An Angel Name Sharpay

Lisa Bolton dozed off on the couch in Troy's room while her son also slept. They had been in the hospital for almost a month now and her son was going to be discharged in a few days. His ribs and lungs were now healing and completing his medication outside of the hospital was all that would be needed to make sure he made a speedy recovery. But her husband was not as lucky. While Troy was looking forward to recuperating at home and having his friends around him to help ease the pain of his traumatic experience, his father would have to stay in the hospital for a full month for physical therapy and psychological assessments in order to help him deal with his current situation. This was not going to be an easy summer for their family.

Rudely awakened by the ringing phone, she bolted upright and grabbed the receiver as her son stirred in his slumber. Lack of sleep and the stress of the situation sent a sharp stabbing pain straight to her temples. She pressed down on the sides of her forehead while answering the call. She had been trying her best to balance her job as a real estate agent with taking care of her family now that they needed her the most. Unfortunately, it was coming at the expense of her personal rest time. Lisa had been without sleep since the ordeal started.

"Hello?"

"This is the accounting office, we need you to come down and settle some bills Mrs. Bolton." the authoritative voice of a man ordered.

Jack's operation had used up his insurance and it was already eating away at his dependents insurance on her plan. The time for them to start paying for the medical expenses from out of their own pockets was fast drawing near. This phone call was just a reminder of that.

"Oh. alright. Let me get straightened up and I will be down as soon as I you need my insurance card? Oh, my checkbook... right..." she tried to shake the nervousness out of her voice. She quickly glanced at Troy as she picked up her purse. He turned over in the opposite direction pretending to be in deep slumber. She smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as she headed out the door.

Sharpay was clearing out her locker for the summer. The cubice was filled with so many pink frilly custom made school supplies that there was no mitaking the wealth of the owner. Her's was a far cry from the simple and down to earth locker of her twin brother.

" I will have to talk to our principal about giving me another locker next year. This is simply too small." Sharpay complained as she continued to fill Ryan's arms with her things. She dumped her cellular phone precariously on the edge of her obviously never opened Chemistry book.

"Shar, you already have 2 adjacent lockers. what will you need a third one for? Besides, doesn't that locker belong to Gabriela?" He caught the pink Samsung Omnia Pro cellular phone with his shoe and balanced it. He would be skinned alive if the phone hit the floor.

"And your point is?" sha slammed the locker shut and placed a thumb on the biometric padlock before turning and walking away.

Giving chase while trying to balance his sister's things, Ryan almost hit the floor a few times before catching up with her at the pink cutom made Corvette with the Evans vanity plate.

"Don't you think Gabriela will need it? I mean some of the students are already 2 to a locker." Trying to make his sister see reason was harder than giving an oral report in History class but he had to give it a try. Afterall, he never had a problem with Troy's girlfriend.

He placed the rest of her things in the already crowded car and then tried to clear a space for himself to sit in the front seat.

"Then she'll enjoy bunking with Kelsie or somebody else from loserville." The engine roared to life and Ryan dropped on top of Boi, Sharpay's designer dog who let out a loud yelp at his heavy seater made contact.

"Stop clowning around Ry! I need to get you home before I go visit Troy!" She barked at her put upon brother who had a helpless look on his face as the dog scratched away at his chest while he tried to calm it down.

Lisa sat staring at the latest breakdown of her husband's medical needs. Where would she get another $10 thousand to cover it? Her insurance already told her they would not cover the physical therapy for a dependent.

"we need the additional payment within 24 hours Mrs. Bolton. Otherwise we will have to move your husband and son to county general" The Asian man seating on the other end of the desk looked like he was in no mood for excuses. He was a cold and calculating man who had a reputation for throwing patients out faster than it took to check them in.

"I need more time..." Lisa's voice was cracking with emotion. When had her family become so destitute? What could she do about it? The tears just came out of nowhere.

The accountant, whose name was Mr. Daños, pulled a Kleenex box out of his desk drawer and offered it to the weeping woman. Almost every person who came into his office was a crier. In his opinion, they should have gone to county gen in the first place.

"You have 24 hours." He repeated and then waved her out of the room. He picked up a document and pretended to immerse himself in it to avoid hearing any pleas of pity.

The private elevator opened into the special hallway designed for the Evans family use. Sharpay stepped out onto plush red carpeting while an assistant reached for her bag and dog. Sharpay was the only other person aside from her mother who was allowed to bring pets into the hospital. Boi was quickly ushered into his special waiting room to feast on gourmet dog delights while waiting for his master.

"Update." Sharpay ordered the man standing beside the assistant who had just taken Boi. "How are the Bolton's doing?"

Leafing through Jack Bolton's chart, he had a look on her face that told Sharpay how bad the situation for the family was becoming. "There's nothing we can do except Mr. Bolton to community general."

"He won't get better in that rat infested excuse for a hospital. You are not moving him Mr. Danos." Sharpay had an insistent tone in her voice as she took her seat in her plush seat.

"We run a business, not a charity institution Ms. Evans! I already gav ehis wife the necessary warning this morning."

"I am telling you not to do it. Don't forget who you are talking to." she warned him as she sat up in her seat.

Mr. Danos smiled condescendingly upon her. "I know who you are Ms. Evans. But you are not your father nor your mother and only they can sign off on such an order." he turned and headed for the door. "You don't have any influence here."

"We'll see about that!" Sharpay screamed at him as the door closed. Her breathing was heavy with anger. Never before had she had somebody on their payroll disobey her direct order. She was Sharpay Evans, she always got what she wanted and her parents had never had to sign off on anything.

Finally composing herself and controlling her emotions, she decided that she was ready to pay the Bolton family a visit. She hoped that Troy would be awake this time. He seemed to spend most of his time sleeping. Or at least he pretended to. He could not fool her, she knew sleep acting when she saw it.

Troy and his mother were discussing their financial situation while he had his lunch. Propped up in his hospital bed, he felt a vein near his temple start to throb as his head filled with their money woes. He needed to get out of the hospital and help his mother pay the bills.

"The community hospital isn't equipped to handle his rehabilitation therapy. It would be like resigning him to his fate." Lisa's voice cracked as she explained things to her only son. Knowing very well that he could do very little to help if at all. She just needed to vent somehow.

"Mom, what about taking a mortgage on the house?" he hopefully suggested as his put the last bite of chocolate pudding into his mouth.

"We already have 2 mortgages Troy. I don't think we can get approved for a 3rd."

"We have to try something mom. We can't let dad end up in community gen. I'll look for a job as soon as I get out of here. I am sure I can find something." he tried to sound convincing even though he knew that with the economy the way it was, even a summer job for a high school student would be hard to come by. Even adults were lining up for the part time jobs these days.

There was a quick rap on the door as it opened. Behind it stood the person Troy held responsible for his family's current situation, his former best friend Chad. The young man's head was the first to appear from the other side of the door.

"Hey buddy!" Chad greeted Troy with a smile on his face as he entered the room.

Just hearing his voice made Troy's blood boil in anger. He picked up the half eaten from food tray and hurled it towards the door.

"Get the hell out of here! I never wanna see your damn face again!" Troy's emotions were uncontrollably spilling out at this point.

Lisa sat next to her son in shock. Troy had never had a violent bone in his body. Their situation was changing her sensitive and caring son.

"We can visit outside." She quickly stood up and directed the obviously shaken Chad out of the room.

"I never meant for any of these things to happen Mrs. Bolton." the movement if Chad's Adams Apple told her he was trying to rein in his emotions.

"I know Chad. I know. But Troy just isn't ready to listen to anybody right now. Give him some time. You are his best friend. He will come around, you'll see." she put a comforting arm around him while they sat on the hard plastic bench in the lobby. "Go home. I'll call you when he is ready to see you." she assured him.

"Tell him I'm sorry Mrs. Bolton. Please?"

"He knows Chad."She smiled at this young man whom she considered her second son.

Finally returning to her son's room, she hears his laughter. Something he has not done since the night of the shooting.

"Gabriela must be visiting." she told herself as she opened the door to let herself in. "Sharpay?"

Troy was alone when Sharpay arrived to visit him. He had his good arm covering his eyes and she thought he was asleep until she came closer and saw tears coming from the sides of his closed eyes.

"Troy." she called his name gingerly, not sure of the reception she was to expect.

He recognized the female voice. It wasn't Gabriela. He had had enough of Gabriela's theatre and decathlon friends, and Troy's basketball buddies for now. He needed a change. Sharpay, in all her self centeredness might be the person he could turn to right now. Could he?

"Troy, are you alright?" the care in Sharpay's voice told him she was truly concerned about him at that moment. But he could not bring himself to open his eyes for her. He sensed her starting to pull away from his bed. He reached out with his bad arm and held on to her wrist.

"Don't go Sharpay." his voice was quiet as he uncovered his face and clumsily pulled himself into a sitting position. She sat next to him on the bed.

"I'm here Troy. I am not going anywhere." she hugged him as he pulled her into an embrace.

"What am I going to do Sharpay?" he cried into her shoulder as she rubbed his back and let him cry.

He finally had stopped crying long enough for Sharpay to crack one of her theatre jokes at him.

"I see a smile starting to crack." she kidded him as he reacted to her joke. He sudenly straightened his face.

"It's okay to laugh Troy. It's alright." she put a hand under his chin and pulled his face up to look at her as he slowly began to look down. God how she wanted to kiss those lips. they faces were so close to each other...

"Snap out of it Sharpay!" she reminded herself silently. "He's hurt, don't take advantage of him."

She quickly reached for the tv remote control and flicked it on. "Maybe we can find something to take your mind off things."

They finally found a classic cartoon show to watch and she settled on the chair beside him to watch. She noticed that he never let go of her hand. Not that she minded it at all.

"Mom! Sharpay came over to visit." Troy said as he tried to stifle a laugh at the House of Mickey cartoon on tv.

"Hello dear." she greeted the happily smiling blonde. She wondered why Tory was entertaining Sharpay. From experience, Lisa knew that Troy always ran in the opposite direction whenever Sharpay was anywhere near his vicinity. This was a first for was not just about to complain about who her son had chosen to let into his room since he seemed to have shut out all his regular friends. Even Gabriela had not been able to reach out to him lately.

"I was just leaving Mrs. Bolton." Sharpay stood up and gathered her stuff. Her hand felt cold as it slipped out of Troy's grasp.

"Sharpay.." Troy called out as she turned away from him. "Come visit me anytime ok?"

She threw her sweetest smile at him. Was this really happening? Or was she dreaming? Troy Bolton was actually asking her to visit him again!

"Might I have a word with you outside Mrs. Bolton?" she prodded his mother to join her.

Safely away from Troy's ears Sharpay spoke to Mrs. Bolton. "I know the situation Mrs. Bolton and I promise you, I will do everything I can to help you guys."

"Sharpay... I don't know what, how, I feel so alone and hopeless." she finally broke into tears as young woman touched her raw nerve.

"The Evans name carries some weight here. I will ask my dad how we can help." she assured the woman while she whipped out her check book. "In the meantime, I hope this helps."

A check for $10,000! There was no way Lisa was going to accept that from Sharpay.

"We are not a charity Sharpay." she tried to return the check but Sharpay was more insistent.

"It's not a hand out. Consider it a loan that you don't have to worry about paying for. Please take it, I know it can help." she begged Mrs. Bolton, stuffing the check into the woman's palm again.

Lisa did not know what to say or how to react. They certainly needed the money, but Troy and Jack would go through the roof if they ever found out.

"Well, I don't plan on telling them. Are you?" Sharpay asked.

Lisa looked at the young woman standing before her. Surely this was not the same Sharpay Evans that all the Wildcats hated for being a conniving, spoiled, bitch.

"I'm not doing this because of Troy." Sharpay explained. "I am doing it because it is the right thing to do. You need help and I can give it. That is what being helpful is all about right?"

After taking the check directly to the Billing Department, she returned to her son's room feeling a bit relieved.

"Why are you smiling mom?" Troy asked as she settled into the cot in the corner of the room to rest.

"Because son, I just met an angel."