Disclaimer: The usual isn't mine, but Terrance is all mine.
Another day. More monotony.
Troy sighed as he stared at the clock which read seven AM. Even when he wasn't in school he was forced to get up earlier than he preferred. In around an hour, a nurse would walk in with his breakfast, another nurse would come in to check on him, and then he would sit around until twelve watching daytime television. Then, at twelve-thirty, as he had just found out the night before, he was being moved to another room, where he would have a roommate. He shuddered at the idea. He already knew it would be a guy, and he also knew that he would be a cripple like himself. It was the hospital's way of connecting them, and so the patients would have someone there going through similar trials. Not that Troy really wanted that. He'd never gone to anyone any other time; why should he start not?
Another change was coming to his routine. Physical therapy. His father had also suggested to his doctor that he receive emotional therapy. That would start the next day, alternating with the physical therapy, although Troy didn't see any point in physical therapy. He would remain like this for the remainder of his life and there was nothing that could be done about it.
Then, of course, there was his daily tutoring session with Gabriella. His favorite part of the day. As infuriating as she was, he had to admit that she brought a change-up from the boredom of his daily hospital life. Other than his father, she was the only visitor he saw in a day's time. It was lonely, but it faded when she was there.
Grabbing the top book from his stack of textbooks, Troy stared at it apprehensively before deciding to flip it open. The Great Gatsby didn't sound like a very intriguing story, but he decided it was better than anything on television. Besides, he figured it was better to get it out of the way, and then Gabriella couldn't nag at him for not reading it.
A few hours passed, and Troy continued reading. It didn't interest him in any way but he tried to get it over with. He couldn't remember the last time he had read this much at once, or the last time he read, period. He decided he would do just about anything out of boredom.
Troy hadn't realized it was one o'clock until someone walked in. His doctor, followed by a few nurses.
"All right, Troy," the doctor started. "We're going to move you now. But, first, you have to learn how to get into a wheelchair. You'll practice this a lot when you start therapy later, so for now we'll do the best we can."
Sitting up, Troy reluctantly removed the blanket covering his legs and stared at his dead limbs. Sitting in a wheelchair would be nothing for someone with the ability to bend their legs. For him, however, he knew it would be a challenge.
"Now, I'll need you to move so that your back is at the edge of the bed," he instructed. Doing as asked, he kept his eyes on his legs, grimacing at the fact that this was the only way he could ever get them to move. He heard the wheelchair knock softly against the bed, indicating that it was directly behind him. Placing his hands on his back, the doctor continued, " Now, just slide back into the wheelchair."
Groping for the arm rests, Troy pulled his body into the chair, nervous when it slid back a bit, but the doctor steadied it. Now came the real problem. Slowly, the doctor pulled the chair away from the bed, just enough so that only his feet remained on the bed. Then, each nurse grabbed one of his legs and bent it into place. Troy was surprised by how easily it was performed, although he felt weird about it all. He expected some sort of pain, or even just any feeling from the move, but there was none. When they said he was now a paraplegic they meant it to its fullest effect. Looking down momentarily, he still wondered how it would effect his sex life. He smirked at the idea of asking one of the nurses to test that.
"What about my stuff?" he asked, snapping his attention back to the task at hand. Mostly all he had was his textbooks, a pair of loose pants he used to wear while working out, and a t-shirt, both of which he would need today for therapy. His father was supposed to bring a few more outfits with him this afternoon.
"I'll get it, don't worry," one of the nurses stated, the blonde closest to the stack of books. Troy stared at her as she bent to get his books, but his gaze was soon pulled away as the doctor started wheeling him away. Exasperated, stared before him, wishing they would get to the new room as soon as possible.
There was one thing he had to admit. It was nice to finally leave his bed. Never before had he laid around so much in his life. He was usually an active person. Now, he couldn't even get up to go to the bathroom. Instead, he was stuck using a bedpan and calling a nurse every time it needed changed. That was embarrassing, not to mention uncomfortable. He smirked momentarily, wondering how grossed out Gabriella would be if she was around for that.
Once they were in an elevator, the doctor pressed for the fourth floor which was four rooms down from this floor. Luckily, there were no interruptions.
As the doctor wheeled him down the hall, he saw various other ranging from different ages appearing to have similar problems he was having. A few appeared to be older with only seemingly slight disabilities. Stroke patients, he realized suddenly. His grandmother had a stroke when he was five, but she ended up not making it to the recovery stages. He prayed that one of them wasn't his roommate. If he had to have anyone at all, he preferred it to be someone at least around his own age, thirties at the most. He doubted the odds of it being another teenager. After all, how many other teenagers suffer this sort of injury? He odds were slim, he believed.
Finally, the doctor stopped in the doorway of a room and turned the wheelchair. This is it, he thought, silently dreading this moment. When he was inside, he found one bed empty and the other had a curtain going the entire way around it. He groaned, realizing he wasn't getting the window view again.
"Here is your new room," the doctor announced, sliding the chair next to the bed. "Do you want to just stay in the chair since you have therapy soon?"
"Yeah, that's fine," he stated, glancing around. The room was similar to his old room, only it wasn't a single room, meaning this one was larger, yet he had less room. God figure, he thought.
Once his doctor and nurses were gone, Troy turned to the other side of the room and listened as another doctor spoke to his roommate, "Now, you're settled for the day. You have physical therapy tomorrow at ten, so be up this time. You can't sleep until noon everyday."
"Yes, sir," a young voice stated, startling Troy a bit. He was expecting someone older, but this guy sounded as though he was around his age.
Finally, the doctor pulled the curtain back, revealing his roommate who was sprawled out on his bed. As he predicted, the guy was young with a fairly dark complexion. He looked to be around his age, twenty at the oldest. He was also studying Troy.
Once the doctor was gone, the boy decided to speak, "Finally, they decide I'm worthy of a roommate. The name is Terrance."
Troy hesitated but finally said, "I'm Troy."
"Well, Troy, let me be the first to welcome you to the therapy floor," he stated. "So, what are you in for?"
Troy suppressed a chuckle, for he sounded as though they were in prison. "Car accident," he answered. "You?"
"Diving accident," he replied.
"How long have you been in here?" Troy asked him.
"Since August," he answered. "And I'll be in here for at least two more months."
"Wow," was all he could say. "I'm hope I'm not here that long."
"You will be, trust me," he stated. "It's mandatory, depending on the injury. But, of course, I'm a quadriplegic. You're obviously a paraplegic so you might only be here for two or three months."
"That's really promising," he retorted sarcastically.
"Look on the bright side. You can still move half your body," he claimed. "So, how many visitors do you normally get?"
"My dad is the only visitor I have had so far," he stated. "Then, I have a tutor who comes regularly."
"That must suck," Terrance replied. "Unless your tutor is a really gorgeous female."
Unable to contain himself, Troy started laughing. "She is the farthest thing from that."
"What's her name?" he asked.
"Gabriella," he answered.
"She's smokin' then," he stated confidently, making him laugh that much more.
"Trust me, she's not, but she's yours for the taking if you want her," he stated, calming down.
"I can tell how hot a girl is just by the name. Give me another girl's name," he prompted.
"Sharpay," he said automatically.
Terrance grimaced before stating, "Ugly as hell. Who would name their child that, anyway?"
"My ex-girlfriend's parents," he replied.
Terrance wrinkled his nose in response. "Dude, you really do have terrible tastes in women."
"You never even met them or saw them," Troy defended. "You barely know their names."
"Sharpay is a dog," he stated simply. "A really ugly and expensive dog."
"Expensive, yes," he agreed.
"Gabriella's hot, though. Like a firecracker," Terrance continued. "Really sweet, too. The type that would fuel a sugar addiction."
"Good grief. Keep this up and you'll be asking me to ask her if she'll marry you," Troy stated, shaking his head. "Quit fantasizing, man. You'll only be led to disappointment."
"I see how it is," he started. "You want her all for yourself."
"Dude, trust me, you can have her," he replied. "I don't want anything to do with her."
"If you didn't want her, you wouldn't be trying to shut me up about her. You wouldn't care," he argued.
"She's practically bald under her wig," he stated, ignoring his accusations.
"Dude, I can't move any part of my body," he bluntly stated. "I think I can look past her hair if she can look past the fact that I'm confined to a bed for life."
"Point taken," he muttered.
"So, when will she come again?" he asked eagerly.
"I think she's coming tonight," he replied. "She said it could vary, that I wouldn't really know from day to day until she actually came."
"I hope it's tonight," he eagerly told him. "I can't wait to prove you wrong. It's all in the name."
Rolling his eyes, Troy silently wondered if it was too late to share a room with one of the elderly. He knew he was in for a very long couple of months.
AN: Wow, an update in under five months, there's something you don't see everyday lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this, and thanks as always for the reviews. I'm anxious to see your reactions towards Terrance. He will become a prominent character as long as he's in the hospital, and I have a lot planned for him that I'm really excited to write. Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter up by the end of July so it shouldn't be a long wait.