Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! I needed to come up with something exciting to happen –evil grin-
I actually got the idea while taking the PSATs, which are also evil )
Nathan was unconscious for a moment, but opened his eyes almost immediately after the crash. He hurt all over, but he could definitely tell his left arm was broken and that his already injured knee was pretty screwed up.
His head was pounding, and he forced his head up to check on Lucas. Lucas seemed to be unconscious, and Nathan gasped at the amount of blood there was. He weakly grasped at Lucas' arm to check for a pulse. Lucas gently brushed his fingers against Nathan's hand and Nathan felt a slight amount of relief.
Then he allowed himself to fall into unconsciousness as the flashing lights of the ambulance approached.
Dan and Deb had been enjoying their mini-vacation very much. They were on the beach looking at the stars, when Dan's cell phone rang.
"Dan, I thought we said no cell phones."
"I'm sorry." Dan said, and flipped open his phone.
"Dan Scott."
"Mr. Scott, this is the hospital in Tree Hill, we need you and your wife to come down here."
Dan froze.
"What happened?"
"Your sons have been in a car accident, they were just brought in a little while ago."
"Are they going to be alright?"
"They're both being taken care of as we speak. We'll know more in a little while."
"Okay, we'll be there soon. Thank you." Dan said, and hung up.
Deb was staring, wide eyed at her husband.
"Dan?"
Dan didn't respond, he kept taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.
"Dan…. Dan talk to me. What's going on?"
"There's been an accident."
"Oh my God. Nathan? Lucas?"
"Both, they were both brought in. We need to get down there."
"Of course. I'll drive."
"Okay." Dan said.
They rushed into the emergency room and went up to the desk.
"Hi, we're Deb and Dan Scott. Our sons were in a car accident tonight and were brought in a little while ago?" Dan said.
"Right. Have a seat, and the doctors should be out shortly."
"Thank you." Dan sighed.
"Mr. And Mrs. Scott." Jake called.
"Jake…" Dan said.
"I was driving home from the dance when I saw the ambulances. Do you know anything yet?"
"Not yet, they're still with the doctors."
"I called Karen." Jake said.
"She must be terrified." Deb said.
"We all are." Dan said, grasping Deb's hand.
"Jake…was the accident bad?" Deb asked quietly.
"It looked pretty ugly." Jake admitted.
"Did you see what happened?"
"All I could tell was that they hit a pole, but there was dents on the driver's side as well."
"Are you here for Lucas and Nathan Scott?" A doctor asked.
"Yes." Dan said.
"I'll go get coffee or something." Jake said, and left, leaving them alone with the doctor.
"Your son Nathan is getting x-rays done, his arm was broken in two places, and he'll probably need some more physical therapy for his knee. He also has cuts and bruises, a mild concussion, and will most likely be sore for a while. But he'll be fine."
"And Lucas?" Dan asked.
"Lucas is being treated by another doctor, the blood loss he experienced was pretty serious. He should be fine though, he is stable, he hit his wrist on the dashboard and has a pretty big cut on his forehead that we needed to close up, but like his brother has cuts, bruises, a mild concussion and will have some soreness."
"Should be fine?" Deb said cautiously.
"Deb! Dan!" Karen said, running up to them.
"Karen, this is doctor…"
"Doctor Howard. I was just telling Mr. And Mrs. Scott about Lucas Scott's condition."
"Yes. I'm his mother."
"Oh. Well he is still being treated, his wrist was fractured after hitting the dashboard, he has a mild concussion, with some cuts and bruises. However, because of his heart condition, the blood loss caused his heart rate to go down quite a bit. He's stable now, and will be staying overnight."
"Heart condition?"
Dan looked up in surprise. He was sure Lucas would've told her by now.
"Karen, he has HCM." Dan said quietly.
"What? No. I saw the test, he was fine."
"He used Keith's test results. That's part of the reason he moved in with me last spring, because I was paying for his medication."
Karen didn't know whether to cry or scream.
"How could you keep this from me?"
"Obviously this is a family matter. Either I or another doctor will check in with you shortly." Dr. Howard said, and walked away.
"Dan Scott you have done a lot of low things in your life, but this is low even for you." Karen said darkly.
"Karen, I honestly thought he would've told you by now. He promised me he would."
"You should've told me the minute you found out, he wasn't going to tell anyone! He could've died, Dan! Why didn't you at least make him quit basketball? How could you be so reckless with my son?"
"He's my son too, Karen."
"Oh now he is!" Karen yelled.
"Obviously I haven't been there for him, but I am now and we are working on a good relationship, Karen."
"Based on keeping me out of his life!"
"Karen." Deb interrupted.
"Did you know about this?"
"No, no I didn't." Deb said.
"Only me and Nathan knew about it. Now Whitey knows because Lucas quit basketball, and Jake knows because Lucas had some symptoms over the summer."
"What kind of symptoms?" Deb asked, worried.
"He blacked out once playing at the Rivercourt."
Karen was about to respond when Dr. Howard came back to where they were sitting.
"Nathan is all done with x-rays, he's right down the hall, first door to your left. Lucas should be brought to his room pretty soon."
"How long will they have to stay?" Dan asked.
"For right now, just Lucas has to, overnight for observation."
"Okay." Deb said, standing up.
She and Dan followed the doctor's directions and found Nathan sitting on a table getting a cast put on by the doctor. He already had his knee brace on. The doctor finished up and let them have some time alone.
"Nathan." Deb said tearfully, rushing over to him and hugging him.
"I'm okay. Except everything hurts like hell."
"Oh. Sorry." Deb said, letting go.
"What happened Nathan?" Dan asked.
"I turned too early and collided with a car, which sent us skidding across the street into some telephone pole, and Lucas…oh my God. Is he going to be okay? This is all my fault, I was so stupid!"
"Nathan, he should be fine. He lost a lot of blood, and the HCM probably didn't help much with trying to get his heart rate back to normal, but besides that he broke his wrist and has a concussion like you do."
"Can I see him?"
"He's probably in his room now. Karen will be with him." Deb said.
"She's not too happy with me." Dan said.
"Oh…" Nathan said.
"Yeah." Dan sighed.
"He was going to tell her tomorrow, he didn't want to ruin tonight."
"It's all out in the open now I guess." Dan said.
Dan approached the desk.
"Excuse me, my son Lucas Scott was in a car accident, do you know where he would be?"
"Yes, he's right down the hall, take a right and it's the second door on your right."
"Thank you."
They found Karen was sitting by Lucas' bedside.
"How is he?" Deb asked quietly.
"He's asleep, the doctors said he would probably be pretty weak and sore for awhile."
Nathan sat down on the other side of Lucas.
"How are you feeling Nathan?" Karen asked.
"I'll be okay. I'm so sorry Karen, it's all my fault, I turned too early and-"
"It's alright Nathan. As long as you're both okay."
"Thank you." Nathan sighed, looking down and playing with the edge of the blankets on Lucas' bed.
"Oh, Nate. Jake was here, he saw the accident and wanted to check on you." Deb said after a moment.
"I should go tell him we're okay." Nathan said, getting up slowly.
"Are you okay to go on your own?" Dan asked.
"Yeah." Nathan said.
"Jake." Nathan called.
Jake was finishing some coffee.
"Hey man, is everything okay?" Jake said.
"Yeah. I'd hug you or something but my entire body hurts." Nathan laughed.
"Is Lucas alright?"
"Yeah, he's pretty wiped out for right now. He's asleep in his room down the hall."
"So I guess you don't have to stay overnight then."
"Nah, except I think we might be here awhile. Karen found out about Lucas' HCM and she was not happy about it."
"Oh man."
"Yeah."
"It is getting late, isn't it? I better get going. Do you want me to call everyone and fill them in?"
"That would be great."
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow. I'm glad you're okay."
"Thanks man." Nathan said, and returned to Lucas' room, where Dan and Deb were waiting outside the door.
"Nathan, we should probably take you home. Your dad is going to stay here and work out the insurance and other things with Karen." Deb said.
"Okay." Nathan said.
"Karen, my mom and I are heading home. I just wanted to say goodbye to Lucas."
"Oh, sure. I need to talk to your Dad anyway." Karen said, kissing Lucas on the forehead and going out to talk with Dan and Deb.
Nathan sat down and watched Lucas for a minute. He looked pretty pale and had dark circles under his eyes.
"Look I know you can't hear me, but I know it worked once before, me sitting here and talking to you, and you woke up. Even though you hated me then." Nathan laughed quietly. He had his hand on the edge of Lucas' bed as he talked to him.
He glanced out the window as he heard the muffled sounds of Karen and his dad talking about bills and insurance. He felt Lucas' fingers brush up against his hand.
"I was asleep, not in a coma. Dumbass." Lucas joked weakly.
"How do you feel?"
"Like crap. You?"
"Ditto. I'm so sorry Luke."
"It was an accident."
"I can't believe how stupid that was."
"We're both okay. By the way you can't borrow my car anymore."
Nathan laughed.
"Well I just came to say goodnight, my mom is taking me home while Dad and your mom have it out about your HCM."
"Oh boy."
"Yeah. She's not too happy right now."
"It's my fault."
"Well at least it's all out in the open now."
"Yeah."
"Okay, well, I'd hug you but like I told Jake, everything hurts."
"Jake was here?"
"He saw the accident. He said to feel better."
"Was Peyton with him?"
"No. He's calling everyone tonight."
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow hopefully." Lucas said.
"Yeah we can be on bed rest together." Nathan said.
"So excited." Lucas mumbled sleepily.
"I am out of the game for awhile. And I have to rehab."
"That really sucks. I just have to…sleep a lot." Lucas laughed.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Then I get to learn all about my options for basketball." Nathan said in mock excitement.
"You'll pull through. I'll help you out with the rehab any way I can."
"Love you, man." Nathan said, letting go of Lucas' hand and standing up.
"You too."
Okay, so I didn't make their injuries too bad, mainly because I'm not a doctor so I couldn't really write that realistically. However, Nathan has some stuff to deal with now, being out of the game.
Thanks for all the lovely reviews, I'm glad y'all enjoyed the twist, even though I'm a little evil )
And ah, yes. Karen FINALLY knows. This should be…interesting.