A/N; I'm really really sorry for taking so long to update, I'm really having trouble finding time to write this. Anyway, for those of you dying to know what happens to Lucas, here you go…

CHAPTER 9

Bursting through the doors of the emergency room, Lucas was quickly surrounded by doctors and nurses throwing around words that Nathan didn't understand. His own questions went unanswered as his brother was wheeled into one of the trauma rooms and he realised that he hadn't called anybody to tell them what was happening. He whipped out his cell phone and placed a quick call to his mother who would track down Karen bring her to the hospital.

Twenty minutes later and the doctors still wouldn't tell Nathan anything about Lucas's condition. Just a few minutes before, the activity in the room increased when the machine beside the gurney had flat-lined and Lucas's heart had stopped beating. Nathan's throat constricted and his own heart stopped for a split second when he realised that he just might lose his brother. His stomach was in knots as he stepped back from the door as another doctor rushed into the room. This can't be happening. He thought to himself. Nathan had let himself breathe again after what seemed like forever when the machine once again picked up it's steady rhythmic beeping.

Karen Roe raced frantically up to the front desk of the ER, Deb beside her, and grabbed the first person who looked like they worked there.

"I'm looking for my son. Lucas Scott, he was brought here about 30 minutes ago." The clerk picked up a clipboard and scanned through the list of names.

"Let me see, Scott. . . A ha. The doctors are still working on him in Trauma 2. Let me get someone for you -" Before the clerk could finish, Karen was already dashing towards the trauma room, toward her son. She soon spotted Nathan, his face pressed up against the glass doors of Lucas's room.

"Nathan! What happened? Is he ok?" Karen followed Nathan's gaze into the room beside them. "Oh my God!" She fisted her hand and bit into her knuckles to stop herself from crying out. Deb reached out and steadied her.

One of the doctors emerged from the room and approached them. "Mrs Scott?"

Karen shook her head. "No, I'm Karen Roe, Lucas's mother."

"Ms Roe, when your son was brought in his heart was beating fatally slow. So slow in fact, that it actually stopped but we managed to get it working again." The doctor smiled warmly at Karen. "We've given him some drugs so his heart is beating normally. I'll need you to fill in some forms and answer a few questions, firstly if Lucas has a heart condition or a blood disorder? Anything like that?"

"No, he's a perfectly healthy seventeen year old boy." Karen thought for a moment, then something struck her and she turned to Deb and Nathan before addressing the doctor again. "Lucas's father has HCM, but Lucas was screened a few months ago and the test was negative. Could that be what's wrong with him?" she asked anxiously.

"I can't be sure of that, but I'll call cardiology and ask them to send someone down to assess your son. HCM is hereditary so it could be a possibility." The doctor went back into Lucas's room, leaving Karen, Deb and Nathan gaping at each other in confusion.

Hours later , Lucas was now in the ICU and visitors were limited to direct family only. By now, Haley, Brooke and Peyton had arrived and held vigil in the waiting room, refusing to leave in case Karen or Lucas needed them. Peyton tried her best to comfort Brooke who was crying quietly in the corner and Haley sat next to Nathan, there hands clutched together tightly. Deb paced up and down the waiting room, one hand on her belly and the other held her cell phone as she tried to reach Keith.

"Mom, sit down. You need to rest." Nathan said half-heartedly, knowing that Deb would ignore him as she had the last 3 times he'd told her to take it easy.

Karen emerged from the ICU with Lucas's cardiologist, aptly named, Dr. Harte. He began to explain Lucas's situation to her. "Karen, I'm afraid Lucas does have HCM. When he was screened a few months back the test was positive and Lucas was given prescribed medicine and was treated accordingly for about a month. However, after that for some reason he stopped. No more appointments were made with his father's cardiologist and several attempts were made to contact him."

"Why wasn't I contacted? He's only seventeen, I should've been called!" Karen said through gritted teeth. How incompetent were these people? She forced herself to keep calm, and listen to Dr Harte's explanation of Lucas's condition.

"Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, or HCM, is a condition caused by abnormal heart muscle. The heart muscle thickens excessively and this interferes with the normal electrical activity of the heart. It causes erratic heart rhythm, shortness of breath, chest pains, palpitations and sometimes blackouts, all depending on the severity of the condition. The muscle obstructs the blood flow from the heart so Lucas's heart slowed down considerably causing him to blackout. We ran an ECG and some other tests and luckily, Lucas isn't as bad as we had anticipated." Dr Harte noticed the collective sigh of relief and the change of atmosphere. "However, Lucas will need surgery. I would like to carry out a surgical metonym which means we will remove some the excess muscle. I would like to stress to you that this isn't a cure. There is no cure for HCM, just treatments to improve the function the heart."

"Do what you have to do, Dr Harte, anything to make him wake up and come home." Karen interjected, her voice cracking.

"There is risk involved, Karen. We're talking open heart surgery followed by a lifetime of drug treatment. I'll leave you to think about it for now. You and your family can discuss it with Lucas when he wakes up."

Karen looked at the small group after the doctor left, all of them close to Lucas in different ways. She shuddered at how lonely it was to be a single mother whose only child was lying in a hospital bed waiting for her to make a decision that either way could end his life. As if reading her mind, Deb took her hand and pulled her into an embrace. "You're not alone in this, Karen. Nathan and I are your family. We're not going anywhere." Deb whispered into her ear, not fully aware of how much her words meant to Karen.

Karen sat beside her son and clutched his hand in her own, watching him fight for his life for the second time in less than a year. How could he have lied to me about the screening? Karen thought angrily as she caressed his arm and held his limp hand.

The door opened quietly behind her and Karen turned to see Brooke slip into the private room. She smiled shyly at Karen, unsure of what words of comfort she could offer.

"Déjà vu?" Brooke joked. "I'm sorry for sneaking in, I know it's only supposed to be family but I couldn't leave without seeing him." Brooke approached the bed and leaned forward to kiss Lucas's lips.

"You are family Brooke. I'm really glad you're here, you always have been a ray of sunshine when I'm at my worst." Brooke smiled sheepishly at the compliment. She couldn't believe she was back here again, praying that her boyfriend would wake up and be ok.

"It probably doesn't make a difference, but he didn't tell me either. I'm going to have a long talk with him when he wakes up about his fondness for secret-keeping. No one keeps secrets from Brooke Davis." She kissed Lucas one more time before saying goodnight to Karen and heading home. Again, Karen heard the door open again, this time it was Deb who entered, two cups of coffee in her hand. Silently passing one of the steaming cups to Karen, Deb sat at the other side of Lucas, facing her friend.

"Let it out, Karen. Say what you need to say." Karen glanced at Deb but quickly turned her gaze back to Lucas. What was it with Deb reading her mind lately? Had they become that close?

"I'm angry, Deb. Angry at Dan." Karen's eyes hardened, her voice filled with rage. "He knew the whole time and now it makes sense why Lucas moved in with him. It wasn't just the Jules and Keith thing. He knew Lucas's life was at risk but he blackmailed him so he could get what he wanted. He made everything about him, as always, no matter what the cost. The cost just happened to be my son's life! And where is he now? He doesn't give a crap and he never did, or else he would have told me."

Deb had never seen Karen look so angry and who could blame her? Even though he was now out of their lives, he still found a way to hurt Karen and Lucas.

"Why didn't he just tell me?" Karen said, her voice barely above a whisper. Deb wasn't sure if she was talking about Dan or Lucas. Several moments of silence passed before Karen cleared her throat and spoke.

"When Lucas was 3 my mother passed away. She raised me by herself and so it made her crazy when I got pregnant after high school. More than anything, she wanted my life to be better than hers. She was so angry with both Dan and I." Karen smiled at the memory. "When I told her, she drove across town to the Scott's. She howled the place down until Dan came to the door and when he did, she broke his nose. Knocked him right out. Royal let her of course. In fact, he even iced her hand and offered her a brandy to calm her down. She was something else, she really was. When Dan left, she was there with me when I couldn't get out of bed for a week, she held my hand when I gave birth and she would run out to the 24 hour store at four o'clock in the morning when I ran out of diapers and Lucas was screaming.

When she died, it was like the entire world had crashed down around me. I'd never felt more alone in my life. I was 22 years old and I had a 3 year old kid to raise and a café to run by myself." Deb stayed silent and let her continue. "I've never told anyone this before, it was such a dark time in my life. You and Dan had just moved back to Tree Hill with Nathan and I was just so overwhelmed. One afternoon, Lucas was having one of his screaming tantrums and he just wouldn't let up. I'd spent the whole morning on the phone to relatives and the funeral director and I'd completely reached the end of my wits. I walked out. I just left him there and I went down to the river and sat down. I stayed for nearly and hour. I left my three year old son by himself, crying and scared. When I got back to the house, he was just sitting there, watching TV. He looked up at me and it was like he knew that I had abandoned him, like he knew that I wasn't good enough to be his mother." Karen wiped a tear from her eye and sniffed, afraid that if she cried again, she wouldn't be able to stop.

"Lucas is my whole life, Deb. If he dies, I'll probably go back down to that river and not come back. I have never ever regretted having him." She placed her hand on Lucas's forehead and stroked his thick eyebrow. "I can't lose him, Deb. I can't."

"You won't Karen, you'll see - he'll pull through. He's as stubborn and determined as his mother. He'll be back to his old self again in no time at all." Deb assured, although her voice wasn't entirely convincing. She reached across the bed and held Karen's hand for a few moments while they both watched Lucas breathe steadily. It was Deb's turn to make a confession.

"When I first found out about you being pregnant, I left Dan for nearly a month" Karen looked up suddenly at this revelation. She had never heard this before so she waited for Deb to continue. "I told him to go back to you and that I would have an abortion. My parents weren't as supportive as your mom was. They were horrified that their only daughter was pregnant while still in college and not even married. They didn't want anything to do with me unless I got rid of it. It seemed to be the only option and I even made an appointment at the clinic, but I just couldn't do it. I just thought screw everybody. Screw Dan, screw my parents and screw you." Deb laughed slightly and hoped she hadn't offended Karen. "I decided that that no-one was going to make my decisions for me anymore and that's why I took Dan back. I knew I was taking him away from you and Lucas but at that moment all that mattered was that my baby would have a father. I did encourage Dan to be a part of Lucas's life but it was like he was trying to prove how devoted he was to me that he sacrificed his son." Deb shifted her gaze from Lucas to see if there was anger in Karen's eyes but was relieved to find none.

"I feel like I'm in a church, confessing all my sins." Karen smiled and leaned back in her chair, letting go of Lucas's hand to pull her hair into a short ponytail.

"When Nathan was growing up, it always felt like he was Dan's child. We both worked so every spare moment we had was taken up by sports or camping trips. Sometimes I could go weeks without having a real conversation with my own son. It was times like that when I wished he also had Lucas in his life just so I could have some time with Nathan.

When a person reaches our age, I guess they begin to re-evaluate their lives and realise where they went wrong. Some people become bitter and dwell on all the bad choices they made and make other people suffer for it. Others, let it go and move on. They learn from those mistakes and try to be better for it. I hope I can be that kind of person."

Karen looked at Deb intently. "Can you believe we're reaching our late thirties? Sometimes I still feel 21 and then I look in the mirror and reality comes crashing down around me."

"Tell me about it. And just when I've raised one kid and can finally enjoy my freedom, I go and get myself knocked up." Deb and Karen both laughed and Deb stroked her belly.

"Are you ready to do it all over again?" Karen asked seriously.

Deb smiled wistfully and sighed. Her whole face was glowing. "More than ready. She's all mine and even though I'm a little scared that I have to do it by myself this time around, I can't wait. Besides, Kaylen is going to be an angel. My only worry is if Nathan and Lucas are ready for this. They're going to have their work cut out for them."

"Mom?" Lucas's voice interrupted the two women who jumped in surprise.

"Lucas, I'm here!" Karen leaned over her son and placed her hands on either side of his face. "I'm here baby."

"I'm sorry mom, I'm so so sorry." Lucas managed to mumble, his voice and thoughts blurred by the effects of his medication. Tears formed in his half open eyes.

"Ssshhh, don't try to talk, it's ok. I'm right here, everything is going to be ok." Karen glanced at Deb, both of them silently praying that this would be true.

At 2am, Nathan trudged back into his apartment, followed by Haley.

"It's been a long day." Nathan grumbled as he fell back onto the couch, his exhaustion obvious.

"Maybe we should've stayed. . ." Haley looked back at the door and thought about going back to the hospital in case Karen needed anything.

"There's nothing we can do Haley. We were just sitting there twiddling our thumbs. We'll go back in the morning. My mom will call if anything changes." Nathan reached out and brushed a few stray hairs from Haley's face and lightly stroked her cheek.

"Why didn't he tell us, Nathan? I know I wasn't around but did he really think there was that much distance between us that he couldn't tell me something so life changing?" Haley croaked, her voice raw from crying.

"That's exactly why he didn't tell anybody. Because his life would change so much and if there's one thing I know about Lucas, it's that he doesn't like to be held back by anything. He wants to live every day as it comes and not let everybody worry about him. I guess he didn't want to be a burden."

"But how could he be so irresponsible? He would never be a burden to anybody! That isn't the Lucas I know, it was Dan. That bastard controlled everything and he dragged Lucas into his nasty little world of secrets and deceit!"

Nathan winced at her sharp words. Haley didn't get mad often and she very rarely cursed. She was always seen as meek and mild, the good girl but when it came to those she loved, few dared to cross her. Her passion for the things and people she cared about was one of the things he loved most about her and missed the most.

"Nathan, are you ok?" Haley noticed that he was staring off into space, his expression blank.

"I don't know. This morning I was packing my bags to get as far away from Lucas as I could and now I'd give anything just for him to get through this even if he never talked to me again." Nathan covered his face with his hands and rubbed his eyes fiercely, not yet secure enough with his new relationship with his ex-wife to show his weaknesses. "You spend most of your life without something and then you get it and it's like you've always had it and you can't even bring yourself to imagine what your life would be like without it. Does that make sense? That's how this feels. Even when Lucas and I were fighting, at least he was there, but tomorrow he might not be. If worse ever came to worst, I knew I could count on him. There's still so much I haven't told him about my life yet and so much I want to hear about his." Nathan couldn't hold back anymore, all the frustration anger and hurt that was inside him felt like a volcano ready to erupt. "Haley, if he dies, he'll never know that I don't hate him and I don't blame him. Not for any of it. The truth is, my life only started to get better when he was a part of it. It sounds stupid, but I was an arrogant, cocky son of a bitch before and Lucas changed me. You and Lucas changed me." Nathan looked up and saw that she was crying too. "Please don't leave tonight. I'm not going to sleep much and I could do with some company."

Haley reached for Nathan's had and moved to sit next to him and into his arms. She lay her head on his chest and breathed him in, everything about him so wonderfully familiar. "I won't leave. I'll never leave."