Chapter 32
Time Of Dying
On the ground I lay motionless in pain
I can see my life flashing before my eyes
Dead I fall asleep, is this all a dream
Wake me up, I'm living a nightmare
I will not die
(I will not die)
I will survive
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
I feel alive, when you're beside me
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
In my time of dying
On this bed I lay, losing everything
I can see my life passing me by
Was it all too much or just not enough
Wake me up, I'm living a nightmare
I will not die
(I will not die)
I will survive
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
I feel alive, when you're beside me
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
In my time of dying
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
I feel alive, when you're beside me
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
In my time of dying
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
I feel alive, when you're beside me
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
In my time of dying
Three Days Grace
Nathan's head snapped up as he heard the door open "Haley?"
Lucas walked into his brother's living room. "Sorry man. Still no word?"
Nathan shook his head as he tried to choke back the fear he had fought against all night. It was ten o'clock and no one had seen or heard from Haley. Brooke had gone and picked Jamie up from school and Nathan had gone and picked up Cammie from his Mom's. He wanted to go to the police. He had even called them about three hours ago but they told him there was nothing they could do until the twenty four hour mark. Nathan couldn't seem to make them understand that every minute she was missing put her more in danger. He had tried to explain everything to them but so far they wouldn't even begin to look at Haley as a missing person until tomorrow. He had never felt so frustrated and helpless in his life.
"Luke I don't know what to do"
"Just try to stay calm. We'll find her Nathan. We have to." Lucas said as he put his hand on his brother's shoulder in an effort to offer him a little comfort. Nathan and Haley had been through so much and he couldn't even imagine the terror his little brother felt right now.
Nathan just looked at his older brother like he had lost his mind. "Stay calm? You would stay calm if this were Peyton? Lucas Haley is my wife. She's the mother of my children. She's fragile and pregnant and tiny and she's just….. she's my world. How in the hell can you tell me to stay calm" Nathan asked as he jumped to his feet. He went back to pacing the floor just like he had been doing on and off most of the afternoon and evening.
Lucas shook his head. He knew his brother was panicking. There was no way he wouldn't be doing the same. Not being where she was supposed to be especially where the kids were concerned was not Haley and they both knew that meant something was wrong. BAD WRONG.
"Luke, can you stay here for a little bit? You know to listen for the kids? They're in bed asleep but I wouldn't doubt with all of the crackling tension in the house that they'll wake up. I have got to get out of here for a little bit. I've got to look and try to see if I can find Haley. I feel like I've got to do something or I'm going to lose my damn mind."
"Yeah Nate. I'll stay for a few hours. Let me call Peyton and get here to come over. I don't want her to be alone. I just got back home but I had to run over here and check on you. Listen…. I know I'm not saying the right things. God knows, I probably haven't done the right things but Nate, you have. You've come so far with Haley. I just can't believe that it will end up being all for nothing. I have faith in that. I just refuse to believe that it's at a level anywhere near the end"
Nathan got into their Range Rover and drove around Tree Hill. He had no clue where to start so he decided to go look at the last place that he clearly knew Haley was "Karen's Café". He rode by hoping he'd find her there but it was to no avail. He turned the corner and suddenly a thought came to him. "The parking deck" He knew that Brooke and Haley had come here today during one of the busiest times. He turned left into the entrance to the parking deck and slowly made his way in circles up through the different levels. After he made his way to the fourth level he saw it. As he slammed on brakes the tires came to a screeching halt. There sat Haley's car. The driver's side door was open. He jumped out of the Range Rover and ran over to the vehicle. "HALEY" He looked around the car. She wasn't there. He searched through looking for anything that might give him an idea to what had happened. He looked over the seats, all around the interior and as he was standing up and turning to go to the other side that's when he saw it and his heart seemed to stop beating. There were several small drops of blood on the driver's side door just under the window track. "Oh God" he whispered as he continued searching the door to see if there was anymore. He quickly pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911.
"911 please state your emergency"
"This is Nathan Scott I've found my wife's car in the parking deck by Grace Street. This is no longer a missing person's case. It's a kidnapping and assault case. I need an officer over here right now. There's blood on the driver's side door and the door itself is wide open. Please send somebody RIGHT AWAY"
Nathan snapped his phone shut and closed his eyes, willing his breathing and heat rate to slow down. He knew he was getting close to having a panic attack. He felt fear trying to consume him. He had held that feeling at bay almost all day. As he worked through his emotions he finally had calmed down enough to make the next call, even though he knew before he had finished it he'd be right back where he just was if not even worse.
"Hello?"
"Luke" Nathan choked back a sob
"Nathan? What's the matter? What is it?"
"Luke it's Haley" Nathan said in a low mono toned voice as he again fought to breathe.
….
Brooke and Julian were sitting on the couch at her house. "Why won't you marry me Brooke? I love you"
"Julian I can't handle this right now. Haley's missing. I'm totally on edge. Please can't we talk about this another time?
"What? Haley's missing? When the hell did that happen?"
"We went to eat at the café today. No one has seen her since. Nathan called me a little after 4 o'clock wanting to know if I'd seen her. I explained not since we had eaten at the café today. Julian she never picked up Jamie from school or the baby from Deb's." Brooke said as her eyes filled with tears.
Julian knew it was bad. No way Haley James Scott would even not be where she was supposed to be when her children were involved without a word to anyone. Jack had been staying with him while they were all waiting for this debacle of bullshit had entered their lives to be over. Jack was a good kid and Julian liked him but Julian knew the main reason Nathan had called him was because Sam was at Brooke's.
Julian wrapped his arm around Brooke and pulled her against him until her head fell against his shoulder. He cupped his other hand around the back of her head and held her as tight as he could. "They'll find her Brooke. Nathan won't stop until he finds his wife and the mother of his kids"
…
Dan sat in the hotel room looking over the want ad section of the newspaper. He had to find a job. There was no way his money was going to last forever. He had to find a job and a place to live. He knew staying with either of his son's was not an option and hell he surely couldn't blame them. There was no way though he would leave Tree Hill without fighting to get his family back. Maybe if he had fought harder for them over the years instead of against them they'd be here now. He would be a different man but in typical Dan Scott fashion he had to bully and control until he managed to push his son's away and in doing that he couldn't see his grandchildren either. Dan thought about Jamie and Cammie. They were absolutely gorgeous kids. He had no idea what Jamie liked to do. Of course Dan secretly or maybe even not so secretly to anyone that knew the real Dan Scott, hoped that his grandson loved Basketball but if not Dan could live with that. He just wanted Jamie to be happy like Nathan had talked about when he visited him in the prison that day. He needed to one day tell his son how much he respected Nathan the man and even Nathan the father even if he hadn't respected Nathan the son.
As Dan's mind wandered he then turned his thoughts to Haley. He thought of all of the things he had done to the couple while they were in high school. He had tried to tear his son's marriage apart. He had led Haley to believe that Nathan had women over while she was on tour and had out right given her hell every chance he got. Now she was in a situation that was totally out of character for her and Dan wanted to help her. He knew Haley was the purest hearted girl and now woman that he'd ever met bar one. His Karen had been this same way and Dan couldn't help but think if he'd used his head all of those years ago, he'd be the same type of man his son was today. Dan had finally accepted that he was all of that because of Haley. The only reason Dan couldn't regret it was because without Deb he wouldn't have Nathan and without Nathan Dan didn't want to exist most days. He'd love to have Nathan and Lucas but as Dan had made the fatal mistake of not being there for his oldest son and had basically never been in his life, he knew that it would be a moot point and talking to Lucas would only fall on deaf ears.
Dan had racked his brain most of the day trying to figure out a way to help his daughter in law. He knew that was where he was going to have to start in order to get some semblance of a life back. He loved Haley he always had. He just couldn't let go of his demons of his own past to see Nathan was correcting his father's own mistakes through his life and for that Dan would forever respect the man his son had become. He was a stronger man than Dan had ever been.
Dan thought back to the day at the River Court after he spoken to Haley in his office. She had told him she was pregnant so Dan immediately went to find his son. He had tried to get Nathan to go on to Duke and let Haley and the baby do the best they could if she didn't go with him. Dan couldn't see past what he wanted for his son that day. Hell he hadn't seen past that in most things he did. He knew he was wrong and he wanted Nathan to know he knew that more than anything he had ever wanted in his life. He also wanted to tell Lucas how wrong he was not to make sure he and his Mom were ok too instead of always being against them and hateful to them.
…..
Nathan had been talking to the officer for several minutes, trying to answer all of the questions to the best of his knowledge and ability.
"Mr. Scott, just because there's blood on the door doesn't mean she's not still ok. Please don't forget that. Ok?" the young officer said as he squeezed the shoulder of the man in front of him.
Nathan just nodded his head. He wasn't sure he could even speak at the moment. Suddenly, another officer shouted out to the investigation leader.
"That was the lab. The blood type of was A positive"
Nathan felt his shoulder's slump. That was Haley's blood type. As he looked over to the officer the young man raised his eyebrows as if to ask Nathan if it was a match. Nathan looked away and nodded his head. He turned around and walked to the far end of the parking deck to look out over Grace Street. He had no idea where Haley was, if she was ok, who even had her but he knew he had to get out of here. He couldn't stand being here anymore. He wanted to go home and hold his kids so he could feel closer to his wife. There was no way he was going to be able to get through this without them. They were all Haley and he hoped that would get him through until he could hold her again.
He had decided after his brother came into his front door tonight that he was going to hold on to that faith his brother had spoken of. He had to. He had no other form of hope right now and thinking about the alternative would just make him lose his mind. He absolutely had to make himself believe Haley was going to be ok. She would be back in their home and in his bed. There was also the issue of her pregnancy. They had so many different things happen with their pregnancies over the years. Haley being hit by the car when she was pregnant with Jamie, the miscarriage the night he was thrown through the window, the scar tissue surgery that had to be removed when she was pregnant with Cammie so that she didn't miscarry again were all factors in their lives that could have turned out very differently if fate had not intervened. He had to believe that would happen again with this baby. He knew he didn't have a right to even ask but he still hoped that it would be another miracle of life on the day that it was supposed to happen. He drew in a shaky breath and turned to walk back to Haley's car. As he got closer the young officer met him at the back of the car. "Everything ok Mr. Scott?"
"Ah… Yeah. I think I'm just going to head home unless you need me for something else tonight."
"No we'll call you as soon as you hear anything"
Nathan got in the Range Rover and drove through Tree Hill. The panicky feelings were returning as he thought about returning home to a house that Haley was not in. Tears filled his eyes. "I love you Haley. I'll find you baby. I promise."