After Lucas had left her house all Brooke wanted to do was hide under the covers for the rest of the day. She had refused to let her self cry over this latest situation with Lucas, convincing herself that she was better off rejecting him before he left her for Peyton or Lindsay. However, even though she was the one who cut things off with Lucas before they even got started, it didn't make the pain go away an easier. So at the moment, Brooke Davis, successful fashion designer, was laying on her bed, covered from head to toe with her 500 thread count designer sheets wanting to stay in her safe little bubble and not have to return to the real world, ever. Well maybe that was a little dramatic on her part but she definitely wanted to stay in bed for the rest of the day. However, the world was invading her bubble in the form of her cell phone which had been ringing off and on for the last couple of minutes.
Deciding that she couldn't hide out forever, after all Brooke had a highly successful company to run, she pushed the covers off of her and made her way over to her dresser where her phone had begun ringing again. Brooke glanced at the caller I.D. making sure that it was indeed her phone and saw that it was Millie calling. "Hi Millie, what's up?" Brooke said into the phone. "Oh Brooke I'm so glad you answered, I was just wondering if you were going to come into the store today, remember I asked you if I could have the afternoon off for my doctors appointment?" came the voice on the phone. "Oh Millie I completely forgot, what with Angie leaving I've been a little out of it, but I will get ready and be there in about an hour, will that be enough time for you to make it to your appointment?" Brooke replied. "Absolutely, thanks Brooke, and I'm sorry again about Angie, you were really great with her and I just know that some day you are going to make a really great mom." Millie said as they said their goodbyes.
Brooke hung up the phone and began looking through her closet. Even if she felt horrible today, she was going to look her best, so Brooke spent a little extra time picking out her clothes and putting on her make-up. While the inside of Brooke was breaking, the world would only see the cool, confident, successful Brooke Davis, and she hoped one day her outward appearance would match how she felt on the inside.
Later that night as Brooke was about to close the store, her thoughts once again turned to Lucas Scott. The store had been crazy all day, with customer after customer coming in to look around her store, and more importantly they were there to buy clothes from her store. They had made so much money that day, but that wasn't even what Brooke was most proud of. Even after being in the fashion business for several years, Brooke still loved to see peoples faces when they tried on a dress she made, or a pair of jeans and she could see just the happiness that those clothes brought. It was those moments that made everything else worth it, even dealing with Victoria everyday would be ok if Brooke could just see the way her designs brought joy to peoples' lives. But still, even though it was a good day business wise, it had been a hard day in the area of love. And again her thoughts turned to Lucas. Brooke poured herself a glass of wine and sat on the couch in the middle of the sales floor. It was definitely going to be hard seeing Lucas after what happened, especially if he and Peyton did get together, but at least two of the people she cared most about would be happy, and in that Brooke found a little bit of happiness.
As she was getting lost in her thoughts Brooke heard the bell ring on the front door of the store, indicating that a customer must be coming in. "I'm sorry but we just closed" Brooke began to say as she got up from the couch and turned around to see who it was. But she didn't have time to finish her sentence as all she saw was a large man with a gun coming towards her. Brooke didn't have much time to react so she turned and ran towards the back room to try and lock herself in the supply closet. But in her haste to get away she tripped over the rug and went head first into the front cashier counter where she hit her head and fell to the ground. The last thing she remembered was seeing the man standing over her, and then everything went black.
That same night a little boy was waiting for his Aunty Brooke to read him a bedtime story. "Mama, where's Aunty Brooke? I thought you said she missed me and was going to come over and read me a story?" the little boy asked. "Brooke said she was coming Jamie but maybe Aunty Brooke was really busy at the store so you can stay up for 15 more minutes, but if she isn't here by then its off to bed ok? And you can see her tomorrow." Haley replied to her son as he ran off to play with his Wii until Brooke arrived. Haley walked into the kitchen where Nathan was making himself a snack. "Nathan did Brooke call? She called earlier and said she was really bummed about Angie leaving so I told her to come over after work so we could talk and Jamie really wanted to see her, but she was supposed to be here an hour ago and its not like her to be late, or to at least call." Haley said, the worry slowly beginning to build in her. "Did you try calling her cell phone? Maybe she got stuck at work." Nathan replied. "Of course I tried, I even tried calling the store but there was no answer, I'm really starting to get worried." Haley said as she paced back and forth biting her lower lip as she usually did when she was worried. "Look Haley I'm sure everything is fine but if she doesn't call in the next half hour I'll drive past the store to check things out, ok?" Nathan said as he pulled his wife into an embrace. He knew how much she worried about her family and friends and he didn't want her getting worked up over nothing.
A half hour later, after Jamie had been put to bed and Brooke still wasn't answering her phone Nathan was in his car headed towards the clothes over bros store. As he pulled up outside he noticed that the lights were still on, which he thought was a good sign since Brooke was probably just working late. However, as he got closer to the store he got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he could now see into the store, which had been completely trashed. As he ran into the store with his heart pounding not sure what he would find Nathan called out "Brooke! Brooke! Where are you?" Clothes were everywhere, the racks had been turned over and the cash register was laying on the ground, busted open. When he was looking at the cash register, something else caught his eye, "Brooke!" Nathan yelled as he ran towards where the girl was sprawled out on the ground. There was a pool of blood near her head that had come from the deep gash on the side of her face. There didn't appear to be anything broken but Brooke was out cold and she wasn't responding. Nathan grabbed his phone out of his pocket and called 911. It was a short time later, as he was getting into the ambulance with Brooke that he remembered to call Haley. This was going to break her heart but he knew that his wife needed to know. He slowly dialed his home number wishing he could protect his wife from the horrible news just a little longer. "Haley, I found Brooke." Nathan said. "That's great, so what happened to her? Did she forget?" Haley said, relieved that Brooke hadn't gone missing. "Haley, its not good, I think Brooke was robbed, I found her on the floor, it looked like she was running away from something but was either pushed or fell. She is unconscious, and she lost a lot of blood. I'm headed to the hospital, if you want to meet me here I'm sure my mom can watch Jamie for us." Nathan replied, knowing what his wife must be going through. "I'll be right there." Haley said as she hung up the phone and slid to the ground as her legs were shaking so badly she couldn't stand any longer. "Brooke, poor Brooke" Haley thought to her self. "Oh God please, please just let her be ok."