What Happens Next
Chapter 14
3 weeks later…
Lucas was sitting in English class when the secretary came over the loud speaker, "Sorry to interrupt Mr. Magill, but could you please send Lucas Scott to the office with his things, he'll be leaving for the day."
Lucas looked at Peyton and shrugged his shoulders. Moments later her strolled into the office, "What's going on Mrs. Pennington?"
She tilted her head toward the small room used by the school nurse, "It's your brother. He needs to go to the hospital right away. And I don't think he's in any condition to drive." She shook her head, "It was hard enough convincing him to wait for you…"
Lucas raced to the door, "Nathan, what's wrong?"
"My mom, Haley, hospital now."
"Okay, calm down, we're leaving, Tell me in the car."
Nathan grabbed his arm, "No time to talk."
Sitting in the car Lucas looked at Nathan, "Okay, tell me what happened."
"I don't know. My mom called, and she was taking Haley to the hospital. She said to meet them there."
"It'll be okay Nate, I'm sure she's fine.
Deb met them at the front desk in the emergency room, "Oh Nathan, thank god you're finally here. They won't tell me anything."
Nathan ran up to the desk, "Please, my mom just brought my wife in. Haley Scott. Please, let me see her."
"Certainly. Right this way Mr. Scott."
Lucas watched as Nathan was led through the double doors then sat down and looked at Deb, "What happened?"
"Haley was supposed to work an early shift at the café, so I said I'd watch Natalie. I stopped by the house to get her, and Haley wouldn't answer the door. So I let myself in. I found her huddled on the kitchen floor, rocking back and forth crying." Deb paused, "She was in pain Lucas. She kept saying how much it hurt. And she was bleeding too."
Lucas opened his eyes wide, "Do you think she's going to lose the baby?"
"I don't know Lucas, I don't know."
Deb and Lucas had been sitting for what seemed like an eternity when Nathan finally came back through the double doors, tears streaming down his face.
Deb reached her son first and wrapped her arms tightly around him, "Shhhh, its okay. Is Haley alright?"
Nathan's sobs increased, "The baby's gone. She had a miscarriage."
"Oh Nathan, I am so sorry. I can't imagine how much you're hurting right now."
"What are we going to do mom? Our baby, it's gone."
I know Nathan, but you're going to get through this. Things like this happen for a reason."
Lucas rested his arm across Nathan's shoulder, "How's Haley taking the news?"
"She cried. But she's sleeping now. The doctor said she's going to need a lot of rest during the next few weeks."
"Can we go in and see her?"
"The doctor said no visitors until this evening," Nathan looked back towards the doors, "I'm uh, I'm gonna go back in there. I don't want her to be alone right now."
"Go be with your wife Nathan," Lucas patted Nathan's shoulder, "Tell her that I love her."
Deb glanced at Lucas, tears in her eyes, "Well, there's nothing I can do here. Natalie's with Karen at the café. I think I'll go pick her up and take her back to my house. Tell Nathan to not worry about anything but Haley. I'll take care of Natalie as long as they need me to."
"I'll do that," Lucas hugged her, "They really are going to be okay. You know that, right?"
"Are you asking or telling?"
"A little of both."
"They are. It's just going to take a while."
"I know." Lucas released Deb and watched her walk away. Looking at his watch, he stopped to think who was currently in a free period. Picking up his phone he dialed, tapping his foot.
"What's going on Luke? Peyton mentioned you got called out of class. Something about leaving for the day?"
"Yeah, family emergency."
"Is your mom okay? Keith?"
"They're both fine. It's Haley actually. That's why I'm calling. I need you to gather Mouth, Brooke, and Peyton and come to the hospital."
"My god Lucas, is she okay? What about Nathan?"
"She'll be okay. And he's with her. I'll tell you guys more when you get here."
20 minutes later Jake, Peyton, Brooke and Mouth rushed into the emergency room.
"Where is she Lucas?" Peyton asked, tears streaming down her face. Jake pulls her close.
"Maybe we should sit."
Brooke grabs Mouth's hand, "what happened Luke?"
"Haley, god, this is so hard. Haley, she, she lost the baby," he finally spit out.
"A miscarriage?" Mouth whispered.
All Lucas could do was nod.
A cry escaped from both girls as they collapsed against their boyfriends.
"I thought you guys should know, and I didn't want you to be alone at school when you did."
Brooke pulled him against her and Mouth, "Have you been alone?"
"Only for a little while. Deb left as I was calling Jake."
"How's Nathan?" Jake couldn't imagine the feeling of losing a child, and knowing there was nothing you could do to get them back.
"Not good. The look on his face, it tore me apart. Not even when Haley left did he look like that."
"Do you know what happened?"
"Deb went to the house to pick up Natalie and found Haley on the kitchen floor, curled up and crying in pain. She was bleeding, so Deb rushed her here. She can't have any visitors until later this evening."
"Do they know what caused it?"
"Not that I've been told."
"Is she going to be okay?" Peyton asked in a hushed voice.
"I hope so."
"Are they going to be okay?" Brooke whispered.
Lucas shook his head, "Yeah. They will. They love each other too much. It might get hairy for a while – Nathan's going to smother her, while Haley's going to blame herself and take it as some kind of sign." He hugged his friends, "And we just need to give them our support, while not smothering them. They're going to need some space, time to be together as a family."
"Well," Peyton clasped her hands together, "it looks like we're gonna be here a while. How about some food?" She walked off without waiting for a response.
Brooke looked at Jake, "I'll go." She caught up to Peyton as she was stepping on the elevator. "Are you okay hun?"
"Why can't anything good happen to us?"
"Haley being in the hospital means nothing good ever happens?"
"She's not just in the hospital Brooke. She just lost her baby."
"That's still just one bad thing."
"Jake had to lave because of Nikki. Haley left. Nathan was in the hospital on his death bead after a botched semi-suicide attempt. Lucas was in the hospital in a coma…"
"P. Sawyer, bad things happen to everyone. But there are a lot of good things too."
"Name one."
Brooke sighed, "Honestly," shaking her head she said, "I'll give you more than one. Jake came back and Nikki's locked away for a long time. I hooked up with Mouth after the Lucas situation. Haley came back to Nathan AND they have a beautiful daughter together. Dan's dead – a tragedy only for him. Keith and Karen are getting married."
"Okay, you made your point. But why did this have to happen? They were finally together and happy."
"I don't know. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be right now."
"Please tell me you mean the pregnancy, and not them."
"Of course I mean the pregnancy. They have always been meant to be. Only Haley's crazy talk thought they weren't." She hugged Peyton, "Now, lets get some food P. Sawyer."
Nathan sat in the hospital room, holding Haley's hand as she slept. "Please be okay Hales," he whispered. "I love you so much. I can't be without you. I need you. Natalie needs you."
Haley's eyes fluttered open, "Hey."
Nathan looked up, "Hey, you're awake." He kissed her forehead, "How are you feeling?"
She tried to muster up a small smile, "Sore." Gripping his hand tight she whispered, "I'm sorry Nathan."
"For what?"
"I know that we lost the baby, and I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. Besides, we don't have to talk about it now. We can wait until we're home," he looked towards the window.
"I want to talk about it Nate. We can't avoid the topic."
"I just thought…" looking back at her he whispered, "what happened today Hales?"
"I was getting ready for work, tidying up the kitchen so we wouldn't have to do it tonight, and putting a bag together for Natalie. She was in the living room watching Baby Einstein, gurgling away, waiting for your mom. Then I felt this searing pain and everything went black, and I must've passed out. When I came around I knew something was wrong. I tried to get to the phone, but I couldn't stand. Then I heard your mom at the door and tried to yell but she couldn't hear me. I was so scared Nathan."
A tear trickled down his cheek, "I'm so sorry Haley. I should've been there."
"I'm sorry we lost the baby," she said again.
Resting his forehead against hers he said, "I'm sorry too. But these things happen. I was more afraid that I was going to lose you too. I never want to lose you again Haley. My life is not complete without you."
"God I love you so much."
"Not as much as I love you."
Haley smiled, "Have you talked to the doctor?"
"He came in and talked to me when I got here, and you're going to be fine. He said your body has been through a tremendous trauma and there's going to be a lot of time for healing."
"Did he say what went wrong?"
"He just said he wanted to run a few tests."
"Is anyone else here?"
"Lucas. Mrs. Pennington didn't think I should drive."
"What about your mom and Natalie?"
"Mom was out there too. But, actually, I don't know where Natalie is."
"Go out and let them know I'm okay."
"Hales…"
"I'll be fine. Go. They must be worried."
"Okay. I'll be back," Nathan walked towards the door.
"Nathan…"
"Yeah," he stopped.
"Find out when they're going to put me in a real room."
"Will do." Nathan walked slowly down the hallway. He stopped at the nurse's station. "Excuse me."
"Yes Mr. Scott?"
"My wife was wondering when she'll be moved."
"After Dr. Potter sees her."
"Thank you." Walking out to the lobby, he saw that Lucas wasn't alone.
Brooke was the first to spot him, "Nathan!" she ran to him and embraced him tightly, followed closely by Peyton.
"How's Haley? We're so worried."
"She's going to be fine Brooke."
"We heard about the baby Nathan," Peyton whispered, "I'm so sorry."
"Thanks Peyton," Nathan hugged her then looked at Lucas, "Haley wanted me to tell you she's fine." He looked around, "Where's my mom?"
"She went to get Natalie. Deb said she'd watch her as long as you need."
"Where is Natalie?"
"Keith came and took her to the café."
"I'll have to thank him."
"I'm sure he didn't mind."
"Can we see her yet?" Brooke asked.
"She's going to be moved after we talk to the doctor. Then once she's settled you can go see her."
"You'll let us know as soon as that happens?"
"Of course I will. But right now I need to get back to Haley."
Nathan picked up the pace when he saw Dr. Potter walking toward Haley's room. As he approached the door he heard Haley speak.
"I'd like to wait for my husband. He should be back any minute."
"I'm here Hales."
"Mr. and Mrs. Scott, I ran some tests, and you're going to be fine Haley."
"Why did I miscarry?"
"It was nothing you did. You couldn't have done anything differently. Most women wouldn't have even known they were pregnant. They would've just thought they were having a heavy menstrual cycle."
"But what caused it?"
"The body has a way of sensing when there's something wrong with the pregnancy. Had the baby been carried to term, there would have been the high probability of serious birth defects or being still born."
Haley clutched Nathan's hand, "Will we be able to have more children?"
"Yes Mrs. Scott. There's nothing wrong with you. Lots of women suffer a miscarriage and go on to have several more children."
"When can I go home?"
"We'd like you to stay overnight. I'll come see you in the morning. But I'll tell you now, you're going to need a lot of rest."
Peyton was the last one in to see Haley that night, "So you get to go home tomorrow huh?" She shifted nervously.
"Yeah. It'll be nice to be in my own bed. The ones here suck."
"How long are you prescribed to be on bed rest?"
"A damned week. Does he not realize that my husband and daughter need me?"
"All three of you are going to be fine. Nathan is a very capable man. He's going to take good care of you."
"He can't miss school for a week Peyton. How am I going to take care of Natalie while he's at school?"
"We actually talked about it and came up with a plan, if you and Nathan agree to it."
Haley raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. We know you're both to stubborn to ask for help, but we thought maybe each of us could take a day off, and that would cover you all week. We'll take care of Natalie and help any way we can around the house."
"Peyton…"
"Let us do this for you Haley. We'll do laundry, wash dishes, make dinner, whatever. That way Nathan can still get his homework done too."
"I'll talk to Nathan, but I think that would be nice." She saw Peyton look towards the door, "Thanks for being here today Pey. I know how much you hate hospitals."
"Yeah, about that. I need you to promise me something."
"What's that?"
"I never want to have to visit a Scott in the hospital again. Since I've known you and Lucas, I've been to the hospital once a year, visiting one of you. What is it with Scotts?"
Haley smiled, "I'll talk to Nathan and Lucas about that, but I can't make that promise."
"Haley…"
"Peyton, I'm not going to have babies at home."
"Peyton laughed, "Okay, I'll give you that. I'll only come and visit if you've brought a new little Scott into the world."
"I can agree to those terms."
Peyton hugged her, "I should go. I'll come see you tomorrow."
Nathan slipped into the room as Peyton exited. "Did she tell you about their plan?"
"Yeah. What do you think?"
"I think we should let them do it. Lucas assured me that they would let us have 'family time' in the evening, leaving as soon as I'm home."
"What are we going to do about money Nathan? Hospitals aren't cheap, and I'm not going to be able to work for a while."
"We'll be fine Hales. I'll work extra hours on the weekend."
"At least I'll be out of bed by then."
"But you're still going to be weak. We're still going to need help."
"I'm sure Peyton, Lucas, and everyone else would be wiling to help."
"We're asking an awful lot of them. Maybe we can call someone to stay with us."
"We can't pay someone to stay with us Nathan."
"I wasn't thinking about paying someone. I was thinking more along the lines of family."
"That's perfect Nathan, we'll ask your mom."
"I was thinking more of your family."
"Who, Taylor? I wouldn't know how to find her anymore. Besides, you must remember what it was like when she stayed with us."
"Not Taylor, god not her," he saw Haley smile, "I was thinking about," he gritted his teeth, "Your parents."
Haley's smile faded, "as in the people who abandoned me? No chance in hell."
"Okay, we'll talk about it more in a few days. I'll try to come up with something else." Nathan kissed her forehead, "Its getting late. You should get some sleep. I'm going to see if they'll let me stay here."
"No Nathan. Go get Natalie and sleep at home. I'll be fine. Just please being her when you come get me tomorrow."
"I will do that. I love you."
"I love you too."