A/N; okay. here is MY end of the deal! (don't worry readers, this is an inside joke)
Thanks so much for everyone who reviewed and added me to a story alert. It means so much to me! And a MAJOR shoutout to maygen lauren, my best friend and beta-er. Okay, pretty sure that's not a word, but whatever. She's helped me so much, pushed me, and gave me the support I've needed to write this, and in my personal life. Thanks so much for EVERYTHING girl, I appreciate it so much. Btw, her stories are AMAZING, so go check 'em out (: without further anew, here is the 2nd chapter!
As the door creaked open, he saw her. Lying there, motionless. If it wasn't for the constant beeping of the heart monitor, he would have sworn she was dead. She had IV's in both arms, a ventilator down her throat, heart monitors attached to her chest, and countless other tubes coming out of various body parts that he couldn't remember what they were for. He saw the bandages and gauze on her arms and hands and legs, covering up the cuts and stitches she had. And then saw hit. Her hair was gone. Replaced by yards of white gauze that kept her laceration clean. And it broke his heart. He didn't realize it, but he had never seen her without hair. Before their senior year, she had cut her hair to above shoulder length, but still. She was completely bald. And he cringed, just for her sake. He knew she would act like it didn't bother her, but he knew that it would. She was never one who cared what others thought of her, but he knew it would kill her to see the looks that people would give her, without any hair. But he could care less. Hair or no hair, cuts or no cuts, spleen or no spleen, she was HIS Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer, and nothing could ever change that. As he felt the tears start to sting his eyes yet again, he picked up her hand, and began to talk. The only thing he knew he could do right now.
"Some welcome home party, huh babe?" he said, trying to lighten the mood. "You have no idea how much you scared me. But it's okay, because you here, your alive, and I'm here with you. And I'm not leaving. And neither are you. I believe a certain someone, ahem, made me promise to never leave, and I did. Now it's your turn. But you know that. and you're not going anywhere." He stated these facts, reasoning more to himself and his heart than anything else.
"Ya know Peyt, if you weren't getting enough sleep, you could have just told me. You didn't have to go and get in a car wreck just so you could sleep for a couple days," He chuckled, desperately trying to keep his mind from thinking the worst.
"And when you wake up, it's gonna be hard, and you'll probably be in some pain. You're going to be really sore and knowing you, pretty cranky. But don't worry. I'll be here to help you, every step of the way. I'll be beside you. And when you can't stand up any more, I'll carry you. And if I can't, I'll lay down beside you." As he said these words, it reminded him of their senior year spring break.
"Can you believe it Peyt? We leave tomorrow! Good bye finals and exams and professors who could care less, and hello beautiful Bahamas!!"
Peyton just had to chuckle at Lucas' excitement. She wasn't sure who was more excited, her or Lucas. Brooke and her new boyfriend, Julian Baker were already there. They flew down a few days before, so they could spend a few days by their selves. With Brooke busy in new York running her very popular and successful business Clothes Over Bro's, and Julian busy flying from LA to New York working on movies, they barely had time to send each other text messages, let alone spend quality time together. Peyton had met Julian during one of her short, weekend trips to New York to see Brooke, but Lucas had yet to meet him.
"Yeah babe, I'm so excited." Peyton responded.
"Are you okay p? You sound a little... Unenthused…" Lucas said
. "I don't know Luke. I've been feeling a little outta it today. It must have been that pizza I ate last night. But I'll be fine. I am just DREADING that 4:30 flight out of RDU in the morning.. ugh! You know me. I do NOT do mornings!" Peyton said. While Peyton had her own dorm on the other side of the campus, she was staying in Lucas' apartment for the night, since they had such an early flight.
"I think I'm going to take a shower then call it a night, 'kay?" "Okay that sounds good Peyt. Just holler if you need anything." Lucas responded.
After showers and final bag checks for their passport, iPods and plane tickets, they both settled in for the night. Lucas woke up to the sound of his name being called. He starts to mumble something about it being early and he wants 5 more minutes, until he hears it again and realizes that it's Peyton, coming from the bathroom. As he climbs out of bed and walks over to the bathroom, he becomes worried. Of all the times they've spent the night together, she has never woke him up for *this* purpose.
"Peyton?" Lucas calls out from behind the closed door. He hears a mumble of a response, and opens the door. The sight he sees breaks his heart. Peyton is hurled over the toilet, vomiting the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Lucas rushes to her side, pulls her hair back, and begins rubbing circles in her back. After she finishes, and attempts to sit up, Lucas gets a damp wash cloth and begins to help her wash her mouth and face. Right after they get through, she feels another wave of nausea, and she throws up again. After wiping her mouth again, Lucas says, "c'mon. Let's get you back to bed."
"Wait a sec, Luke," Peyton says. "I might go for round 3, can you just stay here with me?"
"Of course I will Peyton" Lucas says, as he pulls Peyton onto his lap. "Just close your eyes, and I'll be here if you need me, 'kay?" Lucas said, but when he looked down, he realized Peyton was already fast asleep in his arms. He leaned up against the bathroom wall, and closed his eyes as well. He woke up later on, and looked down and Peyton was still in his arms, just as she was when he closed his eyes. After some re-arranging of Peyton, he stood up and carried Peyton back to bed.
"Lucas?" She murmured, half asleep and adorably out of it,
"Yeah?" he responded.
"What time is it? We need to leave! We're going to miss our flight!" Obviously becoming more awake with each sentence she said.
"Hey hey, settle down. It's about 7:30. You are obviously in no condition to go to the Bahamas. Now. Lay on the bed while I go get you some water, okay?"
"But Luke, why didn't you wake me? I know how important this trip was to you, you've been so stressed with finals and all. You should have left! I would have been fine myself" she said.
"No way blondie. I'm not leaving you, now or ever. And it's okay. Ya know why? Cause just looking at you makes my day better. Just holding you in my arms erases all of the stress of my day. I don't need any beaches or resort to do that. No, I'll be right back ; I need to get you some medicine" Lucas said. After kissing her gently on the forehead, he walked off to his kitchen. Returning with medicine and water in hand, he found a sleeping Peyton in his bed. He laid the medicine on his night stand, and took his phone out to call and tell Brooke that they wouldn't be coming. He climbed back in bed with Peyton, and as he felt her move to cling to him, he knew he had done the right thing.
She stayed sick all that week, and lost over 10 pounds in 4 days. She lived in his house, in his old, faded ravens tee-shirt, that whole week. Lucas couldn't help but smile as he remembered how she wanted him beside her the whole time.
"I'll be here Peyt; I promise I'll be here. And take your time. I'll wait forever if I have to" Lucas said. He was shaken from his thoughts as he heard a soft knocking at the door. As he turned to look at the door, he saw Nathan, with coffee in hand.
"Hey Luke, here's some coffee. I was just going to let you know, I gotta head back to Charlotte, but Hales is still here. And skills, Brooke and Julian just got here too." He said as she handed him the coffee.
"Thanks Nate. I know this how you wanted to spend your last night at home" Lucas said, with a shrug.
"Oh no prob man. I didn't mind at all. I just wish it could have been under better circumstances" Nathan said, as he was looking at Peyton. It was hard to look at his ex-girlfriend, now future sister-in-law, lying in the hospital bed.
"I know it's late, well early now. Tell Hales to go home. She has class today. She needs some sleep, especially since she's going to be around high schoolers all day" Lucas said.
"Oh no way! I already called Turner, and he knows she isn't coming in. She said nothing could stop her from being here, when her best friends needed her" Nathan said. "Has there been any change?" he inquired.
"No, but I guess no news is good news. Especially now. She'll just be… asleep for a while. As long as her vitals stay level for the next 24 hours, the doctor said he'll be able to start reducing the medicine, which will let her wake up. On her own time though, so I guess we get to wait some more. And even if everything goes well, it'll still be about 3 days before she could wake up" He said, with a sigh.
He had just been apart from her for 4 days, and now he would have to wait at least 3 more, and even though he was physically with her now, he just wanted to hear her. Hear he laugh, see her roll her eyes. All the simple things that he didn't realize he missed.
"Alright. Well I gotta hit the road man. I have my cell if you need me, and Haley is going to keep me updated." Nathan said as he pulled Lucas into a brotherly hug, and picking up Peyton's hand and giving it a light kiss.
As Brooke and Julian stroll into Tree Hill Hospital hand in hand, they saw Haley sitting and tapping her foot nervously. They walked up, and Haley stood up to hug Brooke. Julian continued to keep his hand on the back of his now fiancé.
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