Chapter 14 -
"Nathan, you better get up." Lucas said the next morning, he had a bunch of mail in his hand.
"What is it?" Nathan asked tired.
"There is a letter here you will really want to read?"
"OK." Nathan took the letter from Lucas. The front of it Said
Nathan and Ryan.
"Nobody knows about Ryan aside from close relatives and friends." Lucas said. "I think it's from Haley."
"Yeah the lettering looks the same." Nathan replied. he carefully ripped open the paper and read it.
Dear Nathan, and Ryan.
I came back to Tree Hill to see the two of you, but when I came to your old house I found out that you didn't want to see me. I don't blame you at all, I made the biggest mistake of my life when I left the two of you.
Nathan, more than ever I still love you. You have been an amazing part of my life and I will never forget that. I also wanted to tell you right now that I only left because you had everything to offer him, and I had nothing, I chose to tell you this now so that you can tell Ryan i the future if you ever want to, or if he ever wants to know.
I won't come back to mess up your life ever again, I just want you to tell our son that his mommy will always love him no matter how far away and non existent I am.
If you feel up to it can you give some information to all the people back in Tree Hill that have had an impact on my life.
Lucas: You have been a wonderful friend for years of my life, I will never find a new best friend, I don't need one. I will always remember all the times you let me cry on your shoulder and all the times you got me out of bad situations. You are amazing.
Peyton: We didn't become friends for too long but I will never forget the changes you added to my life, you have this amazing vibe that is a wonderful thing for anyone. I luv ya girl.
Brooke: what can I say about you Brooke, you are a great friend, I love all the times we had fun together, and even though we got off to a rough start, I will never forget the times we spent together.
Karen: You and Lucas helped me more than anyone else over the last few months before I left, I love you a lot and you are like a second mom to me, you are wonderful.
Deb: First I am sorry for the position I put your son and your family in, I should never have left and I really didn't want to but I didn't know any other way.
Thank you for passing on all these messages for me Nathan and I was wondering if it was too out of your way, could you please send a copy of a picture of Ryan to my parents, they would like to see him.
Thank you for everything, but thank you most of all for giving Ryan the care he needed for the time I haven't been here.
Haley.
Nathan handed the paper to Lucas, he read it over and sighed. "She doesn't realize that we both want her here more than she knows."
"Yeah, but how did she come to the idea that I didn't want to see her?" Nathan asked.
He read it over again, then it hit him, Dan, she had gone to his old home, he must have talked to someone to get this new address, and he wrote a note to his mother so it must have been Dan.
"Dan." He said out load. "He told her I didn't want to see her, there is no other option. I am going over there right now, I'm going to kill him."
"Wait Nathan no don't go yet, Ryan has an appointment at the doctor's remember, we made the plan to go the day after we got home because you had wanted to go before we left but you couldn't get a chance."
"Right, we will kill him after we get back." Nathan replied.
They took Ryan to the doctors but they weren't going to get the chance to go and kill Dan that day. When they arrived at the doctor, he was acting strange after examining Ryan for a moment, he told the two of them to take him to the hospital immediately, but he wouldn't say why, Nathan and Lucas of course did right away. They were scared to death both of them.
When they got to the hospital a doctor was waiting for them, the physician had already called ahead.
The man took Ryan to an examination room. Nathan and Lucas waited outside.
The doctor returned a half an hour later. "Mr. Scott." he said.
"Yes?" Nathan asked standing up.
"Your doctor's hunch was right, there is something seriously wrong with your son. Ryan is suffering from the disease Osteosarcoma, or Bone Cancer, I don't want to worry you but this disease is common in children, but not as young as Ryan. He is the youngest of the patients with this that I have treated ever. I'm going to need you and any family of the child to have a test done to see if you can offer a bone marrow transplant for him."
Nathan's world stopped, everything he had ever known just collapsed in that instant. it was like you hear it is like to die, your whole life just flashed by his eyes, he remembered everything he had experienced with Ryan, this was worse than anything.
Lucas brought his brother back to reality. "Nathan it's OK he will be fine, right now me and you just need to have the test done so we can help him."
Nathan did, neither were a match at all. Nor was Dan Deb or Keith. Nathan and Lucas were not to see Ryan that day, he was put in a room with a glass screen to see him in.
"I would give anything in my life to be the one in that room right now, and let him be out here. Lucas, more than ever we need to find Haley right now."
"Yeah, I know. Wait, in the letter it said give a picture to her parents right because they want to see him, I'll bet Haley has had contact with her parents at one point in time at least." Lucas said with a smile.
Both boys bolted for Haley's parents house. Nathan knocked on the door when he got there. "Mr. James." He said as he opened the door. "You may not remember me I am Nathan Scott-"
"Not remember you boy? I will never forget you, you are the boy who got Haley pregnant and ruined her life, you have no business being here." He went to slam the door in Nathan's face but Lucas had stuck his foot in the way. "Lucas, move your foot." Mr. James commanded.
"No I can't we need your help." Lucas said.
"I do not want to help that one here." He replied eying Nathan.
"We need to get a hold of haley, has she had contact with you?" Nathan asked.
"No." he said quickly, too quickly.
"Ryan is sick." Luca said.
"What?" he asked.
"He has bone cancer, we need help, Haley may be the only donor and if we can't get a hold of her he will die." Nathan said, tears were filling his eyes, not until that moment had Nathan really thought or said the words that he might lose his little boy.
"We have not talked to her." He replied coldly.
"Yes I have." Haley's mom said, she had just came around the corner. "She called me a few months ago and since then we have been sending letters, she has not had contact with another single person here in Tree Hill." She replied. "I will get you the number."
She came a few minutes later with a paper containing a number.
Nathan pulled out his phone and dialed as soon as they got to the car on their way back to the hospital so that Mrs. and Mr. James could test if they were a match.
He kept trying since the phone was busy. He tried again after they found out that neither of her parents were a match.
"Hello?" Said a voice of a young child on the other end.
"Is Ms James there?" Nathan asked.
"No there is no one named James here." And the line went dead.
"baby who was that?" Helen asked.
"Some guy asking for a James." She replied.
"Sweetie, James is Haley's last name." Helen replied she grabbed the phone and pressed 69
"Oops," Hilary said and then ran off.
"This number you have dialed has a long distance charge, will you continue? If so press 1." A recorded message asked.
Helen pressed 1.
"Hello?" Nathan asked from the other end.
"Hello, this is Helen Anderson did you just call my house by any chance, and were hung up on by a young girl?" Helen asked.
"Yes, is there a Haley James there?" Nathan asked hopefully.
"Hold on. Haley phone!" Helen replied.
"Hello?" haley asked from another phone.
"Haley, it's Nathan." He said.
"What? How did you get my number?" Haley asked shocked.
"Your mother gave it to me." Nathan replied.
"She wasn't supposed to tell." Haley said aggravated.
"She had to."
"Why, you know what never mind that Nathan, why the heck are you calling me anyway you don't want to see me, you obviously didn't care enough when you got the letter to try and find me then."
"I didn't even get the letter until today, Lucas and I were in California. But that is besides the point."
"No it isn't Nathan, I don't want to hear you tell me i messed up and that I am a jerk for leaving you I can't take that."
"Haley, shut up for a minute."
"Excuse me? I have a complete right to hang up on you right now, you would deserve-"
"Ryan is sick!" Nathan yelled.
"What?" Haley asked.
"He has bone cancer, Lucas or I or my parents or your's are not a match, none of us, and you are our last hope, Haley you have to come out here."
"I am on the next plane out." She said as she hung up the phone.
Nathan sighed, please let her be a match.
It was three days before Haley got a flight. She had been put on stand-by, and since Tree Hill flight's weren't common she had been waiting forever.
She arrived in Tree Hill at midnight on the third day. She found Deb and Karen waiting for her.
They rushed to the hospital, by then it was one in the morning on the fourth day. There they met up with Dan, Keith, and her parents.
Everyone except Lucas and Nathan were there, their parents had forced them to go home because they had been there for four days straight and they needed rest.
Ryan had been brought in right before things started to get bad, he had gotten sicker in the last few days.
"Mrs.James?" Asked a nurse. "Ryan's , mother?"
"Yes." Haley replied.
She was taken in immediately to be tested if she was a match.
Nathan and Lucas came back to the hospital only an hour later, because neither of them could get even an ounce of rest, it wasn't working.
"Hi." Nathan said to Haley, "Are you a match?"
"They don't know yet." She replied.
"How are you?" he asked.
"Right now, or how have I been before I found out?"
"Both."
"Right now I want to die, I have never been this worried ever in my life, I wish it had been me."
"I said the exact same thing." Nathan replied.
"But in general since I came back here and found out you didn't want to see me or me to see Ryan I have been trying to move on."
"I never said I didn't want to see you." Nathan replied.
"Dan called you and said you wanted me to go away."
"I figured that out a few days ago, and I wanted to kill him, but now, that seems so un-important."
"Yeah." Haley began to cry again, just as she had done numerous times since that night."
"Hey, don't worry he will be OK don't worry. If you aren't a match, the doctors will try and find a donor elsewhere. he will be fine Ryan will be OK."
"I am so sorry Nathan for everything."
"Don't, you leaving was in one way, the best thing of my life, I never have been happier that I have when I became a father."
She cried even harder. "But I am still so sorry, you could have still done it all with me here."
"I wouldn't have though, and I never would have become brothers with Lucas, you did all that and now we won't let you leave ever again."
"Really? You don't want me to leave?"
"No, I don't." Nathan replied.
She hugged him and cried on his shoulder.
"Mrs. James, Everyone, You are a match."
Everyone cheered. Nathan began to cry of happiness. So did Lucas, Deb, and Karen.
She was taken to go do the procedure. When she came back out they were going to go take Ryan to surgery.
Nathan sat down with haley. "How you feeling?" He asked.
"Fine. Never better." She replied.
"Can I ask you something?" He asked.
"Well you can ask me another thing." She replied.
"Did you really mean with you said in the letter, that you still love me?" She sat up and for the first time in over a year, looked him in the eyes. She fell into the pools of blue his eyes always offered.
"Yes, every minute of my life I think about how much I love you, I've tried to get over you, but it is impossible."
"Don't try anymore." He whispered, but most of the people in the group heard.
"What?"
"Don't try anymore, I love you as much as you love me, I'm sure of it." He kissed her lightly, she definitely wasn't expecting it, but she didn't back out of it either.
After a few minutes of talking about what had gone on in the last few months for both of them. Haley and Nathan fell asleep for the first time, her head leaning on his shoulder, and his head resting on her head.
"Nathan, you better get up." Lucas said the next morning, he had a bunch of mail in his hand.
"What is it?" Nathan asked tired.
"There is a letter here you will really want to read?"
"OK." Nathan took the letter from Lucas. The front of it Said
Nathan and Ryan.
"Nobody knows about Ryan aside from close relatives and friends." Lucas said. "I think it's from Haley."
"Yeah the lettering looks the same." Nathan replied. he carefully ripped open the paper and read it.
Dear Nathan, and Ryan.
I came back to Tree Hill to see the two of you, but when I came to your old house I found out that you didn't want to see me. I don't blame you at all, I made the biggest mistake of my life when I left the two of you.
Nathan, more than ever I still love you. You have been an amazing part of my life and I will never forget that. I also wanted to tell you right now that I only left because you had everything to offer him, and I had nothing, I chose to tell you this now so that you can tell Ryan i the future if you ever want to, or if he ever wants to know.
I won't come back to mess up your life ever again, I just want you to tell our son that his mommy will always love him no matter how far away and non existent I am.
If you feel up to it can you give some information to all the people back in Tree Hill that have had an impact on my life.
Lucas: You have been a wonderful friend for years of my life, I will never find a new best friend, I don't need one. I will always remember all the times you let me cry on your shoulder and all the times you got me out of bad situations. You are amazing.
Peyton: We didn't become friends for too long but I will never forget the changes you added to my life, you have this amazing vibe that is a wonderful thing for anyone. I luv ya girl.
Brooke: what can I say about you Brooke, you are a great friend, I love all the times we had fun together, and even though we got off to a rough start, I will never forget the times we spent together.
Karen: You and Lucas helped me more than anyone else over the last few months before I left, I love you a lot and you are like a second mom to me, you are wonderful.
Deb: First I am sorry for the position I put your son and your family in, I should never have left and I really didn't want to but I didn't know any other way.
Thank you for passing on all these messages for me Nathan and I was wondering if it was too out of your way, could you please send a copy of a picture of Ryan to my parents, they would like to see him.
Thank you for everything, but thank you most of all for giving Ryan the care he needed for the time I haven't been here.
Haley.
Nathan handed the paper to Lucas, he read it over and sighed. "She doesn't realize that we both want her here more than she knows."
"Yeah, but how did she come to the idea that I didn't want to see her?" Nathan asked.
He read it over again, then it hit him, Dan, she had gone to his old home, he must have talked to someone to get this new address, and he wrote a note to his mother so it must have been Dan.
"Dan." He said out load. "He told her I didn't want to see her, there is no other option. I am going over there right now, I'm going to kill him."
"Wait Nathan no don't go yet, Ryan has an appointment at the doctor's remember, we made the plan to go the day after we got home because you had wanted to go before we left but you couldn't get a chance."
"Right, we will kill him after we get back." Nathan replied.
They took Ryan to the doctors but they weren't going to get the chance to go and kill Dan that day. When they arrived at the doctor, he was acting strange after examining Ryan for a moment, he told the two of them to take him to the hospital immediately, but he wouldn't say why, Nathan and Lucas of course did right away. They were scared to death both of them.
When they got to the hospital a doctor was waiting for them, the physician had already called ahead.
The man took Ryan to an examination room. Nathan and Lucas waited outside.
The doctor returned a half an hour later. "Mr. Scott." he said.
"Yes?" Nathan asked standing up.
"Your doctor's hunch was right, there is something seriously wrong with your son. Ryan is suffering from the disease Osteosarcoma, or Bone Cancer, I don't want to worry you but this disease is common in children, but not as young as Ryan. He is the youngest of the patients with this that I have treated ever. I'm going to need you and any family of the child to have a test done to see if you can offer a bone marrow transplant for him."
Nathan's world stopped, everything he had ever known just collapsed in that instant. it was like you hear it is like to die, your whole life just flashed by his eyes, he remembered everything he had experienced with Ryan, this was worse than anything.
Lucas brought his brother back to reality. "Nathan it's OK he will be fine, right now me and you just need to have the test done so we can help him."
Nathan did, neither were a match at all. Nor was Dan Deb or Keith. Nathan and Lucas were not to see Ryan that day, he was put in a room with a glass screen to see him in.
"I would give anything in my life to be the one in that room right now, and let him be out here. Lucas, more than ever we need to find Haley right now."
"Yeah, I know. Wait, in the letter it said give a picture to her parents right because they want to see him, I'll bet Haley has had contact with her parents at one point in time at least." Lucas said with a smile.
Both boys bolted for Haley's parents house. Nathan knocked on the door when he got there. "Mr. James." He said as he opened the door. "You may not remember me I am Nathan Scott-"
"Not remember you boy? I will never forget you, you are the boy who got Haley pregnant and ruined her life, you have no business being here." He went to slam the door in Nathan's face but Lucas had stuck his foot in the way. "Lucas, move your foot." Mr. James commanded.
"No I can't we need your help." Lucas said.
"I do not want to help that one here." He replied eying Nathan.
"We need to get a hold of haley, has she had contact with you?" Nathan asked.
"No." he said quickly, too quickly.
"Ryan is sick." Luca said.
"What?" he asked.
"He has bone cancer, we need help, Haley may be the only donor and if we can't get a hold of her he will die." Nathan said, tears were filling his eyes, not until that moment had Nathan really thought or said the words that he might lose his little boy.
"We have not talked to her." He replied coldly.
"Yes I have." Haley's mom said, she had just came around the corner. "She called me a few months ago and since then we have been sending letters, she has not had contact with another single person here in Tree Hill." She replied. "I will get you the number."
She came a few minutes later with a paper containing a number.
Nathan pulled out his phone and dialed as soon as they got to the car on their way back to the hospital so that Mrs. and Mr. James could test if they were a match.
He kept trying since the phone was busy. He tried again after they found out that neither of her parents were a match.
"Hello?" Said a voice of a young child on the other end.
"Is Ms James there?" Nathan asked.
"No there is no one named James here." And the line went dead.
"baby who was that?" Helen asked.
"Some guy asking for a James." She replied.
"Sweetie, James is Haley's last name." Helen replied she grabbed the phone and pressed 69
"Oops," Hilary said and then ran off.
"This number you have dialed has a long distance charge, will you continue? If so press 1." A recorded message asked.
Helen pressed 1.
"Hello?" Nathan asked from the other end.
"Hello, this is Helen Anderson did you just call my house by any chance, and were hung up on by a young girl?" Helen asked.
"Yes, is there a Haley James there?" Nathan asked hopefully.
"Hold on. Haley phone!" Helen replied.
"Hello?" haley asked from another phone.
"Haley, it's Nathan." He said.
"What? How did you get my number?" Haley asked shocked.
"Your mother gave it to me." Nathan replied.
"She wasn't supposed to tell." Haley said aggravated.
"She had to."
"Why, you know what never mind that Nathan, why the heck are you calling me anyway you don't want to see me, you obviously didn't care enough when you got the letter to try and find me then."
"I didn't even get the letter until today, Lucas and I were in California. But that is besides the point."
"No it isn't Nathan, I don't want to hear you tell me i messed up and that I am a jerk for leaving you I can't take that."
"Haley, shut up for a minute."
"Excuse me? I have a complete right to hang up on you right now, you would deserve-"
"Ryan is sick!" Nathan yelled.
"What?" Haley asked.
"He has bone cancer, Lucas or I or my parents or your's are not a match, none of us, and you are our last hope, Haley you have to come out here."
"I am on the next plane out." She said as she hung up the phone.
Nathan sighed, please let her be a match.
It was three days before Haley got a flight. She had been put on stand-by, and since Tree Hill flight's weren't common she had been waiting forever.
She arrived in Tree Hill at midnight on the third day. She found Deb and Karen waiting for her.
They rushed to the hospital, by then it was one in the morning on the fourth day. There they met up with Dan, Keith, and her parents.
Everyone except Lucas and Nathan were there, their parents had forced them to go home because they had been there for four days straight and they needed rest.
Ryan had been brought in right before things started to get bad, he had gotten sicker in the last few days.
"Mrs.James?" Asked a nurse. "Ryan's , mother?"
"Yes." Haley replied.
She was taken in immediately to be tested if she was a match.
Nathan and Lucas came back to the hospital only an hour later, because neither of them could get even an ounce of rest, it wasn't working.
"Hi." Nathan said to Haley, "Are you a match?"
"They don't know yet." She replied.
"How are you?" he asked.
"Right now, or how have I been before I found out?"
"Both."
"Right now I want to die, I have never been this worried ever in my life, I wish it had been me."
"I said the exact same thing." Nathan replied.
"But in general since I came back here and found out you didn't want to see me or me to see Ryan I have been trying to move on."
"I never said I didn't want to see you." Nathan replied.
"Dan called you and said you wanted me to go away."
"I figured that out a few days ago, and I wanted to kill him, but now, that seems so un-important."
"Yeah." Haley began to cry again, just as she had done numerous times since that night."
"Hey, don't worry he will be OK don't worry. If you aren't a match, the doctors will try and find a donor elsewhere. he will be fine Ryan will be OK."
"I am so sorry Nathan for everything."
"Don't, you leaving was in one way, the best thing of my life, I never have been happier that I have when I became a father."
She cried even harder. "But I am still so sorry, you could have still done it all with me here."
"I wouldn't have though, and I never would have become brothers with Lucas, you did all that and now we won't let you leave ever again."
"Really? You don't want me to leave?"
"No, I don't." Nathan replied.
She hugged him and cried on his shoulder.
"Mrs. James, Everyone, You are a match."
Everyone cheered. Nathan began to cry of happiness. So did Lucas, Deb, and Karen.
She was taken to go do the procedure. When she came back out they were going to go take Ryan to surgery.
Nathan sat down with haley. "How you feeling?" He asked.
"Fine. Never better." She replied.
"Can I ask you something?" He asked.
"Well you can ask me another thing." She replied.
"Did you really mean with you said in the letter, that you still love me?" She sat up and for the first time in over a year, looked him in the eyes. She fell into the pools of blue his eyes always offered.
"Yes, every minute of my life I think about how much I love you, I've tried to get over you, but it is impossible."
"Don't try anymore." He whispered, but most of the people in the group heard.
"What?"
"Don't try anymore, I love you as much as you love me, I'm sure of it." He kissed her lightly, she definitely wasn't expecting it, but she didn't back out of it either.
After a few minutes of talking about what had gone on in the last few months for both of them. Haley and Nathan fell asleep for the first time, her head leaning on his shoulder, and his head resting on her head.