Chapter 26

"Welcome to the Fallout"

The doctor made everyone wait outside while he examined Lucas. There was a feeling of joy and relief amongst the group as they waited to see Lucas. It seemed like the doctor was taking forever to examine him, but they knew that he was just making sure Lucas was okay. The doctor finally came out and approached Dan with a clipboard in hand. "We need to talk, Mr. Scott," he said.

"Can we go in and see him now?" Brooke asked. She was growing impatient; she just wanted to hug Lucas and tell him that she loves him.

The doctor nodded his head. "The rest of you may go in."

Deb chose to wait with Dan and hear what the doctor had to say. After all, Lucas was like her second son. She took hold of Dan's hand. "What is it?" Dan asked.

"Your son overdosed on some sort of nymphet amine. We may have gotten them out of his system, but now he's going to be going through withdrawal."

"I don't understand," Dan stated.

"Lucas has become addicted to the nymphet amine. His body has become dependent on it. We need to put him though detox so that he can overcome his addiction."

"Do whatever you have to do to help him, Doc."

The doctor handed Dan a paper. "I just need you to sign the consent." Dan signed it without even reading it first. "I just want you to know that it's going to be hard on him, but it's a necessary part of his recovery."

"When is he being moved?" Dan asked.

"As soon as possible," the doctor responded.

For the first couple of days after being moved Lucas wasn't allowed any visitors. The doctors felt that he had to get settled in first before was allowed any company. They had restricted the visitors down to immediate family only, and that upset Haley and Brooke. They wanted to be there to support their friend as he climbed the next hurdles of his recovery.

Lucas was afraid of the new challenges he would have to face, and Dan promised to stay by his side every step of the way. The two of them had reached an understanding, and agreed to try and make their relationship work. Dan stood outside of the locked ward where Lucas was moved to, and rang the bell to be let in. A nurse let him in right away, and led him to Lucas' room. She warned him of what he was about to see, and Dan nodded his head in understanding.

"I'll leave you alone," the nurse said when they reached the room.

"Thank you," Dan responded.

Dan watched the nurse walk away, and when she was gone he looked through the window of Lucas' room. Tears formed in his eyes at the sight of his son. Lucas was lying in the bed with his hands strapped to his sides. He was staring at the ceiling and he had sweat running down his face. Dan thought about leaving, but that would be taking the easy way out. He had to face Lucas, and together they would get through this. Dan slowly entered the room and stared at Lucas a few seconds before sitting down.

"How are you doing?" Dan asked.

There was a brief silence until Lucas took his eyes off the ceiling and looked at Dan. "Not good," he whispered. "I need your help."

"What is it?" Dan asked.

"I can't stay here anymore. You have to get me out of here."

Dan wanted so badly to take Lucas home, but he couldn't. Lucas had to stay there until he was better, and Dan knew that wasn't going to happen overnight. "I'm sorry, Lucas, but you have to stay here."

Lucas shook his head. "I can't stay here any longer."

"You have no choice, Lucas."

"It hurts, Dad…it hurts too much."

Dan gently rubbed Lucas' arm. "I promise you that it will get better."

"I need my pills; will you bring me my pills?"

"You know I can't do that, Lucas."

Tears filled Lucas' eyes as he began to sob. "Please…you have to give me my pills."

"They won't help you, son."

Lucas was now getting angry. "I thought you cared about me?" he shouted.

Dan remained calm. "I do care about you…"

"Then why won't you help me?" Lucas screamed.

"I am helping you."

"You're only hurting me!" Lucas shouted as tears streamed down his face. "Stop hurting me!"

A doctor and a few nurses came running into the room. "What's going on?" the doctor asked.

"I hate you!" Lucas screamed as he began kicking his legs.

Dan couldn't believe what he was seeing. Lucas was throwing a tantrum like he was a little kid. He watched as the nurses tried to hold him down. It broke his heart to see what had become of his son. He couldn't bear to watch anymore so he went into the hallway. He sunk to the floor with his back against the wall and he buried his head in his hands.

"I need a sedative," the doctor ordered while the nurses continued to restrain Lucas. A few seconds later another nurse handed the doctor a needle. He stuck it into Lucas' arm and watched as a nurse stroked his hair while talking soothingly to him as he drifted off to sleep.

Dan rose to his feet when the doctor reemerged from Lucas' room. "How is he?" Dan asked.

"He's asleep; I gave him a sedative to calm him down. I know it's hard seeing him like that, but that's part of the healing. This will get easier on him."

Dan nodded his head. "Thank you, doctor."

Dan rejoined his family in the waiting room, and Deb could see that he was upset. She rose to her feet and wrapped her arms around him. "What happened?" she asked.

Dan broke down and began to sob. "It's all my fault," he cried. "Lucas is so messed up because of what I did. How could I do this to him? I let him and Karen down."

Deb rubbed his back as she continued to hold him. "Everything's going to be okay. Lucas is going to be okay."

Nathan had never seen his father cry before, but it didn't make him think any less of him. In fact, it gave him a greater respect for his father as he watched him open up about how he was feeling. Nathan wanted to see Lucas, but he realized that it wasn't an easy sight to take in. After all, look at how it affected his father. Maybe it wasn't something he should see."

Lucas spent the next three weeks in detox. It was a hard time for him, but his family and friends supported him through every step of the way. Dan visited him everyday and brought messages from all of his friends. Nathan came a couple of times, but Lucas understood that it was hard for him. Each day got easier, and soon Lucas' attitude began to change. He began looking towards the future, and he couldn't wait to go home. He was looking forward to starting a new life with Dan, Deb and Nathan, but he would never forget his mother.

All of Lucas' friends gathered at the hospital and waited with Deb and Nathan. Dan had gone into the locked ward, and he promised to be out shortly with Lucas. There was a feeling of excitement in the air as everyone couldn't wait to see Lucas. The mood was light, and for the first time in a while everyone had a smile on their face.

It seemed like forever before they saw Dan coming down the hallway with his arm around Lucas. Lucas had a smile on his face, and he looked happy. Brooke couldn't wait anymore; she ran up to Lucas and threw herself into his open arms. Lucas held her close.

"I missed you so much," Lucas whispered. "I'll never leave you again."

"Do you promise?" Brooke asked.

"With all my heart."

Lucas received hugs from everybody, and a welcome back bag from Haley. The bag was filled with DVDs, and Haley told him that they were for their movie nights. Lucas was thrilled when he saw that she had some of his favorite movies in there. Haley knew him best, and he loved her for that.

"Are you ready to go home?" Dan asked.

"Yeah," Lucas said with a smile.

They were just about to leave when they were approached by Donna Ellis from Child Protective Services and two uniformed police officers. "You're not going anywhere," said Donna.

The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song "Dare you to Move" by Switchfoot.