Disclaimer: I do not own 'High School Musical' or any related characters.

A/N: Right, well school starts tomorrow and it really, really sucks. Not to mention that I have hockey as soon as I get back to school. That sucks as well. As much as I love my team, its not always fun playing when all I really want is to do school work or write. Anyway, the response to the prologue was amazing! Thanks so much for giving me your thoughts I really appreciate it because as I said, I was nervous about it and I'm generally not that nervous about my stories. So, here is the new chapter to SFM. Note that I updated MTLFM before I updated this. I'm going to try and divide my time between those two and put C&M and DF on the back burner for a little while! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this.


Still Frame Memory

Chapter One

Dreams and anguish bring us together - Eugene Ionesco

The pain was indescribable. His leg felt like it was on fire. His chest felt like it had been crushed under a hundred falling stones. He could taste blood in his mouth and didn't know where it had come from. He wasn't sure if it had come from inside him or the blood that was dripping down from his forehead. His arms felt like they had been assaulted by a hundred knives and somewhere, Troy knew that those knives were shards of glass that had been propelled into his skin.

His eyes opened, testing. Troy realized that it didn't hurt to open them. They widened when they saw the million pieces of shattered glass. What happened? Why wasn't he waking up? His eyes flicked up and widened as he comprehended the front of his car molded to the other. This couldn't be happening, Troy thought frantically as the fire in his leg flared as he tried to move it. This wasn't happening, he panicked, Daniel was going to wake him up in a minute. Daniel!

Troy snapped his head around, praying that he wouldn't regret it. His neck didn't hurt and he took that as a good sign. Frantically, as he pulled his eyes away from the wreckage of the front of his car and tried desperately to ignore the pain in his chest as he searched from his friend.

"Daniel?" His voice rippled against the still air. Troy held his breath, praying, hoping to hear something from him and wished that the pain in his leg would stop, wished that this really was a dream.

The groan that came from the other side of the car gave Troy hope. Much more hope than he had allowed himself to feel ever since he'd regained consciousness. He strained his eyes in the anticipation of finding his friend. He could only just see a bent, broken shape and his breath quickened.

Troy's eyes snapped open. For a moment, he felt disorientated. Trying to figure out where he was. Trying to figure out why his ceiling was white when he swore that the ceiling in his room was blue.

The melancholy sound of a machine beeping alerted Troy to where he might be. Tentatively, unsure if his guess was correct he lowered his eyes from the white ceiling. The room was expressionless. The white that the walls had been painted with was nothing more than a pristine white, medical and cold. The blue drapes that hung at his window gave Troy the impression that someone had decided that breaking up the white would help the room. It didn't. It had the opposite affect. They looked sad and pathetic against the emotionless white. His eyes moved from the sun shining through the dull blue drapes and found the television bolted high into one corner. The television was an old one and Troy wanted to know why someone thought it had to be bolted to the ceiling. Who was going to want to steal something that old?

Pulling his attention away from the old television, Troy glanced around and found himself fascinated with the harsh looking machines that he could only assume he was hooked up too. He could only recognize one and that was the heart monitor. He'd seen one too many times on television to presume it was anything else. The others looked too complicated for him to even look at. He glanced to his left and his eyes drifted upwards, the bag at the top of the tall steel poll was connected to a tube that snaked itself down the poll. Troy's eyes followed the tube and found his eyes drawn to the needle that was joined to his arm.

He stared at it for a moment and then he saw the cuts that covered his arms. They littered his skin and Troy wondered why they weren't bandaged. He was at a hospital; shouldn't they have noticed that his arm wasn't bandaged?

Hearing a door open, Troy glanced up. Horror filling him as a nurse walked in. This was real, he suddenly realized. How could this be real? Troy wondered as the nurse saw he was awake and her face lit up happily.

"Mr Bolton! You're awake! Wonderful. You're parents will be happy to know that you've woken up." She said beaming. Troy just stared at her silently, trying to comprehend what she was saying. He opened his mouth to speak when she suddenly spoke again.

"Oh. How silly of me! Your mouth must be dry! Here." Troy shut his mouth and watched her as she bustled over to the sink that he hadn't noticed before and filled a cup with water. She was a plump woman, her dark hair wisped with gray and her face gently lined. She seemed so motherly as she bustled back over to him.

"Here we go Mr Bolton. Just raise your head, a little bit," she encouraged and Troy had no choice but to obey. "Good. Here, take a sip." Troy was faintly annoyed at himself for seeming weak as she took a sip of the water that she offered him. Immediately, he felt better. The water ran through his parched mouth and cooled the burning desert it seemed to be as he took another, longer sip.

"Good. Now, I need go and tell your parents and alert your doctor." She said, placing the cup back on to a table next to him. Troy stared at her for a moment.

"W-what happened?" His voice sound strange to his ears. It was only a strangled, weak sound different from what his voice usually sounded like. She gazed at him sympathetically and Troy noticed her nametag read Barbara. It suited her for some reason and Troy wasn't sure why as she patted the leg that wasn't covered in a cast.

"I don't think I should be the one to tell you dear, why don't you wait until your parents come in?" Barbara asked kindly and Troy felt like he was being patronized as he nodded resentfully and she shot him one more sympathetic look before exiting the room.

As soon as she left, Troy realized that he was hurting. He'd been paying to much attention to the hospital room to realize that his chest ached. The pain in his leg, while not a blistering fire anymore, seemed to be more of a caged animal pacing, waiting for the chance to pounce when he left the door open in a moment of vulnerability. His could no longer taste blood in his mouth and carefully, Troy raised his hand and touched his forehead, feeling for the gash that he was sure had been there. His fingers met gauze and Troy frowned, hoping that his head hadn't been bandaged. Absently, his hand lowered from his face and ran it up his arm, feeling the remnants of the tiny knives that he was sure had been lodged in there for too long.

Glancing at the window again, Troy wondered what day it was as he gazed at the tree tops that he could just see from his window. He wondered if school had started yet.

"Troy!" His head jerked around at the tearful, joyful declaration that had burst from his mother's mouth. As soon as he recognized her, Troy felt relief somewhere deep inside. He remembered them. His memory wasn't as broken as the rest of him.

"Mom. Dad." He frowned as he greeted his parents, wondering why his voice still sounded so shoddy and then didn't worry about it as he was engulfed in a warm hug that he normally would have tried to fight.

"We were so worried! Y-you've been out f-for so long." His mother sobbed against his neck and Troy shot his father a quizzical look as he patted his mothers back awkwardly. Jack Bolton shrugged and then touched a hand to his wife's back.

"Mandy, let him go." Jack said gently and Troy took in a deep, exaggerated breath when his mother let go of him. One that he was sure would get a laugh out of his sobbing mother and instead made her cry harder than she had been before.

"D-don't do that! Y-you nearly died!" She said, her voice lacking any animosity as Jack swallowed a chuckle. Troy stared at his mother as her words sunk in. He hadn't nearly died, had he?

"How long have I been out?" He asked and felt grateful when his mother handed him the water that had been just out of reach before. His throat was amazingly dry and Troy gulped the liquid as if it was his lifeline.

"A week. You were in a coma for a week and the doctors said that you m-might not make it the first couple of days." Amanda Bolton said, hiccoughing slightly in the middle as she fought back a new batch of tears as she remembered the doctor telling them there was a possibility that he might die.

"A-a week? You're kidding me!" Troy stared at his parents, completely shocked at the thought of lying in a bed for a week without any movement.

"Afraid not." Jack said and Troy's eyes darted between his parents, trying to comprehend that he had missed the start of school.

"B-but…school?" He asked feebly and Jack looked at him sympathetically, as Mandy touched the back of his hand comfortingly.

"Started. You couldn't help it." Jack said and Troy gazed wordlessly at his father before staring down at the crisp white sheets that he was currently lying on. Silence wrapped itself around the three of them as his parents waited for him to speak. For a moment Troy was lost for words, unable to speak until he remembered the very first question out of his mouth.

"What happened?" He asked. He raised his eyes from the sheets and digested the shocked looks on his parent's faces. He waited patiently as they exchanged a look, one that meant that they were unsure what to say to him when someone else walked into the room.

Troy turned his attention from his stunned parents to the man that he knew as his family doctor. Dr George Conroy was a tall, thin man whose twinkling, kind eyes gave away the serious set of his face. Troy had known him his entire life and felt some relief at seeing someone who wasn't going to cry or get upset in his presence.

"Troy, you're awake. That's wonderful. Why do you two look so shocked?" George looked at his parents curiously, his eyes sliding from one to the other before looking back at Troy, who shrugged.

"Ah…he wants to know what happened," Jack cleared his throat nervously as Troy watched his doctors eyes darken slightly.

"Oh. Well, Jack, Mandy, would you be so kind as to wait outside while I examine Troy? I'm sure Barbara will get you some coffee." George said firmly and Troy didn't say anything as he offered his parents a thin smile and they nodded slowly. Troy winced slightly when Mandy squeezed his hand hard before dropping it and following her husband out of the room.

Troy waited until his parents were out of the room before he spoke to his doctor, taking a large sip of water before he did so.

"So…what happened to me?" He asked calmly and then wondered why his doctor sighed and settled himself down into the seat that sat beside his bed.

"Are you sure you want to hear it from me, Troy? Wouldn't you rather your parents tell you what happened?" George asked seriously and Troy tried to ignore the sinking pit in his stomach at the look on the doctor's line face.

"No. I don't want my parents to tell me." Troy said firmly, fighting the rise of his pulse as his doctor nodded and readjusted the glasses that sat on the tip of his nose.

"About a week ago, you were in a car crash Troy. From what I gathered from your parents, you'd been at a party and were driving home with one of your friends, Daniel. According to the police, you swerved to the other side of the road to avoid a head on collision with a car that that was on the wrong side of the road and the car, instead of driving on like it should have, swerved back onto the side you were on, accelerated and hit you head on. I'm told the driver was going rather fast, sixty maybe seventy miles an hour." Troy felt his throat closing as he stared at the doctor. He could remember the lights. He could remember how bright they were. He nodded slowly, letting George know that he had to continue.

"You were very lucky. No-one is quite sure how you survived. You should have been killed as soon as there was impact. The police suggested that your airbag activated before the car front folded and pushed you back into the driver's seat. Anyhow, you arrived here a week ago. Your right leg was shattered, your ribs had been broken thanks to the force of the impact and one of them had pricked your lung, you hit your head and obtained the gash that it currently upon it. Your body was also embedded with glass. Most of which we have managed to get out." Troy stared at his doctor, once again raising an absent hand to brush over his arm, feeling the roughness of the scabs that ran along it.

"Anything else?" He asked slowly, his mind still trying to comprehend what was going on. George nodded and Troy could tell that he was unsure whether or not to continue. After a moment of deliberation, he did.

"Yes. You've been in a coma for a week because of the force that hit your head; it seemed your head hit the steering wheel and then the headrest. You were unconscious when you came in," there was more. Troy could tell there was more as Dr Conroy paused.

"What happened to Daniel?" Troy asked, suddenly remembering the dream that he'd been having and prompting the doctor along.

"Daniel…Daniel sustained serious head injuries Troy. His seatbelt wasn't done up properly and because he was sleepy, he was thrown around more than you were. He…he had passed on by the time the ambulance reached the scene." Troy's world froze as he stared at the doctor. His mind memorized the controlled grief on his doctor's line face; he memorized the dark eyes that held pain for him and the loss of a young life. His chest began to ache again, this time not specifically where it had been aching before but somewhere deeper, somewhere much more intimate.

"Oh." The single word held so much numbed pain that George stared at his young patient, wishing that there was a drug that could take away the pain he knew that Troy hadn't begun to feel.

Troy moved his eyes from the doctors aged face and once again took in the room he had woken up in. How come it could look so different, yet exactly the same? The white still looked medical and cold but it didn't. The blue drapes that hung at the window still looked pitiful but then, they didn't. Troy's eyes moved up to the television bolted to the corner and wondered why it didn't seem that old anymore. Swallowing hard, Troy looked back at his doctor, who was watching him carefully.

"Troy? Are you alright?" George asked, carefully eyeing his young patient who simply nodded and met his eyes. Troy wondered why the doctor recoiled slightly and didn't realize that the doctor could only see a deep, blue void in his eyes.

"Yeah. I think so." Troy nodded and suddenly felt very tired. He fought the tiredness, not willing to let the Dr Conroy know how quickly he'd become exhausted.

"Well, a young Mr Danforth and Miss Evans had been coming to see you. They've both been in here every day and should be here this afternoon." Troy's eyes slid to the door as if expecting his best friend, Chad Danforth and his girlfriend, Sharpay Evans to prance through the doors, arguing the way they usually did when he wasn't around.

"Okay. Anyone else?" Troy asked unaware that tiredness was creeping into his voice as George smiled at him gently.

"Plenty. There have been quite a few people here to see you. Most of them from your school. In fact, I'll tell the nurse station that they're allowed to bring in all the things that have been sent to you in the past week," Dr Conroy said and Troy nodded, settling back against his pillowed more comfortably, forgetting that he didn't want his doctor to know that he was tired.

"That's nice. Did you want to do a check-up?" Troy asked, struggling to stay awake as he realized that George had stood up and was smiling down at him much like a grandfather smiling at a favorite grandson.

"No. I'll wait until you're a little bit less tired." George asked and Troy nodded, his eyes drooping closed. He was almost asleep when another, more pressing question came to him. Forcing his eyes open, Troy saw that George was nearly at the door and spoke quietly.

"Will I feel something soon?" He asked and Dr Conroy turned back around, knowing that Troy wasn't speaking about any physical pain but a pain that was only known to those who had experienced something like this. He smiled kindly at his patient and nodded.

"You will." George said and Troy wanted to ask one more question, instead he closed his eyes for a moment, just a moment and was asleep before he could think about the pain that he had yet to experience.


On the other side of Albuquerque, Gabriella Montez rolled over onto her side, waking from a nightmare that once had been a dream. A dream that involved her and her brother playing when they were younger. Much younger than she was now. Closing her eyes briefly, Gabriella tried to pretend that the dream wasn't real and that it was simply a figment of her imagination that wanted her to believe that she had a sibling. A living, breathing sibling. She tried to pretend that she was an only child who could only dream up a very real looking older brother.

She knew that she was kidding herself.

The dream, the memory of her brother throwing sand at her, was her minds attempt at torturing her. It was an attempt at getting her to feel something more than a hollowness that made no sense to her. Since when did you feel nothing when someone you love died? Though she knew that Hollywood was not always accurate, Gabriella had thought that perhaps they'd gotten it right when the characters broke down in sobs upon learning of the demise of another, much loved character. Apparently, Hollywood couldn't get anything right.

She hadn't broken. She hadn't even felt. She'd just stared. Stared at the cream carpet of her living room as the police apologized over and over to her stunned parents. She didn't know why they were apologizing either. Was it their fault that someone had crashed into the car her brother was in? Was it their fault that someone hadn't known what had happened and they hadn't arrived at the scene until too late? Honestly, if they hadn't arrived when they had, Troy Bolton probably would be dead now too. Couldn't they see that while they hadn't been able to save her brother, they had managed to save someone else, who was as important as a family member?

Though she didn't want to acknowledge it, the thought of losing Troy made her stomach queasy and Gabriella wasn't sure why.

Opening her eyes, she rolled onto her back and stared up at the canopy of her bed which hadn't looked the same since she had found out. Faintly, she heard the front door to her house open and then closed and she could only assume that it was her father arriving back from work. He was always coming home early these days, whether it was for her mother or because he couldn't handle the work, Gabriella didn't know.

Sighing, she rolled back over onto her side and strained to hear the voices of her parents. Though they weren't speaking loudly, Gabriella found that she could make out what they were saying easily. There was no rock music pounding through the house as there should have been, instead there was a painful silence that was too much of a reminder of what had happened. Pushing away the thought, Gabriella concentrated on what her parents were saying.

"...Jack rang while I was at work. He said that Troy had woken up." Gabriella's eyes widened at her father's words. Troy was awake? Since when?

"Really? Is he alright?" Her mother asked and Gabriella sat up, straining to hear what her father was saying as he replied to the question.

"Jack said that he didn't know what had happened. He asked the doctor to tell him instead of his parents. Apparently he was asleep when the doctor let them see him again." Gabriella stared down at her own cream carpet as she processed the words. Troy couldn't remember what had happened? For some reason, the piece of information surprised Gabriella. She had thought that Troy would remember it or at least, not ask about it.

"Should we go and see him?" Gabriella stiffened at her mothers question. She had no idea why she would ask that and sound so unsure about it.

Silence followed the question and Gabriella wondered why her father was thinking about it so hard. What was there to think about, really?

"No. I don't think we should." Gabriella took in a sharp breath at her father's words. Why wouldn't they go and see Troy? Were they really going to avoid him? Flopping back down onto her bed, Gabriella made a decision. One that she wasn't sure she should make.

If her parents weren't going to go and see Troy, then she would.


A/N: And that is the chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Some of you didn't pick up, also before you have a go at me not putting in any of the pain Troy should have been feeling, think about it. Would you really feel something that quickly when you're still trying to process what happened?