Chapter 23

"The Night Goes on as I'm Fading Away"

The tension was high in the ER waiting room as everyone waited to hear about Lucas' condition. He was unconscious when he was brought in, and it didn't look good. Nathan sat down between Brooke and Haley and tried to comfort them, but it was hard considering that he was just as nervous as they were. Dan found himself pacing the waiting room in an attempt to calm his nerves, but it wasn't working.

Nathan realized that Deb probably didn't know what happened yet. He excused himself from Haley and Brooke so that he could call her and inform her of the devastating news. When he got into the hallway he became frustrated when his cell phone wouldn't work. He had to go to the ambulance bay to get a signal. He dialed the seven numbers to the café, and held his breath as he waited for his mother to pick up the phone.

The dinner rush had long been over at the café. Now the booths were occupied by young couples who had stopped in for a late night cup of coffee. Deb was sitting at the counter and talking to Peyton and Jake. They had left Tim's party early in search of a quieter place. Peyton sat there quietly while Jake and Deb did most of the talking. Jake was talking about Jenny, and Deb shared some stories about when Nathan was a baby.

"Nathan was always a handful," Deb said with a smile as she thought back to when her son was younger. "He hit the terrible twos early, and was into everything. He hated standing still, and he loved to climb. He would climb out of his crib, climb the washer and dryer, and he tried to climb onto the kitchen counters. I couldn't take my eye off of him for a second."

"Jenny's about ready to start walking," Jake stated proudly.

Deb was about to respond but was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. She excused herself from Jake and Peyton and answered the phone on the third ring. Peyton and Jake sensed that something was wrong when they saw Deb's expression change to a look of horror. As soon as she hung up the phone Deb rushed to put the closed sign up, and ushered everyone out of the café.

"What's going on?" Peyton asked with a concerned look on her face.

"It's Lucas," Deb replied as tears stung her eyes.

"Before I met you it was always Lucas and me against the world," Haley said softly as she sat wrapped up in Nathan's arms. "We did everything together. Karen used to tell me that she felt like she had a daughter in me because Lucas and I were inseparable. He used to tell me everything. Why didn't he tell me he had a problem? I could have helped him before it got this far."

"He had to admit it to himself first," Nathan replied as he rubbed her back gently.

"I should have seen it; I should have realized that he had a problem."

"You can't blame yourself, Hales."

"What if he's not okay?" Haley asked. "I can't lose him. He's my best friend…I need him."

"Lucas is a fighter; he's not going to give up."

Haley looked at Nathan with tear filled eyes. "I hope you're right."

Peyton and Jake cleaned up the café and locked it up so that Deb could go to the hospital. When they were done they found themselves sitting at the rivercourt…Lucas' favorite place. "I can't believe this is happening," Peyton said as she peeled the paint on the picnic table. "I wish there was something I could do."

"We could go to the hospital and see how he's doing," Jake suggested.

Peyton shook her head. "I'm probably the last person they want to see there."

"What are you talking about?" Jake asked.

"I helped drive Lucas to those pills when I broke his heart," Peyton stated.

"You don't know that," Jake responded.

"Don't be so naïve…I caused him a lot of pain. This is partly my fault."

"You can't blame yourself, Peyton. All you did was listen to your heart. It's not your fault if Lucas couldn't accept that."

Peyton shrugged her shoulders. "I guess you're right. I deserve to be happy, and if you're the one who makes me happy, then Lucas just has to deal with it."

Jake pulled her into a hug. "I love you."

"I love you too, Jake."

Deb entered the emergency room and ran up to the nurses' station to get information about Lucas. "Can I help you, ma'am?" one of the nurses asked when she saw Deb standing there.

"I'm here for Lucas Scott," Deb replied nervously.

"Mom!"

Deb turned around to see Nathan standing at the end of the hallway. She turned back to the nurse. "Thank you," she said. Then she took off in Nathan's direction. She hugged her son as she asked, "What happened?"

"Lucas has been taking pills to deal with his pain. He was pushed over the edge when his dealer showed up at Tim's party and told everyone his secret. We found him in his room with the pills and a bottle of Jack Daniels."

"Has the doctor talked to you yet?"

Nathan shook his head. "We still don't know how he's doing. He's been in there a long time, Mom."

"Is you father here?" Deb asked.

"Yeah…he's in the waiting room."

"How's he handling it?"

"He's in denial, Mom. He refuses to believe that Lucas was hurting so much that he turned to pills for comfort."

Deb nodded her head in understanding. "How are you holding up?"

Nathan broke down as he let his tears fall. "I'm scared, Mom. I don't want to lose my brother."

Deb pulled her son into another hug in an attempt to comfort him. She had never seen Nathan this scared before. She rubbed his back as she kissed the top of his head.

"How's my son doing?" Dan asked as he stopped a nurse who was passing by the waiting room.

"Who's your son?" the nurse asked.

"Lucas Scott…he was brought in a while ago."

The nurse shook her head. "I'm sorry, but he's not my patient. I'm sure his doctor will find you when they have an update." The nurse ran off before Dan could respond.

I open my eyes I try to see

But I'm blinded by the white light

I can't remember how

I can't remember why

I'm lying here tonight

And I can't stand the pain

And I can't make it go away

No, I can't stand the pain

The doctors and nurses moved frantically around the trauma room as they rushed to save Lucas' life. Time was running out and they had to move fast. "He's coding!" a male nurse shouted as the rhymatic lines of Luca's heart went flat. "I'll start compressions," he said as he began performing CPR.

"Charge the paddles to 200!" the female doctor shouted. "And clear!" She shocked Lucas' lifeless body, but still no heart rate. "Charge the paddles to 300! Clear!"

How could this happen to me

I've made my mistakes

Got nowhere to run

The night goes on

As I'm fading away

I'm sick of this life

I just wanna scream

How could this happen to me

This lyrics at the end of this chapter and the title of this chapter are from the song "Untitled," by Simple Plan.