Hey guys! I'm finally back with an update. This chapter is the last chapter before the final one, the Epilogue. Thank you so much for all the amazing reviews, keep them coming. :) Anyways, here's chapter 15, hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 15

7 days later.

It was Monday. It had been over a week since the accident. Haley had woken up at least 20 times. But only in Lucas', Nathan's, Taylor's and everyone else's dreams. In reality, she hadn't shown any signs of getting better.

Her twin brothers came the previous Monday. Matt, the oldest brother, showed up later the same day with Haley's parents who had been visiting him. Vivian and Quinn came late Monday night.

The whole week during the days someone from the family was always with Haley. Taylor made sure that there was a two-hour-period when there were no James brothers there so Nathan and Lucas could visit her without being interrupted, or beaten up, by Haley's brothers. Vivian, Quinn and Taylor didn't mind seeing Lucas and Nathan.

Nathan and Lucas had not talked to or seen each other since their fight and "even day - odd day" -agreement. If it was an odd day, Lucas skipped school and sat on the hospital's parking lot waiting for Taylor's call to give him the green light. And Nathan did the same waiting on even days.

Jake had been to the hospital usually with Lucas but he had never stayed too long feeling that Lucas needed his alone time with Haley. Tim sometimes went with Nathan but like Jake, he left soon.

Brooke and Peyton were the only people who had been able to visit Haley while his brothers had been there.

The doctors couldn't do anything at this point. They said it was all up to Haley. Some doctor had the nerve to mention that maybe Haley didn't want to wake up. And then Matt broke the vending machine in the waiting room.

Nathan was a mess. He didn't talk to anyone and he hadn't been to school at all. All day long he just played basketball in his backyard. Deb was gone, as usual, and Dan didn't care. In fact, he was more than happy that Nathan was taking all this time practising basketball. Dan knew about the accident, he heard some customers talking about it, but he hadn't mentioned anything to Nathan.

Tim had been visiting Nathan almost every day, taking him his homework and making sure he was ok. But unless Tim wouldn't play ball, he would get nothing out of Nathan. He didn't talk much. Just few words here and there.

Sunday was the last day of the month. The 31st. Since it was an odd day, it was Lucas' turn to visit Haley. On Monday, Nathan went to the hospital to see Haley. He opened the door and found Quinn sitting by her bed, reading soccer news to Haley. Taylor was talking on the phone with her boss and Vivian was painting Haley's toe nails with dark purple nail polish while blabbering about make up.

"...and Real Madrid played against Barcelona..."

"...yes, sir. I understand. But this is my sister we're talking about..."

"...always said that purple nail polish is the sexiest color..."

"...Raul scored and Beckham got two yellow cards so he's also missing the next game..."

"...well, I'm glad you understand. I will keep you updated. Thank you, sir..."

"...but then I told that skank how 80s her sky blue eye shadow was..."

Nathan smiled at the sight. All the three girls were around Haley's bed doing their own things. Even though they were doing completely different things, they didn't seem to bother each other. It looked like the most natural things in the world. Taylor hung up the phone and saw Nathan standing on the doorway.

"Nathan, hi!" she said happily.

"Hey, girls. I can come back later..." he said not wanting to disturb them.

"Oh, don't be silly. We were just about to go get something to eat anyways." Quinn said.

"We were?" Vivian asked without taking her eyes off of Haley's toes. Taylor elbowed her. Vivian's hand slipped.

"Hey! Now it's all messed up!" Vivian said looking at the toe that was now purple.

"Something tells me she won't mind." Taylor said and started to drag Vivian towards the door.

"But I haven't decorated her cast yet." She said before being pulled outside the room.

"Bye, Nathan. She's all yours." Quinn said and closed the door. Nathan went to sit next to Haley. He had been there so many times but he still found it hard to talk to her, knowing that she might never wake up.

"Hey, babe. I've missed talking to you." Nathan said quietly. "I brought you flowers again." He said and took the flowers from the vase and replaced them with the new ones.

"So, I was playing ball with Tim yesterday. You should've been there, it was so funny. Tim's a good player but whenever we're playing on our free time he just likes to joke around. Like yesterday he was making these funny moves and whenever he got the ball, he started to say stuff like 'Whatcha gonna do now, big boy. Yeah, you ready to lose?'" Nathan said mimicking Tim.

"But I knew he just wanted to make me laugh, you know. He's a good friend and in his own words 'a bit retard-ish'. Whitey, our basketball coach, called me yesterday. He said practise starts next week. I really wanna be there but I won't if you're not. So you better wake up soon." Nathan said laughing. He heard the door open and expected Taylor, Quinn or Vivian to be there, but to his surprise it was Lucas.

"What are you doing here?" Lucas asked angrily.

"Funny, I was gonna ask you the same thing." Nathan said coldly.

"It's my turn to be here." Lucas said and went to stand next to Haley, opposite from Nathan.

"No, it's not. You were here yesterday so today is my turn." Nathan argued.

"Today is the 1st day. And number one is an odd number. So, it's my turn." Lucas said.

"You were here yesterday so today I am."

"The agreement was that I get odd days. Today's an odd day." Lucas said.

"No, the agreement was that I get her every other day. You were here yesterday so today I am." Nathan said.

"You're just waiting for someone to kick your ass, aren't you." Lucas asked angrily. Nathan turned to look at Haley.

"Yeah, her." Nathan said quietly. Lucas was about to say something nasty back but he happened to look at Haley and all mean thoughts disappeared.

"Yeah, she would kick your ass." Lucas said quietly while looking at Haley. He took a hold of Haley's hand.

"Yours too, man. Don't even try to deny it." Nathan said smiling while holding her other hand.

"Oh, I'm not denying it. She's actually done it already." Lucas said and continued with the story. "We were 10 years old and she was mad at me for making fun of her pet bunny's name." Lucas said smiling at the memory. "She called me mean and I called her stupid for naming her bunny that. And then she pushed me to the river." Lucas said smiling.

"She pushed you to the river?" Nathan asked laughing.

"Yeah, why do you think we're always playing at River court? Good memories..." Lucas said and looked at Nathan. "How long have you known her? You never hung out with her during her period, right." Lucas said suddenly. Nathan looked at him with a weird look on his face.

"I'm not sure, it's not like we talk about it. Where did that come from?" Nathan asked with a weird voice. It was a weird question, after all.

"Oh, if you had you would have known." Lucas said. Nathan raised his eyebrows in question. "She gets moody." Lucas said.

"Moody? That doesn't sound so ba-"

"Few years ago, she threatened to hit me with a golf club if I didn't give her the rest of my brownie."

"But she didn't hit you?"

"No, she didn't." Lucas said and shuddered while remembering the painful memory. "But she drove over my left foot with a golf cart."

"What!"

"Yeah, and just ask Jake how he has gotten that scar above his eyebrow."

"Do I wanna know?" Nathan mumbled.

"She threw an ashtray at him."

"Whoa! An ashtray?" Nathan asked and looked at the peaceful girl in front of him.

"Yeah, be glad she hasn't got a chance to get violent with you." Lucas said.

"Yeah, I guess I'm lucky." Nathan said.

"But don't get used to it. As your half-brother, I feel like I should warn you about them." Lucas said and shuddered.

"Who?" Nathan asked.

"The people who taught her everything from self defence to the best basketball tricks." Lucas said and paused to look at him. "Her brothers." Nathan nodded at him.

"Yeah, they're scary. They almost ripped my eyes off when they heard my name, remember?" Nathan said.

"Yeah, same with me. And I never even dated Haley and still they look at me like I'm gonna steal her innocence and elope with her. I swear to god, ever since I've known Haley they've only thought the worst off me." Lucas said. "I was so happy when they went to college."

"Yeah, I bet. But I can't blame them for trying to protect Haley. I'd do anything for her and I haven't even known her for that long." Nathan said. Lucas looked at him surprised for the honesty.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Lucas said.

"For them we'll always be 'the others'." Nathan said.

"Yeah, and they will be always be 'the others' to us." Lucas said.

"The others on 'Lost' got nothing on the James brothers!" Nathan said. They both burst out laughing.

"Good show, by the way." Nathan said after quieting down.

"Yeah, Haley was working at the café and almost dropped her tray full of plates when I told her that I've never watched a single episode."

"Dude! That's like against the law or something."

"That's what she said. Anyways, next day when I went over to her house, she locked us in the basement with nothing but Lost –season 1 DVD set, a gallon of ice tea and 5 bags of chips." Lucas said smiling. "18 hours later I was hooked on the show."

"You watched all the episodes?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, she loves to have movie marathons or TV-marathons. She always buys these dvd-sets. Like this summer we watched '24' season 1 in one sitting."

"That's crazy." Nathan said laughing.

"Yeah but funny. After staring at the TV and the same show for 18 hours straight you're so into it that when it ends you kinda feel empty inside." Lucas said smiling. "So then we usually get wasted." They both laughed at that. "You should join us next time."

"Yeah, definitely." Nathan said. "Yeah, season 1 was the best."

"Totally. Nina Myers turning up to be the mole? I did not see that coming."

"So, you like Lost too?"

"Yeah, it's the best show."

"Totally, who's your favorite character on Lost?" Nathan said.

"Hurley. Yours?"

"I think Sawyer. He's a badass and funny." Nathan said and then smiled. "Kind of like me." Lucas laughed.

"Well, you're definitely funny." Lucas said smiling. Nathan looked at him with mock hurt.

"Hey, I can be a badass!"

"Sure you can." Lucas said laughing. "Just like you can try to convince me that it's not you who changes Haley's flowers every time you come here." Lucas said softly.

"She deserves them."

"Yes, she does."

"Hey, what was Haley's bunny's name?" Nathan asked.

"Bunny." Lucas said.

"Yeah, what was the bunny's name?" Nathan asked again not realizing that 'Bunny' was the name.

"No, Bunny was the bunny's name." Lucas said.

"She named her bunny 'Bunny'?" Nathan asked. "That's stupid."

"That's what I said!" Lucas said.

"Haley, if you wake up now I will let you push me to the river." Nathan said and they both laughed.

Suddenly they both felt something. Something they had been hoping for over a week now. Haley had just squeezed their hands lightly.

"Did you feel that?" Lucas whispered while looking at Haley.

"Yeah, I did." Nathan said while staring at her. Haley opened her eyes slowly and she smiled a little.

"Hey." She said quietly. Her voice was a whisper. After not talking for a week, it was expected. Haley looked at the cupboard next to Nathan. Nathan followed her gaze.

"You want some water?" Nathan asked. Haley nodded her head a bit. Nathan took the glass of water and held it to Haley. He then realized that she couldn't drink herself so he held the glass to her lips and poured some water in her mouth. Haley licked her lips and looked at the guys.

Nathan and Lucas had never been more nervous. Would Haley be still angry? Haley looked at the guys smiling. Then her smile suddenly faded and she looked at them confused. She cleared her throat a little.

"Who are you?" she asked quietly a few seconds later. Lucas and Nathan felt their hearts miss a beat. Nathan and Lucas were still staring at Haley their mouths open in shock. Haley looked at them confused but then smiled.

"Kidding." She said. Nathan and Lucas glared at her. "God, you Scotts have no sense of humor." She said smiling. "I wonder who you got that from." She muttered.

"So, you just wanted to torture us by pretending amnesia?" Lucas asked.

"Pretty much." She said. "So, how you guys doing?" Haley asked like it was no big deal.

"That's the first thing you wanna know?" Lucas asked.

"Well, obviously I can't be doing too well since I'm lying here with apparently a broken leg and the biggest migraine in the history of world so I'm asking, how are you doing?" Haley asked while looking at both of them. Lucas and Nathan looked at each other and then Haley again.

"We're good." Lucas said.

"Now, that you're awake." Nathan specified. "Does your head really hurt that much? Do you want us to get you a nurse?" Nathan asked.

"No, just stay here a while. What did I miss while being out?" Haley asked.

"Nothing. Well, it's been over a week since the accident. It's Monday now, by the way. Your whole family is here." Nathan said.

"Who's here?" Haley asked.

"Everyone. Taylor's been here every day. The twins, Matt and your parents came last Monday morning. Vivian and Quinn came later the same day. They're all here."

"I knew that you needed a crisis to get this family together." Haley said. "Wait, the twins and Matt are here?" Haley asked. "And they let you come here?"

"Well, they don't actually know that we've been coming here. Your sisters have taken care of that." Nathan said.

"Haley, I know you're still probably mad but I really want to explain." Lucas said. "I never wanted to hurt you, just protect you. That's why I didn't tell you about Brooke and that's why I was so hard on you about Nathan. I was an idiot and I'm sorry." Lucas said.

"Lucas, I'm not mad at anyone." Haley said smiling a bit. "Almost dying really makes a person get some perspective. And staying mad for the rest of my life is not something I'm willing to do."

"So, we can be friends?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know. You still lied to me and all. Let's just take it slow and see where it goes, alright?"

"But, we're cool?" Lucas asked wanting to be sure. Haley smiled a bit.

"Yeah, we're cool. We'll see how it goes and all." Haley said.

Lucas smiled and hugged her carefully. Lucas looked at Nathan and realized he probably needed to have the same talk with her.

"I'm gonna go get your sisters. They would want to see you." Lucas said and got up. Nathan stayed next to her still holding her hand. Haley watched Lucas leave and then turned to look at Nathan.

"So, how's school Nathan?"

"Actually I haven't really been there for a while." He said.

"Oh." Haley just said. Nathan played with the ring on his thumb.

"Haley, I need to know how you feel about us. I need to know where we stand." Nathan said quietly.

"Nathan, I honestly don't know. I'm not angry at anyone but I can't think about this now. But, like Lucas and I, we're cool too." Haley said.

"So, can I still visit you? Talk to you?" Nathan asked.

"You better!" Haley said smiling. "I'm not gonna be stuck in this hospital alone. I'd probably die of boredom before the first meal." Haley said smiling. Nathan smiled in relief.

"I'm really glad you're awake, Hales." Nathan said. Haley smiled back.

"Yeah, me too. It was time to wake up." She said but then hit his arm hard.

"Ouch! What was that for?" he asked confused.

"For making fun of Bunny the bunny." She said. "Just be glad that I'm not throwing you to the river."

"And why's that?"

"Cause you would most likely pull me with you." She said remembering Nathan's beach party where they ended up in the freezing water.

"True." Nathan said smiling. He looked at Haley. "It's good to see you awake."

"It's good to be awake. Although I may wanna get back to sleep soon."

"Why? You tired?"

"No but when Taylor comes through that door with Quinn and Vivian, they are gonna be so hysterical that it'll take hours to calm them down." Haley said smiling. Right that moment the door flew open and Taylor ran inside. Quinn, Vivian and Lucas were right behind her.

"Haley!" she yelled and ran to her and started to hug her. Vivian and Quinn followed her lead.

"Oh my god, we were so worried!"

"Are you hurting?"

"Do you remember everything?"

"Are you hungry?"

"Tired?"

"Thirsty?" After about 5 minutes of asking questions from Haley without giving her a chance to answer, Nathan and Lucas decided to leave the sisters by themselves. They waived Haley goodbye and laughed at the panicked look on her face. They just smiled at her and told her they'd come back later.

Later that same day Nathan and Lucas called the whole gang and told them about Haley's recovery. When Nathan, Lucas, Tim and Brooke, who had shared the same ride, got to Haley's room they immediately got 3 mean glares from the brothers.

"Matt, Chris, Brian." Haley said when she saw that the brothers were planning on throwing Nathan and Lucas out of the room. "Sit back." She said calmly. The brothers looked at Haley and then each other and then went back to sit on the couch.

"Come on in. Take a seat..." Haley said and looked around. Her parents were sitting on the chairs, her brothers on the couch and sisters on the bed. "...or not." Haley finished. The same moment Jake and Peyton, who was holding Jenny, got in too.

"Hey Hales." Jake said and then nodded to the rest of the family.

"Hey guys." Haley said happy that they were back together.

"Someone missed you very much." Peyton said and went to give Jenny to her.

"Jenny!" Haley said happily when she saw her. Peyton gave Jenny carefully to her.

"And we missed you too." Peyton said smiling. Haley smiled back at her.

At that moment the door opened again. This time it was Fergie, Skills, Mouth and Junk.

"Whoa." Skills said when he saw all the people in the room.

"Haley's so popular." Brooke said laughing. Right that moment the doctor came in.

"What's going on in here? It's not even visiting hours and even if it were, there should only be two persons at a time." The doctor said angrily while trying to make his way over to her bed.

"Ok, everyone except the family out!" he finally said. Haley gave Jenny back to Peyton. Haley's friends left the room unhappy. When the family didn't move, the doctor looked at the girls on the bed and the guys on couch.

"I said everyone except family out."

"We are her family." Matt said coldly. The doctor looked around.

"Seven kids? You've been busy." The doctor said while looking at the parents.

"Yes, you said you needed to talk to us about something." Haley's mother said dryly.

"Oh yes. As you know, Haley's left foot is broken but we've already casted it. She had two broken ribs but they are healing surprisingly fast." He said.

"What about my foot? Can I play soccer?" Haley asked worrying.

"Your foot will never be the same. There will always be the risk that it might break again if the pressure's strong enough but after some physiotherapy you should be able to play." The doctor said. Haley smiled at that.

"When can I go home?" Haley asked.

"Tomorrow morning if you feel you're up for it."

"Yeah, totally. I just wanna go home." Haley said.

"Well, tomorrow morning you can do it. I recommend 3 to 5 days rest before going back to school though." The doctor said and left.

Haley tried to muffle her yawn but couldn't. Matt got up from the couch.

"Alright, that's it. Now everyone out. Haley needs her rest." Matt said and started to move everyone out of the room.

"No, really guys! You don't have to go. I'm not tired." Haley said while yawning again.

"Sleep tight, sis. We'll pick you up in the morning." Chris said and closed the door after winking at her. Haley stared at the room that had just few minutes ago been filled with people. Now she was the only one there. Haley looked around but suddenly her gaze stopped when she saw something purple at the end of her bed.

"What the hell happened to my toe?"

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So, how was it? Let me know what you think. :) I'll post the Epilogue by the end of the week

-Fes-