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. Sorry for the delay guys. There has been a lot going on. I am not to sure about this chapter, but I hope you all like it. Thanks for all the reviews and all of the encouragement.
Haley entered the waiting room and found all of her friends excitedly talking. Nathan was going to be okay. She smiled as she walked towards Lucas and Brooke.
"Tutor girl" Brooke said as she stood and hugged Haley. "You okay?"
"I am great now that Nathan is awake and talking" Haley replied, "Luke, he wants to see you"
"Is mom in there?"
"Yea, but he asked me to send you also," Haley said
"Okay" Lucas said as he stood, gave Brooke a quick kiss on the cheek and walked towards Nathan's room.
"He seems kind of scared," Sam said from her spot by the door
"Yea, he did. I think it is sinking it just how close he came to losing his brother. Those two have been through hell and back together" Brooke said
"I know exactly how they feel. Sam and I are the same way." Chris said
"Yea, you feel like you are losing apart of you." Sam added
Lucas walked towards Nathan's room slowly. He pushed opened the door and saw his brother laying in the hospital bed and his mother to his right side. She had her head on the bed and Lucas could tell she was crying.
"Is everything okay?" Lucas asked as Karen lifted her head to look at her oldest son.
"Luke, come sit down. Your brother has something he needs to talk to us about." Karen said
Lucas pushed the door closed and walked to sit at his brother's left side.
"What is going on?" He asked
"When I was in the coma," Nathan began, "I saw someone. I saw and talked to Dad" Nathan turned to watch his brother's reaction.
"You saw dad?" Lucas asked in disbelief.
"Yea and he told me a couple of things. Now, I am going to tell you and you can believe me or not, but I wanted both of you to hear it together. It will help us all move on." Nathan stopped and took a deep breath before continuing, "Dad said that he felt no pain when the truck flipped. His life flashed before his eyes and all he saw was us and all he could feel was the love that we had for him and that he had for us. He didn't feel any pain." Nathan turned his head to face his mom, "Mom, he wanted me to tell you that he loves you. He is always there with you. He said to look in his sock drawer, there was something there that you needed." Karen let herself cry. She had been holding a lot of her tears back for her children, but hearing those words from Keith finally helped her to grieve. Grieve the way she needed to grieve.
Nathan moved his hand to place it on his mother's. She didn't need any words right now. She was finally letting it all out. Still keeping his hand on his mother's, Nathan turned his head to face his brother. Lucas's eyes were filled with tears waiting to overflow. He too had been holding a lot of it inside. "Luke, Dad said to tell you that he is very proud of you and that he loves you" Lucas lost control at those words and his body shook with sobs, "He said to tell you to never let Brooke go again and he can't wait till you guys get married and have children of your own. He said for both of us to tell our children about their crazy grandfather." Nathan said with a slight laugh as both his brother and mother continued sobbing. Nathan looked toward the ceiling and smiled, "Thanks dad" This was the closer that they all needed.
Back in the waiting room everyone was sitting back and relaxing. Some of the group had been at the hospital all night and the fatigue of the events was starting to wear them down. Peyton watched as Brooke and Haley struggled to stay awake. She knew that she needed to talk them into going home for some rest, but she knew they wouldn't leave just yet. She smiled as she looked around at her friends and her family. She couldn't believe that this would be one of the last times they would all be together before they separated again. She knew it was going to be hard for those leaving to actually leave especially with Nathan in the hospital. Many of them had already taken their vacation time to come home for the past week and all of them needed to return to their jobs. She knew that Brooke and Haley would be the ones who didn't want to leave the most. Just as they didn't want to leave the hospital. Jake leaned over pulling her out of her daze.
"You okay?"
"Yea, just thinking"
"Thinking about what?"
"About how no one is going to want to leave Tree Hill"
"Yea, they never do, but even more now with Nathan here"
"Yea, I am going to miss all of them. Who knows when we are all going to be together again"
"Well, we made that pact the other night at dinner and I am sure they will be home for our wedding and the birth of our child"
"Yea, but the pact is every year. We didn't even decided on a time or month or anything. We still don't have a wedding date and the baby isn't due to till May."
"Don't worry, Peyt. We will all be together soon." Jake said pulling his fiancée into a hug. "Right now, I think our biggest problem is getting our friends to go home and get some rest."
Peyton pulled back from the hug and smiled. "They will be okay for right now."
A soft knock at Nathan's door interpreted the silence in the room. Nathan looked towards the door as his doctor came into the room. He saw Karen and Lucas and asked, "Do you want me to come back?"
"No, it is fine doctor. Come on in" Karen said as she moved from her spot and stood next to Lucas.
"Nathan, we are going to go ahead and get you off this heart monitor. There is a room waiting for you on the third floor. It is bigger than this one and it will hold all of your family and friends."
"Are you sure about that?" Nathan said laughing.
"Believe me, I found you the biggest room I could." Dr. Jenkins replied smiling. "This won't hurt" Nathan watched as the doctor turned off the heart monitor and pulled the pads from his chest. He felt almost free except for the IV still attached to his arm, but that he could deal with. "Alright, I have two nurses outside waiting to wheel you up to your room. Are you ready?"
"Absolutely"
"Okay." The doctor turned to look at Karen and Lucas, "He will be in room 310"
"Thank you" Karen said. "Nate, we are going to go tell everyone. We will see you upstairs"
"Okay. Go home and get some sleep mom. I know that you have been here all night. Take Haley and Brooke with you and Lucas"
"We are okay, Nate" Lucas said
"Go home guys. I am fine. There are other people to keep my company. Go get some sleep" Nathan said more sternly this time
Karen and Lucas laughed before shaking their heads, "Okay" Lucas replied
"Good and Luke, would you tell Haley that I love her?"
"Sure will man" Lucas said as he and his mom left the room.
As they left the room and walked back towards the waiting room, two nurses walked in. One of who, Nathan immediately recognized as Rachel Gettina. Rachel had gone to high school with the group, but had pretty much always thought she was better than they were. Needless to say, they didn't get along very well. Nathan quickly looked away from Rachel to the other nurse who wore a sincere smile.
"Ready to get out of here?" the nurse asked
"Absolutely" Nathan replied
"Alright then, Mr. Scott, let's get you out of here" the nurse moved to release the brakes on the hospital bed and place the IV at the head of the bed, "Rachel, can you grab the door please?"
"Sure Amber" Rachel answered as moved towards the door.
"Alright, let's go" The other nurse said as she begin to move the hospital bed
Karen and Lucas walked back into the waiting room and took in the scene in front of them. Haley and Brooke were fighting not to fall asleep on each other as Jake and Peyton watched them silently. The rest of the group sat quietly watching the almost mute TV.
"He is being moved" Karen said breaking the silence
"That's great. Where?" Peyton asked
"The third floor. Room 310"
"Does he want company?" Haley asked
"He does, but we have been given strict orders that you, mom, Brooke and I go home and get some sleep first. Chris and Sam you too" Lucas said
"But…" Haley started
"No, buts." Karen said smiling, "We all need some rest"
"Don't worry. We will keep him company," Jake said
"Thank you, Jake" Karen replied, "Now come on children"
Everyone stood and walked towards the door just as they were wheeling Nathan down the hallway
"Can you stop, please?" Nathan asked
"Is this you family?" the nurse asked
"Yea"
"Hey" Haley said as the nurse stopped Nathan's hospital bed
"Hey"
"So, mom said you were being moved"
"Yea and you are going home to get some sleep," Nathan said smiling
"Okay" Haley replied returning the smile, "I will be back later"
"Okay" Nathan said as Haley leaned down and gave him a kiss, "I love you"
"I love you too"
"We will all be back later," Lucas said as he wrapped his arm around Brooke
"Okay" Nathan said, "Alright get me off this floor"
"Aye Aye captain" the nurse said causing everyone to laugh
"Was that who I thought it was?" Peyton asked
"Yep. I think so" Jake answered
"Rachel Gettina" Theresa said
"Who is Rachel Gettina?" Karen asked
"Someone from high school" Lucas answered his mom
"Okay, mom, Brooke, Haley, Lucas, Chris and Sam off to the house and to bed" Skills said swing his arm towards the elevator, "Don't worry about anything we got everything covered. I am going to the shop, Theresa to the café, Mouth will get Meredith, and Peyton and Jake will keep Nate company"
Karen smiled at Skills, "Okay, but call if you need anything"
"Don't worry, just get some sleep" Theresa said as the group walked towards the elevator
A few hours later, Peyton and Jake were sitting in Nathan's room laughing with Nathan. They were talking about old high school moments.
"Did you guys see Rachel down there?" Nathan asked
"In ICU? Yea, we saw her. I am not sure if she recognized us though" Jake replied
"I think she did." Nathan said
"Did she say anything?" Peyton asked
"No, but she kept looking at me" Nathan said as he slightly quivered
Peyton and Jake laughed. Rachel had had one of the biggest crushes on Nathan their freshman year of high school and she had made sure that he knew it along with the rest of the school. Nathan had never thought of her that way and when he politely tried to tell her that, she had gone ballistic in the hallway. It was the talk of the school for two weeks and that is when she started thinking she was better than them.
"Can I talk to you guys about something serious?" Nathan asked his voice becoming serious
"Sure. What's on your mind, man?" Jake asked as he and Peyton looked at Nathan
"When I was unconscious. I saw someone, I saw dad" Nathan stopped and let that sink in before he continued, "He told me a lot of things, but one thing he said I thought you both should know. He said that he was privileged to have all of us call him dad. A part of him lives on through each of us and he will always be with us with that." Nathan looked to his right where Peyton was sitting and watched as silent tears fell down his face, "Peyt, he said to tell you that he loves you and he will miss your smile" Peyton let out a gasp and then the silent tears turned into sobs.
"I love him too," Peyton said through her tears
"And he knows that. He always knew that" Nathan said
Peyton let a small smile crept to her mouth, a smile he loved, as the tears still flowed down her face. "He will always be my second dad"
"He will always be a second dad to all of us," Jake said looking towards the ceiling
"Mouth!" Meredith said as she ran from her classroom to hug him
"Hey Mere" Mouth said crouching down to return the hug
"Where's my mom?" Meredith asked pulling back from the hug
"She is at home sleeping. She was at the hospital with Nathan all night"
"Is Nathan still sleeping?"
"No, Meredith, Nathan is awake now"
"Yay! Can we go see him?"
"Maybe later. Right now, you and I have a date with some chocolate ice cream"
"Okay"
"Let's go." Mouth said standing up straight and taking Meredith's hand before waving to her teacher.
The café had been a mess when Theresa had arrived there after leaving the hospital. The Crime Scene Investigators had finished their job and Theresa was given the okay to get the place cleaned up and back to business. She was finishing the floor when the door opened. She looked up and smiled.
"Hey big brother"
"Hey little sister" Trent said smiling back at his sister, "Looks good in here"
"Yea, it was a mess"
"Yea, I was here earlier."
"So, I guess you will be heading back to DC soon?" Theresa said putting the cleaning bucket back in the closet
"Actually, I was thinking about sticking around for the weekend. I figured I could spend some time with my sister and her boyfriend who should be her husband by now"
Theresa laughed, "You are so predictable. Skills and I are happy with the way things are. We will get married one day, but right now we are just having fun"
"You pretty much already are married. You have been together so long"
"Yea, I know. Speaking of marriage, when are you going to settle down, huh?"
"I set myself up for that one." Trent said as he laughed, "I don't know T. Marriage is not something that particularly fits with my job"
"It could if you wanted it to"
"Okay. Well, I haven't found the right one yet. When I do, then I will think about marriage"
"I could find you the right one" Theresa said with a sly look on her face
"Theresa" Trent said sternly and then started laughing; "I don't think so!"
Theresa laughed along with her brother as the door opened and Mouth and Meredith walked in
"Hey You" Theresa said with a smile and she rushed to pick up Meredith in a hug
"Hi Theresa" Meredith replied in a small voice
Theresa sat Meredith down and crouched in front of her, "You remember my brother, Trent, right?"
Meredith shook her head slightly "Hi"
"Hi Meredith" Trent replied
"Meredith and I have a date with some chocolate ice cream" Mouth said
"Yea" Meredith added
"Well, I guess we better get some, huh?" Theresa said as she stood and took Meredith's hand and the four of them walked to the counter.
Things were getting back to normal, or at least as normal as they could be. Nathan was going to be fine and soon everyone would be returning to their normal lives, back to the cities where they worked and the people that they worked with. However, nothing would ever really be the same again though, there was someone missing and he would always be missing. Someone they all called, 'Dad'