Look After You

Karen ran into the hospital, the young man who had introduced himself as Mike, trailing close behind. He just wanted to make sure Karen was ok before he left. She had quickly turned pale as a ghost and was experiencing symptoms of shock. He had seen it before, being that he was a paramedic in training.

"Miss. please calm down." Mike said putting his hand on Karen's arm to stop her. "I'm sure your kids will be fine."

Karen was close to hysterics. "No, you didn't hear the sound of Keith's voice when he called me. Something is seriously wrong. Call it mother's intuition, I can just tell."

Mike nodded. He already knew Keith was the kids Uncle from talking to Karen on the car ride over. He knew better then to mess with a mother's intuition. If Karen felt something was wrong, then she must be right. He just wanted to comfort her in some way.

"Ok, well let me see what I can find out. I work at this hospital." Mike said as Karen nodded gratefully.

A few minutes later he returned, short of breath. He had run all over the hospital looking for someone who knew anything.

"I found out that your friend Keith is waiting for you upstairs in the ICU waiting room. You should go to him." Mike said.

Karen nodded. "Thank you, for everything. You don't know how much I appreciate this. If there is every anything I can do for you, just let me know."

Mike smiled. "Its ok really. This is just part of my job. I hope your kids are ok."

"I hope so too." She replied and with that the two went their separate ways.

A few moments later Karen found herself in the ICU wing of the hospital. She spotted Keith sitting alone in the waiting room. She got closer and noticed the stitched up cut above his left eye.

"Keith." Karen said running to him and throwing her arms around him as he stood up. "I'm so glad your ok." She cried. "You are ok right?"

Keith returned her hug. "Yeah Kare, I'm ok. I've got a few stitches for a cut above my eye as you can probably see and a couple of bruised ribs. The doctor said I was lucky I didn't break them." Keith said assuring her he was ok, so it was one less person she had to worry about.

Karen nodded. "Thank god. But Lucas and Cassie...where are they?" She asked sounding desperate, which she was.

"The other car...it hit their side of the jeep. They both have injuries worse then mine. But I'm not sure what those injuries are." Keith said, not wanting to sound pessimistic but also not wanting to lie to her.

"Well they're going to be alright Keith, they have to, I won't lose either of them...I can't." She said assuringly to him, but it was more like she was trying to assure herself.

Just then Brooke and Peyton ran in. Brooke ran straight for Keith.

"Keith...Keith, where are they?" Brooke asked concerned for not just her boyfriend but her friend as well. Peyton slowly approached them, not really feeling like she belonged there.

"Oh honey, their in the emergency room. We don't know their condition." Keith said to Brooke who had tears in her eyes.

Brooke noticed the woman who she had assumed was Lucas and Cassie's mom, staring at her wide eyed.

"Hi, I'm Brooke. Luca's girlfriend and Cassie's friend." Brooke said.

Karen looked at Keith and he nodded, telling her that what Brooke was saying was true. Karen looked at Peyton.

"Are you friends with my kids to?" She asked.

"I'm Peyton, and I'm a friend of Cassie's. I don't really know Lucas all that well." Peyton said knowing that was a lie. She and Lucas had had their share of run ins the past few weeks. She just didn't want Brooke to suspect anything.

Karen found all of this new information hard to digest in one sitting. Her kids were in the hospital, seriously hurt and now she found out her son had a girlfriend who he had clearly forgot to mention in his phone calls to his mom. Cassie hadn't mentioned anything either.

Just then they noticed a young doctor walk out from the doors marked "Authorized Personnel Only."

"Dr. were you in the hospital room with Lucas or Cassie Scott?" Keith asked walking over to him.

"I was in the room with Lucas Scott. Are you his family?" The doctor asked and Keith read the nametag. It said Dr. Brown.

Keith and Karen both nodded. "How is he?" Karen asked.

"Well lets just say the kids lucky his father got him here so fast." Dr. Brown said.

Karen looked at Keith, completely confused. "You mean his Uncle?"

"No his father." Dr. Brown replied.

Karen again looked at Keith, questioningly.

"Uhm, Dan saw the accident. He pulled Lucas and Cassie out of the jeep and drove us here." Keith explained as Karen nodded in turn.

She then turned her attention back to the Doctor. "Well how is he?"

"I'm not really able to give you any of the details, the surgeon will be out in a few minutes to tell you. I can tell you he will be ok and rest assured Dr. Hale is an excellent surgeon." Dr. Brown said as he gave a small reassuring half smile to the small group and walked away.

"Surgery, Keith he needed surgery. And we still don't even know about Cassie." Karen cried.

Keith took her in his arms and motioned for Brooke and Peyton to give them a moment, which they did obligingly. Keith kissed, the woman he had secretly been in love with since high school's, forehead

"She will be ok Karen. Cassie is a strong, determined girl...she's just like you." He whispered in her ear as Karen nodded and whimpered quietly.

"Is there any family for Cassandra Scott here?" Another Doctor's voice called.

Keith and Karen's head both shot up at the mention of Cassie's name.

"We are." Keith yelled as the Doctor nodded and walked over to them. His nametag read Dr. Mitchell.

"Are you her parents?" He asked.

Karen nodded. "Yes, I'm her mother, and this is her father." She gestured to Keith who smiled. This was the first time Karen had ever really acknowledged him as their father. Even though he technically wasn't, he couldn't love those kids anymore if they were his own, and Karen knew that. He was the closest thing Cassie and Lucas had ever had to a father.

"Ok, well I was in the operating room with her." Dr. Mitchell stated.

"She need surgery?" Karen asked sounding alarmed.

The Doctor nodded. "Your daughter's leg was basically crushed under the seat after the accident. We had to operate to repair the damage. Her leg will heal in a matter of a few months, with some physical therapy. She will need a wheel chair for the first couple of weeks and then after that we will put a new cast on, one that is smaller, and she will be on crutches."

"Is that all?" Karen asked optimistically, knowing a broken leg would heal in time.

The Doctor shook his head. "Unfortunately no, your daughter also had broke a couple of ribs, which will heal in time and punctured a lung, which also required surgery. But as I said both of those things will heal pretty fast without any long term repercussions. The thing we are watching closely is her head. She sustained a serious concussion we think from her head hitting the seat in front of her after the initial impact of the crash."

Karen's eyes widened. "Is she going to be ok?"

"We think so. We ran a CAT scan and when the results return, we will know if she has any serious head injuries. If the CAT scan comes back ok then Cassie will only need to be put on some pain meds and get lots of rest in order for her concussion to heal. She may also experience some headaches, but those will eventually go away. Other than that she has some bruises and scratches." Dr. Mitchell said sounding optimistic.

"So can we see her?" Keith asked.

The doctor nodded. "She's just being brought into the recovery room and you can go in and see her. She will probably be sleeping for off the anesthetic for the next couple of hours, and she will probably be a little groggy after that. If she has any further problems do not hesitate to call myself or one of the nurses."

Karen and Keith nodded gratefully at the doctor as he smiled and walked away. Another doctor approached the two.

"Are you here for Lucas Scott?" She asked and her nametag read Dr. Hale.

Keith and Karen both nodded.

"Ok well I was the surgeon who operated on him." Dr. Hale said

"Is he ok?" Karen asked, wondering how many times she had asked the question in the last few minutes.

Dr. Hale nodded. "He's going to be fine. We had to do surgery to remove his spleen and stop some internal bleeding. His shoulder also separated in the accident. We repaired that as well. Other then that he has a minor concussion and some bruising."

"So he'll be fine then." Keith asked.

"Like I said all he's going to need is some physical therapy to his shoulder. We did have a small problem though." Dr. Hale said.

"What?" Karen asked.

"Your son lost a lot of blood, which cause his heart rate to drop, we lost him for a few seconds. But we did get him back and he shouldn't have any long term repercussions as a result." Dr. Hale said.

"When can we see him?" Karen asked.

"Not for another couple of hours, he's currently in the ICU and won't be moved into recovery until he is completelty stabilized. We just want to be sure nothing else happens with his heart."

Karen nodded. "Thank you, doctor."

Dr. Hale, smiled, nodded and walked away.

"Well are you ready to see Cassie?" Keith asked and Karen nodded as he guided her to one of the recovery rooms to where her daughter slept.