Shattered (Chapter Seven)
Haley sat down at the cafeteria table with Peyton, Jake and Nathan. They were eating quietly, none of them really interested in speaking to the other people. Not because they didn't like them and not because they didn't have anything to say. It was mainly because the other students in the cafeteria were filling the room with enough noise that even if they did talk, it'd be doubtful that they would be able to hear each other. So they ate.
Then, Brooke came to the table and smiled at all of them. Peyton looked up at her and rolled her eyes. Haley had her books in front of her and was writing as she ate. "Aww, don't the two of you look cute," Brooke said, as she noticed that Nathan's arm was around Haley's shoulder. Nathan's arm tightened around Haley protectively as he glared at her. Brooke smirked in amusement. It was such a sight to see Nathan Scott so possessive of a girl. Not even a year ago, Nathan had been Mr. No Strings Attached and now he reminded her of her own steady boyfriend in a way. "Look, I'm throwing a party tonight and I really want all of you to come," Brooke said. Nathan looked at her doubtfully.
"Brooke, what are you trying to pull?" he asked. Brooke shrugged.
"Nothing," she said innocently. He turned to Haley who didn't even seem to be paying attention to the conversation. He shook her gently and her pen ran off the page. She turned her head to him and looked at him in annoyance. There was a line of ink running diagonally down the page. He smirked at her.
"What?" she asked, irritation sticking out in her tone like a sore thumb.
"I'm throwing a party tonight!" Brooke exclaimed. Haley looked at her for a minute. Then she turned to Nathan and shrugged at him. Brooke's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in shock.
"Haley, Brooke throws the best parties," Peyton explained. Haley laughed.
"Yeah, so I've heard," she said, still chuckling. "How many people get drunk and pass out at some random house?" Brooke looked at her for a minute.
"The parties are thrown at my house," she insisted. Haley shook her head.
"Oh, no, they're not. Lucas explained to me how you throw parties at other people's houses so that if the cops happen to show up, you can't be held responsible for anything that happens at said party," Haley said. Brooke's face turned crimson.
"It's called…" she started, but stopped because she didn't remember the term that her father the military official slash lawyer had thrown around so often.
"Plausible deniability," Haley finished for her. Brooke nodded and smiled.
"Thanks, Haley. But the point is that I was wondering if all of you were going to come," she said. Haley looked at Nathan who was looking at her for an answer.
"You can go if you want. I have to work at the café," she said.
"What time do you get off?" he asked.
"Ten," Haley replied.
"All right. I'll come to the café at a quarter to so I can take you home," he said. Haley smiled and nodded. Nathan turned to Brooke and smiled widely. "Count me in," he said.
"All right. What about the two of you?" Brooke asked, looking at Peyton and Jake. They both nodded. "Fabulous!" Brooke said and walked away.
"All right, class. Now, I've got some bad news for you," the English teacher said. They all looked at her in alarm. "This unit will come back to haunt you now. Next Friday will have your Shakespeare test," she announced. Most of the students groaned, which provoked a giggle from Haley. "I'm afraid that it's true. Now, most of you will be fine. For those of you who are partial to not studying for a test and hope to wing it the next day, I'm afraid that it won't work. You'll need to study for this one," she said. She explained that she had put together a review package that will guide them on what will be on the test and as she passed them out, there was a knock on the door.
She motioned for whoever it was to come in and people started murmuring when it was the police. Haley looked up with minimum curiosity and then looked down to the papers in front of her, took out a pencil and started writing answers that came to her right away. "Haley, I'm afraid that we need to talk to you outside," she said. Haley scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, but put her pencil down and stood up and followed her teacher and the two teachers into the hall, which was across the hall from the gymnasium. The doors were wide open.
Nathan, Lucas, Brooke, Peyton and Jake were all in the gymnasium. The Ravens were gearing up for their practice right after school. They had been pulled out of class early and whenever the basketball team was pulled out of class early. Brooke and Peyton happen to have a spare the fifth period and usually got started on practice for the cheerleaders near the end of the period. They looked into the hallway and noticed the police. Nathan looked at the others in confusion. They moved towards the doorway and noticed that Haley was with them.
"What's going on?" Haley asked, looking at the three of them. They all looked at each other knowingly and then back to her for a minute. Haley was getting impatient. "Did you really pull me out here for a staring contest?" she asked.
"I'm Sergeant Vaughn and this is my partner, Detective Farrell," the older of the two said. Haley nodded and shook their hands.
"We're sorry to ambush you at school like this, Miss James, but there's been a shooting," Detective Farrell said. Haley's eyes widened.
"Don't tell me that," she said, shaking her head.
"Your father was shot," Sergeant Vaughn said, confirming her fears.
"No," she said, shaking her head in disbelief.
"I'm very sorry," he said.
"No," Haley said. Tears sprang to her eyes.
"My father's not in town. He's not even in the country," she told them.
"He was carrying his ID," the detective said reaching out her hand to put it on Haley's shoulder in support.
"Then, it's a fake," Haley said, moving a step away.
"Your mother was with him," Sergeant Vaughn said. They then began to tell her that her father had been shot twice, once in the lower back and again in the gut. He was stable, but he was still in critical condition. He was at Tree Hill Memorial. Haley listened to them in a state of shock as she started crying hysterically. Her teacher moved to try to offer her a shoulder to cry on, but Haley backed away and refused to let any of them touch her and just hugged herself as she continued to cry.
As soon as Lucas saw Haley move away from them and start to shake uncontrollably, he instantly put away all of his anger towards her and rushed out of the gymnasium. "Haley, what's wrong?" he asked. Haley looked up at him through her tears.
"Luke," she forced out as he walked over and brought her into a tight embrace. He began to run his fingers through her hair and started mumbling that everything was all right. She was still crying. Nathan walked over to Haley and Lucas. He turned to the officers and looked at them in annoyance.
"What did you say to her?" he asked, every protective instinct instantly taking over.
"It's ok. He's her boyfriend," the teacher said. The police nodded.
"We just told her that her father had been shot and is in the hospital," the female cop said. Nathan turned back to Haley and put his hand on her shoulder and massaged it soothingly, letting her know that he was there for her. Haley, sheltered in Lucas' friendly arms, felt the warmth and comforting touch of her boyfriend and pulled away from Lucas. She attempted a small smile, but she was still crying too hard. She turned to Nathan.
"Come here. I'm here for you," he said, pulling her into a crushing and protective embrace and he held her as close as he could while she buried her head in his shoulder.
"Let it out. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere," he whispered to her. He could feel her tears soaking his shirt but he just tightened his arms around her and kept kissing her hair.
Haley, Nathan, her mother and her father walked out of the hospital three weeks later. "It's good to finally be coming home," Jimmy James said.
"Yeah, it is," Lydia said, patting him on the shoulder as she pushed his wheelchair. Haley had questioned her parents as to what had happened when her dad was shot, but every time, they either told her that she didn't need to worry about it or they changed the subject. It was really frustrating her and she and Nathan had a long discussion about what it could possibly be about. Nathan suggested that it was probably a case of mistaken identity.
"Or just wrong place, wrong time," he had said. When they got home, Lydia took Nathan aside as Haley talked to her father privately in the backyard.
"I want to thank you for everything you've done for us during the past few weeks, Nathan," Lydia said.
"It's no problem, Mrs. James," he said, shrugging.
"You didn't have to stay at the hospital as long as you did. We know you're a basketball player and that you've skipped a couple of practices to be there for Haley," Lydia said.
"It's really not a big deal. I explained the situation to the coach and he understood," Nathan said.
"Really?" Lydia asked in surprise. Nathan nodded.
"Yes, he's fond of Haley. Actually, a lot of people are," Nathan said proudly. Lydia smiled widely.
"She's always been a sweet person," she said, nodding in agreement. Then, they heard Haley scream.
"No!" Haley screamed and then they heard a few gun shots follow her scream. Nathan rushed out to the backyard and saw Mr. James on the floor and Haley sprawled on the grass beside him. Part of her was covering him.
"Jimmy!" Lydia exclaimed in terror. Mr. James moved his head.
"I'm not hit. I'm fine," he assured them. He moved himself up, but his daughter was stopping him from being able to get up all the way.
"Haley, it's ok now. You can get up," he said, smiling. When she didn't move, he nudged her. Nathan came closer and read the look of confusion on Haley's father's face.
"Haley?" Nathan said. He bent down beside them. Mr. James was looking down at the ground. "What's going on?" Nathan asked in confusion. Then he followed Mr. James' gaze and then he saw it. The blood pooling around Haley, soaking both her and her father. Mr. James grabbed his daughter's limp body in his arms and held her close.
"Haley, answer me," he said. The colour was draining from her face. "Lydia, call 911!" Jimmy exclaimed. Nathan tasted tears in his mouth and he leaned in closer.
"Haley?" he asked. He put his hand on her face and cupped it. "Haley? Wake up," he said, shaking her a little.
"Nathan, it's no use," Jimmy said. "She's not breathing," he added. Nathan shook his head and grabbed Haley out of his arms and performed CPR until the paramedics came. He didn't know if he had gotten a pulse, but they took her from him and put her on a stretcher. They intubated her and he could see them still pushing air into her lungs as her parents got into the ambulance. He grabbed his keys from his pocket and raced to his car parked outside.