Autho's Note: One heck of a oneshot inspired by Leona Lewis's song "Here I Am" I LOVE her:D Hope you enjoy the oneshot and R&R!
Longest chapter for anything EVER!
Here I Am
Troy sulked moodily as he wheeled his wheelchair down the hospital corridor. He was bored. His newly broken leg had restricted him from leaving the depressing building and after being sick at the sight of his designated room, he decided to explore.
It was during a rather gruesome basketball practise that Troy fell over in the wrong way and broke his leg in two places. And he had absolutely no idea how he did it.
He wheeled his wheelchair along, taking note that yes; in this corridor the walls were a different shade of white.
He had been told by one of the nurses that there was a playroom on this floor and even though Troy at 17 years old was considered too old for such a place, his monumental boredom had won him over.
He finally found the right room and wheeled himself in. He was greeted with more colours than a rainbow and the open windows brought light into the already bright room. He saw kids, most no older than 9 years old, playing with cars, dolls, games and watching Monsters Inc on the TV. He smiled at the sight of the children but something caught his eye. Or someone in fact.
Over in the corner, seated next to the window overlooking the pretty gardens, in her own wheelchair, was the most beautiful girl Troy had ever seen. She looked no older than himself, her dark curls covering her face as she read a book. Every so often she would look up from her book and out the window to enjoy the view, she would smile. That was when Troy was able to see her full face.
As Troy wheeled closer to her, he noticed her chocolate brown eyes and when she smiled, something inside of him melted. She was dressed in the grey hospital robe and she looked thin, her skin pale as if sickness had worn her down over time but despite all that, there was something about her that glowed.
The girl seemed to notice that Troy was watching her, and her smile vanished. Shyness washed over her and she looked back at her book, trying to avoid his eyes. But as Troy slowly headed towards her, curiosity got the better of her and every few moments she looked up to Troy, who was now beside her.
"Hi" Troy said simply, watching her reaction.
"Hi" the girl replied, not looking up any more.
"…How are you?" Troy asked, mentally kicking himself, she was in a hospital for Christ's sake.
"Fine…" The girl answered quietly.
"You know, some people would find it rude if a person doesn't look at them when they're talking" Troy leaned forward, grinning playfully.
"And some people would find it rude that strangers would start a conversation without introducing themselves." The girl retorted, turning a page.
Troy smirked. This girl had the ability to take the piss out of him, something he saw very rarely in the girls at his school. "Troy Bolton." He stuck out his hand.
The girl gently grasped it and shook "Gabriella Montez."
Troy smiled, nodding in time with the handshake. Gabriella.
Gabriella glanced at his leg in the cast. "What did you do to your leg?"
Troy looked down at the cast, his best friend had visited him earlier on in the day and had scrawled "Trust you to trip over your own feet! Better see ya back in the game captain! Chad" over it. He smirked again.
"Basketball practise. I did NOT fall over my own feet in case you were wondering."
Gabriella giggled. "And you're captain. Must be a lot of pressure."
"Yeah… suppose." The wide smirk on Troy's face evaporated as his mind drifted into unsettling thoughts.
"Do I sense some resentment?" Troy looked up and saw genuine concern etched on the girl's face.
This is a crazy world
These can be lonely days
It's hard to know who's on your side
Most of the time
Troy shrugged. "You don't wanna hear about it."
"Well now I know something's wrong." Gabriella placed a bookmark between the pages in her book and put it on the windowsill. Troy saw a glimpse of the title. A Walk To Remember. He'd never heard of it.
"I believe that just letting out your problems, having some one listen to you can ease the pain away. Even if it's just for a second. It's one second further away from your own destruction."
Troy frowned. "Destruction? Bit melodramatic don't you think?"
"How many people have been ignored because others thought they were just being over-dramatic? Famous people. Not so famous people. You should always listen to someone's cry for help, even if they don't realise they're crying."
Troy thought about what Gabriella had just said. Was he crying for help?
He shook that thought away. Gabriella just happened to be a rather deep person. Too analytical.
"So tell me what's wrong. I want to know." Gabriella smiled and Troy looked into those brown eyes and saw the sincerity, which seemed like such normal thing for her.
Who can you really trust
Who do you really know
Is there anybody out there
Who can make you feel less alone
"Well… I just have every day problems that come with being a captain. The school population on my shoulders, everyone believing that I can lead them to victory when I don't believe in myself." Troy stared at his knees, surprised at himself for being open with a girl he barely knew.
"That must suck." Gabriella said in understanding.
"Yeah…" Troy nodded, "But… it's not just that…"
He was silent for a moment. Gabriella took Troy's hand and grasped it, comforting him even though she wasn't 100 percent sure what for. Troy felt her comfort.
Sometimes you just can't make it on your own
"Earlier on this year… my… my mum left my dad."
Gabriella's face remained expressionless but she grasped Troy's hand a little tighter, just so he could feel she was near while he was going through this heart-to-heart. Something he never expected to happen.
If you need a place where you can run
If you need a shoulder to cry on
I'll always be your friend
"She'd been unhappy for months. My dad tends to focus way too much on sports. Especially on basketball. He's my coach you see. He always pushes me a little harder because he believes that I could be great. I could far. Well that's what he says. Sometimes I think he just pushes me to do well so I can achieve what he failed to do."
When you need some shelter from the rain
When you need a healer for your pain
I will be there time and time again
"I now remember loads of times where… my mom prepared little romantic dinners. For just her and my Dad. But he was always too busy with organising training schedules. I remember one time… she said that he could put it off for an hour or two. He said… "Troy's scholarship isn't going to be conjured up with a fancy dinner" I was too wrapped up in my own bubble to realise what he meant, and what was actually happening in their relationship." Troy sniffed loudly, trying to keep back tears that were now pinching at his eyes.
"So… it's actually my fault for their divorce. If I didn't play basketball and have a scholarship to catch, my dad wouldn't have been so focused on it and their relationship wouldn't have been neglected."
"No, Troy… it's not your fault." Gabriella frowned. "Don't believe that, I won't let you."
When you need someone to love you
Here I am
"Well… the pain wouldn't be half as bad if my dad didn't believe it too."
If you have broken dreams
Just lay them all on me
I'll be the one who understands
So take my hand
"My mom moved out and my dad was distraught. For a while. Then he started to get excessive with the basketball. He works me and my team way too hard "To make sure we're the best" as he says. My teammates believe that they will benefit from all this extra practice but I'm not so sure. When the rest of the team leaves, Dad trains me for another hour. At least. Then we go home and I have to train there too. It's actual torture. I'm shattered most of the time and my school works slipping. But my dad doesn't care. As long as I get that scholarship I'm as good as gold. But he doesn't understand that I actually have to pass my subjects to even get that flipping scholarship."
If there is emptiness
You know I'll do my best
To fill you up with all the love
That I can show someone
"It's got to the stage where… I think my Dad just trains me that hard so he can prove that his divorce was worth it. But he's also punishing me for ruining his marriage… That doesn't make sense…"
"It does. There doesn't have to be just one reason for a divorce but you know what? You aren't one. It's your Dad's fault that his marriage went down the pan. He just can't accept it. He seems like one of those people who find it hard to accept blame and just blame it on the nearest person. Right now, that person just happens to be you." Gabriella tilted her head and smiled, now facing him and holding both his hands.
I promise you you'll never walk alone
"You'd make a good shrink you know." Troy joked, trying to hide his newfound vulnerability.
"It's been said before, yes." Gabriella giggled along.
Troy's mind was a whirlwind. He had all these emotions he never knew he had. He was full of anger, despair, confusion and now embarrassment. He couldn't believe he had just spilled out his troubles to a complete stranger.
"But you know the good thing about being a shrink?" Gabriella said. "You make the person feel like they don't have to hide their feelings and that they're not on their own"
If you need a place where you can run
If you need a shoulder to cry on
I'll always be your friend
When you need some shelter from the rain
When you need a healer for you pain
I will be there time and time again
"You must think I'm a such a loser…" Troy shook his head.
"Not at all. You just have problems. Everybody has problems. Yours are just more damaging in a psychological sense."
"So you do think I'm mad…"
"That's not what I said and you know it. Don't try to push away someone who trying to help you." Troy was surprised by her now stern tone. "And believe me Mr Bolton, I do want to help you."
When you need someone to love you
Here I Am
Two hours later
Gabriella was being wheeled into her private room about to take her medication. She smiled. She was finally satisfied that she'd made someone's life a little easier.
She felt a sharp pain in her heart and she clutched her chest. She grimaced until the pain disappeared. She took a deep breath as she recovered.
She had always had a weak heart and two years ago, she had developed a condition that doctors had sadly announced that she would never recover from. The sharp pains were her heart struggling to keep going and eventually, it would give up. Her mother had begged her to go on the transplant list but Gabriella didn't believe in taking another person's heart. A dead person's heart. She would live with the heart God gave her.
Gabriella took out the notebook that sat next to her bedside table and opened it. In it was a list of everything Gabriella wanted to accomplish in her short lifetime. She had ticked "Eat sushi" and "Visit New York" All had been ticked aside from two right down at the bottom "Save someone from destruction" and "Experience very first kiss"
She smiled to herself. Troy had been closer to his own destruction more than he realised, but Gabriella noticed it the second his voice drifted off after she mentioned his captainship. The sparkle in his sky-blue eyes seemed to fade dramatically.
As she ticked off the last two points and stared at her completed list. She had done it.
Her heart clenched up again, this time a lot more painful. She gasped as the pain seared through her body. Then it calmed down. Gabriella closed her eyes as she tried to calm down again. These pains were coming a lot more frequently and Gabriella feared that she coming towards her end.
She looked at her medication tablets that stood on her bedside table. Then she looked back at her notebook and looked at her completed list. Is there any point?
She took out her pen and decided to write a letter. She asked the nurse if she could call her mother later on and then when she left, tried to think of what to put in her letter. She took one last look at her medication.
"It's not giving up, it's finally letting go."
Everybody needs somebody who
They can pour their heart and soul into
Half an hour earlier
"So you understand Troy?" Gabriella sat in her wheelchair, leaning foreword, as she made sure Troy was getting what she was saying.
"Yeah, I… need to see my mom a lot more. I need to tell more people about my dad. I need to tell my dad about what he's doing to me. But… what if he doesn't listen?"
"Don't worry Troy, even if he doesn't listen to you, there will always be someone who will. You've told me all about your friends, Chad and everybody. They really seem to care about you."
"Yeah but I've never talked to them like this before."
"Well have you ever tried?"
Troy thought about it. "No, no I haven't,"
Gabriella smiled. "Well, then… try"
Troy stared at Gabriella's beautiful face and felt her smile lighting up all the darkness in his head. "Okay."
"Well I hate to say it but I'm shattered. I'm going back to my room" Gabriella started to manoeuvre her wheelchair to Troy's alarm.
"Wait! Hold on…" Gabriella stopped moving abruptly and watched as Troy then tried to stand up, struggling with his leg in his cast. To her surprise, he leant forward, gently placed one hand behind her head and kissed her.
Gabriella raised her eyebrows in shock and then wrapped her arms around Troy's neck as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The children in the playroom started "oooh"ing but had been forgotten about by the young couple.
When Troy finally let her go, Gabriella was still in a state of shock. Troy grinned.
"That was just a thanks for everything you've done. You helped me in some many ways. And I hadn't even realised that I needed helping."
Gabriella smiled and shyly replied "No problem."
"So now I just have one question, will you like to have dinner with me some time?" Troy asked cheekily.
Gabriella laughed initially but then her laugh faded into a simple smile. "We'll see, Troy Bolton."
Then Gabriella wheeled her chair out of the playroom, Troy watching her, not sure if he'd been rejected or not, but he watched as his angel took one last look at him before disappearing behind the door.
If you need a place where you can run
If you need a shoulder to cry on
I'll always be your friend
The next morning
Troy whistled as he wheeled his way down to the reception of the hospital. He didn't know where Gabriella's room was and wanted to find out.
"Hi, I'm looking for a Miss Gabriella Montez, I was talking to her yesterday, I want to know what room she's in."
"Troy Bolton?" Troy looked up at the female doctor who was standing next to the receptionist. His eyebrows furrowed.
"Yeah."
"I'll talk to him Michelle. Right this way, Mr Bolton" The doctor led Troy towards her office along the corridor He positioned his wheelchair in front of this doctors desk, wondering what the heck was going on. The doctor sat down in her chair.
"Mr Bolton, I'm Dr Philips. I was Gabriella's doctor. You may or may not have been aware that Gabriella had a heart problem and she had been suffering from it for two years. Last night, I'm afraid to say she finally passed away."
Troy heart leaped up to his throat. This was too much to process. She couldn't be dead. She couldn't be. She was fine yesterday…
"I'm so sorry Troy, it appears Gabriella decided not to take her medication. For reasons yet unclear. But she left you a letter…"
Dr Philips opened her drawer and pulled out a folded note, with Troy's name etched on the front. "Here..."
She held out the letter to him, which he took, still unable to believe what was happening. He stared at the neatly written "Troy Bolton", tears welling up in his eyes.
"Mrs Montez is organising a funeral for next Thursday. We can authorize a temporary leave if you'd like."
Funeral? There's a funeral. She's actually dead. That's what finally hit it home for Troy.
"Do you have any questions?"
Troy didn't answer, instead he wheeled his chair out into the corridor and down to his own room, staring aimlessly. His mind was blank, unsure what to think.
When he got to the privacy of his own room, he sat beside the window, looking out into the gardens that Gabriella had stared at the day before.
He barely knew Gabriella. She knew everything about him yet he never asked her a damn question about her own life. He felt so selfish.
He looked at the letter on his lap. She obviously wanted to reach him, to tell him something that she never had the chance to do herself. He should read it. He owed her that at least.
When you need a shelter from the rain
When you need a healer for the pain
I will be there time and time again
Troy unfolded the letter and he saw the same neat handwriting as on the front. He began to read.
I believe there are some people who come into our lives for a reason. To help or teach us something we never knew before.
I believe that you were made to trip over your own feet (and yes, you DID trip over your own feet!) during that basketball practise because you needed me and because I needed you.
You may not have realised it Troy but you helped me complete the last phase of my life. I knew I was going to die soon and my heart kept trugging along so I could accomplish everything I wanted to achieve. It was causing me so much pain to be alive that I was scared that I would have to give up on my dreams. But you came Troy. You saved me.
Okay, I still passed away but you saved me from so much pain and I hope I returned the favour.
I wish I could be there to help through the next phase of your own life I know it's going to be tough for you but just remember what I said. Having someone to listen to you can ease the pain away. If only for a second. Find someone to listen to you Troy
Can you do one more favour for me? Live your life to the fullest. Never regret anything. Everything happens for a reason.
You asked me out to dinner. When you come up to heaven, look me up. :D
There are times in life when you have to say goodbye. Wether we want to or not.
Goodbye Troy, have a fantastic life
Gabriella
xxx
When you need someone to love you
Troy stared at the letter, read it and reread it again. He was speechless. He looked up and stared out the window above the gardens. The sun was shining brighter than he had ever seen it and Troy smiled. It was as if Gabriella was sending him a sign.
He was going to do what she asked him to do, what she had taught him.
He was going to live life to the fullest.
Here I am
A/N: There were times when I was writing this and thought I was writing absolute crap so I would really appreciate it if you could tell me what you think :D Thank youuuuuu!
BTW, I made-up Gabriella's heart condition, I'm not sure if there's anything like it but it was much easier to just make one up rather than do some medical research :D