Brooke hung up the phone and stood aside as the doctor finished checking over Lucas. She'd called Nathan to tell him he had been right and Nathan said they'd be there within the next hour.

"Miss Davis? May I speak with you a moment?" the doctor asked.

Brooke caught Lucas's eye from across the room and he smiled slightly. She smiled back at him and then nodded at the doctor following him into the corner of the room.

"How is he?" she asked softly.

"Considering everything, he's doing well. We'll watch him for the next day or two and access when we'll be able to send him home." He told her.

"So, he's okay?" she asked hopefully.

"Well, there is one thing we expected: he does have some memory loss." he told her.

"So, like, he doesn't know who we are?" she assumed.

"No ma'am. Nothing that severe. He just doesn't remember anything from the night of the accident. We expect that it will all come back to him as he heals." The doctor explained.

Brooke glanced over at Lucas and he had his eyes closed. She quickly turned back as she heard the door open. A small woman came in, smiled and nodded at the doctor and walked over to Lucas. Brooke watched as the nurse added another clear, plastic bag to the collection on them already hanging above Lucas's head.

"What is she doing?" Brooke asked nervously.

"Lucas is awake and responsive but he is still in a lot of pain. Now that he's out of the woods so to speak with his head injuries we can try to keep him comfortable. You are welcome to visit with him as long as you like but keep in mind the medicine will probably kick in soon, making him drowsy." The man explained to her quietly as the nurse finished and walked out of the room.

"I'll check in a little bit later, Miss Davis." He said leaving.

---

"Hales!" Nathan called across the family room of his house. He got her attention amongst the people and waved her over. They'd gone to eat and no one had to heart to go back to the hospital just yet so they'd all ended up at Nathan's.

"Hey!" she greeted him, taking a seat on his lap.

"Luke is awake…" he told her bluntly. He smiled slyly and looked into her eyes, awaiting her reaction. Her mouth dropped slightly and she stared at him, processing the news.

"Wha--? When?" she stuttered.

"Brooke just called. She said he's awake." He told her, excited.

"Eeee! C'mon!" she squealed, taking his hand.

Nathan slowed Haley's pace, telling Peyton on the way out to bring everyone else over later after Haley's had a chance to talk with Lucas. Peyton quickly agreed and spread the word throughout the house. Nathan grabbed his keys and tripped on the way out the door, trying his best to keep up with Haley.

---

Lucas watched as Brooke walked slowly over to the bed and carefully situated herself on the edge.

"Hey, Brooke." He managed to whisper.

"Hey you." She greeted. "Welcome back."

He smiled slightly and took her hand.

"How you feelin?" she asked.

"Been better." He responded, laughing a little. He felt the sharp pain in his side and looked at Brooke, slightly confused.

She looked at him sympathetically and scooted over, placing her hands on his stomach. She slowly raised up his shirt for him and he looked down. He slowly raised his hand and ran it over the tape. There was tape covering a row of stitches in his side and tape covering almost the whole left side of his chest. He ran his fingers carefully over the tape and noticed the bruising, causing him to inhale deeply, causing more pain in his chest.

Brooke noticed him wincing and pulled his shirt back down, taking his hand.

"The doctors said the medicine for the pain would kick in soon." Brooke told him reassuringly. "In the meantime, is there anything I can do?"

"Can you tell me what happened?" he asked softly.

Brooke's heart seemed to jump, not wanting to recap the days past but nodded.

"You know about…uh, you know about Alex, right?"

Lucas nodded, immediately regretting it as pain rushed to his head.

"After while, while I was out…I could hear everything, all of you in my room, the doctors and cops talking, everything." He said, barely audible.

"The doctor said you would probably get memory back from that night as you heal." Brooke said.

"I wish I could remember…it would make me feel better to know that I did something to try and stop it. I want to know that I tried to protect Alex…" he said softly.

"Luke, you did try! All of this, all of your injuries…you fought for Alex! The cops are saying it was murder and the only reason they left is that you were almost dead, Lucas!"

"But…" he whispered.

"No, Luke. I know you did everything you could…you loved Alex, Lucas. And she loved you! After the accident, I looked through Alex's diary and there were so many things about you Luke. Things about how much you cared, and how sweet you were, and how protective you were…you were the best thing to happen to Alex. I don't want you to ever blame yourself for this. Okay? Promise me…" Brooke pleaded with him sympathetically.

Lucas looked into her eyes and nodded. The pain came rushing back to his head and he lifted his hand to his temple, brushing against the gash on his cheek. He winced and laid his hand back down. Brooke scooted closer and ran her fingers gently over the bruises on Lucas's face. He closed his eyes, amazed at how much pain such little pressure was caused him, and tried hard to ignore it. He breathed in deeply and a sharp pain shot through him as the air seemed to stay frozen in his chest. He sat up slightly, trying to breathe comfortably and a new pain shot up his leg as the sling above the bed holding his cast shifted. He laid back and closed his eyes, biting his lower lip hard to keep from crying out.

"Lucas…?" Brooke asked concerned, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay…?"

"Yeah…" he whispered.

Brooke took his hand and slid onto the chair next to the bed.

"You need me to get the doctor?" Brooke asked.

"No thanks…medicine's kicking in…" he said, eyes closed.

Brooke nodded, even though he couldn't see, and sat back in her chair.

"Thanks, Brooke…" he whispered as his hand fell from hers onto the bed. His head turned and Brooke watched the steady motion of his chest as he slept.

---

Brooke sat in the chair outside Lucas's room and stared at the people in the waiting room. She looked up as someone's footsteps got louder coming from the end of the hall.

"Brooke!" Haley shouted, running to her, Nathan not far behind.

"Is he awake? Is he okay!" Haley asked quickly when she reached her.

Brooke stood and Nathan hurried to Haley's side.

"He woke up about an hour ago. The doctor looked over him and said that they're going to watch him for the next day or two to see when he can come home but the only thing is that he doesn't remember anything from that night…They said he'll remember eventually."

"So he doesn't know about Alex…?" Nathan asked, worried about breaking the news to his friend.

"He does…he heard a lot of stuff while he was out and we, um, we talked when he woke up about a lot of stuff. He feels guilty about what happened…I tried to talk to him but I don't think I really got through to him. He thinks he didn't protect Alex…" Brooke told them.

Nathan put his arm around Haley and she nodded.

"But he's okay, now, right?" Haley asked anxiously.

"He's sleeping now. The doctors had to give him something strong for the pain." Brooke explained.

"Can I go see him?" Haley asked.

"Yeah, go ahead…Nate and I will wait out here for a few minutes and then we'll come in."

Haley nodded and entered the room.

Nathan watched Haley go inside and then turned his attention to Brooke. She looked like she'd gone through a lot since they'd left. He walked forward and embraced her. She wrapped her arms tightly around him and let the tears fall for the first time since her sister's funeral. This time not so much for Alex but more for Lucas.

"You okay, Brooke?" Nathan asked cautiously after a minute or so had passed.

Brooke nodded and pulled away from him, sitting down on the chair by the door. Nathan took the seat next to her.

"He didn't deserve this, Nate…" Brooke told him, upset.

"Whoever it was, was out to get Alex…all he did was try and protect her. And now…he's in so much pain…and he feels so guilty for it." She said, wiping the tears beginning to fall.

"He's just having a hard time, Brooke…He's smart and knows how much this accident is going to effect him. He lost the girl he loved and he knows that he probably won't get to play basketball this season." Nathan told her.

Brooke nodded, leaning back against the wall.

"Lucas is like the brother I never had…we grew up together. If I know him, he's about to go insane not knowing what's really happened, Brooke. And Lucas…he could be cut in half and wouldn't want to show the pain he's in…being in this much pain, it's got to be hard for him…" Nathan continued.

"I know…I just wish we could help him more, ya know?"

Nathan nodded.

"Yeah…he'll let us in eventually…he won't be able to do this on his own. And I'm sure he already knows that…he's just going to have to get to that point first, though." Nathan told her.

"Well, you ready to see him?" Brooke asked.

Nathan took a deep breath and nodded.

"C'mon…" he said.

Hey everybody! I really enjoyed writing this chapter because it was the first time Brooke and Lucas really got to interact. I have some storylines bouncing around in my head but I don't know when they'll come into play...I don't know how long this story will be but if you keep reviewing, I'll keep writing! Please let me know what you like/don't like so that I can write better! Thanx so much for reading the story! I'll update again soon!  -Justine