Woohoo! Finally an update! It's seems like it's been so long since I've done this and I guess it has, but I'm finally back! This chapter isn't my favourite but it'll do. Just to let everyone know too, this is probably the second or third last chapter of the story. I know it's ending kind of suddenly but this is where I want to end it off and call it a day. There will be an epilogue to wrap everything up and tie a nice neat bow around all the story lines I've got going on, so don't worry about that! That's all I've got to say, so happy reading and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter that's taken me ages to finish! Drop me a review and let me know what you think. :)
Chapter 17
"How is she?" Karen asked anxiously when one of Haley's surgeon came into the waiting room. They had been waiting for what seemed like forever in this dingy little waiting room. Nathan and Brooke still hadn't returned from where they had gotten off to, but no one had much time to worry about them when they were so focussed on praying Haley would be okay.
The older man sighed softly. "She's stable. We had to remove her spleen to get the bleeding under control. Haley lost a lot of blood though and we won't be sure how extensive the damage is until after she wakes up."
"But she's going to be fine?"
"Yes, everything points to Haley making a full recovery. You should know though that we lost her for about a minute during the surgery. She also wasn't breathing for a few moments on the ambulance ride here. When the heart stops beating and a person stops breathing, blood and oxygen aren't making it to the brain and that can cause long term brain damage. As of right now, we don't think that'll be the case with Haley but we won't know for sure until she wakes up."
"When will she wake up?" Lucas asked wearily.
"It could be a couple hours, could be a couple days. It's all up to Haley now, but I wouldn't give it more than three or four days."
"Can we see her?"
"Yeah, the nurses are just getting Haley set up in her room, but if you go down this hallway and turn left, it's about halfway down on the right. While Haley's unconscious and recovering I ask that the maximum number of people visiting at a time is two."
Keith nodded at the man and wrapped a comforting arm around his wife. "Thank you, Doctor."
The doctor smiled at the group. "You're welcome," he said and left them alone again.
Nathan rounded the corner into the waiting room with Brooke still at his side. The duo saw an older man with a white medical coat walk away from their friends and family. Nathan immediately quickened his pace to get to them as fast as he could and learn of any new developments with his girlfriend.
"What happened?"
Karen smiled softly at the petrified look Nathan was sporting. "Haley's out of surgery. If all goes well, she'll be awake sometime in the next few days and will make a full recovery."
"What do you mean if all goes well?" the boy asked sceptically.
Karen sighed, she knew what she was about to say would make the teen even more worrisome. "There were some complications in the surgery that may affect Haley long term. We won't know until she wakes up though, but the doctor seems to think everything will be fine."
Blowing out a deep breath, Nathan nodded his head. "Are we allowed to see her now?"
"Yes. I think we should go do that."
"You and Keith can go first. After all, you are basically her parents now."
"Nonsense, Nathan we all know you've been worried out of your mind for Haley. You should go in and spend some time with her first."
"No, I couldn't. Besides, I need a few minutes to prepare myself for seeing her in a hospital bed. I'll just see her after everyone else has had their chance to go in and visit first."
Keith patted Nathan's back as he walked by him. Nathan offered the man a small smile of thanks for the comforting gesture and followed behind the rest of the group down the stark hallways of the hospital until they approached Haley's room. Karen and Keith each took a deep breath and entered the room, leaving Nathan, Jake, Peyton, Brooke, Lucas, and Deb standing in the hallway.
Nathan let his shoulders slump as he felt himself losing whatever composure he had managed to conjure up. He sniffled as quietly as he could to gain control over his emotions and hoped that no one heard him. As he looked up he saw Jake with his head in his hands and the guilt he was feeling became even more unbearable. He took two quick strides across the linoleum and stood next to the brunette boy.
"I'm sorry," he whispered hoarsely and Jake's head snapped up in surprise. "It was stupid of me to get behind the wheel after I'd been drinking. I wasn't thinking and I deserve to be punched in the face again for doing this to Haley."
Jake nodded and let out a long breath. "As much as I'd like to punch you again, I know Haley would kill me and the accident wasn't entirely your fault. You couldn't predict that some asshole would run a red light."
"If I hadn't been drinking earlier I might have been paying more attention and noticed that the guy wasn't stopping," Nathan pointed out and shook his head miserably.
"Nathan, this isn't your fault," Deb spoke from the other side of the hall and he watched as Brooke, Peyton, and Lucas all nodded along with her in agreement.
"Yeah, man. I mean I was pissed off but you gotta know that no one blames you for anything," Lucas contributed.
As Nathan was about to respond, a loud commotion around the elevators that were out of sight to the group caused them all to turn in the direction of the waiting room. An array of voices could be heard shouting questions to an unidentified subject as the elevator doors opened and the person walked out.
"I appreciate all of your concern, but right now I'm just a father worried about his son," Dan's voice boomed over the reporters and they all fell silent and began to disperse.
"What the hell does that son of a bitch think he's doing," Nathan growled lowly and took off in the direction he knew his father was in.
His friends watched him in confusion and Deb was filled with dread. Without a second thought, they all took off after his quick moving form and round the corner to see Nathan and Dan come face to face in an empty hallway. Dan's lips immediately upturned into a sinister smile and he began wrapping his arms around Nathan tightly. "I'm so glad to see that you're okay, son."
"Get off me!" Nathan jerked and pushed his father away with all his strength. Dan stumbled back a step and the smile disappeared from his face.
"That wasn't very respectful of you, Nathan. Don't forget I'm your father. All that matters right now though is that you're fine and not hurt and we can go home now."
"I'm not going anywhere. You can leave now though, and don't bother coming back."
Dan clicked his tongue indignantly. "Why so hostile, Nathan? You should be happy that you weren't hurt and you can go back to going about your normal daily business."
Nathan scoffed. "Screw you, Dad. It's your fault that I ended up here in the first place."
The older man looked at his son in surprise. "What have I ever done to you that weren't for your own good? You should be grateful that I've provided you with the lifestyle that I have for the past eighteen years!"
"What have you ever done to me?" Nathan repeated angrily. "How about bullying and belittling me about basketball all my life! Treating me like shit when I didn't play up to your standards and pushing me so hard that I felt like I had to take steroids just to compete with you! You criticize every aspect of my life and even go as far as to rip apart the people I care about so much so that I have to actually leave a family dinner because you're being so harsh."
"Now you're just being ungrateful. I've given you everything, Nathan."
"I'm not ungrateful at all, Dan. You're a son of a bitch and you better hope Haley is okay or I'll kill you. That's a promise that I'm not afraid to keep either."
Dan's eyebrows rose as he listened to his son speak angrily. "So that's what's got you so worked up. That little tramp of yours didn't get so lucky? It must be my lucky day," he mused loudly to himself. "Get over it, Nathan. If you're lucky she'll die and you'll forget about her in a week's time. She's below you. If you're just looking for a good lay and you're going to slum it, at least go for a girl that's even halfway pretty."
In that moment, three very angry teenage boys lunged at Dan Scott. Each of them throwing every punch to defend Haley James' honour and shut up the foul mouthed older man. Dan fought back with everything he had and actually managed to get in a few square punches on each boy. They clearly weren't conditioned enough to know how to fight properly and were merely letting their rage do all the work. He knew they weren't going to last long and began chuckling as he fought them back, enjoying every second of their weak attempt to men.
After a few minutes, Keith and Karen rounded the corner in confusion when they heard the scuffle from inside Haley's room. When they saw what was happening, Keith automatically rushed forward and started to pull the three teenage boys against the older man who appeared to be doing a pretty good job at holding his own against the others. "Hey! Break it up. This is not the place to be starting a fight, grow up and show some respect," he said angrily.
All four of the fighters were breathing heavily and glaring at their opponent. Dan eyed Nathan in particular and shook his head. "You're more of an idiot that I thought you were, choosing some whore of the week over your family. Consider yourself completely cut off," he said and started to turn to leave, but before he had the chance Keith lunged at him and punched him square in the jaw.
"Don't you dare call my niece a whore, jackass," he threatened and Dan regained his balance and took off out of the hospital, noticing that more people were entering the hallway and were beginning to actually recognize him as the mayor of Tree Hill and shot the dramatic group concerned glances every few seconds.
"Thanks, Dad," Lucas said when Dan had departed and Keith shook his head disappointedly.
"Just because I punched him too does not mean that you three boys are off the hook. Lucas, you're grounded. As for you other two, Jake you're also grounded until you head back home to California and same goes for you Nathan."
"How can you ground me? I don't even live with you."
"You do now. There's not a chance in hell that Karen and I are going to let you continue to live in a house with Dan. I think your mother agrees with us," he said and looked to Deb questioningly and watched her nod guiltily.
"It's probably for the best that you two aren't around each other anymore. It's gotten way past toxic to have you interacting with each other."
Nathan looked at his mother in complete shock. "And what about you? I take it this you choosing Dan over me?"
"It's not that simple, honey. Deep down your father is still a good man and I still love him. You can't just expect me to leave him because of one fight you have with him."
"Wow Mom, that's really great. I guess you didn't get the memo that mothers are supposed to put their kid before anyone and everything, no matter what. You can go too, it's pretty clear whose side you're on."
"Don't be like this, Nathan. I'm not choosing anyone's side in this."
"Yeah, well you just did," Nathan said in a tone of finality and walked away from the group. Every pair of eyes followed his retreating form with a sad gaze. Deb opened her mouth to speak to him but a disappointed look from Karen made her shut her mouth and turn in the opposite direction with her shoulders slumped. She really hadn't meant to choose her husband's side but by not protecting her son like she was supposed to, she did, and that was unforgivable in Nathan's eyes.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't realize you were in here," Nathan apologized when he walked into Haley's hospital room and saw Jake sitting in the uncomfortable chair in the corner of the room. "I'll come back later."
"Nah, its fine. I've been here for a while now, I should probably go eat something and get some fresh air."
"Are you sure? I can come back if you want a little more time with her."
Jake stood up and offered Nathan a grateful smile. "I'm sure, but thanks for offering, man. You really aren't as bad as I originally thought."
"Yeah, you aren't half bad either," Nathan shrugged and chuckled and moved away from the door so Jake could open it and leave Nathan alone with his girlfriend.
"Hey, baby," Nathan said softly as he walked further into the quiet room. He closed the door softly behind him and pulled up the chair beside Haley's bed. "How're you feeling today? Hopefully like you're going to wake up."
Nathan took in the how peaceful Haley looked and let a small smile break onto his face. "Everyone's been here day and night pulling for you. It's only been about three days, but it feels like I've been in this hospital waiting to see your beautiful brown eyes looking back at me for a lot longer than that. I know you hate it when I lose my temper or start fighting, but something tells me you'd be happy that I stood my ground with Dan because he hasn't come around since Jake, Lucas, and I tag teamed him.
You'd be proud of me, Hales. You know how you've been saying how I need to cut Dan out of my life for good? Well, I'm starting to. I moved out of his house and I'm sleeping on your living room couch right now when I'm not here with you, because Karen and Keith know I don't really have any place else to go after my mom basically abandoned me for Dan. I went to the police station this morning and filed a restraining order against him so he can't come within a hundred feet of us and when you wake up I want you to sign off on it too so that he can never do anything to hurt us ever again. I'm also looking into legal emancipation and the lawyer I talked to thinks I have a real shot at getting it."
Nathan fell silent for a few moments and took a breath in. Before he managed to finish the simple action, his breath hitched in his throat and a slow tear rolled down his dry cheek. "You have to wake up, Hales. I don't know what I'll do with myself if you don't come back to me soon. I'm so lost without you," he said and let a few more stray tears fall as he rested his head gently next to her still body.
Nathan lifted his head in shock when he thought he felt her cold fingers move slightly in his tight grasp. His eyes widened even further when he saw that Haley's eyes were beginning to flutter open softly. She squinted against the harsh bright sun streaming in through the curtains and Nathan leapt up to close them completely. He smiled and chuckled happily. "I can't believe you're finally awake," he said and kissed her forehead gently while laughing softly in disbelief.
Haley gave him a perplexed look but managed a half smile nonetheless. "Hi."
Nathan's smile widened at hearing her delicate voice pierce through the blanket of silence that had overtaken the small room. His joy faded however when he saw the confusion written on Haley's face. "What's wrong, baby?" he asked worriedly and squeezed her hand gently.
Haley gazed around the room and took it all in. There were strange machines hooked up to her and the bed she was on was definitely not her own. The only thing keeping her calm at the moment was Nathan's presence, but even that couldn't stop her from beginning to panic at the unfamiliarity she was experiencing. "W-Where am I?" she stuttered softly.