Hey guys, i know i said i'd be on hiatus but i found a laptop so i have a promise that i made and i have to keep it. Thanks to all the amazing reviews and keep reading, this story isn't over yet! Enjoy!

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The woman led them to a desk and left them to go on a round. Nathan was the first one to get to the desk. Karen had followed at a lazy pace behind them. Keith still tried to maintain her, afraid she would fall apart at any moment. Of course, the woman was strong but much less when something happened to her son.

Haley was silently following her husband. She had promised Brooke and Peyton to call them if anything happened. Nathan posted himself in front of the desk and stared at the nurse who was talking on the phone. She made him a quick sign to wait and hung up on her call.

"What can I do for you?" she asked with a large smile.

"Uh, I'd like to have a patient's room number, please"

"Okay, what's his name", she asked. Nathan looked at the name on her blouse, Lauren. "Lucas Scott…", he saw her type the name on her computer and looked back at him.

"This patient is in the ICU, you need to be a family member to visit…"

"I'm his mother and this is his dad" Karen almost shouted, taking Keith's arm. The woman smiled and turned to Nathan.

"He's my brother…this is my wife", he pointed Haley and himself.

"Fine, one of you will be allowed to stay for the night, a parent of course and the others, well you can see him and leave after. Room 323" she said.

"Thanks", Keith said taking Karen's shoulder and leading her to the room that waited for them.

--

Brooke sat on Peyton's bed. Her eyes were still bloodshot and she kept crying uncontrollably.

"Thanks for letting me stay here tonight!" she said at Peyton.

"Brooke, you're my best friend!" Peyton answered. Brooke lowered her eyes and suddenly found her hands very interesting.

"I wish I could see him…"

"I know…"

--

In front of the 323 closed door, Keith held Karen really close. Haley was surprised to see a new a Karen, a weak and sad Karen, her face painted with worries. Even herself didn't know what she could probably do without Lucas. She felt the strong arms of her husband wrap around her shoulders. Keith softly pushed the door open and let the three others walk before himself. The first thing Karen did was shiver at the sight of her son, pale and hurting in his hospital bed. The second thing she noticed was the man dressed in a white lab coat who was injecting something in Lucas' IV. She sent him a inquiring glare and the man smiled.

"Don't worry. This is just something for his HCM"

"His what?"

"His HCM, I thought you knew. I mean, he took the test and we had some orders for his medication from his father…"

Karen was startled, as much as Keith and Nathan. Haley was the only one that didn't seem overwhelmed.

"I didn't…Dan paid?"

"Well, he stopped at the end of last year actually but yeah, his dad knew…I thought you did too. I'll let you guys, you probably need some talk…", with that, the doctor left the room that had became extremely awkward.

Karen stayed there, in silence not able to say anything or even move.

"Did anyone know about this?"

"Actually I did…", Haley whispered with tears in her eyes.

"You knew and you didn't tell anyone!" Keith exclaimed.

"He made me promise not to!" she cried.

"Well you're a good friend for keeping the secret but I think you should have told us…what if he d…", Karen took in a deep breath and nodded to prove her point to Haley.

"I'm sorry…"

"We'll talk about it later… "

Karen sat in the chair near the bed and sunk her head in her hands. Keith stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders. The sight in front of him made him shiver just as much as Karen did. He had never seen his nephew so helpless, even after the car accident when he was all scratched, bruised and stuck with a nasal canula. This time it was a thousand times worse. His mind was wandering until he couldn't stop thinking about what Karen said at the reception, this is his father. It felt really good to hear especially now that he had planed on adopting the kid.

Haley found her way on the other side of the bed where her best friend lay. She took his hand in hers. The lack of warmth surprised her. She had always been fascinated by the warmth of Lucas' hands and her heart jumped in her throat when she didn't feel that warmth. For the first time, she didn't feel Nathan's tight grip around her.

She turned her head and saw him, frozen like a statue at the sight of his brother. For once, it was him that needed comfort. Haley stood and hugged him tight. She felt him go limp in her arms and she felt his tears. He was finally letting it out.

Everyone could easily get lost from one tube to another wire and another tube. The slow but steady sound of the heart monitor and the forced up and down movement of Lucas' chest comforted his family, at least a little. They were all pretty shaken up by the events.

--

Peyton and Brooke had opened the television. It was hard to find anything else than the shooting, every single channel covered the shooting.

"Shooting at Tree Hill High killed one person and another one has been badly injured…. A normal day became deadly when a student brought a gun to school and took five students in hostages. The shooter would have shot one of the hostages before killing himself. His victim is still in a critical state…"

Brooke lowered the volume of the TV and sighed in exasperation.

"The victim…the victim! What a bitch! Lucas isn't only a file she has to talk about and fake being sad! He's also a human and a great boyfriend!" Brooke cried, angry at the girl from the news.

"You're right! It's ridiculous the way they talk about Jimmy and Lucas like they were files! She could at least fake being sad!"

"She's not paid for that…she'd ask for an extra!! I just hope he's okay and I hope we could just…leave it behind but we can't…", Brooke let out a long sight of depression.

"It's never gonna be the same…", Peyton sighed. Brooke exploded in a nervous laugh.

"And all of this because of these stupid time capsule! If I get Whitey, I'll strangle him!". Peyton grinned and let her tension go down a little.

"yup…we should've burned them!"

Brooke smiled for a second and then thought back about her video. She didn't even know why she had pulled her shirt off. It was stupid but at the moment it had crossed her mind and she just did it. In his video, Nathan had gave his own advices about marriage in fifty years from now I hope you got want you wanted, Haley but I'll tell you something, getting married to you was the worse mistake of my life. Here's my advice: never get married!. Brooke felt a stab of sympathy for Nathan. On her video, Peyton had talked about sex and about her relationship with Jake, not forgetting to send a little hello to Jenny, Jake's daughter, and Lucas had said his last good-byes to Haley and promised to find the way to bring his father down. A heavy and huge tear fell from her eye. It had been waiting for so long to fall and all it took was a single memory. Why him?!?, her mind screamed. WHY??!!.

Then she broke down in tears.

--

Haley had fallen asleep on the large couch in the room. She slept on Nathan who was wrapping her shoulders. Karen hadn't let go off Lucas' hand and she watched him sleep peacefully. Keith had left earlier, promising to get so clothes back. Nathan softly slide from under Haley's arms and went to the seat where his wife had been sitting at the beginning of the night. He crossed his arms he looked at his brother. From there, Karen's and his eyes met and she smiled.

"Haley told me how she found out about Lucas", Nathan stated.

"Really?", Karen's response sounded more of a groan.

"She said that she saw him stealing money from the café. He didn't know she had seen him until she asked him why"

"Wait, Haley told me she was the one who had stole money from the café!"

"She covered for him"

"O my god, the whole time I thought it was Haley…it was my son needing it for his life"

"…After that she asked him why he took the money and he didn't really have the choice. You know Haley just like me. She wouldn't have let him go without knowing the truth!"

"I guess…wait a second! The doctor said Dan was paying for it!"

"…uhm...that means that he knows and?"

"And how did Lucas got from Dan paying it to himself stealing the money for it?"

"Holy crap!". Karen looked at him with big round eyes and Nathan blushed. That meant sorry from him.

"That bastard is gonna pay for that!"

"You know Karen, the couch is big. Maybe you should take a nap" Nathan proposed. Karen smiled but she couldn't move.

"C'mon. I'll wake you if there's anything. You'll need your sleep if you want to be there for him. Plus, I don't think he's going to wake up anytime soon", Nathan sighed and turned to his brother. Nothing seemed to have changed for the past few hours. Lucas was still lying there, motionless, looking almost dead with tubes going out of everywhere, including his throat. Nathan couldn't believe it was happening. He thought it was just for the bad movies where the hero always died in the end. Don't think like that Nathan, you idiot!

Karen had finally accepted to take a little place next to Haley. She was exhausted and easily got to sleep. Nathan waited to make sure she was really out cold and when she really was, he realised because she was snoring, he turned all his attention on Lucas.

"Hey bro! This is ironic uh! We gotta stop meeting like this in the hospitals! I know we got the great catastrophe Scott genes but you don't need to make this your everyday life, right. This feels a little like déjà vu uh…me there, talking to you. Do you always have to get yourself in trouble? I'd see more Brooke in the role of the damsel in distress, not you right?! You don't want to start wearing dresses…or tongs…", Nathan chuckled but it was more nervous than a real happy chuckle.

Lucas didn't budge. He was lying there, still. Nathan watched is prone from than switched from his face, half hidden by the ventilator, and the heart monitor where a little green 40 flashed at the end of the weakly moving line.

"At least, I'm glad to see you're still in there uh…". His smiled totally turned into a sad expression and he started sniffling.

"I can't believe I despised you for the last few months only because you went to Haley and pleased her to come back. If it wasn't of you…who knows in which state she would be singing missing you? I'm sorry! I feel like crap now 'cause seeing you like this makes me think of all the dirty pranks I've done to you and I'm so sorry!", the water got his eyes. Seconds after it would all fall, drowning Nathan's face in tears…

A nurse came by the door to tell everyone that visiting hours were over. She overheard Nathan's conversation and smiled sadly. What rules would be if we couldn't break them? She didn't have the heart to quick anyone out tonight.

"I hope you can forgive me, man 'cause I can't help but feel miserable. I just wish you could hear me and tell me it's gonna okay. I need my big brother back or I'm like a train wreck…", his voice cracked and broke.

"What I'm I gonna do now uh? Who's gonna have my back when I get into fights? Who's gonna go get my wife back for me? Who's gonna check on me when I break down and send everyone away? Who's gonna save my wife and get shot to save all the others? Lucas don't go please! Don't leave me!", Nathan took Lucas's hand and squeezed it as he cried. He felt sorry for everything he had done to him, sorry for every single word he said to him, sorry for every stupid thing he had done just to get on his nerves. He had been an ass but decided now it was over. He would never hurt anyone again. That was over. His brother was alive, that meant he got a second chance and he would do everything that he can to be there for him, always.

He wiped a few tears and cleared his throat. "I'm done being an ass. You prove me that there's always something good in everyone. You deserve so much more from me! I owe you so much! For everything that you did…I just want to say thank you and sorry…for the way I always treated you. It's over though, I promise. Can you give me a second chance? I want to prove you that your light shined on me…you forgive me, right bro? Please?"

Nathan waited for something, anything. A sign that would show Lucas' recognition. He wish he could know he was there. He was about to give up when the weakest, slightest movement occurred. He felt the small squeeze in his hand, the one Lucas was holding. He smiled through his tears and a broke into a nervous laugh.

"That's it Luke, come back to us…we miss you"

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So that was all for tonight and I'm going to bed…updating two stories tonight…plus school tomorrow, I'm kinda tired. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I made so many changes from the original page, I hope it was worth it. I'd really enjoy if you could tell me what you thought, was it good? Bad? Awful? Constructive comments uh, improvement is my goal…I LOVE writing and I'm glad you guys are reading this. I know I took so long to update but I'll have more time now so updates are coming!!!!

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