Nathan dropped his paintbrush.
"What?!! She can't be in a labor....its too soon!!"
Lucas was breathless from running back and forth grabbing clothes and a bag from the other side of the hallway. "I don't know...Mom just called...apparently, she and Haley were at the cafe and Haley complained of pains."
"Oh my god," Nathan said, grabbing his wallet from the floor and rushing down the stairs, Lucas and Deb on his heels.
"Why didn't she call me?!" Nathan said.
"She said she tried but she couldn't get an answer."
"Damnit!" Nathan said, remembering he'd accidentally left his cell phone in the car when he grabbed food for him and Deb. "Way to be a responsible father huh?" he said gruffly.
"No, Nathan, honey...it was a mistake, she's not due yet," Deb spoke up.
At that moment, Lucas' phone rang again somewhere in the room.
The three of them looked around, trying to find it.
"Where the hell is it?!" Lucas said, crawling around on the floor, looking under the table and couch.
Under any circumstances, Nathan would have found Lucas' behavior humorous...but right now it just wasn't.
Lucas finally retrieved his phone from somewhere under an end table. "Yea? Hello!"
Lucas stopped short. "Oh...wait, Nathan, wait!!" he called to Nathan who was halfway out the door.
"What?" Nathan stopped and turned around.
"It's mom...Haley's not in labor...it was a false alarm."
Nathan breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"Is she alright though?" he asked.
"Yeah, yeah," Lucas said, still trying to listen to his mother on the phone. "They think it was just...indigestion."
Deb fell into the arm chair in the living room as Nathan stepped back into the house.
Lucas hung up with his mother a moment later. "Mom apologizes for scaring the hell out of everyone...."
Nathan exhaled another deep breath. It had scared him. It had scared him bad. It was too soon for Haley to be giving birth. Dr. Bader had discussed what could happen with premature labor and birth and Nathan didn't even want to think about it.
~~~~~~~~
A few hours later, Nathan and Haley were sitting on the couch, watching tv at his apartment.
"You gave me a scare today," Nathan said.
Haley looked at him, embarassed. "I'm sorry about that...I guess I just panicked."
"Well you weren't alone. Lucas was in a frenzy. He tends to panic as well," Nathan said with a small smile on his face.
Haley smiled too. "He's just protective and its really nice to have everyone here. Especially since my mom doesn't live here."
Nathan nodded.
"Mom is planning to spend the last few weeks of November here in Tree Hill though," Haley smiled. "She wants to help with things before the baby is born."
"That's great...," Nathan said.
Haley looked at him with skepticism. "What's the matter?"
They knew each other too well. Nathan knew he couldn't hide things from her.
"I just...today was a big wake up call for me," Nathan said. Haley was quiet, waiting for him to elaborate.
"I just wish I could be here every second of every I thought for even a second that something was wrong, that something could happen to you or the baby....it....I don't know to describe it. I just felt so devastated and helpless. It just really awakened in me what all of this really means..."
Haley nodded, still remaining silent.
Nathan looked her directly in the eye. "I'm just saying that I love you. I will always love you. I'm not putting any pressure on you to be with me -- the last thing I want is to cause more stress in your life...but someday, when all of this calms down...and the baby is born, I'm still gonna be here. I'm still going to want to be with you."
Haley could feel her eyes welling up with tears. It seemed as though she'd been crying a lot lately.
She didn't say a word, she only reached for Nathan to pull him into a hug.
The two sat there, holding each other for the longest time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Bader sat down after the usual doctor visit procedures.
"I've looked over the results of your tests. Judging from the rise in blood pressure over the past couple of weeks and the protein in your urine sample, it appears that you have what is called Preeclampsia. It's a fairly common high blood pressure disorder. However, it can lead to complications in the pregnancy. We just have to keep a careful eye on your blood pressure and any swelling that may occur. The abdominal pain you experienced before could have been a symptom as well."
"Oh my god," Nathan said and immediately regretted it. He was supposed to be here for moral support and yet he was the one about to come apart.
"It's definitely something to watch, but its not something to get alarmed about at this point," Dr. Bader replied. "It's more common in first time mothers and usually appears in the last trimester."
Haley sat there quietly, not sure what to say.
"Is there a cure?" Nathan asked.
"Delivery of the baby is the only 'cure' at this point. That's why I'm going to monitor everything from this point on. I am scheduling weekly exams which we were going to do anyway, the closer you get to delivery," Dr. Bader explained.
Dr. Bader looked at Haley's frightened expression. "I won't lie to you. This can become serious. All that I ask is that you please trust me on this. We will keep the baby in the womb to mature as long as possible, but the minute I begin to feel uneasy about it, we'll deliver early if necessary."
Nathan shut his eyes. The small scare he'd had the week before didn't even register in comparison to what he was feeling now.
Haley thanked Dr. Bader and the two left with barely a word from Nathan.
Nathan remained silent and calm through most of the ride home, dropping Haley off with the promise to come over and eat dinner with her that evening.
Once he had seen that Haley was safely inside her apartment, Nathan headed toward the Scott house, fiercely trying to wipe away the tears that were rapidly falling.