Author's Note: Hey all. I'm back for a drive by update. I'm sorry that it's been so long, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to happen in this chapter. I'm still not very happy with how this chapter turned out, but I'm hoping that you guys will enjoy it anyway. And please don't throw things at me in your reviews. But please give me some.

--OTH--

--Life isn't fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all. --

"What the fu…" Taylor mumbled as she started to come to. The first thing that she noticed was the fact that she was extremely uncomfortable. There was something jammed into her back, a bar of some kind she would guess, her ass was half way off of the bed and there was someone underneath her. Okay, that last part wasn't so strange or new. She often woke up with other people.

But this didn't feel right. She didn't normally feel this emotionally drained in the morning, or this…sad. Not to mention the fact that she was pretty sure that she was fully clothed and she didn't feel the effects of a hangover, so she was pretty sure that this was not like every other morning.

She racked her brain for what happened last night. She was at home, getting ready to head out for a night of clubbing when the hospital called about her father. She came, talked to Brooke and went to 'visit' her father. Suddenly, the entire night, all the emotions, all the fear and all the pain, came crashing back to her.

She remembered seeing Haley all beat up, almost to the point where she was unrecognizable. She remembered all the rage that had bubbled up inside of her when she first saw Haley like that, all of the pure hatred she felt for a man she thought of as Superman for her entire life.

Her body was still draped over her little sisters, and she could feel the cast on Haley's arm digging into her stomach. She shifted a little, unconsciously realizing that she shouldn't be putting all of this weight on top of someone that was as hurt and broken as her little sister was.

She wanted to open her eyes, she knew that she'd have to, but she was afraid of what she would see when she did. She could remember that Haley looked bad, but she couldn't picture just what the damage was, and she really wanted to keep it that way. She didn't want to see Haley like that again, and as long as she kept her eyes closed, and just laid there with her two sisters, she could pretend that everything that happened the night before was all a nightmare.

Taking a deep breath, Taylor pushed herself up on the bed, careful not to fall off and slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a hot guy passed out in the chair beside the bed. She vaguely remembered seeing him in the waiting room when the security guards were manhandling her. She also noticed with a small smile, that he was holding Haley's hand. Isn't that sweet? Haley-bub's got a boyfriend.

Her eyes traveled to her little sisters, snuggled up together in their sleep. Even in Haley's fragile state, her body didn't seem to protest the comfort, and even though Taylor knew that probably wasn't good for her physical well being, it was crucial for her emotional one.

Taking a deep breath, and preparing herself for the worst, Taylor let her eyes travel over Haley's body, taking in all of her injuries. Feeling her stomach start to turn, Taylor immediately jumped off of the bed, needing to get as far away from Haley as she possibly could. Maybe last night she could handle it, in the heat of the moment, she was willing to overlook Haley's state and be there for her, but now? Now she didn't think she could stand to look at Haley without throwing up.

Standing there in complete silence, not sure what she should do, Taylor's eyes darted back and forth between Brooke and Haley. She knew this was even worse for Brooke, and she felt like a horrible sister knowing that Brooke was willing to swallow her own pain to help Haley through her's, but she didn't think she could.

Don't get her wrong, she loved Haley more than she thought she could, but seeing her like that, knowing that their father did that to her, it was all just too hard. And when things get hard for Taylor James, she runs.

Shaking her head, and sending her sleeping sister an apologetic look, Taylor hung her head and slowly walked over to the door. She stopped for a second at the door, looking back at her baby sisters one last time before pushing the door open and leaving the room.

"Oh, God," she breathed when she was finally out of the room. She suddenly felt like she could breath again. She didn't realize it then, but it felt like she had been suffocating in there. It was like she could just feel everyone's pain in the air, and it was crushing her.

"Taylor?" she heard someone's voice call her name softly. She opened her eyes, pushing herself off the door and made her way over to the waiting room, where she knew all her sister's friends were. When she entered, she was surprised that the only two people there were Carol, who had called her over, and a sleeping Grace.

"Hey," she greeted the blonde woman, her voice almost breaking, even with that single syllable. Knowing that she was going to break down at any moment, Carol immediately took the girl in her arms and held her as her strangled sobs racked her body.

Nobody else in the room seemed to pay them any attention. It was early in the morning, so there weren't many people there, but it being a hospital, they were pretty used to seeing people break down.

"Come here," Carol whispered, silently leading Taylor over towards the plastic chairs. Carol made sure to position herself between Taylor and Grace, as she sat them both down and tried her best to calm the distraught girl down.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Taylor's cries started to lesson and her shakes seem to become less. Not wanting to rush anything, Carol just continued to rub her back, letting her know that it was okay to cry, that it was okay to feel scared. When Taylor felt that she was all cried out, she pulled back, letting out a bitter laugh and wiped at her eyes.

"I'm sorry about that," she apologized, even though she knew that Carol didn't expect one. She had always liked Carol; she was a whole lot better than her father's other girlfriends, and certainly better than his ex-wife. She may not have ever needed it, but she knew that if she ever did need someone to talk to, Carol would have been there, willing to listen and give her some friendly advice. "It's just Haley-bub…"

"I know, sweetie," Carol assured her, smiling sadly at her, and patting her hand supportively. "No need to explain. I can't even imagine what this must be like for you. I know that you love your father…"

"I loved my father," Taylor corrected coldly. She couldn't even stand the thought of the way she used to worship that man. "That evil bastard can rot in hell for all I care."

"I just meant," Carol started slowly, trying to think of a way to start this conversation without upsetting Taylor even more than she already had. "Seeing Haley like that must be hard enough, but knowing that your father, a man that you used to love more than anything, did that to her…"

"Could we not talk about this?" Taylor asked, her voice slightly annoyed and slightly begging. There was a reason she left Haley's room, it was because she didn't want to think about this, she couldn't think about this. Carol thought about pushing the subject, but finally thought better of it, and decided to drop it for now. Taylor gave her a grateful smile and looked around the room. "This place is pretty empty. Where did all the other people go?"

"They left a few hours ago," Carol told her. "The doctor came over and told them that it would probably be a better idea if just family stayed for the night. Their mother insisted on staying, and I figured that I should probably hang around too…"

"Good idea," Taylor agreed, glancing past Carol to glare at the woman that she had hated her whole life. As much as she hated to admit it, she felt a little bit sorry for the woman. Sure, she was bitch, and Taylor would be the first person to tell her that, but even Grace James couldn't be that unfeeling to not be completely torn apart by what had been happening to her own daughter for the past two years.

"They said that they'd be back in the morning," she continued, glancing at the clock on the wall. "Visiting hours start again at nine, so that's probably when they'll come back. They didn't want to go all the way home, so I gave them the keys to the house and they all stayed there for the night."

"That's good." Taylor was happy that there seemed to be so many people that cared about Haley. She wondered if this many people would be in the waiting room if she were in the hospital. Probably not. "I'm glad Haley's got people that care about her. She's defiantly going to need it."

"I was meaning to talk to you about that."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, um," Carol bit her lip, debating whether she should even ask Taylor this or not. It was such a huge responsibility, especially for someone of her age and her mentality. "There was something that I wanted to ask you about."

"What is it?" Taylor James was never one to beat around the bush and she hated it when other people tried to do it to her. Life was too short to worry about offending people, that's what she thought. And from what she remembered, she had passed that philosophy onto Brooke.

"You know I'm a lawyer, right?" Taylor nodded slowly, telling her that she still didn't get where she was going with this. "I'm going to be handling your sisters' case…"

"Their case?" Taylor repeated, incredulously. "Are you kidding me? What case? He beat the living shit out of her! He was going to shot her! That son of a bitch should already be locked up in jail!"

"Taylor," Carol warned her, trying to calm her down. She didn't want Grace to wake up for this conversation. "You know that things don't work like that. There will be some jackass out there that will be willing to represent your father, I'm sure, citing some mental disability as the cause of all of this…"

"That's bullshit!"

"I know," Carol quickly agreed, nodding her head. "But that's not what I'm worried about. Trust me when I say that your father is going to rot in jail, I will see to that."

"Than what case are you talking about?" Taylor asked quietly, not wanting to even think of the possibility of Jimmy walking away from this. Carol may have been able to stop her before, but if her father was let free from this, there wasn't enough security guards in the world to keep her from killing that bastard.

"Their custody case," Carol answered, watching Taylor's face to get her initial reaction to the word. Taylor's face remained calm as she thought about what that meant, before her eyes widened with realization.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, finally understanding what Carol was talking about, what she was asking her. "Whoa, I mean, wow. I don't know."

"Obviously you're father can't take care of Haley…" Taylor scoffed at her words, and rolled her eyes. "And from what I've gathered, their mother isn't going to be winning Mom of the Year anytime soon, so they're pretty much orphans at the moment."

"Can't they live alone or something?" Taylor asked, remembering all teens on TV that live away from their parents. "What's the word? Emancipated?"

"There's usually that option," Carol confirmed, but by the tired tone in her voice, Taylor could tell that it wasn't going to apply to this case. "But with everything that happened, and especially all the medical care that Haley's going to need for the next little while, I don't see any judge allowing it."

"What about you?" Taylor felt bad that she was fighting this so hard, but she just didn't think that she was ready to do this. She couldn't even wake up in the morning without a hangover. How was she supposed to raise her baby sisters? "Can't you take them?"

"I love Haley," Carol answered, her face softening as she thought about the girl that she had come to think of as a kind of surrogate daughter. "And I'm sure that Brooke is just as great as Haley's told me she is, but it wouldn't be the same. What they need right now is family, and you're all that's left, Taylor."

"But…"

"And like you said," Carol continued, sensing that Taylor was starting to break down. "There are a lot of people that care about Haley, and Brooke. But they're all in Tree Hill, not in Charleston. My life is here, my job, my family, but yours isn't. You can afford to move right now, I can't. Brooke and especially Haley need to be around people that love them, and I think that's in Tree Hill. And with you."

Taylor let her words sink in; custody of Brooke and Haley. She couldn't even imagine being a mom in 20 years, let alone in a couple of weeks, or however long this process would take. Don't get her wrong, she loved Brooke and Haley very much, and she had every intention in being there for Haley every step of the way, but she didn't know if she could just throw her entire life away to be their guardian.

"I don't know, Carol," Taylor sighed, hating herself for even debating this. If she was the sister that Brooke and Haley deserved, she should have jumped at the chance to be there for them when they needed her most.

"Just think about it, okay?" Carol asked, patting her on the knee and giving her a reassuring smile. "That's all I'm asking you do to." Taylor forced a smile in return and started to debate with herself whether she could handle this or not. Truthfully, she would love to live with both of her sisters full time. All throughout her childhood, she had wanted siblings, and even though she did have Brooke and Haley, it wasn't the same; she only saw them every two weeks.

She knew that Brooke never really liked her, but she just thought that maybe if she got to live there with them, she'd get used to her, start to like her. Each time that she went over there for the weekend, she had always secretly hoped that her father would suddenly ask her to move in with them, despite what Grace would say, and they could all be one big happy family.

Now that she thought about it, she still wanted that. She always thought she wanted that because she wanted to know that her father loved her, but even now, when he obviously wouldn't be part of that happy family, she still wanted it. It turns out that she just wanted sisters. Not just any sisters, her sisters.

-- Most men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happen. --

"Oh, God," Brooke moaned as she felt the pain shooting through her body. She snapped her eyes shut, waiting for it to subside. After a few moments, the initial painful stage of waking up was complete and now it was time for her to open her eyes. Ignoring the blinding light that greeted her when she opened her eyes, Brooke yawned and shifted in her position so she wasn't completely on top of Haley.

She wasn't sure if she was happy that Haley wasn't awake yet or not. On one hand, she just wanted to get this over with. She was afraid of what Haley's reaction was going to be when she woke up and remembered everything, but she was also dreading seeing her face like that, and talking about it.

"Morning," she heard from behind her, breaking her from her thoughts. The voice scared her for a moment before she realized who it belonged to. She relaxed again and rolled her head to the side to get a good look at Nathan.

"When did you sneak in here?" she questioned, not remembering him being there when she feel asleep. He brought both his hands to his face and rubbed his tired eyes as he yawned.

"After you and your sister fell asleep," he answered and she nodded. "Just for my own peace of mind, you don't have any other hot sisters that you're hiding do you? Cause it seems like everytime I turn around there's another James girl popping out of nowhere."

"Just Haley and Taylor," Brooke assured him, rolling her eyes at him. She kind of forgot how much of her life she had kept hidden when she moved to Tree Hill. She knew that she purposely kept Haley hidden, and for good reason, but Taylor must have just slipped her mind. "Tay doesn't really count though, she's only a half sister. She didn't live with us."

"Okay, that's good to know," he teased, straightening up in his seat. "Was there a reason you were hiding them in the first place?" She knew that question was coming; she was actually surprised that it took him so long to ask her about it. The truth was, she didn't really have a good answer to that question. She never really intended to hide Haley or Taylor from her friends in Tree Hill; it just kind of never came up. Which was partly due to the fact that she made sure it never came up.

"I just didn't like to talk about it," Brooke answered with a shrug. That was really the only reason she had. She hated to think about Haley when she was away from her. For the past two years, everytime she thought about Haley, it just killed her to know that she couldn't be there for her sister. "It was hard enough for me to even think about her, you know? Knowing that there was nothing I could do…"

"Well, she's safe now, right?" He could understand where Brooke was coming from. Back when she first started hanging out with them, he could tell that she was distracted, but he and everyone else just chalked it up to her being homesick. "She's here with you, with us, and your dad's going away for a very long time."

"Yeah, but look where that's got her," Brooke pointed out, nodding her head towards her sisters broken body beneath her. "I left her alone, my dad kidnapped her and beat the living hell out of her, and now she's gonna be lying in a hospital bed for God knows how long…"

"We've talked about this, Brooke," Nathan sighed, showing her just how frustrated he was getting with her. "What happened to Haley wasn't your fault. She's the one that told you to leave. You had no way of knowing what would happen. And I know that's exactly what Haley is going to tell you when she wakes up."

"Yeah, I know," Brooke mumbled, absently playing with Haley's fingers as she thought back to their conversation/her break down last night. "That's what she told me last night, that it wasn't my fault, but I can't help but feel that way, you know? It doesn't matter how many times she or anyone else tells me otherwise, I'm always going to feel guilty about this."

"How do you think I feel?" Nathan hadn't talked about this with anyone, but he couldn't stop thinking about his own role in this whole night. Brooke tore her gaze away from Haley to give him a confused look. "If I hadn't have been a jackass and asked Chrissy out two seconds after Haley turned me down, she would have gone to the dance with me, and your father never would have gotten her."

"Your tricky reverse psychology stuff isn't going to work on me," Brooke warned him with a small smile, knowing exactly what he was trying to do. Yes, in her head she knew that what happened wasn't her fault, or anyone else's, but her heart wasn't as logical. "I get it, Nate, I do, but it doesn't matter. I'll just have to deal with it. What's done is done, right?

"As much as it sucks, yeah," he smiled, glad to see that Brooke was maybe going to drop this whole self-guilt trip thing. He hated to see her beat herself up like that. They shared a smile and let the comfortable silence fill the air.

Haley tried her best to keep her breathing steady, so they would continue to think that she was asleep. She didn't want to talk to them right now, talk to him right now. She could still feel her father's hands all over, his knuckles digging into her flesh, his fingers wandering to places Haley never wanted someone to touch ever again. She could still feel everything like it was still happening, and it took everything inside of her not to cry and hold onto Brooke for dear life.

She needed Brooke right now. She didn't need Carol, not Grace, not Taylor and certainly not Nathan. All she needed, the only person that could be there for her right now was Brooke. She was the only person she trusted. Just the thought of being around anyone else right now, made her want to curl up in a ball. It felt like the walls were slowly starting to cave in on her.

She felt bad that she was thinking this, feeling this way, but she couldn't help it. She'd only known Nathan for a week. What had she been thinking when she told him all that stuff before, all those personal things that she had been too afraid to tell Brooke? She thought she could trust him then, he seemed like a really nice guy, but her dad seemed like a really nice guy to strangers. And her father was definitely not a nice guy.

How could she possible trust Nathan? Not only with her body, but her heart as well. She couldn't. She learned a lot of things last night, and that was one of them. She was never safe, only when she was with Brooke. She knew that Brooke would always keep her safe. She knew Brooke would risk her life to protect her, but could she say the say for Nathan? That she didn't know.

"Look, Nate," Brooke started, finally finding the courage to speak. She wanted to say this so bad, but she was so afraid of hurting Nathan's feelings. After what she had said to him last night about his feelings for Haley, she didn't want him to get the wrong impression of what she was trying to say. "Um, there's something I wanted to ask you."

"Yeah?" He leaned forward, giving her his full attention. She could tell by his actions that he was totally there for her, anything that she needed, and that just made her feel guiltier. "Anything you need, I'm here for you guys."

"That's, uh, actually, what this is about," she began, avoiding eye contact. She couldn't bare to look him in the eyes as she said this to him. She knew this was going to hurt him, but that wasn't going to change her mind.

"Brooke?" he asked, trying to get her to look at him. "What's going on?"

"I think, maybe," she tried. Taking a deep breath, she decided to just get this over with. "I just think that it would be best, for Haley, if maybe you didn't come around too much. You know, just while she's in here, I don't think it would be good if you hung around. I'm not saying that you guys are…"

"It's okay, Brooke," he cut her off, placing his hand over her's to get her attention. She immediately stopped her rant and looked over at him with surprised eyes. Was he agreeing to this? She couldn't believe it. "I know what you're saying."

"You do?"

"Yeah," he laughed, shaking his head at the sheer surprise in her voice. "I know this may come as a shock to you, but I'm not so completely blinded by my, uh, what did you call it last night? Oh, right, infatuation." Brooke grimaced, remembering that conversation as not one of her finer moments. She would be the first to admit that she had been a bitch, but she had a more than understandable excuse. "I'm not so completely blinded by my 'infatuation' with your sister that I don't understand what's going on."

"I wasn't trying to imply that."

"I know you weren't," he smiled gently at her. "I'm just saying, I get what's going on, what Haley's going to be going through. Sometimes it doesn't feel like it, but I did just meet her a week ago. I know that what happened is a huge deal, and that Haley is going to be just beside herself with grief, and I also know that you're gonna be the only one that can help her."

"You think?" She didn't know why, but for some reason she wasn't sure if Haley was going to be as welcoming to her as she was before. She could just picture Haley pushing her away, getting distant. She prayed to God that wasn't going to happen. She didn't know what she would do if Haley refused to let her help her through this.

"I know," he stated, squeezing her hand. "I've heard the way she talks about you, I know that she loves you very much, and she knows that you love her just as much." Brooke's eyes wandered to her lap, afraid that she might start crying if she looked at him while he spoke. "I also know that you're gonna be the only one that can help her for a while, until she's better."

"Thank you, Nathan," she whispered, sending him a watery smile. So much for not crying. "For understanding. I'm not trying to come between you guys or anything. I just think that it would be best if Haley weren't surrounded by a lot of people right now, people that she really did just meet. It should just be friends and family."

"Like I said, it's cool," he repeated. "I'm not gonna lie, I wish that I could be there for her for the next little bit, but when it comes down to it, all I really want is for her to get better. And if you think that'll be easier without everyone around, without me around, then I'm all for it."

"I hope you're not mad." She felt horrible about this; she could see the pain on his face. She knew that Nathan really cared for Haley, more than most people did, but in Haley's fragile state, she knew it was best if she was only around familiar things, and Nathan was right, they had only known each other a week.

"Mad? No," he assured her, flashing her his trademark smirk. Truth was, he wasn't mad at all. He was kind of relieved actually. As much as he wanted to be there for Haley, he didn't know if he would have been able to hold himself together for long. He couldn't imagine seeing her so broken. It would just be too hard. "Just make sure that you let her know that I'm worried about her and that I'm thinking about her."

"I will," she promised, watching him stand up.

"And make sure that she knows I care about her," he continued. He bent down and reached over Brooke, pressing his lips against Haley's forehead softly before standing back up. Haley's entire body froze at the touch, but she made sure that she didn't react. "And that I'll be waiting for her."

"You got it." He bent down and she gave him a kiss on the cheek, conveying just how thankful she was for him. He squeezed her hand once more before letting it go and moving towards the door. When he reached it, he turned back for once last look at the girls, before giving them a small wave and pushing the door open, leaving the alone.

As soon as he was out of the room, Brooke let out a huge breath she didn't know she had been holding. She slumped her shoulders and leaned back against the bed. She didn't have to be strong anymore, there was nobody there watching her to make sure she didn't break. She could cry now.

"You hear that, baby?" she whispered, leaning her head against her supposedly asleep sister's, smoothing her hair down and pressing a gentle kiss on her temple. "We're not alone. You got someone else who loves you, too."

Haley closed her eyes tighter, fighting back the tears that threatened to escape at her sister's words. And trying to ignore the lingering tingle that remained on her forehead in the spot Nathan's lips had just been. She swallowed past the lump in her throat and sniffled back the tears.

"Yeah," she whispered, just loud enough for Brooke to hear her. "I know he does."

--OTH--

That's all. I know that you guys are mad at me, but I promise it won't be bad. I'm probably only going to do one chapter on Haley's hospital stay, and then move forward to when she gets released. I promise that Nathan and Haley will still be interacting. I'm just going with the facts that I know about people that have been abused, and in most cases, the victim refuses to interact with anyone that isn't family.

Anyway, please review to tell me what you think. I'm hoping you guys aren't losing interest in this fic, because I'm still enjoying writing it.