The next few hours Peyton and Lucas just sat by their daughters bedside as they waited for Madison to arrive. Kerri woke a few times, but she didn't seem up to saying much, so Peyton would just feed her a couple of ice chips, and wait until she drifted back into unconsciousness. It was killing her to see her daughter so weak and helpless, but she didn't know what else she could do, except be there for her.
Of course, there were a lot of tears, but Peyton tried to only allow them to fall when Kerri was unconscious. Peyton spent a lot of time with her chair scooted up as close to Lucas's as she could get, leaning against him and crying. She felt a few tears hit the top of her head, so she knew he was crying, too, even though he was trying to be strong for her. She loved him for that, she really did.
As Kerri's eyelids began fluttering, Peyton once again dried her tears, because she knew that meant Kerri was going to be opening her eyes in moments. She sat up straighter, and pulled the cup of ice chips toward her, so she could give Kerri some when her eyes did open. She wasn't disappointed, and she soon saw Kerri's gaze looking around the room, and then toward the door. "She's not here yet. She'll be here soon, I'm sure," Peyton said.
When Kerri's mouth opened, Peyton dropped a few ice chips in there, and she saw the understanding in Kerri's eyes. Peyton had known that the question Kerri would have asked would have been if Madison was there yet, and she wanted to save her daughter the breath, so she answered before the question could be spoke. Kerri just had to nod in response.
Noticing that Kerri seemed to be looking even paler than she had been, Peyton gave her a couple more ice chips, wondering if she was thirstier than she was saying. She was just making silent plans to go and get the nurse when the door to the hospital room opened. Three pairs of eyes shot to the doorway as Madison came through at nearly a run and hurried to her sister's bedside.
Seeing all the bruises and the other damage done to her sister, Madison stopped in her tracks, taking it all in. She looked like she had been crying the whole drive, and she was about to start again. She got her tears under control, and forced a smile for her sister's sake. "I want to hug you, but I don't want to hurt you. Gosh, Kerri, don't you ever do that to me again," she admonished, taking her sister's hand instead.
In return, Kerri smiled back, an identical smile, but it was much weaker, and worse for the wear. She opened her mouth, but Madison shook her head and cut her off. "No, don't speak. Really, it's okay. You just use all your energy toward getting better. Don't waste your strength on all the things you can tell me later, when you're better," she said, looking around for a chair.
Grabbing a chair for her, Lucas stood and gave his daughter a hug before she could sit down. Peyton stood and hugged her too, and they asked her how her drive was. None of them were really ignoring Kerri, but they didn't notice her gather her remaining strength. "I love you guys. Make sure you tell the 'lets and everyone else I love them, too," the words came out barely more than a whisper, but the other three heard them.
Turning to look at her, they all noticed her eyes slipped closed, and the machine next to her began making an alarming beeping, different than the monotone beep that had just been going on. Peyton and Madison rushed for the bedside, and Lucas ran for the door, to get a doctor, all of them frantic, moving on autopilot, because they couldn't believe this was it, they wouldn't believe that.
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Closing her phone, Brooke took in a deep breath, trying to figure out what to do. Lucas had said that she shouldn't come, and she shouldn't let the kids come either, but she wasn't sure she should follow orders. She wanted to be there for her best friend, but she didn't really think the 'lets should be around if their sister died. Lucas had said there wasn't anything they could do, now.
Of course, that was only her biggest worry. She had other things on her mind too. She had come home after the beach to gather a few things, and had found her husband just getting home as well, reeking of liquor and sex. It was the walk of shame, and she couldn't handle that on top of everything else. The following conversation hadn't done anything to make her think her marriage could be saved.
FLASHBACK
Moments after she had started filling her duffel bag, she heard the front door open, and she walked out of her room to find Owen in the foyer. "Where the hell have you been, Owen? I need you to get the children from Peyton and Lucas's house. Kerri was in an accident. I need to go be there for my best friend, and I'm taking Sophia and the 'lets," she stepped closer and smelled the alcohol on him. "You were drinking?" she asked.
Maybe it wouldn't have been that big of a deal, if he weren't a recovering alcoholic, and if she didn't know what he did when he was drunk. He shoved her back a little, out of his face, and she stumbled back into the wall. "Yeah, I've been drinking. What's it to you?" he sneered, obviously either not hearing the first part of what she had said, or just ignoring it.
Still upset from their fight the night before, and everything else, Brooke snapped. "What is it to me? I'll tell you what it is. We're done, Owen, I want you out of the house, and I'm filing for divorce. I won't take it anymore. I won't take the fights and the yelling and I definintely won't take you going out and drinking all night, and then doing the walk of shame in the morning, probably because you spent the night with some whore," she spat.
Before he could say anything, she continued, over his protests. "No, damnit, I don't want excuses. I don't have time for them anymore. You don't deserve my time anymore. When I agreed to forgo the divorce the first time, you promised me you'd stop drinking. If you're breaking your promise, I won't keep mine anymore. I'm packing up some things, and me and the children will be gone for a few days. I want you moved out before I get back," she turned away.
Before she could take more than a few steps, he grabbed her arm and turned her around, his fingers digging into her arm. "What about the kids, Brooke? I won't let you take them from me. What makes you think I'll actually leave?" his breath washed over her cheeks as his fingers only tightened around her arm as she tried to get him to let go.
Shaking her head and prying at his fingers, she looked up in his eyes. "Don't make me bring the past into this Owen, or I will make you lose everything. I paid for this house. You need to get out of it before I call the cops," she stopped trying to get him to let go when she realized her efforts were futile. She didn't let the pain show in her eyes. "Let go of me now, before I get you sent to jail and you never see the kids again," she threatened.
Dropping her arm, he held his hands up in surrender. She turned and stalked away. She closed her bedroom door and leaned against it, waiting until she heard the front door open and close. She closed her eyes against the tears and slid down to the floor, hugging her knees to her chest and comforting her now sore arm, crying over the loss of her marriage more than the loss of her husband.
END FLASHBACK
After a while, she had picked herself up, gathered some clothes, and then some clothes for each of the kids. She went out to get in her car and noticed that Owen had apparantly taken a crowbar, or something similiar to it, knocking out both headlights and leaving quite a few dings and scratches on the hood. She closed her eyes and wondered if anything else could go wrong, before she got in.
Now she was sitting in her car, after just getting the call from Lucas, and she didn't know if she should stay or go. She decided that it would be best to get her and the kids out of town for a few days, and that decided it for her. She did go down and file the papers for divorce before she went to get the kids, though, and she called Nathan and Haley to tell them what she was going to do. She didn't mention Owen.
When she made it to Peyton and Lucas's house, everyone was ready to go, and she was glad, because she was pretty sure that she would start crying again in a moment if she stopped concentrating on what she had to do. She couldn't let her attetnion slip from the moment at hand, or she would never make the whole drive, and people would be worried about her. She knew that everyone else had other things to worry about right now.
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For the next few hours, Peyton, Madison and Lucas sat in the waiting room. Peyton was leaning into Lucas, bawling her eyes out. Madison was leaning into Lucas's other side, also crying steadily but silently. Lucas sat between the two, an arm around each of them, whispering soothing things to them, while trying to hold himself together and trying not to think about the fact that his baby girl could die.
Finally a doctor came out and said Kerri's name. Peyton was on her feet faster than Lucas could blink, though the other two weren't far behind her, and the three were soon standing in front of the doctor. "I'm her mother, Peyton Scott," she used Lucas's last name for the first time in a while, taking his hand. "This is my husband, and this is Kerri's twin," she gestured to Madison. "Tell me something good, please doctor," she begged.
The look on the mans face turned uncomfortable in a way that could only mean he wasn't going to deliver any good news. "Well, Mrs. Scott, the good thing is we've finally located what was wrong. She had a leak in one of her blood vessels. It was tiny, but she was slowly bleeding out, internally," he paused, and Peyton didn't like his use of the past tense. 'She had,' 'She was,' Peyton didn't like that at all.
Keeping his voice level, and trying to stay calm Lucas tightened his grip on Peyton's hand, obviously thinking the same thing that she was. "You're going to fix it, though, right? You said it was a good thing you found the problem. You can fix it, right?" he asked, desperation leaking into his voice in the last sentence. He cleared his through, keeping his steady gaze on the doctor.
The doctor looked from one parent to the other, not even bothering to look at Madison. There was sympathy in his gaze, and Peyton realized he probably had to have conversations like this every day. "Well, Mr. Scott, of course, we'll try our best, but it might be too late. I'm actually surprised she lasted so long before her blood pressure dropped, and that she didn't notice something was wrong. She should have noticed," he said.
Looking up at Lucas, Peyton thanked the doctor as he walked away. She was crying uncontrollably now, and Lucas wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, rubbing her back and trying to sooth her as she cried into his chest. Madison walked over to the wall and sat next to it, sliding down and pulling her knees up to her chest. She realized her mom had really gone back to her dad now, and right now she needed some comfort of her own.
Pulling out her phone, she his speed dial number one and pushed the talk button before putting the phone up to her ear. She had promised herself she wouldn't be the first once to call him, since they would be leading different lives now. She wanted to see if they could make it leading seperate lives, or if they wouldn't. She broke that promise to herself now though. It didn't matter anymore.
It took both women a long time to get their tears under control. Madison could barely spit out what was going on as she talked on the phone, and Peyton didn't even care that she was standing in the middle of the waiting room, crying where everyone could see her. She was sure she wasn't the first to cry in a hospital waiting room, and she knew she wouldn't be the last either.
Since both women were preoccupied, Lucas was the first one to notice Brooke, leading pretty much all the kids, towards them. "Hey, hey, Peyt," he whispered into her hair, not waiting until she responded. "Everyone's here," he continued. She looked up, and followed his gaze, immediately trying to stop the tears as she turned her whole body to face the onslaught of people. Brooke, seeming near tears, caught her in a hug first.
The first one to reach Lucas was Madison. Even though she was the girliest, she had always been a daddy's girl before the issues started between him and Peyton. She hugged onto him tightly now, crying and it was like the whole time when she had hated him hadn't happened. He was her daddy, and he loved her, and that was what mattered now. Lucas was glad to be holding his daughter again, despite the circumstances.
After everyone had said their greetings, for which Madison hung up her phone and stood up, Peyton tried to explain what was going on, but couldn't, so Lucas took over, as she tried to stop the tears that wanted to keep coming. She leaned into Lucas for support, and Brooke held her other hand tightly. Lucas had just finished speaking, when the group was approached by a couple of guys. One was Jake, and the other he didn't know.
Approaching Peyton first, while the unknown guy stood at the edge of their group, Jake pulled Peyton into a hug, which she accepted. She forced a smile as he let her go, and they all stared at the unknown guy, though no one stared harder than Brooke. Jake noticed, and gestured toward the guy. "This is my cousin, Julian. He's the one I stayed with in Savannah back in high school. He's here to visit for a couple of weeks," he introduced Julian to everyone.
Everyone waved, or said hi, and then they all took seats in the waiting room. It was almost too small to hold everyone, because a bunch of the seats were already filled, but they somehow all managed. Brooke made sure Peyton was seated between Lucas and Jake, with Haley and Nathan nearby, too, before she excused herself to go for a walk. No one really noticed that Jake's cousin disappeared too.
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Going through the hallways nearby, Brooke finally found the guy from the beach, Julian apparantly, and she stopped, but before she could say anything, he spoke. "So, you're Brooke. As beautiful as Jake described you. Can I tell you something," he didn't pause for her approval, and she was too surprised that he seemed to know who she was now to say anything. "I've always wondered why Jake chose Peyton over you," his brown-eyed gaze burned into hers.
Unable to think of anything to really say to that, Brooke felt herself blush, and suddenly felt very warm in her jacket. She ducked her head down as she took it off, before looking up again, hoping the blush was gone. "Peyton's a great person. She's a great mother, and the best friend I could have and," she trailed off as she realized she was just listing Peyton's good qualities, which she always thought of when she wondered what could have been, if Lucas had chosen her.
When she glanced up at him, she saw his gaze was riveted on her arm. "What's that?" he asked, concern in his tone. She glanced down, saw the bruise forming on her arm, and winced. She really hadn't expected it to bruise up so quickly, but it was already a pretty dark purple, and it looked kind of nasty. She put her hand over it and tried to hide it, but he stepped closer and moved her hand away, touching the spot tenderly. "What happened?" he asked.
Glancing up at him, their eyes met, and Brooke found it hard to breathe with him so close, and his fingers on her skin. He felt the same bolt of electricity and took a surprised step back, but she could tell he wasn't going to let the bruise go. "It's nothing," she mumbled. "Really, Owen was just drunk, and not liking what I had to say to him. It doesn't matter, though, I'm divorcing him. I already went down and filed for the divorce," the words came out softly, though she didn't know why.
Nodding, he took another step back. "You're special, Brooke Davis. There's something about you. I don't even know what it is yet, but I know there's something," he said as their gazes stayed locked. The whole building could have been burning down around them, but neither would have noticed. "I won't help you cheat on your husband. We can be friends, but until you're divorced, that's it," he clarified.
Understanding where he was coming from, and knowing that he was right, she nodded. "That sounds good. I don't have many guy friends, really, and I don't think it would be right for us to get together right now anyway," she said, feeling the connection, too, but with the fact that she was just getting out of a relationship, she was kind of scared of this connection.
Neither of them seemed able to break the eye contact, though. "That being said, as your friend, I think you could use some comfort. Have you told anyone else you're getting divorced?" he asked. She hesitated before shaking her head, and he opened his arms, allowing her to take some comfort from him before she had to go back to the waiting room and pretend that, besides the obvious, everything was okay.
After some time, they decided that Brooke's presence was going to be missed, and they decided to keep the fact that they had met earlier a secret, so they mutually decided that Brooke would go back first, and Julian would wait a bit before following. She hugged him once more before pulling out of his arms, drawing strength from him, because she knew she was going to need it.
When she entered the waiting room, she noticed two things: Madison's boyfriend had arrived while she was with Julian, and Peyton and Lucas were talking to a doctor again. The doctor walked away and Peyton and Lucas walked back to their family, as Brooke walked up at the same time. Peyton was able to talk this time. "She made it," she announced with a big smile, though her tears which were now tears of relief.
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A few hours later, Peyton and Lucas had sent the Naley family home, because they had a new baby, and she had sent Brooke and the other kids to a hotel, because they had insisted on staying. Jake and his cousin were also staying until Kerri was transferred back to Tree Hill, too. She and Lucas were staying at the hospital until Kerri woke up, and then they would go to the hotel. "She did know, you know," Peyton broke the silence.
Still crying, because Kerri was pale and still looked really bad, Peyton had done nothing but stare at her daughter the whole time. She finally looked at Lucas, who looked confused. "She knew that she was dying. She was waiting for her sister. She wanted to say her last goodbyes, because she knew that if she had go to to surgery she might not make it out. She didn't want to let go without saying goodbye, so she held on until Madison arrived," Peyton clarified.
With a sigh, Lucas rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. He had realized that was probably the case. He hadn't wanted to speak those words out loud, though, because he knew the affect they would have on Peyton. "She made it, though, Peyt. Everything's okay now. They fixed it, and she lived, despite all odds. You don't need to be crying anymore," he said, reaching over to rub her back.
Finally looking over at him, she wiped her eyes, smiling a ghost of a smile, the closest thing to a real smile he knew he was going to get. "You're right, Lucas. God gave us a second chance, and He's giving her a second chance too," she paused, her green eyes staring into his blue as she turned solemn. "Thank you, Lucas, for being here for me, the whole time. I know she's your daughter, too, but I'm really grateful for your support," she said.
Softening, he leaned close, placing a soft kiss on her cheek as he reached up and caressed the other one, moving her hair out of her face. "I'm always going to be here for you Peyton, from now until the rest of forever. You can lean on me, cry on me, or not cry on me, it doesn't matter. I'm here for whatever you need. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I promise you," he said sincerely.
Leaning into him again, she allowing him to gently stroke her hair, as she leaned her head on his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart. She wanted to believe him, really she did. She hoped he was really telling the truth this time. Her heart wouldn't make it if he wasn't. She wasn't sure she'd ever stop crying her heart out if he wasn't being honest right now, if he didn't mean those words with all his heart.
A/N: I decided to let Kerri live. You guys convinced me, because I really was going to kill her off. I also decided to keep going with Brooke's storyline, because you guys said you wanted it. See, I do read and consider your reviews! So y'all should leave more. Thanks to everyone who did review and even those who just read it, though you should review.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.