So Lucas isn't in Maine just for his patient... what's he going to do now?! Read on to find out...

Chapter Twenty-Six – Arms of an Angel

Lucas rushed down the street and eventually caught up with Lucas. It was really cold outside and she was trying desperately not to slip on the ice that was already forming from the previous day's snow.

"Lucas!" she called, but he just kept walking. "God, Lucas! You are going to feel so guilty when I fall and crack my head open on the pavement, all because you didn't bother your ass to stop and help me!" she exclaimed as Lucas finally stopped where he stood. He didn't turn around, rather he let Brooke come to him.

"Well, at least I know some part of you still cares…" she snarked as Lucas turned around to face her.

"Can we not do this Brooke?"

"Why are we here Lucas?" she asked as Lucas remained silent. He figured she probably knew the truth by now, but he wasn't sure he could say it out loud. "Our surgery has been botched, but it probably wouldn't have been if we'd transported her to Raleigh. So why are we here?"

"We're going to find a fix for this little girl." Lucas said, desperately trying to avoid the issue at hand. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to Brooke about this, he just didn't know how. He didn't know how to talk about it without losing his head and getting stupidly emotional.

Brooke let out a breath. "And how are you going to do that? We have no throat Lucas and no better idea either."

"… I don't know. But I'll find one."

"What is the matter with you? Why are you torturing this poor girl with promises you know we can't deliver on?" she asked. Her parents were desperate to transport her to a new hospital where another surgeon said he had a fix, but Lucas didn't want to let that happen. He needed to come up with this fix himself. Otherwise, this trip would just be added to the ever-growing pile of bad memories and regretful choices.

"We can find a way to deliver—"

"Where? Where are you going to find it? At this stupid grill?" Brooke challenged as Lucas froze.

"What?" he asked quietly.

"When were you going to tell me that you'd found your father? Your father Lucas, your long-lost dead-beat dad, the distinguished hash slinger, grill owning, former surgeon Dr. Scott. He's the whole reason we're here!" she exclaimed. Lucas hadn't said much to Brooke about his father. Just that he left when be was really little and that what that. Lucas didn't have the answers himself, so how could he give them to Brooke?

Lucas gulped; "I came here to help our patient."

"Don't lie to me. We are only here because of your freaking father and now that kid is going to die." Brooke said, her emotions getting the better of her. "Why didn't you just tell me Luke? I could have been there for you, I could have helped you." she asked quietly. In a split second, she felt her anger subdue. Now she was just worried. That fear she saw in his eyes last night had been about this visit. This was a huge deal and something he was clearly struggling with, understandably so. He hadn't seen his father in over 25 years. Why did he want to see him now?

"I—I don't know." He replied quietly. "I'm really unsure about a lot of things Brooke. I was sitting in that grill tonight and I just thought maybe, just maybe, he'd look at me and know who I was. He'd recognise my face or my eyes, just something… but nothing. He said 'Hey, how's it going?' as I walked through the door and that was it. It was like I was nobody to him… and it hurt me more that I thought it would." He didn't know what he wanted from Dan when he got here, but apparently it was more than a casual greeting.

Brooke walked forward and rested her hand on the back of Lucas's neck, delicately running her thumb over the base of his hair line "So talk to him. Get what you came here for."

"I wanted to. I have a million things to say to that guy. I wanted to tell him that he was an ass for walking out on his kid and his wife. He couldn't hack it as a Scott, well join the club. It hasn't exactly been smooth sailing for me. I wanted to ask him why he didn't just show up. Why he didn't just send a birthday card. Why was there nothing? Why didn't he want to know me?" he confessed.

Brooke nodded and thought for a moment before considering her next words. It was a rarity that Lucas would stand before her so broken—and her heart broke for him. In her mind, she had the best dad in the world, and she wished with all her heart that he could have that. But for now, Lucas needed to stand in front of Dan Scott and say his piece.

"So make him know you." Brooke said as Lucas looked at her curiously.

Brooke took his hand and pulled him back towards the grill.

"Brooke, what are you doing?" he asked as they stood outside the door. Brooke turned to look at him and took his hands in hers. "I can't do this."

"Yes, you can." She said with a lot of conviction in her voice. "I have been racking my brain all day trying to work out why you wanted me to come with you on this trip, especially when you were so mad at me yesterday… and now it makes sense. I think you brought me here over anybody else because you knew you needed me for this. You needed your rock, just like I have always needed mine. I am right here Lucas. Say what you need to say."

It had all become clear to Brooke when she realised the true purpose behind this visit. He brought her because she was his love, his person, his Brooke. He needed her through this, even if he didn't want to tell her. Considering the contentious state of their relationship since Lindsey's arrival, she didn't blame him for not wanting to be vulnerable.

Lucas finally took a breath and walked towards the door, while Brooke walked over to sit on a bench nearby. Even if she got a pneumonia from sitting out here, it would be entirely worth it for Lucas to do what he needed to do.

A short while later, Lucas had stormed out of the diner, refusing to talk about what happened in there. Brooke realised it was probably best to let him cool down for a bit before approaching the topic again. He had to do this on his own terms. They went back to the hotel and fell straight to sleep, before waking up the next morning and going to straight to the hospital to find their fix.

While Brooke set up their things, Lucas went and bought some coffee. When he came back into the room, he immediately lay down on the sofa with his back to Brooke—as if this was some kind of therapy session.

"We've got to come up with something to save this girl's voice. There's got to be something, right?" Lucas immediately asked, but Brooke had a question of her own.

"Do you want to talk about it? What happened with your dad?" she asked.

"Maybe we could do a staged procedure. I could remove tumour now and we could wait on a transplant donor—" Lucas said, avoiding her questions yet again. But he suddenly sighed and began opening up, "Yeah. Yeah we talked a lot." He said, as Brooke's head shot up, surprised that he was willing to talk. "About how hard it was being a Scott and surgery and—temporary stent?" he suggested as his mind drifted.

"Erosion and bleeding." She said, shaking her head.

"Crap. He was just so damn polite and I just kind of clammed up. I didn't really say anything. He was just like—warm. He was happy. I kind of hated him for being happy. He didn't say anything about me, just kind of talked about himself. His life sounds pretty mundane, he basically spends all day every day at that dinner. Pretty much the opposite of what it's like to be part of the Scott surgical dynasty. It's like he didn't even want to know or care what my life was like. I felt really stupid. It never occurred to me that after all this time, he didn't even miss me a little bit." he rambled, just needing to get all of this off his chest. It was the strangest conversation and he couldn't quite pin down why.

"You don't know that—"

"I do now. I really do. It didn't even occur to him to pretend. How do you go up to a guy and tell them what an ass they've been when they're just smiling at you and talking about how great their life has been in some diner in Maine? I just stood there with my stomach in knots—"

Lucas suddenly sprang upright as if an idea had hit him.

"What?" Brooke asked cautiously as Lucas nodded his head.

"I have an idea. Our patient, she needs a valve, something to flop between her oesophagus and her tracea… and we can make her one, we can make her one using her own guts. I could use her appendix and make her a vocal tube and valve – we can use her own insides to save her life." He said optimistically as his smile rose and Brooke's did too.

Brooke's face beamed with joy "and she'd be her own donor… that's remarkable. Do you really think it will work?"

"No. I mean maybe. I mean yeah. Yeah I really think it will." He said, finally giving a confident yes.

It didn't take much to convince their patient's parents to consent to the surgery. They had a very detailed plan and they trusted in Brooke and Lucas to do the job well. That night, they happily returned to their hotel following the surgery. Everything had gone exceptionally well, they just had to wait for the little girl to wake up before they could see if they had been successful.

Lucas groaned as they walked to their door; "I am so tired I could drop."

"And yet I am so awake!" Brooke said happily. "That was—" she couldn't even put into words how incredible that was. Her body was pumped full of adrenaline and she didn't think she would be coming down from her high any time soon.

"I know." Lucas simply replied.

While Lucas lifted their room key out of his pocket, Brooke checked her phone to see if they had any pages from the hospital.

"Don't even bother, they'll let us know when she's awake. It's going to be a couple of hours anyway." Lucas told her.

"Right…" she said as she put her phone away and stood opposite him by the door, just a breath apart. "I guess we should sleep." She said quietly.

Lucas nodded; "Yeah. I guess so. Or… we could celebrate." He suggested as he slowly lowered his head and kissed her softly. It felt like a lifetime since they had kissed and, in that moment, they regretted nothing more. It was like electricity pumping through their veins, it felt like the most powerful thing in the world.

They pulled back for a brief moment before Lucas cupped her face and kissed her with everything in him. Lucas's hands slipped down her back as Brooke's hands wrapped around his neck. In one swift movement, Lucas had lifted her and she expertly and rhythmically snapped her legs around his waist. He buried his face in her neck as he carried her into their room, ready to show her just how much he loved her.

The sun had begun to rise on their evening activities as Brooke lay across Lucas's chest, their legs tangled as Lucas played with her hair and Brooke admired the beautiful view from the window. They hadn't slept a wink since arriving back at the hospital, yet they felt so awake and alive.

"You were right." Lucas said, breaking them out of their comfortable and still silence. "About why I asked you here… even if I didn't realise it. I needed back up. I knew I'd see him and I'd just—I'd need you. I'd need my person. I just have the biggest fear that because my dad was crap, it's embedded in my DNA and I'm going to let Sophie down… and it would just kill me if I ever let that happen."

Brooke turned around so she could see him, resting her palms on his chest, and her chin on her hands. "Lucas, I know what a good father is. I had one my whole life and we may have had a few problems along the way… but I never doubted his love and I have never doubted your love for Sophie. You are a good father. You love her more than I could ever ask of you – you love me more than I ever thought possible – and you've never stopped. He couldn't do that. You came here to tell him something. Don't leave until you say it." She encouraged.

Lucas looked down in wonder at the woman in front of him. He didn't think it was possible to feel love like this. He didn't think it was possible to crave someone's company and love like this. He couldn't even bare to imagine a life without Brooke Davis in it.

"… marry me." He said quietly as Brooke sat up quickly.

"What?"

"Marry me." He said again, slightly louder.

"Lucas—"

"I'm serious, marry me." He said again.

Brooke shook her head; "You're emotional—"

Lucas got out of bed and lifted his bag. He rummaged through it before finding what he was looking for. Brooke's eyes widened as he lifted out a little black box.

"Oh my god…"

"I have been carrying this around with me for weeks. I didn't know when I was going to do it, I just knew that I wanted to. More than anything. I am so sorry for how I have treated you the past few days. You were being the voice of reason, as usual and I shut you down—but you're right. I have never stopped loving you and I never will. I meant it when I said you were my light. You always will be. So—"

Lucas then got down on one knee by the edge of the bed and opened the box. Brooke let out a tiny gasp when she saw the ring. Is was beautiful. It was understated, yet dazzling and just perfect for her.

"Brooke Penelope Davis—will you marry me?"

Lucas took Brooke's advice later that afternoon. She was right—he shouldn't leave here before saying what he needed to say. They had already been to see their patient and the surgery was a success. She could speak. She needed some rehab to help and she was due to fly to Seattle as soon as she was well enough to do so for a check-up. Everyone was overjoyed by the success and Lucas and Brooke were incredibly proud. Seeing Dan Scott one last time was the last thing they had to do. He wasn't here to gain a father, but rather, to gain closure on the thoughts he had about the loss of one. He was also determined to tell Dan about his life. He may not have cared whether he was ok or not, but this was more for Lucas. So he could say out loud that he was doing amazingly without him.

"You met my girlfriend the other night—Brooke and uh—we have a daughter. Sophie." Lucas told his father when he went to see him later that day.

Dan smiled widely at him; "Sophie. Wow. Lucas, that is wonderful. I'm a grandfather" he said with a chuckle.

"No. No, you're not." Lucas said as Dan's face fell. "My mom is a wonderful grandmother and you seem like a decent guy, but you're not a grandfather. You're not my father. I figure when you have a kid you're making a promise to always be there and you couldn't do that. You made no promises. That's the real difference between you and me." he had finally come to terms with the fact that this man wasn't his father. There was more to being a parent that just DNA. They weren't the same, they were strikingly different - and Lucas could not be more relieved. He could say he'd met the man and he could say that he'd left appreciating his insignificance.

"Look, Lucas. The Scott life wasn't for me and I'm not going to apologise for giving it up." Dan said bluntly. He had been polite to Lucas when he arrived and all in all, he was grateful that he could see him again. Just to see that his life had turned out ok. To see that he hadn't crumbled under the pressure of being a Scott - but just like Dan wasn't a part of Lucas' life, Lucas wasn't a part of his, and that's just the way it was. He didn't choose to dwell on it, and he wasn't about to make up some sorry excuse now. He wasn't meant to be a dad, but clearly Lucas was.

"Take care Dan. I'm really glad that I finally met you. Goodbye." Lucas said boldly, not even wanting to acknowledge Dan's comment. He took one last look at Dan before walking out of the diner with his head held high, proud that he had fought his greatest demon.

He stopped at the top of the steps when he spotted Brooke standing there. Her hair blew across her face as she lifted her hand to move it behind her ear—the diamond ring the graced her finger sparkling in the sun.

Her face broke to a wide smile when she saw him and he couldn't help but return it. He walked towards her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her head.

"Let's go home" he said as they walked through the snow.

Soon enough, Brooke and Lucas had arrived back in Raleigh and hurried off the plane to see Sophie. As expected, she and Karen were already waiting for them on the runway.

"There they are, mommy and daddy!" Karen happily said as they approached.

"Hey, thanks grandma" Lucas said happily as he twirled Sophie's brown curls that rested on the base of her neck. She reached up her tiny hand to him and he smiled down at his baby as she latched on to his finger and he delicately kissed her hand.

"Everything go ok?" Karen asked, talking about more than just the surgery.

Lucas nodded; "Yeah, it was good." He said vaguely. Karen nodded, figuring Lucas would talk about it when he was ready. Instead, she turned to Brooke and she watched as Brooke lifted her hand to rub something out of her eye and gasped.

"My god Brooke Davis what is that on your finger?!" Karen exclaimed.

Lucas smirked; "Well I did say it was good…"

Karen smiled brightly; "Oh congratulations you two!" she said as she hugged and kissed them both. "Sounds like it was a much better trip than first anticipated…" she said with a raised eyebrow as Brooke and Lucas blushed. They were a little ashamed of his how mad they got at each other, but they were more than happy about where they ended up.

"Come on Soph" Brooke said as she took her daughter from Karen. "Daddy and grandma have a few things to talk about" she said before giving Lucas an encouraging wink and walking over to the car to strap Sophie in.

Lucas turned to Karen and tried to find the right words to say to her. He wasn't sure he could. He loved his mother with all his heart, but it took this trip to fully appreciate all that she had done for him. He would be forever grateful.

"Thank you." He simply said, knowing that it wasn't enough, but knowing he would be showing her that thankfulness for the rest of his life.

"What are grandmas for?" she joked, assuming he meant thank you for looking after Sophie.

"No, I mean. Just—just, thank you, mom. For everything." He said sincerely as he kissed her head.

Karen gave him a soft smile, now understanding what he meant and knew that perhaps the rest was left unspoken. She was glad he could have this closure with his father, and she was even gladder that he could come back here with a smile on his face and see all the worth in his life that no father could have given him.