Hi all! Sorry for another long break between chapters. I was busy growing a human :) Thanks for reading and reviewing, I officially hit 500 reviews for this story, which is quite exciting!
Lucas was almost sure time froze for a second when he saw his brother hit the wall.
"Shit." Keith said almost inaudibly.
Lucas stared numbly at Nathan. He was out cold.
Lucas glanced up and saw his uncle watching the two of them, apparently rendered speechless.
"What the hell did you do?" Lucas asked quietly. He quickly turned his attention back to Nathan.
Keith remained silent.
Lucas then heard his question repeated by his mother, only at a much higher volume.
"Karen, I didn't mean to—"
"That was no accident!" Karen shouted.
"I'm sorry." Keith said almost inaudibly.
"Lucas, Andy is calling an ambulance. They'll be here any minute." Karen said, turning to her son.
"Okay." Lucas managed to say.
"I suggest you go home and get yourself together before Dan comes looking for you." Karen hissed at Keith.
"Don't you mean the police?"
"I'm sure you'll be hearing from them soon. Right now Dan would be the one to worry about if I were you."
"Lucas, I'm sorry." Keith said, walking towards Lucas.
"Get away from him!" Karen shouted.
Lucas winced. He swallowed hard and scanned the parking lot for any sign of the ambulance.
Keith took the hint and started walking towards his car.
"Don't you dare think about driving. Get a cab. " Karen said firmly.
Keith nodded and walked away as Andy approached them.
Lucas let his thoughts fade away as he sat there with his unconscious brother. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what had just happened. He barely registered someone pulling him away gently as the paramedics came to get Nathan.
"Lucas."
Lucas blinked and focused his eyes on Haley, who was looking at him with tears in her eyes. He wasn't sure how much time had passed.
"Lucas, what happened?"
"I don't know…"
"Karen said Keith punched him and he hit the wall. Why would Keith want to hurt Nathan?"
"He didn't want to hurt him."
"What do you mean?"
"Nathan pushed me out of the way."
"Lucas, that doesn't make sense. What are you talking about?"
"Keith was going after me, Hales."
"Why would he do that?"
"Where's Brooke?" Lucas mumbled, ignoring her questions. He regretted telling her the truth, he was in no mood to explain anything.
"Can you please explain to me what happened?"
"Hales, I have no idea what the hell happened. Where is Brooke?"
"I'm here." Brooke called out, rushing over to them.
Lucas buried himself in her embrace and shut his eyes, hoping somehow he could wake up from all of it.
"Can I get anyone anything?" Andy asked at the hospital.
Karen was a few feet away on the phone. Lucas was sitting between Brooke and Haley. Brooke squeezed his hand tight and he gave her a half-hearted smile.
"Nothing for me." Haley mumbled. She looked like she was going to break down crying any second.
Haley's voice stirred something inside of Lucas. He was so wrapped up in himself that he forgot to be there for his best friend.
"I'm sorry Hales." Lucas whispered as he put his other arm around her and pulled her close.
Haley leaned into his embrace. Brooke reached over and clasped Haley's hand with her free one.
"He'll be okay." Haley said, if only for her own benefit.
"Of course he will." Lucas said firmly.
"Honey your dad said he'll be here in fifteen minutes." Karen said.
"Okay."
The last person Lucas wanted to see at that moment was his father. He had no idea how to explain any of this to him.
"How are you doing?" Haley whispered after a few more minutes of silence.
"I'm okay. I'll be better when we hear something." Lucas replied.
"We will soon." Haley said.
"Yeah. Hey, I'm going to go outside and get some air if you guys don't mind." Lucas said, getting up.
"You okay?" Brooke asked.
"Yeah. I'll be back soon."
"I'm worried about him." Haley whispered to Brooke.
"He's just upset. He saw his brother get brutally injured."
Haley was about to respond, but she saw Deb and Dan enter the waiting area.
"Karen!" Deb called out as she and Dan approached.
"We haven't heard anything yet, but we think it should be soon."
"I can't believe Keith would do something like this." Deb said, almost in tears.
"I don't know what got into him." Karen said, hugging her.
"Where's Lucas?" Dan asked.
"He needed to get some air. I'm sure he'll be back soon." Haley said quickly.
"Oh honey, how are you doing?" Deb asked, sitting down next to her.
"I'm okay. Just in disbelief like the rest of you. Keith is one of the nicest people I know, I just can't believe that this happened."
"We'll deal with that later." Dan said darkly.
"Dan, we don't know the whole story." Deb said, trying to be calm.
"My son is in the hospital. I'm not sure what story could make this okay."
Karen debated whether or not to tell them what she had seen and heard. She knew that she had only seen the tail end of things, but she suspected that it had little to do with Nathan and perhaps everything to do with Lucas and Dan.
It's not the right time, she decided. Once everyone knew Nathan was alright, then perhaps they could get into what really happened.
"Are you the family of Nathan Scott?" A doctor approached, interrupting Karen's thoughts.
"Yes. We're his parents." Dan said, indicating himself and Deb.
"Luckily he did not break anything, but he does have a concussion and some stitches. He's doing well and he'll be taken to his room very shortly. He was not awake yet when I left him, but it's only a matter of time. For right now, I think just immediate family should go in. Mr. and Mrs. Scott, I wanted to talk to you about Nathan's injury and some treatment options. It won't take long, then you can go see your son."
"Okay." Deb nodded.
"Wait. His brother will be back soon. What's the room number?" Dan asked.
"Room 405."
"We'll tell Lucas when he gets back." Karen promised.
"Thanks Karen. Tell him we'll be in there as soon as we can."
Across the waiting room, Lucas waited just out of sight until he saw the doctor walk away with Dan and Deb. He waited another minute to rejoin the group.
"Is he awake?" Lucas asked.
"Not yet honey. But you can go sit with him if you want. It's room 405." Karen said.
"Is he okay?"
"Sounds like he will be. The doctor just wanted to talk to your dad and Deb, but he said Nathan is doing well."
"Okay. I guess I'll go see him then."
Lucas followed the nurse's instructions and walked into Nathan's room and sat down.
"Hey buddy." Lucas said quietly.
Nathan was still not awake, but Lucas kept on talking.
"I don't know what the hell you were thinking, pushing me out of the way. I could have taken that punch. In fact, I probably deserved it to a certain extent. Honestly, I'm glad Dad isn't in here right now. I'm not sure that I can face him right now, knowing that a lot of this stems from him. I knew Keith wasn't too happy about Dad being in my life, but I thought maybe it was getting better. I never imagined he would throw it in my face like that, calling me an ungrateful bastard."
Lucas shifted in his chair and sighed.
"I just really hate that word."
Keith finally walked in his front door and shut it behind him. His hands were still shaking and his heart was racing.
"What the hell is wrong with me?"
Out of habit, he reached for a beer. He looked at the bottle in his hand and shook his head.
"Well there's one answer." He mumbled to himself.
When did everything change? He searched his memory trying to pinpoint exactly where, in his opinion, everything had derailed.
He couldn't say he was completely happy with his life before he left town, but it was a good one. He had a successful business that he built on his own. Lucas and Karen were his family. So what if he and Dan hadn't been close in years? Keith had the opportunity to be a father figure to Lucas and in a lot of ways a partner to Karen.
If only she had loved him the way he loved her.
It wasn't realistic to expect that life in Tree Hill would stop without him. He just never expected that he would come back and hardly recognize anything or anyone. Every time Lucas had left him a message or sent him an email it was full of updates but somehow he had never taken them seriously.
His cell phone was on the counter. He picked it up and looked at all of the voicemails from Lucas that he had saved.
Keith? I'm so sorry about Jules. Everything got completely messed up. Please call me back so we can talk.
Hey, I know we haven't talked in a few weeks but I thought you might want to know that my mom is coming home from New Zealand. And…she and Andy are engaged. I don't know how I feel about that. When are you coming home? I really want to talk to you. At least call me back.
Keith, it's me again. I don't know what it's going to take to get you home. I really don't. Nathan is in rehab now. He kept taking painkillers after the car accident and he couldn't stop. And I had no idea. How is that possible? I really wish you were here. Just because I am working on things with Dad doesn't mean I don't need you in my life too. You don't even have to reach out to me. Just let someone here know you're okay. Knowing that Nathan could be in such a dark place makes me scared for you too. I'm just really scared right now.
Look, I don't know why I'm even bothering with this but my mom's wedding is tomorrow. Things are good with Brooke again, Nathan's home, and I'm really happy. I figured if I stopped calling you with the bad stuff in my life, maybe it would change your mind about coming home.
And one from someone else.
Keith, it' your brother. Look, I honestly haven't thought I needed you since the day you left. Hell, it's actually been years. I'm not sure that I'm calling you now because I need you. But I know Lucas does. We're in the hospital Keith. Lucas had a heart attack. He's going to be alright, but I don't know how to be there for him. I'm afraid that I won't be able to make up for everything I did to him. I'm really trying here, Keith. Lucas wants you here. I want you here, if only for you to see how much I'm trying. Although I guess leaving a voicemail to someone who probably won't respond may not be the best indication of personal growth. Lucas has reached out to you in the past. Now I'm reaching out to you on his behalf. Please consider coming home, for his sake.
After listening to his brother's message again, he knew that he had to take accountability for his actions. Starting with his actions tonight.
After about ten more minutes of silence, Lucas had propped his head up on his hand and started to doze off.
"Honey?" Deb said quietly, touching his arm.
"Oh. Hey." Lucas blinked a few times and glanced over at Nathan.
"Still out. Why don't you go home for a bit and get some sleep?"
"I'm okay."
"Are you sure? Your father will be back in a minute. One of us can call you when Nathan's awake."
"Okay." Lucas said.
He hated to leave his brother, but he wasn't sure how to explain everything to his family quite yet. Nathan didn't need to wake up to a room full of tension.
"Go get some sleep." Deb smiled.
Lucas nodded and squeezed her hand before getting up.
"I'll be back later." Lucas said quietly to Nathan.
As he was leaving he saw his father approaching, so he quickly turned his head and quickened his pace.
"Where's he going?" Dan asked as he watched his son go down the hallway.
"Home to rest a bit."
"How did you convince him to leave Nathan?"
"It was surprisingly easy."
"Something's wrong."
"What?"
"He hasn't been around at all during this. You know how hard it is to separate them. He's avoiding us, or me at least."
"Why would he avoid you? Keith's the one who hit Nathan."
"I don't know, I just have a feeling."
The doctor came back to check on Nathan just as he was waking up.
"Hi sweetie. It's so good to see you with your eyes open." Deb said.
"How are you feeling, son?" Dan asked.
"I've been better."
"Honey this is Dr. Montgomery. We were just talking about your injury."
"Nathan, you have a concussion, stitches and some bruising on your face. You're lucky, it looks like you just missed a broken nose or cheekbone." Dr. Montgomery said.
"He's very lucky." Deb agreed.
"What would you say your pain level is?"
"I've had worse. Maybe a four or a five." Nathan sighed.
"Let's discuss your options for pain management."
"Pretty much nothing?" Nathan guessed.
"Not entirely. Of course we need to take your history into account, but we also are here to help you recover and make you comfortable. If you need it, we can give you ibuprofen or a very low-risk pain killer."
Deb patted her son's arm in sympathy.
"I'll be okay." Nathan said after a moment.
"Are you sure son?" Dan asked.
"Yeah. I really don't think I need anything. That's what got me into trouble last time."
"I'm glad you're keeping your recovery in mind. But if you need medication, we don't want you to put if off until you feel desperate. Don't hesitate to let us know if you need anything, we can explore your options."
"Thanks." Nathan mumbled.
"Of course I'm sure you're wondering about when you can start doing basketball again."
"I'm hoping it is sooner rather than later."
"You need to recover before you start training again. Trust me, you're not going to feel like doing it anyway."
"How long?"
The doctor paused for a moment and looked at the chart in his hand.
"Let's revisit that in a bit, it's too soon to tell. We'll keep you overnight and talk some more tomorrow."
Nathan tensed up.
"Not even a guess?"
"I want to monitor your progress before I give my final recommendation. I'll be back later." The doctor promised.
"Sweetie, you know you don't have to put on a brave face or anything like that." Deb said once the doctor was gone.
"Mom, I'm fine. Really. I will be okay."
"Okay. I'll call Lucas." Deb said.
"Yeah, where is he?"
"Your mom told him to go home and sleep."
"I'm surprised he listened."
"Yeah, me too." Dan said absently.
"What's wrong?" Nathan asked.
"Nothing." Dan said quickly.
"Hey." Lucas said from the doorway.
"Hey. You okay?"
"I should be asking you that."
"My head feels like it's going to explode, now that you mention it."
"Running headfirst into a drunk guy's fist can have that effect."
"Yeah I'm thinking I won't be doing that again anytime soon." Nathan said, smiling weakly.
"Nate." Lucas sighed.
"What?"
"You, better than anyone, know that I can take a punch. Why did you push me out of the way? We probably wouldn't be here if you just let me take it. I wasn't close enough to the wall to hit it."
"It was an instinct. I saw what was going to happen and I wanted to stop it."
"I would have been okay."
"He hurt you enough, Luke."
Lucas sighed.
"Okay, it wasn't the best idea. Maybe the blow to the head gave me better judgment." Nathan joked.
"One can hope." Lucas laughed.
"Where's Haley?"
"In the waiting area. The doctor said he needed to talk to dad and your mom before anyone could come see you."
"Oh." Nathan said, his mood clearly souring.
"What's wrong?"
"The doctor says I have to take a break from training."
"I'm not surprised. You're not going to want to train for a while anyway, not with that concussion."
"I need to be at my best. I can't afford to take a break."
"Sure you can. I know you're worried about keeping up with the other players but you'll be great. Trust me."
"I'm not so sure. All I can think about is what I could be doing in the gym right now. That, and how much my head hurts."
"Focus on the recovery first. You won't be any good for training until you get yourself better."
"I guess you're right. It's not like I can take anything for it either."
"Nothing at all?"
"Nothing that would really help. That's what the doctor wanted to talk about. Since I can't take actual painkillers he was talking about alternate solutions."
"Anything worthwhile?"
"No. I might as well just have some Skittles to relieve the pain."
"That sucks Nate. I'm sorry."
"It does suck."
"It's for the best, as unfair as it might seem."
"Yeah I don't need any temptation. I'm not sure how many times I can screw up and get back on my feet again."
"Listen, you'll get better and you can get back to your training."
"I hope so." Nathan sighed.
"You've got to give yourself a break."
"I'll try."
"Good."
"Can you do me a favor?"
"Anything."
"Don't tell Haley about the training and the pain medication stuff."
"I don't know if I can do that."
"Hey Mr. Future Writer, do you know what the word 'anything' means?"
"Okay, okay. I promise to do my best. But why am I keeping this a secret? One of the perks of having a girlfriend is to confide in her about these things."
"I know, I know. I don't want her to worry about me though. She's already freaking out about moving across the country."
"She's just going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss her too. But I don't want her to question her choice. I'm worried that she'll give up Stanford because of me. Believe me, I've learned my lesson on that one."
"Nate…"
"I'll tell her soon. I promise."
"What coast will she be on when you talk to her about this?"
"Not sure yet."
"That's the maturity I know you're capable of."
"I've never really told her about that time."
"Maybe you should."
"Of course I should, but I just can't ever bring myself to do it. It doesn't come up naturally in conversation obviously and I don't particularly want to revisit it anyway. It's not my most shining moment. I went to rehab for God's sake."
"Nate, it's not like she doesn't know that."
"I know, it just feels like it was a separate lifetime. I don't want her to think about that when she's with me. I don't want her to think it's her fault either."
"Haley is my best friend and one of the best people I know. Do you really think she would think less of you for that? She chose you, for everything that you are and have been."
"But you know how you told me that thinking about what you did to Brooke makes you hate yourself? That's exactly how I feel. I'm not sure it's possible to feel more ashamed of myself."
"You've grown so much since then. That's not who you are anymore."
"I just can't revisit that right now. Please." Nathan sighed.
"Okay."
"Look, I know I should tell her."
"You will. When you're ready. I'm not going to push it."
"Thanks Luke."
"Want me to tell her to come see you?"
"Definitely. Do you know where Dad is by the way?"
"No." Lucas said a little too quickly.
Nathan sat up straight and looked at his brother intently. Lucas raised his eyebrows and leaned back.
"What are you staring at?"
"Lucas Eugene Scott. What's going on?"
"Did you seriously just say my full name like you're lecturing me?"
"I am lecturing you. And your middle name is hilariously nerdy. Are you avoiding my question?"
"I don't want to talk to Dad about what happened."
"Why?"
"I'm having a lot of trouble keeping myself in check right now and as far as I know Dad doesn't know exactly what set Keith off. But I'm not going to explain that one."
"Luke, you need to talk to him about this."
"How do I talk to him about this? All of this came from issues surrounding him."
"Don't you think he might already know that?"
"He might. I still don't want to talk to him about it though."
"Have you ever really talked to him about all that?"
"Of course. You were there last summer, you remember."
"I remember, but nobody would blame you if you still had resentment towards him. Did you ever go really in depth about it with him?"
"No…"
"Don't you think it would help?"
"I don't know. Look, don't worry about it. It's not your problem, it's mine."
"What am I supposed to tell him if he asks?"
"Keith was drunk. It's part of the truth."
"You realize that the police might be involved too, right?"
Lucas stared at the floor.
"I guess."
"Luke, I'm not going to be able to cover this up for you."
"How is that fair?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm letting you take your time with Haley."
"I didn't realize we were keeping score."
"You're right."
"You know that there's no way that Dad isn't going to find out that Keith is pissed at him. Unless you think you can get your mom to stay quiet too."
"Probably not." Lucas admitted.
Nathan looked past his brother out into the hall.
"You better decide quickly what you want to do because they're coming back in."
"Wait, what?" Lucas jumped up and looked too.
"Sorry but you have like ten seconds to decide whether or not you want to tell him. Or run until you're ready to talk because I can't lie about this for you."
Deb entered the room first and sat down beside Nathan. Dan hovered by the door.
"How are you feeling son?" Dan asked.
"I'm doing okay."
Lucas glanced past his father at the doorway and then back at Nathan, who was watching him expectantly.
Dan looked like he was about to say something to Lucas but then thought better of it.
Lucas's phone started ringing. He glanced at the caller ID. It was his mom.
"It's my mom, I should go find her." Lucas said quickly, putting the phone up to his ear as he brushed past his father.
Nathan sighed as he watched his brother rush down the hallway.
We're not done with the hospital yet. We need a Naley bedside scene don't we? :)
Thanks for reading!