I'm back and happy with a fixed computer! I took a mental health day today and managed to finish up the latest chapter as you can see! If everything goes according to what I've laid out, this is the third last chapter of Coming Home. Upsetting, I know, but I just feel like if I kept going I'd be dragging it out a bit especially when I've finished telling the story I intended to write when I started this thing. I have another story in the works that I'll be starting after I post the last chapter of this one, so I won't be going anywhere! On another note, I watched the movie called Beautiful Boy today, Austin Nichols has a small roll in it and I'm telling you all, go watch it. It's one of the most powerful movies I've ever watched and I cried so hard. It's truly magnificent! Alright, that's my little spiel over with and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Drop me a review to tell me what you think.
Chapter 18
Nathan froze when he heard Haley's confused question. He knew this could be a possibility but he never thought in a million years that it would actually happen. Injuries like what Haley may or may not have from their accident were things you only read about happening in random towns in far away states or other countries.
"You don't remember?" he asked fearfully to which Haley shook her head and gave him a concerned look when his face seemed to pale slightly. "I'll uh, just go get the doctor."
"Doctor? Nathan just calm down and tell me what's going on, please."
Nathan swallowed thickly. The one thing that was keeping him from completely losing his mind was that she remembered who he was. He didn't know the extent of her memory of them just yet but something told him that she knew what he was to her and was aware of all her feelings she had for him before the accident. "I can't explain it; I'm just going to go get the doctor. I promise I'll be back in a minute."
Haley's face fell in disappointment when Nathan left the room. Here she was in some strange room that she was assuming to be a hospital after he mentioned a doctor, all alone with no idea what was going on and the only familiar thing about the situation left. She surveyed and took in her surroundings as well as she could and she managed to notice that she had a plaster cast around her ankle and ending up at her mid calve. She was also experiencing some pain in her abdomen and after lifting her gown up slightly, she saw the stitches going about three inches across her stomach.
Haley sighed and closed her eyes, despite just waking up she still felt quite tired. She figured the best way to pass the time before Nathan returned was to try to rest a little bit more.
At the same time, Nathan walked anxiously down the hallway and toward the waiting room where the nurse's station was also located. He knew Karen, Keith, and Jake were most likely all waiting for him to finish visiting Haley so they could have their turn. As he rounded the corner he walked quickly to them and smiled. "She's awake."
Karen immediately leapt up and tears sprung to her eyes. "Oh my gosh! You're serious?"
"Yeah," Nathan smiled wider but it faded when he realized he was going to have to tell them that Haley was disoriented and confused.
"What's that look for?" Jake asked concerned.
"Haley doesn't remember what happened. She recognized me when she woke up but she had no idea where she was or why she's here. I told her I'm getting the doctor and she still looked really confused."
"We knew this could happen, but I think if Haley knew who you were that's probably a good sign. Let's just find the doctor and then we'll be able to rest easy once we know what exactly is going on with Haley," Keith once again acted as the voice of reason before anyone got even more anxious.
The other three nodded in agreement and headed to the nurse's station to let them know that Haley was finally awake again. The nurse smiled gladly when Karen spoke and told the group she would send Haley's doctor to her room immediately and if they headed there now, they would probably run right into him.
Nathan walked quickly down the familiar hallways with the other four trailing a pace behind him, they saw that the nurse was true to her word when they reached Haley's door and came face to face with Haley's main doctor, Dr. Sheppard.
"Good morning," the older man said with a smile. "One of the nurses told me that Haley is awake? That's excellent," he said brightly, happy to hear the young girl was showing great signs of improvement.
Normally, Nathan would smile and be polite to the older man but right now he was way too worried about the well being of his girlfriend to care if he came off rude or not. "Haley doesn't remember what happened. She kept asking me where she was, so can you do your job and examine her so we can find out what exactly is going on?"
The doctor's smile dropped and he sighed. "We knew this was a possibility, Nathan. Why don't you all come in while I do the examination so Haley will feel a little more comfortable and I'll be able to explain what's happened to all you once I know for myself."
They all nodded and followed the older man into the plain room where Haley was still looking around in confusion and apprehension. Karen squeezed Nathan's shoulder softly to offer him some comfort and he smiled at her in thanks.
"Hello, Haley. My name is Dr. Sheppard and I've been the lead doctor on your case since you were brought here. I'm just going to ask you a few questions and examine you to make sure everything is okay. Does that sound alright?"
Haley nodded slowly in response and the Dr. Sheppard smiled in satisfaction. "Okay, first of all, do you know where you are?"
"Not exactly. Judging by your presence and all these machines hooked up to me, I'd say I'm in a hospital."
"Good. Any ideas of what hospital you are in?"
Haley shrugged her shoulders slightly. "That depends I guess."
"What does it depend on?"
"How serious my injuries are, because from what I've been told Tree Hill's hospital isn't that big or well enough equipped to handle some of the more severe injuries. If I had to guess, I'd say Tree Hill hospital though."
"That's good, Haley. You're observation skills seem to be completely fine. Now, can you tell me who these people are and what their relation to you is?"
The five people standing against the opposite wall of the room all held their breath and prayed that Haley remembered who each of them were. Haley surveyed them all with a small smile spreading across her face at seeing their obvious love for her shining in their eyes and began to speak. "They're Keith Roe, my uncle; Karen Roe, my aunt; Lucas Roe, my cousin; Jake Jagielski, my best friend from California," Haley paused for a moment when her eyes landed on Nathan. She knew who he was and she felt her smile widen when her eyes locked with his. "And the sexy guy on the end is my boyfriend, Nathan Scott."
Dr. Sheppard chuckled softly when he watched a beaming smile break out Nathan's face. "That's really good, Haley. Your memory seems to be intact, except that Nathan was telling me you don't remember what happened to you?"
"No, I don't. He wouldn't tell me when I asked," she informed him and looked pointedly at Nathan who smiled seeing that Haley was definitely still her previous self. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"I will, first I'm curious as to what point you remember up to. Do you know what the date is today?"
"Uh, no. The last I remember was that Nathan and I went to his house to have Thanksgiving dinner with his family and we left because..." Haley trailed off, not wanting to disclose Nathan's familial problems in front of everyone in the room.
The doctor looked expectantly at Haley and nodded. "It's okay if that's all you remember."
Haley bit her lip and looked questioningly at her boyfriend and he knew instantly that she was holding back for his sake. "It's fine, Hales," he spoke but she still looked worried. "I promise its fine. It's not like my family drama is a secret."
Haley accepted his answer and turned her gaze back to the doctor standing beside her bed. "We left because Nathan's father basically started verbally attacking me and my family. That's kind of the last thing I remember."
Nathan refused to look anywhere but in Haley's eyes as he felt Karen's sympathetic stare and the other men visibly tense at the knowledge of someone hurting Haley in any way anymore.
"Thanksgiving was three days ago, Haley. You've been in a coma since coming out of surgery. You and Nathan were in a car accident on your way back to your home. The other car hit the passenger side door, which if why you had much more extensive injuries than Nathan. During surgery, there was a minor complication in that we lost you for a little bit, but judging by how well your memory seems to be still, I'm confident in saying there won't be any long term damage. As for your other injuries, during surgery we couldn't get your internal bleeding under control and took out your spleen in order to be able to. You also have a broken ankle, but with the cast it should be completely healed in about four or five weeks. Now, if you don't have any questions for me I'll leave you to spend some more time with your family, but I still want you to get plenty of rest."
"I just have one question," she said quietly, still trying to absorb everything that was just told to her. "When will I be allowed to go home?"
"I want to keep you here over night just to make sure everything is definitely okay and then tomorrow sometime you'll be able to get out of here. Sound good?"
"Yes, thank you Doctor," she smiled at the man and he walked out of the room. Karen immediately stepped forward and walked over to Haley's bed, sitting down on the edge of it.
"How're you feeling, kiddo? You've been worrying all of us quite a bit these past few days."
"I'm okay. This may sound weird, but I'm actually kind of tired," she said with a laugh.
"You're tired? Do you want us to go so you can sleep in some peace and quiet?"
"No, stay. It's comforting to know you're all here with me."
"We won't leave this hospital, Hales," Lucas promised as he, Jake, and Keith all made their way to stand around her bed.
Haley smiled gratefully and rested her eyes for a moment. When she opened them back up again, she noticed that Nathan was standing against the wall still and gazing intently at her. When she locked gazes with him she realized that he had completely zoned out on something. "Do you guys mind if I talk to Nathan alone for a minute?" she asked softly to which the others immediately obliged and left the room, closing the door behind them.
When he heard the sound of the door closing Nathan snapped out of his trance and looked around the room in confusion. He forced a smile onto his face and looked at Haley. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to what was going on. I'll go so you can get some rest."
"No, stay. I wanted to talk to you," she called out when he turned to leave the room as well.
"Oh. What's up?" he asked, still remaining rooted in his spot against the wall and Haley sighed, knowing there was something going on with her boyfriend.
"Come here," she patted the bed softly and watched as he hesitantly made his way over and sat next to her. She cupped his cheek gently and forced him to look into her concerned brown orbs. Without hesitation, she lifted herself up as much as she could and pushed his neck down the rest of the way to meet her lips in a slow kiss.
Nathan pulled away after a moment much to Haley's disappointment. He buried his face in her long tresses and let out a deep sigh. "I've missed you."
"I'm here now," she spoke gently and rubbed his back. "Talk to me, Nathan," she pleaded when he remained silent wrapped in her comforting embrace.
"You just woke up from basically a coma, Hales. You don't need me weighing you down with my problems right now," she objected and pulled away from her.
"If you don't tell me what's wrong, I'm just going to worry about you even more," Haley told him in hopes that it would persuade the raven haired boy to open up to her.
"Don't try to guilt me into this, I already feel guilty enough as it is."
Haley raised a brow at that. "What do you have to feel guilty about?"
"You're kidding right?" Nathan asked and gestured to her form lying in a hospital bed. "If it weren't for me, you'd probably be at home right now doing homework or something, instead of lying in a hospital bed unconscious for the past three days."
"Nathan, this isn't your fault. I remember what happened at dinner at your house and you were protecting me by making us leave. You couldn't have known that someone would run a red light and hit us, it was all an accident. I don't blame you for any of it. Besides, it's not like I was the only one hurt in the accident. Are you okay?"
"Just because you don't blame, doesn't mean it's not my fault," he continued to argue, ignoring her question completely.
Haley tried to hold make her laugh. "Did you not hear anything else I just said? No matter how you look at it, this isn't your fault."
Nathan looked at her with vulnerability swimming in his eyes. "It still kills me seeing you here all the same, and it doesn't change how scared I still am of losing you."
"You heard the doctor, Nathan. I'm going to be fine, and I'm not going anywhere any time soon," she assured with conviction and drew Nathan back into her arms.
"This is pathetic," Nathan said with a slight chuckle. "You're the one that's hurt and I need the comforting.
"Since when have we been a normal couple though?" Haley joked."Besides, you were hurt in the accident, too."
"Yeah, but a couple cuts and bruises with a dislocated shoulder is nothing compared to a coma. I don't even have to wear a sling, so it's not a big deal," he pointed out. When Haley smiled at him and tried to stifle back a large yawn, Nathan stood up off her bed.
"You should get some sleep. I'll leave you alone now," he smiled and kissed her. "I'll see you later." As he was about to turn to leave, Haley's hand clasping around his wrist stopped him. He looked at her questioningly and she looked at him shyly.
"Do you think that you could maybe stay with me? I really don't want to be alone in here. Hospitals have always creeped me out."
"Sure," he smiled down at her and kicked off his running shoes. Haley pulled back her thin blanket and allowed Nathan to slip underneath it and lay next to her. He wrapped his arms around her, mindful of the incision on her abdomen and she carefully rolled over so they were face to face, snuggling into his chest as much as she could.
"I love you, Hales, and I'm so glad that you're okay. I don't know what I would've done without you."
"You don't ever have to worry about that. I love you, Nathan," she vowed and laid a kiss on his shirt clad chest.
The two teens sighed contently at being in each other's arms again. It didn't take long for their exhaustion to get the better of them and sleep to take over. They lay in the small, uncomfortable hospital bed completely at ease for what felt like the first time in a very long three days.