Setting: Jamie's hospital room
*Nathan and Haley are both sitting in the reclining chair. She is lying on top of him with his arms wrapped around her. She is asleep. Jamie is sitting in the hospital bed. Nathan and Jamie are watching the sports segment of the news. *
Jamie: C'mon! That's not fair. If he had made that pass they could have gone for a three pointer and won the game.
Nathan: Whoa. Easy, boy…
*Haley slowly wakes up *
Nathan: Well, good morning, Hales… You slept well.
*Nathan kisses her. *
Haley: Tell me about it…
*Haley glides her fingers through her hair and pulls it into a bun on the top of her head. *
Haley: Eww… I need to take a shower…
Nathan: *mockingly * I noticed!
Jamie: Me too! *plugs his nose*
*Haley rolls her eyes and gets up to leave. *
Haley: Do you need anything from home?
Nathan: No, I think I'm good.
Haley: Ok. I'll see you in a couple hours. I love you.
* Kisses Nathan *
Haley: *To Jamie * And, I LOVE you!!!
* Kisses Jamie on the top of his head and ruffles his hear. She blows both of them a kiss and leaves the room. *
Jamie: I love you too, Mama!
* Nathan watches Haley leave the room and then pulls out a PS2 and NBA live. *
Nathan: Hey, Big Game James, you up for a game?
Jamie: Totally!
****************************************
Setting: Brooke's House
*Brooke is in the kitchen making breakfast. Sam is still asleep on the couch. Brooke turns on the stereo and turns the volume all the way up. Startled, Sam sits up and covers her ears. She gets up and sits on one of the stools at the counter. Brooke is dancing and singing along with the music. She is totally unaware that Sam has gotten up. *
Sam: *Shouting over the music * Brooke! What are you doing?!
*Brooke notices her and turns down the volume. *
Brooke: I'm… making you breakfast.
*Puts a plate of pancakes and eggs in front of her. Sam shakes her head disapprovingly at the sight of the meal. *
Brook: No? Didn't think so…
*Brooke takes out an oversized coffee mug and pours Sam a glass. *
Brooke: Here you go… Coffee… black…you know where the sugar is.
*Sam takes the mug and gets up to get sugar. *
Sam: Brooke, what's all of this for?
Brooke: You, my friend, are going to school.
Sam: That's interesting, because, I kind of… well… I can't.
Brooke: You can't always hide out here when something knocks you down. Right now, you have to be with your friends and your teachers and your peers. I can only help you so much. You need to make an effort too.
Sam: Brooke! I can't go to school because I was sort of…well… suspended.
Brooke: You were what?!
Sam: Suspended… you know… not allowed to go…
Brooke: I'm not stupid. I know what suspended is. Trust me. Sam, what happened?
Sam: I wrote another essay for school. It was for Public Policy class. It was also sort of X rated. When the principal found it, she was all like "this is your second warning." I got a little defensive of the paper… and of Haley… and she just said that I couldn't come back until I re-wrote it.
Brooke: And, of course, you didn't re-write it.
Sam: I haven't been back since
*Brooke sighs *
Brooke: Well, you are going to have to go back at some point… you know that, right?
*Sam nods her head *
Sam: Yeah… I know…
Brooke: You can't just mope around here… So, I guess for now you can come work at the store with me…. But we are going to get this figured out… You have to go back.
Sam: Thank you, Brooke.
*Brooke gives her a hug *
Brooke: Now, go get dressed. We've got a long day ahead of us.
***********************************
Setting: Peyton and Lucas' house
*Lucas is in the kitchen doing the dishes. He is on the phone with Haley. *
Lucas: Hales... I'm so sorry about Jamie… I hope he is feeling better today… Yeah… I picked him up a little something… do you think I could bring it by today? Ok… sounds good, Hales… I'll see you then… Oh, and Haley, remember to take care of yourself too… You deserve it… Bye, Hales.
*Peyton walks into the Kitchen with Sawyer. *
Peyton: Was that Haley?
Lucas: Yeah…
Peyton: How's Jamie doing? Mia said that Haley was really out of it yesterday…
Lucas: I think he is okay…. I think Haley is just trying to adjust to a new reality….
Peyton: I think we all are...
Lucas: I'm going to try to swing by the hospital today on my way to practice. Do you want to come?
Peyton: I actually have to meet Mia in the studio. I told Haley I would pick up some of the slack around there now that the baby is all settled in and she has Jamie to deal with. I think I'll take Sawyer with me if that's ok…
Lucas: Sounds perfect…
***********************************
Setting: Jamie's hospital room
* Nathan and Jamie are in a heated game of NBA live. *
Jamie: I'm totally about to beat you, Dad!
Nathan: Not so fast, Little Bear… Don't get cocky!
*Haley enters with a bag of clothes and a pillow. *
Haley: Whoa! I leave you two alone for a few hours and this place is already all "boyified". Don't suppose there's room for a girl in here?
Nathan: There is room for my girl. Don't say I never gave you anything.
*Nathan motions to the bracelet that Haley put on when she went home. Haley takes it off and slides it onto his wrist. While Nathan is distracted, one of Jamie's players scores a 3 pointer and he wins. *
Jamie: Ha! Take that!
Nathan: Dude, I thought you paused the game. Have you been playing this whole time?
Jamie: Yep! The fade-away works every time!
Nathan: Oh yeah? Who taught you that one?
Jamie: Uncle Lucas.
*The Doctor knocks on the door and enters the room. *
Doctor: Hello, Mr. Scott. Nice it's nice to meet you.
*Nathan Stands up and shakes the doctor's hand. The doctor notices the bracelet. Nathan slides it off his hand and gives it to Haley. Instead of putting it on herself, she slips it on Jamie's wrist. *
Doctor: My name is Dr. Carson. I've been taking care of Jamie these past few days. I've reviewed Jamie's condition with several other doctors and we have come up with a couple options as far as treatment goes. The good news is that the severity of his disease isn't nearly as bad as I had originally feared. That means we caught it on time. If you had waited even a few more weeks, it could've been much worse. However, it does look like there is a section of his small intestine that has had quite a bit of trauma from the inflammation. To treat this we could do several things. We could remove the damaged part of the intestine. It would probably be about 2 feet. After the surgery is done, he would need about 3 weeks to recover at which point we would put him on an anti-inflammatory drug and he would be good to go. The other option would be steroid treatments. We would put Jamie on a high dose of Prednisone, which is a very toxic steroid. He would probably feel better immediately. However, the long-term effects of steroid treatments can be very dangerous. He can gain dramatic amounts of weight, he may lose some hair, he will have growth failure and his personality will most likely change. It is up to you which option to choose. I've seen treatment be very successful both ways, but it is up to you to determine which is best for your family. I know this is a lot of information to take in, but I'll let you two discuss and I will be by later today to see if we have made any decisions.
Nathan: Thank you, Doctor.
*Dr. Carson leaves the room. Haley sighs and leans into Nathan. She looks up at him with an overwhelmed look in her eyes and then at Jamie who seems to be oblivious as to what awaits him in the future. *