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Change

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Never in her life did Gabriella think that she would be sitting where she was currently. She was huddled up in an uncomfortable chair listen to the soothing beats from the machine next to her. She was dozing off when she felt a hand ghost across her shoulder.

"Gabs...Gabs, wake up." The owner of the hand whispered. "It's time to go home now."

Gabriella slowly opened her eyes and tried to focus on the person in front of her. As she blinked away her drowsiness, she finally began to focus on the full head of hair in front of her.

"Chad...what time is it?"

"It's just after 10pm and they are coming around to clear everyone out because visiting hours are long over. Come on munchkin....time for me to take you home."

"I'm not a munchkin." Gabriella grumbled in reply.

"Well when you start to grow some more and stop being so damn tiny, then maybe I'll start calling you something else....until then...."

"Alright, alright, I'm coming. Just let me get my stuff together."

"Already done, now say goodnight and lets get you into a real bed."

Gabriella stood up slowly and walked over to the hospital bed. She grasped the cool hand and leaned over to bid the person goodnight. Once she was done, she stood and leaned against Chad as they made their way out of the hospital.

"How was she today? Any change?" Chad asked as they emerged from the elevator and headed towards the parking lot.

"Same as she always is. The chemo was really hard on her this time. She vomited through most of it before she finally fell asleep." Gabriella stared off into space as she revisited her afternoon. She snapped back into focus and tried to lighten the mood. "So how did you get stuck with operation Gabi-Taxi-Relaxi duty?"

Chad turned quickly to face her, his eyes wide with shock. "How do you know the code name?"

Gabriella released a small laugh as they reached the car and she climbed into the passenger seat. "Oh please Chadball. You lot are anything but discreet when it comes to this kind of thing."

"Damn, and I thought I was doing so good this time. He's gonna kill me when he finds out you know the code name."

"Relax, it's fine. Seriously. I mean I still think it's a little ridiculous that you are coming to pick me up at all. I am perfectly capable of driving myself home."

Chad shot her a look as if to say 'yeah right'.

"Oh come on. I fell asleep ONE time in the parking lot and suddenly I'm incapable of driving anywhere anymore."

Chad's look held. "Alright, it was two times, but I swear I was just resting my eyes."

"Whatever munchkin. Doesn't matter anyways. I'm here now and if I do say so myself, I am a lovely chauffeur for you this evening. So m'lady, are you ready to return to your temporary castle?"

"I suppose so." Gabriella looked down at her hands in her lap and sighed. "I just wish that she was home and not stuck in this stupid excuse for a hospital."

"Me too Gabs, me too."

About 15 minutes later, Chad pulled up to a beautiful home and Gabriella slowly pulled herself out of the car, said goodnight and walked up the path to the door. She found it surreal that six months ago she would have stopped herself at the door to calm her nerves and excitement before ringing the doorbell. Now, she had a key and just let herself into this home away from home. She couldn't really tell if this was a good thing or not given the circumstances.

She bypassed the living room and kitchen and trudged up the stairs into her room. It took all her effort at this point to remain standing long enough to put her bag down and to get undressed. She was always the most exhausted on chemo days. As she changed for bed, she started to think back on life before....before cancer happened to her family...to her mother.

FLASHBACK

"Mom!!! Mom I'm home. Are you here?" Gabriella called out as she walked into the front foyer of her home. When she got no response, she continued through to the kitchen to grab a snack and check for a note. Gabriella had been so wrapped up in school and the musical and just life in general that she felt like she had barely seen her mom lately.

As she pulled some fruit out of the fridge, Gabriella was surprised at the lack of note. Her mother always left her a note if she was going to be late. Shrugging it off, Gabriella moved over to check the phone messages.

Beep. "Mrs. Montez, it's Dr Duncan's office calling you to remind you of your appointment for those blood tests we ordered yesterday. Your appointment is today at 2:00pm. See you then."

Beep. "Gabi, it's Taylor. I know I just saw you like 10 minutes ago but I just wanted to double check an answer on our calc homework. Call me later! Bye!"

Beep. End of messages.

Gabriella was confused for a moment because she didn't remember her mom telling her that she had a doctors appointment this week. By the sounds of it, she had two. Strange. Figuring it was just something routine, she grabbed her snack and her bag and made her way upstairs to start on her homework.

Later on that evening,she heard her mom pull in the driveway. She made her way downstairs to meet her. When her mom came through the door, Gabriella stopped in her tracks. The expression on her face was pale and there was a distant look in her eyes.

"Mom?" Gabriella called out to her from the stairs. She tried again. "Mom? Mom...what's going on?"

"Oh, Gabi, sweetheart. I didn't see you there."

"Momma, what's wrong?"

When Gabriella's mom looked up and their eyes connected, Gabriella knew that things were about to change drastically.

END FLASHBACK

Gabriella shook her head as if to get rid of her memories. It wasn't until that moment that Gabriella really understood how devastating cancer could be and how it could change lives forever. She couldn't believe how hard today was. As she dragged her feet towards the bathroom, she was determined to not think about the day anymore.

Once she was finished, she turned and made her way to the room at the end of the hall. It was an unspoken understanding between her and her current hosts that on chemo days, she would always end up here. The room was still empty when she opened the door and stepped in. Too tired to do anything else, she crawled into the large bed and curled up as small as possible before falling into a restless sleep.

A little later a truck rumbled to a stop in the driveway and a door could be heard cranking shut. Troy emerged tired but happy to be home. He made his way inside and noticed that everyone was already asleep. It was a long evening at work and he was glad to be home. Tonight felt like it dragged on forever but that was just because he knew that Gabriella was at the hospital all afternoon and evening. Chad had texted him earlier to say that he had dropped Gabriella at his house. Troy was more concerned about what Chad hadn't said. Normally he would give some indication of how the evening went when he picked her up. Tonight, nothing. That usually meant that it was a bad night.

Troy made his way upstairs and to the end of the hall. He opened the door to his room and saw a lump under his covers. Normally the thought of Gabriella in his bed would bring a smile to his face, but given the circumstances he just released a small sigh. He moved about his room putting down his bag and changed out of his work clothes. After a quick trip to the bathroom, Troy crawled into bed behind Gabriella.

Just as Troy was getting settled, Gabriella shifted and her eyes fluttered. She felt a presence behind her and turned to see a pair of bright blue eyes staring down at her.

"Hey." Troy whispered. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's ok. How was work." Gabriella mumbled in reply as she turned completely so they were now laying facing each other.

"Work was fine, I'm more concerned about how your night went."

Gabriella shut her eyes tightly and tried to take a deep breath. She felt Troy run his hand through her hair and come to a stop on her waist. He was waiting patiently for a response and Gabriella knew that he wouldn't let her go without one. She took another deep breath before answering.

"It was bad today Troy. The worst I've ever seen her." Gabriella willed the tears back but they came anyway. "She's trying to fight so hard but it just doesn't seem to be working. Why is this happening? Haven't we been through enough?"

Gabriella was struggling to keep back her sobs, but they just ended up coming out as hiccups. Troy wasted no time in pulling her tightly to his chest. "Shh Brie. It's ok." Troy continued to whisper into her ear as he waited for her to calm down again. Gabriella was clinging tightly to Troy and buried her face into the crook of Troy's neck.

He didn't realize how loud Gabriella must have been when he noticed that his mom was poking her head in his room to check to make sure that everything was ok. He caught her eye and nodded that he had everything under control. Lucille nodded slowly and backed out of the room, closing the door behind her.

It took some time but Gabriella was able to calm down. She slowly pulled back from his chest and sniffled. Troy reached behind him to grab some tissues and handed them to her. She pulled back further and sat up a bit. She blew her nose loudly. Troy couldn't help but chuckle that such a tiny person could make such a huge noise.

"Sowry..." Gabriella managed to get out between blows. Once she was done, she settled back into Troy's arms.

"Feel better now?" Gabriella nodded her head slightly. "I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but you are such a strong woman. You are an incredible daughter and I know how much your mom appreciates you being there with her. As hard as it is to see what she's going through, you have remember that the chemo is really trying to help her."

"I know all that but sometimes it is just so hard to see her so sick and to know that there's nothing that I can do to help her. I mean when we went through this with my dad, I was too young and was mostly kept away from this part of it. I'm just so scared that she's not going to make it and I'll have lost both of my parents before I even turn 18."

Troy was a little taken aback by her response. Usually Gabriella avoided talking much about her dad and she was really good at avoiding talking about what could happen in the future. Troy brought his hand to her cheek and brought her eyes up to look at him.

"I don't know what's going to happen in the future. I'm not going to promise you that everything is going to be ok because I can't promise you that. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow either. But I do know that I will always be here for you. Whether it's to laugh with or cry with. I'm here. Things may change but together we can learn to adapt to that change together."

Gabriella let a small smile grace her face. It felt a little foreign to be smiling when everything seemed to be so serious in her life right now. She slowly leaned in and gave Troy a small kiss.

"Thank you. You always know what to say to make me feel better."

"Well it is my job as the boyfriend to get my girlfriend to stop crying so she doesn't wake up my parents again." Troy let a smirk cross his face. He realized that they were over the worst of it and figured that Gabriella could use a change in tone. And it seemed to have worked because Gabriella released a chuckle.

"You know boyfriend, I appreciate everything you have down for me over the last 6 months but I really think that you and Chad need to work on those code names of yours. I mean come on...Operation Gabi-Taxi-Relaxi?"

The same look of shock that Chad displayed earlier seemed to cross his face. "How do you find these things out. I mean seriously."

"Like I told Chad, you guys aren't as discreet as you think you are. Plus Taylor tells me."

"Damn. I really thought we would be able to keep it from you."

"It's ok. I don't mind really. I really do appreciate everything that you've done to make this easier for me. Even if sometimes I think you go a little too far. I mean I really think that I can..."

"Don't even think about finishing that sentence. You know that you driving home is not a moveable point for me. Even my dad won't let you so you aren't going to win that battle."

"Fine." Came Gabriella's grumbled reply. Just as she was about to say something else, a huge yawn escaped.

"Come on princess. Time for bed. If your lucky, you can sleep in a little tomorrow."

Gabriella didn't fight it as her eyes fluttered shut. "Mm'kay."

"Goodnight babe. Sleep tight."

"Goodnight." Gabriella tilted her head up, searching. She wasn't disappointed when a pair of lips met hers.

"I love you more than anything. Never forget that." Troy whispered as he pulled her closer to him as they both settled in to sleep.

"I love you too."

So I'm not sure how I want to end this. I'm thinking about writing an epilogue but I'm a little stuck on how I want it to end. I'm open to suggestions, so let me know what you think. Thanks.