Don't Let Go

A/N: Again with my little disclaimer about my lack of medical knowledge, I'm not a doctor so the medical terminology isn't always 100 accurate. Lucas' mention of Peyton losing her mom and not wanting Emily to suffer that same fate is a nod to ElisaCollette who mentioned the scenario in her review, and it was exactly what I wanted to get across in my fic.

Chapter 9

An anxious Lucas met the doctor outside of Peyton's hospital room. The young man didn't want to wait around and listen to what the doctor had to say, he just wanted to see his wife.

"I realize that you are anxious to see your wife Mr. Scott, but I just wanted to let you know what you can expect to see when you go in. With a coma Peyton will be in a deep state of unconsciousness. She can breathe on her own but she won't be able to respond to your voice or your touch. We only expect to keep her in this state for no more than two days, the most important thing right now is that her body has time to heal. We do expect her to make a full recovery as soon as she is brought out of her coma. Unless you have anymore questions I'll let you go see your wife."

"No I don't have any more questions right now, thank you for your help with all this." The doctor shook Lucas' hand and let him into Peyton's room.

He heard the heavy door swing close behind him and walked into the dark room. The only light in the room was the soft yellow glow from above Peyton's hospital bed, it shone down on her bed softly illuminating her face. He sat down in the hospital chair near her bed and pulled it as close to her as he could.

"Hey." He whispered softly. For some reason Lucas had found that talking to his young daughter was easier than talking to his wife. It was hard seeing his usually strong wife unconscious in a hospital bed. Lucas tried hard to fight back his tears as he grabbed Peyton's hand in both of his and held onto it tight.

"I'm going to tell you something that I can't tell anyone else, I'm scared Peyton. I'm really scared that you might not wake up and I'm scared that you're going to wake up and not be the same person. I need you to wake up and be ok. We have a little girl downstairs that needs a mom. I see how much losing your mom when you were so young still affects you now, and I don't want that to happen to Emily. I don't want to raise her by myself, I need you beside me."

His lack of sleep was catching up to him fast as he felt his eyelids grow heavy. No amount of coffee could keep him going anymore. The stress of the day had worn him down. He rested his head on Peyton's bed and closed his eyes, still holding her hand.

He woke up a few hours later and stretched the sore muscles in his back. Lucas had naively hoped that this had all been a really bad dream and when he woke up Peyton would be lying next to him in their own bed far away from the sterile unfriendly walls of the hospital. But everything was just how he had left it when he closed his eyes. A light knock on the door turned his attention away from Peyton and towards the direction of the knock. His mother was standing in the doorway and she waved gently at him before coming into the room and standing near him.

"She looks peaceful." Karen remarked softly.

"Yeah I guess she does." He hadn't paid much attention before, his nerves were such a mess since he had gotten the phone call from Haley. But she did look at peace lying in the bed.

"How are you holding up? I see that you got some sleep which is good."

"I feel like this is my fault." Lucas admitted quietly.

"What? Lucas why do you say that?"

"Before I left for Raleigh, Peyton and I had a fight about me being gone so much. She didn't want me to go and I told her that I had to. You should have seen her when I left mom, she was so sad. And I did that to her. I should have been there when she was having problems, I should have been the one to take her to the hospital and hold her hand through this. But instead I was thinking of myself in Raleigh at some stupid staff meeting." He buried his head in his hands and let the tears that stung at the back of his eyes fall freely. Seeing her son falling apart before her, Karen grabbed a chair and sat next to Lucas wrapping her arms around her son's shoulders.

Karen had watched her only son grow into a mature and responsible man, knowing that she couldn't take all of the credit. Peyton had played a big part in his growing up as well. It seemed like only a little while ago she was cleaning up his skinned knees and cutting the crust off his sandwiches, now he was a husband and a father. But as she watched her son shed silent tears in the chair next to her, she saw him as the young man that he really was. He was only 28 years old and dealing with the fact that his wife and newborn daughter were both sick and in the hospital.

"Lucas you have to know that none of this is your fault. Peyton would have still gone into labor if you had been with her, and she still would have ended up here in the hospital. You can't blame yourself for what happened, you can't blame anyone for what happened. I know that you're scared and you don't know what to do, but that's why the rest of your family is out there in the waiting room to support you through this. Peyton and the baby need you to be strong through this."

"I know." He said as he wiped away the last of his tears. "I know mom."

"Alright I'm gonna leave you go, so you can be alone. I'll be out in the waiting room if you need anything." She leaned down and kissed the top of Lucas' head.

"Thanks mom."

Lucas waited until Karen had left the room before he said goodbye to Peyton. He stood from his chair and leaned over to kiss her in the forehead. Lucas stayed close to her and ran his hand over her golden curls.

"I'll be back soon, I love you Peyton." He whispered.

Lucas was surprised to see Haley still sitting in the same waiting room chair that she had been in earlier. She looked as tired as he did as her eyes lazily scanned an old magazine.

"Hales what are you still doing here? You look exhausted, why don't you go get some rest." Lucas said as he sat down in the chair next to her.

"Don't worry about me Luke, you have plenty of other girls to worry about. The café is closed for the day and this is where I want to be, to support you. And Peyton is my best friend and I'm not leaving until she wakes up. Nathan just ran across the street to get us some decent food and he'll be back here to keep us all company."

"You don't know how much this means to me Haley, you guys being here for me and Peyton. And Emily." Lucas couldn't help but smile when he mentioned his new daughter.

"So when do I get to see my sort-of niece?" Haley grinned.

"Soon, the nurse said I'm the only visitor for now. But as soon she's clear I'll take you back to see her. She's beautiful Hales, but she's so small and fragile it scares me."

"She's got that stubborn Sawyer and Scott blood running through her veins, she's a fighter Lucas. Emily's going to come out of this ok." Lucas nodded slowly. "When can I see Peyton?"

"You can see her now if you want. I feel guilty leaving her, but I want to check on Emily. I'm having to split my time between them and I don't want to leave one of them alone."

"I want to go see Peyton and I'll stay with her while you're with Emily. You're going to stretch yourself to thin trying to split your time between them."

"I'll be fine Haley. I'm going to run down to see Emily."

"Alright, I'll be with Peyton." Haley said as he walked towards the stairs.

A/N: The next chapter will be focused a little on the Peyton/Haley friendship, and I'm going to tell a little of the Peyton/Lucas back story through Lucas' eyes as he talks to Emily.