Also, fan fiction also has this gay new rule that says we can't do review responses in the chapters, which sucks, because I love doing review responses. I'm trying to see if I can maybe get them to bend the rule a bit, but I doubt it'll happen. Next chapter, I'll try to personally reply to all of the reviews I received. But please note that the only way I can reply to you is if you're a member on the site. Anyway, enjoy.
Only The Good Die Young
Chapter Twenty-Six: The World At Large
By the time the ambulance had pulled up, Nathan was close to ripping out his hair. Granted, it had been less then a couple of minutes, but it had felt like hours. Many students were now strewn outside, watching horrifically. Some were in tears, and some were completely shocked. Minutes before, she'd been up in front of everyone, happy and cheery, and now she was in Nathan's arms, lifeless and unconscious.
Brooke was standing next to Nathan, bare foot and shaking from the cold. Her eyes darted back and forth nervously as the paramedics emerged from the ambulance, looking not the least bit surprised to see Haley. It was almost like they were expecting her.
Peyton and Jake had gotten into Jake's car together, on their way to the hospital already. Peyton had called Haley and Brooke's parents, as well as Nathan and Lucas's, and her own father. The night that had been so perfect had managed to ruin itself, and she cursed it bitterly for happening.
A paramedic pulled Haley out of Nathan's arms, and she was placed on a stretcher. A couple other paramedics stood around her as they rolled the stretcher towards the ambulance, saying things Nathan couldn't even comprehend, and attaching things to Haley that Nathan had really only ever seen in movies.
Lucas's hand went to his mouth, and the other to the side of his face. How could this be happening? He didn't understand. Biting his lip to keep from allowing tears to fall, Lucas looked over at Brooke, shivering and crying. He offered her his jacket, but she shook her head, following the paramedics. Nathan was doing the same.
One looked between Brooke and Nathan, and sighed. "I'm sorry. But only can go with her."
"I'll go," said Brooke reasonably, "I'm her sister."
"I won't leave her!" Nathan's voice cracked, as he tried to push his way around the paramedic, but Lucas stopped him.
"No, man. Come on. Ride with me instead." Lucas wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulder.
"No. I mean- Haley. Haley. Look at her." Tears rolled down the younger Scott's cheeks, and some of the students around him gaped at him in shock. His shoulders shook as he sobbed, and no one had ever seen anything as heartbreaking as that right there.
"Let Brooke go. Haley needs her most right now. Come on, Buddy." Lucas managed to coax Nathan into going with him, and Brooke found herself hopping into the ambulance, sobbing quietly to herself as she found herself in the most helpless situation.
It was no more then fifteen minutes later, and Brooke was sitting in the waiting room, along with a newly calm Nathan, Lucas, Peyton, and Jake. They were silent, and the only sound they now heard was the persistent sound of clicking, as Brooke's mother entered the room, flustered as can be.
Her eyes went to Brooke. The pretty brunette was sitting in a chair, tears still spilling from her eyes. Her straight hair was messy, as was her makeup. The shiny blue eye shadow was still on her eyelids, but the mascara she'd applied so meticulously was no longer exactly intact. Her silky dress was wrinkled and ended just at her bare thighs. Bare described the rest of her. She looked freezing with no shoes or leggings.
Allison shrieked and ran towards her younger daughter. Surprisingly, Brooke stood up, wrapping her arms around her mother.
"Mommy. Mommy, Haley's going to die." The sixteen year old sobbed, her tiny shoulders shaking uncontrollably as she sobbed.
"Oh Sweetheart, everything will be okay. Haley will be okay." But she wasn't so sure herself.
John Davis walked slowly towards the small group of his people. He looked tired, and suddenly older then his age. At the site of his wife and daughter, he allowed himself to embrace the two of them together. The situation was so unfortunate. So unlike he'd wanted his life to go.
As a child, John had been raised in an over-privileged family. His father had been an amazing business man, and his mother so deeply involved in charity work, he'd been surprised she hadn't relocated herself to Africa to help all the starving children there.
He was the eldest of two. His younger sister, Lydia was a spitfire. She was energetic, environmental, and a vegetarian by the age of twelve. Pregnant by fifteen with the first of her six children, his parents had seen this, and had begged John to spend his life differently.
He had met Allison at a bar, although they now swore it to be a country club, and she had been so fun. Young, rebellious, and beautiful, the daughter of an attorney and a homemaker, Allison had dared to be different.
After dating for two years, the couple found out about the twins. They married in an extravagant ceremony set up by her parents, and it had never been the same. Even before the birth of their children, Allison straightened up. She declared book clubs and social events fun, and wine her favorite alcoholic beverage.
By the time Brooklyn and Haley came, the couple had completely changed. But John had still swore to himself that he'd make his parents proud. He'd have two beautiful girls that would grow up to be smart and powerful. They'd be something.
And now, look where he was.
He
pulled apart from his daughter and wife, and fought back tears. "I have
to go call Lydia and Jimmy. They'll want to come up to see her"
John left the two to be, and Brooke loosened her grip on her mother,
and pulled away, eventually sitting back down next to Nathan.
"My mom's here," Nathan offered to Allison, "She went to get some coffee."
"Thank you, Nathan." Allison smiled softly, and walked off in search of Karen.
Dan Scott entered the waiting area, closely followed by Larry Sawyer. Dan's eyes landed on his offspring, and he quickly walked towards them. Both stood up, and Dan wrapped his arms around his devastated children.
Tears seeped into his expensive suit from both boys, and he simply held his sons closely.
"It's okay. It's alright, Boys. I love you. I love you both. Don't worry. Please don't worry." His sons' hearts were rapidly breaking, and he couldn't stop it. But that didn't mean he couldn't try.
They were there for hours. And it wasn't like minutes that felt like hours, either. More like, long, terrifying hours.
Brooke had long since run out of tears, and had finally graciously accepted Lucas's jacket. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, and she rested her head on Peyton's shoulder. Nathan sat next to them, his head bent backwards in his chair as he tried to sleep. Lucas quietly observed the people in the hospital, watching how some reacted to bad news, and how some reacted to good. He watched how nurses conversed with laid back and happy attitudes, and he cringed when they laughed. It seemed impossible to him; to laugh.
Jake had left mere hours earlier. After receiving a phone call, he'd told Peyton that he had to leave. When she'd asked why, he'd told her that his 'secret' was calling. She'd remembered the day on the boat months ago, when he'd told her his reason for constantly missing practice and parties had been this supposed 'secret'. And she'd always wondered what it was. She had let him go, quickly kissing him, and not pressing him. She knew he'd tell her when he was ready.
Karen had left once more to get more food from her café. She had promised to bring enough food to last them the entire night. Dan had remained, keeping a close eye on Nathan and Lucas, while conversing with John, who was an old friend of his. Allison and Larry conversed as well. About the death of his beloved wife, Anna.
Years before, she'd passed away. A car accident. Brooke had been there for Peyton, and Allison now thanked him for allowing Peyton to be there for Brooke.
It was ages before a doctor finally appeared, and when Lucas checked his watch, it read two-thirty in the morning.
"Hi, I'm Doctor Wilson. I'm going to need to talk to the parents and family of Haley Davis." He said softly, looking over the group of people.
"Doctor, with all do respect, anything you need to say to us, you can say it in front of everyone here." John said.
Doctor Wilson sighed, and ran a hand through his short graying locks. "Okay then. As you know, Haley decided not to do a treatment for her cancer, and therefore, allowed it to take it's course. It has spread and gone far enough to the point of no return. At this point, there is nothing we can do. The cancer is winning the battle, and we're at the point now, where all anyone can really do to help Haley is say goodbye before it's too late."
He said this solemnly, and they'd expected no less. This was bound to happen, they just hadn't expected it so soon.
"Is she awake? Is my baby awake?" Allison's chin shook has she tried to stop the tears from running down her cheeks.
"She's awake. She's okay, and has been informed of the situation. She wishes to see her family and friends."
Peyton held Brooke tighter. "How much longer do we have?"
Doctor Wilson looked down. "A few hours, at the most."
"God." Nathan leaned forward, resting his head in his hands.
"My wife and I would like to see her first." John stood, and grabbed hold of his wife's shaking hands.
"Follow me." The doctor nodded.
The couple disappeared along with the doctor down the hallway, and Brooke shook her head, standing up. "I can't be here right now."
"Me either." Nathan followed after her as she walked off, as did Peyton.
Allison made sure to memorize what the room looked like as she entered. It was the last room her daughter would ever be in. The last place that would be graced with Haley Davis's presence.
Hooked up into all sorts of gadgets, lay Haley. Her hair was swept around her shoulders, and her stylish clothes had been replaced by a hospital gown. Through everything, she managed to smile.
"Hi daddy, mommy."
John, unable to control himself, began to cry right there, at the foot of his daughter's death bed. Allison sat right by Haley's side, running her fingers over Haley's delicate face.
"Haley. Haley. My little girl." John cried, sitting on the other side of her, and holding her hands in his.
"Please don't cry. I love you two so much. I'm sorry I was so rude to you when you first came home."
"You had every right to be, Darling. We shouldn't have left you for so long. I'm so sorry Sweetheart. It's our loss. We were the ones that didn't get to know you well enough." Allison cried as she said this, kissing her daughter's cheek ever so softly, as if afraid she would break if she pressed any harder.
A few tears rolled down Haley's cheeks, and she smiled through them. "I love you two so much."
"Us too, Honey. Us too." John pressed his lips to her hands, and she touched his cheek softly with them.
"Please do something for me."
"Anything, my dear." Allison smiled.
"Don't leave again. Take care of Brooke. She's going to need you two, even if she pretends that she won't."
"Okay. We weren't planning on leaving either of you again. We learned from our mistake the first time."
"Yeah," Haley said, "Now, it's me that's leaving."
"No," John shook his head, "You're not going anywhere, my love. You'll still be here with us, even when you're not."
Tears now ran down her cheeks, and Allison brushed them away gently.
"Don't forget me, okay?" Haley looked between the two hopefully.
"Oh Honey. We'll never forget you. You're my- our - little girl. You and Brooke. And we could never forget our little girls. No matter what."
They were silent for a few moments, before Haley laughed.
"It's hard to say goodbye, isn't it?"
"I'd say it was almost impossible." John said sadly, kissing Haley's hands once more.
The older couple returned to the remaining group of people a while later, seemingly closer then ever.
Allison dabbed at her eyes as she and John sat down.
"Where are Brooke, Nathan, and Peyton?" John looked around.
"They had to be alone for a little while. They couldn't handle being here. But they'll be back." Dan said reassuringly.
"Lucas," Allison said softly, "Would you like to see her?"
"More then anything."
At the site of his best friend hooked up to something that would allow her to breathe properly, Lucas felt himself go weak in the knees.
"Hales." He said her name softly. Not because he felt he needed to be delicate around her, but simply because he felt that if he said it any louder, he might break.
"Luke." She managed to grin, and he knew then why he loved her. In the worst and most unfortunate situations - like this one - she was still able to smile and mean it.
"Hey Buddy." She could see the tears shining in his blue eyes, that remained still and glossy. Tears he was trying to keep from falling.
"Nice of you to stop by."
"Ah, it was nothing." He shrugged, and she found herself laughing weakly.
"So, right before I fell, at the party," She paused, "You and my sister were about to have a reconciliation, weren't you?"
Lucas laughed, looking down. "I had hoped so."
"She loves you so much, Luke. I mean, you have no idea how much."
"I'm pretty sure I have a good idea." He scratched his head, and sat next to her, right where her mother had sat minutes before.
Lucas clenched his jaw, a solitary tear running down his cheek. "Don't leave me here alone, Buddy."
"I'm sorry." She began to cry, and he regretted his words instantly.
"No, no. It's not your fault. I'm just being a baby. Can't face the big bad world without you."
"Of course you can."
Despite his best efforts, he couldn't stop a few more tears from rolling down his cheeks. "Oh God. No I can't."
"I love you, Luke." Haley reached up to touch his face.
"I love you too, Haley."
"You're my bestest friend in the entire universe, and no one will ever be able to take your place. I want you to know that. I want you to know that without you, I don't know where I'd be, or who I'd be. I could never have asked for a better companion on this earth, and I am so lucky to have found you." Haley spoke with emotion in her voice.
Lucas kissed her hands, like her father had done earlier on, and like she was sure most of her other visitors would do.
"And Brooke? Brooke knows that too. She'll come back to you, Lucas. You just have to let her." She seemed to feel pain for a couple seconds, as her last sentence was said in a whisper, and she closed her eyes tightly for a few moments, before finally opening them once more.
"You okay?"
"No. But that doesn't matter anymore. My fate's been sealed. Lucas, please tell me you'll take care of Brooke."
"I will. I promise."
"And Nathan. Please take care of my Nathan. Make sure he's happy. That he moves on and falls in love, and starts a family.."
"Okay." He nodded tearfully, mentally swearing to her that he would never fail her or her wishes.
"God, Luke. I can't imagine life without you."
Lucas broke down. He held her hands in his as he cried. They must have been there for twenty minutes. He cried, and she cried, and they hugged, and held hands. They were truly the best of friends.
"You'll always be my best friend." He whispered fiercely.
He held her in his arms for a short while, before they knew it was their time to part. He kissed her cheek, and embraced her for a moment, inhaling her every last scent.
And then he stood to leave.
By the door, she called his name in a soft, warm voice.
"Yeah?"
"I'll be seeing you."