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

Author's Note: 4th update in two days… you must really love me!


Overdose of Pain, Onslaught of Reality

Chapter 48

"Peyton," he breathed.

Searing pain erupted in his chest as Lucas struggled to get another breath.

"Lucas?" Peyton asked worriedly. He had closed his eyes again, and had removed his hand from hers. He was clutching at his chest and looked as though he couldn't breathe.

"Peyton, press the call button!" Nathan ordered, as Lucas still gasped for another breath. He was beginning to turn blue from lack of oxygen.

"Hang on, Luke," she muttered, pressing the red button.

Within seconds, the doctor from earlier came in along with two nurses.

"I need you three to leave the room," the doctor ordered, going over to Lucas and laying the bed flat. Nathan shook Haley away and towed her out of the room. Peyton lingered by the door, watching with a sinking feeling as the lines on the heart monitor flattened.

"Lucas!" she screamed, just as Nathan yanked her through the door and closed it shut behind him.

"You don't need to be watching that," he said, as she struggled against him.

"Let me go, Nathan! Lucas could die!" she cried. "I've got to go to him."

"There's nothing you can do, Peyton. Let the doctor do his job. He'll tell us if Lucas is going to be okay," Keith spoke up, coming up behind Peyton and gently pulling her away from Nathan.

"He has to be, Keith," she said, feeling as though she were about to start screaming again. "I can't live without him."


It was another long half an hour before the doctor came back into the hallway. He had a grim look on his face, which made the group fear the worse.

"He had a piece of glass that pierced his lungs. We hadn't noticed it before, but we're going to have to remove it and repair the damage that it has done. We're prepping him for surgery now," the doctor explained. "It will be a while before you are able to see him again. If I were you, I would go home. I'll call the number we have on file if there are any changes."

Keith nodded and thanked the doctor for the information. He pulled a stunned Peyton down the hallway, near the bathrooms. There was only one shriveled old lady who had fallen asleep underneath the water fountain.

"Peyton, I know you're hurting and anxious to see Lucas, but hyperventilating isn't going to help anyone," he said, trying to pull a smile on to the blonde's face.

"Keith, I can't help it! Lucas could die and I can't do anything about it! He was attacked, and it was all my fault!" she cried, releasing the deep breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

"Peyton, this is not your fault," Keith said, placing a hand on Peyton's shoulder. "And Lucas will be okay, all right? He won't let some moronic jackass get the better of him."

"But it could already be too late," Peyton whispered. "And believe me, it is my fault."

"Peyton, you've got to stop doing this to yourself," Keith said. "It's not healthy and Lucas wouldn't approve of it."

"I know," she said, hanging her head. "It's just too hard to go without him."

Keith nodded in understanding. He pulled Peyton into a hug, before letting her go again.

"We should probably go to the waiting room. The doctor said it was going to be a while," he said.

Peyton nodded, too choked up to respond properly. She allowed Keith to steer her back to where Nathan, Haley, and Brooke were waiting outside of the now empty hospital room.

"They took Lucas back to surgery," Nathan said. Peyton was struck at just how exhausted Nathan looked.

"Go home," she said softly, speaking mainly to her best friend. Even though she was really upset with him right then, she still cared a lot about him. Peyton didn't want to see him do this to himself.

"No," Nathan said, his voice hard.

"Nathan, please. You need the sleep," Haley begged.

Peyton sensed that they had been having this argument on and off again for the past couple of hours, but she had been too out of it to care.

"I have to stay here for Lucas," Nathan said determinedly. "I'm not going home."

He crossed his arms, daring anyone to tell him otherwise. Keith sighed behind Peyton.

"Look, son, I know you're worried about him, but you're not doing him any good by staying here. All four of you need your sleep. Go home," he said. "I'll call you if there's any change."

Haley and Brooke nodded in agreement.

"I'll drive," Brooke offered, knowing that none of her other friends were in any condition to drive.

Peyton hesitated, looking at Keith for reassurance. She really didn't want to leave, but on the other hand, she really needed to sleep. Two hours because of going into shock and having to be sedated certainly did not count.

"I'll call you," he said again, his brown eyes backing up the promise in his voice. Peyton nodded, allowing Brooke to wrap her arm around her and lead her after Haley and Nathan towards the parking garage.


Keith settled down in the hospital's second floor waiting room, resigned to wait for a long time before he heard any news about his nephew. It had already been close to three hours since Nathan, Haley, Brooke, and Peyton had left.

A newspaper headline caught his eye as he looked listlessly around the waiting room. It read: Dan Scott Gets Caught In Tragic Bar Fire. Another heading below it read: Teen Injured in Bar Fight.

Finding his wallet, Keith yanked out a dollar and bought a copy of the newspaper. He was hardly aware of the time or the place as he flipped it to the page with the two articles.

There has been some breaking news that once trusted car salesman Dan R. Scott was killed in the fire that took place around eleven thirty last night read the first line. The rest of the article went on to describe how this would affect the town and Dan's two sons, Lucas Scott and Nathan Scott. Keith disgustedly moved on to the next article, not wanting to read any more about how Dan was this supposed father of the year.

In a horrific fight that took place above the same bar that burned down late last night, a teenaged boy was thrown through a window and into the alleyway. The boy is rumored to be Lucas Scott, son of Dan Scott. Though his condition is currently unknown, witnesses say that they thought the kid was dead when he was loaded into the ambulance. Watch this space for more news about Lucas Scott.

Keith sighed and got up to toss the paper in the garbage when the elevator doors opened. In walked a policeman, which Keith recognized instantly as the one who had pulled Lucas's attacker off of them earlier.

"Keith Scott?" the man asked, seeing Keith instantly. Keith nodded as he walked away from the trashcan.

"What can I do for you, officer?" he asked, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets.

"I'm Officer James. Would you mind answering a few questions about the incident at Henry's?" the man asked.

Keith nodded, knowing full well that this was to be expected. He had been at Henry's and he had bee found holding down one of the suspects. Anything else would have been a complete surprise.

"What would you like to know, officer?" Keith asked, leaning casually against the wall behind the trashcan.

"First of all, what is your relation to Lucas Scott?" Officer James asked, pulling a notepad out of his breast pocket.

"He's my nephew," Keith answered. "Though sometimes I would like to think of him as more than that."

"I heard you live in Virginia. Can you tell me why you are in Tree Hill?"

"I came back to visit a lost loved one," Keith said, shrugging.

"Why were you at Henry's?"

"I needed a beer to settle my nerves."

"Did you know that Daniel R. Scott is partly responsible for your nephew's accident?"

"All of this is news to me," Keith said, feeling shocked. He hadn't known about Dan's involvement in all of this, but he shouldn't have been surprised. This whole accident had Dan Scott written all over it.

"I'm sorry, sir," Officer James apologized, seeing the shocked look on Keith's face. "I thought you knew."

"It's okay, officer," Keith said quickly. Spotting Lucas's doctor coming out of the swinging doors that led to the operating room, he added, "Are there any more questions?"

"No," Officer James said shortly, also spotting the doctor. "Take care, Mr. Scott. We will be in touch."

Keith nodded and walked over to where the doctor was standing.

"How's Lucas?" he asked. The doctor seemed expressionless, so there was no way of judging whether this news was going to be good or bad.

"The operation went well. I think Lucas will be fine," the doctor said, smiling. Keith felt as though there was a huge weight lifted off of his shoulders.

"When can I go see him?"

"He'll be in recovery for about another hour or so. We'll move him back to the ICU after that," the doctor said. "I'll send a nurse out to get you when he's there."

"Thank you, doc," Keith said gratefully. The doctor smiled once more, before turning and walking towards the elevators as well.

Keith went back to the bathroom area, where there were a couple of payphones. He pulled out fifty cents from his pocket and shoved the quarters into the machine. Then he quickly dialed the phone number Lucas had given him long ago for the apartment, praying that someone would be there.

"Hello?"

Nathan's groggy voice came from the other end of the line.

"Good news, Nate. Lucas came out of surgery all right and he'll be fine," Keith said, unable to keep the joy out of his voice.

"When can we see him?" came Peyton's voice. She had picked up the other line when the phone rang.

"The doctor said he'll be out of recovery in an hour or so," Keith said. "I'll call you back when Lucas is moved into his room."

"Thanks, Keith," Nathan said, his voice grateful. Keith could imagine the smile on his other nephew's face at that moment, as well the relieved look on Peyton's. Both would be very glad when Lucas woke up.


Lucas blinked slowly to allow his eyes to adjust to the harsh light. His breathing came more easily now than it had earlier in the hospital room with Peyton.

Instantly, guilt overwhelmed him. He felt bad enough for making everyone else worry about him, let alone forcing them to go through a relapse.

"Mr. Scott, do you know where you are?" a gentle male voice asked from somewhere to Lucas's left.

Despite the friendly tone, Lucas still jumped. He was still expecting Ryan to appear randomly and start beating the shit out of him again.

Lucas shook his head slowly, feeling pain course through like a hot knife. Suddenly, all memories of the past twenty-four hours disappeared. He was able to remember what had happened one moment, but now, he wasn't able to remember anything except extreme pain.

"You're in the hospital," the voice went on. Lucas struggled to turn over to look at who was speaking to him, but found it virtually impossible.

"H-how did I get here?" Lucas croaked, his throat extremely sore.

"You don't remember?" the voice asked.

"No," Lucas said, his voice faint. Every muscle and bone seemed to be bruised and battered in some way or form. "What happened?"

"You were in a bar fight," the voice answered. "Someone attacked you and you were thrown out of a window."

"Who attacked me?"

"The suspect was taken into custody, but there are no charges currently against him," the voice said. "No one knows for certain."

"How bad is it?"

"You have bruises covering over seventy-five percent of your body, a concussion, a broken leg, two broken fingers, a sprained wrist and a shattered elbow. We also had to replace two of your ribs," the voice rattled off. Lucas figured that the voice more than likely belonged to a doctor.

"Gee, is that all?" he muttered.

Lucas could almost feel the sympathetic smile that the doctor was giving him. He took an instant dislike to him.

"Are you feeling up to visitors? There are a few people waiting outside who would like to see you," the doctor said.

"Yeah," Lucas said faintly.

Footsteps signaled the doctor's leave. Five seconds later, a pair of beautiful green eyes were staring worriedly down at him.

"Luke?" Peyton whispered, taking his uninjured hand and squeezing it gently.

Lucas struggled to smile back at her to reassure her, but found it hurt too much. He settled for talking instead.

"I'm okay, Peyton," he promised, trying to scoot over so she could sit down next to him. That hurt worse than smiling. He must have grimaced.

"No, you're not!" Peyton said, her voice cracking. Lucas could see the tears in her eyes. "You're lying in a hospital bed, injured! You were shot, for god's sake!"

"But I'm still alive," Lucas murmured, wincing as he breathed in too deeply. "I feel like hell, but I'm still alive."

"I'm so sorry, Lucas!" she burst out, the tears freely falling now. "I'm sorry for everything!"

"Peyton, don't apologize," Lucas chided, wanting desperately to get out of the hospital bed and hug her. "It's not your fault!"

"Yes, it is!" Peyton said. "If I hadn't made that deal with Ryan, than none of this would have happened!"

"What deal with Ryan?" Lucas asked softly, wincing again as a dull ache settled in his lungs, making it hard to breathe again.

"You don't remember?"

Her voice was shocked. Lucas slowly shook his head, his head shrieking in protest.

"I don't remember any of what happened yesterday," he whispered, unable to talk at a normal tone anymore. The oxygen required was too great.


Peyton stared at Lucas, shocked. He didn't remember any of what happened? That meant he didn't remember the attack… and he didn't remember her breaking up with him.

"You don't remember any of it?" she asked, her voice nearly as faint as his.

Lucas slowly shook his head, a dark look entering his eyes as he did so. Peyton remembered that he had a concussion among numerous other injuries.

"I did for a minute and then it was all gone," he murmured. He was getting more and more tired with every breath he took. Peyton could see it in his face as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

"Would you like me to leave?" she asked, wanting him to rest and feel better.

"No," Lucas said, his voice suddenly scared. Peyton was shocked at the sudden change in him. "Please, stay."

She slowly nodded and sat down in the chair. Lucas slid his good hand under hers. Within seconds, he was fast asleep. A few minutes later, Peyton was too.


Brooke didn't go to the hospital when Keith called for a second time. Instead, she headed over to the local jail, completely unaware of the time. It was close to six o'clock in the morning.

There was one sleepy looking policeman on duty at the desk in the middle of the room. He barely glanced up when Brooke entered.

"Hi, I would like to visit someone," she said, her voice sounding high pitched and nervous.

"Name?" the policeman said, his tone bored.

"Ryan Hearst," she said.

Brooke had discovered the name of Lucas's attacker through Peyton when the blonde was getting ready to go to the hospital. She was going to ask more, but was afraid of sounding too curious about the whole thing.

"Cell 203," the policeman said, gesturing to say that she could go on back. "Just be careful, okay?"

There was a warning behind his voice, coloring it slightly.

"I will be," she promised, before going on back.

Inside the cell area, a guard stood on duty, obviously not expecting anyone to be back there so early.

"Who are you here to see?" he asked.

"Ryan Hearst," Brooke said, feeling a slight notion of unease. This would be the first time she had ever met Ryan as Ryan the attacker. She was fairly certain she had met him before as Brant.

"Follow me," the guard ordered, leading her down the corridor of cells. From every bar, there was someone staring out at her. Brooke felt extremely self-conscious of what she was doing.

"Hearst!" the guard barked as he came to a stop. "Visitor."

Brooke stopped in front of the cell the guard was standing in front of and peered in. She was alarmed to see her boyfriend, Brant… Ryan… staring back at her.


Cliffy again! But this one was an expected one… so it's not really that big of one. I just wanted to add a twist to this otherwise boring filler chapter.

So… read and review please! I'll try to update again tomorrow.