Standard disclaimer applies.

Note: The aforementioned medical stuff actually starts here, I kind of lost my nerve last chapter and just went with the good ol' character POV, 'might or might not have heard stuff being said' that guarantees that I don't make a complete ass of myself. The last few chapters just covered the 'drama' part of the genre, and now comes the 'angst'. I'm so excited. I haven't been this excited to write angst in a long time!

This chapter is dedicated to one of my loyal reviewers, AgnesSophia, as a belated birthday present and for being such and awesome reviewer that ever author wants. This doesn't mean that I don't appreciate all the review I get, it's just, frankly, how will I better myself and my writing with comments such as 'update soon' and 'great story'? I appreciate criticism; tell me what you want to see more of. Who you want more? Which reaction would you like to see most? That's the kind of critiques that lead to a better story. I'm not asking for an essay length review, just a little feedback. Being told you're good as flattering, but it's criticism that helps you in the long run.

Besides that, to all the reviewers: I hope you enjoy and you will consider this. To AgnesSophia, continue being an awesome reviewer! 3

Heart of the Game
Part VI

Jack Bolton never liked hospitals, one of the few exceptions had been the time when Troy was born. That was the only time that stood out in his mind where he couldn't wait to step through those hospital doors; sure there had been the slight fear of a complication or something to that effect, which thankfully, never came through. But it was that moment, sometime around two fifteen a.m. when his wife had complained of pains in her stomach, the rush of adrenaline coursing through his body as he drove his wife to the hospital. The excitement he felt as he stood beside his wife, grasping her sweaty hand in his and looking anxiously at the attending doctors.

Jack may have been under the false assumption of the true meaning of happiness before, but it was at that moment when his wife gave the final heave and the sound of wailing reach his ears did he truly discover what happiness was all about. He took him, his son, just a wee little person then into his arms. His eyes unable to leave the wrinkled face, the softness of his skin and his teeny little fingers and toes. If there was ever a time when Jack though that he'd just drop to the ground and cry without any sense of shame, it was then, at the birth of his first child.

But now, looking around at the frantic state of the halls through the glass door; the smell of disinfectant that hazed the atmosphere and the sight of the unlimited white walls, made Jack want to run out and not look back. Because looking back would mean that he'd have to face the truth of what was wrong with Troy. What if there was a complication this time? Jack could not imagine moving on with his life if Troy was not around; if he wasn't able to look at the smile on his face in the mornings before school, or hear the sound of his laughter when he came around with his friends. He could not bear the thought of losing Troy because it would mean that he'd be losing a part of himself as well.

"Jack!"

The door flew open and in ran his flustered wife. Judging from the state of her tousled look, Jack could safely assume that she had dropped all her housework and rushed here as quickly as she could. She probably even forgot to lock the door; he vaguely mused.

"Troy?" she asked in a tone so weak and fearful that it made his heart break. "What happened to my baby?"

Standing up from the stiff chair that lined the walls of the waiting room, he walked over to his wife and circled his arms around here, allowing to bury her face into his chest. He gently stroked her hair, attempting to comfort her as much as he possibly could even if the fact of the matter was that he could use some comforting of his own.

"He'd acted up at practice earlier. I don't know what was wrong with him, but I'd told him to get his act straight or to leave the team. He collapsed all of a sudden after that and…now here we are. I don't know how he's doing, the doctors immediately took him away when we arrived."

"But…why? He isn't sick--he didn't look sick when he left for school this morning, and--this isn't happening…this can't be happening. My Troy. My baby," she choked, gripping tighter onto her husband in grief.

"Shush," he hushed her, pulling her closer and resting his chin on her head as his hand ran through her long hair. "He's going to be all right. He's strong, you know that."

The tranquillity of the moment didn't last long though, when after a few silent minutes, the door slammed open as four bodies came barraging through it.

Chad, Gabriella, Sharpay and Ryan all remained near the doorframe to catch their breath, eyes looking to the two adults before them for answer. It was an additional few seconds before Mrs. Darbus' plump figure appeared behind them.

"Bolton," she nodded courteously. "How is Troy?"

"Darbus?" the startling revelation almost made Jack forget about his current predicament for a while and wonder if this was some sort of prank someone out there was pulling on him; something like 'Punk'd' which all the kids seem to be obsessed with at the moment. First Troy, now Darbus? He would have laughed had the situation not been so grim.

"Coach Bolton. How is Troy? Is he all right?"

"What did the doctors say?"

"It isn't serious, is it?"

All four teens chose to ask at the same time, not allowing Jack a moment to get his thoughts straight or even comprehend what exactly they were asking.

"Are you here for a Troy Bolton?"

The new voice penetrated the blaring of questions in the waiting room, causing all attention to snap towards him.

"I'm his father," Jack gulped; once again the thought of running out of the hospital seemed very much appealing. "How is he?"

The doctor just nodded his head, leaving the rest to wonder if it was a 'good news' nod or a 'bad news' nod.

"I'm Dr. Cooper; the physician that's been attending to your son. Now before I start anything, I'll just say that we've managed to get his blood-pressure down and his condition is stable…at the moment. However, at one point in the emergency room, his heart had stopped beating and both his lungs collapsed. We managed to resuscitate him, but the condition of his lungs remain in question. We'd intubated him and moved him to the ICU so that we can keep a closer eye on his breathing. However, there are a few question that I would like to ask you."

Jack swallowed the lump in his throat. He could feel his wife tremble against him and that Sharpay had moved to comfort Gabriella. Chad and Ryan stood to the side, an expression of stunned disbelief on their faces.

"Have you noticed anything peculiar with your son in these past few days? Changes in his personality, diet? Or if he seemed to be having difficulty with normal things; talking, walking…?"

"He had become quite irritable with everyone and everything around him. I don't know about the diet, he seldom joined my wife and I at dinner now. The only time I've seen him at the kitchen table was when he sometimes had his coffee in the mornings," he finished, looking over at Chad as he spoke.

"He didn't come to the cafeteria either, and…like Coach Bolton said about his behaviour. But…there was this--yesterday, I saw him in the locker rooms and he looked really skinny, like he hadn't been eating. Not to mention the shadows he sometimes has under his eyes."

The doctor just nodded simply and turned his gaze over to the clipboard in his possession. "Thank you for those ans--"

"Is Troy doing drugs?" Chad blurted out without thinking, looking desperately at the doctor to tell him that it wasn't true.

"Drugs?" Jack repeated, looking at Chad as if he'd grown a second head. "Troy does not do drugs. What the heck would make you even come to such a ridiculous assumption?"

"On the contrary, Mr. Bolton," the doctor interjected.

"No, no. Are you going to tell me that the reason my son is in the hospital is because he did drugs?" his wife covered her mouth with her hands and had to take a seat before he knees completely buckled from beneath her and her husband locked a challenging glare on the elderly doctor.

"What I'm saying is, Mr. Bolton, that we've found a large concentration of Ephedra in your son's system."

"Ephedra? What on earth is that?" Mrs. Darbus made her presence known as she walked up and placed her hands on Sharpay and Gabriella's shoulders.

"Ephedra is a substance that is commonly found in selected types of herbs. Now while it's normally used in the treatment of asthma as a nasal decongestant, it is also categorized among the well known types of performance enhancing drugs, if anything, it's one of the most dangerous."

"Performance enhancing drugs? Troy? That's--how would a kid that age be able to get his hands on that?"

"That is one question that I have no answer to."

"But…Troy. Is whatever's happening to him being caused by this drug? Can you cure him?" turning tear filled eyes at the doctor, Troy's mother still could not accept the fact that her son is here because of some foolish mistake. How could he have…it's impossible, her Troy would never…

"This drug, especially when used without supervision and carelessly can lead to many health complications, even death. In your son's case, the consumption of this drug had lead to a burst of one of the brain's many blood vessels due to pressure, causing an intracerebreal haemorrhage."

"A what?" No one understood what it meant, but it sounded serious.

"In layman's terms, it would be referred to as a stroke."

To be continued…

ONOESOMG! Another cliff-hanger! D: But before you ask, it is possible for someone Troy's age to have a stroke (so says Wikipedia.) and, well…I thought it's be nice to have something out of the ordinary. But again I stress that I am no doctor, and the extent of my medical knowledge goes as far as to understand that; open wound plus iodine equals owie T.T

End note: As you may or may not have noticed; I decided not to give Troy's mother a name. That's how it is in the movie, and that's how I intend to keep it. All the names people make up for her tend to come out cheesy and OC-like, IMO. No offence.