Peyton looks up from her seat in the corner of the room. It had been over four hours since she had arrived in the back of the ambulance along with Brooke. There was still no news but there were more people to wait with her now.

That wasn't something she was happy about, she didn't want to look into all the concerned faces around her every time she looked up.

She just wanted Brooke to be okay.

And she really hated every time someone told her that Brooke would be fine. After she had snapped at the last person that had told her that she'd since been left in relative peace. If you could call worrying to death peace.

But she just needed to be on her own. Haley and Nathan had understood that, even though they sat near her, they didn't ask her stupid, pointless questions.

She had been disappointed when Nathan had returned from getting her some of his clothes to change into with Lucas and Karen with him. She had taken what he had brought her and headed to the bathroom without so much as a 'hello' to either of them.

Since then a steady stream of friends had arrived. Bevin, Skills and Mouth had been next with some of the cheerleaders turning up later. Now it looked as busy as Prom had with most people still in their flashy clothes.

Lucas had given up trying to talk to her finally, although it had taken the arrival of cops to get her statement of tonight's events to get away from him.

They had taken her into a room further down the hall for the interview. She had refused to leave the room with them until Haley had reassured her Nathan would come get her as soon as a doctor arrived.

That hadn't happened, instead she was forced to recount in as much detail as she could what she had found on her return home. They had asked her if she had any ideas as to why Brooke had been at her house that night, after she'd informed them Brooke lived with Rachel having moved out several months ago.

She could only shake her head. She had no idea why Brooke had still been at the house, but she also did not let them know Brooke had been there earlier to talk to her, they didn't need to know, no one did. They just had to catch the bastard that had done this.

When they had finished with her she returned to the waiting room to join the others after being told that she wouldn't be allowed back into her home until further notice. She didn't care though, the last thing she wanted was to go anywhere near her bedroom at the moment.

Once Peyton was back with everyone else she had found a few empty seats at one end of the room and sat down alone to wait. Not bothering to looking up when Haley and Nathan moved to join her.

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"Maybe you should try talking to her again." Karen said to her son as she watched Peyton with her head in her hands looking down at the floor. "She looks like she needs you."

Lucas shook his head as he followed his mothers gaze. "No, what she needs is good news. And no one here can give her any."

Just then Mouth walks over and stands beside Lucas.

"I tried to get a hold of Rachel but I guess she's turned her phone off." Mouth says with a shrug as he looks over at Peyton sadly.

"Has she told you anything about what happened to Brooke?" He asks quietly.

"No. I just know what Nathan told me when he picked us up. I guess that's as much as anyone knows right now." Lucas continues.

"And I don't think asking Peyton to go through it all over again is going to help any, she's been through enough for tonight boys." Karen adds hoping to prevent anyone causing Peyton any more pain for now.

Mouth looks at Lucas' mother shaking his head, the last thing he wanted was to upset Peyton, he just had no idea how anything like this could happen to one of his best friends.

Just as he was about to plead his case to Karen she stood up.

"Looks like we'll finally hear how she is." She says watching as Peyton rushes over to a doctor that had just entered the room.

Quickly she moved towards them and was soon joined by her son, Mouth, Nathan and Haley. She just hoped the news would be good, it had been a very long time since they'd heard anything other than that she was still in surgery.

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Peyton almost cried at the sight of the doctor opening the waiting room door. Finally someone could tell her what the hell was taking so long.

"How is she? Is she okay? Can I see her?" She asks before he can say anything as she notices more people join her for news.

She tried not to let their presence bother her but she was angry that they were there, this was about Brooke after all.

Her Brooke, not theirs.

Peyton calms slightly as Haley places her arm around her as she waited for the doctor to begin. Please let her be okay!

"Well, what I can say right now is that surgery went well and Miss Davis is now in recovery." He informs all the anxious faces watching him.

At that everyone sighs in relief, even Peyton manages to smile and hug Haley tightly. She's going to be okay now, she's going to be fine.

"Oh my God!" Haley cheers as she clutches at Peyton. "Brooke's okay Peyton!" She continues as Nathan joins the hug.

The doctor smiles at the people in the room. It was always a good day when the tears in a room where happy ones, too often his job required letting people know a loved one couldn't be saved.

He looks at Karen finally noticing that she was the only adult present.

"Are you a relative?" He asks.

"No, actually her parents live out of state and we've had trouble reaching them." Karen responds with a shake of her head.

"When can I see her?" Peyton asks with a smile once she had finished celebrating the news with her friends.

The doctor looks from Karen to Peyton and then back again before sighing.

"I'm sorry but only immediate family can see here right now. You won't be able to visit your friend until she's been moved to a general ward." The doctor informs them.

Haley watches Peyton's face fall at the news.

"What? I need to see her." Peyton states as she steps closer to the doctor.

"Peyton, honey. Maybe it's a better idea to come back in the morning, she's going to be okay." Karen says trying to comfort her son's girlfriend.

Lucas put his arm around Peyton and tries to calm her down as he knew from her expression that the doctor was about to be told where to go with his previous statement.

"Peyton my mom's right. We can all come back in the morning and find out how Brooke's doing. You could do with a rest." He pleads with her.

Peyton shrugs off his arm and any attempts to tell her what she could and couldn't do. How dare anyone try to tell her what she needed.

"I want to see her!" She demanded.

"I really am sorry Miss but only family or spouses are allowed access to the intensive care unit. Its hospital policy and I can't change that, now if you'll excuse me." The doctor said sympathetically.

Damn it I'm allowed to see her. Peyton thought furious at being brushed off.

"I have the right to see her damn it!" She explodes as she shrugs away from Luke again.

"Peyton-" Lucas begins knowing his girlfriend is upset but there was nothing anyone could do, the only family Brooke had were thousands of miles away. Unaware that their daughter was even in a hospital.

Peyton turns and glares at Lucas before turning to face the doctor who had folded his arms and was waiting for her to continue.

"I have that lawyer thing. I'm allowed to see her." She informs him.

Lucas looks at his mother, Nathan, and Haley but they seemed as clueless as he was. He watched as the doctor frowned before looking at Peyton.

"You mean you have a Health Care Power of Attorney?" He finally asks.

Peyton finally settles down even as she wipes a few tears from her face and nods at the doctor. If that's what it's called.

"And it's in writing with her medical files?" He questions watching her nod again. "Well then, I guess you need to come with me." He continues before exiting the room with Peyton, who left without looking back at anyone.

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"What the hell?" Lucas asks confused.

Nathan and Haley just held each other as they looked at Lucas and his mom.

"Don't know any more than you do bro'." Nathan says just as confused by what Peyton had said as the rest of them.

"Come on lets all just sit down. There's nothing else we can do right now." Karen says leading the group back to the chairs as Skills approaches.

"Listen, I know this is all real messed up right now. But we were thinking we should cut out, seeing as she's gonna be okay and all." He says indicating the hovering crowd behind him. "We're not much use here right now anyways."

Karen nods at him with a smile. "I'm sure she'd have appreciated all of you coming and being here for her."

And with that only four people remained in the room.

"What was that thing Peyton was talking about?" Haley finally breaks the silence to ask.

"I'm not really sure of the specifics, but I think it gives someone the authority to make medical decisions on behalf of someone else. Especially if they're unable to make those decisions themselves at the time." Karen says to the three young adults watching her.

"But how would sh-"

"Luke man, I really don't think why or how Peyton has that thing matters right now. What matters is that Peyton gets to actually go see Brooke, that she's not in some hospital bed all alone. Scared." Nathan interrupts his brother shocked that he didn't seem to be focusing on just what was important.

Haley squeezed Nathan's hand tighter at that. That really was all that mattered right now, that Brooke knew she wasn't alone. That her friends were all there for her.

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Peyton followed the doctor out of the waiting room only to frown when he opened the door to the staff room and motioned her inside.

"Now before I take you to see your friend we have to talk about some things." He said kindly as they sat down on chairs in the empty room.

Peyton nodded. Right she probably has wires attached to her and stuff.

"Miss Davis was beaten very badly I'm afraid, and has bruising on her face, arms, legs and torso." He began.

Peyton felt her eyes tear and she brought her hand up to cover her mouth, trying to hold back a sob. She didn't want a run down on everything that had happened to her friend. She just wanted it all to have never happened.

"She received several stab wounds, on her back, side, chest, thigh and hand. She also had a lot of shallow cuts over her body. One of the stab wounds caused damage to her pancreas which is why there was so much blood." He allowed her a moment to take that information in.

"She really is very lucky you found her when you did, she probably owes you her life." He says trying to be positive.

Peyton listened as he told her Brooke had been close to dying. She couldn't understand just how any of this could happen. Brooke didn't deserve this! She thought angrily.

"Was she-" Peyton begins when she was able to speak past the lump in her throat. She had a good idea as to what he would say. She had see Brooke's naked body on the stretcher and had seen the blood and bruising, but she still had to know.

"Yes, she was raped."

Peyton nodded, she'd known that. Hearing it out loud didn't make it hurt any less though. Or stop the tears rolling down her face.

The doctor placed a tissue in her hands as he stood.

"Would you like to see her now?"

Peyton stood and walked out of the room feeling more numb and heartbroken than she could ever remember. Her own mother's death hadn't hurt this much, either one of them.

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"What should we do now?" Asks Lucas from his seat.

"Well I'm not going anywhere." Haley answered knowing Peyton could return at any point.

"Haley, come on now, we've all be here for hours and the both of us are pregnant. Do you really think staying any longer is going to help? Lucas can stay and wait for Peyton then bring her home with him." Karen tried to reason looking to Nathan for support.

"Are you sure Hales?" Nathan asks taking in her folded arms and her resolute expression. In truth he had no desire to leave until Peyton had returned either, he had already offered her the use of his couch to crash on if she wanted it.

Peyton had been too worried at the time to comment so he was unsure what her plans would be, so staying made sense. He wanted to know how Brooke was doing like the rest of them but he also wanted to be there to help Peyton in any way he could.

Haley just nodded at Nathan's question. She wasn't leaving without Peyton and that was final. If she couldn't visit Brooke she would do what she could for her other friend.

They just had to wait patiently for her to return.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Standing outside the room that would take her to Brooke, Peyton rested her hand on the door.

She wasn't sure that she was ready, that she'd ever be ready, to see her best friend lying there. Her image of Brooke was always of a girl that was so full of energy and giddiness that just being in the same room with her made Peyton smile. Tigger described her to a T.

To watch as she lay on a hospital bed was almost unbelievable to her, not Brooke, none of this could be real.

None of it.

'She's connected to a ventilator to allow her body more time to recover, as such we are keeping her sedated for at least the next 24 hours.'

Peyton took a deep breath, pushed the door open and walked through.

'She has a fracture to her left cheek bone but we'll have to wait for the swelling to reduce before knowing the extent of the damage.'

Even as her legs felt heavy, Peyton forced herself to keep walking until she was standing by the chair at the bedside. It was a single room so there were no other patients, only Brooke.

The room looked very sterile and the smell of antiseptic was in the air. The only sounds in the room were from a heart monitor beeping steadily and the respirator pumping air into a chest that rose and fell regularly.

'Miss Davis suffered a punctured lung as a result of one of the penetrating stab wounds. She has a chest drain currently attached to her that will help clear any fluid remaining in the lung. All things going well it should be removed in a day or two.'

The bed sheets were white and Peyton thought they made Brooke look small and fragile as she lay there unmoving. Peyton was afraid to touch her, afraid to breathe too loudly, afraid the doctor was wrong.

'She should make a full recovery in time but it'll be a slow and sometimes painful process for her.'

That at any moment the beeping would slow and come to a stop.

That she would lose Brooke just like she lost her mother.

That Brooke would be gone before she could ever get the chance to take anything back.

That she'd never again know what it was like to have her best friend standing beside her.

To laugh with.

To comfort.

To love.

'We've taken blood samples to test for any infectious agents but at this stage they would be difficult to detect. She'll have to come back for further test in six weeks and then in six months just to be sure.'

"I didn't mean it Brooke." Peyton whispers into the silence around her as tears gathered at her eyelids.

"I didn't mean it Brooke." She repeats finally reaching out to touch a finger of a heavily bandaged hand.

Gazing at the bruised and swollen face below her, a face she would always recognize no matter what, Peyton sobbed and fell into the chair.

"You're not dead to me Brooke."

"So don't you dare give up, don't you dare!"