Brooke nearly forgot Audrina in the rush she was in. Grabbing her daughter and quickly strapping her into her stroller, Brooke hurriedly pushed the stroller towards the entrance of the hospital.
"LUCAS hurry up!" Brooke yelled, the tears already building in her eyes.
"Brooke" Lucas said. "Brooke" he grabbed her arm. "Brooke, listen to me. You need to be strong. We both do. Nathan-and Haley-need us now, ok?"
"I know" Brooke said, her voice trembling. "I'm so scared, Lucas, what if something goes wrong?"
It had been three weeks since Haley had been found collapsed on her bathroom floor by Nathan. After going to a couple of doctors, the diagnosis had been reached- an advanced form of mitral valve prolapse, known as mitral valve regurgitation.
Haley's mother, grandmother, and great grandmother had all been victims of this disease, but had never had it checked out. And now, Haley had fallen victim to it, the disease growing over the years without her knowledge and eventually settling into mitral valve regurgitation.
Mitral valve regurgitation is a disease that is not rare but hardly common in Haley's young age. Almost 21 and one of her heart valves was so diseased that it had squeezed shut, "regurgitating" the blood back into the heart. It had caused a minor heart attack. She had to have a valve replaced, and today was surgery day.
A worried and terrified Brooke had promised Haley she'd be there when she went into the surgery room.
"Nothing will go wrong" Lucas said, hugging Brooke close. "I know this is hard and I know we're all worried, but she'll be ok"
"And Nathan-" Brooke said.
"I know" Lucas said. "Mom's gonna come and take Audrina soon so we wont have to worry about her and Andy will watch her"
"Okay" Brooke whispered.
Brooke and Lucas entered the hospital and reached the right floor in five minutes.
"Nathan" Brooke said, letting go of the stroller and running over to hug him.
"I'm so worried" Nathan choked out, his tear stained face wrinkled with anxiety.
"I know" Brooke said. "I am too. The doctors said that it would be okay, that they've done it before"
"But there's something else" Nathan said.
"What?"
"She's pregnant" Nathan said.
"Oh my god" Brooke said. "And what's gonna happen to the baby?"
"They don't know" Nathan said, rubbing his eyes.
"Nathan…"
"Haley!" Brooke said, seeing Haley lying on the bed that was being wheeled towards Brooke.
"Brooke" Haley croaked.
"Haley, you'll be ok. I'll be here the entire time, ok?"
"Ok" Haley said, closing her eyes. "Nathan?"
"Yeah?"
"Always and forever"
3 hours later…
"Audrina…mommy will be back soon" Brooke said, sighing and handing a whimpering Audrina to Karen.
"Hey you wanna come with Grandma?" Karen cooed, kissing Audrina and taking her to her car. "Say bye mommy"
"Bye" Audrina said tearfully.
"Bye baby I'll be back soon" Brooke said, turning and walking at a fast pace back to the hospital.
"Brooke" Nathan and Lucas both stood up when she hurried in.
"What happened?"
"She's stable!" Nathan said.
"And the baby?" Brooke asked, afraid to hear the answer.
"Lost" Nathan said, looking down at his feet.
"Oh…Nathan…" Brooke said, hugging him.
"At least Haley's okay" Nathan said, sitting back down and rubbing his bloodshot eyes.
"Yeah" Brooke said. "When is she coming out of the operating room?"
"In like 15 minutes and then she'll rest and we can go see her" Nathan said.
"Okay" Brooke said. "You should go home and get something to eat, Nate" Brooke said.
"No, I wanna stay here"
"Nathan…you have to eat"
"I'm not hungry"
"Nathan…"
"Fine" Nathan shook his head, a small smile spreading across his face. "You've really become a mother since Audrina, haven't you?"
"I have" Brooke smiled. "Motherhood really changes you"
"Yeah, it would've changed Haley too if I hadn't caused her a heart attack"
"Nathan!" Brooke chided. "You cant possibly be blaming yourself for this!"
"I am" Nathan said.
"Nathan this was in NO WAY your fault" Brooke said.
"It was. I was the one who drove her mad with all my complaining and nagging. I was the one who didn't have enough time for her and wouldn't listen. And now I caused her this" Nathan said, dropping his head in his hands.
"That's not true" Lucas said. "Nathan…we all fight and we all cause each other stress but you didn't mean to and you DEFINITELY didn't have a part to play in this"
"He's right" Brooke said. "Don't be so hard on yourself"
"I'll try" Nathan laughed. "Thank you guys for being here"
"No problem" Brooke said, hugging him.
"Audrina, baby, what are you doing?" Brooke asked, laughing.
"Soup!"
"Baby, that's not soup that a mix of potato peels and pepper" Brooke laughed.
"Eat?" Audrina offered.
"Mommy's not hungry, baby" Brooke said, pushing the bowl away and grabbing Audrina. "Mommy just wants to tickle Audrina" Brooke giggled, tickling her.
"Daddy…" Audrina giggled, stretching her arms out, asking to be rescued.
"That's what you get for not giving me a good morning kiss, young lady" Lucas teased.
"I's sorry!" Audrina giggled loudly.
"Brooke leave my baby girl alone" Lucas laughed, grabbing Audrina from Brooke.
"Fine, poopy head"
"Looks like you and Audrina have switched places" Lucas said, helping Brooke up and kissing her softly.
"We are such a cheesy family, aren't we?" Brooke asked, kissing him back.
"We are…and I wouldn't have it any other way"
A/N: Sorry it took so long! Please review!