Chapter Four

His lungs burned and pleaded for more air as he ran down the halls of Tree Hill Memorial Hospital, trying desperately to think of a way to convince his father to help his brother. He knew it wasn't going to be an easy task given the fact that Dan was still angry with Luke for plotting to expose his illegal activities and trying to send him to prison but despite the odds against him he had to give it a shot. He had to do everything in his power to save his brother, other wise he would never forgive himself and if that meant graveling and begging on bended knee in front of the almighty Dan Scott, then that's exactly what he was going to have to do.

Rushing through the sliding glass doors he hurriedly made his way towards the parking lot. Walking past several rows of vehicles he finally reached his car and stopped only momentarily to withdraw the keys from his pocket. He was about to open the door when a gentle hand grasped his arm, firmly but not rough. It was just enough to capture his attention.

He didn't even have to face the person to know who it was.

"How is he?" she questioned with his back still turned to her.

The voice was soft and delicate, the very same way he always remembered it. It's amazing how the sound of someone's voice can make your knees go weak.

"Not too good I'm afraid" he replied as he slowly turned to face her.

The look in her eyes told him that she was terrified of whatever it was he had to say but they were also full of sadness letting him know that she was missing him just as much as he was missing her.

"Has he gotten worse? What did the doctors say?"

As she spoke he could see the tears fill her gorgeous brown eyes. She looked so heartbroken and fragile in that moment that he was tempted to gather her into his arms and never let go. To tell her that everything was going to be alright and that Lucas was going to be okay…that they were going to be okay. But he couldn't. He was still upset with her for lying to him and even if he wasn't, there was no time for their personal issues.

"His condition hasn't exactly changed but the situation has" he answered.

She cocked her head to the side at his words almost as if the movement was going to ease her confusion.

"What do you mean?"

Nathan sighed heavily before continuing in a somber tone "You won't believe what they're trying to do Hales"

The young woman watched as her estranged husband tightened his grip on the car door and his knuckles turned white. After seeing this action and seeing the angry and scared look in his eyes she knew it couldn't be anything good.

"Nathan please just tell me what's going on. Ok, because I'm starting to freak out"

"They moved him down on the donor list"

The look on her face was one of pure shock.

"What? Why? I mean Luke is in bad shape, they can't do this. Can they?"

"Well obviously they can but they didn't give us any reason why and to be perfectly honest with you I didn't stick around to hear any" he said looking down at the ground as he remembered assaulting his brother's physician. "And unfortunately that's not all"

He watched as she leaned heavily against the car for support, bracing herself for his next bit of information.

"They said that Karen's medical plan only covers one week of life support which means that they aren't going to be paying for it too much longer. And after it runs out we're going to have to pay for it out of pocket and if we can't then…" he trailed off unable to finish as his vision became blurry and a lump formed in his throat.

"They're going to let him die, right?" questioned Haley as tears slid down her cheeks.

Nathan could only nod his head.

She stared into his eyes as she began to shake her head from side to side as if she were trying to wake up from a bad dream.

"No…no, they can't do this Nathan. You can't let them do this. You can't let them kill Lucas"

"Haley listen to me" he spoke calmly while allowing himself to take her hands into his own. "I have no intentions of letting that happen, do you hear me? We won't lose him. I promise" he said finally breaking down and taking her into his arms.

The two then stood there together in silence for a few minutes, both lost in their own grief while praying for a miracle at the same time. Although they were both hurting they were able to find a small amount of comfort in one another's arms.

A short while had passed before the silence was broken.

"What happens now?" she asked with her body still wrapped up in his arms.

"Well I was wondering if you were willing to plan a bank heist with me. We can even wear matching black outfits designed by Brooke"

Haley couldn't help but laugh at this. Nathan smiled back at her with a happiness she hadn't seen in days. But just as suddenly as it appeared the sparkle in his eyes vanished and the troubled, pain filled expression returned.

"Actually there's only one person that has pockets deep enough to help" the boy spoke in a serious tone.

"Nathan?" she questioned with a knowing look in her eyes. "Do you really think that he'll help Lucas after everything that's happened?"

"There are no other options Hales. I know my dad's an ass but I'm hopping that he'll come through for us once he hears how bad the situation is"

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then I'll have no choice but to blackmail him"

"Be serious Nathan" she smiled but that smile faded when she realized that he wasn't joking. She was going to respond when his voice interrupted her.

"I'm dead serious Haley. If he doesn't help Luke then I'm going straight to the media and letting them know what a heartless son of a bitch their mayor is"

He could tell by the look on her face she wasn't happy about this.

"Listen Haley I know you probably don't approve of the whole blackmail thing but…"

"It's okay Nathan" she said now stepping away from him "I know that you're only doing what you feel is right in order to save your brother so you're not going to get any big speech on morality from me"

For some reason her response angered him.

"I should hope not because we both know that when it comes to morality you should be the last one to preach"

"Nathan I…"

"Save it Haley. I wouldn't have to resort to Dan like tactics if you had told me about Luke's heart condition sooner. I would have been able to stop him from playing in that game and our lives wouldn't be so screwed up right now"

The girl was taken aback and completely caught off guard by her husband's sudden change in attitude. She thought that their embrace was part of an unspoken truce of sorts and had brought them back to each other. She thought that just maybe he had decided to forgive her or at least that he understood why she had chosen to keep her best friend's condition a secret but now it looked as though they were right back at square one.

"I made a mistake ok. I promised Luke that I would keep his secret and at the time it seemed like the right thing to do. Now I have said that I was sorry a thousand times and quite frankly Nathan I don't know what to say to you any more. One minute you're holding on to me and telling that everything is going to be okay and the next minute you're back to blaming me for Luke's heart attack. So tell me Nathan, just what the hell do you want from me?"

The dark haired male searched for just the right words to respond with but every time he tried he came up empty. In truth it felt good to talk to Haley and to hold her in his arms like he used to do before all this happened but these two things didn't change the fact that she had lied to him. He had more then enough people in his life who lied to him constantly and on a day to day bases so he didn't need the one person he trusted most in this world doing it too.

"Honesty, Haley. That's all I want from you. I need you to be the one person I can count on to tell me the truth no matter what. No matter how hard it is, how much it hurts, or what you promised someone else"

"Oh like I always come first with you all the time" she snapped back with her arms folded across her chest.

He stood there for a moment, looking at the woman with a stunned expression on his face before turning away and getting into the car. Starting the ignition he turned back to face her "Actually you do Hales. Always have and always will" he said before speeding away as a dejected Haley looked on.

He collapsed onto the soft leather chair with the receiver still placed firmly in his hand. The nurse on the phone had long since hung up but yet he couldn't bring himself to accept her words as true. He wouldn't allow himself to believe that his son was in any real danger of dying. It was impossible.

However if the woman was in fact telling the truth then that would mean Lucas, his first born son was going to be leaving him and this was unacceptable. No one left Dan Scott.

No one could ever leave him and take a part of him with them. He wouldn't allow it.

If Luke were to die he knew that he wouldn't be able to recover from it. Sure he had always given the boy hell and that's when he even chose to acknowledge his existence but that didn't mean that he didn't care. That he didn't love him with every fiber of his being.

The thought made him angry as he slammed the phone down on its base with such extreme force it almost split the object in half. Springing to his feet he began pacing back and forth as he ran his fingers through his thick dark hair in frustration. He was angry not only with the situation at hand but with himself as well.

He hated himself for being so weak and for letting the younger Scott get the best of him. He had actually allowed himself to cry, shed actual tears at the boy's bedside the night before like some pathetic loser, like his brother Keith.

Keith.

The man that had slept with his wife, an incident that gave him a heart attack, the very some person that was the cause for all oh his problems with Lucas. Before he hatched his master plan to destroy his brother he and Lucas became close but because of the whole Jules debacle the boy decided to work against him and try to bring him down.

Stupid kid he thought with a smile. Only a son of his would be smart enough to even attempt something as dangerous as opposing Dan Scott with such skill and finesse. And as much as he hated to admit it, he had actually enjoyed their little game of cat and mouse. Lucas was one clever kid.

His kid.

Now only if he could come up with a way to push him up on the donor list. After all a Scott's rightful place was at the top of anything so he would make damn sure that his son became the hospital's number one priority no matter what he had to do to make it happen.

Suddenly the sound of someone impatiently knocking on his door brought his pacing to a halt.

Whoever this is better have a damn good reason for disturbing me he thought as he rushed down the stairs and opened the front door.

He was shocked to see who was on the other side.

"Nathan?" he questioned hesitantly. "What can I do for you?"

He watched as his son lifted his head and looked into his eyes. They were blood red and from this he knew the boy had been crying. It was at that moment he understood why his son was there.

"It's not what you can do for me" he replied in a shaky voice. "It's what you can do for my brother"