Welcome to chapter four! I know it's not Tuesday but I just couldn't resist! Once again not a lot to say except enjoy!
~TG~
'And you're sitting in the front row
Wonna be first in line'
-Pixie Lott – Broken Arrow
~TG~
As the sun shone through Gabriella's window, Troy once again found himself awaking with his head resting against Gabriella's bed.
His neck and back had begun to get stiff and sore; the two nights sleeping in a chair next to Gabriella bed were beginning to take their toll.
From what he could see, the nurses had already been in to move Gabriella and freshen her up before the doctors made their way around. He was surprised that they had managed not to disturb Troy, but he suspected they were so used to moving around sleeping patients that moving soundlessly around Troy was no task.
"Morning Troy," the young Doctor Chia-Chan walked into Gabriella's room, holding his clipboard tight to his chest.
Michael Chia-Chan had been Gabriella's doctor since she had arrived in the intensive care unit. He was a resident who had completed his medical studies in his home country of Singapore before moving to America to make a better life.
"Hey Mike, how is she doing this morning?" Troy asked, hoping that there would be some news as to when Gabriella may be able to return to the land of the living.
Troy hated not being in control, he hated that the fate of the girl he loved was hanging completely in the balance and there was nothing he could do to change it.
"She's doing really well Troy, you should be really proud of her. The scan she had yesterday shows that her swelling has dropped significantly, we're starting to make plans for waking her up tomorrow." Mike smiled as he relayed the news to Troy, he couldn't think of anything better than delivering good news.
Troy squeezed Gabriella's hand tightly, smiling up at her proudly before brushing a stray strand of hair from her eyes.
"You hear that Beautiful, you're doing so well that you might even get to wake up tomorrow. I'm so proud of you!" Troy gushed, his beautiful Gabriella would soon be wide awake and he would finally be able to talk to her properly.
He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this happy, the last two days had been filled with stress and uncertainty but it was finally starting to look up.
He pulled out his phone quickly, searching for Gianna in his contacts and quickly typing out a message.
'Gabriella is going to be fine! Doctors are expecting to wake her up tomorrow; as soon as she can talk we will call you!'
Mike quickly wrote in Gabriella's notes and made clear that she was improving and tomorrow they would take her off the sedation and let her breath on her own.
"I'll leave you two to it," Mike spoke happily, relishing in the knowledge he had been able to deliver fantastic news.
It wasn't often that patients came through the door of the Intensive Care Unit and left in the same state. Sure; Gabriella would need a lot of help in the oncoming months but she would, before long, make a complete recovery.
Troy hated leaving Gabriella, but nobody had been to her apartment in two days and he was sure that there would be mail and messages that needed picking up and food that need to be thrown away.
"Listen beautiful, I'm going to head to you apartment for a little while but I'll be back before you know I'm even gone." Troy pressed a kiss to Gabriella's forehead, noticing that the bruising was coming out but thankfully the swelling was going down.
He kissed her forehead once again before making his way towards the car and heading for Gabriella's apartment.
Once he arrived he made his way up the stairs, shuddering as he passed the spot where Gabriella had fallen that had thankfully been cleaned up by the crime scene investigation team.
As he pushed open the door he noticed the coffee table on its side and several broken items that had fallen onto the floor. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting but he had hoped that nothing had been broken and he could arrange it to make it seem like nothing had ever happened.
He picked up the mail and studied it carefully, wondering if there was any mail that he should open but nervous to because it wasn't his own.
His eyes rested on a letter from Stanford dated the previous day, Troy was sure this would be a letter he could open.
Dear Gabriella Montez
We would like to inform you that, in light of current events, we have deferred your final year of studies until September 2011.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
We wish you all the best for your recovery.
Regards
Suzanna Talford – Head of Student Services, Stanford University.
Troy smiled; he knew they would never have a problem with Gabriella deferring seeing as her situation meant it was physically impossible for her to attend school.
Having it confirmed in writing just made it more official in his mind, Gabriella would have a whole year to recover and he would be with her every step of the way.
~TG~
Troy made his way back into Gabriella hospital room and noticed Natalia sitting by her side alone. Gianna had returned to New York that morning in order to begin school and Natalia had stayed on until the evening when she too would catch a flight home.
"Hello Troy," Natalia smiled, moving her seat down the bed so that Troy could sit closest to Gabriella head and take her hand.
Troy was beginning to feel much more comfortable with Natalia, the conversation that had had at dinner the night before had eased the tension that seemed to exist between them.
"Hey Natalia; the doctors said she's doing really well, they're going to try and wake her up tomorrow." Troy relayed what Mike had told him earlier on, still so relieved that Gabriella was doing so well.
Natalia sighed; she too was very happy that Gabriella was making improvements but her post hospital care was playing on her mind.
"Listen Troy, it's evident that you love my daughter but I really feel that once she is out of hospital that she should move back with me to New York for a little while." Troy was shocked at Natalia's words, he couldn't believe that she was suggesting Gabriella make a move across the whole country for her recovery.
He was well aware that Natalia hadn't been too keen on Gabriella coming to California for college. She had told him numerous times that she had tried and tried to convince her to stay in New York.
"With all due respect Natalia, Gabriella doesn't want to be in New York. I have taken a year off school to take care of her and I intend to do that. You're right, I love her and I'm going to do everything I can do prove that to her, starting with keeping her here in California. If she chooses to go back to New York then that's her decision, but I'm not making that for her and neither are you." Troy was shocked at his firm words, the last thing he wanted to do was to disrespect Gabriella's mother but he felt that he had said what needed to be said.
Natalia looked sternly at Troy; she too shocked by his words but also moved. She had never spent much time with any of Gabriella's boyfriends so she had nothing to compare Troy too, but she had to admit that he would be the perfect man for Gabriella should she decide that is what she wanted.
"Fair enough; if Gabriella decides that this is where she wants to be…with you, then that's what shall happen." Troy was relieved that Natalia had accepted his words, he was realizing that she was quickly warming too him enough to trust him.
Their discussion was disturbed by a nurse walking into the room quietly.
"Sorry to bother you, we have just come to move Gabriella around a little and also to reduce her sedation. It won't be completely switched off until tomorrow but we would like to see if she can take any breaths for herself over the help being given to her by the ventilator." This made Troy even happier, he couldn't believe how well Gabriella was doing.
He never knew that that was possible, for the nurses to change the settings and Gabriella would be able to take a couple of breaths a minute and have the ventilator do the rest.
"I never knew you could do that, it won't like cut out on her will it? If she takes a couple of breaths, the ventilator will still be there for the rest?" Troy asked, making sure that Gabriella would remain fully supported as they began to slowly wake her from her sleep.
The nurse smiled, she loved relatives like Troy that paid attention to their loved ones care and were interested in how all of the technology worked.
"She will be fully supported the whole time. The ventilator will breathe for her seventeen times a minute, if she chooses to add to that with her own breaths that's fine and if she doesn't that's also fine." The nurse settled Troy's worries, allowing him to relax in the knowledge that there would be no possibility of her not being able to breathe.
Natalia smiled once again, she had never seen a man so protective and so loving of a girl he wasn't in a relationship with. Despite the fact that Troy's feelings were somewhat in the open, Gabriella's still remained locked away and Natalia hoped that Gabriella would soon too reveal any feelings that she had for Troy.
"What does it mean if she doesn't take any of her own breaths?" Troy asked, he hated to seem annoying with all of the questions he was asking but he needed to know, and he was sure that if he didn't know it would just play on his mind constantly.
The nurse glanced at Gabriella's chart quickly, taking note of any statistics that would help her to answer Troy's question.
"At the moment, there really isn't anything stopping her from taking a few breaths alone. If she doesn't, we can almost surely put it down to her levels of sedation. Her brain scans are all clear, except for the small contusion that shouldn't cause any problems and the swelling has significantly reduced. When we switch her over, we are positive she will take breaths alone." The nurse smiled as she watched relief spread over Troy's face, she loved being able to spread happiness to families.
Troy looked up at Gabriella; he couldn't believe how proud he was of her. She was doing better than he had ever imagined she would and he couldn't wait for her to be awake so he could tell her properly.
"Troy, we have a fold out bed in our relatives' room. Would you like us to bring it in here for you tonight? I'd really like you to be comfortable while you stay with her; you'll end up sick yourself if you sleep hunched in that chair for another night." The young nurse offered kindly, understanding Troy's need to be close to Gabriella.
Troy smiled; he was relived he would finally be able to have a proper night's sleep and would still be able to be close to Gabriella.
"That would be incredible, thank you so much!" Troy replied, looking forward to bedtime for the first time since Gabriella's attack.
Natalia began to get her things together quickly, picking up her bag and wrapping her arms around Troy tightly.
"I have to head off to collect my things and catch my flight, you're a good guy Troy you really are and I hope that Gabriella realizes how good you are for her. I know you'll look after my baby girl." With that, she pressed a kiss to his cheek and left with tears beginning to form in her eyes.
Troy hoped that it wouldn't be long before Natalia returned; he knew how much Gabriella loved her mother and wished she could visit more often.
He made a mental note to invite her back as soon as Gabriella was home.
~TG~
Troy had just finished reading Gabriella some recent news stories when the door opened softly. Troy looked over and spotted a shy nurses waiting for the right moment to speak.
"Everything okay?" Troy asked, wondering what it was she needed to tell him, she had a nervous look about her as she fully entered the room.
"There are some detectives here to see you; would you like me to send them in or would you prefer to see them away from Gabriella?" She asked, not really knowing how Troy would react.
Troy had never met this nurse before; she had a different uniform on and assumed that she was simply filling in from somewhere else while they were short staffed. It was evident that she knew nothing about Gabriella's case and Troy could sense that she was suspicious on him; he couldn't help but wonder if she thought he had done this to Gabriella.
"Whatever they have to say can be said in front of Gabriella, I'd really prefer not to leave her." Troy didn't trust this nurse with his Gabriella, he was sure she was excellent at her job but there was just something about her that made Troy uncomfortable.
He watched as she left the room, grabbing hold of Gabriella's cold hand tightly as he wondered what the detectives wanted to talk about.
"Nice to see you again Troy," Detective Nikos spoke as he entered the room followed by his partner, Detective Yun.
The pair had worked hundreds if not thousands of cases together and neither had seen anybody so loving, protective and supportive as Troy was towards Gabriella.
"What's going on?" Troy asked politely, hoping that the detectives hadn't formulated some crazy idea that he had pushed Gabriella and were here to take him away from her.
He couldn't be away from her, not even for a second. The idea of leaving her alone, only to have somebody potentially harm her again frightened him…no, he had to be there every second of everyday.
"We've just arrested Seth Keres. An eye witness from Gabriella's building came forward this morning, she told us what she had seen and we made the arrest. We are just waiting for the DNA of skin found under Gabriella's nails to come back as a match along with matching the size of the bruise on Gabriella's face to his hand impressions and then we will be formally indicting him." Detective Nikos informed Troy, looking down at his notebook to make sure he had got all of the details correct.
Relief washed over Troy's body; they had talked to Seth, found a witness and some evidence and realized that he was the man that had near enough killed Gabriella.
"Thank you for letting us know. It will mean a lot to Gabriella when she wakes up to know that she's safe and it means a lot to me too." Troy smiled at the detectives, greatly appreciating that they had made the trip to the hospital just to share the news.
The usually quiet Detective Yun stepped forwards, looking closely at Gabriella and then up at Troy.
"Have they said when she might wake up? What might happen when she does?" He asked, surprising both Troy and Detective Nikos.
Troy too looked down at Gabriella, brushing his hand softly against her face before cupping her cheek.
"Tomorrow, she's going to wake up tomorrow. As far as what will happen after that, it's all kind of unknown. They have done brain scans and tested her brain function and they said that there shouldn't be any lasting damage, but it can't be completely ruled out until she wakes up." Troy spoke cautiously, not wanting to talk about the possibilities too much as to not put negative thoughts out into the universe.
The two detectives looked sadly at Gabriella; she was such an amazing young women with her whole life ahead of her, and now there was the possibility that that would all be taken away.
They became more determined than ever to make Seth pay for what he had done.
"Keep us updated and give us a call when she's well enough to speak to us, but there's no rush tell her to get herself better first and then talk to us. With the evidence we potentially have, Gabriella's statement would not be necessary to win the case, so if she isn't ready before the court date that's really no problem." Detective Nikos reassured Troy, before moving towards Gabriella and brushing a strand of stray hair from her face.
He had a daughter just two years younger than Gabriella; cases like this would always put a strain on him, but he just thanked God that Gabriella had someone like Troy to care for her.
"Will do, thanks for everything." Troy spoke genuinely, turning back to Gabriella and grasping her hand once again so that she knew that he was still there.
It had been a difficult three days, but it was clear that things were finally starting to look up. The small shreds of positivity were the only things that kept Troy going, and knowing that Gabriella would be safe from Seth for a significant period of time definitely helped.
"It's going to be alright Beautiful, it really is. They've arrested Seth and someone saw him push you, he won't be hurting you again. I know I've let you down, I promised you that I would never let him hurt you again and he did. I'm so sorry that I let you down, but I won't let it happen again!" He whispered against her skin, kissing it gently as his words brushed across her face.
He couldn't fight the guilt that he felt, he had broken his promise and he could only hope that Gabriella would be able to forgive him.
Troy's moment was broken by a lady briskly walking through the door, he had never seen her before and he wasn't sure who she was.
"I assume you are Troy Bolton, my name is Cornelia Ridel and I am in charge of setting up support at home once patients are discharged. I know Gabriella's doctors anticipate her not having any long term problems but she will need a lot of assistance at home, we need to set something up." Cornelia abruptly spoke at Troy, seemingly not caring enough to get to know himself or Gabriella and the situation that they were in.
He had already made her angry, how dare she assume that he wanted someone to intrude into their lives and offer support that they would almost surely not need.
"I am actually going to care for Gabriella myself; we won't be needing any of your help, thank you." Troy spoke firmly, turning away from the woman and back towards Gabriella.
Cornelia was taken aback by Troy's words, nobody had ever refused her help before and she wasn't sure that Troy understood the situation.
"Listen young man, I understand that Gabriella won't have the same mobility problems as many patients with more severe brain injury but she will be exceptionally tired and will need help. I am aware that you are at school, this is why I suggest that someone come in to help Gabriella while there is nobody there for her." Cornelia began to pull information out of her briefcase, hoping that her words would persuade Troy that she was right and that he did need to take up the offer for support.
Troy became more angered; he desperately tried to keep his anger in check but the woman's total lack of knowledge of their situation and an evident attitude that she didn't care infuriated him beyond belief.
"I tried to be polite but I just can't anymore. Before you came in here you should have learnt a little more about us, I am taking a year out of school to look after Gabriella. She will never have nobody, I will be there for as long as she needs me to, and I will do anything she needs me to. I don't care if I have to get her in and out of the bathtub, I don't care if I have to carry her up and down the stairs…I am prepared to do anything for her and we do not need your help." Troy looked fiercely at Cornelia hoping that she finally got the point before he really did lose his temper completely.
Cornelia sighed harshly, picking up the pamphlets and roughly throwing them back into her brief case.
"Well good luck to you is all I can say," with that she disappeared out of the room.
Troy chuckled; Cornelia was the kind of person that he knew riled up Gabriella, people that waded in with little or no consideration for the situation before them.
"Did you hear that Beautiful? We don't need her help; I promise you that I will be there every second of everyday, I'm going to take care of you…I promise." Troy tightened his grip on her hand, grasping her other hand softly with his, he needed to feel like he was holding her.
It pained him to not be able to be close to her, to know that it was impossible for him to sweep her into his arms and hold her until she was better.
He would soon be able to do that; he was sure of it and if she kept recovering at the pace she was, he was sure that she would be home in no time.
It was then that he realized; when Gabriella woke up he would risk everything, he had to risk everything. When she was awake and coherent; he would tell her how he felt about her, and this time he would be sure that she would hear it.
~TG~
Night had fallen across San Francisco and it found Troy relishing in the feeling of a bed. He hadn't slept in one since Gabriella's accident but the need to be close to her had kept the sleep exhaustion at bay.
But the generous nurses had solved his dilemma between a comfortable night's sleep and staying with Gabriella. They had pulled the bed into the room, made it up comfortable linen and pushed it right up next to Gabriella's bed so that he could keep a tight hold on her hand.
It felt so good to sink into a deep sleep, the feeling of the plush pillow against her head felt like heaven in comparison to sleeping with his head hunched onto Gabriella's bed.
Although comfortable enough to fall into a deep sleep, Troy's body was seriously resisting. As soon as he fell just close to it, something would pull him out again.
He listened carefully to the rhythmic beeps that came from the machines hooked up to Gabriella's body, taking reassurance in the fact that there were no alarms and no abnormal sounds. Despite this; Troy found it hard to relax, his mind still swirling around with thoughts, feelings and worries.
Suddenly his shallow sleep was broken; he quickly shot up in bed wondering whether sleep deprivation was beginning to play with his mind.
But he was right.
He wasn't imagining it.
She really had squeezed his hand.
She had grasped her fingers around his and squeezed with everything she had.
"Ella? Beautiful? Can you hear me? Can you squeeze my hand again?" Troy asked anxiously, desperate for Gabriella to squeeze his hand again and not only confirm he wasn't crazy but confirm that she could finally hear him.
She squeezed again.
Troy closed his eyes and laughed, he had no idea why but all of a sudden uncontrollable fits of laughter erupted from is body.
"You're ok Beautiful…everything is going to be okay!" He whispered against Gabriella cheek, kissing her countless times.
It really was going to be okay, it was no longer it might be okay or hopefully it will be ok.
No, it really was going to be okay!
So there is chapter four! Look out for chapter five real soon! Don't forget to review!
