Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of its characters.

Author's note: Again, I'm very sorry for the long wait. Things are pretty crazy and hectic lately, but I got this out as soon as I could. I hope you enjoy it. As mentioned in last chapter a few ER characters are thrown in for the hospital scenes. Thanks as always to all my readers and especially you reviewers. I'm very sorry I didn't get a chance to respond to your reviews the last time. Anyway, onto the story. Love you guys.

….

Dan made to follow as they took Lucas up to surgery, but just as they did the young officer was upon them telling them he needed to question Nathan.

"It's about time," Deb said haughtily. "We've only been waiting for hours."

"My apologies," the cop said politely. "We've been extremely busy. If you'll come with me," he said to Nathan.

"Hold on," Dan protested. "Shouldn't our lawyer be present?

"Your son is a witness, sir. At this point he doesn't need a lawyer."

"Right, at this point," Dan scoffed. "Well I'm at least gonna be there," he said firmly. He didn't know what the hell had happened, but he surely wasn't going to leave his son with an arrogant police officer who was likely just looking to pin something on him. Nathan would too easily incriminate himself without even thinking. He wasn't going to let that happen.

But even in his limited experience, the rookie knew kids spoke more openly without their parents around. "All we need is a statement," he told Dan. "From all the witnesses. The sooner we get those, the sooner we can make an arrest."

"Yeah, my son," Dan sneered.

"Again," the rookie said with a sigh. "He's not a suspect. We only need his version of what happened."

"His version? What, like you already assume he'd be lying?"

"No…"

"Well, that's certainly what it sounds like…" Deb began, her tone matching her husband's.

"Mom, Dad, it's fine, ok," Nathan interrupted what would soon be a big blowout between his parents and the officer. With everything going on right now, that was the last thing he wanted. And besides, he knew he would be questioned and he'd much prefer it to be by this guy than those two other dicks, Thompson and Corbin. At least this one had shown him a bit of empathy the last time he'd been arrested, unlike the older two who'd deemed him guilty before even asking a single question.

Both Deb and Dan protested, fearing what Nathan would end up saying, but he insisted it was fine and so they conceded to let him be interrogated alone. Nathan moved to go immediately. May as well get this over with, and he was at least glad that the pain meds given to him were kicking in. It didn't stop his worrying about Peyton, and even Lucas now, if one could believe that—he never thought he'd ever give two shits what happened to his half brother—but at least he wasn't in excruciating, physical pain anymore. He sure hoped Damien was though.

Once they'd found a secluded area in the hospital, the policeman turned on a tape recorder and asked that he start at the beginning. Nathan eyed the recorder warily, but the cop told him it was standard procedure. After a while Nathan nodded and began to talk, starting when he'd first walked into the boiler room to find Damien and Peyton.

Not surprisingly that part of Nathan's story matched the other kids' versions. There was definitely no doubt about that part being true.

"Then what?" the cop asked after Nathan revealed how Haley had caught Damien off guard and led him, finally pushing him, to the boiler plate. That too was the same.

"He hit her and she fell back," Nathan answered, again identical to the others. "He pointed the gun at her. He was gonna shoot her, so I tripped him."

"While you were tied up? How'd you manage that?"

"Only my hands were tied."

"Ok," the cop nodded, as he continued to take notes. "Then what?"

Nathan wasn't sure why the guy needed to record it and write it, but whatever. "He fell and the gun flew out of his hand and went off."

"This is the shot that hit Peyton Sawyer?"

"Yeah," Nathan answered. "But I didn't know it hit her at first. She didn't scream or anything, but then she was still out of it so I guess that's why."

"How did Damien get hurt?" the cop asked curiously. Here's where everyone's story differed.

Nathan hesitated as his mind went back to the moment in question.

Flashback

His foot slammed hard against Damien's ribcage, glad for the crack that followed, but it did little, if anything, to cool his temper or his overwhelming urge to cause the guy some serious bodily harm. Damien had been his friend, or so he'd thought. Clearly that had never been the case in Damien's eyes. The mere thought of everything he'd done consumed him with blind rage and he lifted his foot again to cause more damage.

Lucas called his name but he ignored him. Nobody was going to stop him from inflicting severe and brutal punishment on the guy laying helpless and pleading on the floor before them.

Lucas called him again and finally Nathan took a second to glance at him, recognizing in that instant the same fury he himself felt on Lucas' face. His half brother wasn't trying to stop the well-deserved beating, but rather just wanted his turn at his own revenge. Stepping back slightly, Nathan nodded his approval, giving Lucas the chance he sought. Nathan watched in satisfaction as Damien grunted painfully at the aggressive blows Lucas delivered.

However, watching, though fun, proved to be too difficult to bear for long and soon Damien had both Scott brothers on him, sometimes taking turns, sometimes kicking him from both sides at the same time.

"No, please," Damien pleaded desperately, unable to take any more of their brutality. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he mumbled.

Nathan glared at him vengefully before speaking. "It's way too late for sorry," he said, his voice cold and harsh.

Lucas didn't reply, but Nathan figured the kicks he continued to deliver meant he agreed with him…."

End of Flashback

"Anytime today," the young cop said, cutting into Nathan's thoughts.

"Uh. Well I…I guess I…I kinda lost it on him."

"How so?"

"You know, kicked him around and stuff, but I mean he had a gun. He was gonna shoot Haley, not to mention rape Peyton right in front of everyone."

"But he didn't."

"No. Thanks to Haley tricking him," Nathan countered irately. "He had his hands on her, his dick out of his pants. He was gonna do it."

"I got all that," the officer conceded. "Now what exactly does 'and stuff' mean?" he prodded. "You're referring to the burns on Damien's body?"

Nathan's mind quickly went back to that boiler room to how Damien had gotten those extra burns besides the minor one he'd received from Haley's push. "Yeah," he replied, though a bit hesitantly. It probably wasn't the best idea to take full blame for Damien's injuries—he certainly didn't want to go back to prison—but what else could he do? The poor guy had already suffered a heart attack; it somehow didn't feel right to rat him out. Besides, why should they both get in trouble? "What else would I be referring to?" he mumbled, almost incoherently.

He stared curiously as the cop reached for the recorder and turned it off.

"Are you sure that's what you want to say?" the guy asked.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Nathan questioned apprehensively, his eyes on the young rookie. What the hell was this?

"I'll tell you why," the cop answered. "Because as of now you're a witness, but the minute you start confessing things, well that's when you become a suspect, and as such we have to take you into custody and eventually file formal charges. Is that what you want?"

Still eyeing the officer quizzically, Nathan's brow rose. "So, what do you want me to do? Lie? You'd love that, wouldn't you?"

"Aren't you already?" the cop asked. "Lying?"

Nathan glanced away for a second before replying. "No."

"No? So you single-handedly caused all that damage to Mr. West?"

Nathan frowned at the question. What did this guy think? That he couldn't do it? As much as he'd grown in the past while, that still managed to strike at his ego.

"Hey, I know you're a tough guy," the cop said, recognizing a bruised ego when he saw one. "What I'm curious about is how everyone else just stood by and let you do it all? Didn't anyone else want a piece of him?"

Nathan shrugged in reply. "Oh I get it," he said after a while. "You want me to start pointing fingers. Is that it?"

"Not exactly. What I'm saying is, perhaps your memory's a little foggy. Maybe you don't quite remember…"

"Fuck that!" Nathan exclaimed in response. "Then Damien gets away with everything."

"That's not gonna happen," the cop assured him, explaining how the beginning of his statement would remain untouched.

"What is this? A trick?"

"No trick."

"Why?" Nathan asked warily. "Why would you tell me this?"

'Because I ignored my instincts the last time, going along with Thompson and Corbin's judgment because they were older and more experienced policemen. But they were wrong.' the rookie thought silently. 'I should have trusted myself.' "Because I want to make sure the right guy goes to prison," he said aloud.

Nathan wasn't sure whether he should believe this guy or not. Right now he wished he hadn't been so quick to dismiss his dad. Everything in him wanted to think the cop was being genuine but experience with police told him how foolish that was. Still, what else could he do at this point? Especially when the guy erased back to the part on the tape where he asked him about Damien's injuries.

"I…I don't really know," Nathan replied. "It all happened so fast, it's kind of a blur."

The cop nodded before rising. "Ok, thank you. That'll be all."

Nathan stood up slowly, waiting for him to throw handcuffs on him and arrest him on the spot. When he didn't do that, Nathan realized he was for real and he nodded his thanks before walking away.

…..

Karen giggled like a school girl as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. "I love it," she said, admiring her new hair cut.

"It suits you perfectly," the hairdresser responded. "If I do say so myself," she added.

Karen's smile widened. She didn't do it often, but it felt good to do something completely for her. As small a thing as getting her hair done, Lucas and Keith had nearly had to pull teeth to get her to go ahead and do it rather than constantly wishing she could. She was glad now that she'd listened to them. It was silly but she just felt prettier than she had a half hour ago.

"Your next coffee's on the house," she told the hairdresser, who was a regular customer and had been incredibly reasonable with her fee. Karen had a feeling she didn't work that cheap for everyone and she was grateful to the woman.

The two women bantered a while longer, the air in the small salon happy and carefree. That is, until Keith entered, a grim, worried expression marking his features. Karen's own face fell at the look on his. She knew Keith well enough to know that something was wrong.

"Keith?" she asked nervously. "What is it? What's happened?"

…..

"I got hold of Keith," Mouth said with relief, coming back into the lobby. "He's gonna let Karen know."

Everyone nodded in acknowledgment.

"Good," Brooke said as she glanced around the waiting room. Of all those waiting in there for some kind of news on their friends, all but hers and Rachel's parents had shown up to offer support to their kids.

It didn't surprise her any. The only two of her friends that her parents even liked were Nathan and Rachel, and that was only because, socially, their parents were at the top of the hierarchy, just as they themselves were. And never mind that their daughter had just been held captive at gunpoint. Certainly that mattered less than whatever they were up to.

Same for Rachel's parents. Rachel, in fact, didn't even bother letting them know what had happened, knowing full well they wouldn't care.

The two girls leaned on each other, having no choice but to do so. It was only when Chase walked in the hospital and approached them that Brooke lifted her head.

"Hey," he greeted. "I just heard. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Brooke replied with a weak smile.

However, she didn't look ok to him and so he sat on the other side of her and threw an arm over her shoulder.

It was all she could do not to break down at the gesture. In the end she wasn't able to and her tears and words came spilling out. "It's Peyton and Nathan," she sobbed. "They're hurt and nobody's telling us anything and I just keep thinking the worst and…"

"Ok, ok, come here," he urged, pulling her even closer. "From what I know of those two, they're pretty tough," he said. "You should be more worried about the doctors if they're trying to keep them apart," he attempted to joke, then immediately apologized as he realized she was too worried and upset.

"It's ok," she said. "I'd agree with you except Peyton wasn't even conscious when she was brought in. Nathan was walking but his arm was pretty badly burnt. I don't know what I'll do if they don't pull through this…"

"They will, so stop thinking so negative," he commanded gently. "Positive thoughts only."

Brooke nodded vehemently. "Yeah," she agreed as cheerfully as she could muster. "You're right. I'm worrying for nothing because they're both gonna be totally fine and any minute now they'll be annoying the hell out of me by making out every second."

"That sounds more like my Brooke," he said pleased.

"Your?"

"Mine," he agreed. "Until you say otherwise," he added.

Brooke's brow arched in question. "What about the bet?" she asked.

He shrugged uncertainly. "Can't I be both, still a little upset and yours too?"

She smiled at his reply. He wasn't over it, but he was giving her another chance. She nodded at him. "I can live with that," she said. "Look, I'm really sorry," she continued. "I didn't mean…"

"I know, Brooke," he acknowledged. "Already got the speech from Nathan at lunch, I guess before the boiler room stuff."

"What?" Brooke huffed indignantly. "He talked to you?"

Chase simply nodded in response.

"Oh my God!" Brooke continued to huff. "I can't believe him! I told him not to talk to you! What did he say? Did he threaten you? He did, didn't he? He does that! Arrg, I'm gonna kill him! Is that why you're here? Because if it is…"

"It's not," Chase cut in, knowing she could go on forever. "He didn't so much threaten me. More like he, not so politely, told me to get my head out of my ass."

"Is there a polite way to say that?" Rachel couldn't help butt in.

"Probably not so there you have it," Chase responded. "Don't be mad at him," he continued. "He was just looking out for you."

"You were too scared to talk to Chase yourself," Rachel piped up again. "So Nate did it for you like you've done a million times for him with Peyton. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal, Rach, is that I told him not to…"

"Why?" Chase asked out of curiosity.

"Because it's Nathan," she replied. "I was afraid he'd make things worse."

"Well he didn't," Chase assured her. "And in fact, he made me realize how overly sensitive I was being."

"You weren't though," Brooke countered. "I'm the one who was insensitive. I knew about your beliefs and I…"

"Brooke," Chase stopped her. "I don't want to be angry anymore. Nathan may not have been pleasant when he spoke to me, but he was right. It's a stupid thing to let come between us," he continued. "Unfortunately, it took all this to really drive it home." He paused a moment before continuing. "I just want to be with you, Brooke, whether I'm a bet to you, or a fling. It doesn't matter."

"No, you're not either of those," Brooke insisted. "And I'm sorry for making you feel like you were. I don't know what's wrong with me, why I made that bet with Nathan. It was just stupid and pointless."

"Well at least you won," Chase replied lightly.

Brooke couldn't help chuckle at his comment. He'd come far enough to be able to joke about it. That was good. That meant, at least she thought it meant, that he knew he meant more to her than that. Because of that she was able to join in the banter. "That I did," she boasted. "Guys are so easy," she added. "And, to be honest, you were no exception."

He laughed. "No, I guess I wasn't," he said. "But what do you expect? This is Brooke Davis we're talking about. She's only the hottest thing to grace this earth."

Brooke smiled and leaned on his shoulder. "Uh huh, keep talking. You're good for my ego."

"My pleasure," he told her. "As long as you know I'm here for more than just that."

"I know. Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me. I want to be here, through the good stuff and the bad stuff. Think you can handle that?"

"Definitely think I could get used to it," she responded, nestling closer to him, pulling Rachel into the embrace as well when the redhead made a snarky comment about how sweet they were.

Like that they waited, eventually seeing several other worried people come in, like Whitey, Jake, and many more.

…

Larry and Ellie stood up abruptly as Dr. Green approached them. The look on his face didn't reveal any of his findings and that only made them more anxious.

"First of all," Green began, "from a medical stand point your daughter's going to be fine. He watched as the parents breathed a sigh of relief. "There is a bullet still lodged in her leg, which will cause her some discomfort and definitely need to be removed surgically. One of our top surgeons, Dr. Peter Benton will be performing the surgery and we're very confident it will go smoothly. Of course we'll need you to sign the consent form."

"Yeah absolutely," Larry replied.

"The surgery will be Monday morning at…"

"Monday?" Ellie gasped. "But that's four days away. Is it safe to have the bullet inside her all that time?"

"It's not ideal," Green admitted. "But because of the GHB still in her system, if we operate now we run the risk of it counteracting with the anesthesia we'd have to administer. Trust me, it's safer this way. The bullet is stuck in a muscle so it's not going anywhere and we've got her bleeding under control. She'll have to keep still for the next few days, but it's our best option—wait for the ecstasy to run its course and then operate."

"So it takes four days for GHB to run through your system?" Larry questioned.

"Not always, but it can be up to that long, yes," Green replied. "And she's already had a reaction to it. The seizure she suffered was caused by an overdose of the drug," he explained. "He certainly wanted to disarm her in every way."

Ellie shook her head in disgust. "I hope he rots in hell for this."

Green shook his head agreeably before letting them in on what he knew of Damien's condition. "Between you and me, he already is. Second degree burns over half his body, that's pain."

"Good," Larry stated coldly. "Let me shake the hand of the one responsible for that."

"I hear you. I have a daughter myself, and if anyone ever did this to her…." He stopped, unable to word exactly what he'd do. "In any case, this is all going in my report to the police. With any luck it'll help put him away for a long time."

"Is Peyton awake?" Ellie asked.

"Off and on. We gave her some medication for the pain so between that and the GHB, she's pretty drowsy."

"Can we go see her now?" Larry asked.

"There's just one more thing I have to discuss with you," Dr. Green said. "The rape exam."

Larry and Ellie braced themselves for what they'd hear next, but they found they really couldn't prepare themselves for something like this. "Don't tell me the bastard…" Larry began but couldn't finish.

"Well, we're not sure," Green confessed.

"What does that mean, you're not sure?"

"There was some slight bruising around her vaginal area, which is not unusual, by any means, but we also found traces of semen, which indicate she's had sexual intercourse within the last 72 hours. I say 72 because that's how long sperm can live in the vagina, but I'd say up to the last 5 or 6 hours would be closer to accurate."

Muttering a silent oath, Larry rubbed his hands over his face wearily.

"Does your daughter have a boyfriend?" Dr. Green asked.

Larry nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, he was with her when we came in. You met him."

"That was the boyfriend?" Green questioned, to which Larry and Ellie nodded. Good, he thought. That meant he was still somewhere in this hospital. That kid had been too worried to have just taken off. "Do you know if they're sexual?"

"They are," Larry stated, recalling the one time he'd walked in on them. He never had been able to look at whip cream the same way again.

"Recently?"

"I don't know. She doesn't tell me these things. What about you?" he asked Ellie. "Do you know?"

Ellie shook her head, not knowing any more than Larry did. "I'd say it's definitely a possibility," she said.

"Ok," Green said. "I'll add it to my report for the police to find out. They'll need to know. So will the two of you because if she was raped, she's gonna need you. She'll heal physically but…well, though I haven't dealt with it personally, I've seen the emotional damage rape can cause a person. You wouldn't want her to suffer through it alone."

There was a long silence before Green told them they could go in and see Peyton now.

Larry and Ellie wasted no time doing so, their hearts breaking at the doctor's words, and even more so at the sight of their daughter laying there. She looked so fragile and vulnerable.

She was asleep, or knocked out, whichever one, but that was probably a good thing. At least asleep she didn't have to deal with the torment the past few hours had been for her. They hated that she'd gone through that. Hated even more what she might have gone through on top of it all.

Larry looked at her with tear filled eyes, hating that someone could mistreat his little girl in such a brutal manner-in any way really, but this was too much. He wanted to cradle her in his arms and tell her everything would be alright. "How sad is it," he questioned aloud several minutes later as Peyton still lay very still, "that I'm actually hoping she and Nathan had sex today? I can't stand the kid for so many reasons, I've hounded Peyton to get rid of him for over a year, and yet here I am hoping he slept with my daughter today."

Ellie shook her head. "I don't think it's sad at all," she responded softly. "Because at least with Nathan you'd know it was consensual. She wasn't forced."

Larry nodded. That was exactly it. However much he disliked Nathan or the idea of the two of them together, Peyton loved him and would have given herself to him willingly. And that was really all he could hope for right now.

The one thing that raised that hope was the fact that she was still wearing the tiny skirt and tank top he'd forced her to change out of this morning. Obviously she'd fooled him by simply putting something else on overtop. He wasn't sure why he hadn't considered that possibility this morning, but it certainly wasn't important now. Despite his disapproval, he knew Peyton had dressed that way for Nathan and, regardless of how bad a father he might seem for thinking this way, he couldn't help hoping that it meant the young couple had planned a little rendezvous.

…

"How could this happen?" Karen cried for the umpteenth time since she'd heard the news. "How does a seventeen year old boy have a heart attack? It doesn't make sense." She paced the surgical floor's waiting area, doing just that-waiting. Lucas was still in surgery and she was waiting for the doctor to come in and tell her that everything was going to be fine. She couldn't handle hearing anything else.

Keith, though worried himself, stopped her in her tracks and rubbed her arm gently. "Karen, why don't you sit?"

"No, no, I can't," she replied, breaking away from him to resume her pacing. "Oh Keith," she lamented, momentarily pausing her steps. "What am I going to do? I can't lose him…"

"You won't," he assured her. Of course, he couldn't guarantee that even though he really wished he could. "Luke's a tough kid. He'll pull through."

"He's not as tough as all that," she argued. "But I can't lose him," she repeated. "He's all I have, the one thing I've done right in my life."

Swallowing the hurt that her comment caused—after all, hadn't he always been there for her-, Keith once again went up to Karen and wrapped his arms around her. This wasn't about him. Luke's life hung in the balance so she was naturally terrified. He was too, but more than anything right now he had to take care of Karen. Be her rock, as he had been so many times over the years.

He glanced over her shoulder to find Dan slowly approaching them. He half expected his brother to make a nasty comment about going after his leftovers as he'd done several times before, but was relieved when Dan simply sat off to the side.

It wasn't so much a relief to Karen. Her son's condition had her in an unpredictable emotional state and she turned on the boy's father as though this were all his doing. "How dare you be here!" she lashed out. "How dare you consent to a major surgery for my son!"

"Karen…" Dan began to defend himself.

But Karen wouldn't have it. "You have no right to be here, not today or any other day of his life! Since the day he was born, we've asked nothing of you and you've delivered in fine fashion so don't think your lousy John Doe qualifies you to be his parent now!"

And because Karen was antagonistic, Dan couldn't help retaliate in kind. "Well, aside from the fact that my sperm helped create him, my John Doe might have very well saved him tonight. Karen, if you wanted credit for the signature, then you should have made yourself reachable when the hospital tried to contact you."

Karen's face instantly paled from guilt over just that. Why had she made a hair appointment anyway? Was that more important than her son? It was irrational thinking but that's just where she was at right now. And not even Dan could sink so low as to play on that guilt anymore.

"Look, Karen," he spoke softly, and, Keith noted, more genuinely than he'd heard from his brother in a long time. "I didn't know what to do. The doctors said he would die if we waited any longer so I signed. I wasn't trying to undermine you as his parent. I know I don't have that right."

His sincere words did little to melt Karen. She was overwrought with emotion and there was nothing she could do to stop the cold words that escaped her mouth. "No you don't. As a matter of fact, why don't you go find your chosen son? I understand he's here too and I'm certain he'd appreciate your presence far more than Lucas ever would."

Dan didn't doubt that. After all, Nathan, unlike Lucas, didn't hate him. Or blame him for everything's that gone wrong in his life. Sure he often times rebelled against him, and even occasionally claimed to hate him, but Dan knew that when push came to shove, his younger son counted on him to be there and fix things.

Not so for Lucas.

However, Lucas' condition was much more serious than a few burns and a couple broken bones. And so much less stable. Dan wasn't sure what his place was or what it should be, but he knew he needed to stay until there was word on Lucas. He needed to know.

So despite Karen's protests, he sat and waited.

After a while the surgeon came out, stating the surgery had gone well and that Lucas was being moved to recovery. That itself brought on a new onslaught of tears from the dark haired mother, but for a much different reason. Relief. It washed over her, allowing her to come to terms with the decision Dan had been forced to make. And made her think about the possible consequences if he hadn't signed that paper.

That's when she approached her old high school sweetheart, surprising him with a hug that relayed how grateful she really was despite how horrible she'd just been to him for that very reason.

Nothing could make up for all the years passed, but for Karen, her son was alive, and that was all that mattered.

….

Meanwhile, Nathan, who'd been trying, but getting nowhere, to find out where they'd taken Peyton, sighed in frustration

On top of that, his parents had disappeared too.

"Where were you?" he asked Deb sharply when she came to stand beside him.

"I was…never mind, it's not important," Deb replied.

He couldn't help but agree. He really wasn't interested in where she'd been and he made that crystal clear with his next comment. "Well, did you at least find out where they took Peyton? And where's Dad even?"

She took a deep, disappointed breath. Did her son have to hate her so much? "I didn't realize they'd taken Peyton anywhere, but as for your dad, he's gone up to see about Lucas."

Not sure how to feel about that, Nathan was silent for a while. One of the many reasons he'd always hated Lucas so much was because of his irrational fear that his father would finally discover that he'd chosen the wrong son.

But he couldn't think about that right now. He needed to find Peyton and see how she was doing. She had to be okay. She just had to be. "How could they have taken her somewhere without you seeing?" he wondered aloud. "You were right here."

"Once you went to talk to the police I went and did a few things," she explained.

"What things?"

"It's not important."

"Apparently it is," he countered. "At least more important than Peyton. It figures you took off. When do you ever stick around for anything?"

"I'm here now," she said, hiding the pain his words caused.

If he weren't so angry and worried, he may have thought twice about how he spoke to her, considering her suicide attempt the last time he'd been harsh with her, but he couldn't think straight right now. All he knew was that he had to find Peyton, and knowing neither of his parents had stayed to find out how or where she was stung more than he ever thought it could.

What he didn't know was that when Deb had gone, it was to the finance department. With her she'd brought two blank cheques to cover any expenses that Lucas and Peyton's insurance—or rather their parents' insurance—didn't cover. She knew neither Karen nor Larry were rich and may not be able to cover the full amount of their children's healthcare. She wanted to ensure that Peyton and Lucas' care didn't suffer any for it.

But she didn't say anything about it to Nathan. First of all, she didn't do it for the glory, and second, she didn't want to buy her son's love. She'd rather remain anonymous and earn that love.

Damien's parents, however, were on their own. She wouldn't fork over a dime for him no matter how many she had to spare.

"Sweetie," she began," "Why don't we go out to the lobby and…?"

"Why?" he wanted to know, but then didn't wait for the answer. "No way, I have to find Peyton."

"Your Uncle Cooper and Aunt Jess are out there," she revealed. "And Whitey and your friends. Wouldn't you like to go sit with them?"

He threw her an evil glare. "I want to see Peyton," he repeated. How many times would he have to say it before she understood?

"I know you do, honey," she acknowledged. "But why don't you go out there with them while I see if I can track her down?"

"Why can't I go with you?" he asked reasonably.

"Because I'll get better results without you threatening to beat up some poor clerk into telling you."

"I won't," he claimed.

But she knew better. She did know her son, even if he didn't realize it. She threw him a look of her own, one he recognized well despite the fact that he'd rarely ever seen it on her. She was seldom the one to take parental control, but this time she was, and that look said all too clearly not to argue with her, for he would surely lose.

With that in mind, he did as she said, allowing her to lead him toward the waiting area where the others were.

It seemed everyone came at him at once when they spotted him, each wanting to know how he was, as well as Peyton, Lucas and Haley.

"Nobody's told us anything," Brooke cried as she took it upon herself to lead him to a chair.

"I'm sorry," Nathan said. "I didn't even think." How helpless they must have felt sitting there completely in the dark.

"It's ok," Brooke returned. "How's your arm? Is it sore?" she asked, noticing the bandage wrapped around it.

Chase, who'd previously been working on holding her together, stepped aside as she inspected her friend. He wasn't jealous or concerned about their relationship anymore. There were deep feelings between the two to be sure, but he understood that it was friendship only. Brooke was his girl, and Nathan was head over heels for Peyton.

"It's fine," Chase heard Nathan mumble in response. "I don't know where Peyton is though."

"Oh sweetie, come here," a soft spoken voice came out. It was Jess, Coop's wife, pulling her nephew into a motherly embrace. It wasn't easy with her eight-month pregnant belly in the way, but somehow she managed. "It's all gonna work out, you'll see."

"Yeah, that's what everyone keeps saying," Nathan responded. "Thought you two were going back to Charlotte tonight."

"Yep," Cooper's voice boomed. "Except we were supposed to have dinner with my favorite nephew and his lovely fiancé first, and we're not leaving until that happens."

Nathan smiled a little at that. "I'm your only nephew," he said.

"Which makes you my favorite by default," Cooper replied. "But seriously, kid, how you doing?"

"Not so good," he answered quietly so that only those nearest him could hear. "Peyton had a seizure or something and the doctor took her away. Haven't heard anything since. Lucas is in surgery. He had a heart attack."

With that comment came several gasps and even more questions. It was no surprise that everyone took the news with shock and fear. No one could believe that could happen to a kid their age. Luke's friends were particularly more anxious.

"Man, how's that possible?" Skills asked after a while.

Nathan shrugged uncertainly. He had no idea. "It's pretty serious though. My dad had to sign the consent form because they couldn't wait for Luke's mom."

He was hit with several more questions, none of which he could answer. "As of now you guys know as much as I do," he said.

"How you doing with that?" Brooke asked. Sure he'd always despised his half brother, yet the worry etched across his handsome features told a different story. He was scared for Lucas. But Brooke knew he would never say so right now, not in front of everybody, so she wasn't surprised when he shrugged uncertainly.

""How's Haley?" Mouth asked next. She hadn't seemed too bad when they'd left, but they hadn't heard anything more. And she would take the news of Lucas particularly hard.

"Worried about Lucas," Nathan answered honestly. "I don't think she was doing so good with that."

"Is she with him?"

"I don't know. I went to talk to the cops and she was gone when I came back. But I know he still wanted to question her so that's probably where she is now."

"Speaking of questioning," Rachel piped up, "None of us ratted you guys out so I hope you didn't admit anything."

"Actually, it was really weird cuz the cop like, erased…"

"Ok, got it," Deb came up before Nathan could finish his story. "I'll start with the good news. Lucas pulled through the surgery just fine and is right now sleeping soundly in recovery."

The sighs of relief were both instant and simultaneous, and soon there were loud cheers erupting from the Rivercourt gang in the waiting room. Nathan too felt some of his anxiety melt away.

But not nearly enough. What about his girl? "What's the bad news?" he asked, not sure he really wanted to know, but needing to nonetheless.

Deb gazed at her son with concern, wishing she had great news to tell about Peyton. "Those idiots wouldn't tell me anything about her other than she's in the intensive care unit."

"That sounds bad," Brooke said while Nathan stood frozen in fear.

"Not necessarily," Deb said reassuringly. "It could just be that she needs to be watched closely."

"Which means it's bad," Nathan argued.

Deb put a gentle hand on his cheek, wanting nothing but to ease his mind somehow.

"These damn doctors think everything's worthy of close watching," Whitey said sourly. "Their way to get more money out of people," he added.

"You think so?" Nathan asked hopefully.

"I'm on my way up to find out," Deb said. "Surely someone around here knows something."

"I'm coming with you," Nathan said, already standing.

"Sweetie…"

"Mom."

The desperation in that single word made her unable to refuse him this time so she simply nodded her approval. Several others followed whereas the Rivercourt boys decided to go their own way to the surgical floor.

However, before they all went their separate ways, Skills approached Nathan and, on behalf of himself and the other guys, offered a sincere apology for the beating they'd inflicted upon him outside the school earlier that day.

Nathan shrugged in response. "It's cool," he said. "I probably deserved it."

Skills shook his head, denying Nathan's comment. "Nah, man, you a jerk most times," he said. "But not even you deserved that. See, we thought…"

"I know what you thought," Nathan interrupted. They'd thought to deliver their own brand of punishment upon the guy responsible for their friend's rape and, at the same time, keep him from continually harassing her for accusing him. He and his friends were known to beat guys for much less reason and surely they would do that and worse were it Brooke or Rachel, or any other of their female friends, that had been raped. He couldn't exactly hold it against these guys for doing the same thing. Again he shrugged and repeated that it was cool.

"It's not, Nate," Mouth countered, feeling worse than the other guys due to the fact that he and Nathan were friends. No he hadn't joined in the beating, but he'd stood back and watched it happen. It had taken Lucas and Haley, of all people, to put a stop to it. "We were wrong and I'm sorry."

"Were you wrong?" Nathan asked, voicing the question that had been vaguely playing in the back of his mind ever since he'd found out Damien had drugged Haley. "I mean, she didn't want me, right? So essentially, I did rape her."

"No Nate," Brooked instantly rebuked. "Don't think that way. It was all Damien. You had no way of knowing he gave her ecstasy."

"Yeah," Nathan replied, his tone doubtful. But again he pushed those doubts aside, seeing to Peyton much more important than dealing with his nagging conscience. "We going or what?"

….

They were wandering the hallways in the ICU when officers Thompson and Corbin came upon them, asking Nathan about his and Peyton's sex life and whether or not they'd been intimate in the last 24 hours.

Nathan scowled, instantly defensive, but it was Deb who spoke first.

"And why would you need to know that?" she asked haughtily.

"Just part of our investigation," Corbin answered.

"I see, and your leads have taken you to my son's private affairs? What exactly does it have to do with the raving lunatic that held them all captive this afternoon? He's the one you should be investigating, not my son."

"Believe me, Mrs. Scott, we are doing just that."

"Good. Then you can leave my son alone. He's been very cooperative and, quite frankly, his sex life with his fiancé is none of your damned business. Nathan," she said next, "Do not answer anymore of these officers' questions."

"We can get a court order to force him to comply," Thompson threatened.

"You do what you have to do," Deb huffed. Damn, she couldn't stand those pompous jerks. "Come on, Nate," she added, pulling her son away protectively. As she did so they ran straight into Larry and Ellie.

"Please," Larry pleaded, his eyes blood shot from the tears he'd shed. "Please answer," he went on to Nathan. "Did you and my daughter sleep together in the last day or so?"

Nathan's eyes narrowed and he shifted uneasily on his feet. How was he supposed to answer that? 'Yeah, we got it on this morning in the parking lot before classes?' Not a chance he'd say that to the guy who already hated him with a passion. "No," he said instead.

He was more than a little surprised to see that his answer seemed to disappoint, rather than please, Peyton's parents. Shouldn't they be happy about that?

"You're sure?" Larry asked, his tone coming out desperate. "Cuz you can tell us, you know. If you did, you have to say so."

"I'm sure," Nathan replied. What the hell anyway? She was shot, what did it matter when they'd had sex last?

The utter devastation on their faces prompted him to ask that very question.

"Nathan," Ellie began. "It's very important that you be completely honest right now.

"Look, I told you we didn't have sex, ok," Nathan replied a bit impatiently. Why did they automatically assume he was lying? Ok, so he was, but they didn't know that. "Where is Peyton?" he asked. "I want to see her. Is she ok?"

Rather than responding to his questions, Larry had another of his own. "Do you know if she and Damien…"

"What?" Nathan asked.

"Some of the kids' stories suggest that she might have been…that he might have…" He really couldn't say the word. It hurt just to think it.

But Nathan caught his meaning. "No," he answered quickly, wanting to ease their worry about that as soon as possible. "He was going to but he didn't get the chance. Haley distracted him and…"

"What about before you all showed up?" Larry asked next. "Do you know what happened during that time?"

Nathan's stomach dropped as he went back to Damien's taunting words earlier that day—words to suggest that he had already taken her before anybody else had arrived."You should have seen her an hour ago. A real firecracker. Of course, you missed it because you were late, but no worries, I'm more than happy to provide you with an encore presentation."

"He said he'd already had her about an hour before," Brooke provided before Nathan could. "But that he wanted Nate to watch it happen again," she added with a shiver. "Freak."

"That doesn't mean anything," Nathan countered, not wanting to face the possibility. "He was trying to piss me off."

"Doesn't mean it wasn't true," Rachel pointed out softly.

Nathan shook his head, rejecting the very idea.

"The doctor's examination of her showed recent sexual activity," Ellie brought up, hoping, by doing so, it would prompt Nathan, whom she was sure was lying, to tell the truth about him and Peyton, no matter how awkward it may be for him to do so.

It worked. He finally admitted that they had had sex that day, though he wouldn't look at them to say so.

"You did?" Larry asked, just to be sure.

"Yeah," Nathan replied, still avoiding eye contact. "This morning."

The reaction was remarkable in Nathan's eyes. Larry looked just about ready to hug him, which definitely said a lot.

"The semen was his," Larry said to Ellie in relief. "Everything will be ok now."

She nodded happily, but Nathan questioned the comment. "Semen?" he asked.

Tim, one of the friends who'd shown up at the hospital and had followed them to the ICU, leaned in close to Nathan's ear and whispered, not so silently, "That's cum."

Frowning, Nathan pushed him away. "I know what it is," he said irritably.

"Then why'd you ask?" Tim asked, mildly offended.

"I didn't…" Nathan began, but then shook his head to return his attention to Larry and Ellie, a crestfallen expression on his face.

"What is it?" Ellie asked.

"Me and Peyton….we used a condom. We always do."

He watched as her parents' faces dropped, and he felt an overwhelming feeling of anger and pain rush through him.

But more than that he felt the guilt creep up from within him and take hold, its grip tight and strangling.

His girl had been raped and it was all his fault.

If only he'd been on time to meet her in that boiler room.

A lump formed in his throat, his eyes watered, and the room started spinning. He found it difficult to take a breath and thought he might pass out any second.

He couldn't deal with the multitude of emotions coursing through him.

Vaguely he heard his mother call his name. He looked at her, seeing the concern in her eyes, in all their eyes.

He couldn't handle that. Nobody should feel bad for him. He took a few steps backwards before turning and bolting out of the hospital. He didn't stay to find out how Peyton was, nor did he stop when the others called him to do so.

He had to get out of there. So he ran as fast as his feet would take him, as far as they would take him, and didn't stop until his chest was ready to explode from the excessive stress he put onto it.