Chapter 4

Brooke sat at the kitchen table in Haley's house listening to the steady hum of the water running as Nathan took a shower in the next room. Haley was still asleep and they didn't want to wake her yet. It had become almost routine: her and Nathan either crashing at Haley's place or coming over early and meeting for breakfast before going to visit Lucas. It had been a little over a week since the accident and the doctors predicted he could wake at any time so they spent most of their free time there. The sound of the water stopped, signaling that Nathan was almost ready. Brooke leaned back in the chair and thought about the past week. Maybe it was true; you don't know who your real friends are until you really, truly need someone. Haley and Nathan had been great through everything. Brooke knew she'd been completely out of it the first couple days. Now everything seemed calmer, somewhat more normal. Her sister's funeral, three days ago, had been beautiful. Nathan and Haley had been ready to swoop in and save her at any given moment and she loved them for it, but the funeral had a completely different effect on her that she thought it would. She'd been dreading the funeral because of all the emotions and memories she knew it would bring but instead of grief afterwards, Brooke felt a little relieved. She'd talked for almost twenty minutes to Alex's friends and family and her special connection with her sister for the past couple days was revealed. She had read an entry from her sister's diary at the service, explaining how happy Alex had been with her life and how much she loved her family and friends. After the accident, Brooke knew what to look for. She found Alex's diary hidden under her mattress and read it cover to cover, looking for some insight into her sister's feelings. There were things written about her family, gossip from school, and lots of things about Lucas. Brooke missed her sister, and would give anything to have her back but the funeral had at least given her a piece of her sister that she could hold onto and keep forever.

"Morning, sunshine!" Nathan called to her laughing, walking into the kitchen.

He pulled open the cabinet and took out the cereal.

"Morning, Nate." She answered.

He walked over and hugged her.

"You okay today?" he asked her.

She nodded, pulling back and sitting down. Nathan had become almost like an older brother to her the past few days, always making sure she was okay.

Nathan poured their cereal and set the 3 places at the table.

"Hales! Get out here, baby!" he called loudly.

Minutes later, Haley emerged from Lucas's room, dressed and ready. Brooke had pretty much taken over Haley's room and Nathan had been crashing on the couch a lot so Haley had moved into Lucas's room. Haley's Uncle Keith had come by during the week two or three times, just to check in for their mom. They usually ran into him at the hospital too. Since Karen couldn't get time off from her cooking school in Italy until the next week, Keith had been taking care of everyone for her. Keith seemed to be the one person Karen trusted enough to check up on them all.

"Morning Brooke! Morning, Nate!" she called out.

She hugged Brooke before leaping into Nathan's arms kissing him quickly.

"Mmm. Morning, babe." He said.

"Ooh! Get a room lovebirds!" Brooke said laughing.

Haley smiled. It seemed like so long since they could joke around and laugh. She knew that the situation was still very real and hard to deal with but they were managing now, helping each other get through it and making things more normal.

"Oh…my mom called last night. She's coming back at the end of next week." Haley told them.

Nathan smiled at Haley.

"That's great, Hales. I guess you'll want us to move out, right?"

"Yeah, Haley. You sure your mom's okay with having me and Nate stay here? Or should we pack up and hide our belongings in a closet?" Brooke asked, joking.

Haley laughed and put her hand on Brooke's shoulder.

"She'd fine with it. Considering new circumstances, I don't think she cares."

Nathan nodded and went back to his cereal. He loved Haley and it was hard to see her hurting and not be able to help her. He was hurting too. Lucas was like a brother to him and it had been hard to keep Haley's spirits up the past few days. Today was different, he practically knew Lucas better than Lucas knew himself and today was different. Today Lucas was going to come back. He didn't know how he knew, but he did and he was extremely excited.

"You almost ready, babe?" Haley asked clearing the dishes.

"Yeah! Let's hit it!" he said smiling.

The three locked the house and piled into the car preparing for yet another day.

---

Haley sat by her brother's bedside reading a book while Nathan and Brooke sat on the couch fighting over the remote control.

Would you two pick a channel, please! The boy called from the corner.

"Shut up, man…I'm trying to save us from watching Lifetime."

"C'mon guys! It's a great movie!" Brooke whined.

Nathan wriggled the remote away from Brooke and quickly tossed it across the room to the others. Tim Smith, a teammate and friend of theirs from school made the catch and smiled his goofy grin at Nathan.

"I got it, Nate!" he said, clearly proud of his catch.

Before he could change the channel he was whacked upside the head with a pillow and the blonde girl on the floor wrestled the remote from his hands.

"Ha! Good job, Tim." Peyton said to him laughing.

She quickly changed the channel to a music video station and left it there, placing the remote on the table.

"There! Agreed?" she asked, looking around the room.

The guys looked at her, still irked about missing the basketball game but nodded.

"Good." She said smiling.

Nathan looked around and smiled. The room was full today. Besides Haley, Brooke and himself, they'd gotten together some of their friends to hang out today, even if it was in a hospital room. Brooke and Haley's good friend Peyton Sawyer was there, trying desperately to wiggle her way onto the couch. Tim Smith, a member of the Tree Hill Ravens basketball team with him and Lucas was there, goofing off as always. Jake Jagelski, Peyton's current boyfriend was there. Nathan saw Jake put his arm around Peyton who was sitting in his lap. He caught Peyton's eye and smiled at her. He knew she was happy- it had been awhile since Peyton had a steady boy friend. He'd gone out with her a couple times before he dated Haley but they never really hit it off. Three of their friends from the rivercourt were there: Fergie and Skills and Mouth. Fergie and Skills were piled onto the couch and Mouth sat in the other armchair rocking Jake's daughter Jenny. Brooke went over and sat next to Haley by Lucas's bed and put her arm around her.

"Hi friend" Brooke said softly to Haley, smiling.

Haley laughed and hugged her.

"You hungry?" Brooke asked.

Haley grinned and nodded.

"Alright! Decision made! Time for food everybody!" Brooke shouted happily.

Nathan got up off the chair and went over to Haley.

"C'mon y'all. Let's go get food!" Nathan called out.

Slowly, everyone rose to their feet.

"I get to ride shotgun!" Tim shouted, racing out the door.

Everyone laughed as Fergie chased him down the hall.

"You gonna stay here, Brooke?" Nathan asked.

She winked at him and nodded.

Earlier that morning, Nathan had confided in Brooke about his suspicions that Lucas would wake up today. Brooke didn't quite understand why Nathan had such a strong feeling about it but figured it was wishful thinking and agreed that she would make sure someone was always with Lucas today. She grabbed the remote and sat down in the chair by Lucas's bed, waving goodbye as everyone left the room. Peyton came over and hugged Brooke before picking up Jenny's car seat and leaving the room. Haley and Nathan waved to Brooke and shut the door behind them.

Brooke smiled to herself and switched the channel to the Lifetime movie she'd wanted to see and settled into her chair.

---

Lucas slowly opened his eyes and the harsh light formed tears in his eyes. The world around him was blurred and he shifted his eyes, trying to focus. The figure sitting next to him moved slightly.

"Luke?" she asked.

He smiled slightly and nodded, immediately regretting the movement as his head banged and the slightly unfocused world around him seemed to rock back and forth. He closed his eyes again for a moment and opened them, focusing on the figure beside him.

"Brooke…" he whispered, his voice raspy and soft.