Hi everyone! I wanted to give this story a little bit of a test drive... it's kind of a One Tree Hill meets Grey's Anatomy-esque story (with a lot less surgery). So essentially - a Brucas story set in a hospital! I'll not reveal anymore as you'll just have to read on to find what this story is all about...

I hope you enjoy!

Chapter One – It's in the Eyes

"Oh god, where is my bra…" Brooke grumbled as she dragged the sheet that was covering her body off the bed and began rummaging around the room. She had over indulged last night which had resulted in her now being late for work. She was already dreading the reception she would get from her superiors when she got there.

"Nope, can't help you there, cause if you find it then you'll have to leave…" a scruffy voice grumbled from the bed as she turned to look at him with a smirk on her face.

"Chase…" she began to protest as he sat up and looked at her.

"I'm serious, just stay in bed with me" he said with a lop-sided smirk, trying to entice her back.

"I have to go to work—ah ha!" she exclaimed as she spotted her bra over the top of the lamp shade. "Thanks for nothing" she said as she briefly crawled over the bed and planted a short but sweet kiss on Chase's lips.

As she tried to move back, Chase pulled her back, causing her to squeal as he held her underneath him. "You didn't say it" he said cryptically.

Brooke furrowed her eyebrows, "Say what?"

"I have to go and save lives" he said mimicking her voice as Brooke feigned annoyance and smacked him on the arm.

"I do not always say that!"

"Yes, you do, you and all your little surgeon friends say it all the time, your egos never cease to amaze me." He teased.

Brooke scoffed and rolled them over she was now hovering over him, her hands placed on either side of his head as her brunette curls cascaded down her face. "Well, you have to have a pretty big ego to saw through a person's chest, hold their heart in your hands and believe that you can fix it…" she reasoned. "It's a controlled arrogance."

"What happens if it gets out of control?"

"… we end up killing people." She said before bouncing off the bed to find the rest of her clothes.

Ever since she was a little girl, Brooke Davis could only see herself as one thing – a doctor. She always had this innate need to fix the people around her, whether successful or not, and she found herself quickly turning it into a career. She steamed through college and med school and got herself a place at one of the top residency programmes in North Carolina. It was the most difficult thing she had ever done – emotionally, physically, mentally, but she wouldn't have it any other way. She got such a rush out of her job and she was exceptionally good at it too. It was unsurprising to many considering her parents were two of the top cardiothoracic surgeons in the country. There must have been something in the water.

It was probably fair to say that Brooke lived and breathed surgery. She worked ridiculous hours at the hospital before coming home and studying some more and then heading straight back into work, which was why she loved the time she could spend with Chase. She didn't know many people who weren't doctors. He was a bar tender and was just so normal in Brooke's eyes. She needed some normality in her life to ease the pressure she put on herself.

"Must be hard. Gambling with life and death every day" Chase said. Brooke looked up at him, a little surprised. He'd never really shown an interest in her job and when he had, it was just to tease her about the famous surgical ego that seemed to plague doctors everywhere.

"Yeah, it's hard… but I wouldn't want to be doing anything else." She said with certainty. "Though if I don't leave now, I may have to start looking for something else…" she said, knowing that she would probably get chastised for being late.

"Ok, fine, I see how it is" he said, faking offence. "Will I be seeing you tonight?" he asked as he slipped his boxer shorts on and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I'll call you when I get off, we can meet at Tric?" she suggested as he nodded his head and quickly kissed her.

"It's a date" he confirmed before Brooke pulled away from him and rushed out the door.

Brooke managed to sneak through the ER undetected and into the resident's lounge to get changed. As she changed into her light blue scrubs, she checked her phone for her pages and saw she had tonnes – mainly from her best friend and roommate Rachel asking her where she was. She also had a few passive aggressive messages from her superiors telling her to get her butt to the ER ASAP.

"Nice of you to join us slut" Rachel grumbled in her ear as she helped Brooke with her trauma gown.

"The only thing slutty in this ER is you. Don't think I didn't see you with your tongue down Owen's throat last night at Tric…" Brooke told her as Rachel smirked.

"I don't kiss and tell."

"My ass you don't—"

"Davis!" she heard a voice shout as she jumped slightly and turned around to see one of the chief of general surgery staring her down. "I can only assume your late appearance was due to a broken alarm clock?" she asked, knowing full well that wasn't why she was late.

"Dr. Grant—" Brooke began, but she was cut off.

"I don't have time for excuses, we need to get going." She said as all the residents gathered round. "We have a number of calls coming in, so I need you all to be on top form, it's going to get mad and we need all hands on deck. Thankfully, since the hospital has begun their merger with nearby Raleigh Hope Hospital, we have a lot more surgeons on staff today—"

"Shit, the merger's starting today?" Brooke grumbled to Rachel, completely forgetting about all the new faces that would be joining the hospital. The residents were incredibly anxious about the prospect. A merger like this meant that jobs would have to be cut. There were simply too many staff and not enough money to pay them, she they knew they had to be on top form.

"Yeah, they didn't have enough blue scrubs for them so they're running around in these hideous green ones. They certainly stick out like sore thumbs, they're swarming the place like locusts waiting to take all our surgeries right from under our noses-" Rachel complained.

"Dr. Davis, Dr. Gatina, do you have something you would like to share with the group?" Dr. Grant asked them as everyone turned to look at the two doctors who looked like deer caught in headlights.

"No Dr. Grant" Rachel replied with a tight-lipped smile.

"Then pay attention to what I'm asking you to do." Dr. Grant said sternly before turning back to the rest of the residents.

"God, she really thinks that because she's married to your dad she can talk to you like that? It's a total joke." Rachel said as she crossed her arms over her chest. Kate Grant had come into Brooke's life like a whirlwind. She swept up her father just as he was divorcing her mother 12 years ago and naturally, she and Brooke didn't always see eye to eye. It wasn't that she hated Kate or anything, she just never really took the time to get to know her. As soon as her father married her, they moved from New York to North Carolina and Brooke didn't follow. She finished high school in Manhattan, attended Colombia and then moved out here. By then, she was over the idea of becoming best friends with her step-mother.

Brooke sighed, "she's just doing her job and making sure we surgical residents know our place—"

Before Rachel could reply in her defence, the doors to the ER swung open and two people were wheeled in, shouting various profanities at one another with the paramedics tried to remove themselves from the situation.

"Graham Jefferson, 54, had his hand smashed with the pointed end of the hammer" the paramedic explained as Kate looked over and saw the hammer embedded in the man's hand.

"He slept with my wife, it's ridiculous, some best friend you are!" the other man on the opposite trolley shouted as Brooke and Rachel looked on in a mixture of amusement and horror at the ridiculous nature of this situation.

"Foster Maxwell, 53, after he lodged the hammer in Mr. Jefferson's hand, he then punched him in the face – suspected broken hand."

"I'd clobber you again if I had the chance!" Mr. Maxwell exclaimed as Kate swooped in to try and calm him down.

"Mr. Maxwell, let us take a look at your hand—"

"No, I oughta kill you Jefferson!" he shouted as his anger raged. He shoved past Kate, pounded over to Mr. Jefferson and pulled the hammer out of his hand causing him to scream in pain. Mr. Maxwell raised his arm to slam the hammer back in Mr. Jefferson's hand—

SMACK.

Mr. Maxwell was tackled to the ground by someone wearing those hideous green scrubs.

Brooke and Rachel jumped back as the new guy held Maxwell down until security got here to take him to a more secluded location that was far away from Mr. Jefferson.

"Wow, impressive…" Kate commented as the new guy got to his feet. Brooke watched as he turned around and she finally saw his face. An exceptionally cute face at that. Somehow, he was making those awful green scrubs work, though Brooke had a feeling that the blue scrubs would really compliment his eyes.

"I played football in high school" the new guy joked.

"Alright… I like a doctor who's alert. Keep it up" Kate praised before walking away. The new guy smirked slightly before looking up and catching Brooke's eye. Normally, she would have been quick to turn away, but she found herself continuing to stare. His smirk widened before she heard Kate snap her name.

"Davis. Focus." She warned as Brooke let out a breath and began to get stuck in with the influx of patients.

Later that day Brooke was walking through the general surgery wing of the hospital after checking in on some patients for her attendings. She'd had a crazy day and had barely been given a minute to breathe. She looked down at the charts in her hand just as she turned the corner and bumped into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry—" she said as she looked up, her breath catching in her throat as she met the crystal blue eyes and the charming smirk of the new guy from the ER.

"I was wondering if I'd get to bump into you today" he said as he folded his arms over his chest. "I saw you checking me out in the ER…"

Brooke scoffed, "Well, that was quite the show you put on down there."

The guy shrugged, "Just doing my job."

"I didn't realise being a surgeon required tackling patients to the ground…"

"Just saving lives. It is what we do after all." He bragged. Brooke held back a laugh. There was that ego thing Chase had such a problem with.

"So noble." Brooke teased.

"So pretty girl… do I get a name?" he asked, taking another step closer and Brooke's heart started to pound in her chest. This guy was charming, that's for sure, but she was Brooke Penelope Davis—two could play at that game.

"Do I?" she asked back.

"Lucas Scott, 5th year resident" he responded as he held out his hand for Brooke to shake.

"Brooke Davis, 3rd year resident" she said as she shook his hand – spark. She quickly pulled her hand away, not wanting to draw attention to how oddly good that felt. It was just a handshake, how could it feel so electric?

Lucas quirked an eyebrow, "Davis… Davis as in—" he said as he began to connect the dots.

"Yep." Brooke said with a click of her tongue and a wide smile. She really was a fan of freaking people out with whose daughter she was.

"Chief Davis' daughter… man. Guess I probably shouldn't chance my luck and ask you out for a drink then huh?" he continued to flirt. It appeared that his panic was momentary. It was kind of refreshing to have a doctor not freak and bolt out of fear for the Chief. He was a stern man and they certainly didn't want to upset him by upsetting his daughter. However, Lucas didn't seem to care. He didn't seem to want to back away.

"You can chance it if you want… but I will say no." Brooke replied, wanting to test this guy a little further.

"Why? You got a boyfriend?" he asked. He wouldn't be at all surprised if she said yes, but there was something in her eyes that was telling him that she didn't.

Brooke shrugged, "Something like that." She wasn't exactly sure what she would call Chase. They'd never put a label on it, but sex buddies seemed a little blasé.

"Something like that huh?" he repeated as Brooke nodded her head. "Ok… I can wait" he said confidently.

Brooke quirked an eyebrow, "You can wait? Wait for what?"

"Till 'something like that' becomes a 'no'. Something tells me you're worth it." He said.

Brooke looked at him, a little shocked by his determination, "You don't know a thing about me. How can you be so sure?"

"I've always believed that if someone is worth knowing, you can tell by their eyes." He said as he took another step forward. Brooke didn't even realise just how close they were standing and how odd this must look to people around them.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah… you have kind eyes Dr. Davis." Lucas said as he finally began to back away. "I look forward to finding out the story behind them."

Brooke was left standing there, completely stunned as Lucas walked away from her. This guy was a mystery and she was determined to find out more.

Before heading home, Brooke made her way round to her father's office and stood in the open door, watching as he worked at his desk. Brooke had a bit of a contentious relationship with her parents. She resented them growing up because they were never really around, but when she became a surgeon herself, she had a newfound respect for them and what they did. Her parents also became more bearable when they got a divorce and her dad moved to Raleigh. They just seemed so much lighter and Brooke finally felt like she had two parents she could rely on.

"Have you been in your hospital at all today? It's like a mad house." Brooke told him from the doorway as Ted, looked up, took off his glasses and leaned back in his chair.

"Yeah, Kate told me one of the new guys tackled a patient to the floor." he told her.

Brooke scoffed, "Oh I saw that one. It was quite the performance." She said as she came in and sat opposite his desk. "They're running circles around us dad." Brooke confessed with a sigh. The Raleigh Hope residents were insanely talented and on the ball. "Even Rachel's worried."

"Everyone knows that Raleigh Med is a step above Raleigh Hope." Ted said confidently.

"Well it looks like everyone thought wrong. We're going to be ousted by them."

Ted sighed, "No you're not Brooke—"

"And I don't want you playing favourites because I'm your daughter—"

"You're staying because you're an exceptionally talented doctor and this hospital needs you." Ted assured her. Brooke was a real all rounder and it was anyone's guess what speciality she might go into.

"You have to say that, you're my dad…" she pouted.

Ted chuckled and held his hands up, "I don't have to say anything."

"Whatever… I think things are about to get really interesting..." Brooke confessed. On a surface level, the merging of two hospitals was going to be a taxing thing, but on a deeper level, the merger of the various personalities that were now a part of this hospital was going to be even more interesting.

"I think you're right Brookie. I have a list of a few people to look out for" he said as he handed her the file. She quickly opened it and scanned through it, reading the names.

Marvin McFadden

Bevin Prince

Peyton Sawyer

…

Lucas Scott.

"I'll be sure to keep an eye out too." Brooke said with a devious smirk. They were her competition after all. "I'm going to head out, don't stay here too late, ok?" she warned.

Ted chuckled, "Don't worry honey, I'm taking Kate out to dinner tonight."

"Have fun…" Brooke said through her teeth as she stood from the chair.

"Brooke, be nice—"

"Maybe you should try telling your wife that once in a while." She challenged as she walked around the desk and quickly kissed her dad's cheek. "Goodnight dad"

"Goodnight honey." He said as Brooke left the room.

After calling Chase, who informed her he was already at Tric working, Brooke made her way down to the bar that pretty much every surgeon in Raleigh frequented. It was the perfect wind down spot and the live music they often had was amazing. When she walked in, she quickly looked around her and greeted a few friends before spotting Chase behind the bar– talking to some girl with a wide smile on his face. She watched from afar as she giggled at something he was saying, before she said goodbye and walked away. Chase watched her as she left before looking up and spotting Brooke, his face lighting up immediately. She lightly waved at him before she walked over and allowed him to lean over the bar and kiss her cheek.

"Hey, who was that?" Brooke asked, trying to sound as unphased as possible.

"Oh, that's Lara, she's a regular here." he explained as they looked over at her and watched as she winked at Chase.

Brooke scoffed, "did she just wink at you?" she asked, a little taken aback.

Chase looked flustered, "No, no, she was just—blinking."

"Looks like somebody has a crush…"

"No, I don't." Chase quickly defended.

Brooke quirked an eyebrow, "I was talking about Lara but you are doing nothing to help your case… you should ask her out. If you want to."

"Why would I want to?"

Brooke shrugged, "I don't know, just if you want to…" she said awkwardly. "It's not like we've ever really put a label on us…"

"We uh—we could. If you wanted to." Chase suggested with a gulp.

Brooke froze, unsure what to say. She never really expected Chase to ever want to put a label on this. He was a bit of a free spirit, but apparently there was something about Brooke that was keeping him grounded. Brooke looked up as the door opened and watched as Lucas walked in with a few of the other new residents. He soon spotted Brooke and gave her a light nod which she returned before turning back to Chase who was watching her with expectant eyes.

"Let's not jump into something we're not ready for, ok?" Brooke said as she lightly patted him on the arm before leaving the bar and walking over to Rachel and Nathan Lee, a resident in the year above them that Brooke and Rachel had quickly befriended and roped into being their third roommate.

"That looked weirdly intense" Rachel commented as Brooke took Nathan's drink and downed it as he looked on in frustration.

"He wants to put a label on us" Brooke explained as she motioned to the waitress for another drink.

"Ah, commitment-phobe Brookie strikes out again…" Nathan teased as Brooke glared at him deeply.

"I did not strike out, I just—" Brooke began as she spotted Lucas over Nathan's shoulder, talking with his friends. "Have you ever thought that maybe, when you meet someone, you know by looking in their eyes whether they're meant to be a big part of your life?"

Rachel and Nathan were silent and looked at Brooke like she had two heads. Brooke had been pondering Lucas' words all day and she had actually found herself agreeing with him. She really cared about Chase, but when she looked in his eyes – she wasn't excited.

"I just don't know if he makes me feel… the thing." Brooke tried to explain, but Rachel and Nathan looked at her with even more confusion.

"The… thing?" Nathan questioned.

"Yeah. When your stomach curls and you feel like you can't breathe and your throat tightens and you know your eyes are just lighting up when you see this person?" Brooke explained. "I've only been in love once before…" she confessed quietly, not wanting to get into that story today. Besides, Rachel already knew all about Aiden "and I can barely put into words how he made me feel – so that's the closest I can get. When I meet the person I'm supposed to be with, I shouldn't have doubts."

Rachel sighed, "I'm not sure it's that easy Brooke. Nobody is perfect. People are going to let you down and you can doubt love, but it can still be real." She said, trying to be a little more reasonable than Brooke was being. She was a little surprised to see her friend with her head so far in the clouds.

"Yeah, maybe I'm being unfair" Brooke conceded as she took one more glance over Nathan's shoulder at Lucas. How could she be so captivated by a man she'd had a 5-minute conversation with, in a busy hospital corridor? There was just something about his eyes. Brooke had a feeling he was about to become a huge part of her life – though she wasn't quite sure if it was in a good or a bad way. She figured only time would tell.

Rachel discreetly followed Brooke's eye line and realised the was staring at the new guy. She silently smirked at her friend's actions.

Things were about to get interesting.