What The Future Holds - The Next Generation (One Tree Hill)

Chapter 20

In the hospital

When I woke up, it took me a moment to orientate myself. But then I remembered: I was in the hospital. During my heroic attempt to 'rescue' Sawyer's necklace from the sea, I actually had run out of air because I had completely underestimated the undercurrent and the waves and then had submerged too deep under water, where I had completely lost my orientation. If Justin and Jamie hadn't pulled me out, I would probably be dead now. I couldn't thank them enough for saving me. But first, I would have to listen to a moral lecture from mom and dad, I thought, sighing as I saw them entering my room. But instead of scolding me, Mom sat on the edge of the bed and pulled me into her arms.

"Oh Davis!" She exclaimed in tears. "I was so scared when Justin called and told us you were in the hospital!"

I patted her back awkwardly and threw a helpless look at my dad. I had a terribly bad conscience that I had scared them. And seeing Mom so desperate almost broke my heart. "I... I'm fine," I said in a low voice. "Seriously," I added, hoping she would let go of me. I felt bad for what I had caused.

"I would have thought you more reasonable, Davis!"

Ah, there it was, the moral lecture. And for once it didn't come from my mom, but from my dad.

"How could you put yourself in danger? You've lived your whole life in Tree Hill and know how dangerous it is to swim far out. Every year people are killed in the sea! And you, as a member of the swim team, should know how to behave in the water!"

"Julian..."

"No, Brooke. He's going to listen to it now, whether he likes it or not!" He took a deep breath. "I can't tell you how disappointed I am! Above all, as you had promised us a few days ago, that you're old enough to take care of yourself. We can see now how this works," he said sarcastically.

He paced back and forth with his arms crossed over his chest, I could only stare at him. My dad was the most sweet-tempered and patient person I knew. Seeing him so furious shocked me because I knew I was the reason for his bad mood.

"We can forget about Paris now," he continued. "I won't let any of you even 24 hours out of sight!"

"Dad..." I started, but he won't let me speak.

"And you're grounded for the next two weeks! Then you have enough time to think about your irresponsible behavior!"

I had already opened my mouth to protest, when he just turned and ran out of the room. Confused, I looked after him and then at my mom.

"He reacts that way because he was really scared and worried about you," she said and sighed. "Justin told us he had to revive you. You could have died, Davis!" She said urgently.

As if I didn't know that myself! Sometimes my parents believed that I was still a little child. "I know all this, Mom," I blurted out, running a hand through my hair in frustration. "And I regret what I did. It was inconsiderate of me to go into the water. I just didn't think. Dad doesn't need to make me grounded for that," I tried to defend myself.

"I'm talking to your dad," she promised. "But you still have to answer a few questions."

"Okay, what do you want to know?"

"Why did you just run into the sea when you knew how dangerous the undercurrents are?" She inquired curiously.

I hastily lowered my head to avoid her scrutiny. Usually I had no secrets from my mom, but I couldn't tell her that I had done it to impress Lydia. No one in my family knew what had happened between us, and it should stay that way.

"Davis?"

"I already said that I didn't think about it," I said shrugging. "Sawyer had lost her necklace and I just wanted to help her to get it back."

"Do you have a crush on her?"

I looked at my mother startled. How did she come up with such an absurd idea? Sawyer Scott wasn't ugly-looking, but she was way too sweet-tempered and dreamy for me. I needed a girl who challenged me and was self-confident; a girl like Lydia. "Um... no," I said, frowning. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, you put yourself in mortal danger for her," she said, winking. "That's the reason why I thought you like her." She smiled. "Well, I would be glad if you go out with her. Sawyer is a nice girl."

"Mom, are you deaf? I'm not interested in Sawyer Scott!" I said louder than intended.

"All right, I got it!" She raised her hands in a placatory way. "You should rest now. I'll check on you later again."

When she had left, I leaned back and groaned in frustration. What a mess! Not only did I put myself in danger, now my parents didn't trust us anymore and wanted to cancel their planned trip to Paris. I closed my eyes and opened them again when I heard a tentative knock on the door. Since when did the doctors or nurses knock on the door before they would enter? But it wasn't the doctor or the nurse, who entered my room; it was Lydia. My heart started to race nervously and my mouth went dry. "Hi," I croaked barely audible.

"Are you all right?" She asked softly.

I nodded while I could only stare at her.

"I was so scared," she confessed and walked over to the bed. "When I saw you lying lifeless in the sand...I thought you... you were dead."

Were those tears in her eyes? Maybe now was the time to confess what I really felt. "Lydia, I... need to tell you something..." I began hesitantly and looked deep into her eyes. "What I said to you in the cafeteria... I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. You're not a slut and if I didn't want you, then I never would have slept with you."

"I'm sorry, too," she murmured softly. "The slap and everything else too. I lied when I said that I only chose you because you already had experience," she confessed. "I did it because I felt that there was something special between us. But what we did was wrong. I should have broken up with Jude before. I know that now."

Was she just confessing her love to me? Carefully, I reached for her arm and pulled her gently towards me. "You want to break up with my brother?" I asked softly. "For what reason?"

"Because... because I don't love him," she said hesitantly and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I've fallen in love with you."

I was sure that I was just dreaming, because I couldn't believe that Lydia was actually sitting on my bed confessing her love to me. That was just too good to be true. But as she bent down and put her lips on mine, I knew I wasn't dreaming. Carefully, I reached out and touched her cheek and her hair while we were still kissing each other. When we briefly parted, she smiled at me and I felt warm inside at the thought that we were together now. But she hadn't broken up with Jude yet. An obstacle that we had to face together and that I was afraid of. Not because I didn't love her, but I didn't want to hurt my brother.

"I think I have to go now," she said, getting up.

"Will you come back?" I asked, looking at her pleadingly.

"Of course. You won't get rid of me so fast," she said, grinning.

When she kissed me again, I knew that this was more than just a little love affair between us. It was the first time that I had fallen in love. And I vowed to myself that I would do anything to make Lydia happy. But first I had to fix things with my parents. I couldn't allow that they would give up on their dream to go to Paris. I needed a solution, and suddenly an idea crossed my mind.