Chapter 2

When he opened his eyes the next morning he was instantly blinded by the morning sunlight that shun in through the large glass window he had fallen asleep in front of the night before. As the young man tried to collect himself he blinked a few times as he raised a hand to shield his eyes from the glare and attempt to relieve the slight throbbing in his head. Once his sight was fully regained and he was able to get a better view of his surroundings Nathan Scott was hit with visions and images of the night before that he would much rather forget.

His mind held illustrations of his older sibling as the boy became more and more winded and unsteady as he ran down the basketball court of Tree Hill High. He then remember witnessing a look of confusion and pain come over the boys face as he suddenly lost interest in the ball he was dribbling and the game he was participating in. Next he watched the blond male take hold of his arm as if he had just been shot before his hand made its way to his heart and grabbed onto it tightly as he crashed to the ground and starting screaming out in pain.

Last night was indeed the night from hell and only got worse as it went along forcing pictures into the boy's head that he would never forget as long as he lived.

Flashback

"Lucas" Nathan called out as he ran across the gym to his brother's side.

"Nate"

"It's ok Luke. I'm right here man. Everything's going to be just fine"

"Pain…ha…heart" the teenager barely choked out as his eyes involuntarily slammed shut due to the amount of pain he was experiencing.

"Don't worry about it bro, the ambulance is on its way. Just hang in there" he said trying to get his brother to relax as much as possible. Although he wasn't sure of exactly what was going on he did know that it wasn't anything good.

"Can't…it…it…hurts…so…much"

"Yes you can Luke. Just stay with me, alright? Whatever you do don't go towards any light ok. Light equals bad, very, very bad"

Off his words Nathan could see his brother smile as much as his condition would allow and this put his mind at ease. That was until the situation went from bad to worse.

Out of no where his brother bolted up into a sitting position and screamed so loudly that the floor and everything around him shook. His eyes were wider then Nathan ever thought humanly possible and they were splattered with red veins. The sudden movement and blood curdling screams of his older sibling caused the younger Scott to fall backwards in shock. He was completely frighten and taken off guard by the events unfolding before his eyes and was powerless to do anything about it.

He knew that he should have had his arms wrapped tightly around his brother, comforting him as much as he could but his body wouldn't allow him to.

His limbs were frozen by his emotional distress as he struggled to move while he continued to watch his brother's pain in horror. Although his body refused to budge his mind was racing a thousand miles per minute trying to will the rest him to take some sort of action. Once his muscles obeyed his command Nathan cautiously returned to his brother's side and began to reach out to him. He was about to gather him into his arms but was forced to stop when the boy's body violently jerked back causing his head to hit the hard wood floors with a sickening thud before he was thrown into convulsions.

Pushing his fear aside the boy's younger brother kneeled behind him and lifted his upper body off of the floor as a stunned group of students, parents and faulty members looked on. Haley was now on her knees next to him, sitting as closely as she could but just out of arms length to make sure she wasn't hit by the boy's wildly thrashing limbs. Which they would later find out was due to a seizer.

"Its ok big brother" Nathan spoke through tears as he held Lucas close. "You're going to be just fine. You have to be" he continued as his voice cracked.

Looking up he saw a police officers arrive on the scene followed by two medical professionals.

"Please step back son" said one of the men as the other helped him to his feet.

"Please" the boy replied "He's my brother. You have to help him" he continued never once taking his eyes off his sibling.

"We'll do our best son but we're going to need some information from you"

"I need to be with my brother" said Nathan as he tried to fight his way around the man in front of him.

"Listen I know you're worried about him but these questions are important and we need them answered in order to assist him"

"Ok, sure. Anything"

"Good. I need to know if he has any existing medical problems or maybe an allergy to something"

"Umm, yeah, he's highly allergic to peanuts and shell fish"

"Ok, now do you know if he cam in contact with any of those things tonight?"

"No not that I know of. The only thing he complained about was his heart. He said his heart hurt"

"Actually Nathan there is something both of you need to know" the soft yet shaken voice of his wife spoke.

"No there isn't Haley. Besides I know my brother and if there were anything else I think I'd know about it" he snapped more out of fear then anger.

That's when she turned her attention to other male, careful to avoid his own glare of confusion and spoke the words that he never wanted to hear.

"Lucas has HCM"

End Of Flashback

The words had cut him deeper then any knife ever could and hurt twice as bad. He should have known that Lucas was lying about his condition seeing as how there was a fifty-fifty chance that one of them had it. It should have been obvious when his test came back negative.

What kind of brother didn't know when his own sibling was lying?

To make matters worse he knew that the medication associated with the heart disease slowed down a person'sperformance so he should have picked up on the change in his brother's game.

But yet he didn't.

So now he, Karen and Brooke were forced to face the harsh reality that they may lose him and for that he couldn't help but feel guilty.

Shifting his gaze from the window to the sofa that rested below it, he set his sight upon the dark haired girl as she slept soundly. She was a lot calmer now then she was the night before but he knew that the second she woke up it was going to start all over again. His brother's girlfriend had gone into full on hysterics when she head all the details of Lucas's condition and seeing her break down only deepened his own pain and left him feeling even more helpless. In fact her reaction was so intense that the young woman had to be sedated before being placed in her current position.

Karen was the next person in his line of vision as she slept in an upright position with the younger girl's head on her lap. Even with her eyes closed she still looked tired and completely worn out. He wished that there was something he could do for her but he doubted it. The only thing that would bring life back to the woman's soul and remove the dark circles from beneath her eyes was the sound of her son's voice along with a clean bill of health from the doctors. But as much as he wanted to make that happened he couldn't. So for now they were going to have to leave that part up to a higher power.

Suddenly feeling the urge to see his brother Nathan quietly made his way over to the nurse's station.

"Excuse me" he spoke in a tired voice to the red head behind the counter.

"Yes dear. How may I help you?"

"My brother is a patient in the ICU unit and I was wondering when I could go back in to see him"

"Now actually" the woman replied with a sympathetic look "visiting hours just started so you can go in to see him any time you'd like"

"Thanks" he said before rushing down the hall to his brother's room.

When he reached the door he paused for a moment and took a deep breath being careful not to bring in any negative energy that his brother may be able to sense. The boy then turned the knob and slowly entered.

"Hey big brother" he said closing the door behind him softly as not to disturb the room's occupant.

But that's when he noticed a figure on the other side of the room and moved over to examine the individual more closely. If it weren't for the jacket he had over his head Nathan would have been able to see the intruders features more clearly but because of this small obstacle he was forced to walk over to the mystery man and remove the identity concealing item.

Plus the idea of some strange man sitting in his brother's room didn't set too well with him. There were just way too many sickos in this world for his liking other wise he would have just thought that it was an orderly that had fallen asleep in a place he felt no one would look for him.

Moving swiftly the young man took away the black leather jacket and instantly stepped back in shock at who he found.