Author's Note: Wud up, guys. What's it been? 2 – 3 days since we saw each
other last? Oh, well. Hope you guys liked the last chapter. Thanks to those
who are still reading this after there was no Laley smoochies. Anyway,
here's chapters nine...
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Brooke's POV
Maybe things aren't as bad as I thought they were. I mean, come on, Nathan raping Haley has got to be the worst possible thing that could happen right? It happened, and believe it or not, not everything was lost. Haley actually seems to be dealing. I thought that for sure she would be totally broken. I pictured her lying in the fetal position, mumbling about how her life was over. Now don't get me wrong, if she had done that, I wouldn't have blamed her, but that's not what she's doing. I could be wrong, maybe she does that when no one's around. But, then again, I don't think that she's had a moment alone since she woke up. So maybe she just wants to do that, but won't do it in front of us. Maybe she's just putting up a brave face. But I don't think so. For one thing, she's a horrible liar. Second, I think that she's comfortable around us that she wouldn't hide her true feelings. All I know is that last night was the longest night of my life and I'm so glad that it's over. The worst part is knowing that this whole thing will never be over.
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"That has got to be the worst night's sleep I've ever had," I hear Peyton mumble as I slowly start to wake up. I grunt in agreement and try to stretch. Okay, bad idea. My neck is killing me. I guess that's what I get for sleeping in a hospital chair all night. I glance over at Peyton and she seems to be in pain too.
"Remind me never to do that again, will ya?" I tell her and she nods her head as she straightens up.
"I don't know about you, but I must have had at least five different nightmares last night," she informs me. Oh, yeah. I nod to tell her that I knew what she was talking about. I knew I would never get through the night without having a few nightmares about it, but I never expected this. The scene kept playing over and over again, but the outcome would keep getting worse each time. Once, when I walked in, I tried to call out to them, but I couldn't talk or move. I just stood there and watched the scene play out. It was horrible. Just thinking about it now makes me want to throw up.
"Same," I mumble. Before I can continue, I see a nurse walking over to us. She doesn't look too sad so I'm assuming that it's nothing bad.
"Are you two Miss Sawyer and Miss Davis?" she asks us when she's finally in front of us. We both nod or heads. She lets out a sigh of relief. "Miss James woke up around 4 this morning and was asking to see you." A smile breaks out on my face and I jump up. Then I glance at my watch and realize that it's almost eight o'clock.
"How come you're just telling us now?" I ask, a little angry that we weren't informed of this early.
"When I told Miss James that you were sleeping she told me not to wake you," she explains to us. I have to smile. That is definitely something Haley would do. "She told me to get you two when you woke up."
"So we can see her?" I ask, stepping forward. She smiles at how eager I am to see her and she nods her head. She starts to walk towards the elevator and I follow, but I notice that Peyton isn't behind me. I turn around and see her still sitting in her chair. I motion for the nurse to wait a moment and walk back over to Peyton. "Aren't you coming?" She looks up at me and I can see the fear in her eyes.
"Brooke, I can't," she cries. This is going to take a while. I see the nurse watching us and I nod, telling her we'll be up soon. She smiles and gets into the elevator.
"What's going on?" I ask her as I rub her back. She sighs and runs a shaky hand through her beautiful blonde curls. "Why don't you want to see Hales?"
"I do," she corrects me. "Nothing would make me feel better than to know that she's okay. That's the problem." I give her confused look. "The thought of seeing her so broken and vulnerable like that, it scares me to death."
"But she needs you."
"I need her too," she counters. "Just...give me some time. Please." I give her a doubtful look but finally I smiled sadly at her and stand up.
"I'm gonna hold you to that, P. Sawyer," I tell her and move towards the elevator. Before I can take two steps, I feel her grab a hold of my hand. I turn around and give her a questioning look. She takes a few seconds to speak.
"Could you...could you tell her that I love her?" she asks. I give her a 'you got it' look and smile. "And that I really want to see her? Explain to her why I can't see her right now." I don't fully understand it myself, but I'll try.
"Consider it done," I promise her and she gives me a grateful smile. I squeeze her hand before I let it go. "And I'll tell her that you're still chilling down here until she gets out." I walk away before she can say anything. When I step into the elevator I glance over at her and see Jake walking up. I smile at them before the doors close. The ride up to the third floor is longer than I remember. Maybe because I don't have anyone to talk to this time. Finally, after what seems like an hour, I'm on the third floor. I step out of the elevator and turn in the direction of Haley's room. I spot that nurse coming out of Haley's room. She sees me and smiles.
"There you are," she greets, as I get closer to her. I smile hesitantly. "She said that she can't wait to see you," she tells me warmly. She must have noticed that I'm nervous. I nod and take a deep breath as I stand outside her door. The nurse runs my back supportively and walks away. I stand there for another moment before I push open the door slowly. I peck my head in, not knowing what I'm going to see. I'm more than a little surprised to see her smiling face.
"Hey, Brookie," she smiles at me. I raise my perfectly plucked eyebrows at her and she laughs. "Do I get a hug or what?" Within a second, I have my arms wrapped around her and I'm crying like a baby.
"Oh, Hales," I cry into her shoulder. "I was so worried about you. I'm so glad that you're okay. I was scared that you would never be the same again and that you'd blame me and..."
"Sssshhhh, Brookie," she comforts me. "It's okay. I'm okay. We're okay." I continue to cry and squeeze her tighter. "Oxygen. Becoming an issue." I immediately let her go.
"Sorry," I mumble. I pull the chair I had been sitting in earlier closer to the bed and sit in it. I reach out and hold her hand. "I'm so sorry that this happened."
"It's not your fault," she tells me. She smiles victoriously. "I choose to look on the bright side of things," she says. I give her a sad look and rub her cheek.
"Baby, there is no bright side to this," I correct her. She shakes her head and smiles even brighter.
"I got you and Peyton back together, didn't I?" she asks. I have to laugh at the expression on her face. "I promised you that I'd do it one day and I did."
"Oh, yeah, thanks for getting raped," I say sarcastically. My eyes widen as soon as I realize what I just said and my hand shots up to cover my mouth as if that would reverse it somehow. The smile disappears from her face and we both avoid eye contact. "I can't believe I just said that. I'm so sorry, Hales." She waves it off as if it were nothing, but I know better. My comment hurt her, she just doesn't want me to feel bad.
"So," she begins, trying to change the subject. "Where is my favourite blonde?" She has a fake smile in place now instead of the genuine one she had a few seconds ago.
"Down stairs," I tell her. She starts to frown a bit. "She was too scared to come up. She told me to tell you that she loves you and really wants to see you, but she just can't right now. Just give her a little while. Everything will be okay."
"You promise?" she asks. I can tell that she means more than just Peyton's problem. I squeeze her hand and reach up to kiss her forehead.
"Pinky swear," I say. She laughs a little and I can see a real smile starting to break through. I hope this isn't all just a smokescreen. I hope she really is okay with this. I know that this can't be easy. She has got to be the bravest person I know. I can only hope that this doesn't all come crashing down around us.
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All done. Hope you liked it. Please review to tell me what you think so far. Next chapter will have some Jake goodness in it. He's sooo cute. Till then...
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Brooke's POV
Maybe things aren't as bad as I thought they were. I mean, come on, Nathan raping Haley has got to be the worst possible thing that could happen right? It happened, and believe it or not, not everything was lost. Haley actually seems to be dealing. I thought that for sure she would be totally broken. I pictured her lying in the fetal position, mumbling about how her life was over. Now don't get me wrong, if she had done that, I wouldn't have blamed her, but that's not what she's doing. I could be wrong, maybe she does that when no one's around. But, then again, I don't think that she's had a moment alone since she woke up. So maybe she just wants to do that, but won't do it in front of us. Maybe she's just putting up a brave face. But I don't think so. For one thing, she's a horrible liar. Second, I think that she's comfortable around us that she wouldn't hide her true feelings. All I know is that last night was the longest night of my life and I'm so glad that it's over. The worst part is knowing that this whole thing will never be over.
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"That has got to be the worst night's sleep I've ever had," I hear Peyton mumble as I slowly start to wake up. I grunt in agreement and try to stretch. Okay, bad idea. My neck is killing me. I guess that's what I get for sleeping in a hospital chair all night. I glance over at Peyton and she seems to be in pain too.
"Remind me never to do that again, will ya?" I tell her and she nods her head as she straightens up.
"I don't know about you, but I must have had at least five different nightmares last night," she informs me. Oh, yeah. I nod to tell her that I knew what she was talking about. I knew I would never get through the night without having a few nightmares about it, but I never expected this. The scene kept playing over and over again, but the outcome would keep getting worse each time. Once, when I walked in, I tried to call out to them, but I couldn't talk or move. I just stood there and watched the scene play out. It was horrible. Just thinking about it now makes me want to throw up.
"Same," I mumble. Before I can continue, I see a nurse walking over to us. She doesn't look too sad so I'm assuming that it's nothing bad.
"Are you two Miss Sawyer and Miss Davis?" she asks us when she's finally in front of us. We both nod or heads. She lets out a sigh of relief. "Miss James woke up around 4 this morning and was asking to see you." A smile breaks out on my face and I jump up. Then I glance at my watch and realize that it's almost eight o'clock.
"How come you're just telling us now?" I ask, a little angry that we weren't informed of this early.
"When I told Miss James that you were sleeping she told me not to wake you," she explains to us. I have to smile. That is definitely something Haley would do. "She told me to get you two when you woke up."
"So we can see her?" I ask, stepping forward. She smiles at how eager I am to see her and she nods her head. She starts to walk towards the elevator and I follow, but I notice that Peyton isn't behind me. I turn around and see her still sitting in her chair. I motion for the nurse to wait a moment and walk back over to Peyton. "Aren't you coming?" She looks up at me and I can see the fear in her eyes.
"Brooke, I can't," she cries. This is going to take a while. I see the nurse watching us and I nod, telling her we'll be up soon. She smiles and gets into the elevator.
"What's going on?" I ask her as I rub her back. She sighs and runs a shaky hand through her beautiful blonde curls. "Why don't you want to see Hales?"
"I do," she corrects me. "Nothing would make me feel better than to know that she's okay. That's the problem." I give her confused look. "The thought of seeing her so broken and vulnerable like that, it scares me to death."
"But she needs you."
"I need her too," she counters. "Just...give me some time. Please." I give her a doubtful look but finally I smiled sadly at her and stand up.
"I'm gonna hold you to that, P. Sawyer," I tell her and move towards the elevator. Before I can take two steps, I feel her grab a hold of my hand. I turn around and give her a questioning look. She takes a few seconds to speak.
"Could you...could you tell her that I love her?" she asks. I give her a 'you got it' look and smile. "And that I really want to see her? Explain to her why I can't see her right now." I don't fully understand it myself, but I'll try.
"Consider it done," I promise her and she gives me a grateful smile. I squeeze her hand before I let it go. "And I'll tell her that you're still chilling down here until she gets out." I walk away before she can say anything. When I step into the elevator I glance over at her and see Jake walking up. I smile at them before the doors close. The ride up to the third floor is longer than I remember. Maybe because I don't have anyone to talk to this time. Finally, after what seems like an hour, I'm on the third floor. I step out of the elevator and turn in the direction of Haley's room. I spot that nurse coming out of Haley's room. She sees me and smiles.
"There you are," she greets, as I get closer to her. I smile hesitantly. "She said that she can't wait to see you," she tells me warmly. She must have noticed that I'm nervous. I nod and take a deep breath as I stand outside her door. The nurse runs my back supportively and walks away. I stand there for another moment before I push open the door slowly. I peck my head in, not knowing what I'm going to see. I'm more than a little surprised to see her smiling face.
"Hey, Brookie," she smiles at me. I raise my perfectly plucked eyebrows at her and she laughs. "Do I get a hug or what?" Within a second, I have my arms wrapped around her and I'm crying like a baby.
"Oh, Hales," I cry into her shoulder. "I was so worried about you. I'm so glad that you're okay. I was scared that you would never be the same again and that you'd blame me and..."
"Sssshhhh, Brookie," she comforts me. "It's okay. I'm okay. We're okay." I continue to cry and squeeze her tighter. "Oxygen. Becoming an issue." I immediately let her go.
"Sorry," I mumble. I pull the chair I had been sitting in earlier closer to the bed and sit in it. I reach out and hold her hand. "I'm so sorry that this happened."
"It's not your fault," she tells me. She smiles victoriously. "I choose to look on the bright side of things," she says. I give her a sad look and rub her cheek.
"Baby, there is no bright side to this," I correct her. She shakes her head and smiles even brighter.
"I got you and Peyton back together, didn't I?" she asks. I have to laugh at the expression on her face. "I promised you that I'd do it one day and I did."
"Oh, yeah, thanks for getting raped," I say sarcastically. My eyes widen as soon as I realize what I just said and my hand shots up to cover my mouth as if that would reverse it somehow. The smile disappears from her face and we both avoid eye contact. "I can't believe I just said that. I'm so sorry, Hales." She waves it off as if it were nothing, but I know better. My comment hurt her, she just doesn't want me to feel bad.
"So," she begins, trying to change the subject. "Where is my favourite blonde?" She has a fake smile in place now instead of the genuine one she had a few seconds ago.
"Down stairs," I tell her. She starts to frown a bit. "She was too scared to come up. She told me to tell you that she loves you and really wants to see you, but she just can't right now. Just give her a little while. Everything will be okay."
"You promise?" she asks. I can tell that she means more than just Peyton's problem. I squeeze her hand and reach up to kiss her forehead.
"Pinky swear," I say. She laughs a little and I can see a real smile starting to break through. I hope this isn't all just a smokescreen. I hope she really is okay with this. I know that this can't be easy. She has got to be the bravest person I know. I can only hope that this doesn't all come crashing down around us.
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All done. Hope you liked it. Please review to tell me what you think so far. Next chapter will have some Jake goodness in it. He's sooo cute. Till then...