With her mind racing, Peyton parked the car and ran inside the hospital, quickly locating the emergency room waiting area. She scanned the handful of people there, quickly locating her father. "Dad", Peyton started as she briskly walked towards him. Stacy jumped to meet her as Peyton got closer, "Now Peyton he's fine, calm down ... it was a false alarm, no harm done", she said as she attempted to smooth things over. Peyton hesitated a second, wondering should she knock this lady out right now and save her Dad from making a huge mistake or not. Opting out of it, she side stepped her and kneeled in front of Larry. "Dad, what happened ... are you okay, is everything okay ... just tell me what's going on." Larry smiled endearingly at Peyton, placing his hand on her cheek, "Now honey I'm fine ... it was just a little scare. The doctor just wants to run a few more tests before he clears me to go home. You don't have to worry ... Stacy is taking good care of me." Peyton looked at Stacy who was now standing by Larry, with her hand upon his shoulder. Rolling her eyes, Peyton turned back to her father, "Well, how about I stay here with you ... we can give Stacy a break ... and then I can drive you home and stay with you. I'm sure Stacy has some shopping to do.". Stacy jumped in, "No, no ... I want nothing more than to be with my Larry baby. I need to know he is going to be okay!". Wondering if she could be anymore fake Peyton turned back to her dad, "Are you sure you don't need me to stay with you", she asked hopefully. "No hun ... I'll be fine. You aren't going to be in town much longer and I'm sure there's more things you'd rather be doing than staying home with your old father. Just go have a good day ... and maybe we'll eat dinner around 7? Stacy can cook a great roast!", Larry said with slight strain ... obviously showing exhaustion, and a need for rest. Not to argue or be difficult, seeing as she could tell her dad was really tired, Peyton conceded. "Alright ... just keep the phone by the bed and I'll give you a call when I'm on my way home. Call me if you need anything Dad." Peyton stood, leaned down to kiss her father's cheek, turned and left, not once acknowledging Stacy.

It was obvious that Peyton refused to give Stacy a chance. She  couldn't understand what her father saw in her, and why he even needed to start a relationship at his age, and in his condition. Her dad met Stacy about 5 months ago, around the time he was diagnosed with cancer, and their relationship has moved at the speed of light. It was just a week ago they were actually discussing moving in together. Stacy was at least 15 years younger than her father, and Peyton just felt her he was being completely unreasonable in getting involved with her so quickly. Despite her utter disgust for this ditzy, blonde bombshell, Peyton loved her father, and she could see how happy he was with her, and how much he truly loved her, so Peyton tried her best to not be difficult. It didn't mean she had to be nice to her ... it just took everything to just ignore her, and Peyton was trying her hardest! She did everything just to see her father happy, that's all that mattered to Peyton now. The doctors were unsure of how long treatments would be necessary, and if they would even be able to cure the cancer with treatment. Luckily, the cancer was pretty stagnant for now, not spreading rapidly, or even slowly for that matter. For some reason, it was going at a crawl, if going at all, and that was one thing Peyton was thankful for. She just felt that if she could hold on till he was okay, and treatment was over, he wouldn't need Stacy anymore, and everything would be back to normal ... back to just the two of them.

Reaching for her keys, Peyton felt her phone vibrating in her back pocket. She stopped walking, grabbing her phone to check who was calling her. Smiling she recognized the "mystery man" who had replied to her ad to buy her car, "Well yes Mr. Scott, how may I help you", she said, holding the phone to her ear. The voice on the other end was not the one she was expecting, "PEYTON! So it is true ... Nathan told me, but I just didn't believe him, well b/c you know how he loves surprises and tricking people, but yeah ... how are you? Where are you!? Weren't you here???". "Haley! Hey ... yeah, I was there, I just had .... something to do that couldn't wait. Sorry I had to split so soon", Peyton said dodging the truth. She just hadn't told anyone about her father's condition, and didn't feel now was the best time. Reunion's with long lost friends aren't meant for catching up on family health history. Haley excitedly rambled on, while Peyton began to zone out. Quickly she forced herself to focus, turning Haley's mumbles into words, "...so, I really think you should come back over. Eveyone is still here, and it would just be so great to catch up!", Haley finished. "You know", Peyton began ... hesitating, b/c lieing just came far to easy for her, "...can I take a rain check? I am just really tired from the drive...and I would really like to just rest a little. Maybe I'll give you a call later ... we can have dinner or something?". She could hear the disappointment in Haley's voice, but knew it was unlike her to hold it against her, "Yeah ... that's fine. We will be here for awhile, so just give us a call when you get up. Hope to talk to you soon!". Peyton agreed, and with quick goodbyes they hung up. Peyton looked at her phone as she slipped it back into her back pocket, grabbed her keys, and jumped in her car. She wasn't tired ... and she didn't want to go back to her house and rest ... that would involve seeing Stacy. She just needed a place to go ... where she could think ... starting the car, she knew just the spot.