A.N: I'm sorry. I just couldn't resist leaving it there. That was one of my favorite cliff-hangers ever. I knew it was the left arm, I don't know what I was douing when I put the right. Anyways, I'm sorry for freaking you all ouut. I hope ypu enjoy this...

"Hey, what's the matter?" Lorelai asked as Tristan came back into the house, the phone in his hand.

"There was an accident. I have to go… Luke's in the hospital."

"Lucas was in an accident?" Rory asked, going to his side and helping him sit.

"No. Mom and Keith… Coming back from vacation. There was a drunk driver. Luke – he- Luke had… Haley said it was a heart attack.

"Is that even possible?" Lorelai asked.

"If there's family history, and a big enough stress, I guess anything's possible." Rory replied.

"I have to go. I've got to get back."

"You just sit here. We'll get everything sorted" Lorelai gently pushed him back into his seat. "Rory, you pack his bags, I'll call the airline." Rory nodded and left the room, squeezing her eyes shut, trying not to cry.

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Jake walked over to Whitey and whispered something to him. The older man swore under his breathe and blew his whistle.

"That's it for today boys. Nathan, come over here a second."

"What is it Whitey?"

"Nathan, there's, ah, there's been an accident." Jake looked over at the cheerleaders. They had stopped going through their routine when Whitey sent the other players away. Now they stood around watching the three remaining men.

"Wha- Is everyone ok? Why are you telling me?"

"Keith, Karen and Lucas are in hospital."

"What happened?"

"There was a car accident and-"

"Do my parents know? You should call my dad; I'll go talk to mom." He ran out of the gym, and Jake walked towards Brooke and Peyton.

"You guys can go; we'll pick this up tomorrow." Brooke told the girls, after one look at Jake's face.

"What's going on?" Peyton asked.

"Lucas is in the hospital. Haley just called me. Keith and Karen had an accident driving home, and something happened to Luke. I don't know much but she was really upset. I'm going down there to see if there's anything I can do."

"I'm coming with you." Brooke grabbed her bag.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"I'm coming too." Peyton picked up her things and the three of them walked out, Whitey locked the door behind them.

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Tristan barely said a word as Lorelai and Rory drove him to the airport. He boarded his flight with shaking hands and didn't reply to the chatty woman beside sitting him.

When he arrived in Tree Hill hours later, he was about to hail a cab when he saw Deb waiting for him.

"Tristan, come on, I'll drive you to the hospital." She told him, walking towards him.

"Have you heard anything? Are they ok?"

"Let's just get back there. The doctors can explain everything." Tristan nodded mutely and followed her to the car.

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"Tristan! Oh thank God, I didn't know what to do, I was so scared." Haley ran to hug him as Lucas' friends looked up from their seats.

"What happened?" He asked, wrapping his arms around her.

"Your mother drove into the path of a drunk and nearly killed my brother." Dan replied.

"Why are you here?"

"My family are lying in hospital beds, I have every right-"

"They're not your family. You never cared about them before, don't start now."

"Tris…"

"And you!" he turned on Deb. "If you hadn't been so persistent that they go away none of this would have happened."

Jake silently stood and led him down another hallway, while the others sat stunned at his outburst.

"They're going to be ok Tristan. Lucas is stable. Keith and your mom are in recovery. They were lucky. Only a few broken bones between the two of them."

"I can't lose them now. I only just found them."

"Nobody's dying today. You have nothing to worry about." Tristan nodded and dropped into a seat. Jake stood with a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"You guys, Luke's doctor is back. He wants to talk to you Tristan." Brooke poked her head around the corner. Tristan slowly walked back towards the group.

"We've managed to stabilise Lucas and find the cause of the attack. Your brother has a heart condition known as HCM. It's a genetic mutation and causes the heart muscles to thicken…eventually; it prevents the heart from pumping blood. It's common among athletes."

"Is he going to be ok doc?" Dan asked, Tristan glared at him.

"He should be fine. It is lucky that he wasn't alone when this happened, otherwise we couldn't be quite as hopeful. Now your parents were also very lucky." He added, speaking to Tristan again. "If they rest and follow instructions, they should be fully recovered within a matter of weeks."

"Can we see them?" Tristan asked.

"Yes. Neither of them are fully conscious just yet, but you can sit with them. In small groups,."

"Thankyou." Dan turned and walked right into Keith and Karen's room, without a word to anyone. Deb followed him quickly.

"Haley, do you want to come see Luke with me?" Tristan asked, she stood up and walked towards him. He put an arm around her shoulders and they stepped forward together.

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"That is such great news. Thank you so much for calling Jake." Rory walked through the house, looking for her mother. "Yeah, ok, tell him I'll call tonight. Thanks, bye." She hung up and smiled. "Mom?"

"Yeah?" Lorelai called from the back porch.

"That was Jake on the phone. They're all ok. Keith and Karen are awake and talking. Lucas is still unconscious, but the doctors say that he will be fine, and he's just got to wake up on his own."

"Do they know why Lucas had a heart attack? God that is the strangest thing I've ever asked, he's your age."

"He has a heart condition it's genetic, which means…"

"No. Don't start thinking I'm sure Tristan will be fine."

"But what if he's not? What if he has it to?"

"Rory stop. He's ok, I promise you that."

"Ok, um, should I call the Dugrey's or leave that up to Tristan? He might not think of it, but they'd want to know right?"

"Maybe you should wait. Ask when you talk to him next."

"Good idea."

"Ok, are you ok?"

"Yeah. I think I'm just going to read for a bit. Take my mind off things."

"Alright. I'll come check on you later. I love you sweets."

"I love you too mom."

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Haley sat by Lucas' bed for three days waiting for him to wake up. She only spoke when spoken to and to ask the doctors or nurses what was happening. Her parents came to check on her on the second day. Keith and Karen were only allowed out of bed for a few minutes each day and spent that time in Luke's room. Tristan was constantly going out and getting things for the patients, unable to stay in the hospital for long periods.

On the fourth day, Haley sat holding Lucas' hand, reading him the sports section to him, before bursting into tears for the first time since it all began.

"You can't do this to me Lucas. I need you to wake up." She whispered squeezing his hand. "I love you so much. I don't want to lose you. Please, just…" she let her head drop onto the bed as she wept. After four days with very little sleep, she thought she was imagining the hand running through her hair.

But after a while, it felt so real, she had to look up.

"Don't cry Hales. I'm not going anywhere." Luke smiled weakly at her.

"Oh thank God!" she threw her arms around him and continued to cry; only now she was happy. "I didn't think I'd ever hear your voice again."

"How long have I been here?" he asked, looking around.

"Almost four days."

"What happened to mom and Keith? Are they ok?"

"They're both fine. Everyone's going to be so happy to see you awake. We've all been so worried. I'll go get your mom."

"Ok." Lucas looked around again as he waited for his family to return.

Brooke and Peyton had clearly come by; there was a Brooke Davis collage on the wall and a few of Peyton's sketches scattered around. There were bouquets of flowers, cards and balloons on every available surface.

"Lucas Eugene Scott don't you ever do that to me again!" Karen yelled as she entered his room, in a wheel chair pushed by Haley, while Keith limped in on crutches.

"Do what ma? You are the ones who had to go out and have a car accident. It's not my fault if I couldn't handle it."

"When I woke up and they told me what had happened I thought I had lost you."

"No way, I'm not giving up now, not when everything in my life is so great."

"Um, I'm gonna go call Tristan, tall him you're awake." Haley started to leave

"Tell Rory I said hi."

"Honey Tristan's not with Rory. He's here, at the house."

"When he found out what had happened to us he took the first flight out." Keith clarified.

"What did happen? Coz I'm a little fuzzy on the details."

"We were on our way home and one of the other drivers had been drinking. He ran a red light and hit us. Apparently when the hospital called to tell you what had happened you had a heart attack." Karen explained.

"A what?" Lucas asked, shocked.

"A heart attack," Keith replied. "Luke, you, ah... you need to talk to the doctors."

"What's wrong with me? You know don't you?"

"Its complicated honey, we'll get a doctor."

"You have to know. Why can't you just tell me?"

"I'll be right back." Keith left the room as Haley returned.

"Tristan's going to make a few calls and then come in."

"Haley what's wrong with me?" Lucas asked, catching her off guard.

"Ummm…." She glanced at Karen before looking back at Luke.

"Fine, just forget it. I'll wait for the doctor." He rolled onto his side and looked up at the new collage that Brooke made.

There were pictures of everyone in his life, his family, friends from the river court, teammates, and a couple of Tristan and Rory together. She included his jersey number, a few things from when they were together, a baby sized handprints - obviously Jenny's contribution -, and even a mini Pom. (Lane said two are Pompoms, ones a Pom.)

"Lucas, it's good to see you're awake. Now, I understand you want to know what's going on." The doctor entered the room, carrying a chart.

"That would be nice." He grumbled, not looking at his family.

"Alright well I'll start from the beginning." He began to explain as a nurse arrived and asked Karen and Keith to return to their beds.

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Rory sat down at the bridge with her legs dangling over the edge. So much had happened since the last time she had sat there.

She had left one boyfriend, gained a new one, a few friends, and could potentially lose them.

"What's wrong?" a voice asked from behind her. Startled, she turned to see Jess in the shadows cast by the trees.

"Nothing." She shook her head and tried to smile.

"Come on Rory, I know that's not true. You've been really happy since you got back. Now you're sitting here, alone, looking like someone died."

"Someone nearly did die." She said quietly, half-hoping he wouldn't hear.

"Who?" Jess moved closer and sat beside her.

"Tristan's brother Lucas. There's something wrong with his heart and there's a possibility that Tristan has it too."

"But you don't know for sure?" Rory shook her head. "There's no point worrying about something happening unless you know it will. Is there a test he can take?"

"Yes. I collected some information off the internet, but I haven't read it yet."

"Well come on." Jess stood and held a hand out for Rory. She took it hesitantly and stood up.

"Where are we going?"

"To your house to see how serious your boyfriend's condition is. You wanna know don't you?"

Rory chewed her lip, considering. "Yeah, ok. Let's go." Together they walked to Rory's house and into her bedroom.

They sat in front of her house and she opened the file named 'HCM'.

"You said it's genetic, do you know if either of their parents have it?" Jess asked as the document loaded.

"I don't know. Tristan said they are all going to be tested. Both their parents, their brother and uncle." Jess nodded as he skimmed the words on the screen.

"Ok, so Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy causes the walls of the ventricles to become abnormally thickened…" Jess continued to read as Rory played with her hands.

"It says here almost half the patients with HCM spontaneously contract the disease, meaning other siblings will not be at risk, but children could be. It occurs more often due to exercise… cannot be cured, but there is medication. Calcium channel blockers and beta blockers." Jess clicked a link and explained the differences between the two before turning to Rory.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better. I think I'll be ok. We just have to wait for the test results. No point worrying until then right?" Jess nodded. "Thanks for doing this for me Jess, I really needed it.

"Yeah, well I didn't like seeing you upset so…"

"Thank you."

"I should get going. I'll see you later." Rory smiled at Jess as he left the room and then the house.

A.N2: Does everyone feel better? Wanting to kill me a little less? That feeling probably won't last long, I have evil plans. Please review. I'll be your best friend.