Author's Note: Hey guys! Here's your chapter for today! In this chapter you'll find out why Haley's been so sick. Not much else to say other than there won't be as much updates as there were last weekend because I don't have three days to write and I promised myself I would work on ITPOAA and TSS this weekend. Anyways, I hope you like it! As always, please read and review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. One Tree Hill and its characters are property of the WB.

Rating: K+ to T

Finding Our Way Back

Chapter 17 – Doctor's Appointment

Lucas lay in bed with his arms wrapped around Haley as she slept. Ever since a month ago, when he had found out about his kids and they had gotten together, Lucas had been staying over at Haley's apartment more, even overnight. He looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly six. He and Haley would have to get up soon to get the kids ready and go to the school. He hated that he had to wake her. The past few nights, her coughing spells had become worse and they caused her stay awake at night, leaving less time for sleep she desperately needed. That would be taken care of today though, Lucas thought. She had the doctor's appointment today and he was certain she would be given antibiotics to cure that nasty cough and whatever was ailing her.

He kissed her shoulder and stroked her arm up and down, "Hales, baby, wake up. We have to get the kids up and go to work." "Mmm," Haley groaned as she stirred awake. He kissed her nose, "Good morning." Haley shook her head and replied in a childish tone, "No, not good morning." "I'm sorry," he pouted with his lower lip sticking out, "I wish I could make you feel better." Haley smiled and tapped her cheek with an index finger. Lucas grinned and complied with her request, kissing her cheek softly. They hadn't kissed on the mouth for over a month, ever since Haley had gotten sick, because she didn't want to get Lucas sick too. It was killing him not to kiss her. He wanted to caress her lips with his own, explore her mouth all over again.

"We need to get up. I'll wake the kids and you can take your shower first. Don't forget to remind the receptionist and Mrs. Brown that you're leaving for a little bit today for your doctor's appointment." Mrs. Brown was the teacher that would be covering Haley's classes while she was gone. Haley had been forced to choose today for the visit to her doctor. Lucas had wanted her to see one as soon as possible and the only other openings were two or three weeks away; they were booked solid. "I won't," she replied as she rose from the bed and headed to the bathroom for her shower.

Haley looked at her watch; it was almost 9:30. She'd have to leave for the doctor soon. She called Mrs. Brown and started gathering up her belongings while she waited for the woman to come to her classroom. The students were in groups reading the assigned book aloud and discussing them. Once she arrived, Haley slung her work bag over her shoulder and picked up her purse. "Class, Mrs. Brown will be supervising the rest of this period for today because I have a doctor's appointment to go to. I want you to continue reading the rest of the hour and be sure to finish chapters eight and nine by Thursday. I will see you all tomorrow," she waved to her class as she walked out the door. Students leaned in towards each other and shared whispers. They too had noticed Haley feeling sick and they talked animatedly about what the doctor's appointment might mean.

Haley sat in the stuffy waiting room with bland gray walls and a nasty sterile smell as she impatiently flipped through some old magazine from three months ago. She hated going to the doctor. She hated being poked and prodded, needles stuck in her arms, being asked personal questions. A nurse came out and called her name, "Haley James." She sighed as she rose from her seat and followed the woman back into an exam room. She was weighed and her height taken despite the fact that she hadn't grown an inch since junior year in high school. One of those awful gowns was handed to her by the nurse, "Please change into this. The doctor will be in shortly." Haley used the bathroom in the corner to remove her clothes and put on the uncomfortable, skimpy piece of paper that they called a gown. She then hopped up onto the exam table and smoothed the bottom of the gown tight to her legs so the doctor wouldn't be able to see anything in between. Haley didn't care that they were a doctor; she didn't want anybody to get a peek at what they weren't supposed to see. The doctor appeared a few minutes later, "Hello Ms. James, how are you feeling?" "Sick," she replied. "Okay, first let's get a brief history. When was the date of your last period?" Haley rolled her eyes. And here came the start of the annoying personal questions. She hated this doctor already.

Lucas arrived home later than evening around six after practice with the team. He had been worried about Haley all day. She hadn't come back to the school after her doctor's appointment. He found her lying in bed asleep, curled up with a throw pillow wrapped in her arms. Lucas gently grazed her cheek with an index finger, not wanting to wake her for he knew she needed the sleep. Yet she stirred and yawned as she slowly fluttered her eyes open.

"Hi," she said in a soft, raspy voice as she turned a little more to face him. "Hey," he replied as he sat on the edge of the bed and brushed some hair out of her face then rubbed her back. "How did your doctor's appointment go," he asked. "Horrible," she replied with a shudder, "they had to stick needles in me and they had to draw blood. They poked me three times and they didn't get any good veins because then they realized that I was dehydrated. So they stuck another needle in me and had me on IV fluids for an hour and a half while I laid on this small, hard exam bed in this uncomfortable papery gown that could have been used as toilet paper while I stared up at the ceiling and counted the ugly tiles. Then they stuck another needle in me and finally got the blood out and they took like four freaking vials of blood. I'm not kidding you. The stethoscope was cold and the blood pressure cuff pinched my arm and he asked me all these personal questions. I hate doctors!" Before Lucas could say anything, she began ranting again, "Then I had to wait another hour for them to get the damn results while my arms still hurt like hell from all those needles. Then they told me to go home and rest and drink lots of water. The nerve of them! I-"

Lucas gently took her hand and squeezed it, "What were the results?" Haley sighed as she laid her head on his shoulder, "We were both right. I have Bronchitis. And the flu. Combined. And the doctor gave me these horrible tasting antibiotics. Double the sickness, triple the torture. Can't they make them in those nice-tasting flavors like cherry or grape like they do the kids medicines?" When the doctor had asked her when her last period was, she'd panicked and immediately counted the days although in the back of her mind, she knew she wasn't pregnant. They'd hadn't even had sex yet. True to their words, they were taking it slow. He wrapped an arm around her waist and hugged her as he kissed the top of her head. "It'll get better sweetie, I just wish it wasn't hitting you so hard. You're always coughing or have a fever, throwing up, runny or stuffed up nose, watery eyes… I wish it would go all away so you wouldn't have to deal with it. Plus, I hate not kissing you," he pouted. "I miss kissing you too…" she replied as she stared up into his blue eyes then said before planting her lips on his in a passionate kiss, "Screw it. If you get sick, you can blame it on yourself for wanting to kiss me."

Author's Note: This actually happened to me. Not actually having both the flu and Bronchitis, but I had Bronchitis a couple years ago and I had it for like 3 or 4 freaking months! It was horrible!