Updation? I think so. :)
P.S. Pirates 3 ruled!
Lucas sat in that same position for fifteen more minutes, both hands tightly clasped around Peyton's, his eyes not leaving her face. Brooke, Haley, and Nathan still hadn't returned, and the only person to enter the room was a nurse checking Peyton's vitals. Sunlight was slowing pouring in through the windows. Lucas squinted his eyes against the light, refusing to stand up for even a second to close the blinds. He had the strangest sense that being next to Peyton was making her stronger.
A while later he heard the sound of footsteps, and then a small knock on the door outside the room. Lucas turned in his seat, still holding Peyton's hand tightly, to see his mother standing in the doorway. Her face was flushed, her hair messy, the visitor's badge lopsided on her jacket. Karen gave Lucas a loving look and hurried into the room. He reluctantly dropped Peyton's hand, got to his feet, and wrapped his arms around his mom.
"Oh, Luke," Karen whispered. "I'm so sorry. I got home late and went straight to bed." She wrapped her arms around him more tightly. "When I woke up, I checked the machine and listened to Haley's message…I got here as fast as I could-"
"It's okay, mom," Lucas soothed, pulling away from his mother. "I'm really glad you're here." Putting his hands on her shoulders, he gave her a sad smile, his eyes searching her face.
Karen glanced over Lucas's shoulders to the hospital bed. It was clear that Peyton was in a bad state from the numerous tubes going in and out of her body. She approached the bed slowly, Lucas close behind her. "Is she okay?" Karen whispered, placing a hand on Peyton's head.
Lucas shrugged, digging his hands in his pockets again. "They're not sure yet," he replied sadly, sitting in his usual spot beside her bed. He reached up and grasped her hand again. It was noticeably warmer than before. "But she's doing better than before. Her fever is down and her vitals are starting to stabilize. The nurse said they might take her off the ventilator," he added, as the machine beside him let out a loud noise and Peyton's chest rose heavily.
Karen placed a comforting hand on her son's shoulder. "I'm sure she'll be fine," she assured him. "Peyton's a strong girl, Luke." She watched as he gulped and nodded slowly.
"Karen?"
Lucas and Karen turned around to see Haley, Brooke, and Nathan standing in the doorway. Haley gave a small smile and hurried over, wrapping her arms around Karen in a tight embrace. Brooke stepped in, handing a large cup of coffee to Lucas and waiting to greet Karen also. Lucas noticed that her eyes quickly flashed to his hand in Peyton's, but was relieved that she didn't look upset by it at all. Nathan smiled at Karen, but instead of greeting her retreated to Lucas's side and began inspecting the screen above Peyton's bed.
"She's doing better," he commented, his eyes moving from the blood pressure numbers to the temperature at the bottom of the screen. He glanced at Lucas. "Have you spoken to any doctors?" Lucas opened his mouth to speak, but someone interrupted him.
"Not yet."
The whole group turned to the door to see fairly young man in a white coat standing there. He gave them a warm smiled and stepped into the room, picking up the chart at the foot of Peyton's bed and scanning it. "It seems Ms. Sawyer has been through quite an ordeal," he murmured, placing a finger on the sheet to mark his spot. He glanced at her vitals and smiled. "But I'm pleased to see that her condition has vastly improved. I've spoken with her nurse and I believe we can take her off the ventilator at this point."
Karen had a slightly troubled look on her face. "Is that safe?" she asked, concerned.
The doctor nodded. "Ms. Sawyer-"
"Peyton," Lucas corrected him quietly.
"Peyton," the man continued, smiling at Lucas with twinkling eyes, "is capable of breathing on her own. We only had her on the ventilator to be careful because of the puncture in her lung. We wanted to be sure that her vitals were stable before letting her breathe for herself." He glanced back at the screen again, marking a few things on the sheet in front of him.
Behind Lucas, Brooke cleared her throat loudly. "Can you take her off the medications?" she asked tentatively. "To wake her up?"
The doctor bit his lip and hesitated for a moment. "We'd prefer not to at the moment," he began slowly, as though trying to think of the best way to put it. He shifted his weight uncomfortably. "Peyton's body is still suffering from the attack. She hasn't even had the chance to breathe on her own yet. We'd first like to see how she does without the ventilator. If she continues to do well, we'll start getting her to wake up." He glanced at the door, nodding to a few nurses assembled there. They stepped into the room, wheeling a cart in behind them. The doctor turned back to the group. "We're going to have to ask you to leave the room while we take her off the ventilator. It shouldn't take long at all. You can even wait right outside if you'd like."
Karen, Haley, and Brooke nodded quickly and began walking to the door. Nathan glanced at Lucas briefly before following suit. Once in the doorway, he turned and called, "Are you coming?" Lucas gave Peyton's hand another tight squeeze, getting to his feet slowly.
"She'll be fine, right?" he asked the doctor, not taking his eyes off her. He could feel a pang in his heart at the thought of leaving her bedside again, even for a few minutes.
The doctor nodded. "She'll be fine," he repeated. "You have no reason to worry. She's in good hands." He reached out and grasped Lucas's shoulder briefly, then gave a small smile and moved to Peyton's bed.
Lucas glanced back at Peyton for a moment, his heart pounding. He sighed greatly, crossing his arms, and walked slowly out of the room. Right outside the door he found the other four assembled. Nathan was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, Brooke beside him. Haley and Karen were whispering to each other but stopped the moment they saw Lucas. A frightened look appeared on Haley's face, and she scrambled to lean against the wall beside Nathan. Lucas raised his eyebrows at her, then leaned against the wall opposite them and put his hands in his pockets.
"Lucas," Karen began hesitantly. "I need to ask you something." She glanced briefly at Haley, who nodded encouragingly. Lucas began kicking his feet noisily against the floor. Karen gave him a warning look. "I-We want to know exactly what's been going on with Peyton."
Lucas immediately stopped kicking his feet and looked up. Across the hall, Nathan, Brooke, and Haley were staring at him apprehensively. Karen kept glancing between her son and the other group. Lucas swallowed. "What?"
"We talked about it in the cafeteria," Haley said. She ran a hand through her hair. "Look, I know you're trying to protect her, but we're her friends too. We want to know the whole story." She paused, biting her lip. "This is a big deal." Next to her, Nathan and Brooke both nodded.
Lucas crossed his arms again and glanced at the door to Peyton's room. Inside he could hear the nurses moving around loudly and talking to one another. He could tell it would be a while before they were let back in. He looked back at the other three. They hadn't taken their eyes off of him. Swallowing heavily, he opened his mouth. "I don't-"
"Luke, come on," Nathan said. "We have a right to know."
"Okay." He stood up straighter, uncrossing his arms and dropping them to his side awkwardly. Karen put a comforting hand on his arm. He glanced at the door again before continuing. "She showed up on Saturday. It was…maybe three in the morning. She was…she wasn't okay." The other four were all hanging on his words. He hadn't had any trouble recounting the entire situation with the police, but he was finding it very difficult to tell people he knew. He swallowed. "She had injuries. A black eye and a few bruises and was really upset. She asked to stay the night, so of course I let her. She wouldn't tell me what happened at first. She was just denying it." He found himself staring at the floor again, refusing to look in the others' eyes. "But then- she just broke down. I could tell she wasn't okay. So when she asked me not to tell anyone, I promised I wouldn't."
He saw Haley shifted uncomfortably. "You still could've said something," she began quietly, but Lucas cut her off.
"No, I couldn't have, and I don't regret keeping quiet." He gave her a hard stare back. "Peyton came to me for help. She needed someone there for her the most. I wasn't about to betray her trust. I would never do that." He inhaled deeply, trying to shake off the defensive tone. After a moment he continued his story, this time sounding much more calm and collected. "On Sunday, she wanted to see you." He nodded at Brooke. She stood up straighter and nodded back at him. "I didn't think she'd come back to my place, but she did."
Brooke cut him off this time. "She-she slept at your place?" she asked, and Lucas noticed that she sounded slightly hurt. "We were planning a sleepover-"
Lucas felt a slight pang of annoyance at Brooke's words. It was all he could do to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Biting his tongue, he tried to keep his tone level. "Don't take it personally, Brooke. Peyton just wasn't up to it. She'd been having a really rough time." He glanced at Brooke and saw her open her mouth quickly, obviously ready to retort. He plunged on quickly. "Anyway, it was after school on Monday when I got the call from her boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend," he corrected himself quickly. "He left a message on the machine asking for her and then called again. I told him to leave her alone."
"Why would you do that?" Nathan asked. "Why would you let him know where she was?" He saw Haley give Nathan a warning look.
Lucas sighed heavily. "I don't know why I did it." He paused again, trying to think. "I guess…I guess I just wanted to protect her. I wanted him to know that if he tried to come after her, he'd have to deal with me first." At this point, a wave of guilt came over him. He felt a burning feeling at the back of his throat. There was a long moment of silence before he continued. "But then- last night…" He paused again. He wasn't sure where to begin with the others about what had occurred the night before. Should he explain why he wasn't with Peyton when she was attacked? Was it necessary to tell them why he had left her side so quickly? Should he really fess up to the kiss? Across the hall, Nathan gave an impatient grunt. Lucas bit the inside of his cheek before continuing. "We were at the court when I left to talk to Brooke. I didn't think it would be too long, so I let Peyton stay there. I didn't think anything would happen-"
"We were on our way home," Haley said quietly. She grabbed Nathan's hand impulsively, but she was looking at Lucas. "We passed the court and we saw police and someone lying on the ground. The second we got out of the car, I knew it was her. That's when I called you."
Lucas opened his mouth, feeling the urge to say something, but he couldn't get anything out. He had explained exactly what had occurred, just as they had asked, but for some reason it didn't feel right. It seemed like something was missing, like there was something he should be saying. He opened and closed his mouth slowly, staring at the ceiling without really seeing it. Beside him, Karen squeezed his arm supportively.
It was a few minutes later that a nurse stuck her head out the door. She was smiling in a kind fashion. "We're finished. You can come back in the room now." She gave them a beckoning sort of nod before disappearing behind the door again.
The five gathered outside the door all jumped. Each had been trapped in their own world. It seemed to have slipped their minds momentarily that they were in the hospital, waiting outside the room of someone they loved. Lucas stared at the door for a second, looking confused, and blinked. From what seemed like a mile away, he heard Brooke say, "C'mon, let's go." After a short moment of hesitation, he hurried inside the room.
Brooke stopped tentatively in front of the seat beside Peyton's bed, the one Lucas had been sitting in earlier. She was about to sit in it when she glanced at him. Giving him a small smile, she stepped to the other side of the bed and took a seat beside Haley. Lucas gave her a short but thankful nod, then sank into the chair and grabbed Peyton's hand in his again. It was shocking how much easier it was to see her without the ventilator. He found himself smiling to see her chest rising and falling in a normal fashion.
They stayed exactly where they were for the hour, rarely speaking. But this time, it wasn't a cold or scared silence. Everyone seemed to be holding their breaths, silently rejoicing in the fact that she seemed to be getting better every moment. They had been on the edges of their seats the entire night, but now they felt calm and relaxed.
At some point, the doctor entered the room again, a pleased smile on his face. "She's doing really well," he commented, inspecting the screen above her bed. He pulled out her chart and began scribbling away, then whispered something to the nurse beside him. She nodded quickly and pushed her way to Peyton's bedside, where her IV bags were.
Brooke gave the doctor a surprised look, and he smiled at her. "We're going to start taking her off the medication," he said. "Some, not all of it, but enough that she might start to come around again. We'll have to wait and see."
Brooke smiled back, and it was obvious she was holding back tears. "Thank you," she whispered. She smiled across the bed at Lucas and placed a hand on Peyton's arm.
It was twenty minutes after that when Karen got to her feet. "I think I should get going, she said, swinging her purse over her shoulder. She glanced at Lucas. "Peyton seems to be doing better, so I think its okay for me to get back home. Call me if anything changes." She walked to Lucas's side of the bed, leaned down, and pulled him into a hug. "I love you," she told him.
"Love you, too," Lucas said, hugging his mom back, his hand still clasped around Peyton's.
And then, quite suddenly, he felt something. A small tug on his hand. He pulled away from his mom quickly and glanced at Peyton. Her eyes were still closed, her face set in the same way it had been the entire night. She had not changed at all, yet he couldn't shake the thought that she'd just squeezed his hand. Karen raised her eyebrows at him, glancing between him and Peyton. The other three were looking mildly interested.
Lucas sat forward in his seat. "Peyton?" he said quickly, and he noticed that his heart was pounding heavily again. "Can you hear me?" His eyes searched her face, waiting for some sign that she knew he was there, but she remained still as ever. He wrapped his hand tighter in hers. Across from him, Brooke, Nathan, and Haley were giving him raised eyebrows, concerned but confused. Lucas ignored them. "Peyton," he began, "if you can hear me, squeeze my hand. Okay?"
For a moment it was completely silent. And then Lucas felt it. Peyton squeezed his hand. Rather weakly, it was true, but it was still something. A wide grin immediately appeared on his face, and he even let out a shaky laugh. Across the bed, Haley threw her arms around Nathan. Brooke let out a small laugh too, leaning in to plant a quick kiss on Peyton's forehead.
Lucas placed one hand on Peyton's head, gently brushing her hair out of her face, a genuine smile on his face. "You're gonna be okay," he told her, and for the first time in hours he truly believed it.