Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me. just having some fun with them.

Keith kept giving Lucas worried looks during the drive to the Emergency Room. At one red light, he reached over and felt his young nephew's forehead. "You feel a little feverish," he said.
Lucas shrugged. "I'm fine Keith."
"You threw up."
"It's probably just a virus. I can't believe I followed you into the truck."
"It wasn't a choice."
Lucas wanted to mutter, "you haven't been giving me too many choices lately," but decided against it. He leaned his head against the cool window and let his thoughts drift back to Peyton and Brooke. What was he going to do?
"So what was the deal with the girls?" asked Keith, breaking the silence.
Lucas sighed. He told Keith about how he and Peyton had started something - he wasn't going to tell Keith that they were about to go to bed with each other - when he had asked Peyton for too much. "She just wanted to kiss," he explained, "and I wanted a relationship."
Keith glanced knowingly at Lucas, but wisely kept quiet.
"We agreed to be friends and that's when I hooked up with Brooke. But tonight Peyton came over and told me that she really wanted what I wanted. She wanted to go together. But Brooke was here and she came out and said one of her usual glib lines -"
"Which was what?" asked Keith.
"She said something like, 'you read to score?' Peyton totally misunderstood."
"I can see why."
"She was talking about a video game," Luke said defensively. "We were about to sit down and play some video games."
Keith laughed. "Are you sure?"
"Yes I am sure." It wasn't like he was going to have sex at home, when he knew Keith could walk in at any moment.
Keith pulled into the parking lot of the hospital and started to circle for a spot close to the emergency room. "So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know. On one hand, I want to hook up with Peyton. On the other hand, I really like Brooke. She's not just a party animal."
Keith pulled into a spot and turned off the ignition. "Let's figure out what's wrong with you first. We'll worry about the ladies later."
"I'm telling you man, you are over reacting."
"Better I over react. If you get seriously injured or die on my watch, I'm going to have to face your mom. And if I have to face your mom, you better wish you died, because you're going to face her with me."

The laughter that had bubbled to the surface as they walked into the ER, disappeared as soon as Luke spotted Dan in middle of the waiting area. He would have walked right out, if Keith's strong arm had not kept him back.
"He's probably just waiting for Nathan," Keith whispered.
Lucas had nearly forgotten that his brother had collapsed during the basketball game.
"Is he okay?" Lucas knew that Keith would have called.
"Yes. He'll be fine." Though Keith was not so sure. Not with Dan constantly belittling Nathan. "It was probably just exhaustion. Nathan can get too intense for his own good." But Keith didn't believe what he was saying. He knew it was probably more and the problem would be swept under the rug. He would have to put his faith in Deb to do the right thing.
"Just go to the desk and check in with the nurse. I'll go see what's doing with Dan and Deb."
"Oh good, Keith you're here," Deb said frantically. "Have you heard from Nathan?"
"Heard from him? Isn't he strapped to an IV?"
"He pulled it out and ran off. Did he call you?"
"No Deb. I'm sorry." Not that Nathan ever called him. He wasn't very close to his brown hair, brown eyed nephew.
"What about Luke. Has Luke talked to him?"
"I've been with Luke for the past hour - No one has called."
"He ran off about an hour ago. But maybe Luke can make some calls."
"I'll ask him to while we're waiting for the doctor."
"Is he all right?" Deb felt as if she had been slapped out of hysteria. "Did he collapse too?"
"No. He's just vomiting. He got a tattoo last night and it doesn't look too good. I want him to check it out."
Deb raised her brows. Karen is going to kill them, she thought. Keith for allowing him to do it and Lucas for actually doing it.
"We'll let you know if we hear anything."

While Keith was talking to Deb, Lucas was sitting with the triage nurse answering her many questions. His eyes kept drifting over to his uncle and Deb. He wondered what they were saying and how Nathan was doing. He felt guilty about not worrying more about Nathan. Even if he didn't want to think of Nathan as a brother, he was still a teammate, a human being, and he had fainted in middle of a basketball game. And his mind had been wrapped around which girl he would get into bed with first.
"You seem very interested in the people over there," said the nurse. She looked young, barely out of high school.
Lucas shrugged. "I know their son. We're both on the same team."
"Basketball, right? I heard he collapsed in middle of a game."
Lucas nodded.
The nurse stuck a thermometer in his ear. "You're burning up. You played tonight? Did you even manage to see the basket? I'm surprised you weren't brought in with the other kid."
"Is the other kid going to be all right?" Lucas asked, ignoring the commentary about how he felt, because he felt sort of icky, but not as if he was on his death bead.
"He should be fine. Though he pulled out the IV and ran off. I shouldn't be saying this," she said and leaned in closer, "but if I was a betting woman, I'd guess his blood work tested positive for drugs. Why else would he run off?"
Lucas looked at the nurse, but didn't bother answering her question. If she knew Dan Scott, she would have a hundred reasons why Nathan might run off. It was amazing Nathan had stuck it out as long as he had.

Lucas was sitting in the waiting area when Keith came over to him. Deb and Dan had left together, though Deb had a familiar look on her face. Her face was filled with hate, the same way he felt every time he saw Dan.
Keith came over and handed him the cell phone. "Nathan up and disappeared," he told his nephew. "Deb asked if you could call around. Maybe on of his friends has seen him."
Lucas took the phone without a word and started dialing. He dialed a few guys on the team, but all had been contacted before by Dan or Deb and none of them had seen Nathan. He tried Brooke, who sounded genuinely concerned, but had no idea where he was. Peyton was distant. He knew they weren't going together anymore, but thought perhaps Nathan might turn up there. But Peyton was certain that she was the only one in her room and offered her webcam as proof.
Finally, Lucas dialed Haley's number.
"Hey Hale's, it's Luke."
"Lucas!" At the other end, Haley eyed Nathan who was sitting on her bed. "What's up? How come you're calling?"
"Deb asked me to call. Nathan left the hospital. Do you have any idea where he might be?"
She looked at Nathan, who was shaking his head and mouthing, "don't tell him."
"Um, No Lucas," she swallowed. "I - um - no- I don't know where he is."
Lucas heard she was lying. He knew Haley James inside out. He knew when she was hiding the truth. Lucas stayed on the line and didn't say anything. He took a peripheral look of Keith and then edged away, so his uncle would not hear. "He's there, isn't he?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said.
"I won't say anything. Just keep an eye on him. Don't let him do anything stupid."
Haley sighed. "Good night Lucas."
"G'night Hales."
He turned to his uncle. "No luck."
Keith shrugged his shoulders. "We did what we can. I'm sure Nathan will be fine. Let's focus on getting you better."
"I'm fine," he told his uncle.
"I spoke to the triage nurse, I heard you have a temperature was at 104?."