The four teenagers stood in silence for several minutes, staring after it until it disappeared. Then, they loaded into Haley's car again and headed down the road toward the hospital.
Chapter 10
"Why is it," Peyton began, trying to break the oppressive silence filling the small car, "that I can get cellular service here, but I couldn't get it a mile back, where I really needed it?"
"You get service here?" Nathan, who was driving, asked.
"I believe that's what she just said, Nathan," Brooke replied.
"I wasn't trying to be obnoxious," Nathan said. "It's just...don't you think we should call Karen?"
Brooke's eyes widened. "Oh my god, you're right. I didn't even think about that..." She looked around the car. "Who's going to do it?" Silence. "Well," Brooke said, "Karen always did like me best." She reached for Peyton's phone, since no one else's yet had service.
"No," Haley said softly. She sighed. "It should be me. I'll call. Hand me the phone." Her voice was that of a woman who carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. Obviously, worrying about her best friend, and then fighting with her boyfriend, had put quite a strain on her. She held out her hand to Peyton, awaiting the cell phone.
"Haley, maybe you shouldn't...I mean you're upset," Nathan said. "We're all upset. And I think—"
"I don't recall asking what you think," Haley said coolly. "Peyton, hand me the phone." Peyton hesitated as her eyes met Nathan's in the rearview mirror. But she gave in, passing the phone to Haley, mostly because she didn't want to make the call herself.
"Karen's café, how may I help you?" said a falsely cheery voice, answering Haley's call.
"Hey, Deb, this is Haley. I know that you guys are probably swamped right now, but I really need to talk to Karen. It's really important," Haley said.
"Say no more," Deb replied. "Hang on a sec." In the moment of silence that ensued, Haley sighed once more, steeling herself for the task at hand.
"Haley?" Karen said, picking up the phone. "What's up?"
"Karen," Haley said, "there's been an accident. It's Lucas." No response. "Karen? Are you there?"
"Haley," Karen said, obviously trying to remain calm, "tell me that he is alright. Please."
"I don't know. We're on our way to the hospital now, but he's probably already there—the paramedics came, and they took him away in a helicopter," Haley said.
"Oh god," Karen said, beginning to lose her cool, "what happened?"
"This is going to sound crazy," Haley said, "but he was shot with an arrow—like from a hunter—while he was going to the bathroom. We stopped in the middle of nowhere for a bathroom break in the woods, and well...it just happened. And because we were miles from any civilization, it took a while for us to get him some help. He bled a lot. And just before the paramedics got there, he stopped breathing. I'm so sorry, Karen." Haley burst into tears again.
"Haley, calm down, please. I need to know what hospital you're going to," Karen said. Haley told her. "I'll meet you there." Almost immediately, the phone went dead as Karen hung up and rushed out the door. As an afterthought, she told Deb that there'd been an accident, but that Nathan wasn't hurt, before she left Deb to hold down the proverbial fort at the café.
Hours later, Nathan, Haley, Brooke, and Peyton sat in a gray hospital waiting room, in hard plastic chairs. Nathan and Haley sat at opposite ends of the row, with Brooke and Peyton somewhere between, but no two of the four sat beside each other. A talking head analyst on CNN droned on about some minor political scandal. Needless to say, the tension was high. And it only got higher as Karen Rowe entered the room, looking almost crazed. Not a second later, before Karen or anyone else had a chance to even speak, a short Asian man in a white coat entered the room from the other side.
"I'm looking for the family of a Lucas Scott?" the man said. Those gathered in the waiting room suddenly sat up straight, their uncomfortable chairs and the annoyance of the television forgotten. "I am Dr. Li, and I have news of young Mr. Scott's condition..."