Better In Time
Title: Better In Time
Author: Diane
Fandom: One Tree Hill
Characters: Nathan/Haley
Prompt: 13 - Nightmare
Rating: Mature Rated
Disclaimer: Nope, I don’t own a thing!
Spoilers/Warnings: This is a follow on from episode 6.05 ‘You’ve Dug Your Own Grave, Now Lie In It’ and is also a sequel to my recent fic 'The Fear Of Not Knowing’, although you can read it as a stand-alone. Story contains references to violence.
Summary: The bubble of laughter he could feel building up in his chest sounded more like a sob when it escaped and wrapping his arms around her, he buried his face in the nook between her neck and shoulder as he held onto her for dear life.
Author’s Notes: This has been written especially for Caroline as per her request. I hope this is the sort of thing you were hoping for and that you like it. *hugs*
A big thank you goes to the lovely Lori for helping me out and reading over this for me. *hugs*
This has also been written for my fanfic table at 25fluffyfics.
Pushing through the doors of the ER, Nathan’s eyes scanned the waiting room, searching for any sign of his wife and son. Instead of seeing them, he found his mother and he rushed over to her. “Mom, where are they?”
“They’re in with the doctor right now.”
“Are they… okay?” he asked, his breathing ragged as he tried to calm himself down. The whole way home from Indiana he’d been a nervous wreck. Thankfully, he’d been able to change his flight to an earlier one but he’d still had to hang around the airport for longer than he would’ve liked.
“Nathan…”
“What… What is it? Did something happen that Haley didn’t tell me about?”
Taking her son’s hand in hers, Deb rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand. “Physically, Jamie’s fine… but, uh… Haley—”
“What happened? On the phone she said she was fine…” His voice trailed off as a wave of nausea washed over him.
“She was hit over the head with something and, uh, was knocked out for a few minutes.”
“Christ…” Without realising he was doing it, Nathan squeezed his mother’s hand. “Why didn’t she tell me?”
“She probably didn’t want to worry you.”
He felt like he was going to collapse and he slumped into one of the waiting room’s hard, plastic chairs. Burying his face into his hands, his body trembled as the enormity of what Haley and Jamie had been through that day suddenly hit home. He hated hospitals… the smell, the sounds… As he sat there, he was transported back to the time Haley had been hit by Daunte’s car and he’d been anxiously waiting for news of her and their unborn son.
Sitting beside him, Deb placed her arm around his shoulders. “They’re both okay, Nate… You just need to remember that.” Nathan nodded and turning his head to the side, the blonde saw her son’s eyes were filled with tears. Leaning into him, she rested her head against his while running her hand in soothing circles over his back. “Let me take you to them.”
Getting up from their seats, Deb led him through a set of doors and around a corner until they reached the cubicle where she knew her daughter-in-law and grandson were being seen to by the medical staff. Glancing back at Nathan, she saw how pale he looked and her heart went out to him. She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile as she gently pulled back the curtain.
Nathan breathed a sigh of relief when his family came into sight. Haley was lying on a hospital bed with Jamie curled up against her side, his head resting against her chest while his little hand gripped her top. Her eyes were closed and he bit his lip when he saw the white gauze on her forehead, just under her hairline along with the scratch on her cheek.
“Hey,” he choked as he stepped into the cubicle.
“Daddy!” Releasing his hold on his mother, Jamie scrambled over her legs and reached for Nathan who scooped him up into a big bear hug.
His eyes met hers and he could hardly see her for the tears that were blurring his vision. Holding his son with one arm, he reached out his free hand and wrapped it around Haley’s, squeezing it tightly. “Are you okay?”
Haley nodded, her own eyes filled with tears. “Yeah… The doctor wants to keep me here for a while under observation.”
“Why didn’t you tell me, Hales?”
Watching the young family, Deb understood that Haley didn’t want to talk about what had happened to her while Jamie was in the room so taking a step forward, she ruffled her grandson’s hair as her son held him. “Jamie, honey, why don’t we go and find a vending machine and get you something to eat?”
The little boy shook his head and his hold on his father tightened. “No, I wanna stay with Momma and Daddy.”
“It’ll just be for a few minutes, buddy,” Nathan said, drawing Jamie away from him slightly so he could look into his face. “I don’t know about you but I’d love some M&Ms.”
Jamie turned and looked at Haley who nodded encouragingly at him. “I’d love some, too or maybe some Skittles if they have them.”
“Okay,” he finally agreed and when Nathan had set him down onto the floor, he slipped his hand into his Nanny Deb’s outstretched one and let her lead him out of the small room.
After pulling the curtain closed, Nathan took a seat on the bed and took both of Haley’s hands in his. “God… When Mom told me you’d been knocked out…”
“Shhh,” she soothed. “I didn’t tell you over the phone because Jamie was in the car with me and I didn’t want to scare him even more. I also didn’t want to freak you out while you were so far away. I knew how worried you were and I didn’t want you taking any risks trying to get back to us even sooner.”
“What did the doctor say? Are you really okay or—”
“I’m really okay,” she interrupted. Cupping the side of his face, she ran her thumb over his cheekbone. “It’s just… The doctor said I have a mild concussion so he just wants to keep me here for a few hours and make sure everything’s fine before he lets me go home.”
“Hales…”
Leaning forward, Haley pressed her lips against his and kissed him softly. She gasped when a second later he deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue into her mouth to tangle with her own. “Nathan… We… we can’t do that here.”
The bubble of laughter he could feel building up in his chest sounded more like a sob when it escaped and wrapping his arms around her, he buried his face in the nook between her neck and shoulder as he held onto her for dear life. He didn’t know what he’d do if he ever lost her...
“We’re okay… we’re all okay,” she whispered into his ear, her fingers caressing the nape of his neck while her other hand drew comforting patterns on his back. The guilt she’d been feeling ever since that day’s events had started to unfold reared its ugly head again at seeing her husband so distraught. God, how she wished she’d never set eyes on that… that crazy witch. Wasn’t it enough that she’d tried to take Jamie from them once without her trying to do it again? And how could she have been so gullible to have taken her five-year-old son along with her to see her supposedly dying father-in-law, not knowing what sort of state he would be in?
“What’s wrong?” Nathan asked, feeling her mentally pull back from him. Threading his fingers through her hair, he tilted her head back a little so that he could look into her beautiful, expressive eyes.
“I… I brought her into our lives, Nathan… If it wasn’t for me, she—”
“No, don’t you ever say that, Haley. She’s the one at fault… How were you to know she’d be some kind of psycho intent on destroying our family and taking our son away from us?”
“I was the one to interview her and give her the job in the first place,” she told him, swiping at the fresh tears that had started to fall.
“This is not your fault,” he told her firmly. “You’re not!”
His words weren’t registering with her. “I took Jamie there today… While I was knocked out, she tried to take him. She smashed one of the windows of our car so she could snatch him but… he managed to run away from her. That… that bitch chased him… she chased our boy through a cornfield.”
Nathan’s mouth dropped open as he listened to what his wife was telling him. It was a good job that crazy bitch was dead ‘cause if ever got his hands on her… “Jesus,” he muttered.
“I came round to Dan calling my name and as soon as I was on my feet I took off. When I saw the smashed car window I thought I was going to be sick but then I heard her calling Jamie’s name and I knew she was looking for him so I followed her voice into the cornfield…”
Her voice trailed off as she remembered making sure to stay out of sight while, at the same time, keeping a close lookout for her little boy who she knew must be feeling terrified. It had been sheer luck when she heard a rustling behind her and then saw a flash of his plaid shirt coming into view. As soon as he was close enough, she had reached out her hands; wrapping one around his body while placing the other over his mouth to muffle any sounds he made.
“Haley…” He pressed a kiss to her forehead while his hand gently cupped the back of her head.
“I managed to find him and I was working out how to get us safely out of there when my phone rang.”
Nathan’s eyes widened and he realised that that must’ve been the moment he’d called her back after listening to her voicemail message. “I’m so sor—”
“There’s nothing to apologise for, Nathan,” she interjected. “How were you to know we were at that second hiding from some lunatic?”
He shook his head at that and seeing the small smile on her face, his own lips curved up into a half-smile. “What happened next?”
“I quickly switched off my phone and told Jamie to run. I could feel her behind us and then all of a sudden she wasn’t. When I turned around to look, she was falling to the ground with blood all over her face and Deb was standing there holding the end of a champagne bottle.”
“I… How did my Mom know?”
“She said there was something about the address that didn’t ring true and that it was starting to get late. God… if I hadn’t written the address down…” Haley shuddered and she squeezed her eyes shut.
“You did though and that’s all that matters.” He pulled her in for a hug and he said a silent thank you to whoever out there was looking out for his family that day. “You, uh, told me on the phone that Dan shot her.”
“Yeah… I’d managed to calm Jamie down a little and had just put him in the car and was talking to Deb when Carrie suddenly got up from the ground and she was swinging an axe. We were both standing there staring at her… frozen to the spot when… a shot rang out and she suddenly fell backwards.”
Nathan’s heart was pounding in his chest as he listened and his fingers gripped Haley’s, needing to make sure that she was really there with him. “I should’ve been there with you… I should’ve protected you.”
“Nathan…” Her voice was thick with tears and wrapping her arms around him, she hugged him tightly, her mouth pressed against his shoulder to muffle the sound of her crying.
“I’m here, baby… I’m here.” He held her as she cried, his own eyes filling up again.
Hearing the sound of Jamie’s chatter outside of the curtain, Haley reluctantly drew back from Nathan and wiped away her tears. “I can hear Jamie coming,” she told him.
Stroking her cheek with his fingers, he gave her a shaky smile as he wiped his own eyes, not wanting their little boy to see them so upset.
“I’m back,” Jamie announced as he entered the cubicle, his hands filled with several packets and bars of candy.
“Wow! It looks like you’ve emptied out all of those vending machines,” Nathan said. “Did you leave anything for anyone else?”
“I haven’t got that much,” he replied cheekily. Dropping everything onto the bed, he reached his arms out to his Daddy who picked him and settled him on his lap. “Can we go home soon?”
“I’ll see if I can find the doctor or a nurse and see how much longer we have to stay,” Deb stated. She had been about to suggest that she take Jamie home while Nathan stayed behind with Haley but the way the little boy was clinging to his parents, she knew there was no way he would be going anywhere without them.
“Thanks, Mom.”
Haley’s eyes roamed all over her little boy, needing to reassure herself that he was fine. After everything he’d been through, she knew it would be worthwhile arranging for him to see someone to try and ensure that there wouldn’t be any lasting damage from it all. Continuing to watch him, she couldn’t help smiling when he started yawning, his eyes slowly fluttering shut and reaching out her hand, she gently brushed her fingers over his sandy blonde hair, being careful not to wake him up.
Nathan saw the single tear roll down her cheek and he gently wiped it away with the pad of his thumb before leaning down and dropping a light kiss onto the top of his sleeping son’s head. He could only hope Jamie wouldn’t suffer from the same nightmares that had plagued him after the last time he’d been taken from them.
As their eyes flickered from watching their boy to watching each other, they interlaced their fingers as they waited to find out when they could go home and start putting this latest incident behind them.
Fin