A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews, they're awesome and great motivators. I am so glad that it's being received so well seeing how this is the first OTH one I've ever done. Anyways, on with the next chapter.
Sunset
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This time, this place, this one shall not go for his story shall end in vein; For this will be his last sunset and his dawn will end in only pain. (Aurora Borealis- Enter the Halls)
It had been a total of 5 1/2 hours that Dan Scott was under the knife for open heart surgery. Despite the huge risk, he had come through surgery with no major complications although the recovery would still be touch and go at this point. Once the doctor informed them that he was out of surgery and would be unconscious for quite some time, they all left the hospital. After all, neither Lucas nor Nathan was sure they actually wanted to be there when Dan woke up.
During the crisis, they'd been there to sign every document and made decisions to preserve their father's life but that did not mean they wanted to be a part of it. They decided they'd both go home to get some rest and decide later about visiting Dan.
Haley walked downstairs, hearing a slight noise coming from the kitchen. She'd woken up to the sunlight washing through the window and found the other side of the bed empty so she'd left the bedroom in search of Nathan. Once she walked into the kitchen, she saw him standing in front of the sink and wrapped her arms around him from behind, laying her head on his back.
"Hey," she nuzzled against him. "Couldn't sleep?"
"It's been a rough night," he raised his arm up as Haley slid underneath it and looked up at him.
"How are you doing?" her chestnut eyes looked up at him in concern.
He shrugged. "Okay, I guess; it was just a long day with Dan and then the thing with Lucas and Peyton kind of threw me off."
"Tell me about it," Haley replied as she walked over to one of the stools and sat down. "You know how much I love Luke and Peyton too and I want to see them happy but that was just…"
"Crazy," Nathan supplied with a laugh as he sat down across from her. "There's no other word for it Hales."
"I'm glad it wasn't just me," she shook her head. "When I said something to Peyton she got really defensive."
"Wait a minute," he cocked his eyebrow at her. "You called Peyton out on it?"
Haley exhaled deeply before nodding. "I wasn't trying to and maybe it isn't any of my business but I'm just really concerned about both of them." She looked at Nathan for a moment. "Do you think I overstepped?"
He shrugged. "If you did than so did I."
"You talked to Lucas about it?" she gave a short laugh, seeing the answer written all over his face.
"My brother just got left at the alter by one woman, was playing house with on ex and a sick baby, and then comes back engaged to another ex," Nathan gave her his signature look, the one of cocky assurance. "Hell yeah I said something."
Haley laughed fully this time. "You do realize that it's finally happened Nate."
"Yeah," he looked at her curiously. "What's that?"
"We have officially become that old meddling married couple," she reached over and grabbed his hand. "Well, maybe not old."
He chuckled slightly. "Well there's no one I'd rather meddle with than you Haley James Scott." He came around the counter and kissed her deeply.
"Mmm," she smiled as he pulled back. "What was that for?"
"For being the right one," he replied before bending down to kiss her again as her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer.
"Mommy, Daddy!" Jamie ran up to them as they broke apart.
"Hi sweetheart," Haley smiled as he hugged her.
"Hey little man," Nathan tousled the boy's shady blonde locks before picking him up.
"I thought you guys were never gonna get home," he looked between his parents. "Nanny Deb doesn't know to make the pancakes with the smiley face on Saturdays."
"Oh, so it's only my pancakes you missed then?" Haley gasped in mock hurt.
"Don't be silly Momma," he laughed. "I missed you a whole lot and you too Daddy," he turned to Nathan. "Chester missed you too."
"We missed you too buddy," Nathan laughed, "And Chester."
"So much baby," Haley leaned over and kissed him on his forehead before walking over to the cabinet and pulling out the pancake mix. "What do you say we pretend it's Saturday?" She turned back to look at her boys; Nathan smiling and Jamie nodding happily. "Who wants to help?"
She smiled as Jamie went to retrieve the eggs from the fridge and Nathan grabbed the mixing bowl. She knew that Nathan was still worried about things with Dan and that no matter how much he wanted it to be untrue that if Dan did not make it, it would affect him deeply but for now, they were happy and they could believe that everything was going to be okay.
Lucas ran under the basket, catching the shot he'd just thrown in. He ran down the court, dribbling the ball before shooting it in the basket again and running after it. It felt good to be on the court again as the sun bathed him, playing rather than teaching the sport he loved. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, ever cautious of his HCM. He'd been out here about an hour, trying to clear his mind but not even basketball could rid his mind from thoughts of Dan. In a way, it had made him think of him more. It was the only thing besides DNA that connected him to the man.
The only thing that had distracted him was when he listened to his voicemail and heard messages from both Lindsay and Brooke. Lindsay's message said that there had been no one else and that of course she missed him; that she was scared from the immensity of his love. Her words were filled with such deep emotion and he felt guilty as he listened to them, knowing he'd hurt her. Then he'd listened to Brooke's message. She'd left him a generic message like he'd left her. Her words had been simple but there was an underline tone in her voice, one that said she was broken; one that made him think she needed him. Lucas immediately tried calling her back at both numbers but gave up after getting her voice mail seven times.
"Hey," Peyton called from behind him.
Lucas turned around. "Hey you."
"I got your note," she threw her arms around him. "You doing okay?"
He nodded. "I just needed to get out, clear my head." Lucas began walking over to the bench and Peyton linked her arm around his. "I was thinking about Brooke too," he sat down on the table top, "going to see her."
Peyton nodded solemnly, pushing down the tinge of jealousy that she always seemed to feel whenever Lucas mentioned her best friend. "Maybe you'll have better luck getting past Bitchtoria."
Lucas gave a short laugh before returning to his previous demeanor. "We should probably go together; we can check on how things are with the store and we can tell her our news." He shrugged. "With our history, I think it's probably something we should tell her in person."
"Our history," Peyton repeated. "You think she'll be upset? I mean, she's known about my feelings for you since we came back, before I was even ready to admit them." She peered at him for a moment.
"No," he shook his head. "I didn't mean she'd be upset Peyton."
"Are you sure?" she asked as she studied him. "Did Brooke say something? Does she still have feelings for you?" A lump seemed to develop in her throat.
"No," Lucas answered. "Brooke hasn't felt that way about me in a long time."
I love you Lucas, and I probably always will.
I love you Lucas Scott, you know that?
"Lucas," Peyton waved a hand in front of his face.
The brooding blonde shook his head before running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry."
"Where were you just now?" her green eyes looked at him in concern. "You okay?"
"Yeah, it's just…" Lucas paused to find the right word, "everything."
Peyton nodded. "You're right," she exhaled deeply. "We do need to go see Brooke; it's not like her to cut herself off from everyone."
"I know," Lucas sighed. "She hates being alone."
"I know," she said thoughtfully. "So let's not let her be."
Lucas nodded in agreement before they both stood up and headed towards Peyton's car.
Dan lay still while the world buzzed around him. He could hear the steady beeping of the machines and his own breathing. He wasn't sure how long he'd been there, caught between the worlds of sleep and awake. He hadn't been able to respond but he'd heard the voices of Nathan, Haley, and Lucas as well as the voices of strangers who he'd assumed were doctors and nurses in his room.
Dan could feel the presence of someone else in the room now as he suddenly felt a sensation coursing through his body. His right hand began to twitch and his eye lids began to flutter.
"Mr. Scott," a female voice called to him. "Mr. Scott, my name is Laoraine. Can you hear me?"
Dan's lids lay heavy for a few moments before slowly opening, his eyes staring up at the sienna face belonging to his nurse.
"Mr. Scott," she smiled as she took his hand. "Squeeze my hand if you can hear me."
Dan's hand slowly clamped around hers.
"Good, good," she nodded. "I'm going to get the doctor and I'll be right back."
Dan blinked in acknowledgement and squeezed her hand once again before she left. Within a minute there was a doctor hovering over him, shining a light in his eyes and running some device across the bottoms of his feet. After checking the machines and a few more initial response tests, the doctor had vials of blood taken before rushing off to do more tests.
"La-lao-raine," Dan struggled to speak. "My son… sons…"
"Don't try to overexert yourself Mr. Scott; you've been through a lot." Laoraine quieted him. "Is there a number you'd like me to call? Blink once for yes, twice for no."
Dan blinked once and then looked up at her.
"Here," she held a notepad in front of him and handed him a pen from her pocket. "Write it down."
His hand shook as he struggled to write two names and a phone number down on the page before him.
"Nathan and Lucas," Laoraine read aloud. "They were here earlier." She smiled warmly. "I'll call them right away Mr. Scott. Until they arrive, you get some rest." She nodded before leaving the hospital room.
Brooke sat alone in the kitchen, laptop on the counter as she googled statistics on the estimated crimes in the country and in North Carolina specifically. She had always felt safe in Tree Hill; safe on her streets, in her home, at her store. Now she felt safety was an illusion for the ignorant, for the naive. She was afraid to go outside, to open her curtains and let the light in. It was strange, seeing as the attack happened at night that she would feel less afraid when her house was dark and closed in. Maybe it was because that was how she felt; dark and cold. Her eyes stung a she felt herself wanting to cry but she pushed it back, forcing herself to hold the tears at bay. She had done that often, forcing herself not to cry as she awoke time and time again from the nightmares that assaulted her every time she closed her eyes.
"Miss Davis," Rick spoke as he turned on the lamp near the couch and then walked towards her. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"No," she glanced up at him before going back to her computer. "Where were you?"
"I was just checking outside," he answered. "Mrs. Davis wants it checked every hour."
"That won't help but I appreciate your effort," she replied. "Victoria thinks she's doing something but so do millions of people and it doesn't matter; none of it matters."
Rick studied her. "Maybe you should try and get some rest."
Brooke shook her head. "Do you know there were 11,251,828 crimes committed in this country last year and 412, 616 in North Carolina alone? 17,000 robberies, 3,000 murders, 600 rapes; it says 1.3 women are raped every minute in The US." She shook her head. "That's 78 rapes an hour. One out of every three woman will be assaulted in their lifetime." She scoffed, "Maybe that means Haley and Peyton will be safe then."
"Miss Davis," Rick didn't know what to say.
"Its fine, you don't have to say anything." Brooke replied.
"I'm sorry this happened to you," He replied.
"Yeah," she whispered raspily. "Me too."
"Through every cloud, you can see the sun," he supplied.
"What?" she looked up at him.
"When bad stuff would happen," Rick paused briefly. "My mom would always say through every cloud, you can see the sun."
"Not this time." Brooke closed the monitor and then walked up the stairs to the bathroom, she suddenly felt dirty again.
Lucas and Peyton got out of the car and slowly walked towards Brooke's house. They both immediately noticed the dark curtains that hung inside, most likely blocking out any light. Maybe that would have been normal for someone else's home, even Peyton's at certain points in her life, but not for Brooke Davis, not the woman who fully embodied the nickname Cheery.
"Brooke," Lucas knocked loudly on the door. "Brooke, it's Lucas and Peyton." He stood back, looking up at one of the windows on the top floor. "She's got to be up there."
"What if she's gone?" Peyton asked sadly.
"Her car is right there Peyton, she's not gone." He stepped back towards the door, pounding on it with his fist. "Brooke!"
"No, I mean what if she left with Victoria," she waited until he looked at her, "to New York."
Lucas paused for a moment, letting her words sink in before a thought came to mind. "You still have your key right?"
"Yeah, I do," Her eyes grew wide as she shuffled around in her purse for it. "Got it," she stuck it in the lock and tried to turn it. "What the…"
"What is it?" Lucas looked at her.
"It's not working," Peyton shook the knob. "Brooke!" She began to hit the door with her fist. "Brooke Penelope Davis, you open this door right now."
Peyton and Lucas both stepped back as the door suddenly opened, revealing a large black man standing in the doorway.
The woman's brows furrowed. "Who the hell are you?"
"I could ask you the same question Miss," Rick shot back.
"Where's Brooke?" Lucas came to stand in front of Peyton.
"And why doesn't my key work," Peyton yelled. "I do live here."
"So you are Miss Sawyer," he replied. "I'm Rick, Miss Davis' Head of Security and right now you and your friend here are trespassing."
"Trespassing," Peyton scoffed. "I live her and Lucas is one of Brooke's closest friends."
"Mrs. Davis said you would be back to give us an address on where to ship your belongings," Rick said, ignoring her previous comments.
"Mrs. Davis?" Lucas repeated. "You mean Victoria; you work for her then, not Brooke."
"Miss Davis has made it clear that she does not wish to see anyone at the moment," Rick replied. "I will let her know you both came by." And with that, he shut the door in their faces.
"Who was that?" Victoria asked as Rick stepped inside.
"Peyton and Lucas," Rick answered. "They seemed really concerned about Brooke."
"I don't care; you are to keep those people from taking advantage of my daughter. Is that clear?" she asked.
"Yes," he nodded.
"Good," she replied. "By the way, where is Brooke? I would've thought she'd come down with all that noise although I'm glad she didn't."
"I think she's in the shower," Rick said.
"Thank you," Victoria said before walking back up the stairs and staring out of the window, looking down at the two young people who still stood out front.
"Lucas," Peyton looked up at him. "Something is really wrong here. What are we going to do?" She huddled up against him.
"I don't know," he hugged her close as his gaze shifted up to the slight movement of the curtain from Brooke's window. "I don't know."
Brooke stood under the shower head, the water rushing over her face and down the length of her body. She was unsure how long she'd been in there. After he conversation with Rick and reading all the statistics, she felt dirty again and had been in the shower ever since.
She stared downwards, her body feeling numb, as she watched the water flow down the drain. She jumped slightly, startled from the knock she heard on the bathroom door.
"Brooke," Victoria cracked the door open. "Brooke?"
The younger brunette said nothing, her eyes fixated on the stream of water. She wished that it could wash away all the shame, the guilt, the anger and hate she felt.
Victoria walked over to the shower and pulled the curtain back. "Brooke," she reached over and turned her daughter's face towards her. "Brooke, the water is freezing." Victoria reached down to turn the water off before grabbing a towel and wrapping it around the broken young woman. "Let's go," she said before leading Brooke to her bedroom.
Brooke sat on her bed as Victoria wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. After a moment, she spoke again. "I don't want to leave you alone in this state but I have to. We can't have you and the company falling apart."
Brooke nodded. "I'll be fine mother."
"I know you will," she gave her signature smile. "The people from ADT are already here; Rick will deal with them but they may need to come in your room."
She nodded again. "Thank you."
"I'll keep you updated," Victoria said before walking over to the window, seeing her cab waiting and that the unexpected guests had left. "My taxi is here." She walked over to Brooke and stroked her hair. "Everything will be fine dear, you'll see."
Brooke watched her mother leave; knowing Victoria had just lied to her. She curled up on her bed and stared into nothingness as she watched the orange glow of the sunset drift through her window, feeling nothing would ever be fine again.
Nathan sat at the kitchen counter, watching Jamie as he colored. Watching his son happy gave him so much joy and he wondered how Dan had went through life continually participating in making both him and Lucas miserable.
"Do you think he'll like it?" Jamie looked up at his father, eyes full of innocence. "I want it to be perfect."
"I'm sure it will be bud," he smiled as he ruffled the young child's hair.
"Hey Nathan," Deb walked in carrying a couple of shopping bags. "Hey Jamie."
"Hi Mom," Nathan glanced at her before returning his eyes to the paper Jamie was now folding.
"Hi Nanny Deb," he looked up before retrieving another crayon.
"What you got there?" Deb placed the bags on the table before walking over to her grandson, peering over his shoulder.
"A get well card," he answered. "It's for Grandpa Dan. Daddy and Momma say he's real sick."
She shot a look at Nathan before turning back to Jamie. "Well it looks great. I'm sure it will mean a lot to him." She walked back to the groceries. "Nathan honey, can you give me a hand?"
Nathan walked over to her and stood beside her before speaking quietly, "Go ahead Mom."
"You told Jamie?" she whispered.
"We had to," he replied in the same tone as she spoke. "Lucas called and he overheard us talking about Dan. Its fine mom, we got it handled."
"I hope so," Deb said as she started to put away the groceries, Nathan helping.
"I'm finished," Jamie beamed, holding the card up proudly. "Can we take it to him?"
"Not just yet," Nathan replied. "He's still really…" he paused as he watched Haley walk in the room, "tired."
"Hey Scott fam," Skills open the door a crack and poked his head in.
"Come on inside," Nathan wave him in. "Hey man." He smacked his hand before they gave each other their signature handshake.
"Hi Uncle Skills," Jamie smiled up at him. "I'm making a card for my Grandpa Dan."
"Hey Skills," Haley smiled before looking at Jamie. "Why don't you take Uncle Skills in your room and show him the new game Nanny Deb got you," she sent pleading eyes to her friend.
"A new game?" he looked down at his surrogate nephew. "Well let's go check it out then."
Jamie smiled before running off to his room, holding Skills hand as he followed the young boy. Once they were out of the room, Nathan turned to Haley.
"What is it?' he asked, concern spread across his features.
"Dan's awake," she replied. "And the nurse says he's asking for you and Lucas. There was something in her voice; I think something's wrong."
Nathan and Haley left the house almost immediately, leaving Deb and Skills to keep Jamie busy. They'd called Lucas as they left, picking him and Peyton up on the way to the hospital.
Neither Scott brother knew exactly why they were going but they both felt they needed to be there. They walked up to the information counter on the post op floor where a young woman sat behind a computer.
"Excuse me," Nathan was the first to speak. "We're here to see Dan Scott; I'm not sure what room he's moved to."
She typed in the computer before looking up. "Are you relatives?"
"Yes," Nathan answered. "He's our…" he couldn't quite find the words.
"We're his sons," Lucas supplied.
The woman nodded. "It's Room 226; just down the hall and to your left."
As they started to walk over, Peyton stood still. Lucas turned back to look at her. "What's wrong?"
"I think I should wait here," she replied. She'd seen something in that nurse's eyes that she couldn't explain but she knew she'd seen it before from another nurse, her mother's nurse before everything went wrong. She'd seen enough death in her lifetime and despite her lack of warm feelings for Dan Scott, she just couldn't handle seeing him looking like death warmed over. "I'll be right here when you get back."
"I can stay with her Luke," Haley volunteered before turning to her husband. "Will you be alright?"
"Yeah," Nathan bent over to give her a soft peck. "We'll be right back."
Lucas nodded at Peyton and gave Haley a grateful smile before turning to walk down the hall, Nathan at his side.
"So, you ready for this?" Nathan asked him as they rounded the corner.
Lucas shrugged. "As ready as I'll…" he stopped mid-sentence as alarms blared and a nurse ran out of a room down the hall.
"Code blue!" was suddenly announced by another nurse. "Room 226!"
"Dan," Lucas and Nathan said in unison before rushing towards the room a group of medical personnel had just hurried in to. As they started to run into the room, they were stopped by the nurse they'd met earlier today.
"You can't come in here," Laoraine said pushing them back.
"That's my dad!" Nathan yelled.
"Dan," Lucas eyes went wide as he stared at the scene before him.
"Someone get them out of here," the doctor yelled over his shoulder as he attended to a convulsing Dan. "Give me 5mg of Phenobarbital and 2mg of Thiopental stat."
Nathan and Lucas looked on from the window as Dan's seizing stopped. They were relieved for a moment as they both caught Dan's glance but then his eyes rolled upwards and the machine started its long, steady beep.
Another machine was rolled closer and suddenly the doctor was rubbing the paddles in his hands together.
"Ready, clear!" was heard from a nurse as the doctor placed the pads against Dan's chest, causing his body to jerk upwards. "Charge it," the doctor said again as he rubbed the paddles together. "Dan, fight it!" the doctor's voice seemed to echo as he continued to try and jolt his patient's heart.
Everything seemed to go in slow motion after that. The sounds faded into some sort of muffled buzzing as the medical team continued their work and the patient continued to be unresponsive.
After a few minutes, the doctor handed the paddles to the nurse. "Call it," his tone was solemn but still forceful.
"7:45pm," a male nurse replied as Lucas and Nathan both stared on.
And just like that, after everything, Daniel Roberto Scott was dead.
Aurora Borealis sings in Enter the Halls, "Slain in the course of a conflict, will the courage displayed suffice. As he lay there motionless in wonder none to soon he will surely see. This time, this place, this one shall not go for his story shall end in vein; For this will be his last sunset and his dawn will end in only pain."