. They were actually splitting apart.

"Why?" she asked the silent house. She screamed it again and again, but there was still no answer. Her world was breaking apart.

Nathan leaned heavily on Haley as they followed Dan up the steps of the hospital and into the waiting room. Dan seemed in an unusually bitter mood since he had picked the two of them up at Haley's. He was no longer the caring, understanding father he had been the last couple of weeks. The former Dan Scott had returned.

"Lucas Scott's room, please," Dan demanded at the nurse's station as Nathan limped over with Haley.

"Relationship?" the nurse asked dryly, barely looking up from the smut book she was reading.

"I'm Dan Scott."

"Three doors down and to the left. Room four oh five," the nurse said, barely glancing at them as she pointed through the double doors. Dan swept through the doors, not even bothering to hold them open for Nathan and Haley as they followed him.

Peyton was asleep holding Lucas's hand as the three of them walked in. Lucas was just beginning to wake up. A guarded look entered his eyes as he saw Dan, but softened slightly as he saw Nathan and Haley.

"Hi," he said quietly. Lucas winced as he sat up. Peyton stirred as he did so.

"Hey," she murmured.

Nathan shifted uncomfortably to his good leg. Haley coughed slightly, while Dan just stared stonily at them.

"When am I busting out of here?" Lucas attempted to joke. He grimaced again as he tried to laugh.

"You're not going home," Dan said threateningly, speaking for the first time that evening. "You're going straight to rehab. I packed you a bag and everything."

Lucas's face paled considerably. He knew that this had been long time coming, but it was still very sudden. Lucas guessed that Dan knew that Lucas had stayed on the Zoloft and that he had taken it before the date with Peyton, Haley, Nathan, and Brooke.

Peyton stood up to face Dan angrily. Lucas shouldn't have to go to rehab this soon. She didn't think it was right for the asshole to send Lucas off when he was still healing and all.

"You can't do that!" she burst out.

"Peyton…"

It was Lucas who spoke up. She turned to face him and saw the guilt in his light blue eyes. It dawned on her that he had been lying to them again.

"I, uh, I have to go," she said, turning around.

"Peyton, wait," Lucas begged.

Peyton ignored him as she stormed past a confused Nathan and Haley out the door. She also ignored Keith, who had just arrived at the hospital room. She burst into a run as she hit the hospital doors. It felt good to be running again.

Lucas felt his heart break into a million pieces as she left. Keith came in, but Lucas barely saw him. He had lost her all over again. They had been back together for barely a month and he screwed it up royally.

"Hey, you okay?" Haley whispered, coming to sit next to him. Keith and Dan were doling it out in the corner of the room, not aware of what was going on around them. Nathan sat down next to Haley, his eyes glazed in pain.

"No, not really," Lucas replied. He looked at Nathan. "What about you?"

Nathan shook his head.

"My knee feels like hell, but I'll live. What is Peyton so mad about?"

Lucas was silent as Haley and Nathan stared anxiously at him.

"I don't want to talk about it," he muttered. "I just want to go to sleep."

"That's not going to happen anytime soon," Nathan muttered as a doctor came into the hospital room.

"Dan Scott? Your son can be released once you sign these forms," he said, handing Dan a clipboard and a pen. Dan scribbled down his signature and the doctor handed over a plastic bag.

"What're these?" Dan demanded, glaring heatedly at the doctor for no sane reason.

"His personal items, sir. We are obligated to return all personal affects once the patient has been released."

"Oh."

Dan grabbed the bag and thrust it on the bed. Lucas cringed as it hit his chest. His ribs were still extremely sore.

"Make sure Lucas gets plenty of rest and doesn't overdo it again. He got lucky that Ms. Sawyer called the EMT in time. It could've been a heck of a lot worse."

"Thank you, doc. You can leave now," Dan said curtly. "You," he added to Lucas. "Get dressed and be in the car in twenty minutes."
Lucas swallowed hard and managed to push himself off of the bed. The doctor came over and unhooked his IV, giving him a sympathetic glance in the process. Lucas returned it with a blank stare and managed to stand up without too much trouble. Haley helped him to the bathroom, leaving Nathan sitting by the now empty hospital bed.

An hour and a half later, the car was pulled up in front of Briarwood Rehab Center. Haley, Nathan, and Keith had all gone home, leaving Lucas alone with Dan again.

"Why did you do it?" Dan asked, turning to face Lucas in the back seat. It was the first time either one of them had spoken.

"Excuse me?" Lucas asked coldly. It was like the first time they had ever met each other all over again.

"Why did you go back to taking it? Didn't the accident cause enough problems for you?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"You're damn right I wouldn't. What sort of idiot abuses prescription drugs after they nearly died from overdosing on more than one occasion?"

"How did you find out?"

"It was very easy. You weren't exactly yourself six days out of seven. You were loopier than even Nathan was when he had that damn medication. I'm surprised Peyton didn't pick up on it."

Lucas stayed silent, knowing that he was about to get a lecture. He knew that the good-hearted Dan was too good to be true.

"Next time you want to throw your life away," Dan added icily. "No one will be there to pick up the pieces. Now get out."

Lucas did as he was told, knowing that this was it. This was the beginning of something new in his life.

Okay, really crappy ending, but I don't care. We won't be seeing much of Lucas over the next couple of chapters. We will see a lot of Nathan, Haley, Peyton, Dan, Deb, and Keith, though. Brooke will float in and out of the next couple of chapters along with Nicky. I didn't feel like writing a bar scene tonight on this chapter. It didn't flow together.

I know a lot of you could care less about the Brooke plot line, but it will be an important one in chapters to come.

The title of this chapter is "Running Again".