Title: Dance from the Heart (1/?)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Angst, Drama
Characters: Mostly Sharpay and Ryan, the others show up on occasion.
Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or these characters. I'm just playing around.
Summary: An accident, a struggle and a redemption.
0o0o0o
In the end, Ryan realized, it wasn't Sharpay's reflexes that had failed her that fateful morning driving on the way to school. If anything they were fast enough to let her yank the wheel hard right with enough perfect timing to make sure the passenger side got the least of the impact, while the driver's side ...
Ryan could still remember the almost comical twist to the car's driver side door wrapped like a steel blanket over his sister's lower half. He couldn't stop staring dumbly at her, wondering how she could possibly lay so still, her slim body sprawled over the seat at such an odd angle. There was something sticky and stinging running down his face and into his eyes.
Someone was screaming something at him about an ambulance and don't move and did he know his name and ohmygodlookatthatpoorgirl ...
The next thing he saw was the ruddy face of a fireman sticking in through the shattered passenger window, not smiling, but talking slowly and carefully to Ryan while all around them the sounds of chaos grew louder. Ryan held his hand up and saw something red but only for a second as a giant calloused paw covered his fingers and held his hand gently, like a father might, all the while talking in a low baritone, forcing Ryan to pay attention to him and to nothing else. "Look at me, buddy. I have you and I'm not letting go, okay?"
"My sister ..."
"We're going to take care of both of you. You just keep looking at me."
The noise around them became deafening. Something disturbingly like a chainsaw roared and Ryan began to shake all over, his hands growing numb, his feet like ice. "My sister!" he screamed over the cacophony.
Panic then, like fire through his veins and Ryan had to get out of there and help Sharpay rightnowrightnow ... right ...
"Look at me!" the fireman commanded bluntly and the last thing Ryan clearly remembered were the man's eyes, an unusual shade of gray-blue, like steel.
A few vague things followed. A sudden burst of movement, something stiff and very painful put around his neck -- a board strapped around his torso and Ryan was flat on his back, staring at the dull ceiling of an ambulance before a paramedic with pity in their eyes plunged a needle into his arm. A little bit of burning under the skin and there was nothing then, except for the sound of his sister's voice, singing along with the song on the radio, right before they started to make that turn ...
0o0o0o
The room he woke up was quietly busy. A few nurses walked silently over white tiles in their sensible shoes while other sat scribbling furiously at the long desk, papers piled high. There was something very annoying wrapped around Ryan's upper arm, squeezing his bicep hard at irritating intervals, beeping as it deflated.
There was a glowing clothespin on his index finger. It was all odd and uncomfortable and weird and ...
Wait. Wait ... something's happened, he realized, a car crash and panic nearly flung Ryan out of the bed. "Sharpay!" he cried out and the walking nurses spun on a dime, running toward him, their hands already pushing his shoulders back against the mattress.
"Hush, sweetheart," one said and Ryan was amazed at how strong she was, holding him down effortlessly. "We're going to get your parents in here right now."
"I want my sister. Her name is Sharpay Evans and she was with me and ..." His voice trailed away as another nurse fussed over his blankets and checked his monitor. "Is she dead?" he asked, barely able to choke the words out. "Please tell me, is my sister dead?"
"I don't think so, honey," the nurse whispered back, not looking at him. "But your parents will tell you everything."
She didn't think so and Ryan burst into grateful tears, wanting to hug her. It was all going to be okay, he thought, a distinct edge of hysteria lurking beneath the surface. Sharpay was alive and everything was going to be fine. Boy, was she going to laugh at him, he thought, chuckling through the sobs. He knew he looked awful and incredibly stupid in this shapeless blue gown while she was probably wearing something pink and fashionable already, knowing her.
His mother's visage appeared around the curtain. Ryan wanted to hug her too, but as he reached out his arms he noticed her face, particularly her complexion.
It was an awful shade of ashen gray and her eyes were so red, Ryan wondered if she'd been in an accident as well. His father was there a second later, and he was just as sick-looking and Ryan was going to kill that nurse if she'd lied to him. Because if she had ...
"Angel," his mother murmured, pushing a bit of hair away from his eyes. "Mommy's here, baby."
He ignored her touch. "What happened to Sharpay?"
His father, normally such a direct man, began to breathe hard, looking everywhere but at his son. "Ryan ..." he started, but stopped, his hands clenching and unclenching.
"She's going to live," Ryan's mother exclaimed suddenly with such hollow cheerfulness, Ryan felt a chill crawl down his body, all the way to his feet. "So don't you worry."
"You're lying."
Ryan's mother shook her head frantically, but whatever color was in her face drained away completely. "I swear to you, Ryan, your sister is alive. It's just ..." She ran a pair of trembling hands through her already mussed hair. "They had to do a little operation."
"A little operation?" Ryan asked, his gorge rising. "What little operation?"
"Nothing that bad," his mother stuttered, her eyes watering. "They took just a little bit. Not everything."
"Dad," Ryan begged his father, his panic rising. "Please ..."
Ryan never remembered his father looking weak ... not ever ... except for that moment. That awful moment. "They amputated your sister's leg. They had no choice." His mouth twisted miserably. "They had to," he muttered again, as if trying to convince himself as much as Ryan. "So that's what they did."
Ryan's mother burst into tears, curling into Vance's embrace while Ryan looked at both of them, his brain simply shutting down. "I guess it's not that bad," he said, hyperventilating. His own legs had turned numb and he laid back, staring at the ceiling, repeating over and over again, "It's really not that bad, is it?"
His mother's sobs -- and his father's averted eyes -- were his only answer.
0o0o0o
tbc...
Reviews are very welcome. Thank you for reading and more to come very soon!