hey guys!! sorry for the wait!! i hope you enjoy this chapter --although it is a bit on the short side!

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thank you everyone who read!! i hope you all continue to enjoy!!

--the next chapter will be up SOON!! --just need replies! :D

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(-don't hate me for the length, I cut it short!)

BRUCAS

Brooke stayed curled up in bed the rest of the weekend feeling terribly sick.

Lucas opened the door to their bedroom and noticed her eyes had opened so he walked in. "Hey," he whispered.

Brooke looked up at him pitifully. "Hi,"

Lucas moved her hair out of her face and rested the back of his hand against Brooke's forehead. "You're not too warm," he told her.

"I just want to go back to sleep, Luke," she whispered.

Lucas nodded and kissed the top of her head. "Let me know if you need anything?"

Brooke nodded in agreement, "I will," she assured him and shut her eyes.

Lucas walked to the door and glanced back at his wife and his heart broke, she hadn't gotten out of bed in a good two days, and there was nothing he could do for her. Honestly, he didn't know what was wrong with her, she hadn't told him. She just stayed in bed. Lucas sighed quietly and shut the bedroom door leaving her alone.

Brooke shivered under the covers, she couldn't shake this feeling. Joey wasn't moving. She had almost convinced herself that if she wasn't moving that was why he wasn't moving either. So that's what she did, nothing. She stayed in bed and ignored the dull pains in her stomach assuming she was just getting hungry. She swallowed hard holding back her tears, tears that she couldn't seem to stop from coming to her eyes every time she even thought about Joey.

NALEY

"Uncle Lucas brought Maggie to school this morning," Caroline informed her parents that afternoon in the car.

"Yeah?" Haley asked. Lucas called her yesterday and told her what was going on with Brooke.

"Mu-huh, but Maggie- - Maggie she didn't ca—it didn't make her mad—she didn't care, mommy, why did you pick me up before school was over?" Caroline asked.

Haley had to listen carefully to what Caroline was saying because she was talking so fast.

"Mom?!" Caroline repeated when her mother didn't answer.

"You've got a doctor's appointment, Care," Nathan jumped in.

"Oh, I wasn't sure. I thought I was in trouble, but I've not done anything to be in trouble for I don't think… maybe I have, I'm not sure, but I don't think I have. I don't think I've been in trouble." Caroline said shaking her head.

"Dad," Caroline whispered sitting in the doctor's office.

"Hmmm?" Nathan whispered back.

"This isn't my - - normally where I - - this isn't the doctor I always go to,"

Nathan nodded, "I know babe, this is a special one,"

"For what?" Caroline continued to whisper.

"Caroline Scott?"

Caroline looked up when her name was called.

Haley and Nathan both stood up, Caroline holding onto her dad's hand tight.

BRUCAS

"Maggie, you've got to lay down," Miss Natalie tried to coax the young girl during nap time.

"No!" Maggie yelled. "I want Caroline!" she demanded.

"Caroline left, sweetie," the young woman tried to explain.

Maggie shook her head.

"Yeah, but you have got to lie down and be quiet so you don't wake the other kids up,"

"I want my mommy!" Maggie yelled her volume increasingly getting louder while stomping her foot.

"Maggs, your mommy is at home, remember? Daddy brought you to school today,"

"No! I want mommy!" she cried.

Natalie wrapped her arms around the visibly shaking little girl trying to calm her down. "Shh," she whispered rubbing Maggie's back.

"Miss Natalie," Maggie panicked.

"What?" she asked noticing the change in Maggie's voice.

"My heart hurts," Maggie said her eyes clearly screaming pain, her hands holding onto her teacher for dear life.

Natalie knew Maggie had a heart condition that was serious. She quickly took Maggie to the nurse's office and called her parents.

"Hello?" Lucas said picking up the hose phone.

"Mr. Scott?"

"Yes… who is this?"

"This is Natalie Trile from Maggie's school,"

"What happened?" Lucas panicked by the sound of the teacher's voice.

NALEY

Caroline was off to the side of the room coloring while Nathan and Haley were talking to the doctor.

"So her pediatrician briefly told me what was going on, but I figured you two would be able to explain to me a little better what is going on." Dr. Moore said.

Haley nodded, "Well, I noticed it a while ago, and then her teacher said something to us about it. She will just start talking and… I don't know how to explain it, it's like well, for one, she talks so fast you can hardly understand her on the occasion that you actually do catch a few words… and she's been disruptive in class, interrupting and such."

"She will start saying something, then back-track and say it a different way, like she's going around a certain word or something," Nathan added.

"Alright," he said writing some things down. "Do you think she would be okay to talk with me?"

Haley nodded, "Yeah, Caroline," she said getting her daughter's attention.

"Hmmm?"

"Come here girlie girl," Nathan said patting the chair next to him.

"Okay," Caroline said getting up from where she was, her eyes staying on her picture as she walked away from it. She sat down in the chair next to her father like she was asked to do and smiled up at the man in front of her. "Hi,"

"Hi Caroline, my name is Ryan."

"Hi Ryan," Caroline continued to smile.

"Do you know why you're here?"

Caroline took a breath, "Well, not really. My daddy told – he said I was… that I had a doctor's appointment, but this isn't… I don't come here for the doctor's – never before, I've never, I've never been here, so I got confused."

Ryan nodded as he wrote on his notepad. "Do you go to school?"

Caroline nodded, "I do, I'm in Pre-k4, because I start kindergarten next year, it is the real – well it's actu—it's kindergarten next year for five and six year olds."

"Do you like school?" he asked.

"Yes! And my – Maggie, my cousin, her is in my class, pre-k4, and when I go to kindergarten next year then she comes too. But she doesn't take naps good at school, she's in the hallway a lot and I'm not though, I only - - I don't get into trouble except for sometimes because I just do,"

Ryan smiled at the young girl, "It sounds like your school is really fun,"

"It is, but I had to go – leave early today to come here," Caroline said with a frown.

"Well how bout you go color some more and let me talk to mommy and daddy, and we'll see if you can't leave in enough time to go back to school today?"

"Okay!" Caroline said and ran back to the table she was coloring at.

Haley looked at the doctor wanting to know what he thought about it. "So… why do you think she does it…?"

"Just from the little I've talked with her, and what you two have told me, I would say Caroline has what you call cluttering," Dr. Ryan said honestly.

"What is that, like stuttering?" Nathan asked never have heard the term before.

"Actually it's not, cluttering simply means that verbal communication is less efficient than it might be otherwise. Cluttering does not preclude people from communicating, but for Caroline, it will mean that she will need to consciously slow her speech and think through what she would like to say. Unlike stuttering, cluttering is done virtually without the actual person knowing he or she is doing it. Like, Caroline has no idea how fast she is talking, or that she backs up and rewords her statements. Repeating things, hyperactivity, sloppy handwriting, all these are things that go along with it that she doesn't know she is doing."

"So… what do we do?"

"You have to work with her, when she talks too fast, tell her to slow down. You have to bring it to her attention that she's doing these things. When she repeats something, tell her. The handwriting, she's still little, I wouldn't worry about that for now. But her interrupting, every time she does it, she needs to be told."

Haley and Nathan both nodded listening to every word the doctor was saying.

"What causes it?" Haley asked.

"There's really nothing that causes it per-say… some people will tell you stress can trigger it, or it's hereditary, but nothing is definite," Dr. Ryan told the young parents. "It's nothing the two of you have or haven't done," he assured them.

Both adults nodded, Nathan taking Haley's hand into his.

"I do want her back twice a week after Christmas break and we will work on getting her to slow it down,"

"Alright," Haley said.

Dr. Ryan stood up, "Caroline, we're done kiddo," he told the little brunette girl.

"Yay!" Caroline said hopping up from the table and followed her parents out of the room. "Good bye," she waved to Dr. Ryan.

"Bye sweetie, have a good Christmas,"

Caroline nodded, "You too,"

"I'll see you guys next year," Dr. Ryan waved as the Scott family walked to the front desk to schedule Caroline's next appointments.

BRUCAS

Lucas ran into the school hurrying to get to his daughter. He went right to the nurse's room and quickly opened the door. He breathed relieved when he saw Maggie asleep in Miss Natalie's arms.

"She just calmed down," Natalie whispered.

Lucas nodded.

I

"What happened?" Lucas panicked by the sound of the teacher's voice.

"Maggie got upset at nap time because Caroline wasn't there, then she wanted her mommy, and she began to cry, so I picked her up to try and comfort her then she told me her heart hurt. I took her to the nurse's office and they have her medicine they are giving her and trying to keep her calm, but it says on her sheet if anything like this happens to call you or Mrs. Scott,"

Lucas nodded, "I'm on my way," he said, "Thank you," he told the shaken up teacher before he hung up. He contemplated telpaling Brooke, but he really didn't want her to worry. "Hey Pretty Girl," he whispered opening their bedroom door.

"Yeah?" Brooke mumbled.

"I've got to go pick up Maggie, I'll be right back,"

Brooke nodded, not even bothering to ask why.

Lucas shut the door and hurried out to his car and to Maggie's school.

END I

"Her heart rate was not accelerated too high, I think she just got scared," the nurse informed Lucas.

Lucas nodded, Maggie now in his arms.

"I went ahead and gave her half of one of her pills to calm her down, and it did, and she just passed right out. Poor thing," the nurse said rubbing Maggie's back.

"I'm just gonna go ahead and take her home then," Lucas whispered.

Natalie nodded, "I figured, I brought all of her stuff. Remember tomorrow is only half a day and we don't come back after that until next year," she whispered walking with Lucas.

"Okay, thank you. We may just keep her home tomorrow."

"Alright, well you guys have a great Christmas," Natalie smiled.

"You too, thank you so much, I really am sorry for all the fuss," Lucas apologized.

"It's fine, it's part of my job," Natalie assured him. "Tell her I hope she feels better,"

"I will, have a good one," Lucas said as he walked thru the main doors of the office while Natalie headed back to her classroom.

"Are you taking her home?" the secretary asked as Lucas walked into the office.

Lucas nodded, "Yeah," he whispered.

"Well, we all hope she feels better, bless her heart," the older woman said rubbing Maggie's hair.

Maggie hadn't been at school too long, but all the workers had become very attached to her.

"You have a nice holiday break," Lucas whispered after he signed Maggie out.

"You too," the woman waved as Lucas exited the office and finally the building.

NALEY

"You sure you want to go back to school, Care?" Haley asked as they neared her school.

Caroline nodded, "Yes," she said pitifully.

Nathan looked at Haley, "She gets that from you,"

Haley laughed and rolled her eyes, "I think it's a good thing," she told her husband and stuck her tongue out.

"Is that Aunt Brooke's car?!" Caroline asked excited as they pulled into the parking lot.

Haley looked at the black SUV confused, "Yeah… I thought Luke said she wasn't feeling well," she said whispering the last part more to her and Nathan.

Nathan shrugged as he put the car in park. "Come on kiddo, let's take you back inside for a whole two and a half hours," he said shaking his head while he opened Caroline's door.

Haley got out of the car as well and walked with her husband and daughter to the school.

"Uncle Lucas!" Caroline said running to her uncle as he walked out of the building.

"Hey," Lucas smiled seeing his niece.

"What are you doing here? She okay?" Nathan asked eyeing Maggie.

"She got really upset at naptime because she was by herself, then she wanted Brooke, and when the teacher tried to calm her down, Maggie said her heart was hurting. So they called me, she's fine, but I'm just gonna take her home,"

"Poor thing," Haley said with a frown and rubbed her niece's back.

"Hey, Hales, do you think you could come over later?" Lucas asked.

Haley nodded, "Yeah, sure, what's up?"

"I was just wondering if you could talk with Brooke,"

"Sure, I'll come by after we leave here," she told her best friend.

"Thanks," Lucas smiled. "I'm gonna head home. I'll see you guys later," he said with a nod because his hands were currently preoccupied.

Nathan wrapped his arm around Haley's waist, "What's wrong with Brooke?" he whispered into Haley's ear.

Haley shook her head not wanting to talk about it right now.

The two signed Caroline back in and walked her to class.

"One of us will be here to pick you up when school gets out," Haley said bending down to give her daughter a kiss.

"Okay, bye mommy," Caroline said with a smile then wrapped her arms around her dad. "Bye daddy," she said and gave him a big kiss.

"Bye little girl, I love you," he told her.

Caroline waved bye and walked into her classroom.

BOTH

Haley knocked on the front door later that afternoon.

"Hey," Lucas smiled opening the door letting his sister-in-law in.

Haley smiled, "Sorry it's like, three, I went home and took a shower, and it just took longer to get ready then I expected." she apologized.

Lucas shook his head. "You're fine. Maggie is still asleep, and Brooke is still in the bedroom, so it's been pretty peaceful here,"

Haley smiled sadly, "I'll go talk to her,"

"Thank you," Lucas said honestly as Haley walked to his and Brooke's room.

Haley knocked on the door gently and after receiving no response, she opened the door and walked in.

Brooke was lying on her side, the blankets wrapped tightly around her body, her eyes open and staring at the closet.

"Hey," Haley whispered not wanting to startle her friend.

Brooke's eyes darted to Haley, not expecting that voice.

"You okay?" Haley asked walking over to the bed. She sat down towards the bottom of the bed and rubbed Brooke's back.

Brooke looked up at Haley, "He stopped moving," she whispered.

"Brooke, you're… that happens sweetie," Haley tried to reason. "He's just getting big, and, he's just getting ready to come out," she said nodding.

Brooke shut her eyes and turned away from her friend her head shaking slightly.

"What have you eaten today?" Haley asked.

"I'm not hungry," she whispered, her voice cracking a little.

"Sweetie, you've got to eat. That will make him move, eat something, get up, move around." Haley tried to coax Brooke.

"It won't," Brooke whimpered.

"Okay," Haley whispered softly and got up from the bed.

Brooke followed Haley with her eyes as she walked to the other side of the bed.

Haley pulled the covers back and got into the bed. "Come here," she said and almost before she could finish Brooke was in her arms crying… hard.

"Haley," she bawled.

"Shh," Haley said rubbing her friend's back trying to calm her down.

"Haley, it hurts," Brooke barely got out thru her tears.

Haley looked at Brooke, her face had paled tremendously. "Lucas!" Haley yelled.

--okay, so I know I promised a bit more for this chapter, and it is INCREDIBLY short for me, but I needed to stop it here. I want the next chapter to go a little differently, so. I will try and have it up soon!

Xoxo

-manda