Disclaimer: Title of the chapter is a song by Lifehouse


Chapter 8: Somewhere In Between

Peyton Scott stood behind the Raptors' bench with Roewan, Haley, Nathan and their two kids. Karen, who was holding Sawyer, was seated behind them with Keith. The entire arena was cheering on their feet as the clock counted down. Excitement and nervousness filled the air as the home team, Houston, was up by 1 with less then ten seconds remaining in the championship game.

10…9…8…

Peyton, along with the 20,701 fans in the sold out arena kept their eyes on Lucas, who held the ball at the top of the three-point arc.

7…6…

Peyton's heart pumped faster and faster as the time continued towards zero. Nervous knots began to form in the stomach. She held onto her son's hand and squeezed it tightly. Unlike his mother, Roewan couldn't contain his excitement and began jumping up and down, cheering on his father. They watched on as Lucas leaned forward into his check, creating space between him and his defender, as he prepared for his patented move.

5…

As Lucas made his first step, Peyton's cheerleading persona automatically kicked in as she pumped her free hand into the air and cheered. Lucas dribbled and drove hard to the right of the basket. His opponent, who anticipated the move, smiled as he quickly shuffled to his left and was now in Lucas's path to the basket. Lucas grinned and winked at the defender.

4…

Lucas planted his left foot at the top corner of the key and quickly spun to the left, losing his opponent in the process. Lucas now had a clear chance to win the game. Collectively, everyone in the building drew in their last breath as they watched Lucas calmly pick up the orange ball. Peyton's eyes widened in excitement and leaned forward, anticipating the last shot of the game.

3…2…

She watched Lucas release his fade away shot with a smooth follow through. As the orange ball arched towards the hoop, everything began to move in slow motion. All eyes were now on the ball, except for Peyton's. Oddly, her eyes remained on her husband as he was still in the air with his right arm still extended in the air. A terrible feeling tore through her body.

1…

Milliseconds before the buzzer ran, Peyton let go of Roewan's hand and stepped around him. Nobody seemed to notice Lucas clutching his chest as his body collapse on the hardwood, except for a frightened Peyton, who was already making her way down to the court.

By the time Peyton reached the last step, the majority of the fans fell back into their seats in disbelief as Lucas's game winning shot hit nothing but net. The small group of Toronto fans began to jump and cheer in celebration, still unaware of Lucas collapsing on the floor in pain. As Lucas's teammates ran onto the court from the bench to celebrate, Peyton was stopped in her tracks.

"Sorry, ma'am, you're not allowed on the court," a security guard declared.

"I have to get to my husband!" Peyton yelled and tried to push past the bulky man.

"You're not allowed on the court," he bellowed again, this time putting his hand on Peyton's shoulders, trying to keep her from going past him.

Peyton was burning up with anger inside and her face was becoming a frustrated red. She knew her husband needed her and she desperately wanted to get to him. In her mind, nobody was going to get between her and Lucas. Peyton was about to let the security guard get a piece of her wrath, when she heard Nathan's threatening voice behind her.

"Hey! Get your hands off her and let her go!"

"Mr. Scott…"

Before the security guard could say anything more, Nathan was already escorting his sister-in-law onto the court as quickly as he could. Nathan had seen Peyton bolt from her seat and didn't understand why until he looked back onto the court. The second he saw his brother lying lifelessly on the court, Nathan was right behind Peyton.

Tears were now streaming down Peyton's face by the time she reached Lucas. Falling to her knees beside the limp body, she carefully cradled Lucas's face. She wiped the sweat off his brow and pushed his hair back. "Wake up. Please," she cried. "Lucas! Wake up!" she said more frantically.

Seconds later, Nathan arrived with the athletic trainers and paramedics in tow. Nathan's hands were on her shoulders, trying to gently pull her off her husband, but Peyton refused to leave Lucas's side.

"Come on, Peyt, You need to give them room to work. Come on," Nathan said calmly as help finally reached Lucas.

Reluctantly, Peyton let go of Lucas as Nathan helped her to her feet. As one trainer prepared to perform CPR, another prepared the defibrillator. Instinctively, Nathan turned Peyton around knowing that seeing Lucas being shocked back to life with the last thing Peyton should witness. Distraught, Peyton buried her face into Nathan's chest and clung onto his shirt.

"I can't lose him…I can't…"Peyton sobbed.

Nathan held Peyton tightly, as he too was scared of losing his big brother. "We're not going to lose him. He's strong, Peyt. He'll make it,"

Everything around them seemed to speed up. A hush began to fill the air as the players and fans finally realized what was going on. They all watched on in horror as the paramedics ripped Lucas's black jersey open and placed two paddles on his chest.