Chapter 1

The sound of his own heart pounding sounded loudly in his ears as he fixed his eyes upon the newest visitor to his brother's room. It was the asshole that was responsible for everything wrong in the lives of he and his older sibling and today was no exception. In fact part of him wondered if he too knew of his brother's condition and didn't care enough to say anything about it but right now he was in a semi state of shock. He couldn't believe this. The nerve it took for this man to show his face in his brother's hospital room when he had abandoned the boy and tormented him for months was exceptional. In fact he blamed him for all the hate that had manifested it's self between he and his brother all those years ago wasting precious moments that the two could have shared or rather should have shared together as brothers.

If it wasn't for the current state of Lucas's Mom he would have cursed that mother fucking out right then and there and would have happily sent him flying into the room across the hall but he had to keep it together, for Karen's sake. Besides his father was Mayor now and would no doubt press charges against him if he assaulted the man in any way and being in jail and separated from his brother right now was not an option for him. He was foolish enough to let Dan come in between them twice before and there was no way in hell he was about to let it happen again. But he did need to get the man out of there and seeing as how Karen couldn't even say anything let along remove him from their sight it was up to him to handle the problem and keep him from saying or doing anything to upset the woman more then his mere presence already had.

The second born son of Dan Scott stood up and walked over to the man with his fist clenched so tightly that his knuckles where white from the lack of circulation. He already kicked one person out of the room already and she happened to be his wife so taking on his bastard of a father was going to be no sweat at all.

"You need to leave right now" he said as he looked into the eyes of the monster that raised him and tortured his brother.

"Sorry son but I don't take order from you. Now get out of the way or I'll have you removed"

"Why do you want to get in here anyway? We all know you hated Lucas, so what, did you come here to gloat?" the boy said as he advanced on his father. It only angered him more when the man had the audacity to crack a smile.

"Isn't this sweet" the man began as he took the seat closet to the door. "Nathan is standing up for his big brother. A brother whom mind you tried to stick a knife in the back of his own father" the man said as he crossed his legs and made himself comfortable, showing now signs of leaving.

"Who wouldn't after the way you treated him? Oh and by the way don't get too comfortable because you'll be leaving soon either on your own or by force"

"Wow, you are really putting on a show for your bastard sibling aren't you?" the man replied surly as the woman he once loved flinched. "Hey, where was that brotherly love when he tried to help you and your mother escape big bad Dan" he said knowing that he was getting under his son's skin. "I happen to know for a fact that he came to you on several occasions trying to make nice with you so you boys could be brothers again but you shot him down, didn't cha Nate? You turned your back on him, you fought with him, you called him names, you know like the good old days. Hey remember that night at the beach house, you know the one where you played that tape of me and Karen's homecoming. I believe you called it the comic relief of the night"

"Shut up, shut your mouth and get the hell out of here before I permanently shut if for you" threatened Nathan as he forced his father to his feet and pushed him towards the door. He had already relieved their past years of hell already so he sure as hell didn't need an instant replay from his father.

"Nathan, stop it" Karen finally spoke as rose to her feet and pulled Nathan back.

"Come on, just let me wipe that smug grin off his face" the boy said trying to make his way around the petite woman.

"Don't worry about it son, I'm going. Oh and please make sure you tell Haley I said hi, would you?" the man added, taking one last dig at his son before exiting the room.

Suddenly it felt as if the world around him was closing in on him. He had to get out of there and get some air before he blew a gasket which was the last thing Karen or Lucas needed.

"I have to go" he announced abruptly before grabbing his jacket.

"Nathan please don't let Dan force you into doing something that you'll regret" pleaded Karen.

"I'll be back soon Luke" the boy replied without acknowledging the woman's request.

Moving to stand in front of him the woman took hold of his arms and forced him to look at her. "I know how you feel right now. You want to go to Dan and rip his got damn head off and trust me I'm not too high on the guy myself right now but we have to be here for Lucas and if we go after Dan, he'll win and then who will your brother have left"

As much as he hated to admit it Karen was right. Going after Dan right now would be a huge mistake and knowing his father the way he did he knew that this was exactly what the vulture wanted.

"I won't go after him Karen. It's just that he knows just how to get to me and no matter how hard I try not to let him win, I end up falling for it every time and I'm just so pissed right now that I have to go for a walk and clear my head"

The woman looked at him with uncertainty and concern in her eyes not really sure whether or not she should let the boy out of her sight. After all she had to be there for him now that his mother had left town she just hoped that he would do the right thing.

"Ok. Well umm visiting hours are going to be over soon anyway so when you get back you can meet me in the waiting room, alright"

"Yeah, I'll catch you later"

"Bye Nate" replied Karen before she returned to her son's bed side.

The walk had done him a great deal of good as the younger Scott boy made his way back to the hospital. His breathing had finally returned to normal and he was feeling less stressed and angry then he was a half hour ago and now he was fully capable of being the brother that Lucas needed. As he approached the sliding doors a familiar figure came into view. He instantly recognized the dark haired girl as Brooke Davis, his brother's girlfriend.

"Brooke?" he called out as the girl turned around to face him.

"Hey. I…I…" she fumbled her words as her mascara ran down her cheeks. He could tell she was a total wreck and was probably wondering if Lucas was ok. "How is he Nate?" she question without looking into his eyes. He guessed that part of her had a bad feeling about the whole situation and knew that if she looked into his eyes the answer to her question would be evident in them

"I'm not going to lie to you Brooke, it's pretty bad"

"How bad?"

"If Luke" he began but stopped short as he took in the girl's rattled condition. He knew it was going to be hit her hard and thought that it would be best if she were sitting when he delivered the news. "umm I think maybe we should go inside"

"No, I can't"

"Brooke…"

"No Nathan I can't see him like that and I don't think my heart could handle it if I did"

"Well listen visiting hours are over now so we can sit in the waiting room so you don't have to see and I can let you know what's going on"

"So it's that bad that you want me to sit down. Is that it?" she said as her bottom lip started to quiver.

"Come on" he said passing an arm around her should. "Let's go inside"

He crept quietly into the room and shut the door behind him being careful not to off set the silence around him. He then walked slowly over to the motionless, blond boy with his knees shaking and threatening to give way. He didn't deserve this. No one did. No matter how much his betrayal had stung he was still his child, his first born son. The boy was so young and had so much more life left to live and so much to give to the world that seeing him like this broke the man's heart in two. He felt powerless to do anything to ease the boy's suffering and that hurt him the most. The one time the boy needed him the most there wasn't a damn thing he could do to help.

There were no strings to pull, no favors to call in and no amount of money in the world was going to help him right now. For the first time in his life the man was no more important then any one else in the world and this threw in into a state of total disarray. Knowing that there was nothing he could do right now he tried to do the only thing that felt right at the moment. He began to make the boy was as comfortable as possible. He fixed the bed sheets around him and fluffed up the pillows behind him. He then felt his forehead to check his temperature and make sure that the room wasn't too hot for him. When all was said and done and the man had accomplished all that he could the man planted a kiss on the boy's head and took a seat at his bed side before taking hold of his hand.

Staring into the boy's face the man noticed just how peaceful and angelic he looked. There were no signs of pain or distress on the boy's features that so remarkably mirrored his own and he was grateful for that. At least he wasn't in any pain and from what he had heard about the collapse the young man had experienced more then his share the second that his heart decided to betray him.

It was a pain that he knew all too well and would have never wished on anybody, especially him. But in a way he did, didn't he?

He should have put an end to the boy's basketball days a long time ago but yet he didn't. No, he had allowed this to happen and if Lucas died he would only have himself to blame. If he wasn't so damn spiteful and cold hearted then his first born son wouldn't be in this mess. He would happy going to games and hanging out with his friends and his brother instant of lying here in a hospital bed waiting for death to claim his soul.

How could he have let this happen? To his own child none the less.

All of sudden he couldn't hold back the amount of pain he was feeling. He couldn't hide his emotions any more and even if his son didn't hear him it was time the truth came out. For once in his life it was time for Dan Scott to own up to his mistakes and confession the one thing he had been holding back for all these years.

"I'm so…so…sorry son" the man spoke slowly as he struggled to catch his breath.

"I should have stopped you. I should have…I should have pulled you out of the game the second I found out" he said as tears fell from his eyes for the first time in his adult life. "If you can hear me Luke, please know that I didn't mean for this to happen. And that…I…I…love you son" the finished before placing his face in his hands and crying until there were no more tears left to give.