A/N: It's been a while since I've updated and I know, so much for having these stories finished by the end of the summer so I'll just keep trying to get chapters up as soon as I can. I've just gotten into supernatural and I absolutely love Jensen Ackles, the guy is freaking perfect looking! lol Anyway.
The song for this chapter is Cold Day in July by Dixie Chicks and I'm just taking the title so don't worry about listening to the words if you have been.
Disclaimer: I haven't done one yet I don't think so I'll just say I don't own One Tree Hill or any of the characters on the show and any dialogue taken from the show will be credited. No copyright intended.
Haley and Nathan lay in there Hotel room, tangled up in the sheets and eating breakfast in bed. They had gone to London hoping for rain, even though it was July, they weren't disappointed because to be honest it is England. (a/n: I'm English so I'm not trying to offend anyone lol) The rain was pouring outside their hotel room and a sea of umbrella's moved on the streets below but Haley still wanted to go out.
"What shall we do today?" Haley asked, she had been dying to go sight seeing but Nathan had prevented her from leaving the bed, let alone the room all week.
"Well, I had a few ideas" he smirked and planted his lips on her neck and began leaving light kisses on her skin.
"No, no! None of that. We are leaving this hotel room"
"Okay, how about the pool, I heard there's a great hot tub down there"
"Ha ha" Haley dead panned "I want to go sight seeing"
"But there's a great sight to see here" he pointed to himself.
"Nathan!" Haley cried out, exasperatedly.
"Fine, we'll go out but as soon as we get back I'm imposing a nakedness rule"
"A nakedness rule?" she mocked.
"Yes, stating you have to be naked at all timed unless wearing some kind of edible underwear"
"Eww you perv!" she laughed.
"Only for you" he moved closer to her in the bed.
"That isn't a compliment" she pushed him away "Now go and get ready"
Nathan grugdingly made his way to the bathroom and Haley followed him, admiring the view as she did. He turned around with an expectant look on his face.
"I know what you're thinking but no, I just realised I need longer to get ready so I should shower first"
"Or we could save even more time by showering together"
"Oh, but you're failing to see the flaw in that plan"
"The flaw's the best part" he joked.
"Nathan! Will you put some ice on it for a couple of hours."
"But Hales! It's our honeymoon, there's not supposed to be any ice at any time, even in public" he smirked.
"Nathan Scott brush your teeth and let me have my shower"
"Are you insinuating that my breath smells?"
"Insinuating?" Haley leaned out of the shower to see him
"Hey!" Nathan protested "I went to college"
"Yes, Honey, you're a genius" she teased
"Sh vdsha wah a oh" Nathan spoke through a mouthful of toothepaste.
"What?"
"I said, so where do you want to go?"
"Big ben, Covent Garden, The london eye, Tooley street and if we have time maybe Camden"
"Haley, come on! That's the whole day! And it's raining!"
"You're starting to sound like Grace" she chastised "I bet you're even doing the pout"
Nathan quickly changed his expression as he saw himself in the mirror and Haley laughed from inside the shower.
"And anyway, we like rain."
"Only when we get to make out in it, not when we have to trudge around London without any way to warm ourselves up"
"It's not really cold Nathan."
"It's cold enough for July" he muttered
"We're still going" she persisted.
"Are you done yet?"
"Yep" she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself.
"Now that's just mean" he gestured to the towel before pulling it off and carrying her back to the bed.
Although it was only five in the morning, Lucas and Brooke were wide awake as Grace continued screaming. Last night before she went to bed she said she felt sick and her temperature was slightly high, but they gave her some tylenol and sent her to bed but now it was spiking and they were really getting worried. She was usually better for this type of thing, she didn't usually cry when something hurt, she was mostly a whiner or on Nathan she would use the infamous pout. So if she was crying it had to be pretty bad.
"I want my daddy!" she whimpered
"I know, Gracie but he's not here." Brooke stroked her hair trying to calm her down. "I think we should take her to the emergency room" she whispered to Lucas "Just to be on the safe side."
Lucas nodded and then took a quick look over Grace when something caught his eye.
"There's a rash on her arm"
"What?"
"On her arm" he pointed "I don't want to assume the worst but it could be meningitis"
"Luke get a glass"
Lucas nodded and went to get one. Brooke remembered that one fact from a first aid thing she had once done. It said that if the rash didn't disappear under glass and the child had a temperature it would most likely be meningitis and professional help should be got immediately. Lucas ran back into the room with the glass and made his way over to Brooke and Grace.
Brooke pressed the glass that Lucas just handed her onto Grace's skin and she could still clearly see the rash.
"We have to go. You should take Jamie to Peyton's and then meet me at the hospital, and you should call Haley and Nathan"
"Okay" Lucas nodded and went to get Jamie as Brooke headed out of the house.
Lucas carried Jamie over to Peyton and Jake's house as Brooke had taken the car. He got out his cell phone and dialed.
After an exhausting morning in bed, Haley's plan to go sight seeing clearly forgotten, Haley and Nathan lay in each other's arms contentedly. Haley listened to Nathan's heart beating as her head rested on his chest. The phone started to ring and Haley snuggled into Nathan.
"I thought we said no phones" she said
"We had to keep one on in case anything happened" Nathan reasoned "But I'm sure nothing has" he reassured her even though he was worried, he knew it was only about 5am in Tree Hill.
"Hey Luke"
"Nate, Grace is sick. We think it might be meningitis, Brooke's taken her to the emergency room"
Nathan started to panic "We'll get the next flight back. Bye" he hung up the phone.
"What is it?" Haley asked with worry etched into her face.
"Grace is sick. They think it's meningitis" Nathan choked out.
"We have start packing"
"Yeah" Nathan agreed and they both got their suitcases and piled everything at top speed both trying to avoid thinking about what could happen.
Haley had studied every medical encyclopedia for children she could find, she had always wanted to be prepared. She knew that if there was a burn to the skin, that you should take all material off the burn and hold it under cold water for 10 minutes and then wrap it in cellofane and if it doesn't go down to go to the emergency room. She knew that it was better to have chicken pox young and she also knew that meningitis could be fatal. Which it why she had taken Grace and Jamie to get their jabs but Grace had started playing up when they got to the doctor's office and Haley had booked another appointment for when her and Nathan got back from their honeymoon. Only now it was too late.
Nathan watched as Haley packed and saw that she was getting worked up and would soon start blaming herself. She had told him what happened at the doctor's office when the twins went for their jabs and he knew that if anything happened to Grace that she would never forgive herself. He knew it was stupid but she felt guilty. She wasn't to know that this would happen, he didn't even know how Grace could have got meningitis, but she was his daughter and she was strong. There was no way that she wouldn't get through this. At least that is what he tried to convince himself.
Brooke and Lucas sat in the waiting room of Tree Hill hospital waiting for some news about Graces condition. As soon as they had got there, the doctors rushed Grace in for tests, they could never be too careful when if was suspected meningitis.
"If anything happens to her" Brooke trailed off.
Lucas wanted to offer some comfort, he really did but truth be told, he was just as afraid as she was and he wasn't able to lie to her. There was a good chance that there may not be a happy ending.
Haley and Nathan rushed through Heathrow airport trying to find a service desk. They waited in the queue, Nathan impatiently tapping his foot the entire time they eventually reached the desk and there was an old woman sitting there who looked like she had been doing the job for years.
"Next please" she called out in a frail voice
"Hi" Haley said "We need to get the soonest possible flight to New Brunswick Airport, North Carolina"
"The next flight to North Carolina departs in 1 hour, but I'm sorry it's fully booked. There's free seats on one tomorrow at 9:00pm"
"We can't wait that long." Nathan bit out "It's an emergency" he finished in a softer tone.
"I'm sorry sir there are no seats"
"Listen, our daughter has been rushed to hospital with meningitis. We need to get home" He pleaded with desperation in his voice.
"You can have our tickets" A woman spoke from behind them "We haven't checked in yet and you obviously need to get back"
"Are you sure?" Haley asked
"Yeah, we don't mind an extra day of holidays"
"Put the tickets on this card" Nathan handed his credit card to the lady behind the desk.
"You don't have to do that" the man protested
"It's the least we can do. Really" he insisted
"Thank you" both women said at the same time as they parted ways. The clerk changed the tickets into their name and they headed for check in. They literally ran through the airport and got on the plane.
"It's an eight hour flight, Nathan. Anything could happen"
"Don't think like that Haley" he snapped back.
"Don't take it out on me" she whispered harshly
"We can't change how long it takes and we're getting there as soon as we can"
Haley didn't reply and just turned to look out the window.
Nathan sighed "I'm sorry. We're both stressed, we shouldn't be taking this out on each other."
Haley nodded mutely but gripped his hand which was lying in his lap. They sat silently as the plane took off and stayed engrossed in their own thoughts.
"Nate, what if..." Haley trailed
"She's going to be fine" Nathan reassured her as much for his own sake as hers.
Hours had passed and the doctor had confirmed that it was meningitis and had asked Lucas to bring in Jamie just to be on the safe side and luckily he was fine. Brooke and Lucas were drifting to sleep in the waiting room. They knew Haley and Nathan were on their way but they felt horrible, no one was allowed in to see Grace until her parents got here, so she was alone. Brooke hated to think how scared she would be. Grace hated being alone. There were times when she would just go up to her room and draw or play with her toys but she always had to know that someone was around, and she had been asking for Nathan the whole week. If he didn't get there soon and Grace wakes up with any sense of what's happening who knows what she'll think.
Lucas looked up and saw Haley and Nathan running into the hospital.
"Hales!" he called out
"Where is she?" she asked
"Are you Grace Scott's parents?" the doctor asked
"Yeah" Nathan answered "How is she?"
"I'm not going to lie. Meningitis can be fatal in young children but we are doing everything we can and Grace is very strong and luckily it was caught early enough"
"So what now?" he asked
"We do everything we can and hope for the best"
They nodded not very happy with what they were told but knowing that there was nothing that they could do personally except be there for her.
"Can we see her?"
"Yes of course" the doctor led them towards her room "You have to wear these" he handed them both scrubs and mouth guards.
"Is this really necessary"
"It's a precaution but it is needed" the doctor told them.
They put on the clothes and went in the room. Grace was awake and she tried to move to them but wasn't able and started to cry.
"Daddy!"
"Hey baby" he tried to keep his voice even but she was hooked up to machines and had tubes coming out of everywhere
"Daddy, what's wrong with me?"
"You have something called meningitis but you're going to get better"
"Why are you and mommy wearing masks"
"So we don't spread any germs or we don't get sick"
"You look funny" she giggled slightly
He pretended to look into the window at his reflection "I kinda do don't I?" he smiled even though he knew she couldn't see his mouth, she could see his eyes and he knew that she could tell he was smiling.
"I don't like the hospital everything's beeping and people keep looking in. I don't like it. I want to go home!" she started to whine.
"How about I stay here with you?" he bargained.
Grace nodded, she had lost all her energy after their short conversation and looked in pain. Nathan could barely watch but if she needed him to stay with her then he would.
"I'll go and see Jamie" Haley announced
"Yeah, is he allowed in now?"
"I don't know, I'll ask" Haley left the room and Nathan sat with Grace. She had quickly fallen asleep and was now out cold but Nathan could see that she was still uncomfortable. He would do anything he could to take this pain away from her. It felt impossible to him that only this morning he had been on his honeymoon in London with his wife and now he was in a hospital room with his daughter no knowing whether she would see her next birthday.
A/N: I know, I know, I'm evil. But leave some reviews and I will try and get the next episode up asap.