Hello, okay I have to say that that had to be the fastest time Ive ever seen reviews come in... this is the second last episode... DUM DUM DUM! im kind of sad to be finishing this one. Ive gotten a lot of great reviews and its been really fun to write... so... here is the second last chapter :( after this... I will be working on my other fanfics again... mostly trying to finish up Too Far Gone... then the rest... I have a new one started, but Im not posting it until I get the rest finished, or at least too Far Gone and Its All Coming Back To Me Now... Anyways... you can go read this now! Read, review and hopefully L.I.K.E! LOL...

Michelley P.

Chapter 26: Im Wide Awake; It's Morning

Nathan paced around the hospital room, hands shoved in his jeans pockets and one of them occasionally rising to run through his hair. Time after time he'd let out a huge sigh, wanting desperately for her to wake up and be okay. Brooke quietly walked into the room and held out a coffee for him.

"Thanks." Nathan smiled. He walked over and sat on the chair and laid his coffee on the end table. Then he just stared at her, as if he could mentally tell her to wake up.

"Have you called Cara?" Brooke asked. He could tell then that, that was the reason that she had come in here, to see if he called Cara. But, regretfully he didn't want to speak of Cara in this room, because he was afraid that her name may hurt Haley more. Or maybe it hurt him more.

"No..."He finally whispered.

"Nathan..." Brooke whispered. She went over knelt next to him, looking up at him in concern. "You need to call her, she hasn't heard from you in three days."

"Haley is soon going to wake up, when she does, I'll call." Nathan nodded. It appeared as if he had it all figured out, but actually, he had no idea why he was there with her. Because he loved her of course, but she admitted to him that she loved Lucas, and he couldn't help but feel guilty for not having Lucas sit here with her.

"What does she think of it, you here with her?" Brooke asked. She stood up again and walked over to the window, taking a sip of her coffee. Nathan looked at his own coffee, but was too sick to his stomach to try it.

"She doesn't know, she thinks it's... you." Nathan confessed.

"Me? You told her MY boyfriend beat me up?" Brooke gasped.

"No! I told her you were sick... sorry..." Brooke wanted to yell at him for lying to Cara, but she had been watching him for the past three days, as he watched Haley sleep, and she could only be proud of him. "This is my fault, you know. She called me, earlier she admitted she loved Lucas. But she called me, and she needed me. But I turned her down. This is all my fault."

Brooke scoffed and tried to lighten the mood. "You must think a lot of yourself Scott, you turn down a girl and she winds up in the hospital, they really can't live without you can they?" Brooke laughed.

Nathan laughed a little but then let out a deep breath and looked up at Brooke sadly.

"You're in love with her, aren't you?" Brooke said, she tried to act like this was a surprise to her, but it wasn't. Since they were kids, the only people who didn't know that Nathan loved Haley, were Nathan and Haley. Nathan just scoffed and shook his head. "I know that look! I see it in the mirror every single day!" Brooke said quietly.

Nathan's head shot up at her, and he looked at her with his eyes wide. "You're in love? With Lucas?" He asked, he too was acting surprised, though he wasn't.

Brooke just blushed and ignored the question. "Im going to... yeah." Brooke laughed. She dashed out of the room, her face was burning so much it throbbed.

Haley could hear everything, even Brooke's question about Nathan loving her. But she didn't hear Nathan's answer. She felt the pain of her broken bones and bruises sweep through her body again, and she knew she was back. She groaned and looked around. Nathan was standing up looking out the window. She could barely stop her heart from racing after finding out that he was there with her all this time. She tried to raise her hand to her face, but forgot how terribly her shoulder had be broken. She gasped with pain, only now letting the reality of how serious her injuries were hit her.

Nathan turned around when he heard her gasp. He hurried to her side and bent down smiling. She looked down at him, her face was emotionless but her hands were shaking.

"What are you doing here?" She finally whispered.

"You think I'm just going to let you go through this alone?" Nathan smiled. "Is there anything you need? What can I do?" He pleaded her.

She was just staring at him, completely in awe of how good it felt to have his hands running through her hair. Soon he ran his fingers along her cheek. When she had done it herself, it hurt. But with him, it felt good, like each movement of his thumb took away the pain in that place. "You can call your girlfriend now." She answered him. He just looked at her. Hating the fact that she ruined the moment, but knowing she was right. He softly nodded his head, then leaned in and kissed her forehead. She closed her eyes and listened to him disappear outside, the door clicking when it shut again.

"Brooke looks fine!" A voice said as Nathan got outside. Cara was sitting next to Brooke and Lucas. Nathan looked at them, and both of them shook their heads to indicate that they hadn't called her.

"I was just going to call you..." Nathan smiled. Cara leaned back and rolled her eyes.

"Right... well that was nice of you... after three days." She scoffed. Nathan looked at her with his eyes wide, he had never heard her be so cocky before. "Sorry..." She finally whispered. She stood up and walked into his arms. He hugged her tight, not realizing that he was still standing in front of Haley's window. Brooke watched Haley inside as she opened her eyes and saw Nathan standing there with Cara. She wasn't sure what she expected Haley to do, but smile wasn't it. The next part was though. Through Haley's smile, her chin began to quiver and she began to cry.

"Im sorry..." Nathan finally whispered. Cara smiled and leaned up to kiss him, but instead Nathan hugged her again. He couldn't help but think about how awkward this felt, being here with Cara, instead of inside with Haley, where he wanted to be.

"Is that Haley?" Cara asked. She was staring in at Haley who was laying flat in her bed crying. Nathan looked in and stared at her. He hadn't remembered that he was doing this in front of Haley, and now Haley was crying and he knew it was his fault. Nathan nodded and kept looking at Haley. "What happened?"

"Her boyfriend beat her up..." Cara gasped and couldn't help but stare at Haley. And Haley knew they were staring at her, she could feel their eyes burning into her, and she was beginning to feel like some sort of circus freak.

"Okay, she's not an animal!" Brooke broke in. "Stop looking at her like that!"

"I have to go... classes" Cara finally said. Brooke smiled and laughed gently. They all looked at her, and she felt a little embarrassed, but a little cocky at the same time.

"You should definitely go then!" Brooke grinned. Cara gave her a hard look, then leaned up to kiss Nathan. Once more, Nathan swerved and then hugged her. Brooke couldn't help but let out a small laugh again, which had Lucas laughing as well. When Cara left the hospital, both Brooke and Lucas broke out in mad laughter.

"Talk about avoiding a kiss, way to be discrete bro." Lucas laughed. Nathan just shook his head and slightly grinned.

Haley was trying to get back to sleep when she heard her door swing open again.

"Hey Buddy..." Nathan smiled. Haley smiled back. For a split moment, when her feelings for him took over, she couldn't help but forget that all of her life he had been her best friend, and not the guy she was in love with.

"Hi..." She said back. It was all she could say. Truthfully, she wanted to be angry with him, she wanted to tell him that he shouldn't be with Cara, but instead she just smiled and then closed her eyes trying to rest again.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Why are you here?" She asked him. Her voice wasn't angry or sharp, but more tired and defeated.

"Well, I want to make sure you're okay... Haley, I don't understand." He said in a confused tone. His words were stuttered and choking.

"You should be with her... when I called you... you didn't... You love her, you should be with her." She finally ended.

"When you called... I just... I couldn't handle..." He gave up, he wasn't sure how to explain just what went through his mind the night she called him, or how badly he wanted to throw everything down and go be with her.

"Oh God..." Haley began to cry. "I'm never going to forgive you..." She scoffed through her tears.

"FOR THIS?" Nathan said in shock. She had been the one who stayed in the relationship, and he had nothing to do with it, once more, he couldn't figure out how she could blame him, just like she had in highschool.

"NO! FOR MAKING ME FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU!" Haley screamed. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT? YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND AND I DIDN'T WANT TO FEEL THAT WAY... BUT YOU MADE ME FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU. I DON'T KNOW HOW, BUT YOU DID!" She let out a sharp breath and then glared at him. His mouth was gaped open and he was staring at her. He didn't speak. "Get the hell out!" She snapped. He moved a little, but didn't leave. "I said GET THE HELL OUT!" He nodded and left, leaving the door swinging close.

Alritey... There you go... tell me what you think please!!