No one could answer that; no one could speak after that either. At least not for a while. Karen popped her head in really quick, "Brooke, we will be in the waiting room if you need us, okay?"

All she could do was nod her head. Karen took that and followed Lucas and Peyton to the lobby, and they waited. That was all that was left for them to do. No words could be spoken to make the situation any better, no actions either. So they sat there, praying, and that was all that they could.

"Haley, I am here, please just open your eyes for me."

After a few more seconds, Brooke got what she wanted, Haley squeezed her hand.

"Haley, just open your eyes."

Then she heard it, she got to hear what she had been waiting to hear, "Brooke," it was faint but the room was silent, so it was all that could be heard.

"I am here, Hales, I am here."

"Brooke, I need to know…something."

"Anything, what is it?"

"Am I going to be…okay?"

"Of course you are Haley, who have you been talking to? Because someone must be messing with your head. You are Haley James; you are the strongest girl I know, the strongest girl that Tree Hill has seen. You are going to make it."

"'Cause I got you," Haley gave her a weak smile.

"Of course you have me, but do not give me any credit, your strength is all your own. I just learned a few things from you. You helped me out and now I am helping you out, that is all."

"You don't give yourself enough credit for your strength."

"I am the weakest person you will ever meet."

"And the strongest."

"I am as weak as they come, I cannot make any right choices, and I have made so many mistakes. I cannot do anything right. I am a failure. I have nothing to my name, other then my parents' money. That is all that I have ever had, nothing real though, nothing for anyone to remember me by. Honestly, we graduate in two months right? You are going to be remembered as the smartest girl in our grade, who was also the famous Haley James. I mean how many kids can say that a rock star went to their high school? Peyton has her music and her art. She was also a cheerleader. So she will be remembered as the punk rock cheerleader. She leads her nights at Tric; she has something, anything to her name. Lucas, a shy bookworm who came out of his shell and joined the varsity basketball team. I mean he has got his stories to tell or not be told, but there is no way that any girl would forget those blue eyes. And come on he is always going to be a legend in this town. Two mothers, two brothers, one father, that is the Tree Hill we know. But me? I am forgettable. Who is going to want to remember the school slut? There is no need to remember me. I am just simply forgettable."

"I could never forget you. If one person remembers you Brooke, just one person, then you are not simply forgettable. Someone is always going to be thinking about you."

"How are you doing, Haley? What are you feeling right now?"

"I feel weak, I feel broken, and I feel lost."

"Haley, do you know why you are here? Do you know happened to you?"

"Yeah, I remember, I passed out at the beach that is all."

"No, no, that is not all, Haley. You were unconscious, not sleeping, unconscious, meaning that we could not get through to you. There was nothing that we could do to help you. And I know that you felt weak, and I know that you thought that you couldn't make it anymore. But as much as it hurt emotionally, physically you couldn't take it anymore. Your body couldn't take your pain any longer. Haley, you weren't eating, your body couldn't take it, your body shut down on you. This is serious stuff; this is serious damage that you have been doing to your body and your life. I know that your heart was broken, everyone could see that, but at the rate that you are living your life, it could honestly be the end of you. Why weren't you eating?"

"I have, honestly."

"I don't believe you; picking at your food is not eating it. That is all that you have been doing, even Lucas noted on it. It is not healthy, especially for a growing girl, especially for a girl as small as you."

"It wasn't intentional."

"I didn't think that it was, Haley. But you cannot live your life this way anymore. You have got to eat; you have got to move on with your life. Nathan may have broken your heart, but you have got to be the one to put it back together again. This is no longer your pain to be felt, it is his. It is your heart now, Haley, it is all yours."

"Is it really that easy? Just walk away, walk away from the love I thought was going to last a lifetime? We said our vows, and we vowed to love each other until death do us part. Is this death?"

"It might as well be with the way that he has been treating you. And the way that you have been treating yourself. 'Cause if you do not do something soon Haley, like let Nathan go, your death is going to be imminent at age 18."

"Don't say that, that is scary. That is not how it is supposed to be."

"Well it is the truth, and you need to hear it. I don't want to lose you Haley, and this might be selfish, but I don't think that I could live with out you in my life. And there are even more people in the lobby that feel the same way that I do. You are better then a broken heart, you are better then Nathan, you are your own person. You are your own you," Brooke looked at her, she was scared, she did not know if she was going to be okay, she did not know if she was going to be able to do it. There was no one there to help Brooke mend her broken heart, and she was still feeling it daily. So she was praying to God that if she was there for Haley, that she was going to be okay. That is all that she really wanted anyways.

"You are not going to lose me, I am right here."

"I know that, and I can see you laying there. But you are not okay when you are hooked up to numerous machines, they are the only thing keeping you alive right now, your body was so weak that it cannot fit anything that comes in contact with it. So it is all up to you whether you are going to make it or not. 'Cause, I am afraid that your body has failed you." Haley didn't say anything, so Brooke took in this picture one more time, "Haley, I really wish that you could see yourself right now, the bed it basically absorbs you, I cannot even see you."

"I am right here."

"Yes, you are," Brooke got up and kissed Haley on the forehead, and then she stumbled backwards, "Whoa, buddy."

"Are you okay, Brooke? What is the matter?"

"Nothing is wrong, I am just exhausted, it has been the longest day. Do you even remember this morning?"

It seemed like a lifetime ago, but it was just that morning that Brooke had seen her cry, her morning tears more prevalent each day. Was it really only that morning that she stood in the rain with the hope of happiness? The rain always seemed to bring Haley and Nathan closer together, not today, not this time.

Then it hit Brooke, she never got to confront Haley about the mark on her neck, it was more visible now. It only happened the night before; it was not going away anytime soon. "Haley, what happened to your neck?"

Haley really wasn't expecting it, nor was it on top of her mind. She took her weak arm to her neck, seeing if it really was still there. "Nothing really that important, Brooke, I mean it doesn't even hurt."

"I do not even care if it hurt or not, the only thing that I care about is that you did not have it when we went to Tric last night, and you had it the next morning. So either you had a really crazy dream that you do not want to talk about, or something happened last night. I think it might be the latter, Haley. What happened last night?"

"Gavin threatened me, that is all."

"What? Haley, he threatened you? What do you mean by that?"

"The show was about to start, and Gavin was no where to be found. So I went to the back room, I know I was not supposed to go back there, but I needed to. I walk in and I see Gavin, I see Peyton, and I see cocaine. Peyton was gone, so far gone. And Gavin did not want me repeating this to anyone."

"So what happened to your neck?"

"He just held on and he wouldn't let go."

"Oh my gosh Haley, he could have killed you."

"Honestly, I thought he was going to, maybe it would have been better though."

"Stop it, are you kidding me? Haley, death would not have been the answer, especially at the hands of Gavin. No, never think that again."

"He has so much power, so much power over me, and he doesn't even know me. He knew all my pain that I was feeling and he took it and twisted it. I never thought that I could feel more pain like that, but he took it even further. He told me what I should be feeling, and it was dead on. He told me that I did not deserve this life, that I should have just stayed away. I mean I ruined the lives of everyone that I loved. Should I have really stayed away? He made me wonder. What have I done?"

"You are a girl that followed her dreams; nothing that he said can ever change that. I never had anyone in my life tell me follow your dreams, but I have seen a lot of movies, and that is what everyone wants, Haley. Just to be able to say I followed my dream, my passion, and hey you know what, I was good. I made it, I accomplished the feat. There are a lot of dreaming people out there, but not a lot of dream followers."

"That is what I always thought, but after I left I realized that I wasn't carrying around the love I thought I once held in my heart. I realized something else as I walked around and felt a lot heavier, pain weighed more then love. I do not even know if I ever took it all in. I mean I was touring with Michelle Branch and Gavin DeGraw, mainstream artists, and all I could think about was Nathan and his diminishing love. What dream? The only thing that I was thinking about my forever with Nathan, each day forever was getting smaller and smaller. I called him; I called him so many times. And when he did not pick up, I thought he might not be there, maybe he moved on with his love. But I couldn't completely give up on my forever. I told Michelle Branch and even Chris Keller, thank you for this opportunity, but I am only 17 years old, I want to graduate high school, I want to have friends. I know that I got married when I was 17, and that is a pretty adult move, it is funny, but being on the tour just didn't seem like the right choice. So I came home and I needed to see for myself if my husband really stopped loving me. And I found out that he did. I just couldn't take it. I should have just stopped; I should have just given up when he wouldn't tell me that he loved me back. He might have never loved me at all, and I just have to live with it."

"Whose life are you living?"

"I couldn't even tell you anymore."

"Well then something is not right, and something needs to be changed. If you are not living your own life, then it means that you give up. And Haley James does not give up, not on anyone, not on herself."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I am sure about it Haley."

"How did we get here? Because you see if I had known this is how it would have turned out, I would never have believed you. Brooke Davis in my hospital room by my side, never in a million years. Peyton with a one named cocaine addict. Lucas Scott breaking a girl's heart. Nathan not loving me. And me in a hospital bed grieving a broken heart from a boy I never thought I could ever love, ever love. Ha. Who thought of this one? Life never goes the way that you think it is going to go."

"It would be too easy."

"I never thought that I would say it but sometimes I wish I could just take the easy way out. Go back in the past; never have helped Nathan when he came to me. Or if I didn't see past him then, when he told me that he was just going after me to get back at Lucas, I should have said goodbye. Then I would not be living with a broken heart. I would just be a tutor girl nerd, fighting the world with Lucas. And my dreams would still be there, but just a little further away, and never music, the only reason that I went anywhere with music is because Nathan made me sing to him once. It took one time and I had a new dream. I never wanted this dream. Maybe something would have changed about Peyton's life and yours. Maybe just maybe if I could change something about my life, then it could change everyone else's."

"Lucas would never have gotten close with his brother, Nathan could have pushed him away, and Lucas could have quit basketball. Lucas loves basketball. Would you really want him to miss out of that? And just because you turn back time, it will not change the fact that Peyton lost two mothers and the man that she loved. You have no control over her life."

"I could have been there for her more."

"That is what we all want to say, that is what we all want to do. If we cannot fix our own life, then we want to go back and fix the people that we care about lives. It does not happen like that."

"If Nathan never went after me to get back at Lucas, then Lucas would have never been put in the popular world, and he could have never broken your heart. Lucas is my best friend, but he is a guy and I have not come across that many guys who know how to handle a girl's heart. I am sorry that he hurt you."

"Haley, Haley, you cannot do this, you cannot go back in the past and fix everyone's lives somehow. That is not how it goes. Yeah you could go back and change things but you know what it would change a lot of other things. If you went back in the past, you would have never have moved out of your parents house, and we would have never have been roommates. We would have never had what we have now. And I know that this is selfish because the alternative for you is a full heart, but I am selfish person, and I do not know if I want the world changed."

"What happens if you could go back to a time where you could tell your parents how you really feel? What happens if you could live a life with loving parents?"

"Haley, I don't know, I really don't know. I couldn't tell you if living with loving parents would actually made me happy. Would I have my freedom? I mean I know I am not a big fan of my lack of childhood, but Peyton and her dad gave me the best replacement childhood I could ever ask for. Some people are not as lucky as I have been, I had something, and some people never do. I really was not alone all the time. I guess I have to look back and not take the entire negative and just look at the positive. No, I did not have parents that were active in my life but I had the Sawyers. Maybe Lucas broke my heart, but I have never felt love any other way. And I met you. I mean life is never going to be perfect; I just have to take it how I get it. I do not know maybe if we were allowed to change the past, our future would be more screwed up them before."

"Then I have just have to take it as it was dealt. Maybe there is more love in my future, maybe I have yet to feel it."

"We really don't know, Haley."

Peyton decided that it had been a little while, and among the three of them, she volunteered to see how the two of them were doing, "Hey," she said knocking on the door gently, "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, come in, Peyton," she stepped in and Haley noticed the cast on her arm, "what happened?" Haley asked totally confused. Why does Peyton have a cast on her arm, what happened to her?

"Let's just say I got into a little altercation."

"With Gavin?" Haley asked pretty sure of the answer.

"Yeah with Gavin. We just got into a little argument, it should have never have happened, things just got out of hand."

"You are sure as hell right that it got out of hand, but more then just a little, you had a concussion and a broken arm, which is a little more then just out of hand."

"Gavin did this to you? I knew that he was not a good guy. I cannot believe that he came back into my life."

"What are you talking about Haley?" Brooke asked her, looking at Peyton, both of them very perplexed.

"Taylor, my older sister, she dated him. He was older, she was wild, my parents disapproved, so it was a perfect match, or that is what she thought," Haley told them a little more about Gavin and Taylor's relationship, whatever that consisted of, "Taylor always did pick the wild ones, but she always seemed to pick the ones that hurt her too. When I saw Gavin reappear in my life, I decided to let what I knew about him slide, slide for the moment. A few years had past and he could have changed, he never knew me, he didn't know that I was Taylor's sister. So I gave him a chance, and then I realized that he was dating you, Peyton, and I was afraid, afraid of what he might do. But there was nothing that I could do; we lost you a little while back. And whoever he was now, he really didn't change. But I had to give him that chance; you always have to give someone a chance. What happens if no one ever gave you a chance? Where would you be? Everyone deserves one, you never know that chance could bring you happiness or a heart filled of love. But you don't know unless that chance is taken."

"Gavin's mother died before his graduation day, after that he was never the same," Brooke said it aloud, she really did not know why, but she did, and it was out there. She looked at the now confused faces of both Peyton and Haley, and she owed them the story that she knew. And she did.

"Gavin's father treated Haley?"

"Yeah, and he is a good guy, he never wanted his son to hurt, he had to grieve enough from the death of his wife, he never thought he would lose his son as well."

"We didn't write the books, I think that is the lesson that we learned from all of this, the thing we like to call life, that thing that likes to paint us the pictures."

"So where do we go from here?"

"Change, another path."

"So when do I get out of here?" Haley said looking all around at all the wires that were keeping her her.

"Well you have to get better first, right now I doubt you could even walk out of here without support."

"Well I bet you couldn't either, I saw how weak you were, Brooke."

"Please, can you just look at the day that we have had, two friends rushed to the hospital, two broken hearts, revelations revealed, paths lost, yeah it has been kind of a rough day."

"Yeah and like you said Peyton and I ended up in the hospital we do not want you to join us for a stay."

"I am totally fine, just tired."

"Well I talked to the nurses and they said that we are only allowed one visitor at a time and Karen really wanted to see Haley. You need a break anyways."

"Are you really one to tell me what I need?"

"Brooke, are we going there? I know you are upset, but right now you do not know what you need right now."

"Brooke, she is right. Even though Peyton and I have had hospital visits, we are not suffering as much as you have. I mean seeing your best friend on a gurney, having to see me at the beach. I mean that is heart wrenching, unforgettable things, and that is a lot to deal with by yourself."

"Fine, fine if you want to get rid of me so bad then fine, I will leave," there was no reason for Brooke to all of a sudden get so angry but it just happened, it did not matter how many times she released her tears today, nothing mattered, no matter what she did the pain did not go away. It would not go away. And she did not want to feel pain anymore. Brooke got up from where she was sitting and she came crashing back down.

"Brooke," Haley called her name in desperation trying to get up from where she lay, but Peyton had to go over and stop her.

"Haley, no, no, just lay here, just lay down."

"Brooke, Brooke," Haley called, "Peyton, do something, help her," Haley was worried, she knew that the weight of the world was going to crush Brooke one day, was it this day? Was it today?