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Chapter 32

A few more hours of waiting. I can't wait much longer or else I'll go back there and operate on him myself! I sighed and picked my head up off of Nathan's shoulder. He gave me a reassuring smile. I could only give him a half smile as I stood up and went to talk with the receptionist. For the hundredth time.

She looked up with a smile but it quickly faded. "Listen, miss, I don't-"

"You listen up, lady," I started. "I don't care what you have to do, but you will go find out what is happening to my brother or I swear to god I don't know who will be able to stop me from hurting you!" I finished in a harsh whisper.

She just shook her head. "Go sit down, honey. When I know something, you'll know something," she said and pointed back over to the waiting room.

I sighed. "How do you sleep at night?" I muttered as I walked away.

"Miss Roe?"

I turned to see the doctor that had been working on Lucas. I gave a sigh of relief this time. "Yes, doctor! How is he?"

He gave me a smile. "He's awake and asking for Haley, Brooke and Nathan," he said. "He's in room 133 if you'd like to go in one at a time," he finished and walked off.

I looked to Brooke who was practically jumping for joy. "Brookie? Do you mind-"

"Go ahead, Tutorgirl! I'm just happy he's up. I'll be happy to go next or last if Nate wants to go next," she waved me off and gave me a big smile.

I gave her one back. Nathan stood and kissed my forehead. "Go see him, Hales. He's waiting for you," he said and sat down next to Brooke, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

I smiled at them and then quickly started walking towards Luke's room. A voice stopped me. "Haley? Haley, please!"

I sighed and stopped. Turned I replied, "What, mother?"

Tears were swimming around in her eyes. "Tell him that your father and I love him and we're sorry! We never meant for you two to find out like this! When we all go home we're going to get everything out on the table, okay?"

I stared at her, debating on my answer. I gave a nod. "Okay, sure, but after your explanation Nathan and I are going to his parent's house. I don't want to be around you anymore," I finished in a whisper.

I saw a lone tear fall down her cheek and turned to see Lucas. She didn't matter right now; he did. I knocked on the door, even though it was open. He grinned at me. "Hey, Hales," he said in a weak voice. "How're you doing?"

I gave a slight laugh. "Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" I replied.

He smiled. "I'm fine, Hales. Don't worry about me."

I scoffed. "The day I stop worrying about my baby brother will be a cold day in hell!" I exclaimed and sat beside him. "Did the doctor tell you anything?"

He nodded. "That I have HCM," he replied.

I sighed. "Lucas, dad gave you HCM. It's genetic. Our wonderful parents just decided to keep it a secret from us! I mean, how can you do that? Your child may have a terrible disease that they can die from and you don't tell them?" I exclaimed.

Lucas just shook his head. "Why would they keep it a secret," he asked in a whisper. "You know what, they keep everything secret! I want to know what's going on and I want to know now!"

I nodded in agreement. "I want to know too, Luke, but we're going to wait. They said they'll tell me when we get home tonight, but I'll wait until you get home, okay?"

He shook his head again. "No, call them in here. We're doing this now," he said, determined. "I deserve to know everything and so do you. They owe us that much."

I sighed and stood. "I'll be right back," I said and left the room. Everyone stood as I entered the waiting room. Nathan walked forward but I shook my head. "Not yet, Nate. He wants to see our parents and me for now. They have some explaining to do," I said with a look to my parents.

They nodded and followed me into Luke's room.

Lucas looked straight to me. He couldn't even look at them. I took my eyes away from his to glare at our parents. "Have a seat," I said coldly. "Then start talking."

They sighed and sat. I moved over to Lucas's side and sat on the edge of the bed. "Well, we better start at the beginning," Dad began.

Mom nodded. "Back in high school your father and I were best friends with Dan and Deb," she said. "We were pretty much in separable."

Dad gave a smile. "We were pretty much the most envied people in that school since we were merely sophomores!" he laughed. Lucas and I didn't find it amusing. He continued. "The only thing different back then and now is that I was with Deb and your mother was with Dan."

My jaw dropped. "Are you serious?" I exclaimed. They nodded. "How disgusting is that! My parents and future in laws were together! Gross!"

Dad nodded. "Trust me, I didn't want to be with Deb. I'm not saying she's not a wonderful person, because she is! All I'm saying is that I wanted to be with your mother, but Dan got to her first."

Mom shook her head. "He was always obvious about it too," she said, her voice dreamy. "Your father would always tell me how beautiful I looked and buy me flowers. I always told him to stop, but he never listened."

Dad grinned. "I was making sure she knew what she was missing. I mean I-"

"I don't mean to interrupt," Lucas butted in, "but what does this have to do with my HCM?"

Mom nodded. "Well, to make a long story short, your father and I got together while we were still with Dan and Deb."

I gasped. My parents were officially horrible people. "Haley, don't get too crazy just yet, okay? You can't help who you love!" dad exclaimed.

I shook my head. "So you break up with Deb! You don't cheat on her!" I yelled, then turned to mom. "Same for you! That is so horrible! How could you do that to them? Weren't they your best friends?"

They both nodded. "Yes, but they were okay with it because they had been seeing each other behind our backs, too," mom explained.

I was so confused with this conversation. Lucas spoke. "Let me get this straight. Dad, you were with Deb and mom was with Dan, but you were all in love with the others partner? How messed up is that?"

Dad laughed. "Yeah, it was very messed up. Sure, we started out liking who we were with, but the end we wanted everyone else's partner! That's just how it was back then."

I shook my head. "Let's get back on topic here. Like why you didn't tell us about the HCM," I said, crossing my arms.

Mom continued. "Then let's jump forward to graduation, shall we?" Luke and I nodded. "Deb was pregnant with Nathan. I didn't know it yet, but I was pregnant with the two of you."

Dad continued. "Dan was happy about the pregnancy, but upset at the same time because he was supposed to play basketball for Duke."

I quirked my head. "I thought he did play there," I voiced my thoughts.

Dad nodded. "He did. For a year and then he stopped," he explained. "Taking care of Nathan was his main priority. They didn't have Nathan until halfway through the season."

I nodded. "So when do we get to the whole falling out between you and the Scotts?" Lucas asked.

"We're getting there, sweetie," mom said. "Well, you three used to play together all the time! Deb and I were waitresses at a restaurant here in Tree Hill. Your dad was a mechanic, but he went to school too. Night school."

Dad nodded. "I got my degree in only 3 years and then we moved to Michigan because it had better opportunity in the car industry," he explained.

"Wait! You skipped the falling out!" I said.

Mom shook her head. "No, it didn't happen until after we moved. See, Dan and Deb brought Nathan to visit. Everything was great. You know, seeing them again was perfect."

"So what happened?" Luke asked.

Dad shrugged. "That's where we have no idea. We just stopped calling and writing. Deb always sent Christmas and birthday cards, but we never sent any back. We just got busy, I guess. Too busy for our old life, but we're trying to mend those ties."

I was still confused. It didn't seem like the whole story. I mean, why would they just not send anything back? Didn't they care about their friends? I shook my head. "So, why did you lie about the HCM?" I asked. "You've been avoiding that topic."

Mom sighed. "We didn't even know your father had it until the two of you were 6. You were too young to be told then and we didn't know when to tell you. You have to believe me. We would never try and keep something like that from you! We just prayed that we would never have to deal with that."

Lucas nodded. "Fine, I understand, but that doesn't mean that I forgive you. I mean, I have a disease that could kill me. I mean, I can't play ball anymore! You knew this could happen and yet you didn't tell me!"

Tears fell from my mother's eyes. Dad wrapped his arm around her shoulder and spoke. "You have to know that we never meant for it to stay secret this long. We love you both. We never want to put your lives in danger."

I stood up. "Well, I think that's enough talking about depressing things. Lucas, I'm going to send Nathan and Brooke in next, okay?" I asked and he nodded. I lead my parents out of the room. Nathan and Brooke both stood. "Go ahead and go in guys," I said and they quickly went into Luke's room. I kept walking and sat down, ignoring my parents.

"Haley?"

I sighed and turned to my mother. "Yes?"

"Do you at least understand where we're coming from?"

I nodded. "Sure, I do. You were being cowards. I completely understand!" I replied and then looked away again. "Don't expect me to forgive you anytime soon cause it just won't happen."

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