"Nathan!" Karen called, running up to him.
Nathan stood up as she and Andy approached.
"How is he? What happened?"
"I don't know, I don't know what happened. We were just getting ready to come to the cafe, and we were talking to each other across the hall, and suddenly he stopped responding to me. So I go into his room and he was..." Nathan trailed off and tried to calm himself down.
"It's okay sweetie. We'll just go find your parents, and I'll come back and fill you in as soon as possible."
"Okay." Nathan said.
"We'll be back." Andy promised as he and Karen walked away.
Nathan sat back down and tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling.
"Nathan." Brooke said breathlessly, sitting down next to him and putting her hand on his shoulder.
"Karen and Andy just went to find my parents and the doctors."
"Oh. So no news yet?" Brooke said, sniffling.
"No. Sorry." Nathan mumbled.
Brooke was silent.
"I don't know what happened." He said, his voice strained.
"It's okay. He'll be okay." Brooke said, dissolving into tears.
"Brooke!" Peyton called. She ran up to where they were sitting and tried to comfort her best friend.
Jake followed, putting his hand on Nathan's shoulder and trying to calm him down.
"He's just a kid, Jake. He was fine this morning, and then suddenly he just...shut down. This isn't supposed to happen, he's been taking medication, he's been so careful..."
Jake sighed, knowing that wasn't exactly true.
"Listen, Nathan. He's strong, he'll pull through."
"I couldn't handle it...if he..." Nathan said quietly.
"He's not." Peyton said firmly.
Haley came up cautiously to the group.
"Hi...how is he?" She asked nobody in particular.
Nathan just stared at his shoes. He was so not in the mood to deal with this all.
"We don't know yet." Jake said gently.
"Oh. Okay...well do any of you need anything? Coffee?"
"I could use some." Brooke said.
"Okay. Anyone else?"
"I'll come with you." Peyton said.
"Me too. You okay Nathan?" Jake asked.
Nathan nodded sullenly, not lifting his head.
"We'll be back." Peyton promised.
As soon as they were gone, Nathan lifted his head and stared at Brooke in disbelief.
"I had to, Nate. They're best friends."
Nathan sighed.
"I know. But this is the last thing I need to deal with right now."
"Well I don't think right now is the best time for you two to discuss your marriage anyways." Brooke said.
"Probably not."
Eventually, Andy, Karen, Deb and Dan all returned to the waiting room, looking distracted.
"How is he?" Brooke and Nathan asked in unison.
"Oh sweetie, they have no idea yet. They're running tests...we just have to wait." Deb said sadly.
Nathan sensed something was very wrong.
"Why do I get the feeling you're not telling us something?"
Deb glanced worriedly at Dan.
"Son, it was pretty bad. He's young, so he has a good chance of recovery, but...we lost him for a few seconds." Dan said quietly.
"What? How do you know?" Brooke said, starting to lose it.
"The doctor told us, he's running some tests now. Lucas is stable. We should be able to see him soon." Karen said.
"All of us?" Brooke asked.
"I think only immediate family is going to be allowed for right now." Karen replied gently.
"Oh." Brooke whispered.
Dan noticed that Nathan had bent his head, so nobody could see his face.
"Nathan?" He said gently.
Nathan didn't respond, but his shoulders were shaking. Dan pulled him close as Nathan sobbed into his shoulder.
"Shh...he'll be okay. He'll be fine. Just you wait. He'll be up and talking in no time." Dan said quietly.
Karen watched the exchange silently, touched.
As soon as Nathan calmed down, he took a deep breath and pulled out his cellphone again.
"I have to call Tim...excuse me." He said, embarassed.
He walked outside and sat on one of the cold benches, leaning against the wall. Then he scrolled through his phonebook and found Tim's number.
"Sup Nate?" Tim answered his phone.
"Hey...I can't make it today."
"What's wrong?"
"Lucas is in the hospital. He had a heart attack."
"Serious?" Tim asked.
"Yeah. I don't know why it happened." He said dully.
"Oh man...wow. Do you want...do you want me to come?"
Nathan sighed and smiled for the first time in a while.
"That would be great."
Within a few minutes, Tim had arrived and he and Nathan were off alone in the corner of the waiting room, talking.
Brooke was hunched over in her seat, writing a note to Lucas for either his parents or Nathan to give to him, since she probably wouldn't be allowed to see him.
Dear Lucas,
The doctors said that only immediate family would be able to visit you at first, but I couldn't wait that long to tell you that I love you, and I am waiting right out here until I can see you in person. You sure scared me boy, but I am praying for you. Imagine that, huh? You mean so much to me. Just remember that I will be right here when you wake up, and I will be seeing you very soon. I'll definitely be at your house with you when you get home to take good care of you. Hopefully the doctors will let me see you soon. Feel better, baby. I love you.
Brooke xoxo
She reread what she wrote, trying to blot out the tear stains.
"Hey." A soft voice said beside her.
Haley put her arm around Brooke.
"Hey Haley...how are you holding up?"
"I'm okay...I'm just really worried about Lucas."
"Me too."
"I just feel like we've grown apart lately, and now this happens..."
"He'll be so happy to see you, TutorGirl. Hell, I've missed you. Once Lucas gets better, we all need to start hanging out again."
"Definitely." Haley smiled.
"Deb, Lucas has been taking his medication when he is at your house, right?" Karen asked.
"Of course." Dan answered for her.
"I was just asking. I want to make sure the doctor would know everything so he can help my son." Karen said stiffly.
"Our son." Dan corrected her.
"Trust me, Karen. We make sure he takes care of himself. There was only one time that he missed his medication, and that was weeks ago." Deb assured her.
"What? Why didn't you make him take it?" Karen asked.
"It was the night...with the whole...custody thing." Deb said.
"Oh." Karen said, feeling guilty.
"Yeah. He kind of ran over to our house without packing anything." Dan said.
Karen glared at him.
"I'm just saying." Dan shrugged.
"Now's not the time." Andy said.
"Don't bother." Dan snapped.
"Please, let's remain calm. Let's just wait for the doctor." Deb said exasperatedly.
"What's going on?" Nathan asked, walking up with Tim."
"Nothing." Dan said.
"What custody thing?" Nathan asked.
"Nathan, it's not important now." Deb said.
"Yes it is. Look, Nathan...awhile ago Andy and I began talking to a lawyer about our options. We wanted to find out a way to get back full custody of Lucas." Karen admitted.
Nathan swallowed, taking it all in.
"Nathan, we're really sorry. It's all over now." Karen said quickly.
"When?" He asked simply.
"What?"
"When. When did you start all this?"
"After the car accident."
"Of course." Nathan sighed. He turned and went back outside without a word.
"Great." Dan sighed.
"I had to tell him, Dan." Karen insisted.
"Well as usual Karen, your timing is impeccable."
"What was I supposed to do Dan?"
"How about waiting until we're not in the hospital waiting room, waiting to see if our son is okay? His older brother had a heart attack at 17 years old."
Everyone was silent until Tim's cell phone rang.
"Hey...oh, damn. Is he totally tweaked? I'm at the hospital with Nathan...Lucas had a heart attack. I don't know...yeah, Jake's here too. Yeah will you tell him that? Thanks. Later." Tim said, hanging up.
"Who was that?" Jake asked.
"Whitey."
Jake flinched, remembering he had practice.
"It should be okay." Tim said.
"We should go talk to Whitey." Jake said.
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry, tell Lucas that I'll be back soon. But I've got to take Jenny now, my parents can't watch her today..." Jake said.
"I'll help you." Peyton said.
"Come back soon, P Saywer." Brooke said, knowing how Peyton felt about hospitals.
"Absolutely." Peyton promised.
Nathan passed them on his way back inside, and quickly said goodbye.
After they left, Nathan pulled Lucas' iPod out of his sweatshirt and listened to it. He and Lucas may have some things in common, but their taste in music wasn't one of them. Still, it seemed comforting somehow listening to the bands that he had never heard of, it seemed like Lucas was there and was going to be okay.
He started listening music, and settled back against, trying to take his mind off everything.
"Nathan, your parents want to know if you're alright."Brooke said quietly, coming over to him.
"How nice." He mumbled.
"I just wanted to make sure you're okay."
"I'm just perfect."
"You sure?"
"Brooke that last comment was dripping in sarcasm, in case you didn't notice. My brother is in the hospital, I just got of rehab, I just found out that Karen and Andy were planning some custody battle, and to top it all off, most of that crap is my fault."
"It is not."Brooke insisted.
"Rehab is my fault, the custody thing is my fault-"
"How is that your fault?"
"They started it after the car accident, which was my fault."
"Nathan, come on."
"No, Brooke! This is all screwed up and it's all my fault."
"You and Lucas, always blaming everything on yourself. Just accept the fact that sometimes bad things happen, it's not your fault, and it will get better. You do not control everything that happens. Just please accept these things and let people in, let people help you for once!" Brooke ranted.
Nathan was stunned for a moment.
"Sorry. I'm just really stressed out." Brooke said sheepishly.
"It's okay." Nathan said.
Brooke smiled at him, and he burst out laughing.
"What?" She laughed.
"You're crazy, Brooke Davis."
"Most likely. So you're okay now?"
"Better than before." Nathan said.
"Good."
"Hey...would you mind if I could just sit here...by myself?" Nathan asked.
"Oh, sure." Brooke said.
"Thanks." He said, settling into his chair and tilting his head back.
Nathan walked into Lucas' room. It was dimly lit, and it felt a little chilly.
Lucas was lying in bed, looking pale, weak, and thin.
"Hey." He said quietly.
"Hi." Nathan said, sitting down beside him and lacing his fingers through his. He squeezed Lucas' hand and smiled weakly.
"Nice room, huh?" Lucas said sarcastically. His hand felt cold in Nathan's grasp.
"Yeah. Are you okay? Should I get like...a blanket or something?" Nathan said, feeling useless.
"No, I don't need it."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. Listen Nate, can you do something for me?"
"Anything."
"Keep an eye on my mom. I know she has Andy, but-"
Nathan's heart sank, realizing where this was going.
"No...don't talk like that." He said, shaking his head and trying to smile encouragingly.
"Nathan..." Lucas sighed.
"No." Nathan insisted, his eyes filling with tears.
"Please. Promise me."
"No!" Nathan almost shouted.
"I need you to do this for me."
"You aren't going to die." Nathan insisted again.
"You're going to drive me crazy, buddy." Lucas joked.
Nathan laughed, letting the tears fall.
"Fine." He managed to choke out.
He and Lucas stared at each other, unsure of what to say next.
"Thank you. I love you, little brother. I love you so much." Lucas said finally, closing his eyes. His head slowly started to turn the other way, away from Nathan. His hand slipped out of Nathan's.
"No...Lucas...Lucas!" Nathan pleaded as a dull beep sounded.
Nathan started shaking. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized it was someone else who was shaking him.
"Nathan. Nathan sweetie?" Deb said, shaking Nathan from his dreams. He could hear the music still playing softly in the headphones.
"What? Where's Lucas?" He asked, alarmed. He ripped the headphones off of his ears and turned off the iPod.
"Calm down, it's okay, you were dreaming. Your brother is awake and really wants to see you." Deb said gently.
"Really? How is he?"
"Well only your Dad and Karen got to see him, but he told your Dad to tell you, and I quote 'get your ass in here', so go ahead."
"Do the doctors know if he...?"
"He is doing a lot better than they thought he would, considering all that happened. They say he should be as good as new in a few days."
Nathan smiled and took a deep breath.
"Okay." He said, getting up.
"Wait wait wait!" Brooke called.
"What?"
"Give this to him. If you don't I'll hunt you down."
"Okay I'll do that, only if you promise to lay off the caffeine."
"Go." She insisted, smiling.
He found Lucas' room, and was really happy to see that it was not some dark, cold room like in his dream.
"Finally." Lucas said weakly.
"I'm sorry, I was asleep."
"No problem."
"How are you feeling?"
"I've been better."
"I'll bet." Nathan said, scooting closer.
Lucas pulled himself up into a sitting position.
"You look freaked. You okay?"
"Let's just say I had an even worse nightmare than the ones I had at rehab." Nathan said, squeezing his brother's hand tight.
"Are you okay?" Lucas said, studying his expression.
"I'm definitely okay now, knowing you're okay."
"Oh...well, good. Thanks."
"No problem." Nathan said.
Nathan remembered the piece of paper in his pocket, and handed it to Lucas.
"What's this?" Lucas asked.
"Note from Brooke. She's probably about ready to disguise herself as a candy striper just so she can see you."
Lucas laughed and read the note.
"By the way your girlfriend is nuts."
"Yeah I know." Lucas grinned.
He smiled to himself and folded it up again, thumbing the slightly wrinkled paper.
"Tell her that I love her too, and I can't wait until I can see her."
"Okay."
"You really seem shaky." Lucas said.
"Well, my brother did just had a heart attack."
"Your dream...it was me, you know...wasn't it?"
"Yeah... but it's not going to happen. I won't let you. I won't let you give up on me." Nathan said firmly.
"Good to know."
Karen watched the brothers silently from the window. Dan approached her and followed her gaze into the room.
"It's nice isn't it?" He asked.
"It is." Karen admitted.
"Oh good, Mr. Scott, Ms. Roe." The doctor interrupted, walking up to them.
"Yes?" Karen asked.
"I just wanted to talk to you about your son. Now he will be fine, but I understand that he was in a car accident a few months ago?"
"Yes." Dan said.
"Okay, now there aren't any complications from that, but I have to tell you that even though Lucas is strong, that is a lot for anyone to take in such a short amount of time. I just want you to make sure he is extra careful from now on. Now, who is going to be taking him home?"
Dan glanced at Karen.
"We haven't worked it out yet." He said quickly.
"Fine. Just keep in mind that he really needs to keep up with his meds, he needs to not exert himself, and really get enough rest."
"Of course." Karen said.
"Anything else, doc?" Dan asked.
"Nope. I'll be back later to check on him."
"Thank you." They said as he walked away.
"I'm sorry, but I think Lucas here should get some rest." The nurse said, poking her head in the door.
"Alright. Can I just have one more minute?" Nathan asked.
"One more minute." The nurse said, and left.
"Okay. Um, so, I will be here. Feel better." Nathan said.
"I will."
Nathan didn't want to overdo the affection, so he squeezed Lucas' hand again, and placed his other hand on top for a moment.
They both smiled at each other, not needing any spoken words.
"I'll be back later." Nathan promised, messing up Lucas' hair.
"How is he?" Brooke asked when Nathan returned.
"He's asleep. He's doing good...he's going to be okay."
Brooke smiled.
"You really love him don't you?" She asked.
"Yeah." Nathan smiled.
"Oh, that reminds me. He says he loves you and he can't wait to see you."
"Whenever that'll be." She muttered.
"Probably a few hours." Nathan said.
Sure enough, several hours later, the nurse came out and said Lucas was allowed visitors. Brooke jumped up happily and ran to see her boyfriend, who was still sound asleep.
Brooke watched Lucas as he slept, holding onto his hand loosely, and stroking his hair with the other hand. He looked so cute asleep, his hair was even more touseled than it usually was, and she thought he looked even more adorable than usual.
Slowly he opened his eyes and focused on her, blinking a few times.
"Hey cutie." She said, smiling.
"Hey." Lucas said, his face breaking into a wide smile.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better. Did Nathan tell you my message?"
"Yep."
"Is he okay? He seemed pretty freaked out when I saw him earlier."
"Yeah, he just had a nightmare, and plus he was really worried about you."
"Okay. Good." Lucas smiled.
"So your mom says you can go home in a few days."
"Good. I hate hospitals. I've been here way too much this past year."
"Yeah." Brooke agreed.
"I'm so happy you're okay." Brooke said, choking up and leaning down to hug him.
Lucas hugged her back.
"It's going to be fine." He assured her.
"I was so scared...you're so young, I was so afraid." Brooke sobbed into his shoulder.
"It's fine, I'm going to be okay."
"Okay." Brooke sniffled.
"Yeah."
"Is this hurting you?" She asked.
"What?"
"Hugging."
"Oh. No." Lucas said, holding her closer.
She finally pulled back and smiled at him.
"You're adorable with that bedhead of yours."
"Nathan messed it up before he left earlier." Lucas laughed.
"He loves you so much. He was worried sick about you."
"I love him too, I missed him so much, you know?"
"Yeah, I do." Brooke nodded.
"Oh Lucas!" Jake said a sing song voice as he walked in.
"Hey man." Lucas said.
"I come bearing gifts. I got you three kinds of skittles from the vending machines."
"You know me so well. Thanks." Lucas smiled.
"No problem. So how long are you in for?
"A couple days."
"Ah, you get to miss the last few days of school before winter break."
"Yeah. Where is everyone else?"
"Nathan went to your house to get a bunch of your stuff, your parents are talking with the doctors, Peyton's with Jenny, and Haley is..."
"Right here." Haley said, coming in the room.
"Hey." Lucas smiled.
"Hey there." Haley smiled back.
"We'll just be outside." Brooke said, grabbing Jake by the arm and leading him outside.
"How are you feeling?" Haley asked quietly.
"Fantastic. Except, well, my chest kind of hurts." Lucas joked.
"Shut up. That's not funny." Haley said, swallowing the lump in her throat.
"I resent that. I'm extremely funny."
"No you're not."
"I am too."
"You're not, but I still love you anyway." Haley said, leaning down to hug him.
"Love you too, Hales." Lucas said.
"You're just a kid..." Haley said almost inaudibly.
"I know."
"I'm so glad you're alright."
"Me too."
Nathan came in and stopped short.
"Oh sorry, I can come back." He said, shifting the bag in his arms.
"No, I was just leaving." Haley said, getting up and squeezing Lucas' hand once before leaving.
"Sorry, did I totally ruin that moment?" Nathan asked quietly.
"No, it's okay. What's all this?"
"Clothes, two books that were on your desk so I assume you're reading them, and your HCM meds."
Lucas sighed and placed the bag on the floor.
"Thanks." He said listlessly.
"You okay?" Nathan asked.
"Yeah." Lucas said, nodding.
"Okay." Nathan said, not really believing him.
"I just...I hate it here."
"I know, me too."
"This wasn't supposed to happen. I quit the team. I gave it up, my dreams, my future. I took the medication, I stopped pushing myself, and here I am. Seventeen years old and recovering from a heart attack."
"It's screwed up."
"Now I just feel like...everything I do to prevent stuff like this from happening..."
"It's still worth it." Nathan said before Lucas could finish.
"Is it?"
"Of course it is." Nathan insisted.
"It's not working, Nate."
Nathan didn't know what to say.
Karen, Dan and Deb came in, breaking the awkward silence.
"Hi baby, how are you?" Karen asked.
"That's a loaded question." Nathan muttered under his breath.
Lucas laughed and smacked his arm lightly.
"What?" Karen asked.
"Nevermind. I'm doing okay." Lucas said.
"Okay, well I think Jake, Brooke, Peyton and Haley wanted to say their goodbyes. It's getting late." Deb said.
"Damn, Luke you're popular." Nathan grinned.
Lucas laughed. Karen, Deb, and Dan left to give Lucas and his friends some alone time.
Peyton and Jake came in for a quick hug and promised they would be back tomorrow.
"I'll bring more candy." Jake promised.
"Thank you." Lucas smiled.
"I'll be back tomorrow. I love you." Haley said.
"I love you too, Hales." Lucas said.
Brooke waited until the others had left, then covered Nathan's eyes with one hand and used the other hand to lean on the bed and kiss Lucas.
"Bye." Brooke whispered, and walked out of the room.
Nathan rolled his eyes and smiled at Lucas.
"Okay bro, so how are you feeling now?"
"Crappy."
"It'll get better."
"If you say so." Lucas said, leaning back in bed.
Hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you think!