Title: Defining Happiness on Our Own Terms
Summary: A look into the future. Haley&Nathan want another addition to their family & Peyton&Lucas have just begun expanding there's.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own One Tree Hill.
Author: Maygen Lauren
Chapter Eight: Abducted
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Inspiration- Annie Use Your Telescope- Jack's Mannequin
When you don't know what's going on, you assume the worst. Your thoughts are plagued by darkness and time moves slowly. At arriving at the hospital, each breathe took a minute and each step took a day. There was no touching, no talking, just reality. Hearts racing and emotionless faces, it was what it was.
One hand splayed on the counter of the nurse's station, Lucas gripped Peyton's hand tightly at his side. "Excuse me, ma'am"
"LUCAS!" A voice shouted out from behind him in the waiting room and Brooke Davis eloped them from behind. "It's Elle, she was crying and I thought she was just fussy, but she was unconscious so the doctors took her right in for an evaluation. They can't tell me anything because we're not related"
"It's fine" Luke half shouted and held Peyton's hand harder as they turned back to the desk where a woman was now standing. "My daughter Elizabeth Anna Scott was brought in"
"Where is she?" Peyton yelped. "Can we see her?"
The nurse held up a friendly hand. "Hold on one moment" She lifted a phone off the desk and was silent a moment. "Dr. Daniels, yes, her parents have just arrived. Alright, I'll have them wait." She hung up the phone and gave them an apologetic smile. "Dr. Daniel's will be with you in a moment, please take a seat."
Luke and Peyton nodded solemnly and quietly followed Brooke over to the waiting area. Julian and Sam sat next to each other, grasping each other's hands for comfort. Sam's face was tear stained and Julian looked very out of sorts.
The belittled couple sat beside them, silently, knowing that there were no words. Peyton curled in against his chest, burying her face in his arm. His arms wrapped securely around her waist as they both closed their eyes letting each other's familiar scents sooth their bodies to an extent.
"Oh god" The woman whispered shaking her head furiously. His hand roamed over her back to calm her shakes and sobs, doing nothing to prevent his own. "I can't" She mumbled. "Luke" Her voice dragged out.
"Mr. and Mrs. Scott" A woman shouted and the duo looked up. She approached them with a remorseful sigh and a half smile. Luke forced his legs to stand, while Peyton remained in the chair besides him, transfixing his hand, and staring intently at doctor, wait for her daughter's fate. "Hi, I'm Dr. Kelsey Daniels. I work in the infant and children's unit in the ER and I took your daughter in when she arrived at the hospital."
"What's happened to her?" Peyton breathed heavily against her words and the doctor gave her a small nod.
"Well first things first, at the moment she is in an unconsensual emergency surgery as we speak regarding terms of her condition."
"What condition?" Lucas questioned. "We were never told she had a condition"
"What's surgery?" Their hand's shifted together for comfort.
"When Elizabeth was brought in we looked straight to her heart. Her pulse was faint and her heart beat was labored." The doctor explained. "When we took an X-ray we found that there was a small hole in the aorta which had caused some internal bleeding; very painful for an infant."
"A hole in her heart?" Luke asked. "Why didn't we know this before?"
"Let me explain first by saying this isn't uncommon in children who were in a particularly rough pregnancy and developing period. And second as you're probably aware a baby relies more on their sense of smell than anything, during their first few weeks outside of the womb and an unfamiliar smell causes an infant extreme stress. And stress in the brain causes the heart to pump blood faster and irregularly. So the size of the small hole increased by a fourth of a millimeter when she was surrounded by an unfamiliar smell. This allowed blood to freely pass through the hole and into her chest, slowly and undamaging at first, but once enough had passed through is when she must have started to cry because there was enormous pressure building up in her chest. So far we have stabilized her heart, which is an easy procedure and has been performed on many infants, and now the doctors are in the process of cleaning her major systems and fixing the damage done by the internal bleeding."
"What can we expect from all this?"
"Well I am positive that this procedure with run smoothly,"
"But…" Lucas could sense in coming.
"But there is an underlying factor that we hadn't considered."
"That being?"
She took a deep breath and took a look at her charts. "We're you aware that there was a heart disease in your family?"
"HCM, why? I have it."
"Well we are testing her for it as we speak. If the condition is found, at this stage of her life, there is a chance that she won't be able to take the medication required for protecting her heart after the operation. You see the medication is a powder that coats her blood and strengths her heart, but in the process, it also speeds up your heart rate rapidly which could be fatal if your daughter has HCM. And without the medication your daughter could suffer from infections which could also result in death."
"Oh God" Peyton repeated and let her head fall into her lap. The pain in the pit of her stomach attempted to force the food in her stomach upward, but she held it down.
"You can wait in her receiving room and we'll bring her to you when we have the results. Room 180, down the hall on your right"
She walked away leaving the couple dumbfound. Luke pulled Peyton up into his arms and held her tight. She pressed her head into his neck and whispered to herself. "Come on" He kissed her head. "Let's go." He tried to move her towards the hallway.
"No Luke" She forcefully pulled away from him. "I can't wait; it's ridiculous. I thought this was over, that everyone I've ever loved gets taken from me thing. They can't take my daughter from me, they can't. It's not fair!" His heart broke in anger and frustration. "She's my daughter and she can't fucking die. I can't take this"
Luke aggressively grabbed her arms and shook her convincingly. "Stop it" He yelled, more aggressive than intended. She blinked at him in surprise, fresh tears spring to life in on her cheeks. He pulled her back to him again letting her cry. "Your negativity doesn't help her. You've got to believe she's going to be okay" He took her waist and pulled her down the hall. Brooke, Julian and Samantha stayed behind in the waiting room.
Once alone Lucas collapsed into a chair in the small white room pulling Peyton on top of him. He held her close burying his face into her hair, finding minimal comfort in the passion fruit smell of her curls. She stared back at him as he pushed away from their hug. Tears fell freely from her eyes and he sighed heavily. "I'm sorry I yelled"
Her heart broke. In all their time being together he had never, not once lashed out at her. "I know, its fine" She meant it, although the words spoken came out dryly.
"Peyton" He whispered. "I don't know what to say to make everything better. I don't have that power and I know it's not fair; baby I do. You have lost more than I ever have and the relationships you've had with those people make the loses even harder."
"She's my daughter Luke"
"I know babe, she's mine too" He tightened the hold on her waist and briefly kissed her cheek. "Do you remember when we brought Elle home from the hospital and even though you were exhausted you stayed up and watched her all night."
"And all morning and all afternoon and the following evening too" She drawled out slowly, allowing deep breaths between her words.
"And do you remember her beautiful smile"
Peyton let out a loud sob a pressed her face into Lucas' shoulder. "Yes, but she's not dead yet."
"And she's not going to die Peyton. I want you to think of those things that you love about her and how you can't wait to see them again." He pinched her chin and angled his lips toward hers. She gently and cautiously placed a kiss against her lips and rested his forehead against hers. She placed her hands against his chest to steady herself as she stared deeply into his eyes.
"She's going to be okay" Peyton repeated. He simply nodded and kissed her forehead. "So now we wait"
And so they did.
Back in the waiting room, Brooke, Julian and Sam gripped hands tightly, all sitting in a line.
"She thinks it's my fault." The brunette moaned. Julian turned towards her rubbing his thumb against her smooth hand.
"Are you serious? She hasn't had time to think of anything besides the well being of her child. And it's not like she could possibly blame you. The doctor said she's had the hole in her heart since birth."
"Yes but the doctor also said it was the unfamiliarity of our smell that made her stressed. God Julian, what if she dies. Peyton can't survive through that. I was with her when her mom died and she was a mess. And when Ellie died, that was almost too much. If she loses her daughter I don't know if anyone, even Luke, will ever be able to bring her back."
He brought her into his arms. "You too Brooke, have to have some faith. Without it we aren't doing Elle any good."
"But I was a wreak when Angie was being operated on and she wasn't even mine!"
"It's not about you" Sam whispered under her breath. "Just please stop talking and let me think in peace."
"Samantha" Brooke breathed.
"Yeah Sampson"
"I'm serious! There is a very small infant lying on an operating table and I can't stand your negativity. Just stop." She stood up and moved to the other side of the waiting room, pulling her legs against her chest.
Julian shook his head and pulled Brooke against him as she cried harder. Wishing for a distraction, the light bulb went off in his head. "Brooke, did anyone call Karen?"
--
"What time is it?" Peyton lifted her head off Luke's chest to look him in the eyes.
He moved his hand from her hip to pull out his cell phone. "Five till eight"
She snuggled closer to him begging the tears not to fall. The door creaked open and both of their hearts sunk to the pit of their stomachs. They stood as their daughter was wheeled in behind Dr. Daniels by a younger nurse.
Elle was in a protective clear casing, much like an incubator. There were two bandages, one on each upper part of her arms and her eyes were shut. Peyton reached forward and placed her hand on the glass and then brought it back up to place lightly on her lips.
Luke looked up to meet the doctor's eyes and she simply nodded. "She has HCM"
"What!?" Peyton gasped as she turned to Luke. "You said it would be okay if I thought it was going to be okay. You lied!" She sobbed and hit his chest with minimal force. Luke was still too caught up in own surprise to respond.
"But we are going to try something a little different." The doctor continued. "We are going to start Elle on a very small dosage of the medication and if her body accepts it and her heart stays stable then there is no reason that we can't give her the required amount over time and everything will be fine."
"And if her body works against the medication?" He asked.
"…Then we'll know within the first few seconds and with your permission" She took a breath. "We'll put her down before any real damage can be done."
Peyton fell instantly into the chair sobbing in absolute defeat. She couldn't even look at her child, being kept alive by a machine, in a bubble. "This is all you can do?" Luke asked, his own tears brimming to the surface.
Dr. Daniels nodded. "It's this or risk painful and fatal infections that are absolutely unavoidable. I promise you Mr. Scott we've looked at every possible aspect."
"So once you give her the medication, you'll know if her body will refute it or accept it…"
"…with in the first few seconds."
He nodded and looked down at his wife. He placed a hand on the back of her head as her eyes remained fixed on the floor. He bent down besides her and angled his lips towards her ear. "Peyton, we have to do this."
"I know" She choked back lifting her head, tears still pouring down her face.
"I love you"
She nodded. "Love you too" He took her hand and stood up, pulling her next to him.
"Okay" Luke squeezed Peyton's hand. "When do we do this?"
"Right away, we can risk her internal wound exposure to the air for long." She turned towards the nurse who had rolled in the baby. "Go get the LsDm. And HCM retirement liquid form." As the nurse left she approached the couple. "I'm going to give Elizabeth the smallest amount of the same medication you are prescribed for HCM before the infection meds. This will ultimately attempt to keep her heart rate slow and steady. This'll also up your daughter's chance of survival." She leaned over the crate and lifted the plastic from over her, exposing her to the hospital air.
"Can I touch her?" Peyton asked for permission and Doctor Daniels nodded. The mother reached forward and gently held the baby's hand. "Hey Elle Belly" She whispered her voice hoarse. Luke's heart sunk in despair. "You can do this. You are so strong and you've lived for so much. And I love you and I want to see you grow big and strong, so you're going to pull through this, okay?" The nurse returned with a tray in her hand and she came to stand next to her.
Dr. Daniels took the first needle and cleaned it with a disinfectant wipe as the nurse swobbed the skin of Elle's arm. "This is the HCM medication and poses no threat at all." She broke through the skin of Elle's arm and Luke and Peyton cringed as the liquid was injected into her arm.
Elle remained motionless, in taking air from the tubes leading up to her nose.
The woman grabbed the second needle off the tray and nodded to Peyton and Lucas. "We are going to do this quick."
The breath in Lucas' throat caught somewhere near his wind pipe. "We'll know right away?"
Dr. Daniels nodded once again. "Yes, and worst case scenario, I can promise she won't suffer."
Peyton was completely overwhelmed. She kept her hold on Elizabeth's hand as Luke's hand reached for his child's leg. "Are we ready?" She asked holding the needle up to the child's arm.
"You can do this Elle" Peyton sobbed and she distantly felt Luke's free hand grab hers.
"Yes" Luke responded and the second needle broke the skin of their daughter arm. The liquid passed through the needle and entered Elle's blood stream.
They waited as the needle was removed from her tiny arm.
The couple held their breaths as they waited.
For what seems like days, they waited, but for what. When nothing happed Luke looked up to the doctor in shock. "What?" He asked.
The doctor continued to wait, glancing at her watch, timing the duration of the medication in Elle's body as well as checking her pulse, not willing to allow it to get to high.
A smiled brightened over the woman's face. "She took it."
"She took it" Luke repeated as his tears spilt over.
"She's going to be fine" The doctor encouraged. "We can give her the rest of the medicine over time, but she's going to be fine"
Peyton through herself at Luke, crying loudly. Her legs wrapped around his waist and his hands embraced the back of her head. "I thought we were going to lose her" She whispered in a hushed tone.
He nodded against her cheek. "But she's going to be okay baby"
A loud moan passed by her lips as her final realization hit. "Thank god" Her legs fell back down to the ground, but she continued to cling to him.
"When will she wake up?" Luke looked at the doctor from over his wife's shoulder.
Entering reality, Peyton turned around and got knee level next to her daughter, reaching a hand out to hold her fragile hand.
Dr. Daniels looked at her charts. "She was given a low dosage of sedatives, so she should come around in about a half a hour to an hour. When she does wake, please alert a nurse to they can come get me, but Elle did well, I'm very proud of her strength."
"Us too" Luke said resting his hand on Peyton's shoulder.
"Well, I can promise from here on out everything will go smoothly. We'll give you some time to yourselves, but if you need anything, flag down a nurse in the hall or press the emergency button on the wall. "
"Thank you so much for helping our daughter" Luke said shaking the woman's hand.
She smiled. "No problem, I'm happy everything worked out." She and the nurse left the room shutting the door behind them.
Lucas looked down at his family, in ruins only minutes before. Peyton glanced up at him, the biggest smile possible covering her face as more tears fell from her eyes. "Come here" Luke said holding his arms out. Peyton quickly jumped back into them, gently removing her hand from her daughter's unconscious grasp.
"That was close, too close."
He pulled back to kiss her lips and look into her glistening eyes. "I love you"
She smiled and pressed her lips to his once more. "I love you too, but like I said, this is closer than I ever wanted to come to losing my child."
"I know babe" He simply held her while they looked over their child.
"Someone should tell Brooke everything's okay now" Peyton reeled back, leaving her hands warm on Luke's back. "I'd do it, but I don't want to leave"
"Go, be quick, I promise I'll call you if she wakes up while you run down the hall, though I doubt it."
Peyton shrugged and bit her lip. "You'll call?"
He rolled his eyes. "Go, I'll stay right here, the whole time, I promise" He nudged her away from him and nodded towards the door.
Her knees fell to the floor by her daughter's side. Her face was eye level with her baby's body and she leaned forward to kiss Elle's arm. Peyton got back on her feet and slowly walked to the exit, checking over her shoulder before shutting the door behind her. She had a clear view down the hall and into the waiting room. Brooke, whose eyes had been fixated on their door since they'd walked away, stood up seeing Peyton walking towards her. The blonde could see tears pouring down her best friends cheeks, which brought tears back to her own eyes.
"No" Brooke shouted. "She's okay, she has to be okay" More tear drops fell off her pale face.
Peyton came to a stop in front of her, taking her in her slender arms. "Sweetie, she's fine. She took the medicine, everything's going to be okay" She said more to herself than to Brooke.
"Peyt, I am so sorry!" She cried.
A frown spread across her face. "Why are you sorry? Brooke you didn't do anything."
"She was at my house, I feel responsible somehow."
"Brooke, Honey, listen to me" She placed her hands on her friends shoulders to steady herself. "I don't blame you, at all. I never did. She had a hole in her heart, not even I could have prevented that."
"Peyton!" A man's voice yelled out. Startled, Peyton thought it might have been Lucas, yelling from down the hall, but two large arms came to wrap their way around her from behind as she turned.
"Who, wha-, Dad?" She asked turning around, seeing his red and obviously confused face. "You're here? You're here!" She cheered and threw her arms around him tighter.
"Peyton, how is she?" Karen came into view, followed by Andy who had Lily on his hip.
"I called them" Brooke explained. "But I didn't know Larry Sawyer was coming!" She wrapped her arms around both father and daughter.
"I was going to surprise you" He said, turning towards Peyton, as they all pulled apart. "But I got there and I guess Karen had just gotten off the phone with Brooke, because she was in a panic and told me we had to get here asap because the baby was admitted to the hospital" His daughter's red eyes brought an aching pain back to his chest.
Peyton ran a hand through her long and leisurely blonde hair. "It was bad." A hand crossed Karen's mouth. "She had a small hole in her heart, which I guess is common in infants who were under a lot of stress during the developmental stages and everything would have gone perfectly had it been detected earlier. Also the doctor ran tests and discovered that she has HCM and this posed even more of a threat." Tears spilled over once again as she leaned into Brooke's hold on her arm. "The doctor said it came down to the medication. If her body took it and didn't increase her heart rate, than she lived, but from what they made it seem, it wasn't likely. But she took it and she was so strong."
"HCM?" Karen asked. "Oh sweetie" She stepped forward to place a gentle hand on her daughter in law's cheek. "She's okay now?"
"She's fine" More tears fell and she was comforted by her father's large hands embracing her long arms. "We're waiting for the sedatives to wear off so she can wake up"
"You should go back to her" Brooke encouraged taking Julian's silent hand.
"I would like to let you all come in and see her, but she's not conscious and I don't know how long it'll be."
"I'll take Lily home so she can sleep" Andy spoke softly to Karen, slightly lifting the half asleep child.
"That's a good idea" Her lips grassed his cheek and she gave him a half smile while squeezing his arm. "I'll hang here for a bit and be there soon"
"Brooke, you guys can head home if you like. I hate having you sit here; it's not fair to have you wait"
"I wanna stay until she wakes up, even if we can't see her" Sam said sitting up straight in her seat by Julian's standing figure.
"Yeah Momma Scott, we'll stay here. You go back and be with your baby" She nodded her head towards the hall.
Peyton took her father's hand and pulled him gently. "You haven't seen her yet; not in person that is. She's covered in wire's and tubes, but still beautiful"
"Let me meet my granddaughter" Larry said following his tall blonde down the hall.
She smiled as they reentered the room, Lucas chatting away franticly on his cell phone and Elizabeth still passed out on her infant sized medical bed. Luke's back was turned as they walked in, both coming to a stop in front of the baby.
"She looks just like her mother" Larry whispered. "Very beautiful"
"Thanks Dad, I'm glad you finally got to meet her, even if it isn't under the best circumstances."
"No, no" Luke spoke into his phone. "Hales, I promise there's no need to come down here anymore. The worst is behind us and she's going to be fine, but thank you for your concern. Yes, I'll tell her; bye Hales." Luke's smile grew when he looked up to see his father in law fawning over his new grandchild. "Mr. Sawyer"
"Lucas, my new favorite son in law." He stood to shake the man's hand. "I wish this was under better conditions, but thanks for having me out here to visit"
"You planned this?" Peyton asked her husband, hands on her hips.
"It was supposed to be a surprise"
"Well" She rotated her head towards Larry. "I'm surprised" Her father gave her shoulders a tight squeeze as he gently felt the baby's soft arm with his other hand.
"Haley says happy birthday… by the way and that she's here if you need anything"
Peyton couldn't help but let out a small hysterical laugh. "I completely forgot it was my birthday. It turned into a pretty shity night if you ask me"
Luke sighed. "I'm so sorry Peyt"
"Luke" She said stepping towards him with her hands out stretched. "You've got nothing to be sorry for. You and Brooke playing nose goes" She shook her blonde head, hair swinging behind her.
"I should have looked into HCM more, if I'd known that I had a better chance of passing it alone, I would have…"
"Well as fun as this is" Larry spoke up, hand's in his pockets. "I'm going to hang around in the waiting room with Karen. Let me know when she wakes up so I can really get to know my granddaughter."
Peyton gave him a quick nod. "Will do;"
His feet wore into the floor as he left, shutting the door behind him. Peyton turned her attention back to her husband and held his hands tightly in her own. "You would have what Luke? You can't tell me you would have prevented it, because I would not believe you. This whole thing has been a surprise; the pregnancy, this day, her HCM. And even if we had planned this out step by step and you knew that she could somehow contract your same condition, you would not have stopped us from conceiving. I would not have let you. Baby listen, you've had HCM since birth too, and with all the right precautions, she'll be fine. I have faith in that."
He nodded and embraced her in his strong arms. "I love you"
"Good, because I'm still scared as hell and I'm just putting on a brave face and it's not working" His scratchy laugh echoed in her ear and he held her tighter.
"I'm scared too; all I keep thinking is how can we live without her. Now that we have her I can't imagine a world where she's not in it and when the doctor said "this is fatal and that is fatal" I almost lost it" She pressed her mouth into his shoulder to prevent from crying out again. "She's okay now."
A fussy whine followed by a quite cry abrupt from the tiny baby lying in the crate. Peyton pulled from Lucas' arms quickly and moved to her daughter's side. "Luke, the button" She said whipping her eyes before reaching out to place a hand on the baby's stomach. He pressed it and then followed Peyton's suit and cradled Elle's cheek with his finger tips. "She's hungry" His wife laughed after she had identified the baby's cries. "After all this, she's hungry"
"That's my baby" He whispered and then wrapped his free arm around Peyton's shoulders.
Have you no faith in me? You all thought I was gonna kill Elle. COME ON! Elle, a baby, Peyton and Lucas' baby. You're all insane. Do I get a thank you?
The next chapter is a quick jump ahead. We visit Haley in her third month of pregnancy and baby Elle's growing up fast =(
+Peyton gets a phone call…
Review if you wanna see the next chapter soon =)