The Davis' deal with a difficult accident and Brooke once again turns to Lucas for help... enjoy!

Chapter Twelve – Simple and Sweet

"Matty!" Brooke shouted as she banged on the bathroom door in her house while she, Julian, Rachel and Nathan all stood outside it.

"Can I get a little privacy here?" Matty shouted back as Brooke groaned.

"Matty, we have an open door policy when it comes to bathrooms in this house, you need to respect it if you're going to stay here!" she warned. Matty had come down from New York for a quick visit over spring break. He'd stayed with Ted for a few days before moving on to Brooke's house – mainly to escape the same old argument that Ted and Kate were having. Ted had been offered an amazing research opportunity in New York and he was prepared to give up being chief for it – but Kate was in no mood to leave Raleigh. Her whole family was here, she loved her job and she was not willing to start afresh. Matty had joked Kate didn't want Ted anywhere near Victoria in case they were tempted, but Brooke and Harrison were quick to scold him for being an idiot.

"And you need to respect that I don't feel comfortable showering while Nathan takes a dump beside me!" he shouted back.

"Hey, there are rules on the open door policy, you need a dump you go downstairs in the cubby." Nathan told him. They all needed to get ready for work and Matty was taking his sweet time.

Julian looked down at his watch, "I have an early surgery, I need to go. I'll just shower at work." He said as quickly kissed Brooke's cheek. "I'll see you guys later"

"Bye" they all replied before immediately turning back to the door and banging on it.

"Matty, this is ridiculous, you are never staying here again!" Brooke told him as moved to kick the door just as it opened, her foot colliding with Matty's shin.

"Geez Brooke! That seems a little uncalled for." He said with a knowing smirk as he rubbed his leg. Like Harrison, he had always been a bit of a trouble maker.

"You are so annoying!" Brooke said as they all pushed past him and slammed the door in his face in annoyance.

"Great to be here sis, thanks for having me!" he teased, before chuckling to himself.

Brooke briefly opened the door again and stuck her head out, "If you want a ride to the skate park, we're leaving in 15 minutes, but if you are even a minute late we are leaving without you."

"I'll just skate down, but thank you so much for the generous offer." Matty mocked as Brooke deeply glared at him. Sometimes having brothers could be the most frustrating thing in the world.

15 minutes later, Brooke, Rachel and Nathan were frantically trying to gather their stuff to get out the door on time.

"Is Matty still here?" Nathan asked as Brooke ran to the bottom of the stairs.

"Matty?" she called, but there was no response. "I'll take that as a no, come on, let's go" she said as the dashed out to Brooke's car and jumped in. They barely had the doors closed before Brooke had reversed out of the drive.

"Brooke stop!" Rachel called as Brooke slammed on the brakes.

"God, Rachel, you almost have me a heart attack! What is the problem?!"

"Back there, there's someone lying on the road." Rachel said as they all looked out Brooke's back window and saw someone lying there, not moving.

"Oh my god…" Brooke grumbled as they all quickly jumped out of the car and ran towards the figure. As Brooke got closer she recognised the brunette locks hidden under a short black helmet. "Matty… Matty!" Brooke screamed when she realised it was her brother, before bending down and tending to him. He was knocked out cold, his helmet was split and it was clear he had sustained a head injury. "Rachel, call an ambulance!" Brooke said frantically, but Rachel was already doing so.

Nathan on the other hand was the only one who noticed a car stopped just a few feet away. He ran to the driver's window and saw a middle aged guy breathing heavily and gripping his steering wheel tightly.

"Sir, what happened?" Nathan asked.

"He came out of nowhere, I didn't see him I swear!" he said as Nathan nodded his head.

"Sir, I need you to calm down for me and take some deep breaths, help is on the way."

"Is he going to be ok?!" he frantically asked as Nathan looked back at Brooke who was holding Matty's head steadily in place.

"Just sit tight." Nathan replied vaguely, not wanting to make any promises he couldn't keep.

Brooke frantically lifted out her phone and tried calling her dad, but he didn't pick up and neither did Kate or Julian, so she tried the next person she could think of – Lucas.

"Brooke?" He asked down the line, surprised she was calling.

"Lucas, thank god, I need you to go and find my dad and get him down to the ER" she said frantically as she tried to fight her tears.

"Wow, Brooke, slow down, what's going on?" he said as he started to run through the hospital to find Ted, picking up that she was clearly upset.

"We were leaving the house and Matty had just left and he was skating and he was hit by a car and he has a head injury—" Brooke rambled.

"Ok, ok, I'll find your dad, you just wait for the ambulance, take some deep breaths, everything is going to be ok Brooke." He assured her.

Brooke fought back her tears as she ran her hand over her forehead. Normally she was so calm in difficult situations like this, but when it was her family, it was a whole other story. She felt so out of control and brainless.

"My mom—" Brooke began.

"I'll call her, don't worry about that, just stay with Matty." Lucas told her as Brooke could only nod. Thank god he was so good in a crisis.

"Ok, ok, thank you" she said as Lucas gulped down the line, hearing the sirens of the ambulance in the distance.

"I'll see you soon."

Ted, Lucas and Kate sprinted down to the ER and to trauma room 1 where Matty had been brought in by the paramedics. All they could do was stand and watch while the head of trauma and several residents attended to him.

"Dad!" Brooke called when she spotted her father from the waiting room as she rushed over to him and hugged him.

"What happened?" Kate asked desperately as he lifted his chart.

"He was knocked off board by a car, he has a head injury" Rachel explained as Brooke could barely talk.

"Ok, let's get him straight to CT, somebody page Nelson." Dr. Peterson said as they started to move him.

Ted grabbed Peterson as he was leaving; "Peterson, this is my little boy—" Ted said, his voice cracking at the sight of his son lying on the gurney.

"Chief, we've got this."

Ted, Brooke, Kate, Lucas, Rachel and Nathan were left standing in silence as they all left to tend to Matty. They could barely comprehend what had just happened. He was here and being a total jerk to them this morning and then taken away in a flash.

Ted ran a hand down his face before turning to his daughter; "Where's Victoria?"

"Uh—" Brooke began before turning to Lucas for the answer.

"She's on her way sir, I called her. She was on her way to Raleigh for a conference anyway, so she shouldn't be too long." Lucas said as he nodded in response.

"Ted, sit down and take a breath. He's in good hands." Kate insisted as she led Ted to the seats so he could calm down.

Brooke turned to Lucas, "Thank you for doing all this—" she said quietly. He really didn't have to, yet he was right here, supporting her in whatever way he could. She couldn't help but chuckle to herself that he was brave enough to speak to Victoria. She really was out for blood after what happened - but be obviously didn't care. This was far too important.

"You don't have to thank me." Lucas insisted. He saw the vulnerability in her eyes and all he wanted to do was hold her and let her know that everything would be ok, but he couldn't. He didn't have the right to even be her friend anymore. "I uh – I should get back to work, but I will come and check in a little bit. Let me know if there's anything else I can do." he said. As much as he wanted to stay, he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable by being here. Brooke nodded her head, a little disappointed, but she knew he had to go. She knew she had to let him go - in more than one way. She watched him as he disappeared from the ER before turning to Nathan and Rachel.

"You guys should go work too, there's no point all of us getting reprimanded for this…"

"Not a chance." Rachel said as Nathan agreed. "We're family. Family sticks together."

Brooke felt her eyes swell with tears as she gratefully nodded her head. Boy was she thankful to have these people in her life.

Only a short while later, the ER doors flung open and Victoria rushed in like a tornado, causing everyone to turn and look at her. Even when she was frantic she still managed to look so elegant and glamorous.

"Ted" she called as he immediately rushed over to her and hugged her tightly. Brooke, Nathan and Rachel gave each other some side eye – she couldn't remember the last time her parents talked let alone hugged. She guessed fear made you so crazy things…

"He always knows to wear his helmet, he should have worn his helmet." She said desperately, trying to look for any sort of blame.

Ted moved back from the hug a tightly grasped her arms; "Vic, this was an accident. He had his helmet on, he and the driver just didn't see each other, but he is in the safest hands possible." he assured her.

"That's our little boy Ted." Victoria said quietly as Ted silently nodded.

"I know, Vic, I know."

"He is the most beautiful boy" she said as the tears streamed down her face. Matty could be a cheeky nightmare, but he was so loving and he would do anything for his family, just like they would do anything for him.

Julian, who had just finished his morning surgery, burst into the ER after hearing what had happened and saw the heart broken family in front of him. He stood back and gave them a moment.

"He is a testament to the good in this family and he will be ok. We're going to have so many more memories with him. He will be ok." Ted assured her as he hugged her once again.

Julian watched as Brooke looked overwhelmed by the situation and walked outside. He stood for a moment before quietly following her out. She stopped just outside the doors and Julian put a hand on her shoulder. He didn't know what to say, but he wanted her to know that he was there.

"My little brother is dying—"

"He's not dying." Julian assured her. This could be controlled, it could be fixed.

"I-I can't do this, I can't see him like this he—he's my little brother." She said as she started to panic.

Julian softly pulled her into his arms and let her cry against his chest.

"He's going to be ok."

"He has a brain bleed and he's stuck with Nelson as his doctor—" Brooke whined. Nelson certainly wasn't incompetent, but he wasn't the best of the best and that was all Brooke would allow for her brother to have.

"I'll go in there with him. I'll scrub in, if anything goes wrong, which it won't, I'll be there. I promise."

Brooke looked up at him with a sense of wonder and calmness, "You're amazing." she said quietly.

"I could say the same about you Brooke Davis... but I don't think amazing does you justice. I can barely put into words just how much you mean to me. Love doesn't seem to be enough."

Brooke crooked an eyebrow, "Love?" she questioned. She certainly wasn't ready to say that word, but it appeared Julian couldn't hold back.

"Yeah. Love... but I won't say I love you just yet. Not until you're ready to hear it" he said wisely. It appeared he could read her better than she gave him credit for.

Brooke nodded her head and released him from the hug, "Go. I'll be there in a second. I just—I need a moment." She told him as he nodded and gave her a sweet kiss before going inside.

Brooke stood there and closed her eyes, allowing the cool breeze to brush over her, while she said a silent prayer for her little brother. She soon went back inside just as Peterson came over to update them all on what was happening.

"The scans showed that he does have a bleed and a skull fracture, so Nelson is taking him in now to repair it. We have high hopes that the surgery will go well, we just need you all to remain calm, and trust that we have got this." Peterson said.

"Baker, I want you in there" Ted said turning to Julian. He trusted him implicitly.

"Already on it boss" He said as he quickly left the ER to go scrub in.

After taking a few minutes to calm herself down and let the surgery get started, Brooke made her way to the OR gallery. She knew it was frowned upon for family to be in here, but she wasn't afraid of bending the rules a little right now. She just needed to be in there to see what was going on, she needed to know he was ok.

When she got there, she found Ted, Victoria, Harrison (who had just got in from New York), Rachel, Nathan, Kate, Bevin – even Peyton and Lucas were there.

"I didn't think you would be up here." She said, mainly addressing her parents as she sat down beside Lucas in the back row.

"Where else would we be?" Ted asked.

"I don't know if this is a good idea..." she said shifting in her seat.

"You're here" Nathan reminded her.

"Yeah... I guess I am."

They all say in silence for a few minutes before Harrison let out a laugh, causing everyone to look at him, a little confused that that was his response in this situation.

"I used to fly Matty around the living room when he was little and he would pretend he was Superman." Harrison said, continuing with the story telling. "One day I accidentally dropped him and instead of crying, he just burst out laughing and asked me to do it again." He explained, continuing to laugh "and the amount of times I kicked him in the face with a football by accident... he really had no fear. He still doesn't. He never backs down from anything, he has so much strength... he has the amount of strength only I could dream of having."

"The kid is a total Rockstar." Rachel confirmed. There really wasn't anything he wouldn't try. He was a risk taker and it pushed the people around him to be better too.

"I was always afraid that when Ted and I divorced, he would grow up in a hostile environment and just completely resent us." Victoria confessed softly. He was only 5 years old when it happened. "He had the most unconventional upbringing, but he was still surrounded by so much love. He still is and I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful little boy. I swore that I would give him the world and I know, I just know that he is going to have the chance to get it. Like you said, Matty Davis is strong. So very, very strong"

"He really is the best of us" Brooke added, her voice cracking a little. Lucas looked at her and could see that she was shaking slightly. He knew she would probably hate him for this, but he had to at least try and sooth her. He subtly lifted his hand and took hers in his, lacing their fingers together for extra security. Surprisingly, Brooke didn't pull away. She let him hold her hand and she stopped shaking. Despite everything, he still made her feel safe and she was going to take full advantage of that right now.

A few hours had passed, and the surgeons were all still sitting in the gallery watching intently. Brooke had her eyes on Julian who was watching Nelson perform the surgery with such concentration on his face. He was ready to jump in at any moment.

Suddenly, the machines started to beep around them, and they all sat up in their seats.

"There's another bleed" Nelson announced. "I can't get it under control."

Julian didn't wait around as the nurses suited him up and he forced Nelson out of the way.

"Move." He said as he began to work on the bleed.

"Julian please, come on, come on" Brooke mumbled through her heavy breathing as Lucas squeezed her hand that little bit tighter.

Julian worked effortlessly on the bleed and the beeps of the machines subsided. He had fixed it. Everything was under control.

"There we go" he said as he looked at the monitors and saw everything go back to normal. "It appears that the rumours are true Dr. Nelson" Julian said as he finished up with the surgery.

"What rumours Dr. Baker?" Nelson asked sheepishly.

"Davis' are incredibly strong." He said, looking up to the gallery and at Brooke. Brooke smiled softly as she released Lucas' hand, leaving him feeling slightly less secure than before.

Once the surgery was complete, Ted and Victoria immediately made their way round to recovery to be there when Matty woke up. While everyone else went to get something to eat, Brooke waited outside the OR door for Julian to come out of the scrub room. She was so thankful for him and appreciative for what he did in there. He made her heart soar.

He soon came out and saw Brooke standing there, looking a little antsy. He smiled at her and she immediately launched herself into his arms.

"You are my hero" she mumbled into his neck.

He let out a laugh, "Just doing my job."

Brooke took his hand and quickly led him away from the ORs.

"He won't be awake for a while right?" She asked as they walked down the hallways of the hospital.

"No..." he said curiously.

Brooke looked around her before pulling him into an on-call room, closing the door and then locking it.

"Then I have time to properly thank you" she said as she leaned up and kissed him passionately.

A little while later Victoria, Ted, Harrison and Brooke were gathered in Matty's ICU room waiting for him to wake up. They knew these things took time, but none of them were willing to leave him right now.

"I never thought I would miss him annoying me this much." Harrison grumbled, finding the silence of him sleeping unnerving. They all knew how much Matty liked to wind people up, especially his siblings and his mother.

"Don't worry, there will be plenty of time for him to do that when he wakes up. I would place wagers on the first thing he says to be insulting" Brooke said with a little laugh.

"So Brookie… tell us about Dr. Baker." Harrison said with a knowing smile. He saw the way Julian was looking at his sister, he wasn't an idiot.

Brooke glared deeply at him, really not wanting to get into this right now.

"I like him Brooke." Her mother said quietly. "He seems steady and safe."

Steady and safe. That was exactly what Julian was and she loved him for it. She felt on solid ground when she was with him, which was a good thing… right? She didn't know why the thought of stability made her a little uneasy. Maybe because she wasn't used to safe and she wasn't sure it was possible.

Before Brooke could say anything about it, Julian walked into the room and everyone immediately looked to him for an update.

"Hey guys, how's he looking?" He asked as he opened Matty's chart.

"His stats are good, everything is looking good" Ted told Julian who nodded his head in agreement.

"It shouldn't be too much longer until he wakes up... which appears to be about now." Julian said as he noticed Matty stirring.

Victoria and Ted were quickly up at his bedside, so that he would see them and not be afraid when he woke.

"Matty..." Victoria said as she held on tightly to his hand.

Julian moved to delicately remove his breathing tube to allow him to communicate.

"Matty honey... you're ok... you're ok..." Victoria said with a smile.

"Mom... dad..." Matty began.

"Don't try to talk too much, how are you feeling?" Ted asked.

"I have a headache… like the ones I get when Brooke sings." Matty confessed in a croaky voice.

"And he's back" Brooke said happily as a wave of relief washed over all of them and they all started to laugh.

After Matty had fallen asleep, Brooke realised it was probably time she went home and slept herself. It had been an exhausting day so she suspected she would be asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She lifted her phone out of her pocket, having not touched it all day, and saw that she had a voicemail. She dialled the number and was surprised by the voice she heard on the other end.

"Hey Brooke, it's Lucas… I uh – I wanted to talk to you and see how you were doing but I figured I was probably the last person you wanted to talk to." He said awkwardly as Brooke sat on a bench outside the hospital. "Anyway, I hope you're doing ok and that Matty's ok. He's a great kid Brooke and everyone was right – he has so much strength. He takes after his sister in that department" he complimented as Brooke let out a little laugh. "So… yeah. Just let me know if there's anything else I can do to help. I know you might not believe this, but I will always be there for you Brooke. Bye."

Brooke hung up the phone and just sat in silence for a moment. He was really kind to her today, yet he wasn't overbearing. He knew the boundaries and while he still chanced them, he gave her space. He was respectful during it all, his voice note was simple and sweet and she was grateful. She couldn't, however, find it in herself to call him back, so instead she just sent him a text.

Thank you.

She wrote. Simple and sweet – which was how she hoped things could stay.

Progress! Brucas are coming back people... Next chapter, Brooke flashes back to the aftermath of Victoria and Ted's divorce and Lucas has a plan to win back Brooke's friendship