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Summary: Nathan returns safely home from war, only to be injured in a car accident. Will the accident bring his family closer together or tear them apart? Can his friends and family help him to deal with it before its too late? Naley, Brucas

Bruised
CHAPTER 6

Present Time

"I guess it would be different if I worked in an office or something." Nathan replied. "But my whole life has either been basketball or the Marines…and you kinda need legs for those."

"What else are you good at?" The man questioned curiously. "What did you study in school?"

"That's the thing. I kinda bypassed college. Joined the service right out of high school." Nathan answered with a frustrated sigh. "So its not like I have something to fall back on."

"Ok, well besides career wise…do you think your accident has changed anything?" He asked.

"No. Not really." Nathan said unsurely. "Maybe. I'm not really sure."

"What about with your family?"

"It might, with Andy." Nathan shrugged. "He is a five year old boy. He's gonna want to play with his father."

"And how do you think you'll handle that?"

"I haven't really thought about all of it yet." Nathan replied. "I'll do the best I can. And Lucas offered to help."

"Do you think Andy fully understands it?"

"Yeah…he does." Nathan said nodding his head. "He was there when it happened. And Haley and I explained it to him."

"And Haley…you've talked to her?"

"Ok, listen." Nathan stood up abruptly and balanced his weight on the back of the chair. "I don't know why I even came here. My relationship with my wife is no one's business but our own."

"Nathan." The man said standing up across from him. "I'm just trying to help you. A lot of times, things unsaid in a marriage cause trouble. I'm trying to prevent that."

"We done yet doc?" Nathan questioned stubbornly. The doctor sighed, wrote something on a sheet of paper and handed it to Nathan. "Thank you."

"You have to adjust Nathan." The doctor said stopping Nathan in the doorway. "It's going to take time; it's not just all going to fall into place." Nathan shut the door behind him and shoved the paper into his pocket.

One Week Earlier
as Nathan is being released

"For me Nate?" Lucas stood with his hands shoved into his lab coat pockets. "Just once, if you don't like it, you can stop."

"It's really for your own benefit Mr. Scott." Dr. Cotner, Nathan's doctor, tried to convince him.

"I don't need some shrink asking me 'how does that make you feel?' alright?" Nathan argued as he stumbled forward. Lucas reached out and steadied his body before helping him grab onto the side of the bed.

"Mr. Scott, after the incident you went through, its standard procedure to refer you to a psychiatrist." Dr. Cotner stated as he wrote something on a piece of paper. "Please, just think about it."

"I'll even go with you." Lucas suggested as he handed Nathan his crutches and stood readily incase Nathan stumbled again.

"Thanks Luke…but I don't need a baby sitter." Nathan smirked sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. "Can I go home now?" He asked expectantly.

"Yeah." Lucas sighed. "We just have to stop by the pharmacy first so I can get your medications. Haley will be out front waiting to pick you up."

"Thanks anyway Doc." Nathan smiled politely as he shook Dr. Cotner's hand. The doctor returned it heartedly and slipped the piece of paper into Nathan's shirt pocket.

"Just in case." He stated humbly before leaving the two brothers alone in the room.

"I wish you would listen." Lucas sighed. He held the door open and let Nathan walk through first.

"Can we just drop it?" Nathan begged as he started to become annoyed. "I don't need a shrink. Ok?" Lucas nodded with defeat and led his brother down the hallway.

Present Time

He slid the card through and pushed the handle downward all while balancing his weight on his crutches. He sighed as he placed them against the wall and fell back onto the newly folded sheets of the uninviting bed.

He rolled over and pulled his cell phone from his pocket at the familiar ring tone. 'Haley' flashed across the screen at the bottom of her picture. Should he answer it? She he ignore it?

He sighed unknowingly before flipping it open and pressing it to his ear gently. "Nathan, thank god." He heard her sigh with relief into the phone. He frowned when he thought about their argument and let his thumb wander upward and press the 'end' button.

He tossed the phone onto the nightstand before pulling himself fully onto the bed and resting his head against the pillow. He glanced at his watch: 6:36 pm. Saturday. He had been gone for three days, and still nobody knew his whereabouts; he had only talked to Lucas briefly.

Two Days Before

"Nathan, this is stupid." Lucas exclaimed into the phone. Brooke watched him intently as he paced back and forth relentlessly in the middle of their living room. "Haley's been calling left and right looking for you. She's worried sick man."

"I just…I can't go back there Luke." Nathan sighed wretchedly. "Just tell her I'm ok. And that I'll call her when I'm ready."

"What the hell…sorry Brooke." Nathan heard him whisper in the background. "What did you guys fight about that led you to leave?"

"Nothing, ok?" Nathan snapped with frustration as he ran his hand through his hair and down his face.

"It's gotta be something." Lucas pushed.

"She wishes she never married me!" Nathan yelled harshly. "She regrets our lives!"

"She didn't say that." Lucas stated with disbelief. "She wouldn't say that."

"She might as well have." Nathan countered back. "I don't want to talk about it alright? I'll talk to you later…bye." He said hanging up the phone before Lucas had a chance to respond.

Present Time

He glanced at the clock again: 7:51 pm. He had been laying there for over an hour just thinking. He reached over and picked up his cell phone and dialed his house number. Again he heard her voice. "Nathan. Please, come home. I want to see you, I want to talk to you." Haley pleaded as soon as she picked up the phone.

"Just put him on the phone." Nathan mumbled, ignoring her pleas. He heard her mumbled something back and then open a door.

"Hey sweetie…it's Daddy." She said with fake happiness in her voice. He could tell that she was putting up a façade for their son during his absence.

"Daddy!" Andy cried joyfully into the receiver. Nathan could tell, even if he couldn't see him, that he was smiling widely. "When are you coming home? I miss you."

"Well I miss you too buddy." Nathan smiled genuinely for the first time in what felt like forever. "I don't know when I'll be back. But I promise you, when I do, we'll spend lots of time together."

"Oh…ok." Andy whispered dejectedly; just the sound of his broken voice tempted Nathan to run home that instant. "You and Mommy were fighting, that's why you left, isn't it?"

"No, no buddy we aren't fighting. I had to work. My boss sent me away for a little bit. I wish I could be there, but I'll be back soon, ok?" Nathan replied.

"Yeah, that's what Mommy said too." Andy agreed skeptically. "Mommy says I have to go to bed now. Night Daddy; I love you."

"I love you too Andy." Nathan whispered lovingly. Nathan heard him hand the phone back and tried to prepare himself against the voice he knew would soon flood his ears.

"He misses his father." She stated significantly as soon as she exited his room. "I had to tell him you were away on work…he was wondering where you are at. So am I."

"Haley listen." Nathan said cutting her off for the third time that night. "I can't face you right now. Those things you said Haley…they got me thinking. I just need time."

"Nathan please." Haley begged him desperately. "I was just upset, and it spilled out."

"Maybe so." Nathan sighed as he stared at the ceiling ruefully. "But that doesn't mean that you didn't mean them."

"Nathan please come home." Haley tried again.

"I can't…not yet." He stated as he felt his walls starting to fall to pieces. "I'm safe Haley. I'm not in any danger. I'm just not ready to come home."

"Dammit Nathan…I didn't mean those things." She cried harshly and he knew she was crying for real.

"I gotta go Haley." He mumbled quickly before she made him cave in completely.

"I love you Nathan, despite what you make think." She stated hurriedly before he had a opportunity to hang-up. "I always have, and I always will. Always and Forever, Nathan. I meant it."

He debated whether to respond as his thumb rested once again against the 'end' key. He pulled the phone from his face slightly as he heard her sob through it. "Yeah…me too." He replied gently and then hung up.

Six Days Before
(The Original Fight)

"Nathan dammit…Stop being so stubborn!" Haley grumbled loudly as she threw her hands up heatedly.

"I'll stop being stubborn Haley, when you stop treating me like I'm a baby." Nathan challenged irritably. He hobbled forward and used the back of the couch to balance himself. "I'm twenty-five, not five."

"Tell you what Nate." Haley laughed sardonically. "I'll stop treating you like a baby, when you stop acting like one. How's that?"

"I am quite capable of doing things on my own you know..." Nathan bellowed loudly. It had been the same argument for a week straight, and the tension was starting to build between the two causing both to become quickly heated. "I don't need you hovering over me 24/7."

"I'm just trying to help, Nathan." Haley blew out tiredly. "Everyone has to adjust, I was just trying to make it easier on you. We all have to get used to this."

"Right, of course." Nathan smiled with a fake epiphany. He slapped his forehead mockingly. "I forgot. You have to give up your whole life too; silly me. I was under the impression that I was the one who had their leg chopped off."

"Stop it." Haley demanded. "Welcome to Adult Hood. Everyone here has had to make sacrifices too Nathan, not just you. So don't you stand there and act like you're the only one."

"Sacrifices…right." He smirked brutally. "What have you ever sacrificed Haley? Huh? I want to know, I truly do. Tell me."

"That doesn't even matter!" She argued back. "Don't start something you don't want to hear the answer to."

"No…finish what you started." Nathan encouraged menacingly. "Please, I'd like to hear what you've 'sacrificed'." He said using air quotations.

"Fine. You wanna know…I'll tell you." Haley suddenly became quiet as she adverted her eyes away from his piercing stare.

"That's what I thought." He laughed bitterly. "Face it Haley, you've never had to give up anything."

"Oh you sick bastard." Haley spat with a new wave of rage rushing throughout her body. "I haven't made sacrifices? What about getting married at 16? What about me giving up my music career for our marriage? Or, I dunno… Having a kid at 20? What about that?"

He stood silent, shocked by her sudden confession, but she didn't seem to notice his abrupt change in posture. "You're not the one who had to balance college and a teething toddler. You're not the one who had to stay up with a terrified five-year old who was scared to death to go back to sleep at night because he was scared to death about his father dying."

He leaned back weakly against the back of the couch and fought to keep his new surging emotions under control. "So don't you stand there and preach to me about sacrifices Nathan Scott…because you're not the only one that has had to give things up!"

He watched her timidly as her chest rose and fell rapidly with her growing anger towards him. His eyes locked with hers and he saw a fiery passion blazing behind them, and it petrified him. "Do you…Haley." He mumbled incoherently as he struggled to keep the welling tears inside. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"What Nathan…huh?" She bullied him as she poked her finger harshly into his chest. "What? You have nothing to say now?"

"Haley." He said barely above a whisper as he gently grabbed her hand from his chest and held it snuggly in his. "Are you not happy? I mean…do you regret our lives together?"

"Nathan I…" Haley matched his tone and quietness.

"No Haley." He cut her off as he twisted the small gold band on her finger absentmindedly. "Do you…Do you regret marrying me?"

"Mommy?" Andy whispered hesitantly as he inched into the living room in his pajamas. Nathan gently released her hands and allowed her to address their son.

"Hey sweetie." Haley said throwing a quick glance back up at Nathan before picking Andy up. "Did Mommy and Daddy wake you?"

"Why were you yelling?" He questioned curiously.

"Me and Daddy were just talking." Haley smiled gently in an attempt to assuage his fears. "Come on, let's get you back in bed."

He nodded slightly and held his arms out towards Nathan. "Night Daddy."

"Night buddy." Nathan said giving him a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead. "Love you."

Haley slowly stepped forward as Andy rested his head against her shoulder. She glanced back at Nathan who was watching her intently while fiddling with his wedding band. As soon as she turned down the hallway he grabbed his crutches, then the keys, and left.