Author's note: Sorry that it took so long. (You guys at FanForum know that I've been trying to upload this for days…) And for some reason I couldn't update this if I didn't shorten it so the next chapter will probably be really long… lol.

I'm so angry with Mark right now and I wish that this chapter could be the complete BL love-orgie that we all need so badly after 4.14 but… sighs …well…

Title and lyrics are from a song by Alicia Keys. And again, I don't own anything other than my own ideas. Thank you's at the bottom guys…

/Lynn

CHAPTER 21 – If I Ain't Got You…

Some people want it all
But I don't want nothing at all
If it ain't you baby
If I ain't got you baby

Brooke cries against Haley's shoulder. Cries with silent and slow heart-wrenching sobs that pierces straight into Haley's soul. But the crying is far more controlled and restrained than Haley thought possible. Then again, Brooke has been completely zoned out for more two hours, switching between staring into space and quietly sobbing like now, and Haley doesn't know how to make it stop. Lucas is probably the only one who can do that, but he is somewhere inside this hospital and Haley has no idea if he's dead or alive. And it all feels so unreal. Their team won the championship, she saw Brooke and Lucas hug out on the court and then Lucas fell to the floor…

Something had happened to his heart, she figured out that much just from listening to the team's doctor that was the first to examine him. And when the paramedics came, she was almost sure she heard someone saying the word 'heart-attack'. But by then she was busy holding on to a shook up Brooke. A Brooke that had just been frozen beside Lucas, and that since then had resembled of a pale ghost.

"Call 911!"

Whitey hunched down over Lucas, shaking him and trying to get him back to consciousness. The confetti still fell around then while Haley cradled Brooke in her arms and Nathan kept yelling.

"Someone call a fucking ambulance!"

She was scared to death, especially when she looked at Lucas' face. His lips were turning blue, and if she wasn't trying so hard to hold Brooke in a tight grip so that the team doctor could work on Lucas, she herself would probably have been in a pile on the floor, crying her eyes out.

Then four men ran in on court with a wheeled stretcher, pushing away Karen that was beside Lucas. Haley watched as they lifted Lucas on to the stretcher and Nathan held Karen in his arms.

"He has a pulse" she heard one of the paramedics say. "Call dispatch and tell them we're bringing in a possible heart-attack."

Heart-attack. Wasn't that something that happened to old men? Not to young, athletic eighteen year-olds that was supposed to be fathers in just five months. Not to her best friend.

For a second she thinks of how she felt when Nathan was unconscious after almost drowning a few months ago. And again she can't help but think that it's weird that Brooke is even this much pulled together. But then again, this could just be the calm before the storm…

Nathan sits beside her and the pressure from his strong shoulder towards her own somewhat reassures her. She looks up and gives him a weak smile and she sees the concern in his eyes. He's not just worried for his brother. The way his eyes keep searching hers and darting down to Brooke's curled up form on her other side tells her he also concerned about Brooke's detached state. And she is too.

Someone stops in front of them and she looks up. Through her own tears she sees Peyton holding out a cup of steaming coffee towards Brooke.

"It's a mocca-latte, I had them put cinnamon in it… I know you like that…"

Brooke takes the cup and nods absentmindedly, whispering an almost unhearable "Thanks Pey."

Feeling disconnected Haley looks around her in the waitingroom. It's filled with people. Whitey is here, the entire team and cheer-squad, some people from school. And Karen is somewhere around her too, desperately trying to get the doctors to tell her anything about Lucas' condition. Anything at all. Because so far, no one has been allowed to see Lucas and the two and a half hours that has passed since the game ended feels like an eternity.

Haley wonders how Karen is holding up and what this stress is doing to the babies Karen and Brooke are carrying. Inside her own belly, the two little replicas of Nathan is kicking up a storm. The two little boys…

She had planned on telling Lucas and Brooke about their godchildren being boys tonight after the game, but now she might not get around to telling Lucas at all, and the thought of this brings fresh tears to her eyes. If her best friend didn't make it, then what would happen to Brooke? How would she ever cope?

"Okay, snap out of it Haley!" she thinks to herself. "How are you ever going to be strong for Brooke and Karen if you keep thinking like that?"

Lucas would be okay, of course he would. She shakes her head to rid of the thoughts and turns to look at Peyton who sits down on Brooke's other side and laces her fingers together with Brooke's. Brooke is too detached to pull away and even if she wasn't, she probably wouldn't have anyway, Haley thinks. All their petty fighting seems so unimportant right now.

Instead Brooke leans back onto Haley and she hears her whisper "What if he's not alright? What if he doesn't make it Haley?"

She just strokes Brooke's hair. She's been listening to these questions since they wheeled Lucas into the ambulance and by now she's out of comforting answers. But Peyton squeezes the brunette's hand.

"Don't even think it Brooke. Lucas is strong. And he loves you so much it's not even funny. He would never leave you, you know. Especially not now…"

Peyton seems to wait until Brooke looks up at her and her voice is even softer when she continues;

"I saw you guys at the game… how he looked at you… No God in his right mind would pull apart two people that love each other like you do."

Haley can't help but to think that Peyton herself already had tried doing that. Twice. And if Peyton had said these things in a different time and place, Brooke would probably have snapped back with some bitchy comment, but now she just seems to cling to the words, probably hoping with every fiber of her being that Peyton is right.

"I need him so much…" she whimpers and when Peyton leans in to hug her, Brooke just falls into the blonde girl's arms and new tears replace the ones that Haley just dried away.

"We know you do…" Haley says softly. "But he'll be okay…"

It hurts to see Brooke so weak. She is never like this. Angry, yes… Brooke could probably make a grown man back down with just her ice cold stare. And happy, happy in a way that had everybody around her laughing. But weak, no… Brooke was never weak and seeing her likes this makes the world feel upside down.

Then Rachel comes and squats down in front of them, putting a hand on Brooke's knee.

"Brooke… Karen says that you should come see Lucas…"

------

Some people search for a fountain
That promises forever young
Some people need three dozen roses
And that's the only way to prove you love him
Hand me the world on a silver platter
And what good would it be
with no one to share
with no one who truly cares for me

Brooke looks at the redhead, not really understanding what she's saying. He couldn't be awake. He had a heart-attack less three hours ago… So what was it that Karen wanted her to see? His body? Was he dead?

She shakes her head slowly, to rid of the cloudy thoughts and try to think clearly, but it's almost as if she's drunk.

Beside her, Haley gets up from her seat and so does Peyton and Nathan, but she can't seem to move. Her mind tells her to stay put, because as long as she sits here, a part of her can still pretend that this isn't happening. And if it would turn out that Rachel meant that Lucas wasn't awake, then she feels like she's going to break completely.

But then Nathan just resolutely grabs her arm and helps her up. She feels herself almost hoisted from the chair and hears him usher her on softly; "Come on Davis… Lucas is going to be okay…You have to go see him."

She looks up at his face and she hasn't got the heart to tell him how wrong he his. She has been through this exact scenario now for weeks, and she knows how it ends. That's why she turned off her feelings the best she knew how, as soon as he hit the floor in the gym. And that's why she has forced her self to block out as much as possible. Lucas was going to die and she would revisit the scene with herself, their baby and his gravestone. But this time for real.

Mechanically she walks where her friends lead her. Left foot. Then right. Then left again. Haley's hand holding hers is soft and cool and Nathan keeps a protective hand on the small of her back.

"They wouldn't be this protective if he was fine…" she thinks, still preparing for the worst. And then they reach the open door and she stops.

Until then, her brain has kept her heart in check. Over and over sending signals telling the heart not to feel or to ache. Just to close. But the strange thing is that when she sees Lucas awake in the hospital bed, the heart suddenly won't listen to her head any more.

Slowly she takes in the sight of him. The white hospital gown is open in the front and small colored electrodes are attached to his naked chest. She trails them, counts them before locking up at his face. There are eight of them.

He looks pale, kind of worn, and she wonders if he's in pain. But as if reading her thoughts Lucas smiles weakly towards her and seeing him do that just pulls out the last piece of solid ground from under her feet. Suddenly everything, all the fears and emotions that she has fought so hard to keep inside, comes out. She stumbles, and Rachel who is right behind her, actually has to hold her in an upright position.

"He's going to be okay…" she thinks with a spinning head. "He's not dead and he's smiling…"

The last two hours she has been living inside her own nightmare and now she stands frozen in the doorway, unable to move. Karen who is already at Lucas' bedside motions for her to come inside the room and she can feel Rachel softly pushing her from behind, trying to get her to go forward. But Brooke stands rooted in the same spot.

"No, I can't…" she sobs, "I don't want to…"

Lucas lifts his head from the pillow. He clears his throat and manages to say her name with a raspy voice.

"Brooke…"

And it's that sound that finally snaps her out of her paralyzed state. Huge amounts of fear and relief mixes with anger.

"No! I hate you! she screams at him and closes the distance between herself and his bed with just a few steps. "I hate you for doing this to me! Do you hear me? I thought you were going to leave me and YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"

What has been a silent but steady stream of tears the latest hour, now escalates into hysterical crying, complete with body-shaking sobs. It's as if someone has opened the floodgates to the Niagara Falls behind her eyes. And reaching him, she falls down on the bed and sobs so hard that she can hardly breathe. "You can't…scare me…like that… I need you!"

His hand moves up and strokes her slowly over the hair and Karen kneels beside her.

"Brooke honey, you need to calm down. Lucas is very weak. Come here…"

Karen starts to softly pull her away from the bed again but stops at the faint sound of Lucas' voice.

"No mom… I need Brooke here. Just… just let her stay… she needs to cry this out…"

Some people want diamond rings
Some just want everything
But everything means nothing
If I ain't got you, you, you

-------

An hour later Nathan carefully peals Brooke off of Lucas and lifts her up. She whimpers a little but stays sleeping. Since Lucas is admitted into the cardio-ward in the ICU-wing, Brooke really can't stay sleeping in his bed over night. And even though Nathan knows that both his older brother and the brunette in his arms will go crazy once they wake up and realizes that they've been separated, he has take Brooke with him out of here.

"Are you and Haley okay with this Nathan?" Karen asks in a tired voice. "I really want to stay with Lucas and Brooke could use the rest."

He nods and Haley who's at his side ones again reassures Karen that it's more than okay. They'll take Brooke home to their apartment. They'll watch Brooke as long as Karen takes care of Luke.

He starts to walk towards the door.

Brooke is still only wearing the short cheerleading-skirt and jacket. It's chilly outside even though spring is here and when Nathan reaches the lobby, a nurse is nice enough to wrap one of the hospitals blankets around her. Nathan thinks that he recognizes the nurse from when Brooke was in here a couple of weeks ago and he smiles thankfully towards her. She smiles back.

"Maybe they should think about closing the basketball-program at your school…" she says joking. "…it seems to do more harm then good."

And maybe she's right, he thinks. In less then eighteen months, himself, Lucas and Brooke had all been admitted into the ER after a game. The Raven's uniforms were probably well known around here. And just within the Scott-family they had spent more money on hospital-bills the last two years than anyone should during an entire lifetime. Car-crashes, drug-induced collapses, near drowning incidents, possible miscarriages and now heartproblems. When would it stop? It's was all starting to feel like a badly written soap-opera for daytime television.

He repositions Brooke in his arms to get a better grip and her head wobbles back onto his chest. Haley has caught up behind him and he feels her small hand on his lower back. He shivers when he thinks about how he would feel if something happened to his wife. Or to his little boys. He would probably break down in the same way that the girl in his arms had.

Brooke stirs when he carefully tries to get her into the backseat of the car, and he calmingly puts his hand over her cheek.

"Shh… you're okay…" he mumbles and strokes a few strands of hair away from her face.

It's hard sometimes to believe that this is the same Brooke that had used to be Tree Hill's queen of partying. Always drunk, always with a new guy trailing after her and with an attitude colder than ice. He likes the new Brooke so much more, but sometimes her vulnerability throws him off. He's not used to this emotional side of her. And it's weird to have two so completely different sets of memories connected to the same girl…

Haley sits herself down next to Brooke in the backseat and cradles her head in her lap. They had become so close this last year, Brooke and his wife, and that sometimes scares him. He has hardly been an angel in the past and Haley knows he has a history, but some skeletons should just stay kept in the closet. Preferably until the end of time. And Brooke knew a lot more about his history than Haley.

"Are you okay Hales?" he asks as he gets into the drivers seat and starts the car. His wife lets out a long sigh.

"Yeah, just very tired and drained…" she says silently, and he knows what she means. Lucas is, and will always be, one of the most important people in his wife's life, and tonight she had worked really hard to keep herself together for Brooke's sake.

"I'm just so relived that he's okay" she continues. "But at the same time I'm so angry with him… How could he be so stupid to not take the pills? He knows that they are meant to keep him well…"

"I guess he just really wanted to win…" Nathan says slowly, turning left at the corner of North Union Street and onto Centre Road. "He probably thought that he could do without them this one time."

Haley huffs from the backseat. "Well, he should know better! He has to think of Brooke and the baby now…"

She ads something more after that, but so silently that it is drowned in the sounds from the car's engine. Nathan is not sure, but it sounds like 'he has to think of me'.

He hurts for her, and for Brooke and Karen. And he still can't believe that his dad didn't even show up at the hospital to show his support.

-------

Some people live for the fortune
Some people live just for the fame
Some people live for the power,
Some people live just to play the game


Some people think that the physical things define what's within
but I've been there before
that life's a bore
So full of the superficial

When Lucas wakes up later the room is empty. He has no idea what time it is but its dark around him so he figures that it's still the same evening. He quickly registers that Brooke isn't next to him anymore but through the slightly open door he can see his mother.

He feels tired but the pain in his chest has lessened and the tightness in his throat is gone. Carefully he pulls the oxygen nasal-tube out of his nose and sits up.

"Mom…"

Karen turns and comes into the room. And she smiles a tired smile towards him.

"Nice to see you awake again son… Feeling better?"

"Yeah. Mom, where's Brooke?"

His mother laughs and sits down on his bedside, stroking him gently over the hair as if he was five years old.

"I sent her home with Haley and Nathan an hour ago. She fell asleep next to you and I figured that she needed someone to take care of her after that little breakdown…"

He knows she's right but he wishes they had just let Brooke stay with him. After more than a month of sleeping in the same bed with her every night, it just feels weird to sleep without her. And he worries for her. She had been so upset.

"What did the doctor say?" he asks to think of something else.

"He told me that the test-results showed that you didn't have a heart-attack after all. Apparently what you have is some kind of inflammation of the heart muscle…" She looks confused and her forehead wrinkles as if she's trying to remember exactly what the doctor had said. He takes her hand.

"It's alright mom. He can just tell me when he comes back. But I would love something to eat…I'm starving."

Clearly relieved that he asks for something she can fix, his mom stands up and once again runs her fingers through his hair.

"I'll get you something good. And Luke… You really need a hair cut."

He raises an eyebrow. "That's what Brooke says too. What's wrong with my hair!?"

His mom laughs at this and walks towards the door. "Well my future daughter in law and I agree on many things…you're hair just being one of them. It's way to long son, you look ridiculous…"

When she reaches the door she stops and looks back.

"And don't worry about Brooke, Luke. She was just really scared for you. And you and I both know that she wasn't angry, she just reacted to the stress of having you unwell…"

He leans back towards the pillows and sighs. Yes, Brooke sure had reacted. She had gone ballistic. When she calmed down a bit from the initial crying he had come clean about not taking the medicine. He felt like there shouldn't be anymore lies between them and even though he knew she would be angry, he needed to get it off his chest. She had screamed at him for being a self-centered asshole, before resorting back to tears. But then after crying hysterically for twenty minutes more, she had resolutely climbed into his bed and refused to take her hand away from his chest.

"I need to feel your heartbeat…"

Her voice was raw from crying and it was the first thing she said to him after all the initial yelling. Somewhere between everything else she had screamed at him she swore she would never talk to him again.

"So you're talking to me now?" he asked softly, smiling down on her tearstained face. She nuzzled her face into his neck and he could feel her breath on his skin.

"No."

"Okay baby…" he whispered and stroked her back with the hand that wasn't connected to the IV-pole. "Just let me know when you do. I have some things I want to talk to you about…"

She nodded and he closed his eyes. His chest hurt and he felt so tired but it was nice to feel Brooke's body close to his. He always felt better with her at his side. And then he finally remembered.

"Has the baby kicked again?" he asked softly and lifted his head so that he could look at her, but her eyes were shut. When she didn't answer he said her name, but she just kept breathing calmly and he realized that she had gone to sleep.

And resting back, he felt himself drift off too.

The door opens and breaks his line of thoughts. He is sure that it's his mother coming back but when he looks up it's a doctor. He repositions himself and the doctor smiles.

"Hi Lucas, I'm Dr. Brown. Your mom asked me to come in and talk to you. I hear you had some questions."

"Yeah… Well I guess I just want to know what happened."

Actually he doesn't. He's tired of thinking of what consequences his actions could have had. And it killed him to think that he had let Dan get to him so much that he had jeopardized his life with Brooke for a stupid State Final. But the doctor doesn't seem to notice his uninterested look.

"I guess that you are aware that your HCMis characterized by an idiopathic left ventricular posterior wall and interventricular septal concentric hypertrophy. In short..this means that the walls of the left side's pumping chamber of the heart becomes very thickened and the lumen of this chamber becomes very tiny. This causes ventricular dysfunction, primarily during the filling phase of the heart beat."

Lucas doesn't really understand but he nods anyway and the doctor smiles.

"Okay, I know all off this sounds really complicated, but when you don't take your medicine, then this thickening makes it hard for the heart to fill up with blood."

The doctor pulls out his chart from the bottom of the bed. "What happened tonight could in short be explained like a light form of a heart-attack, but in reality you were very lucky. Hadn't you taken any of your medication you could have done much more damage to your heart."

Scribbling down some notes on the chart, the doctor is silent for a moment before continuing.

"I hear you play basketball. Have you had extra practices lately? Or any other type of stress or exertion? Your mother told me that you had a cold during the last week and besides from your HCM, working out with an infection in your body can also trigger an inflammation of the heart muscle…"

But by now Lucas has stopped listening. He just wants to talk to Brooke, but she was probably sleeping right now.

---------------------------------------

Haley wakes up when the bedroom door opens and she sees Brooke sneak into the room and tip-toe over to Nathan's side of the bed. She seems to be looking for something.

"What are you doing Tigger?" she whispers and rubs the sleep out of her eyes.

"Where are the car-keys? I'm going back to the hospital…"

Brooke searches the pockets of Nathan's jeans that has been dumped on the floor and Haley hears her husband slur tiredly as he buries his head in the pillow. "What? B, it's four o'clock in the morning… Go back to sleep…"

"Shut up Nate."

There is no anger in Brooke's voice, just strength, and Haley smiles. Here is the famous Brooke Davis-strength that has been missing all evening. In the corner of her eye she can see Nathan smiling too.

"Come on Brooke, you can't go to see Lucas now" she says softly. "I bet he's sleeping. We'll all go in a couple of hours." But Brooke doesn't budge.

"I can drive there myself if you just tell me where the car-keys are. I can't believe that you took me out of there while I was sleeping… He can't be there alone."

She looks inside the drawer of the nightstand now and Haley has given up on the thought of sleeping. Nathan raises himself so that he's leaning on his elbow and she strokes his back while watching Brooke.

"Do you even know the word 'no' or has Luke spoilt you so bad that you actually forgot?" her husband says, and she knows he has given up too. Brooke is going to keep looking for the keys until she finds them, and if she doesn't she'll probably walk.

She looks like a stubborn child in the way she leans to the door-post, arms crossed over her chest. It's clear that she's getting ready to pout.

And when Nathan sits up and tiredly says: "Whatever… I'll drive you…" Haley can't help but laugh and Nathan gives her a meaning look.

"What Hales? You know she'll never give up. Just go back to sleep, I'll be back as soon as I've dropped her off."

He gets out of bed and for the first time since the game, Haley sees Brooke smiling. Her brunette friend walks round the bed and sits next to her while Nathan shuffles off to get dressed.

"I'm sorry for waking you Tutor-wife, but I really can't sleep without him and I might as well keep Karen company. But thanks for letting me crash here…"

They hug and Haley laughs as her bigger belly and Brooke's little 'bump' touch. Brooke raises an eyebrow curiously.

"I wonder how we'll do this in a couple of months?" she says. "We'll probably have to resort to Nate's and Lucas' knuckle-clashing thing…"

------

The roads are empty at this hour and Brooke sits silently in the car and looks out trough the window. She feels a bit bad for pulling Nathan out of bed like this, but they shouldn't have taken her away from Lucas in the first place. Couldn't they have realized that she wanted, needed, to be at his side?

Haley had told her that Lucas was out of danger, but that didn't keep her from missing him. And since she had pretty much just yelled at him, she needs to let him know how extremely thankful she is that he is alright and alive.

Nathan pats her knee and she looks up at him with a weak smile.

"Don't worry so much Davis… Luke is okay."

"Yeah… this whole thing just brings back so many memories… I can't believe that it's more than a year since his car-accident…"

She shudders when she thinks about all those hours that she spent in the hospital back then, holding his hand and talking to him although she hadn't even been sure that he could hear her. And during all that time he had wanted someone else…

"I saw you talking to Peyton earlier in the waiting-room" Nathan says, as if reading her thoughts. "Are you guys getting back to being friends again?"

Brooke frowns. Had she talked to Peyton? She doesn't really remember. The hours between the final buzzer of the game and the moment she saw Lucas awake is just a hazy blur in her mind.

"I don't know… maybe…"

They park outside the hospital and Nathan looks at her. His eyes seem searching, as if he wants to know if she is okay, and she leans over and kisses his cheek.

"Go home to Haley, Nathan. I'll manage from here" she says and opens the car-door. He nods and she waves at him as he drives off. Alone on the parking lot she suddenly feels a little stupid for coming here at 4.30 in the morning but she heads inside and takes the elevator up to the third floor.

She tip-toes down the silent corridors, aware of the fact that there is no such thing as visiting-hour at this time of night, and when she finds his room she slips in as silently as she can.

She has expected to see Karen in there, sleeping in a chair by Lucas' bed, but there's no sight of her boyfriends mother. Reoccurring beeping-noises comes from a cardio-monitor right next to the bed and the sound is calming in a strange way, since the steady rhythm tells her that Lucas heart is beating.

He looks really peaceful sleeping, and the color is back on his cheeks. She walks up to him and strokes him over the much too long hair. She likes it better short, like he had it when he came back from Charlotte, but for some reason unknown to the world he has refused to cut it lately.

"I'm not going to prom with you looking like this" she whispers and then all of a sudden he opens those beautiful blue eyes and looks at her.

"Why?"

His voice is sleepy and she leans down and presses her lips against his in a soft but long kiss. He makes an 'mmm'-sound and she smiles into the kiss and cradles his face between her hands.

"Because you look like an idiot with your hair like that" she answers honestly and he laughs. It's good to hear him laugh and her heavy load of worry lessens a little. And when he reaches for her and pulls her down on the bed, it lessens even more.

"Jeez… have you and my mom teamed up on this hair-thing? What's wrong with a little change, huh?"

"Oh, change can be very good babe…" she mumbles, getting under the cover with him, "but this is not a good change, so you need to change it back…"

He laughs again and she snuggles up beside him in the not so big hospital bed. He wraps his arms around her before kissing her forehead. He seems sleepy and she doesn't want to keep him from resting, but she needs him to know.

"I'm sorry for screaming at you earlier…" she whispers. "I really shouldn't have done that. You couldn't help what happened…"

He holds her a little closer.

"Yes I could. I shouldn't have risked my health for a game. And don't apologize Brooke… you were just scared. I know how you felt, I was the one freaking out in this hospital not so long ago, remember?"

"Yeah, but you didn't scream at me and leave me here alone… I'm sorry I left you here but they kidnapped me when I was sleeping…"

She still has her palm on his cheek and she can feel him smiling into her hand. "I know pretty girl. Mom told me before I sent her home… and you should have stayed at Nathan and Haley's. I don't want you running around town at this time of night."

"But I missed you…" she whispers, feeling sleepy now too. "I needed to make sure that you were safe. I've had these nightmares lately… of you…"

She sighs. "I just kept dreaming that you would die and leave me and the baby… and tonight when you collapsed I thought that they were maybe a premonition or something…"

The beeping sound from the machine is almost hypnotizing, and that together with the feel of Lucas' fingers stroking her upper arm makes it really hard to keep her eyes open.

"I wouldn't dream of leaving you or the baby Brooke. If you don't trust anything else that I tell you, then at least trust that."

She laces her fingers with his, careful to not tangle herself in the line to his IV, and she moves his hand down to her belly. Her sweater has slid up a little and she places his palm on her naked skin.

"Feel…" she says in a hushed voice.

She's not sure if he can feel what she's feeling but she hopes that he can. The baby is moving around inside her and the movements feels like big butterflies bumping into the walls of her insides.

First Lucas says nothing and it's so quiet that she figures that he's holding his breath. But then he inhales, deeply.

"God Brooke! Was that the baby?"

His eyes looking at her in the darkness are huge and she giggles.

"Yeah, can you feel it?"

It kicks again and he laughs. "This is amazing…" His voice is thick with emotion and she tilts her head up and kisses him. He keeps his hand on her skin and she closes her eyes.

"I love you Lucas Scott… but if you ever scare me again like you did today, then I will kill you… For sure."

"I won't Brooke. I promised you a happy fairytale-ending, remember?"

She nods and they are both silent for a while. She even thinks that he has fallen asleep but then he talks again.

"Were you serious with what you said before Brooke?"

She tries to think of what he means but nothing comes to mind. "About what baby?"

"About not going to Prom with me if I don't cut my hair?"

She wants to laugh out loud, especially since he sounds really worried and there are so many more important things for him to worry about right now, but she manages to keep a straight face.

"Dead serious Broody… the picture is going into the year-book and I can't be seen with you looking like that."

He sighs. "Then I guess I just have to cut it."

Oh, ooh, so nothing in this whole
wide world don't mean a thing

If I ain't got you with me baby

-

Author's note: So this basically became a straight up hospital-chapter… (sorry) But that will all be over in the next one. :) Next doctor's appointment coming up soon… I bet you're dying to know if it's a boy or a girl.

THANK YOU's

pOoLbEeRtAtToOs: Do you still want to kick my ass? I'm hoping not and sticking to your words "what Brucas-fan wouldn't absolutely fall in love with this story?" Aww… You ALWAYS make my day. I'm sorry that there were so little Brachel in this chapter but I'll be sure to give you some Brucasel-time soon LOL. And you're soo right about how Lucas not taking his pills is over-played here on but I can't always have Brooke in the center of universe ;).
Marin, please tell me what you think of this chapter… I'm dying to know!

jeytonbrucasnaley: LOL, watch your language! (just kidding). You shouldn't read ahead, lol, I do that all the time and it ruins the experience. But I hear you girl. It's a hard habit to kick :)
I just want to tell you that I'm going to review "The one you love will make you weep" as soon as I've gotten over the angriness from 4.14… I want to give you a great review but you story just has me crying too much to write…

B.Davis: Lol. I bet you wondered where the stuff from the 'cingular clip' went. Well, as I said, since ff was being a "Peyton" and wouldn't let me upload, I had to make the chapter shorter… It'll be in chapter 23 instead. And this time you're not as spoiled as the last chapter so go ahead and tell me what you think. ;)

Katie: He didn't die. Lol. And I hope the reunion was good so far and not too cheesy for you…
Thanks for the nice words.

Brucas3: Glad you like the basketball. And about the Breyton-friendship… I wanted them to be friends again but Peyton in the actual show just kept getting me SO angry so that when I sat down to write, I just had this hate towards her… LOL. But I'm trying…

BrownEyes1980: I loved the review. I'm always happy to hear that I captured BL in a good way. I wish I could have brought you a happier chapter after the crap on 4.14 but the next chapter is an almost Love-fest ;)

crazybrunette113, Brucas141: Brilliant? Awsome? (blushing) Aww… thank you!

truelovedoesnotexist: Shel, thanks! And I agree. What is a story without some drama? But Mark is seriously overdoing things this season, right? LOL

Eemah: You're reviews make me sooo happy. And I thought that you said that you weren't the crying-type of person ;)

Treehilldreams: Thank you! I used to play too when I was younger, but it's really hard to write it down without having it be really boring…

Broody-n-Cheery-4Ever: Britt, your review was great! And since you love hospital-scenes you have to tell me what you thought about the ones in this chapter. :) When are you updating your story again?

Awhero: Thanks for both this review and the earlier ones! Welcome to the story! LOL "impending sense of doom" I LOVE THAT! Lol

Snowbabie: The fact that you think I'm bringing out sides of the characters that seem hidden in the show really warms my heart! (blushing) Welcome to the story!

B&Lforever: A late happy birthday to you and I hope that you got back to LA. I'll check out that "Wildfire"-thing for sure. Thanks for the great review!

Sav: You're so sweet. You'll have to wait a little longer for the info on the collage-thing though ;)

Cyn: No short story here… LOL Don't you know me by now? wink

CC, , Dolcegrazia, Born.To.Die, Tardychick, othrox, Naley4ever323, TreeHillRaven4Life, Brookeleighgilmore, trhill4life, grooveijj-othfan88, CC, redboomcat, catcat51092: A huge thank you to all of you!!