That Yesterday Rain - Chapter 2 - Hellos, Goodbyes, and Awkward Silences

Ok, a few things you need to know that I forgot to put in the last chapter. This takes place pretty much the day after season 2 ended, except there was never the whole Dan in the fire thing. Karen went after Andy in New Zealand, Haley came back, Lucas and Nathan are still...having issues, and Brooke left. I think that's pretty much it. Let me know if there's something you don't understand!

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Deb hurried across the living room to grab the phone before the answering maching got it. "Hello?"

"Hi, this is Regency Hospital, I'm calling on behalf of Lucas Scott, is Dan Scott there?"

"No, he's not, is everything all right?"

"Are you his mother?"

"No, I'm not, she's in New Zealand right now."

"Is there any relative availible to come down to the hospital?"

Deb thought for a while. Keith was missing in action, Dan was at work, Nathan was..upstairs. "His brother."

"Well, could you give him the message and, in the meantime, try to contact his mother?"

"Yes, I will, right away."

"Thank you. Good Bye."

The line went dead and Deb slowly lowered the phone back down to its cradle. Something was wrong with Lucas. She put the phone down and jogged up the stairs to her son's room.

"Nathan, something's happened, Lucas is at the hospital, you need to go down there."

"Why? I'm not his brother," Nathan said, pausing his Playstation game and sitting back in his chair.

"Yes, you are. You're all he has right now. His mom is in New Zealand, Brooke is gone, Keith is gone. Please, Nathan, just go down there," Deb begged, she didn't want Lucas to be alone right now, he needed somebody.

Nathan sighed and stood from his chair. "Fine, but I'm only doing this because there's nobody else," he brushed past her and headed downstairs, grabbing her car keys on the way.

-

Nathan didn't know where Haley was, and he didn't want to talk to her, but she needed to know. So, against his better judgement, he dug his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed her number. Three rings later and his heart was aching at the sound of her voice.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Haley, it's me. I'm not calling you because I want to, but something's happened to Lucas, he's at the hospital, I'm on my way there right now because I'm his closest relative that's not a billion miles away, unknown, or a prick that wishes he was never born, i.e. my dad. Do you want me to pick you up? I'm sure he'd like it if you were there more than if I was."

"Oh my god, yes, I'll go. I'm at my house."

"Ok, I'll be there in a few minutes," Nathan said, not waiting for her to answer before shutting his phone and throwing it on the seat next to him.

-

Less than five minutes later, he pulled into her driveway and waited for her to come out. Within seconds of the car coming to a stop, she was running out her front door through the rain that had yet to stop falling from the dark, angry clouds that hung above Tree Hill. She hopped in the car quickly and, without a word spoken, Nathan backed out of the driveway and resumed the drive to the hospital.

After five minutes of nothing but the sound of the rain hitting the car, Haley decided to speak up. "Thanks for calling me."

"No problem," Nathan said quietly, never breaking his gaze from the road in front of them.

After a few seconds, Haley sniffled, causing Nathan to glance over in her direction. Noticing she was about to start crying, he felt it was best to forget their issues and take on the role of the shoulder to cry on. "He'll be okay, Haley."

"How do you know, Nathan? You don't even know what happened yet, or how bad he is, or if he's even alive!" Tears were falling off her cheeks in an endless stream now and she was furitively wiping at her nose with a kleenex.

"I know...because he's Lucas," he said quietly, turning his attention back to the road as flashbacks of yesterday filled his mind. Yelling at Lucas, finding the papers in his backpack, telling him to back off his rally to bring dan down, ending his brothership with him at the rivercourt. Guilt swept over him as he realized he may never be able to even speak to Lucas again.

They rode the rest of the way to the hospital in silence.

-

Nathan walked through the hospital doors, with Haley close behind, and looked around the room for somebody to get answers from.

"Can I help you?" A nurse asked from behind a large white counter that other nurses and doctors rushed to and from.

"Um, yes, I'm here for Lucas Scott. I was told to come down here, I don't really know much else."

"Are you related to him?" the nurse asked polietly.

"Yea, I'm his brother."

"Ok, Mr. Scott, you can go have a seat in the waiting room and somebody should be with you shortly," the nurse answered, pointing to the waiting room off to the right.

"Thank you," he said, walking over and taking a seat in one of the poorly cusioned chairs.

Haley sat next to him and rested her hands in her lap. Nathan glanced over at her but was unsure of what to say, so he let the silence reign on until they got any word of Lucas.

About ten minutes later, a doctor dressed in scrubs came out and glanced around the waiting room. "I'm looking for Mr. Scott," he announced, glancing down at his clipboard, then back up at the people in the waiting room.

Nathan rose from his chair and walked over to him. "That's me, I'm his brother."

"Hi, I'm Dr. Crewe," he greeted, holding out his hand for Nathan to shake.

"So how bad is he?" he asked after shaking the doctor's hand.

"Well, he was unconscious when they finally got him out of the car. He wasn't breathing, we're not sure for how long and we won't know how serious the lack of oxygen was until he wakes up. His left shoulder was pretty damaged, but we were able to repair most of it. There was a lot of internal bleeding and his right lung collapsed. We stopped all the bleeding and were able to repair his lung. Our major concern was the blow he took to the head. He hit it pretty hard on the driver's side window, but we won't know the extent of the damage until we can talk to him. He should be out for a few days at least, but should hopefully make a full recovery. We're lucky we found them when we did."

"Them?" Nathan asked.

"Yes, there was a girl in the car too. Peyton Saywer." Dr. Crewe replied, looking down at his clipboard again.

"Oh my god, is she okay?"

"I'm sorry, I can only give that information to family right now. We've been trying to get in contact with her father, but have not been able to. If you know where he is, it would be greatly appreciated if you could notify him of the situation."

"Oh, yea, I'll do whatever I can. So, can I see Lucas?"

"Of course, he should be up in recovery by now, room 311."

"Thank you, doctor," Nathan said, turning around to retrieve Haley, who had stayed in her seat while Nathan was briefed of Lucas's condition, but still listened to every word the doctor had said.

"You can go see him now," Nathan said, digging his hands in his pockets. "He's up in room 311."

"Aren't you coming?" Haley asked, getting out of her chair.

"I think I'll just wait down here for you. Lucas and I didn't really end things on the best of terms. You go ahead, I'll be waiting," he answered, sitting back down in his chair.

Haley quietly nodded her head and turned towards the elevator, pressing the 'up' button.

An elevator ride and one short walk later and she was standing in front of Lucas's door. The last time she saw him, she had undoubtedly left him with a broken heart when she said she wasn't going to be returning to Tree Hill. Now here she was, just a few long days later, with an overturned world.

The tour had become normal to her, what living in Tree Hill had once been. She had gotten used to it. A show every other night, traveling, interviews, setting up, sleeping, and sound checks the rest of the time. Now she had abandoned normal once again and returned 'home' to an angry Nathan and an empty house. Lucas's mom wasn't there to talk to and now her only other close friends that were still in Tree Hill were lying in a hospital.

Haley shook her head and slowly opened the door, knowing that he was sleeping but still not wanting to risk the chance of waking him. For the most part, he looked just fine, save for a nasty gash above his left eybrow and some smaller scratches on his left cheek. His left shoulder was taped--from what she could see that extended down past the sleeve of his hospital gown--and he was hooked up to several machines that all beeped together in rythm.

She approached the bed and took a seat in one of the chairs next to his bed. She looked down at her hands as she intertwined her fingers together. "I'm sorry, Lucas. I'm sorry for not being here. I'm sorry for being selfish. I'm just...sorry," she glanced up at his still form and ran a hand along the edge of his bed. "I guess there's not really much for me to say, except that I need you, please wake up soon. I'll stop by tomorrow."

She stood from her chair and bent down to give him a light kiss on his forehead before exiting the room and heading back towards the elevators.

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to be continued...

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Ok, I know she wouldn't really just leave after saying practically nothing but I didn't want to drag that scene out any longer and I couldn't have her sitting around at the hospital forever.

Thanks for reading, please review!