Chapter 1
Chad never liked hospitals. Hospitals always reminded him of pain. He remembered being in a hospital when his dad died, when he was ten years old. He remembered bright lights, the loud PA systems, and, most importantly, the ever present sense of emotional pain. He hated everything about hospitals.
He hated that feeling of walking around and seeing expressions sadness written on the faces of strangers that he would pass in the halls. He hated the doctors, who would often ask many questions and offer few answers. He hated the balloons. If anything, he hated the balloons. His dad's sickness and death caused Chad to never desire another balloon at another birthday party.
To Chad, the balloons signified compensation for personal pain or injury. When Chad saw a balloon he thought, "Get well soon," or, "I'm so sorry." Did he once think of parties, carnivals, festivals, or occasions filled with happy people screaming, "Happy Birthday,"or, "Surprise!"? Not Chad. Balloons symbolized emotional and physical pain, and Chad hated pain.
Most of all, Chad hated being patient and that was exactly what he had to do right now. He sat silent and motionless outside of room 140 where, his best friend and boyfriend of six months, was lying in a hospital bed. He was neither a doctor nor an immediate family member, which was why he was stuck with the unenviable position of sitting outside of the door and wondering about the welfare of his boyfriend, Ryan Evans.
FLASHBACK
"I can't believe we did that, Chad!" Ryan said happily as the two boys, clothed in tuxedoes, walked out the front doors of East High School holding hands. "I mean, I know I begged and begged for you to dance with me at our Winter Formal, but I didn't actually think you would do it!" Ryan was hardly able to handle his excitement and giddiness. "I mean," the blonde boy continued, "Did you see the looks on their faces?"
"Yeah," Chad replied with a smirk, "I guess we did look pretty damn sexy together." Chad pulled Ryan closer to him. He loved how it felt, for once, to not worry about pulling Ryan close and letting Ryan walk with him, while resting his head on his shoulders.
"I'm just so surprised at you. Two weeks ago, you would never have been okay with coming out to the school. In fact, you said we weren't going to dance together. It needed to look like we were just friends," Ryan said while looking at Chad, as they continued to walk.
"What changed your mind?" Ryan asked.
"You did." Chad's answer was simple and heartfelt. He was not the type of guy to be very emotional, mushy, or overly adoring. He told Ryan how he felt and didn't go on about it. Yet this answer said so much to Ryan.
"I just looked at you, sitting at the table," Chad started. "And you having fun was more important to me than what other people thought of me or, more importantly, us," he finished as he grabbed Ryan's hand and put it in his.
The two boys walked through the crowded school parking lot to find Ryan's black mustang. They had decided to skip out on the rest of the festivities of the Winter Formal and have some of their own festivities at the Evans' estate. Mr. and Mrs. Evans both adored Zeke and Chad, and were ecstatic to have the four kids spend their post-formal evening at their home. This worked out well for Chad because, although his mother knew of him and Ryan, he could tell she was still slightly uncomfortable with the notion of him dating another boy.
"Shit!" Chad exclaimed as the two boys walked up to Ryan's car. "I left my coat in the gym! I am such an idiot," he laughed as he ran his hand through his afro.
"At least you're a cute idiot, Chad," his boyfriend retorted before planting a quick kiss on his lips. Chad started to lean back in for another kiss, only to be met by Ryan's hand.
"Go get your jacket, first. We have all night for that," he said seductively.
"That is a great motivational tactic, Mr. Evans," Chad said in a British voice. Ryan could always tell when he got nervous because of hormones or sex, because he would try and act goofy to hide his embarrassment. Ryan thought it was extremely cute.
"Oh Chad Danforth, tell me again why I find you so sexy" Ryan said sarcastically as he shook his head, while leaning against his mustang.
"Definitely the hair," Chad said quickly. "You love the fro," he added, while wearing a 'matter-of-fact' look. Ryan raised his hand and opened his mouth to offer more playful banter, but Chad quickly dashed off towards the doors.
Ryan heard something like, "Hold that thought, berightbackand then we.." Ryan couldn't hear the rest of the phrase because Chad was trying to talk at the same volume and sprint in the school.
If the truth were to be told, Ryan loved that Chad was such a goofball. Spending time with him was never a burden. It was always light hearted, fun, and they seldom fought.
Chad continued to run through the hallways of East High, back towards the Gym. He imagined that some of his friends would probably give him some pretty judgmental stares when he returned. Much to his dismay, Troy Bolton, his best friend, was still none too thrilled about his sexuality or, more importantly, Ryan Evans.
He was grateful that most of his close friends, Sharpay, Jason, Kelsi, Gabriella, Taylor, and Martha, had accepted him for who he was. Taylor was the first person to find out and be understanding. He had to tell her of the emotions and confusion he experienced when he was dating her over the summer, yet found himself infatuated with the Evans' boy.
Surprisingly, outside of Sharpay (which was a surprise in itself) Taylor was he and Ryan's strongest supporter. He attributed it to her love for science, justice, social causes, and intelligence. Whatever the reason, he was happy to have her support.
As Chad opened the doors to the gym, he noticed only Jason sitting at the group's table. "This is perfect," he thought. Everyone was out dancing, he assumed. He didn't care what they were doing in all actuality, he just wanted to grab his coat and get back to Ryan.
He eyed the coat, smiled at Jason and quickly said, "Forgot my coat." With that, he snatched his coat, waved to Jason, walked through the gym doors, and headed back towards the front of the school. This time he wasn't sprinting, but walking through the halls. His head was full of happy thoughts about the night's future activities, and getting to spend it with h is boyfriend.
"My. Boyfriend," Chad thought. "I danced at MY prom, with MY…boyfriend," Chad continued in his thoughts, causing a large grin to appear on his face. He continued to walk to the end of the hall, and he finally approached the double doors. He started towards Ryan's mustang, situated closer to the back of the parking lot. As Chad approached he noticed that one of the car doors was open and a light was left on, but there was no sign of Ryan in the car.
"Ryan?" Chad called out. There was no answer.
"Ryan?" he yelled again. The lack of an answer a second time had Chad worried. He started running to the car to see if this was some joke Ryan was playing on him.
"Ryan! Ryan!" he continued to yell as he approached the car. His anxiety increased with every repetition of Ryan's name. When he finally reached the car, he was horrified to find Ryan lying on the other side of the ground. His small frame and white tux was covered in blood and fresh wounds. The back of his head, Chad noticed, looked as if someone had hit it with a blunt object.
"Ryan! Oh my god!" Chad yelled hysterically as he fell down beside him. He picked Ryan's head up and put it in his lap. Chad wished with everything in him that Ryan would open his eyes and return a look, of any kind, back to Chad. He shook Ryan and tapped his face, but he remained unconscious.
"Ryan, oh my god. Talk to me. Ryan are you ok? Talk to me, please," he continued frantically. "Ry, come on. Please, please, please…" His voice grew more and more hoarse with emotion, the longer he looked at Ryan's body. "No, no, no, no, no, no," he said quickly as he looked at Ryan's face and torso, as he tried to figure out what to do.
END FLASHBACK
Ryan had been placed in ICU, briefly, when he first arrived at the hospital. It took about 16 hours for them to stabilize his body. Chad spent this time talking to Sharpay and the Evans. She was, surprisingly, very loving and caring to Chad. Normally, she treated him with disdain and irritation and, until recently, he wasn't able to figure out if this was an act or her true feelings. He was certain now that it was an act.
She even held his hand, when they first arrived and were both in tears as they could see Ryan's beaten and bloody body, rolled into the hospital on a stretcher. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Chad needed that. Some of their friends had been in and out of the waiting room, and his mom stayed for a few hours, but Chad had been there for everything. Mr. and Mrs. Evans, Sharpay, and Chad, were all there for every moment.
Chad knew he looked awful, but he didn't care. He knew he needed to stay. Showers could wait, food could wait, and sleep could even wait. He didn't want to miss being there if he could finally find something out.
The opening of Ryan's room door caused Chad to snap out of his own thoughts. His vivid imagination and his recollection of events that occurred, almost 48 hours ago, had caused more subtle tears to form and fall from. Chad quickly wiped his eyes and face as he stood to his feet, eager to hear some sort of news.
He was greeted by Mr. Evans and Sharpay, before the door closed behind them.
"What is it? What have they told you everyone? Is he going to be ok?" Chad asked several questions hastily. His concern and presence at the hospital had only reinforced to Mr. Evans that Chad was exactly the kind of person he wanted his son to be with.
"Listen, Chad, we need to talk," Mr. Evans said. Chad knew it was serious because he referred to him as, "Chad." Mr. Evans always called Chad, "Son, kiddo, or some other nickname." Mrs. Evans always called him, "Darling, or dear." Sharpay's loveable nickname of choice was, "Danforth, or Fro-boy."
However, their tones were entirely different. Even Sharpay said his name. Chad walked down the hall of the hospital with Sharpay and Mr. Evans. He found himself speechless because of his nerves.
The three individuals walked into one of the many waiting areas on the first floor. Luckily for them, the one they entered was unoccupied by other individuals. Chad took a seat in a chair, followed by Mr. Evans and Sharpay, who sat in the two seats beside Chad, respectively.
Sharpay and her father's faces were full of sadness and concern. He knew whatever they were going to say was going to be tough to swallow. As Mr. Evans began to open his mouth, Chad braced himself for what he was about to hear.
"Chad, this is going to be tough to tell you, son…"