Ryan stopped her from running to the elevator and sat her down. She sobbed, "I can't do this, I need to go, I can't do this, I can't." Ryan put his arm around her and comforted her, "Tay, come on, he'll be fine, don't worry. He'll make it through this. Taylor sobbed, "How do you know that? How do you know that he won't die?" Troy replied, "We don't, but we have faith that he'll make it, and you need to trust that he'll be fine." Taylor scolded herself, "What am I doing? Of course he'll be fine. I need to trust that." Gabi said, "That's more like it."She said, "Troy, your turn." He nodded and walked in and closed the door. He sat down next to the bed and said, "Chad, it's Troy, remember me? Listen, I'm sorry that I haven't talked to you the past five years, I haven't talked to anyone from the gang either. Everyone's here, Tay's here, Gabi's here, and even Sharpay and Ryan are here. You need to get better soon, Tay's a total mess, she's been crying a lot since I've gotten here, and she's just a wreck." Then, he said, "Go Wildcats." He smiled and walked out of the room, and Gabi went in.
She sat next in the chair and said, "Hey Chad, it's me, Gabi Montez, you know, the braniac that got Troy into singing and according to you, 'Made your team fall apart'. I've gotten a job interview for being a librarian, go figure huh? I hope you get well soon, 'cause we're all waiting on you. Please, get well soon." She walked out and held the door open for Sharpay. Sharpay walked in and stood at the side of the bed and said, "Hey Chad, remember me? Sharpay Evans? I'm the one you referred to as an over-moussed show dog? You know, the rest of the gang, except Ryan and me of course, we all lost contact with each other, and, we haven't talked to any of the others for five years. Now, Taylor's worried that she may never get a chance to talk to you again, so, don't let her down Chad." She walked out and let Ryan in, he was the last one to visit.
He stood next to the bed like Sharpay did and said, "Chad, it's me, Ryan, you know, Sharpay's twin? The guy that always wears a hat? The rest of the gang and I dropped in to visit you, and, you know, we haven't talked to each other in five years, so, you know, I feel bad that we didn't at least send e-mails to one another, so, you know, I think everyone else feels bad. Taylor feels the worst though, she's sad that she hasn't gotten a chance to call you, and she's crying a lot, so, don't let her become miserable." He walked out and they five of them sat down again. Taylor was still sniffling and hiccuping, so, it was quiet except for that. Gabi asked, "Where are you guys living now?" Troy answered, "In an apartment," and Taylor said, "Same." Sharpay and Ryan answered, "We're sharing a big apartment," and Gabi told them, "I'm living in an apartment too." They were silent again and Sharpay asked, "Do you guys wanna get some food down in the cafeteria?" They nodded and followed her down to the cafeteria.
They ordered their food and sat down in a large booth in this order: Troy, Gabi, Sharpay, Ryan, and Taylor. As they were eating, Taylor asked, "What happened?" Everyone looked at her and asked,"What?" She continued, "Why did we lose contact after high school?" Ryan said, "I don't know, we just got busy with college and stuff, and then we got even more busy with jobs and other things, I guess." Gabi said, "I feel really bad that we haven't talked to each other for five years, we didn't even bother calling each other, and we had the phone numbers." Sharpay agreed, "Yeah, I feel guilty, we let our friendship slip away with the time." Taylor said, "Oh, yeah, I feel really bad, it's like we let our friendship just, disappear." They ate in silence for a while and Troy tried to break the tension, "Remember our old home-room teacher, what was her name?" "Miss Darbus," Sharpay replied. Gabi added, "Oh, I remember her, remember on my first day at East High, she gave all of us detentions?" Taylor laughed, "Oh yeah, all because Troy accidentally pressed the call button on his phone, and that made Gabi's phone ring, and Sharpay and Ryan checked their phones, and Miss Darbus caught them, then Gabi, then Troy, and I made a comment, so, yeah." They all laughed and kept talking about memories from their East High days.
Then, they finished their lunch. They walked back to the outside of Chad's room, and a nurse came up to them and asked, "Are you friends of Chad Danforth?" They all nodded and she continued, "I'm sorry to tell you that he is in very critical condition at this moment, and only life support is keeping him alive." They stared in shock, that couldn't be true, could it? The nurse kept talking, "I'm sorry to say this, but we doubt that he will make it through the rest of the day." Troy managed to ask, "What – what do you mean?" The nurse told him, "Your friend has suffered a lot of injuries, and he was in shock from losing too much blood." Ryan asked, "Is there any chance of him living through the day?" The nurse said, "Yes, but they are very slim, I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you." They nodded and she said, "I'm sorry," and walked away.
This can't be happening to Chad, he's a Wildcat, I've never seen him sick, or hurt to think of it, Troy thought. Gabi was thinking, Oh, no, oh, no, this can't be happening, it's a dream, that's it, this is all a bad dream, she pinched herself, and it hurt, Oh man, it's not a dream. Ryan and Sharpay were thinking almost the same thing, Ryan was thinking, This can't be good, this is really bad, oh, no. Sharpay was thinking, Oh, no, not good, this is bad, really bad, oh, no. And Taylor was thinking, This can't be happening to Chad, the Chad I know is strong, and doesn't get hurt. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Troy asked, "What do we do now?" Gabi answered, "We wait, I suppose." They all took turns visiting him again, and this time, Taylor was last, she had insisted. She walked in and said, "Chad, please stay with us, please, I'm begging you. In case you don't make it, I want you to know, umm, I – I umm, I love you Chad."
She leaned over and placed a kiss on his lips. She held his hand and said again, "I love you." She stayed like that for a few minutes and then, Chad's heart rate became faster, and faster, and he suddenly flat-lined.
(A/N: Oh, no! Chad flat-lined! Hmm, what will happen? Well, five reviews and you'll get to read what happened! Mwahahahahaha!)