Author's Note: Hey guys! WOW! Two updates in about two days! I'm on a roll! This one is kind of short, but like The Sweetest Sin, I kind of left you guys on a cliffhanger so I didn't want to keep you all waiting for another week or two. Anyways, here's Chapter 20! I hope you all like it! As always, please read and review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. One Tree Hill and its characters are property of the WB.

Rating: PG to PG-13

In the Presence of An Angel

Chapter 20

Haley could not stop crying. She was curled up in an uncomfortable chair in the hospital waiting room with no news on Brooke's condition as of yet. The paramedics had gotten the seizures to stop about halfway through the ride to the hospital, but she hadn't woken up. The whole time on the ride to the hospital, Haley held Brooke's hand tightly yet gently in her own, whispering over and over as she kissed her all over her face and stroked her hair, "I'm so sorry baby, I didn't mean it. Please come back to me, please wake up…" Haley didn't have the heart to get up and go call their friends to let them know what had happened to Brooke; she feared that the doctor would come out to talk to her and she wouldn't be there. Haley shut her sore eyes tightly as she remembered coming into the hospital.

The paramedics unloaded the gurney off the ambulance and Haley quickly followed in their wake, desperate to stay by Brooke's side. A doctor and some nurses came running out to meet them and ushered them into the hospital. Haley gasped when she noticed some blood trickling down the side of Brooke's mouth. She pointed this out to them and before she knew it, she was left standing in the hall, alone.

She raced back outside to use her cell phone and immediately called Toni. The phone rang for what seemed like forever until she heard the woman's voice come over the line, "Hello?" "Toni…" Haley cried, unable to stop from shaking. "Haley, is that you? What's wrong Haley," Toni asked, beginning to panic at the sound of her voice. "It-It's Brooke…she had another spike…oh god, it's worse than before Toni…she-she was having seizures and she had blood coming out of her mouth…we're at the hospital and-and I don't know what to do and they haven't told me anything yet…I'm just a mess right now…"Toni tried to sound calm for her friend, but knew that there was nothing to be calm about; seizures were serious, "I'll be right there Hales. Just hang on honey, I'll be there in just a few minutes…"

As soon as Toni arrived, she engulfed Haley in a tight hug, letting the girl cry on her shoulder for several minutes as she stroked her hair, trying to comfort the distraught girl. "Sh…Brooke will be okay, she'll be fine…" Toni murmured into her hair. Haley wrenched herself away, "No! You didn't see her Toni! The seizures…it was like she was being electrocuted and-and the blood coming out of her mouth! It-It's so much worse than you think…" Toni placed her hands on the girl's shoulders, "Haley, I know what you are going through. I see it every day." "No! You don't know what I'm going through," Haley cut her off as she screamed then suddenly she remembered that Toni was a nurse, and she worked here. She looked at Toni with pleading, teary eyes as she grabbed tightly onto the woman's shirt, "Toni, please…go to Brooke…help her…save my girlfriend…""I-I don't think they'll let me…" she started but she stared into Haley's eyes, filled with so much pain and sadness, "I'll try."

Haley still sat there, unmoving, for another hour; she'd been waiting for nearly three hours on news of her girlfriend. Haley had a sickening feeling in her stomach. Why was it taking so long? Had things been even more worse than what she'd witnessed? She hugged her legs tighter to her body as she buried her head into her thighs. This was all her fault. If she hadn't yelled and broken up with Brooke, she wouldn't be here at the hospital and she wouldn't be waiting on news that could make her whole world fall apart. A curious thought nagged at the back of her mind. Had she caused Brooke's first spike? If so, what had triggered it? Tears anew masked her face at the realization that she was the cause of all this pain in Brooke. Haley didn't want to hurt Brooke.

She felt a hand on her back and a soft voice, "I heard about Brooke. How are you holding up?" Haley looked up and saw Danielle sitting beside her. "I'm not. They haven't told me anything and it's been almost three hours since we got here…" Haley replied, tears rising in her eyes once again as she looked at her friend and co-worker, her chin trembling, "she can't die, Danielle. I can't lose her. I'll die if I lose her…" Danielle hugged her and said soft, comforting words into her ear. There were only a few people at the hospital that knew of Haley and Brooke's relationship and those included were Toni, Danielle, and a girl named Holly who was also a volunteer and her age, just recently graduated from Tree Hill High last year. They stayed like that for several minutes when suddenly, somebody cleared their throat.

Both girls looked up and saw Toni standing before them. Haley gulped. She shakily stood on her two feet, "H-How is she? Is she alright? Please tell me!" Toni placed her hands on Haley's shoulders and gazed sympathetically into her eyes, "Maybe you should sit down…" Haley's knees went weak as she gripped onto the older woman, sobs beginning to tear from her throat, "Nooo! No! She's not dead…she can't be dead…I'm so sorry Brooke…" She mumbled this last part quietly into Toni's chest. "Haley, Brooke didn't die; she's alive. I just need to tell you some things that are very important that you must know," Toni said gently as she lowered herself and the girl in her arms onto some chairs.

"What is it then," Haley asked when she finally raised her head. "About twenty minutes after I went in there to help, we lost Brooke. Her heart stopped, but only for a minute or two. We got her back but those few minutes could have been crucial. During that time, her body was deprived of oxygen, which can lead to brain damage…" Haley interrupted her, her breathing quickening almost to the level of hyperventilation, "Her heart stopped? Brain damage?" Haley was desperately trying to take this all in. How could Brooke be okay if she suffered from brain damage? "What I was saying is that there could be brain damage but given the amount of time she was deprived of oxygen, there is a good chance that there won't be any," Toni responded. "But there's still a chance," Haley asked. Toni nodded silently. Haley buried her head in her hands for a few minutes then she wiped her face and looked up, "Can-Can I see her?" Toni nodded again as she helped her up and led her down the hall.

"Like the doctor told you the first time Brooke had a spike, she will be unconscious for a while. However, with the intensity of this spike, Brooke will need to stay in the hospital a few days before she can go home. Do you know what caused the spike this time?" Haley shut her eyes tightly and nodded without giving any information. "Well, whatever caused the spike needs to be taken away so this won't happen again. I hate to tell you this, but if you don't, the next one might kill her…" Haley stared at her wide-eyed for a few moments before she slowly nodded.

Toni left her at the door to Brooke's room and Haley hesitated a few minutes, biting her bottom lip, before she slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside. All the lights were out in the room except one over her bed and her skin was a sickly pale white just like it had been the last time, only now it was worse than before. She looked so delicate and fragile; cold. She slowly walked over and pulled the blankets up to her shoulders then dragged a chair to her bedside. Haley gently took Brooke's hand into her own then pressed it to her cheek and kissed it. "Brooke, I'm so sorry..." she cried as she laid her head on the side of the bed, finally letting the tears loose.

She stayed there for another hour or two, sometimes talking to her but mostly crying, before she decided it was time to let everyone know what had happened. She knew they would be furious that she didn't let them know sooner, but she had wanted to be alone at the time. Haley stood from her chair and leaned over the bed, giving her a slow, soft kiss on the lips and stroking her hair before leaving the room to go use a pay phone since she couldn't use her cell phone inside.

Everyone was freaked, to say the least, when they heard the news and said they would be at the hospital within minutes. Peyton and Luke arrived together first then came Jake and Jenny, and Nathan. As soon as the couple entered the waiting room, Peyton rushed over to her, worry and panic in her eyes. "Is she alright? What happened? Can we see her," Peyton bombarded her with questions in quick succession. "She's okay Peyton. Still unconscious, but okay. You can see her down the hall, Room 115," Haley replied. Lucas wrapped her in a tight hug, "You should have called us earlier. We could have stayed with you while you waited." "No, I wanted to be alone for a little bit," she responded as she spotted Jake come in with Jenny in his arms. "Um, I'm kind of thirsty so I'm gonna go to the cafeteria to get something to drink. Jake would you come with me? Do you guys want anything," Haley offered to her friends. They all said they were fine then went down the hall to visit Brooke.

"How are you holding up," Jake asked concernedly as she placed a hand on her back. "It hurts to breathe and I feel like I'm dying inside…It was my fault she's here now. It's all my fault…" she choked on a sob as she buried her head in her hands. He hugged her and asked gently, "What happened?" "W-We were at the mall and we ran into K-Katrina and-and she was being…well, Katrina and Brooke called us friends and I ran off… I was waiting for her when she came back to her house and we had this huge fight and I told her that we were over…I didn't mean it, any of it. I was upset about what happened in the mall and I ran back to tell her that and I raced into her room and-and I found her on the floor…she was having seizures! I can't lose her Jake!" she looked up at him with pain-filled eyes as she whispered, "what if I never get to say I'm sorry?"

"Don't talk like that Haley," he said a little gruffly, "Brooke's a strong girl; she'll pull through, just like she did last time…" Haley cut him off, "She didn't have seizures last time, Jake!" He wrapped his arm tighter around her, "I know, but I do know Brooke and she never gives up on anything without a fight…" He winced when he saw Haley look away, "Sorry, bad choice of words there. What I meant is that she loves you and she wouldn't give up on you; the love is too strong in here." He tapped her heart with his index finger. "But I'm the one that's hurting her…" Haley whispered as she looked down at the floor. "What," he asked. "Brooke is lying there unconscious, hurt, because of me. I'm the one that caused the spike… and Toni said that if I don't get rid of what's causing the spikes…she said that the next one might kill her… I can't do that to her Jake. I can't keep causing her pain just to be with her. Jake, I want you to do something for me…"

After their friends saw Brooke, Haley went to sit with her again. "I'm sorry…" she whispered to both herself and Brooke, knowing that her life would never be the same again. She kissed the back of her hand and leaned down to press her lips firmly to Brooke's. When she pulled away, she was startled by Brooke's brown eyes staring back at her and her raspy voice. Brooke gave her a small smile, "Now that's more like it." Haley let out a slight laugh. "So, how long was I out for this time," she asked. "A week," Haley responded, needing some comic relief, even if it was just for a few fleeting moments. "What! I was out for a week!" "No, I was just kidding. You were unconscious for about five or six hours, a little longer than last time…" Haley trailed off then said in a soft voice, "Brooke…I didn't mean what I said back there, at your house…" Brooke lifted one hand to caress the side of her cheek, "I know… but you did mean some of it… I'm scared too, Haley. I'm scared that some of our friends might not accept us being together but I'm not giving up on you. My life had no meaning until I met you. You're my world…" Brooke began to cry as she continued to rub her thumb softly over her cheek.

Haley shut her eyes tightly as she thought, 'Don't Brooke. Don't make this so much harder than it already is…' She opened them again and kissed her tenderly, but it soon became passionate as Brooke wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Their tongues roamed each other's mouths and Brooke's hand ran down her back and Haley's hands ran up and down the sides of Brooke's body. Haley moaned quietly, feeling herself getting lost in the kiss. She was drowning and she didn't want to come back up, never wanted to let go. Finally they broke apart for air and Brooke smirked, "That was one hell of a kiss. We should break up more often. Make-ups are always the best." Brooke didn't notice the pained look flash across Haley's face. Haley managed to give her a forced smile.

Suddenly, Peyton entered and she walked over to another chair on the other side of the bed and sat in it, a determined look on her face. She crossed her legs and folded her arms over her chest and smiled. "So how's your love life," she remarked with a smug look then pointed a finger at them, "and don't lie to me. I know you two are together; I saw you two kissing a few minutes ago." Haley turned her back to Peyton, an uncomfortable expression on her face, which Brooke noticed. The brunette responded, "Peyton, our love life is our business. But if you must know, we haven't done anything. And I would like it if you could keep our relationship a secret. We don't want anyone else to know right now, okay?" Haley acquired an angry expression on her face and she started to move from the bed when Brooke grabbed her hand, mouthing that they would talk about it once Peyton left.

"Sure," Peyton replied with a smile, "so how long has this been going on and who else knows about it?" "About two or three weeks and the people who know are Jake, Karen, Toni, the nurse who treated me last time I was here, and some of the other nurses who work with Haley," Brooke responded. "How did Jake and Karen find out? Did they catch you two making out like I did just now," she asked with a grin. "Jake knew about my feelings for Brooke before we got together and when we did, he noticed that we were closer with each other. Remember that night with Luke and the accident," Haley asked, referring to the night she'd kicked him, "well, the next morning I was talking to Brooke on my cell phone out on the back porch and Karen went to go get the newspaper from the front porch and she heard me."

Peyton nodded, "Okay, enough of the third degree. I'll leave you two alone for a while. Brooke, I'll visit you tomorrow and you can let me know when they're kicking you out of this joint so we can go partying." The blonde smiled at her friend. Haley replied sternly, "There will be none of that any time soon." Brooke rolled her eyes and let out a loud sigh of exasperation, "Oh god! The Nurse Nazi is back!" "Sucks to be you," Peyton laughed, sticking out her tongue as she left the room. "Come here," Brooke gestured with her hands to enter her open arms. Haley gently wrapped her arms around Brooke's body as she buried her head in the crook of her neck, breathing in the scent that was distinctly Brooke, trying to put it to memory. Brooke softly kissed her forehead. "I love you…" Haley murmured as she thought, 'I'm doing this for you, Brooke. I can't go on hurting you like this. It's for the best…'

gasp What is Haley going to do?