Chapter Four
THE NEXT DAY. AFTER THE SURGERY.
Nathan sat in Haley's room, waiting for them to bring her back from surgery. A few seconds later, there was a light knock on the door. He already knew who it was before she entered. Brooke Davis had one of those kind of knocks that was different from anyone else's. She poked her head in the doorway, saw that Nathan was there and walked in. Lucas came in right behind her. Nathan smiled. Brooke had never been the shy type. He assumed that's why she was the one to open the door to see if anyone was in the room. "Hey, Nate," she said brightly. He smiled at her.
"Hi," he said.
"Haley's not back from surgery yet?" Lucas asked, gesturing to the empty bed.
"Nothing gets past you, does it, Luke?" Nathan asked sarcastically. Brooke went to the door and grabbed a basket with ribbons tied around it. "What's that?" Nathan asked. Brooke smiled proudly. She set it down on the night table that was right next to the bed.
"This is a 'Get Well, Tutor Girl' basket," Brooke said. Nathan looked at her incredulously. "It's designed specifically for her. It's got a pen and a pad of paper for her to jot down lyrics. Or math equations. Whatever. It's got decent Instant Coffee. There's also a few drawings from P. Sawyer. Lip gloss, ponytails, and a brush from me," Brooke started to explain.
"Lip gloss?" Nathan repeated. Lucas looked at her in amusement.
"Brooke, she's in the hospital. I don't think she's going to need lip gloss," Lucas said.
"On the contrary, Broody. The hospital is depressing enough. Her looks don't have to be depressing too," Brooke explained. Lucas and Nathan both laughed. Then, the door opened and Peyton and Jake walked in. Jake was carrying a basketball in his hands.
"That's not for Hales, is it?" Lucas asked, gesturing to the basketball.
"No. I just picked him up at practice. He wouldn't leave it in the car," Peyton explained.
"So, where's Haley?" Jake asked.
"They're bringing her back from surgery in a few minutes," Nathan explained.
"Isn't she going to be groggy?" Peyton asked.
"Yeah. She'll probably want to sleep for a while," Nathan asked. Peyton slapped Nathan on the shoulder.
"Then, why did you call us down here!" she exclaimed.
"I need your help. I'm planning a surprise for Haley and I need your help," Nathan said. Brooke raised her eyebrows in intrigue. "I talked to Keith and Karen and they're ok with this," he added.
"Ok with what?" Brooke asked.
"After their wedding, I want to renew mine and Haley's wedding vows," Nathan said. "You and Haley are back together?" Luke asked.
"We talked about it this morning and yesterday. We agreed that the past is in the past and I realized that after almost losing her, I don't want to live without her anymore," Nathan said.
"Aww," Brooke gushed. Nathan rolled his eyes.
"That's great, Nathan. But what do you need our help for?" Jake asked.
"I actually just need Brooke and Peyton's help right now," he said. Peyton and Brooke looked at each other in surprise.
"I need you to pick up her clothes," Nathan said.
"Why doesn't she just wear what she was going to wear on Sunday?" Lucas asked. Nathan bit his lip.
"That's what I mean. Her car was brought to Keith's body shop so I was hoping you two would grab it from there and get it dry cleaned because it probably doesn't look that good now," Nathan said.
"And what will you be wearing?" Peyton asked.
"That's where you two come in," Nathan said. Jake and Lucas looked at each other worriedly. "I want to stay with Haley as much as I can right now. Do you think you guys could go pick it up my suit from the house and bring it here?" Nathan asked.
"Why?" Jake asked.
"Because Haley and I already agreed that we'll come from the hospital to the wedding and I don't want to leave her alone right now," he said. Lucas laughed at him.
"Of course we'll help you out," Brooke said, jabbing Lucas in the gut with her elbow. They said their goodbyes as Haley was being pulled in on a gurney. The orderlies gently lifted her and put her in the bed. She was out cold from the anesthesia. The nurse came in after and started an IV in her left wrist.
"What's that for?" Nathan asked.
"Pain," she replied before leaving the room. Nathan stood up and walked over to Haley's sleeping form. He put his hand on her forehead and ran in through her hair.
THIRTY MINUTES LATER
Nathan was sitting at a round table reading when Haley opened her eyes. She smiled. She just looked at him. He was concentrating so hard on whatever it as that he was reading. It looked like a sports magazine. No wonder he looks so involved. He's reading about sports, she thought to herself. She stretched in the bed and as her right leg slowly extended as her left leg did, she laughed. Nathan instantly turned his attention to her. "Hey, you're awake," he said smiling widely. "Nathan, I can move my leg!" she exclaimed in excitement. Nathan got up and watched as she bent her right leg. She winced in pain. "Are you alright?" he asked. "Yeah. It's just stiff, that's all," she replied. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Well, you know how when your foot falls asleep and when you walk on it, it hurts?" Haley asked. Nathan nodded. "That's kind of how it feels. It's just the muscles in my leg that are making it hurt because I haven't used them in a while," Haley said. "That's great, Hales," he said coming around and sitting on her bed. He pulled her close to him and hugged her. She winced but responded and hugged him back.
TEN MINUTES LATER
The doctors came in to talk to them for a few minutes. They said that Haley had to take it easy. No sports. Haley had laughed and said that wouldn't be a problem since she wasn't athletic to begin with. Nathan asked if she could still go to a wedding the next day. The doctors had looked at each other slowly and then nodded as they told them that as long as Haley got a lot of rest before she should be able to go. Nathan felt like he was on cloud nine right now. It seemed like a miracle that Haley was able to use her leg and there were no other injuries that she had sustained from the accident, other than the concussion. "Haley, we need to talk," Nathan said a little more seriously than he meant to. Haley looked afraid. She looked down.
"Nathan, it's ok. You don't need to say anything. I understand," she said sadly. Nathan looked at her in confusion.
She caught the look and said, "Now that I'm ok, you're going to go back to your life. It's alright. You did a good thing. You stayed with me through a tough time and I'm thankful. I appreciate it. I know that the accident doesn't change everything that happened in the past few years. I didn't expect you to just forgive me." Nathan looked at her in disbelief. She was actually serious. She brushed her hair out of her face and sighed. She started to pull out a pad of paper and a pen. Nathan took them away.
"Is that really what you think?" he asked, looking at her. She wouldn't meet his gaze. She nodded. "Haley, I did not stay here out of some sense of obligation," he said. Haley looked up at him in surprise.
"Then, why did you?" she asked.
"You honestly don't know?" he asked, smiling. Haley looked at him expectantly. "I stayed because I love you," he said.
"You what?" she asked.
"You heard me. I meant what I said. I haven't been happy since you left. I've pretended that I've been ok, but I wasn't. I thought about you all the time after you left. Yes, I admit that I was angry. I was pissed and for a while, I thought that I didn't need you to be happy, but that's because I was hurt that you left. Another reason is because I was stubborn. I didn't want to admit that I needed you. Luke, Brooke, Peyton and Jake. They all said that I should just call you, but I didn't want to. Why do you think I ripped up the annulment papers?" he said.
"I thought you just didn't want it to be as if our marriage never existed," Haley said.
"No, that's just what I told you," he said.
"So, you were serious when you said that you wanted to give our marriage another try?" Haley asked. She seemed almost afraid to hear the answer. He smiled.
"Yes. I'm so serious that I want to renew our vows tomorrow," he said. Haley smiled.
"Uh, Nathan, tomorrow is Karen's and Keith's wedding," she said.
"So?" he asked.
"So, we can't renew our vows when we have a wedding to go to. A wedding that we're both a part of," Haley pointed out. Luke and Nathan were Keith's best man while Haley was one of Karen's bridesmaids. Nathan's mom was her maid of honour.
"We can after the wedding," he said. Haley looked at him in confusion. Her eyes widened when she realized what he was talking about.
"Did you do something?" she asked. He smirked.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. I talked to Karen and Keith and the priest and they agreed to let you and I renew our vows after their ceremony," he said. Haley smiled and threw her arms around him in excitement.
