A/N:Okay, so I did some research on the drug Xanax and this is what I came up with. I apologize if anything I write is incorrect, although I hope it won't be. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks.

Chapter Twenty Two

Sunshine

"Wait, so your saying that my son had the drug Xanax in his system? That's not possible. He isn't depressed so there is no reason for him to be taking that stuff."

"I was afraid you were going to say that."said Dr. Oliver.

"What are you talking about?"asked Karen, now confused.

"Well what I'm getting at is, now adays it is really easy for kids to get their hands on this drug. They take it to get high. It gives them this disconnected, floating feeling that they seem to enjoy. They are aware of what's going on around them, but they don't know what they are doing, if that makes sense. It's hard to remember what they did while on this drug, so more than likely when Lucas wakes he won't remember what happened."

Karen simply stared at him incredulously."So you think my son was taking this drug for fun? I'm sorry, but that's just impossible. There has to be another explanation. You don't know Lucas."she said shaking her head.

"Most mothers don't know what is going on with their kids. They only think they do. Kids these days are good at hiding their addictions."

"No, I'm sorry, but Lucas would never touch that stuff, to get high or for any other reasons."said Haley."I am his best friend and I know him."

"Okay, maybe I should be the one to apologize. I don't want to argue with any of you. You have all been through way too much. I just want you to have an open mind. There is no doubt that this was in his blood. If he does have an addiction, he's gonna need some help and your denial won't do him any good."

Karen scoffed. Who did this doctor think he was? How dare he say she didn't know her own child."You can keep your self righteous opinions to yourself, doctor. I know my son wouldn't willingly take that drug, now I no longer want to discuss this with you so please take me to my son."said Karen not bothering to look the doctor in the face. She was furious at him for making assumptions. Yes, she understood he was doing his job and was looking out for Lucas, but once she told him Lucas wouldn't take drugs, he should have dropped it.

Dr.Oliver nodded."I'm sorry I do apologize if I over stepped. Your son's room is right this way."he motioned for her to follow.

Karen grabbed Keith's hand. She needed him to come with her. She turned to Haley."We'll be back. When we're done you can go see him."

"Thanks Karen."said Haley as Karen and Keith walked away. She turned to Nathan."Can you believe that jerk? How dare he imply Lucas is taking that crap to get high? He doesn't even know Lucas to be making that kind of assumption."

Nathan looked down at her."Don't get mad at me Haley, but what if he has been taking that stuff?"

"Not you too. You can't honestly think that."

"Listen, just hear me out. We both know that Lucas has been acting a little weird lately. I mean, I know I really have nothing to base that on myself, but from what you've told me, I think it's safe to say that's the truth. So everything with Brooke might have gotten to him and he might have needed and escape. Maybe the Xanax was his escape. It's like the doctor said, there's no denying that he took it. It was in his system."

"I don't know how it got there, but he sure as hell didn't take it to get high. I don't care what that doctor says. I know Lucas and even if you don't like to admit it so do you."

"Okay your right. If you don't think he did, then neither do I."

Haley shook her head."How could all of this have happened? Just last night when Brooke said she was going to forgive him I thought everything was going to go back to normal and now Lucas is in the hospital in a coma and Brooke hates him so much she doesn't care that he's here."

"That's not true. You know Brooke cares."

She sighed. She knew he was right."I know. I just wish I knew why she won't come. She's supposed to love him."

"She does. I'm sure she just needs to deal with this in her own way. She'll come around and come see him. I'm sure of it."

Haley and Nathan continued to sit in the waiting room. Karen turned the corner and walked up to them. Haley quickly stood up and walked the rest of the way to her."Karen, how is he?"

"He's okay right now. He's stable, just in a coma. All we have to do is wait for him to wake up. They moved him to a private room, room 208. You can go see him now."she smiled.

Haley nodded and began to walk past her.

"Haley?"

She turned to face her."Yeah?"

She took a deep breath and let it out."Okay I just have to ask, you don't think that Lucas took the Xanax for the reason the doctor thinks, do you? If anybody knew what he was doing it would be you."

She walked up to Karen and held her hand."There is no way the doctor is right. Lucas wouldn't touch that stuff. I happen to think that somebody put it in his drink or he took it on accident."

"I was hoping you would say that, not that the other two are any better. I just don't want Lucas to have an addiction."

"He doesn't Karen. Don't worry about that."she let go of her hand and followed Nathan to see Lucas.

Nathan stopped right outside the door."I'm going to wait out here. You should see him alone."

She nodded a walked passed him into the room. She stood there and started to cry. She hated seeing him like this. He had a bandage on his head from hitting the windshield, the left side of his face was bruised and cut. She walked up to him and held his hand as the tears fell down her face."I am so sorry Lucas. I feel like this is my fault. I knew you were drunk and I should have known you were going to try to drive. I was just so upset with you for hurting Brooke that I didn't think and for that I am truly sorry. I hope you can forgive me. I don't know what I'd do without you Lucas. I need you to wake up. We all need you to wake up. Please Lucas, wake up."she pleaded as she continued to hold his hand in hers. She sat down in the chair next to him and continued to talk to him. She didn't know if he could hear her, but the doctors always said they could, so she was going on that. She talked to him about their pasts and couldn't help, but laugh when she remembered some of the things they had done.

After a while Nathan stood in the doorway and knocked on the wall."Hey, can I come in?"

"Sure."she smiled at him.

As he walked in his stomach turned at the sight of Lucas lying there on that bed. He walked up to him."Hey man, you look like hell. You need to wake up so that things can go back to normal and you can tell me where I can stick my opinions. We all need you to wake up Lucas, so don't keep us waiting too long."

They both sat there and talked to him until the nurse kicked them out. They passed Karen and Keith on their way out, promising they would come back later.

Two days later Lucas was still in a coma and Haley wasn't able to get a hold of Brooke. The last time she talked to her was when she hung up on her. She tried calling her over and over again and even went to her house a couple of times, but she never answered the phone or the door. She knew she was always there. She just assumed that she wasn't ready to talk, so she would just leave.

It was now Monday and Haley hoped that she would finally get to talk to Brooke at school. Once she got to their first period she realized that Brooke hadn't come today. That really worried her. It wasn't like Brooke to keep herself hidden for days, without any human contact.

She walked to her locker after class to find Nathan there waiting for her.

He looked around."So where's Brooke? Did you get the chance to talk to her?"

She shook her head."No, she never made it to class."

"Okay, this is getting serious. I don't like it at all. I should go to her house and not leave until she answers and make sure she's alright."

"No, don't. I should be the one to talk to her. She's upset about Lucas. I think she would be able to talk to me about it more. I'll go see her during lunch."

"Okay, but if you can't get through to her then I'm going."

"That's fine with me."

"Haley, Nathan. Oh my god. I just heard. Is Lucas okay? Please say he's okay."pleaded Peyton as she ran up to them. After she heard what happened she knew it had to be her fault.

"Like you care Peyton. Why don't you just leave us alone?"Haley tried to push passed her. She was the last person she wanted to talk to right now.

"No, wait. Look you may hate me and I'm fine with that, but I do care about him. I think you know that. So please just tell me what's going on. I promise to leave right after."

Haley sighed."Fine, Lucas is doing okay right now, but he's in a coma."she stopped when Peyton gasped and placed her hand over her mouth.

"It's because he was drunk right?"she had never felt more guilty. This was definitely her fault.

"Yeah, that and the doctors found drugs in his system. We don't know how they got there though."

"Drugs? Lucas would never take drugs. We all know that."

"Yes we do, but they still got there somehow."

Peyton stood there and thought about what she just said.

Flashback

Peyton sat on Debbie's bed. She was one of the few friends she had left on the squad, who happened to not be able to stand Brooke. She was talking to Debbie about how much she liked Lucas and how he seemed to want only Brooke. She found herself telling Debbie that she needed to come up with a plan to keep them apart, when her mom called her downstairs. A minute later Debbie's older brother walked in holding a bottle of Vodka.

"Hey there beautiful."

Peyton turned away in disgust."Debbie's downstairs with your mom."

"I know, I heard. I also heard what you said."Peyton's eyes narrowed, not knowing what he was talking about."You know, about wanting to take that guy away from your friend. I have a way for you to do that."

"Why would you want to help me? I don't even know you."

He smiled at her."Lets just say I was in a situation like this before."she continued to look at him skeptically. He sighed."Look do you want my help or not?"

Peyton turned from her position on the bed to face him."Sure okay, I'll bite. What's your plan?"

He held out his hand. "Give him this and make sure he drinks it."

"What's so special about Vodka? I could just give him what's at the party."

"Yes, but this is my special blend. Trust me give him this, you won't be sorry. You'll get him to do whatever it is you have in mind."

"Why? What's in this stuff?"

"Nothing really, just a mixture of alcohols. Do you want it or not?"he was becoming impatient.

She took it out of his hand."Yeah, I'll take it."

"Look don't tell anybody where you got that, especially my sister."

"No problem."

He leaned down and kissed her hard. She was a little surprised, but didn't pull away."Lets just say that was my payment. I hope to see you around again."he winked at her and then walked out of the room.

End Of Flashback

This really was her fault. She was so caught up in wanting to get Lucas, that she didn't even really question what was in that bottle.

Now she knew. It was some type of drug. Lucas was lying in a hospital in a coma and it was all her fault. She looked from Haley to Nathan."Thanks for telling me about Lucas. I have to go. Bye."she practically ran away from them.

At lunch Haley borrowed Nathan's car, that Brooke conveniently left him when he was at the hospital. She was driving by the cafe on her way to Brooke's when she saw her car parked right in front. She quickly parked the car and made her way inside. Brooke was sitting at the counter with an untouched plate of food in front of her."Hey. It's about time you came out of your house. How have you been Brooke?"

Brooke turned to see Haley standing directly in front of her. She was the last person she wanted to talk to right now. It wasn't that she was mad or upset with her, it was just that she knew Haley was disappointed in her for not going to see Lucas and she didn't want to hear about that right now. She left her house only to come to this cafe because she didn't think she'd see anybody here, but obviously she was wrong."Hey, Haley. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Shouldn't you?"

"Well you got me there."she said with a slight smile.

"What's going on Brooke? I know you got my messages and I know you were there all those times I went to your house."

"Nothings going on. I just didn't feel good. I think I might be coming down with something."she fake coughed.

"Oh come on Brooke. Do not fake cough me. I know that's a lie."

"Fine. I'm not sick. I just didn't want to talk to anyone."

"Is it because of what Lucas did or because of him being hurt?"

"Both I guess. How is he?"

"He's pretty much the same. He's still in a coma. You'd know that if you went to see him though."she wasn't trying to be hard on her, she just didn't understand her actions.

Brooke let out a sigh. This was why she didn't leave her house all weekend."Please Haley, I don't need a lecture from you for not going to see him. I just can't do it, okay? It's too hard."

"It's hard for all of us Brooke, but we still went. We still talked to him and let him know we were there."

"I want to Haley, I do. I want to see him so bad, but I can't. I'm too afraid."she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"What are you afraid of?"asked Haley sincerely.

This was new to Brooke, sharing her feelings. There was something about Haley though, she made it easy to talk to her."I'm afraid that when I see him I'm going to break down and that's the last thing everybody needs. I'm afraid I'm going to lose him all over again, but this time for good. He can't die Haley, he just can't."a few tears rolled down her cheek and she didn't bother to wipe them away. This was also new to her, crying in front of someone and not feeling foolish because of it. Behind closed doors in her own home was the only place she was truly herself, but she didn't feel like Haley was judging her and that felt good. It felt good to have her as a friend. It felt good to be able to open up to somebody other than Peyton, who was no longer available. She had Nathan, but that was different.

Haley got up and pulled her into a hug. She knew this was what Brooke needed and it was actually what she needed too."It's okay Brooke. Lucas is going to be okay. He's not going to die. We're just waiting for him to wake up and then everything will be perfect."

Brooke pulled away."I know. I'm sorry for falling apart."she gave her a weak smile."This is exactly what I didn't want to happen."

"Don't apologize Brooke, we all fell apart at one time or another. We all had the same thoughts you have. I think you just need to see Lucas yourself, to see that he is going to be okay. Go see him Brooke. You need it and so does he."

"I can't. I wish I could, but I can't. I'm not ready. I should go. Please tell him I'm thinking about him and that I love him."she quickly got up and left the cafe.

Haley decided against going back to school. It was a little weird of her to do, but she needed to go to the hospital. There was a message she needed to give to Lucas that would hopefully make him want to wake up.

Once she got the the hospital, which had become like a second home to her in the past few days, she walked up to his opened hospital room and was about to go in, but stopped when she heard Karen singing.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are grey. You'll never know dear, how much I love you."Karen's singing stopped when all her emotions got the best of her and she started to cry. She sat down in the chair next to his bed, with his hand tightly placed in hers and she rested her head on the bed and continued to cry.

Haley decided that now wasn't the best time to see Lucas. She thought that Karen needed this alone time with him and she was about to leave when she heard the rest of the song.

"Please don't take, my sunshine away."sang Lucas barely audible.

Karen's head shot up and Haley ran into the room.

"Oh my god, Lucas your awake. Thank you Lord, my boy is finally awake."she got up from her chair and went to give him a hug and a kiss as she continued to cry, this time happy tears.

"Mom could you please get me some water?"whispered Lucas.

Karen reluctantly let go of his hand and went to the sink to get him some water.

Lucas looked around the room and stopped when he saw Haley standing by the door.

She didn't know what to do. Should she leave? The last time she saw him awake, her boyfriend kicked him out and she did nothing to stop it and that might be the reason he was here in the first place. She was overjoyed when he smiled at her and waved her in. She stood by the bed and waited for Karen to finish helping him with the water, then she walked over to him leaned down and gave him a hug."I'm so sorry that this happened to you Lucas. I hope you believe that."

Lucas hugged her back with his good arm."Shh, Hales, this isn't your fault. It's mine."

"I love you Lucas."

"I love you too Hales."

Karen stood back and watched the two best friends in tears. She had never been happier, Lucas was now awake and he looked good. She stepped out of the room to get a doctor, but couldn't help but look back and saw the two still in an embrace.

A/N:Thanks for all the reviews. I hope you liked this chapter. Lucas is awake! Let me know what you think. Please read and review. Thanks.

Coming Up:

Haley tells Lucas everything.

Karen over hears the two.

Karen goes to visit someone.