First of all, Thanks to everyone for the comments! I always love reading them! And I want to especially thank kareena70! I was in such a great mood after reading yours! lol It really made me feel good about my writing! And you wanted to know what happened to Jules and Keith. Well, no one knows what happened to Keith, no ones heard from him. And Jules was the one who set the dealership on fire, so I guess she's in jail! But yeah you reminded about a few people I forgot about! Some of the people you mentioned will be coming up in the next couple of chapters or so!
Secondly, I have absolutely no knowledge of the medical world. Everything in this chapter that is medical related was made up in my imagination. lol Hopefully it turns out okay.
And lastly, I got this update up so quickly because I wrote this instead of writing my book reports like I was supposed to! So I'm in trouble for that lol --If anyone has read any of these books: Of Mice and Men, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Death of a Salesman, and/or For Whom the Bell Tolls, and would love to help me answer some questions about each book so I can get them done quicker, please PM me or leave your email address! I'm afraid to use or because I know other kids will be using it! And I would rather write this story than actually read the books so I could use some help! ;-)
Now on with Chapter 21!
"Nate," Lucas yelled as they ran into the waiting room at the hospital. "What happened? Is she okay?" Nathan stood up, evidence of tears showing on his face.
"I don't know where or how she is, they haven't told me anything. All I know is that she passed out in my arms and wouldn't wake up. She didn't look very good when I got home, kind of pale."
"Well we're here for you," Brooke said as she hugged Nathan. "We called everyone else, but we couldn't get ahold of Haley's parents."
"Yeah I think they were going on some cruise for Christmas."
"Nathan," Deb said as she also entered the waiting room. "How is she? How are you?"
"I'll be fine," he said sitting back down on the couch. "The doctor will come out, tell us everything will be okay and then we'll go back to our lives."
"Nathan," Deb said again more sternly.
"What if she's not okay?" He sobbed. "What if I lose her mom?"
"You won't lose her. Haley's a strong girl," she pulled her broken son into a hug. "And she only passed out. It's not like she was beaten or anything."
"But she looked awful. I knew she hadn't been feeling good all week. We thought she was pregnant." Deb looked up in surprise. "She wasn't. And then when she greeted me from basketball practice tonight, she looked so pale and fragile. Then she collapsed in my arms."
"It'll be okay," Deb said stroking her son's back. "It'll all work out in the end."
-OTH-
"Alright Haley," Dr. West said as she sat down next to her bed later that night. She was in recovery from surgery. "Did you know you were pregnant?"
"No I took a home pregnancy test and it said—Wait, what do you mean were?" Dr. West looked down mournfully for a moment as a tear fell down Haley's cheek.
"Haley, I'm sorry to tell you this. But you were pregnant," she paused, "But I'm afraid you lost it."
"No," Haley cried out. "Why?"
"For how long did you think you were pregnant?"
"Well I didn't really put the pieces together until a couple of weeks ago actually. But I had been having what I guess would be morning sickness for about 3 weeks. It wasn't that often, so I just thought I had some flu bug until I realized I was late."
"Well it appears that a virus began attacking your reproductive system. It's a tough one to
detect because usually, the vomiting will be chalked up to morning sickness if you are pregnant."
"If I had been brought in sooner would my child still have been okay?"
"Most likely. But like I said, you never know. I've seen too many cases like this. The virus attacks right in the beginning stages of pregnancy so its usually too late to do anything about it."
"But what about the pregnancy test I took?"
"They aren't always accurate. You should take more than one just in case. And the virus may have had something to do with that."
"Is everything okay now?"
"Well," Dr. West sighed. "As of now, you should be fine. But you may have complications in your next pregnancy. And that is if you can even get pregnant. Your chances are lower than before. I'm sorry to have to tell you all this." Haley began crying again. "Would you like me to go explain everything to your husband?" She shook her head.
"No, I'll do it," she sniffled. "But could you tell everyone else who is waiting after you send Nathan in?" The doctor nodded and exited the room.
-OTH-
Now joined by Jake, Peyton, and Karen, everyone was crowded into the small waiting room. Some were asleep, others were awake lost in their own thoughts.
"Nathan Scott?" His head shot up at the sound of his name. "Your wife is in recovery and wants to see you. She's in room 118."
"Is she okay?"
"She'll be fine but she wants to tell you the rest herself."
"Thank you doctor," he said gratefully and ran down the hall.
"So tell us doctor…" Karen paused not knowing her name.
"Dr. West."
"Dr. West," Karen repeated. "Is Haley really okay?"
"Physically, she should be alright. Emotionally… well that's another story."
-OTH-
"Hales," Nathan said with a sigh of relief as he entered her room. "How are you feeling?" He asked as he got onto the small bed with her.
"I'll be fine."
"But…" And that's when the tears started to fall yet again. Nathan tightened his arms around her. "Hales, what is it?"
"I was pregnant."
"Was?" He winced.
"I lost the baby," she sobbed even harder and Nathan himself let a few tears fall.
"I had a virus attacking my reproductive system," she continued after slightly calming down. "Not only did I lose the baby, my chances of even getting pregnant again are low." She buried her head into his chest. "I'm sorry," she cried.
"It's not your fault Hales," Nathan tried to comfort her but had trouble holding it together himself. "We didn't know this would happen."
"I know, but now we'll never get to meet our child." Nathan couldn't keep it together any longer and began crying himself. The two held onto each other crying for their lost child, crying for the lost life they had created. Haley eventually cried herself to sleep, still in Nathan's arms. He eventually calmed down and sat there just thinking. He thought about what could have been and what should have been. Then he realized everyone was probably still waiting outside so he left to go see them.
As soon as he entered the waiting room, Deb got up and gave him a hug. "The doctor told us everything. I'm so sorry."
Karen was next to give him a hug. "Everything happens for a reason," she reminded him.
"You alright bro?" Lucas asked giving him a hug as well.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. We'll get through this." The other 3 gave him hugs as well..
"Can we see Haley?" Peyton asked.
"She was sleeping when I left, but you guys can check if you want." The girls rushed down the hall leaving the guys still standing in the waiting room.
"You sure your okay man?" Jake wondered.
"Yeah, everything will work out."
"Come on let's go see Haley," Lucas said.
-OTH-
"Knock, knock," Brooke said walking into Haley's room.
"Hey guys," she sadly smiled and all 4 ran to her bedside to hug her.
"We're so sorry this had to happen to you Haley," Karen said.
"Yeah, whatever you need, we're here for you," Deb added. "When can you get out of here?"
"Tomorrow. They just want to keep me overnight to make sure nothing else goes wrong."
"We should go shopping," Brooke said.
"Or we could let her rest," Peyton chuckled.
"Slumber party?" Brooke tried again.
"Sure, why not," Haley laughed as the guys walked in.
"Hey buddy," Lucas said hugging Haley. "You okay?"
"Yeah," she tried to smile. "Hey Jake," she said hugging him as well.
"I'm sorry Haley," he said.
"Yeah, me too," she sighed.
-OTH-
Haley hit play on her CD player as they started off down the highway. It was time for the Holiday Tournaments. The guys would play basketball and the girls were going to cheer. Haley was just along for the ride. Luckily, Tim had already passed out in the backseat so it was just Nathan and Haley awake. That wasn't always a good thing though. Things hadn't been easy when Haley got home from the hospital. Each of them were dealing with the loss in their own ways. For awhile, both were in denial. Until one day, they broke down.
-Flashback-
"Haley, what's wrong?" Peyton asked as a crying Haley stood on her doorstep. It was 2 days before Christmas, and 4 days since she had left the hospital.
"I lost the baby I never knew I had," she sobbed as realization hit her. When the doctor first told her, she cried. But after leaving the hospital she put a smile on her face and went on with life, like nothing was wrong.
"Come on in Hales," Peyton ushered her in. "I'll be right back." She went into the kitchen and grabbed her phone. "Come on, pick up."
"Hello?"
"Brooke you need to get here now."
"I'm on my way," Brooke said noticing fear and worry in Peyton's voice and hung up. Peyton went back into the living room where Haley was seated on the couch.
"Want to talk about it?" Peyton offered.
"When did things go wrong?" She questioned back. "I took a test that told me I wasn't pregnant and we were sort of relieved. But then this distance came between us. Then I find out I was pregnant but now I'm not…"
"And you just want things to go back to the way they were," Brooke finished as she walked into the house.
"Yeah," Haley sniffled.
"Tutor girl," Brooke sighed. "I know what you are going through. When the test said I was pregnant, I was so scared at first, but then I was happy. Lucas and I created a life. And then when I found out I really wasn't pregnant, I felt like I lost it too. I felt empty."
"Nice speech," Peyton commented.
"Always have to ruin the moment don't you goldilocks?" Brooke said causing Haley to laugh. "What's this? A smile?"
"You guys are crazy," Haley said. "Thanks. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Good, because you're stuck with us," Brooke smiled.
"Do you want us to call Nathan to come get you?" Peyton asked. "I'm pretty sure he went down to the rivercourt with Jake and Lucas." Haley nodded.
Meanwhile…
Lucas and Jake walked down to the rivercourt ready to play some basketball. As they approached the court, they noticed a lone figure sitting on the picnic table with his head in his hands.
"Nate?"
"I lost my child," he simply said. "I should have noticed sooner that Haley wasn't feeling well. She always brushes things off and says she's fine, but I knew better. I should have done something sooner."
"I can't say I know what you're going through," Jake said. "I have Jenny. But maybe this is a sign or something. You're still too young. I love Jenny and I'm so glad to have her, but it has not been easy. Skank named Nikki ring a bell?" Jake chuckled as did Nathan.
"When I first found out Brooke was pregnant, I freaked out," Lucas said. "But then this sort of calm washed over me. I was going to be a father. And then it turned out she wasn't pregnant and I felt like I lost something too. You'll get through this. Just a speed bump in this game we call life."
"You have such a way with words Luke," Nathan laughed. "Thanks guys."
"We're always here for you, you know that," Jake said. Then Nathan's cell phone went off.
"Hello?"
"Nathan! It's Peyton."
"Peyton? Is everything okay?"
"Um, yeah I think so. I don't know. Could you come over like right now? I think Haley had a moment of truth or something."
"Yeah I'll be right there." Nathan got to Peyton's house in record time. He went inside and got Haley, thanking Peyton and Brooke. They rode back to the apartment in silence. Nathan carried Haley into the house and they just laid in bed. No words needed to be said, each understood what the other was going through. They had gotten their clarification today that they would always have each other.
-End of Flashback-
Haley smiled at the thought. Things got better after that. Christmas went by smoothly. Deb threw a party at the beach house which everyone except Dan attended. Nathan had gotten Haley a gold necklace with a heart on the center of the chain. Engraved on it was, "Nothing else matters." Haley smiled as she touched the heart hanging from around her neck remembering when Nathan came to her that night. He was so broken and he let her in. She knew from that night on, things would never be the same. And she was right.
"Are we there yet?" Tim said as he slowly woke up in the backseat.
"No Tim."
"How about now?"
"You are worse than Brooke," Haley laughed. Then her cell phone rang. "Speaking of. Hey Tigger."
"Tutor girl! I am dying of boredom. Luke is making us listen to Travis! Can you believe it?"
"My God, the horror!"
"I know! And Peyton hid all my Britney CD's."
"There's a reason for that Brooke," Haley heard Jake say in the background.
"Aw poor Brookie," Haley said. "Hang in there, you've only got about 30 minutes to go."
"I might not make it that long! When I'm gone, please don't forget about me," she said dramatically.
"Wow, what are they doing to you? I think you need to see someone, like a counselor."
"I've always thought she needed to see someone," Nathan added.
"I heard that superstar," Brooke yelled into the phone. "Well, I guess I better go work my charm on Broody to try and get him to put something else on. Wish me luck!"
Haley laughed as she hung up the phone. "Wow," was all she could say at first.
"That's Brooke for you," Nathan said. "And I've been friends with her since like 3rd grade!"
"And you still turned out so normal?"
"Haha, aren't you funny?" Nathan said sarcastically. "Are you going to be filling in for any cheerleaders this weekend? I would love to see you in that cheerleading outfit again!"
"Please don't remind me. No I'm not filling in, but I'm sure I could always borrow someone's outfit if you want," she winked at him.
"This is getting good," Tim cheered.
"Tim, we really need to find you a girlfriend," Haley declared.
-OTH-
"Here are your room assignments," Whitey handed out sheets of paper at the team meeting when everyone arrived. "And I stress that they are final. Curfew is at 10, except on New Year's Eve. Get settled tonight and get some rest. We have a long 3 days ahead of us."
"What? Why do I have to room with Lucas?" Nathan complained.
"It's not that bad Nathan, we've got it all figured out," Brooke said. "We can just have Haley and Lucas switch."
"I have to share a room with you and Lucas," Peyton asked horrified.
"You can always come to my room babe," Jake offered. "But I'm with Dim here…"
"We'll get it worked out, don't worry," Lucas said. "Let's go eat!"
The next morning…
"Wake up boys," Whitey said walking into Lucas and Nathan's room. "Scott and Scott get your asses up! Practice is in 30 minutes." He walked over to check the beds and noticed one was empty, but the other was full. "Miss James, er Mrs. Scott, whatever your name is, would you mind getting dressed while I talk to Nathan?"
Favorite parts? Comments are appreciated!