Chapter Three: Bless the Broken Road

Lucas Scott was terrified. He found his way to the hospital chapel somehow. Brooke had gone to take a shower in the nurse's showers under the suggestion of Haley and Millicent. Nathan, Mouth, and Skills had all gone to find food for them all. Lindsey was... somewhere; he wasn't sure where. Somehow, he managed to pull himself away from the windows of the operating room and came here. He didn't know why he was here, only followed where his feet led. He wondered if being here was a sign. A sign of his prayers being answered.

Though he doubted, he still hoped.

Hope was all he had now.

"There isn't much any of us can do," the doctor said. He looked down at Peyton's broken body. "She could come out of her coma in the next minute or not at all." He looked back to Brooke and Lucas. "The most we can do now is make her comfortable. Make sure she's not in any pain and surround her with people who love her."

"Why is her skin turning dark like that?" Lucas asked, noticing the blue tint rising in her face.

The doctor looked down quickly and just in the blink of an eye, the monitors hooked up to her started to sound.

One word. To anyone who would listen.

Please...

The chapel still looked the same as it did in his dream. The dream or out of body experience he endured in high school. He had come here with Keith and found his mother sitting much where he was sitting right now. Same solemn expression upon his face. Same look of concern while hoping for a miracle.

He remembered that dream vividly. Thought on it often, more often than he should. It was what he used to help him find his way. The light at the end of the tunnel so to speak.

He wished it could lead him now. Wished it could give him a sense of direction in this situation, but it was entirely out of his hands. It was all up to Peyton now. All up to her to fight for her life. The only thing he could do was wait...

...and pray.

He closed his eyes tightly. "Oh, God, I don't even know where to begin," he said aloud.

Suddenly, a soft touch startled him. He turned quickly and found Haley standing behind him. The sorrowful look in her eyes made him feel worse. "Why don't you begin with how you feel?"

Lucas contemplated her words and the hidden meaning behind them as Haley sat down next to him. She looped her arm in his and grabbed his hand. It was a small gesture, but she hoped it conveyed what she wanted him to know: that she was there for him.

"I feel..." Lucas began softly, tears pooling in his clear blue eyes. He couldn't find the proper way to express what he was feeling. His heart was a melting pot of regret and remorse and anger right now. Even as a writer, he didn't know how to voice that. Couldn't find the words to admit that he was broken inside. "... I love her, Hales," he admitted aloud, so softly he wasn't sure he even heard himself.

"I know," Haley replied just as softly. Her heart broke for him, for them all really. They had created a tangible mess. "I'm sure Peyton knows, too."

A single tear slipped down Lucas' unshaven cheek. His stomach and heart twisted in knots as the memories crashed in his mind. Memory after memory, good and bad, of him and Peyton played before his now closed lids. The first time he ever saw her, the first time they spoke when he towed her car, their first kiss... everything. Every significant moment he shared with her... even if she wasn't there with him, she was in his heart. Every moment was significant because it was one he hoped he'd get to share with her. He'd been a fool to think that he could ever live without her. A fool to think that, just because he wanted to, he could stop loving her and stop his heart from aching for her every second they were apart.

Fool...

Worse yet, he dragged an innocent person into this. Lindsey did not deserve this. She'd done nothing but love and support him. He never meant to break her heart...

As if reading his mind, Haley spoke up. "Lucas, you have to tell Lindsey the truth." She ran a reassuring hand up and down his arm. "She deserves to know how you feel and so does Peyton."

Haley was right. He had to tell them before it was too late. He looked to her, crystalline tears falling steadily down his cheeks, and began to sob in her arms.

One word. To anyone who would listen.

Please...

When Lindsey stepped inside the waiting area, she found only Mouth and Skills. She wanted to smile to them, offer some kind of reassurance that their friend would be okay, but could find none in her heart. She liked them, loved them even, they too had welcomed her into their little family... but she wasn't one of them. She was an outsider and felt like one with every passing second.

She sat in the seat closest to the edge of the area, fighting the urge to look for Lucas. She knew him well enough to know he didn't want to be found. The lack of Haley and Nathan told her that he wasn't alone and that was enough. As heartbroken as she was, she didn't want him to suffer alone. Still part of her wanted him to need her. Wanted him to want her to help him through this difficult time.

And she would, too. Even knowing that his heart really wasn't with her, she would help him.

She was so lost in her own marring thoughts that she didn't notice Nathan sit down beside her.

"Lucas is in the chapel," he told her. Lindsey made no moves to speak, just simply nodded her head and stared off into nothingness. Nathan looked away briefly before turning to back at her. "Are you okay?"

Nodding, "Lucas and I got engaged last night," she told him, though she was sure he already knew. Haley knew so Nathan had to know.

"I know," he replied softly. "I would say congratulations but you look as though it's the worst thing in the world."

Lindsey scoffed lightly, a small bitter smile crossing her lips. "Isn't it?" she asked and turned to look at him. "I mean, given the circumstances?"

Nathan's brow furrowed with confusion. "You can't let what happened to Peyton cloud one of the great things that happened last night. Especially not now. We need something to look forward to."

Lindsey nodded again. "What's Peyton going to look forward to? Living with nightmares for two attacks now? Living with yet another scar?"

Nathan gave her a look and made a non-committal sound. "If anyone can pull through and survive... it's Peyton Sawyer." His eyes then took on the same far-off look Lindsey's previously held. "She's overcome so much before. Helped me overcome so much. She's going to pull through." He closed his eyes and whispered to himself. "She has to."

"I hope so," Lindsey said and meant it whole-heartedly. She hoped that with her entire being.

"Peyton's lung has collapsed. If we don't operate now, she will die," the doctor said. Standing off to the side, Lindsey could see Lucas barely holding it together.

"But I thought you closed her stab wound?" Brooke asked frantically. "You said she was going to be okay!" The nurse assured her they would do everything they could as the doctor ran to catch up to Peyton's gurney. She turned against Lucas once again, her chocolate brown eyes full of anguish and tears. "Luke..." was all she could say before her sobs started again.

Lindsey wished she could help, but Lucas and Brooke started to follow the doctor and nurses and she was left again with nothing but her wishes.

Sitting next to Nathan Scott in the hospital waiting area waiting for Peyton Sawyer to come out of surgery, Lindsey Strauss prayed harder than she had in a long while. Tears slipped down her reddened cheeks from her hazel eyes.

She closed her eyes.

One word. Just one word to anyone who would listen.

Please...

"Lindsey," she heard Lucas' voice and opened her eyes to find him kneeling in front of her. He looked at her so sadly, so broken and in that moment, Lindsey knew he would break her heart. "Can we talk for a second?"