Author's Note: Hey guys! Here's a new chapter for you all! Not much else to say other than I will probably be working on TSS and won't update FOWB until I get that chapter done, but that usually flies right out the window, so yeah. I might have an update for FOWB tomorrow lol But I'm not making any guarantees cuz it's 4th of July and my family might want to drag me away somewhere, far away from the computer. 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 29 – Heartbreak Reunion

It was another half an hour before Haley pulled herself off the floor and cleaned up the mess that was her face and hair. She wiped her face with a wet paper towel, cleaning the tears and makeup off, then redid her makeup. She had never been one to wear much makeup, always having a natural beauty to her, so not much was ever needed, just a light blush and some eye shadow to accentuate her cheekbones and eyes. She fixed her hair and once she was semi-satisfied with the way she looked, she headed back to her classroom.

Second hour finally rolled around and she was still shaking from her encounter with Lucas. She had also become a little jumpy at every loud sound; the yelling voices, the ring of the bell, the slam of a book dropped onto the floor. The bell rang again and she jumped at the loud sound, quickly looking towards the door when she heard the scrape of the door closing shut. "You okay, Mrs. Scott," Heather asked concernedly as she entered the classroom. She noticed Haley's red, bloodshot, and puffy eyes and the nearly frightened look in them. "I-I'm fine, Heather, I'm just a little cold that's all," Haley replied as she pulled on her sweater then saw the concerned gaze still trained on her, "I didn't get much sleep last night, the kids kept me up." "Oh, okay," Heather replied, although still not convinced, "I hope you feel better." "Thank you Heather," Haley responded with a small smile.

Once all the kids had entered the classroom and settled in their seats, Haley gave instructions for their daily assignments and after that was done, she told them that today they would start their essays on heroism. There was a collective groan throughout the class and Haley smiled, knowing they were just doing that to be dramatic. Haley stood from her desk and began to walk around the room, addressing her class on the topic at hand, "Okay everyone, now that you have finished your books, you are to write a five paragraph essay on heroism. Pick a character from your book that was heroic and in your three body paragraphs, explain in detail three different instances where this character performed an act of heroism. Remember to include your four citations and use one of the four attention grabbers in your introduction. You will have the rest of class today, tomorrow, and possibly some time Monday. They will be due at the end of class on Monday." With that said, the students got down to work.

Haley loved teaching Junior English and this class was her favorite; the students were very bright and almost all of them did their homework. They were a great bunch; they always made her laugh and they had great conversations about anything ranging from everyday life to things going on in the world or things happening in the future.

Her stomach rumbled and bubbled in hunger and she wished that she could eat earlier than her third hour prep. She didn't really have any food left in her stomach after all that throwing up she had done that morning. She'd had mild hunger pains all day and now that it was nearing her normal lunch hour, the slight pain had become a little more prominent. As she continued walking around the classroom, observing her students, she rubbed her hand against her lower back, trying to relieve the dull ache that had formed there from the added weight to her small frame. It wasn't doing much to help, to say the least, because she couldn't reach all the places she needed to. Maybe she could get Kyla to give her a backrub when she went to go pick the kids up.

She turned and walked down yet another aisle and spotted a few papers on the floor. Always one for neatness and order, Haley bent down to pick them up and see whose they were. Immediately, intense pain flooded throughout her belly and she clutched it tightly as she screamed out in agony and collapsed to the floor. Shocked exclamations of "Oh my god", "Mrs. Scott!" and "Ms. James" were heard throughout the classroom, but nobody did anything, all too scared to manage anything but staring at their teacher lying on the floor. "Oh my god, Haley," Heather shouted in fear as she raced to her friend and teacher and knelt by her side. "Haley, look at me, talk to me. What's wrong? What hurts," she asked worriedly, trying to calm the panic warring within her and failing miserably. "Stomach…baby…I'm so…tired…I need to sleep…" Haley barely managed to get out in a whisper through her almost uncontrollable shaking and the tears covering her face as she sobbed. Heather gently but firmly grabbed her chin and turned her head to face her, "No Haley, you can't go to sleep, you need to stay awake, you hear me? Don't close your eyes, don't go to sleep." Haley nodded slightly and tried to keep from closing her eyes.

Heather looked up to her frightened classmates all gathered round in a circle. "Give her some space! Give her some air! Denise, I want you to call 911, and fast! Tell them she's pregnant and she's having pain in her stomach. Also tell them that she's drifting in and out of consciousness. Laura, I want you to go to the front office and tell them that Ms. James collapsed and get the nurse. Johnny, go get Mr. Scott and hurry! Go, NOW, all three of you!" She shooed them off with her hand and while Johnny and Laura raced out of the classroom, Denise rushed to the phone to dial 911. "Hang in there Haley, help is on the way," she murmured as she stroked her hair gently.

Johnny raced into the gym, panting heavily from running through the school, and he spotted Lucas with the kids he had for Physical Education that hour, playing some hockey. He bent over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath, as he called out, "Coach!" It was apparent he hadn't heard because he continued to play the game with the kids. He stood and jogged to just a few feet away, "COACH!" Lucas turned around and a confused expression crossed his face, "Johnny, what are you doing here? You should be in class." He was still breathing heavily from his mad dash when he answered, "Ms. James…collapsed…something wrong with the baby… Heather told me to get you…" Lucas eyes widened in panic as his brain registered what Johnny said. The hockey stick clattered to the floor as he bolted for the doors, Johnny not far behind him.

"Hales!" Lucas shouted in fear as he burst into her classroom. He dropped down beside Heather and caressed Haley's cheek, placing his hand on top of hers, which were holding her belly. "She's drifting in and out of consciousness," Heather whispered as she placed Haley's hand, the one she was holding, into Lucas', and backed away, giving them some space. Lucas stroked her hair as he leaned down and gently kissed her on the mouth, "Hales, I am so sorry. I'm sorry for everything. I love you, you know that. You know I would never do anything to hurt you…" His mind flew back to earlier that morning, cornering her against the wall, her frightened eyes, her trembling body… "Oh god, this is all my fault…I'm so sorry honey…" he hunched over a little as he began to sob. "Luke…" he heard Haley say in a dry, hoarse whisper and he looked down into her eyes, almost fully closed, "I'm sorry too…" Then Haley closed her eyes once more and drifted back into unconsciousness.