Disclaimer: I do not own OTH or any of it characters places or such. I am simply borrowing them.
AN/ Here is the next chapter. Hope you all like it. Thanks for all the reviews and all of the encouragement. Please don't forget to review for this chapter.
As always suggestions are welcome!
"Guess what?" Brooke said as she came bouncing back into the waiting room. Lucas, Chris and Haley all looked up at her.
"What?" Haley ventured to ask
"I am going to speak to the press instead of Simon" Brooke said excitedly
"She wanted too," Simon added
"She might be better at it" Lucas replied, "We all know how much you hate talking to them"
"Yea, I do" Simon said relief coming over him, "We need to work on what you want Brooke to tell them. I told them that they would have a statement within the hour"
"Okay" Lucas replied
"Aren't they going to ask who Brooke is?" Chris asked bringing up a good point
"What do I tell them?" Brooke asked as she sat down in the chair beside Lucas
"Tell them the truth." Lucas replied, "you are my girlfriend and a long time friend"
"That will answer the dying question they always want to know." Simon said laughing a little bit
"What dying question?" Haley asked
"Hales, don't you watch the interviews?" Lucas asked his best friend, "They always ask me why I am still single. Brooke here is the reason why" Lucas added as he turned towards Brooke and gave her a smile.
"Aww, Broody" Brooke said as she leaned in to kiss Lucas
"Don't they ask Nathan the same question?" Chris asked
"Yea, they do, but Nathan just tells them it is not something he wants to talk about" Simon replied, "Luke gets irritated and for some reason they love to irritate him"
"Who loves to irritate Lucas?" Peyton asked as she and Trent walk back into room
"The press. I am going to give the statement," Brooke said smiling at her best friend
Peyton laughed, "Can't get away from public relations, can you?"
"I figured it works out for everyone. Simon doesn't particularly care to give statements, while I love it"
"And you are so good at it" Peyton replied
"Thanks, P"
Karen and Sam walked back into the room with their arms around one another. They both wore smiles of joy upon their faces.
"Did you see the doctor?" Haley asked
"Yes" Karen replied as she took a seat next to Haley. "He said that he is going to try taking Nate off of the ventilator in a couple of hours and see how he does on his own. He doesn't want to push him too hard yet"
"What about his legs?" Chris asked
"One step at a time. If he will ever walk again, is still a question to be answered."
"He looks good though," Sam added sitting beside her younger brother
"Can I go see him?" Chris asked
"Of course"
"Lucas, do you want to come with me?"
"Uh…" Lucas replied. He was unsure if he wanted to see his brother like that. It was one thing when his eyes were closed, but a whole different thing when he was looking back at him and not able to speak. Lucas sighed, "yea, I will come with you"
Lucas stood as Chris made his way across the waiting room towards the door.
"Lucas?" Karen said making Lucas turn around to face his mother, "Remember he is okay." Lucas nodded before following his younger brother towards Nathan's room.
"Come on, Brooke. We need to go work on this statement" Simon said standing, "We will be down in the conference room if you need us," Simon added
"Okay" Karen said. When Brooke and Simon left she turned to Haley, "Why does he need Brooke's help to write the statement?"
"Brooke is going to make the statement instead of Simon." Haley replied
"Oh. She is working on vacation"
"You know Brooke, she does love her job" Peyton added
Karen laughed remembering more than one phone call with Brooke gushing about her latest PR party or event. She had occasionally called Karen to bounce ideas off of her for those same events.
Lucas and Chris slowly entered Nathan's room. The heart monitor was still beeping away and the ventilator still pumped air into Nathan's lungs. It was the same scene as when they had been in that room earlier, but this time, there were a pair of blue eyes staring back at them. Nathan slowly lifted his left hand and Lucas quickly took it within his own.
"Hey there little brother. Trying to scare us?" Lucas said trying to hold back tears and smiles
Nathan could not speak so he just stared back at his brother.
"No, he was trying to run away" Chris added as he walked up beside Lucas within Nathan's view
Nathan blinked once at his younger brother. Laughing on the inside. Chris and Sam were more a like then they knew.
Nathan moved his eyes from his younger brother to his older one. The one that had always been there for him. Through thick and thin, Lucas had stuck like glue and Nathan knew that this time was no different. He could not wait to tell Lucas everything that he had experienced while he was in a coma. He wanted to tell him about dad and what dad had said. To tell him and everyone else, that dad had not suffered in his last moments of life. They all needed to know.
"I am going to go back out to the waiting room. It is good to have you back, Nate" Chris said as he turned back towards the door.
"Chris?" Lucas asked
"Yea?"
"Can you ask Peyton to come here? I know she really wants to see him"
"Sure" Chris said as he opened the door and walked out of the room
"Peyton, how is Meredith doing?" Karen asked as they sat in the waiting room
"She is hanging in there. When I called she was just getting out of bed. Jake was going to get her off to school and then head up here."
"Did she sleep any last night?"
"Yea, she slept in the bed with us. We went by the house last night and got her teddy bear. She played with Max for a little while, watched some TV. She didn't talk much last night, but I didn't think she would."
"I know this whole thing is so confusing to her"
"She knows that something is wrong, but she is not asking what" Peyton replied
"Peyton?" Chris said as he came back into the room. Peyton turned to look at him, "Lucas is asking for you"
"Okay." Peyton said as she stood, "Which one is his room?" Peyton asked Chris. Chris told her and then watched her leave the waiting room.
"It is going to shock her" Haley said, "She hasn't seen him yet"
"She will be okay. That is probably why Lucas asked for her while he was in there. That is her best friend lying in that bed," Karen said
Peyton walked slowly towards Nathan's room. She pushed the big door open and peeked inside. She could see Lucas standing over the bed, but he was blocking her direct view of Nathan. Lucas turned around at Peyton and smiled, "Hey"
"Hey"
"Come on over here" Lucas said as he watched Peyton slowly walk towards the bed. As she did she looked around at all the machines, all running and hooking to Nathan. She reached Lucas's side and looked over his shoulder. Her best friend was lying there with a ventilator coming from his mouth. His eyes were open and they were looking right at her. Peyton gasped and covered her mouth quickly with her hand, tears instantly flowing down her face. Lucas moved and pulled Peyton into a hug. "Shh"
"I'm sorry," Peyton said into Lucas's shoulder.
"It is okay. We all know it is hard to see him like this" Lucas said trying to comfort her
Nathan watched the scene play out before him and wanted so bad to be able to sit up in that bed and pull Peyton into a hug, to tell her that he was okay. Instead, Nathan used the strength that he had to reach for Peyton's left hand with his own. Peyton opened her eyes as she felt the contact. Nathan' s eyes were watering as he looking intently at his best friend. Peyton pulled away from Lucas and smiled towards Nathan. Pulling his hand into hers, she walked closer to him.
"Hey you. We missed you" Peyton said wiping the tears from her face with her free hand. Nathan blinked his eyes at Peyton once and went back to staring at her. "Don't you ever scare me like that again, Nathan Scott." Peyton said causing Lucas to laugh and Nathan to smile with his eyes.
"I am still confused about how everyone is connected," Sam said breaking the silence
"Me too. Don't feel so bad," Trent added
Karen laughed, "It can be confusing."
"I got some of it earlier. Haley and everyone was telling me," Sam said
"Well I am still lost," Chris added
"Well, let me get you unlost" Karen said, "Lydia, Anna, myself, John, Larry and Dan grew up together here in Tree Hill. Lydia and John are Haley's parents and Larry and Anna are Peyton's. Dan left after high school after I told him that I was pregnant. Meet Deb, she got pregnant and then she moved here. When Peyton, Haley, Lucas and Nathan were born we knew that they were destined to be friends, they were only a few months apart and we always got together. As they got older, they spread into twos, Haley and Lucas became best friends as did Peyton and Nathan. They were all best friends with each other, but there were best friends within best friends. They boys meet Skills at the park when they were six years old. That was one of the first times they had ever played basketball. Jake and Theresa moved her from Texas when they were ten years old, they became almost instant friends, Jake and Theresa have always been best friends also. They had gone to school with Bevin, Brooke and Mouth since about third grade I think, but never really talked with them. It was about junior high when they let them into the circle of friends they had created. I remember those high school days; they were all so different. Nathan, Lucas, Jake and Skills were the basketball players. Brooke, Peyton, Bevin and Theresa were the cheerleaders and then there was Haley and Mouth, the smart kids. Somehow they never let the cliques of high school interfere with the friendship they had had for many years. It still amazes me sometimes"
"So, Haley, you weren't joking when you said that you have known Nathan and Lucas since diapers" Sam said
"No, I have literally known them that long." Haley replied
"We used to put them down for naps together. They were all so cute huddled together. They took baths together, climb trees together, told her fathers how to build their tree house together and got into trouble together." Karen said as she looked towards Haley.
"Tree House?" Chris asked
"Yea, they built one for us when we were younger. It is out behind my house. As a matter of fact, I was there earlier this week" Haley said
"It is still standing?" Trent asked
"Yea, they built it to be durable and they were successful at that. It has been there for twenty years almost," Karen said
"It is still just as steady as the day they finished it" Haley added
"That is awesome," Chris said
"Yea, it is like memory lane up there. We used to meet there every day after school and most afternoons in the summer. We all got so busy and slowly we just stopped going. It is really kind of sad if you think about it" Haley said
"I am going to go back out into the waiting room" Peyton said breaking the staring contest with Nathan and looking towards Lucas, "Give someone else a chance to come back and see him"
"I will go with you" Lucas replied, "We will be back later, bro" Lucas said to his brother
"Love you, Nate" Peyton said as she leaned down and kissed Nathan's cheek
Lucas and Peyton walked out of Nathan's room and back down the hallway towards the waiting room.
"Okay, I am going down to face the lions" Brooke said as she bounced once again into the waiting room, "Wish me luck"
"They are going to be showing this live on channel 10" Simon added
"Good luck, Brooke. You will do great," Haley said as Chris reached up to turn the TV to channel 10.
"I am going to go downstairs with her" Simon said as he and Brooke turned to leave the room
"Hey Brooke" Lucas said as Brooke bumped right into him
"Hey. I am going downstairs now"
"Okay. Good luck" Lucas said as he leaned down and gave Brooke as kiss. "Watch out for her, Simon"
"Don't worry, I will" Simon said as he and Brooke moved towards the elevator. Once the door was closed with Brooke and Simon inside, Peyton and Lucas entered the waiting room. The TV was on. The screen showed the outside of the hospital as a reporter reported that there should be a statement made within minutes of Nathan Scott's condition. Lucas settled next to his mom as Peyton sat down beside Haley all of them with their eyes on the TV.
"You ready?" Simon asked Brooke as they stopped just inside the doors to the hospital
"As ready as I will ever be" Brooke said taking a deep breath before walking through the automatic doors towards the crowd 30 feet away. She smiled as she walked. Simon walked beside her. Brooke stepped up the microphone and the crowd went quiet.
Upstairs, Karen smiled at how confident Brooke looked. The press would not get any more out of her then what she willingly told them. Brooke looked at her paper in front of her and began to speak.
"My name is Brooke Davis. I am here today to make a statement concerning the well being of Nathan Scott, member of the Orlando Magic basketball team."
A shout was heard as one of the reporters asked who Brooke was and how did she know Nathan
"I am a long time friend of Nathan's and also his brother, Lucas's girlfriend" More questions were being shouted as Brooke ignored them and continue with her statement, "Mr. Scott was involved in a shoot out yesterday afternoon at a local café here in our hometown of Tree Hill. He tried to wrestle a gun pointed at his mother. The bullet hit Mr. Scott in his lower abdomen and he was immediately rushed here to Tree Hill General. Mr. Scott was taken to surgery and has remained unconscious and in a coma until early this morning. I am happy to say that he is now awake and looking good. It is uncertain at this time how long Nathan Scott's stay will be here at the hospital or when he will return to Orlando. I have been told by owners of the Orlando Magic, that they have placed Nathan on the injured list until further knowledge is know of his condition. As for right now, the family and friends of Nathan Scott ask that you respect his privacy and that of his family. As I have already said, Nathan is alive and doing well. That is all" Brooke said as she turned from the microphone and walked back towards the hospital. Simon beside her
"Not bad, PR lady. Not bad at all" Simon said smiling
"Piece of Cake" Brooke said returning his smile.
"Now that was a good statement" Trent said
"Yea, she gave them enough, but not too much" Haley added
"She really is good at her job" Lucas said as he continued to stare at the TV. The reporter was recapping Brooke's statement. Making sure to add in the fact that Brooke had proclaimed to be his girlfriend. Lucas smiled. Now the whole world knew. Lucas and Brooke were a couple, just as they should have been all along.