Lucas slipped from the hospital room, closing the door gently behind him.
He inhaled the cool air, he didn't know if it was just him but Peyton's room seemed completely airless and claustrophobic. He rubbed the back of his stiff neck as his stare drifted to his friends.
Nathan, Haley, Brooke and Erin were all waiting outside. All four of them sat slumped in the uncomfortable chairs, Haley was half asleep on her husband's shoulder, Brooke was pretending to read a magazine and Erin was sprawled out over two seats, her head resting on her god mother's lap.
He made his way over to the little girl, crouching down beside her intently.
He wanted to understand her earlier quick getaway. He understood that she was scared but the lack of verbal communication made it difficult to know what was truly going on inside her head.
She blinked up at him. Her great big green eyes blood shot and her face flushed red.
He sighed, stroking her knee. 'Why did you run out baby? There's nothing to be scared of.'
She sniffled but all he got was a shrug in response and then she shifted onto Brooke's lap, cowering away from his scrutinizing stare. That small action was a reality check in itself for Lucas. Erin was attached to Brooke Davis. Not him or Peyton, Brooke Davis. This wonderful woman had put her whole life aside in order to care for his child and he was grateful, he would be forever grateful but it came at a price. They'd lost their parental influence. Erin Scott didn't trust them any longer, she trusted Brooke. That wasn't to say she didn't love her parents, she was still at that age where she could love unconditionally. However, Brooke was the one that was always there and at six years old that's all that mattered.
He stood, his shoulders hunched in exasperation.
Haley sat up straight upon seeing her drained friend.
'How is she?'
Lucas bowed his head in a small nod. 'Okay, she's sleeping right now'
'How is she really?' Haley requested some real information. She was yet to see Peyton and was anxious to know what Lucas really thought.
He paused. He was skeptical about sharing. Perhaps that's what two years in prison did to you, or perhaps it was his supposed friend's fault that he was finding it hard to fully trust in them. It seemed strange that just twelve hours ago he'd still been locked up like a criminal and now here he was in a hospital corridor a million miles away.
In the end he relented. He had no one else and he was certain he couldn't get through the next twenty four hours without some support. 'She's a mess' He admitted honestly. 'A complete mess'
'It's going to take time' Brooke whispered distantly, her hand running soothingly over the back of Erin's head.
Haley hugged him. 'We're all here for you both Luke' She whispered into his ear. He melted into her arms, hugging her back fiercely. 'We were thinking we'd go check into the nearest hotel. Erin needs a bed and we don't know how long we're going to be here for'
Lucas nodded. 'Yeah, that makes sense, I'm going to stay here but you guys should go'
'I'm going to stay here with you' Nathan declared.
'No-'
'Luke, I'm staying'
Lucas was too emotionally drained to argue and merely nodded his consent.
The girls left. A sleepy Erin hugged him goodbye but was reluctant to let go in fear that she'd not see him for another few weeks, but Lucas assured her he'd see her in just a few hours. Then it was just the two of them.
Lucas and Nathan. The uneasy silence cornered them and Nathan was the one that made the needy escape, announcing that he'd go get them a drink.
'Here' Nathan handed his older brother a coffee that Lucas gratefully accepted.
'Do you think she'll ever speak again?' Lucas wondered aloud.
Nathan looked up from his steaming polystyrene cup.
'She just ran out of there. I really thought when she saw Peyton she'd speak'
'I think she will eventually. We don't know what's going on in that little head of hers. I think you need to give her time. Things aren't going to be miraculously fixed over night Luke' Nathan took a sip of his coffee and turned his body so he was facing Lucas. 'Luke I' He paused. He wanted this to come out right. He wanted to apologise for not believing him, he wanted to let him know he was here for him, he wanted to ask how he was holding up and if there was anything he could do. He wanted to tell him about the little girl he'd seen just a few hours ago.
'Mr Scott?'
His speech would have to wait though. Both Scott's looked up at the doctor.
'Can I speak to you in private?'
Lucas looked at his brother. 'Can you stay with Peyton?'
'Sure' Nathan quickly got up, patting his brothers back before disappearing down the corridor.
Lucas stood and crossed his arms in front of himself. 'Is something wrong? Is Peyton ok?'
'Peyton's doing well. She should be out of intensive care within the next day or so and then I'd just like to keep her in for a couple more days under close observation and then if you think it would be beneficial I'd be happy to have her transferred to your home town hospital.'
Lucas nodded. That's just what he wanted. He wanted her home.
'I was hoping you'd be able to come with me for a few minutes. I appreciate that you want to be with Peyton right now, but I'd be very grateful if you'd be able to let us take a blood sample'
'Why?'
'Oh' The doctor unprofessionally shifted his weight from foot to foot. 'I assumed your friends would have told you'
'Told me what?'
The way Doctor Field's proceeded to tuck his pen into the folder in his hands and open and close his mouth was increasingly irritating Lucas.
'Told me what?' He repeated impatiently.
'When, when Ian Banks brought your wife in, he also had a child with him. Peyton's DNA is a definite match but the police took Mr Banks away before we could establish if he is the father'
Lucas' jaw dropped. Not once had it crossed his mind that Peyton's pregnancy could have gone full term. Well it had crossed his mind. He'd just forbidden himself to think about it. The likelihood that the baby would've survived the trauma and stress of the abduction in itself were improbable. He'd persuaded himself of that repetitively, so much so, to the point that he thought of the pregnancy as a figment of his imagination. He'd had so many inconceivable dreams concerning his wife and her whereabouts, that carrying his child was just another one to add the collection.
'I understand that this is extremely difficult but the police are anxious to proceed with their investigation and-'
'I want to see the child' Lucas blurted unexpectedly.
'Well-'
'Now' Lucas wouldn't be reasoned with.
'Er, okay...certainly, yes Mr Scott. If you'd like to follow me, she's down in the creche area'
'She?' Lucas' voice quivered.
'Yes, she'
Lucas stared at the child through the glass window. The thin wall was the only thing separating him from what could be his own flesh and blood. No matter the outcome, this little girl was Peyton's. This little girl marked change and Lucas was yet to decide whether it was good or bad change.
He let himself into the room and the loud hum of children's demanding voices filled his ears but he could only focus on the little girl with blonde curls.
He kept his distance, studying her innocent little form.
She was concentrating very hard on lining up a collection of toy cars and her little tongue kept poking out from her cherry coloured lips with the effort.
'Hello' Lucas managed in a surprisingly steady tone. He crouched down on the floor so he was at her level.
Sawyer looked at him briefly, her hand rolling a toy truck across the play table.
A lump formed in his throat and his eyes glazed over with immediate tears.
He was struck by her blue eyes and her distinct button nose so similar to his own. But he couldn't help but think that he was imagining it. He didn't want to make the assumption that she was his when there was the horrible possibility that she wasn't.
'What have you got there?' He smiled and pointed to her tiny hands.
She held out the blue toy.
'Wow' Lucas took it from her, imitating a sound of a car as he rolled it along the table in her direction.
A small coy smile appeared on her face. A smile that was all Peyton's.
She reminded him a lot of Erin at that age. He wished he could go back to that stage in their lives. He wished he knew what he did now so he could prevent the last two years from ever having happened.
'Caa' Sawyer announced.
'That's right. A blue car' Lucas confirmed.
'You must certainly have a way with children sir, you're the first person she hasn't screamed her lungs out at. Are you a relative?'
He was startled by the young girls voice. 'I, I' He didn't know the answer to that question. That question had him freezing up. He'd been unexpectedly calm and collected until this point. But now a thousand questions were mounting.
Was this little girl his? Was this little girl Ian's? What was going to happen now? Either way, if this baby was his or not, he would have to be her father. Could he do that? What was her name? When was her birthday? What was her first word? When did she take her first step?
Logic told him that he was being overly paranoid. Of course she was his. She had to be. She couldn't possibly be more than one and the calculations made sense but the what if's dominated his feeble mind.
He stumbled away from the blameless toddler. He was torn and confused.
'Sir? I didn't mean for you to go. Sir?'
He shook his head, rushing backward on unsteady legs.
He was going to be sick.
'So you don't know where you've been living for the last twenty three months?'
'I-I don't know' Peyton shook her head feebly. 'I, he, he, I was drugged, when I woke up I was there'
'He kept you locked up?'
'No, sometimes. If he went out, in the basement. I, I don't know, I really, don't know'
'Did you ever try to escape?'
'Not really'
'So you didn't want to be found-'
Lucas eavesdropped at the door. His brow furrowed.
'I think that's enough for now' He interrupted shortly, letting his presence be known. He could see she was distressed, not surprisingly so. The doctors had said she needed rest and she was being bombarded by the police not even forty eight hours later.
'Excuse me sir but this is important, if you could please step outside'
'I'm her husband and I'd like you to leave. Your questions can wait' His tone suggested that if they didn't do as he said he'd assist them in leaving.
The two investigators gave each other a knowing side ways glance before relenting and addressing Peyton. 'Thank you for your time miss. We hope you have a quick recovery and we'll be in touch'
Lucas' unamused squint followed them out of the room, only when the door had shut did he return his attention to her.
'I'm sorry I've been gone so long' He sputtered.
Peyton wasn't sorry. She'd been glad for the few minutes to herself. Even if she'd been trapped in an interview with the police.
She watched him. He was standing as far away as possible from her and he was restlessly fiddling with his fingers.
He looked at her nervously and she immediately knew what this concerned.
It may have been two years and she may have been hooked up to a hospital bed but she could still read this man.
It had only been a matter of time before he found out.
There could only be one possible reason for the alarmed look on his yellowed face.
She instantly knew he wanted to breech the subject of the baby she'd had growing inside her when she'd disappeared. She could see the questions swimming in his eyes.
'Where's Nathan?' Instead he muttered.
'I asked him to wait outside'
'What did they want?'
'Just questions about everything' She answered vaguely.
He nodded blankly.
'The, the doctor. Doctor Fields. He, he just said when, when you came into the hospital there, there was a child with you' He mumbled, stumbling over his words and feet as he paced across the room. 'You were pregnant' He uttered suddenly. 'Erin gave me the father's day present, she gave me the test. You were pregnant.'
She nodded an affirmative nod.
He inhaled sharply. 'I just saw her. The child you came in with. I saw her'
'You did?' She wasn't expecting that, she'd wanted to be there when they'd met. She was worried what Sawyer would be like with him.
'But you couldn't, you couldn't have....the stress, you must have lost the baby, you were only a few weeks, it's not possible, it's not. But it's okay, it's okay that-'
'I didn't loose the baby, I had the baby Luke' She looked into his misty blue eyes. 'She's yours. The little girl you just saw, she's yours, Not Ian's, yours.' She blurted.
There was the confirmation he'd needed.
Loud and clear.
He'd already known it really. It was strange, upon seeing her, in his heart he'd known. She was little. She was so small but there were features and mannerisms that she'd already got from him.
He just stared, looking but not seeing. His pulse palpitated nosily in his ear and he suddenly felt sick all over again, only this time for a different reason.
He was a father again. A father, and with that knowledge came joy.
He had a baby girl, a little girl he knew nothing about and that broke his heart.
He stopped walking, willing the sudden dizziness to go away.
'You have another daughter Lucas' Peyton's quivering voice resonated in his mind.
He lent against the wall for support.
'You had the baby' He choked out, saying it made it seem all the more real.
'Her name's Sawyer. Like you wanted. She has your eyes and your lips and your nose'
He didn't speak, not a sound.
She didn't know how to take his reaction. Whether he doubted her, mistrusted her or if he was just extremely taken aback. It was big news, he'd just found out he had another child after all.
His hand swiftly covered his mouth but he was unable to smother the harsh sob.
'Do you believe me?' She asked dejectedly, she realised that he had every reason not to but she wouldn't lie, she'd never lie and she thought he knew that.
'What? Of, of course I believe you.' The chair clattered against the floor as he knocked it over in his haste to reach her side. 'I believe you. I just, I never thought, I couldn't let myself believe that. I thought' He mumbled through sharp breaths.
He held her hand and smiled through bleary eyes. 'She's beautiful Peyton'
She nodded, a small smile of her own gracing her lips. 'She's like you'
'She is kind of isn't she?'
'A lot' Peyton confirmed.
He had a throbbing headache. This was all too much to take in. All he could think about was the nervous wreck he'd been when Erin had entered the world. He'd been scared out of his mind and Peyton had been in the safe hands of doctors that night, where had she been when Sawyer was born? Who'd taken care of her?
'Where did you have her?' He brushed her hair away from her face.
'She arrived safe and sound, that's all that matters' She didn't want to talk about it evidently.
He didn't push her.
'Has he ever hurt her?'
'Of course not. He never laid a finger on her. He loves her'
Lucas snorted. 'Love? He doesn't love her Peyton. Is that what you think? That he loved you and her?' This man didn't know the meaning of the word love and it broke him to know that his daughter and his wife had been with this monster for so long. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap'
'You don't have to be' Peyton said quietly.
'They want me to take a DNA test'
'Lucas you have to take the test'
'No. I don't doubt you Peyton, not for a moment. I know you wouldn't lie and it doesn't matter. Even if she wasn't mine, you know I'd bring her up like my own don't you?'
'It's, it's not because of that. He, he thinks she's his. I, I had to make him believe she was his. He'll claim he's her parent'
'He thinks he's her father?'
'I had to make him believe that' Peyton avoided his intense stare. There were so many things that needed to be said, that he needed to know and she just wanted to run and hide from it all. 'Is she ok down there? Do you, do you think they'd let me see her' She was quick to change the subject, eager to get him out of the room.
'You feel up to that?'
'I'm fine'
'Ok, I'll, I'll go see. Maybe I could bring her up here for a while'
'I'd like that.... She, she's going to love you Luke'
'I hope so'
'I know so Lucas'.