Chapter 8

"Hey, you're awake!" Lucas said relieved when he saw that Haley was starting to wake up.

Haley took a look at her surroundings. "What the hell happened and where the hell am I?" she asked confused.

"You don't remember?"

"If I did I wouldn't have asked. All I remember is that we were talking one minute and then the next thing I knew, a car was coming straight at me. Wait...Did the car hit me? Is that why my head hurts like if someone had hit me with a baseball bat?"

"You are at the hospital and no, the car didn't hit you."

"Then what happened?"

"You hit your head on the pavement, hard, when...someone pulled you away from the car...You got a pretty big concussion."

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like what you're going to say next?"

Lucas sighed. "Probably because you're not. It was Dan who saved you..." he told her.

"Dan? Dan Scott saved my life?" she asked, incredulously.

"Yeah...I don't know why he was there in the first place but he was definitely the one who saved you."

"Wow...But he hates me. Why would he save me?"

"Hate is maybe a little too strong of a word for what he feels for you. But I don't know his reasons for saving you because believe me, I'm as surprised as you. That is something you're going to have to ask him, not me."

"I guess...So how long was I out anyway?"

"Just a few hours. Three maybe," he said, guessing.

"Oh."

"And since you're not going anywhere right now and neither am I, I thought that maybe we could talk?"

"I don't know, Luke..."

"Come on. Just a little while before I'll go get Nathan and the others so they can see you. They have all be really worried about you.

"Really? And Nathan is here too?"

"Of course he is, you're his wife and he loves you. He would have been here right now instead of me but I thought that maybe you didn't want to see him right now because of earlier...Plus I really wanted to talk to you."

"Okay. Well, I already feel really guilty and stupid so you don't have to tell me that at least..."

"Hey! You may be a lot of things but you are anything but stupid."

"Yes, I am. Because of my stupidity a man lost his life. Oh and by the way, I have a great luck with cars, don't you think?"

"Yeah, the best..." Lucas said, chuckling. "But I still don't think that you're stupid."

"Really? Then what am I?"

"Like I said, you're a lot of things. You're smart, funny, stubborn as hell, really, really annoying, but still one of the greatest people I know. You're my best friend Hales."

"You're too kind."

"It's true and everybody knows it."

"There was just one thing that you said that you were wrong about...I am not annoying!"

"You can be. Trust me."

"What else do you think I am?"

"Are you fishing for compliments?"

"Maybe…" she said, innocently.

"Fine, but I am only saying this because you're in the hospital."

"That is fine with me."

"Of course it is, you're the one getting all the compliments. Let's see…You're sweet and caring and…you were my first kiss...and..."

"Whoa! Wait a minute, where did that come from? And by the way, that is something that we should never ever talk about. Ever."

"It just came out. And it wasn't that bad."

"You're right, it was worse."

"No, it wasn't."

"Yes, it was!"

"Okay, you're right. It was." He admitted.

"Thank you!"

"Anyway…Compliments and jokes aside...I am really sorry about everything."

"It's not your fault."

"It feels like it is. I mean, if I had insisted on driving you home that night then we wouldn't have be in this situation at all. Or if I had at least been there for you when you needed somebody instead of pulling away, maybe you wouldn't be in the hospital right now. But anyway…I should go get Nathan. I know he really wants to see you," Lucas said and started walking towards the door.

"Okay. Thanks Luke."

"Anytime buddy." With that Lucas left the room, leaving Haley to wait for Nathan.

"Lucas!" Brooke said and walked over to him when she saw him coming out from Haley's room. "How is she?"

"She's awake and better," he told her.

"Do you think she wants to see me?" Nathan asked hopefully.

"I know she does. She wants to see all of you."

"Really?" Peyton asked. "Even though we were kind of…"

"Yes. She still wants to see you but Nathan should go first," Lucas said but noticed that Nathan had already gone to see Haley.

"Hey…" Haley said hesitantly when she saw Nathan walking in through the door.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" Nathan asked concerned, and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Better now that you're here," Haley said, smiling a little.

"Good," he said, smiling back." Haley, I am so sorry."

"It's okay. I'm not mad."

"You're not?"

"No."

"I still can't believe that I could have lost you tonight."

"But you didn't and you're not going to."

"Promise?"

"Promise," Haley reassured him.

They shared a tender kiss when they suddenly heard somebody behind them.

"Well, isn't this sweet?" Dan said mockingly.

Nathan and Haley broke their kiss when they saw him.

"What are you doing here dad?" Nathan asked annoyed.

"Just checking in on my daughter-in-law."

"Oh yeah? And since when have you started to care about Haley?"

"Since now. Son, would you mind going outside for a few minutes so I can talk to your wife alone?"

"Are you crazy? I'm not leaving you alone with her!"

"Nathan, it's okay." Haley told him.

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is. And I actually kind of want to talk to him too."

Nathan was confused but decided to give Haley what she wanted, which was to talk to Dan. He gave her a kiss before he left and went to get some coffee, leaving Dan and Haley alone to talk.

"So...What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Dan asked Haley, curiously.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Well, I asked you first."

"Is it true? That you saved my life?"

"Indeed it is."

"Why would you do that?"

"You are my daughter-in-law after all, and I would hate to see my son's hurting if they lost you."

"But you don't like me."

"My feelings don't matter. Not right now anyway."

"But still..."

"What ever happened to thank you?" Dan interrupted her. "I mean, if somebody saves your life, the least you could do is say thank you."

"I was going to..."

"Well?"

"Thank you, Dan."

"Don't thank me yet. The way I see it, you owe me." With that Dan left the room.

"Unbelievable! I knew it was too good to be true..." Haley said out loud even though there was no one in the room. Or so she thought...

"Tutorwife!" Brooke said happily and jumped up on the bed Haley was in. "You're okay!"

"Brooke... Hi!"

"You are okay, right?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Good! Hales, I am..."

"Let me stop you right there! You don't have to apologize because I'm not mad and besides, if I hear the word sorry one more time, I am going to scream."

"So I guess it's no point for me to say...you know what, either?" Peyton asked when she joined her two friends on the bed.

"No, there's not."

"Okay! Well if you don't want any apologizes then you must want the presents that I got you." Brooke said excitingly.

"Presents? Well I do like those..."

"Here you go!" Brooke said and handed five bags of stuff to Haley.

"Wow, Brooke! This is great but don't you think that you may have gone a little overboard with all this stuff?"

"Absolutely not! I have been really selfish lately and this is my way of saying...you know what."

"You should have seen her at the gift shop. She took everything she could get her hands on," Peyton said.

"I did not! Okay I did, but I don't regret it!"

"Thanks, Brooke, it was really sweet of you," Haley said.

"Don't mention it! So I was thinking…"

"That can never be a good thing…" Peyton said.

"Hey!" Brooke said and hit Peyton lightly on the arm.

"What?"

"You're mean! But anyway…Since the nurse said that you can be released from the hospital tonight, I think that we should totally go shopping tomorrow! What do you say?" Brooke said, looking at Haley.

"Um, sure...?"

"Fabulous! Peyton?"

"Why not?"

"Good, then it's settled!"

"What's settled"? Nathan asked as he and Lucas walked into the room.

"We are going shopping tomorrow!" Brooke announced.

"That sounds...great?"

"It is!"

"So how did it go with Dan?" Nathan asked Haley.

"It went…" she answered cryptically.

"That's it?"

"It was kind of weird," she admitted.

"Weird how?"

"Just weird. It's no big deal," she said, shrugging it off.

Nathan was still suspicious, but since Haley didn't want to tell him what happened with his father, he decided to let it go. For now.