Hey guys! I swear one of these days I'm going to get one of these chapters up in less than I week! But thank you all for dealing with my slowness… hahaha I love you guys! Enjoy this chapter! Thanks to Kaela as always!

Lucas sat on the edge of his bed thinking about what had just happened. Peyton was pissed at him, Megan was pissed at him, and Brooke was pissed at him. It sucked, but maybe now he'd at least have some time to rest like the doctor had said, since he wasn't exactly following the no stress rule. He could feel his chest tighten, then loosen… tighten to the point where he thought he was going to pass out, then loosen up again. It seemed like every time this happened it got worse and worse… it had been going on for months now… since he had broken up with Brooke. At first, just the occasional streak of pain… then there'd be nothing for days, then it started coming more frequently to the point now it was happening every 5 minutes or so. He tried not to worry, the doctor had said it was common… but common or not, it still hurt like hell.

Nathan walked with Peyton up towards the dorm, telling her all about his newest Haley drama. She was seeing someone. He hadn't met him yet… but from the sounds of things he was nice… smart, corky… Haley's perfect type. And of course Nathan hated him. It did make him feel better to talk to Peyton. She was such a good listener these days, he guessed it was from watching all the people have to listen to her over the past few years. He was just glad to have her around…She wasn't like Lucas, who was critical of everything he did, or Brooke… who pretty much had no idea what was going on in his life. And she definitely wasn't Haley… which was exactly what he needed right now. She was just Peyton. Whatever that meant, and at this point he didn't care.

"Do we really want to go back now?" Peyton asked dreading going back in the room. Brooke and Megan had probably killed each other by now…

"What do you mean?"

"I'm just saying… if we go in there, we're going to get stuck in the Brooke/Megan cat fight of the century… worse than Brooke/Rachel if that's possible"

"Any chance they'll both take their shirts off and start making out?" Nathan asked stopping before opening the door. The look on Peyton's face was priceless.

"Um… probably not, but if one of them thinks there's a chance it will get them Lucas, there's always a chance I guess"

"We're going in"

"You're such a… Lucas!" Peyton shrieked catching Nathan off guard. He saw himself as a lot of things, but Lucas definitely wasn't one of them.

"Lucas?"

"No Nathan… Lucas!"

"Damn it… what, did they try and kill him?" Nathan asked seeing Lucas on the floor. He wasn't moving… and was completely pale.

"No… it's his heart, call someone, Lucas… can you hear me?"

"He's out cold… but he's breathing"

"Nathan!" Peyton cried throwing him her phone. Why did it have to be her to find him? She wasn't good in a crisis! She'd probably pass out herself, Brooke was always the one who handled these things, although she was pretty sure Brooke wouldn't have taken this particular crisis any better than she was.

"Right…"

"Lucas… come on…"

"Is he alert?" Nathan asked following the instructions of the 911 operators. They were asking him so many questions.

"Does he look it to you?"

"No… Ok they want to know if he's breathing"

"His chest is moving, tell them he has HCM!" Peyton yelled. Apparently Nathan wasn't good in a crisis either.

"He's got HCM"

"Come on Lucas, you cant do this before you knock Brooke up once and for all ok?" Peyton asked hoping the pure shock value from that line itself would wake Lucas up, something… anything!

"They're on they're way"

"What now?"

"We wait"

Brooke sat outside her dorm room messing with her hair. The guilt had hit her about half way back, and now she couldn't figure out what to do. Yes, she had totally over reacted… but the way she saw it, she had every right. Lucas knew how she felt about lying, and he also knew how she felt about him… and him lying about something that that meant 1 of 2 things… It was more serious than he was letting on, or he was just an ass. Ok, so maybe both were true… either way she figured she should probably go back and talk to him, make sure he was really ok. But she'd at least wait until later tonight when she knew Megan was nowhere around to screw things up as usual. Right now… she needed some serious stress relief… like shopping. And since Peyton was with Nathan doing whatever they did all the time, and she wasn't exactly speaking to Lucas yet. That left Haley, of course she wasn't the most fun to shop with… but at least it was someone. Maybe she'd make it fun and surprise her at Yale. She hadn't seen the place yet, but she had heard that the shopping wasn't all that terrible.

Peyton and Nathan waited in the ER. They'd been there for what seemed like hours. Peyton had called everyone she could think of… Karen, who was on her way. Megan, who sadly was also on her way… and Brooke who she couldn't get in touch with for the life of her. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Part of her thought Lucas needed Brooke there, the other part knew Brooke didn't need to see Lucas like this… with tubes and completely out of it. It might give her a heart attack.

"I feel like we should be doing something" Peyton sighed. She was getting antsy… just sitting there felt wrong, like they were waiting for the grim reaper or something.

"You called his mom right?"

"Yea, she's on a plane right now"

"And you DIDN'T call Dan right?" Nathan asked, double-checking that Peyton hadn't gone too phone crazy.

"Right"

"Brooke?"

"She's not answering… but I called Megan" Peyton said, then started to wonder why she'd done that. It made her feel so much better calling people, like she was helping… that she just kept calling.

"Why?"

"I don't know… I panicked?"

"I don't like that Megan chick" Nathan finally said. In fact he kind of hated her. She was the Haley on speed. Regular Haley was good… Psycho Megan was like crazy clean over protective Haley times 100.

"How come?"

"I mean at least Brooke was fun, sure she got Lucas into some trouble sometimes… but so what? At least they were happy… now they just…"

"Look like they want to shoot up and die?" Peyton asked remembering Brooke's favorite saying.

"Yea… you don't think he?"

"No… god no! Nathan!"

"I'm just saying… love can make you do some stupid things, like I don't know… my car accident" Nathan said giving Peyton that look. He hadn't ever admitted to anyone before that that's what the accident had been about. At least not until now…

"It's his heart Nathan"

"Are either of you family?" A doctor asked walking up to Nathan and Peyton carrying a chart.

"Friends… his moms on the way, how is he?"

"Stable, with a change of medication he should be fine in a week or so, but since it is his heart we are going to keep him here for a few days, just to be sure"

"Can we see him?" Nathan asked

"He's in intensive care right now, which means family only… but once he's out"

Brooke skipped through Haley's dorm. It was so much nicer than hers it made her sick! Her teachers always said she should get good grades… in the long run it would be worth it. They seemed to be right. Yale was nice, all the guys were hott, rich and smart… She'd definitely been wrong about Yale. When she finally found Haley's dorm, she knocked 3 quick times… and opened the door without waiting for a response. After all it was Haley… at least that's what she thought until she saw what she had walked in on.

"Haley!" Brooke shrieked covering her eyes. This had to be the grossest thing she had ever seen… she wanted more than anything to get out of the room, but that meant taking her hands off her eyes and seeing the grossness again…

"Brooke!"

"Ew…"

"Whose that?" Haley's mystery man asked nervously.

"My friend Brooke"

"I'm gonna go…"

"Brooke… wait" Haley said throwing on her bathrobe to chase after Brooke.

"Come find me when you're a little more… I don't know dressed?"

"Is she going to tell anyone?"

"Give me a second" Haley sighed shutting the door behind her.

"So… I can call you tutor slut now right?"

"Brooke"

"Haley! He's like old!" Brooke whispered

"He's not old Brooke, he's 28"

"That's old! Why is he still in college at 28?"

"He's not…" Haley said not looking Brooke in the eyes. Brookek couldn't believe this. Haley James Scott James whoever she was now… with a teacher!

"Your teacher?"

"Sort of"

"EW!" Brooke whined trying to get the disturbing images out of her head.

"Brooke… come on, its not like you haven't done equally as…interesting things"

"Name 1!"

"Chris Keller" Haley shot back. This wasn't nearly as bad as Brooke and Chris.

"I was drunk! You're not!"

"Felix!"

"I was… horny! Haley!" Brooke whined still trying to comprehend all of this.

"Brooke…"

"Does Nathan know?"

"He knows I'm seeing someone…but he can't know he's a teacher, Brooke he'd freak out! Probably get me kicked out and Jackson fired, no one can know Brooke!" Haley was almost crying now. Brooke didn't know what to do, help Haley out and not tell Nathan? Or basically lie to everyone for Haley.

"What happened to being in love? Being married? Your morals?"

"So I have to have morals and you don't? How many guys have you slept with since you broke up with Lucas?"

"One…" Brooke started but Haley broke in.

"See?"

"That one being Lucas! Are you in love with him?"

"I do love him" Haley whispered, again not looking Brooke in the eyes.

"That's not what I asked…"

"Am I in love with him like I was Nathan? No…but that's not the point, I could be with more time, is that your phone?"

"Its Peyton…"

Karen rushed into the hospital and found where Nathan and Peyton were sitting with another girl. None of them were crying or looked too incredibly upset, just tired… so she guessed that was a good sign. There was no sign of Brooke or Haley anywhere, another good sign she guessed. If neither of them were there it couldn't be but so bad.

"Karen…" Peyton smiled hugging Karen. She looked so worried, Peyton could only imagine what her flight must have been like… worrying and not knowing anything.

"How is he?"

"He's ok… we haven't seen him, he's in intensive care right now so family only but the doctors said he's going to be fine"

"Thank god…" Karen sighed giving Peyton another hug.

"I'm Megan… Lucas's girlfriend"

"Hi…"

"I'll take you to his room… I scoped it out when I was going to the bathroom. They just wont let me in" Megan smiled, dragging Karen away from Nathan and Peyton.

"Thank you"

"Maybe Karen will kill her for us" Nathan whispered as they walked off.

"So you're Lucas's girlfriend?"

"Yea… we actually had a fight earlier, I feel so bad"

"I'm sure it will be okay… Lucas doesn't go out with just anyone" Karen smiled stopping at the front desk.

"Only family past this point"

"I'm Lucas Scott's mother"

"Right this way" The nurse said pointing Karen to Lucas's room.

"It was nice to meet you Megan" Karen smiled giving the girl a quick hug. She seemed nice, of course she had had no idea that Lucas even had a girlfriend at this point, but at least he was moving on.

Peyton and Nathan waited quietly… that is until Brooke finally got there. Her face was covered with tearstains and she had to have been going at least 90 to get there that fast. Peyton was just thankful she'd made it there herself, and not in some ambulance like Lucas.

"Peyton" Brooke cried rushing over to where everyone was sitting.

"He's ok Brooke… come here" Peyton said grabbing Brooke tight. She hadn't seen her like this in a long time, not since the last time Lucas had been in the hospital.

"You're sure?"

"Definitely…"

"His moms in there with him right now, I think she likes me" Megan smiled. It was taking everything Brooke had not to slap her.

"Have you guys seen him?"

"Family only still, he's awake though, Karen came out earlier and said he was talking and laughing… they're just waiting for him a regular bed"

"I shouldn't have yelled at him" Brooke cried hugging Peyton again.

"Brooke it was his meds, not stress ok? Its not your fault"

"Family only huh?"

"Yea… meaning none of us can go in" Megan added as if Brooke were stupid.

"Hey Megan… I bet Karen's pretty hungry, why don't you go see if she wants to get some coffee or something. Get to know her"

"That's a good idea… Thanks Peyton"

"Peyton!" Brooke shrieked! This wasn't helping… Megan and Karen getting coffee just made everything worse.

"Go work your magic B. Davis… that way she and Karen will be out of there, and if we know Megan, she'll keep Karen gone for a good 2 hours"

"Thanks"

Brooke waited until she saw Karen and Megan walk towards the cafeteria together and then made her way down the hall. She wasn't exactly sure how she was going to pull this off. She sure as hell wasn't saying she was his sister… that might possibly scar her for life, and him if he ever found out, there had to be something else…

"Ma'am… can I help you?" The woman at the nurse's station asked, not bothering to look up from her charts.

"Yes… I'm here to see Lucas Scott"

"Are you family?"

"I… I'm his… um, fiancé" Brooke smiled. Why hadn't she thought of his before? It was perfect.

"Congratulations"

"Thank you…"

"When are you due?" The nurse asked looking at Brooke's stomach

"Excuse me?"

"You two are 18, I just figured…"

"Ohh… um like… June 7th?" Brooke asked. She had no idea what to say… she didn't want to sound suspicious or anything… she just wanted to get in there.

"Well congratulations again… here you go"

Brooke walked slowly into the room where Lucas was watching basketball… of course. He didn't look as bad as she thought, but she couldn't help but cry. He still looked bad… sick. IV's and tubes everywhere… things beeping. She felt like throwing up.

"Hey pretty girl" Lucas smiled seeing her walk in. He wasn't surprised, if anyone was going to break their way in it was Brooke. She looked so sad and nervous standing there, he could still see the tear streaks down her cheeks and her hands trembling.

"Hey"

"How'd you manage to get in here?"

"If anyone asks I'm your pregnant fiancé…" Brooke said trying to smile. She wasn't sure if he'd be mad or not.

"Smart…"

"Are you ok?" Brooke asked giving up, it was pointless to stand there and try not to cry, her eyes were already swelling with tears as it was seeing him lay there like that.

"I'm fine"

"You're sure?"

"Brooke…" Lucas whispered re-assuring her.

"You scared the hell out of me" Brooke cried, trying to catch her breathe.

"Come here…"

"Am I aloud?"

"There's a lot of rules in this place, but I haven't read one that says you can't come lay with me, besides when have you ever followed the rules?" Lucas asked sliding over to make room for her.

"Peyton called and left me like 20 messages… I didn't know what to think, I thought you were dead or something" Brooke cried laying down beside him.

"Do I look dead to you?"

"No… but close"

"Thanks…" Lucas laughed kissing the top of her head. It made him feel so much better to have her there, even if she was crying into his chest and causing all the monitors to go haywire.

"I'm sorry…"

"For what?"

"Everything…" Brooke whispered loosing it again. This was harder than she thought.

"Me too, Brooke don't cry"

"I was so scared"

"Me too…" Lucas whispered pulling her closed to his chest. This was exactly why he didn't want her to know, he wanted to save her from this.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want you to cry"

"Good job with that one…" Brooke said laughing a little and he wiped away from of her tears with his thumb.

"Besides, Peyton told me I wasn't aloud to die until I officially knocked you up"

"Then you should live for a good long time then…"

"Exactly" Lucas smiled

"I should probably get back, before your mom and Megan finish coffee or whatever"

"Stay here with me…"

"What about your mom and Megan?" Brooke asked knowing how bad things would get if they walked in and she was in bed with him… with his arms around her.

"What about them? I'm tired of doing what everyone else thinks I should do, ya know? The more and more I think about it, the more I think us not being together is completely pointless. So we date other people for 4 years and then the second we graduate we run off and elope?"

"At the Elvis Chapel?"

"Whatever you want… I'm just saying I don't need 4 years of dating random girls to see I'm in love with you, I've known that a long time… I want to be with you know Brooke Davis" Lucas whispered kissing her. He had almost forgotten how good it made him feel to kiss her, everything went away for those few seconds as they kissed. He knew he was just making everything that much more complicated but he didn't care at this point. All he cared about was her.

"Me too, but what about Megan?"

"What about Megan?"

"Its not her fault you're in love with me, that I'm so hott, and awesome and all of that good stuff, unfortunately I think she loves you too… and as much as I want to be your girlfriend again right now this very second. I also think you need to break things off slowly with her… ok?" Brooke asked. That had to be the hardest thing she had ever done. Asking Lucas to stay with someone else, someone she hated… just to cause her less pain. But she refused to be the home wrecker in this triangle; she still remembered how it felt to have her heart broken and she didn't wish that on anyone.

"Ok? I guess I should trust your girl ness…"

"You should…I refuse to be the Peyton in this little triangle…"

"I'll do it slowly" Lucas sighed, what was one more week? He didn't want to hurt Megan either.

"What now?"

"We sleep… I don't know about you but I'm worn out"

"I hear almost dying can take a lot out of you" Brooke laying against his chest so she could hear his heart. It always made her feel better to know it was beating.

"It's the truth… stay here?"

"Of course"