Family (Chapter Three)
It was almost three in the morning when Lucas was finally allowed in to see his brother. He walked into the hospital room and shook his head as he sat down. The whole situation felt surreal. Both Haley and Nathan had collapsed. While the doctor had a pretty good idea of why Nathan had. Exhaustion or being overworked, he said. It was a common thing among athletes, he said. If it was so common, why hadn't it ever happened to him or some of the other guys on his team? Lucas wondered. Nathan was already dressed in a hospital gown. The nurses must have been heavy weight champions to be able to get the gown on Nathan. He wasn't that much bigger than Lucas was, but he was in good shape and he was strong. He looked like he was just sleeping.
The doctor assured Lucas that Nathan's vitals were good and that he was stable. Lucas took some comfort in that, but not a lot. If Nathan was ok, why wasn't he waking up? And what was wrong with him? The doctor had said that they'd run some tests on him. A few seconds later, Brooke walked in. "How'd you get in here?" he asked. This hospital was always very strict about letting only immediate family members in.
"I told them who I was. I am your wife, after all, Lucas. I merely explained to them that you would need me at a time like this," Brooke said. Lucas nodded.
"How's Haley?" he asked. Brooke shrugged. "You didn't talk to her doctor at all or go into see her?" Lucas asked in disappointment.
"Oh, I tried, believe me. But the nurses kept saying, 'Immediate family only'," Brooke said.
"Did you explain to them that the only immediate family Haley had around is also in the hospital as a patient?" Lucas asked.
"I tried to, but they shooed me away before I could finish explaining," Brooke said.
"I should go check on her," he said.
"You need to be with Nathan right now," Brooke said.
"Nathan is going to want to know where the hell Haley is when he wakes up. And when he finds out that she collapsed too, he's going to want to know if she's alright or at least, what's going on with her," Lucas explained. Brooke smiled.
"I'm not completely brainless, Luke. We called Taylor and in the meantime, Peyton's trying to convince them that she's one of Haley's sisters," Brooke said.
"Well, I'm going to go see her," he said. He got up and walked towards Nathan. He leaned in closer and whispered in his ear. "Don't worry, Nate. I'll go find out what's going on with Hales. And I'll be right back. I'll get your mom to spend time with you," Lucas said. Lucas walked away and out of the room. He walked down the hall towards the admitting desk/nursing station.
"Can I help you?" a nurse asked.
"I'm here to see Haley James," he said. This would make it easier to get him to see her.
"And your name?" the nurse asked.
"Lucas Scott," he said.
"I'm sorry. Only immediate family is allowed to visit a patient," she said.
"I am family," he said. The nurse looked at him doubtfully. "Technically," he said. She looked at him in confusion. "See, she's my brother's fiancée," he explained.
"Then, your brother will have to come and see her," she said.
"He can't," Lucas said. The nurse scoffed.
"Well, then, this girl has a lot more problems than we thought. Her own fiancé won't come to see her when she's sick. Maybe she should reconsider marrying him," the nurse said angrily.
"No, you don't understand. He can't come see her because he collapsed too. He was brought in at the same time as her," Lucas explained. The nurse's face softened.
"Look, I feel for you, I really do, but the rules are the rules. I can't let you in to see her unless you are an immediate family member," she said. He started to say something but she cut him off.
"And her future brother-in-law doesn't count," the nurse said.
"Come on. The doctors think Nathan will wake up but they don't know when it will be. It could be a few hours, a few days or even a few minutes, but the point is that he's not awake right now. But when he does wake up, don't you think he's going to want to know how his fiancée is doing when he finds out that she collapsed?" Lucas asked, hoping that he was appealing to her.
"And I understand that, I really do, but I'm not going to lose my job over this. When your brother wakes up, he can come and see his fiancée. I'm sorry," she said before turning away. He stalked away and went back to Nathan's room where everyone seemed to have gathered.
"How's Haley?" his mom asked.
"Hell if I know," he replied angrily.
"What's wrong, Luke?" Keith asked.
"They won't let any of us see Haley because we're not her family, even though her fiancé is lying unconscious in the same hospital!" Lucas exclaimed.
"Too bad she signed those annulment papers," Dan said. Lucas glared at him.
"So not the time to push me, Dan," Lucas warned. "How is he doing?" he asked, gesturing to Nathan.
"The same. They still don't know what's wrong," Deb said.
Haley yawned before she opened her eyes. "Nathan?" she asked, reaching out to feel him but she panicked when her arm wasn't on their bed anymore. She opened her eyes and realized that she was in a hospital. Oh, no. I'm in hell again, she thought to herself. She looked around and was surprised to see that no one, especially, Nathan, was in the room with her.
"Nathan?" she cried out really loudly. She took the nurse call button and pushed it three times in a panic. Where was Nathan? She wondered. A few seconds later, the door opened and a nurse came running to check on her.
"Are you alright, Miss?" she asked.
"No, I'm not alright! What the heck am I doing here? And where in the hell is my fiancé?" Haley exclaimed. The nurse checked her chart.
"Apparently you collapsed at a party here in town and they rushed you to the hospital," the nurse explained. In the back of her mind, she felt an alarm go off, but she ignored it. There was something more pressing than what was wrong with her right now.
"And where's my fiancé?" she asked.
"What's his name?" she asked.
"Nathan Scott," Haley replied quickly. The nurse faltered as she bit her lip.
"What is it?" Haley asked.
"Well, your fiancé was brought in with you," she said.
"Yes, I figured that. He'd want to ride in the ambulance with me. But where is he now?" Haley asked.
"No, you don't understand. He was brought in a separate ambulance," she said. Haley's eyes widened in fear as she said, "He's a patient. He collapsed at the same party." Haley started shaking.
"What room is he in?" she demanded. She started ripping the IV out of her arm and took the breathing tube out of her nose and threw on the robe that was left at the bottom of the bed.
"Whoa, what're you doing?" the nurse asked, stopping her from taking the IV out.
"I'm going to find him," Haley said.
"Now, hold on, Miss. You collapsed and we still don't know why. Besides, you're not strong enough to go walking through the hospital," she said. Haley shook her head.
"I don't care about what's wrong with me. I just want to know if Nathan's alright, so, either you can go get me a wheelchair or you can get the hell out of my way because there's no way you're going to stop me from seeing him," Haley warned.
FIVE MINUTES LATER
Haley wheeled herself down the hall towards the admitting desk to where Nathan was being kept. He was on the same floor, but on the other side. "Can I help you, Miss?" a nurse asked.
"I'm looking for my fiancé's room," she said.
The nurse nodded as she asked, "What's his name?"
"Nathan Scott," Haley replied. The nurse nodded.
"He's right down the hall. I've got to tell you, your fiancé has a very large group of people in his room," she said. Haley nodded. So, that's where everyone had gone. They'd gone to see Nathan. Haley knew that they would never be able to see her since none of them were biologically her family. She had been to Tree Hill's hospital before around the time she had been diagnosed with leukemia. She shook her head.
"Yes, but none of them are me," she said. The nurse smiled as she nodded. Haley started wheeling down the hall and turned to the last door on the left. She was surprised to see that no one was waiting in the hall. They were probably in Nathan's room. She opened the door and wheeled in.
"Haley, you're awake," Brooke said. Haley nodded. She ignored Lucas and everyone else and started to go to Nathan's side, but Dan blocked her way.
"Do you know what happened to Nathan?" he demanded. Haley shook her head.
"Well, how could you not know?" Nathan's grandfather asked.
"Because I've kind of been unconscious," Haley explained as if the questions were ludicrous. Lucas cracked a smile. Haley's heart caught in her throat as she looked at him lying in the bed, not moving or speaking. She wheeled closer and put the brakes on the chair. She wiped her tears away and grabbed Nathan's hand. "Nathan, it's me. It's Haley. I'm here now," she said to him. She kissed his hand and brought it to her heart and held it there. She turned to look at Lucas. "What tests are they running?" she asked.
"I don't know," he said, shaking his head.
"Haley, did they find out what's wrong with you?" Peyton asked. Haley shrugged.
"You don't know?" Brooke asked. Haley nodded.
"I left before they could run tests," she replied.
"Haley!" Brooke exclaimed.
"What if there's something seriously wrong with you?" Peyton asked. Haley shrugged.
"I'm fine. I'm awake and I can talk and walk," Haley explained.
"But what if there was an underlying cause?" Lucas asked.
"Then, I'll deal with that if and when it happens. Until then, I'm staying put," Haley said.
"You're not serious. Haley, you could really be sick. People don't just faint for no reason. You've got to be worried," Lisa said.
"Of course I'm worried, but it doesn't matter right now. It's Nathan that matters right now and until I know what's wrong with him, I'm not leaving his side because it's where I belong," Haley said.
"He has his family here to be with him," Lisa argued. Haley shook her head.
"There's one thing you're forgetting," Haley pointed out. Lisa looked at her expectantly. "I am his family," she said, "And I'm not going anywhere."