Heya guys! Ok, here is chapter 11. I know the story has moved at a fairly slow pace so far but after this chapter things will start to move along a little.
To quickly answer a few questions from the reviews:
Star-girl62626 – No, I'm not planning on becoming a doctor – in fact I am just graduating from Uni with a teaching degree! This is being written from personal experience so sometimes it may sound as though I've swallowed a medical encyclopaedia!
Tuttiflutey360 – This story is set after HSM2. The gang are in their senior year. And all will be revealed soon with regards to the way Sharpay is acting ;)
Baby-M-xo – Not in this chapter, or the next. But soon :)
Now, without further ado, and with huge thanks for the reviews, here is chapter 11! Thanks to Steph for having a pre-read and giving me her thoughts :D
Chapter 11
Troy and Lucille Bolton made their way up the quiet corridor of the Paediatric Observation Unit the next morning, their shoes squeaking against the clean white floors. Troy reached Gabriella's room first and opened the door carefully.
"Knock kn...what the...?" Troy stopped dead as the now open door revealed a completely empty, newly cleaned room, bed freshly made and floors polished. "Mom, where is she? Where's Gabriella?" Troy was panicking now.
"Troy, calm down," Lucille soothed. "I'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for Gabriella not being here. We just have to find a nurse and ask."
"But what if...what if something's happened to her?" Troy said, his eyes full of fear.
"Then we'll figure out the best way to deal with it. But you're worrying prematurely. Let's just ask the nurse. Oh, excuse me?" Lucille politely stopped a nurse who was walking past. "We were just after Gabriella Montez – she was in 1-04 yesterday."
"Oh yes," the nurse smiled kindly. "Gabriella was moved back to Paediatric Oncology earlier this morning. She's back in 2-07."
"That's great news - thank you," Lucille replied gratefully. "See Troy," she said, turning to her son as the nurse smiled and moved on. "You've got to remember to breathe sometimes, honey."
Troy just stared as his mother turned and made her way back towards the elevators, before letting out a sigh of relief and following suit.
Arriving on level two, Lucille and Troy exited the elevator and made their way towards room 07. Entering quietly, the site before him made Troy grin.
"Heeey – what's going on here?"
Maria looked up from her spot next to Gabriella's bed, where she was helping her to suck on some ice chips, and smiled.
"Good morning Troy, Luc," said Maria. "I'm glad you found us – I was going to call to let you know we'd moved, but then the doctor came in and then the dietician, and th..."
"It's fine," Lucille laughed. "We were glad to hear she was back on the ward – that's exciting stuff!"
Maria nodded. "Yeah, she's doing really well," she glanced at her daughter. "Very sore and tired, but she's starting to get some colour back, and she seems a little brighter. She has been feeling nauseous all morning though, they think it's probably from the Morphine. The nurse just gave her some anti-nausea medication and some ice for her to suck on because her mouth was so dry."
"Hey gorgeous," Troy whispered, making his way over to Gabriella as their mother's continued to talk. He leaned over the bed and kissed her on the cheek, allowing his lips to linger there for a second.
"Hi," Gabriella replied, looking up at him with tired eyes. "I missed you."
Troy smiled, reaching out to touch her cheek. "I missed you too," he said, sitting down on the edge of her bed, careful not to disturb any of the lines. "How are you doing this morning?"
"Mmm...sore and a bit queasy, but glad that you're here."
Troy moved closer to her, stroking her hair. Gabriella closed her eyes, just enjoying the feeling of her boyfriend's comforting hand which allowed her mind a focus other than her pain.
"Mom and I bought up a bag of your stuff. Your Mom gave us a key yesterday," he told her.
"Thank you," Gabriella murmured, her breathing beginning to even out. Troy knew she was close to sleep.
"I packed your favourite pyjamas, your iPod, a couple of your favourite books, toiletries...other bits and pieces."
"Mmm. Life saver."
Troy grinned. "All the gang called last night. Well, Taylor called, but everyone was at her place – except Sharpay, she had some rehearsal...I dunno. Anyway, they were all glad to hear everything went well. They said to tell you they are thinking of you and they send their love," Gabriella's breathing was now slow and steady. Troy kissed her forehead and went to get up off the bed, but sat back down when she let out a small noise of protest.
"Keep talking to me," she mumbled. Troy cuddled up as close as he could and resumed stroking her hair.
"Kelsi says school isn't the same without you, and Chad says he misses his 'little sis'..."
Despite her closed eyes, the corners of Gabriella's mouth turned up slightly.
"They are all desperate to see you, so you had better keep recovering as good as you are, because you will need all the strength you can get before that lot join the party," Troy joked, his hand continuing its repetitive motion in her hair.
HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM
"Hey Kels, can you please pass me the...hmm...yellow cardboard?" Ryan asked. Kelsi nodded and slid the package of colourful paper across the floor.
The gang were gathered at Chad's place, the floor covered in photographs, stickers, coloured paper and other decorative bits and pieces that they were using to make scrapbook pages for the memory book they were planning to give Gabriella when they got the green light to visit her. It had been a hard couple of days for them, knowing she what she was going through but not being able to see her or talk to her. They were all glad they had been able to talk to Troy the previous night. He sounded worn out but extremely relieved that Gabriella had come out of surgery alright.
"I can't believe how good this is looking already guys!" Taylor exclaimed as she and Chad made their way back into the living room with a tray of soda's, popcorn and Peanut M&M's. "Gabriella is going to be so excited when she sees it!"
"I can't wait to see the look on her face," Zeke commented.
"I just can't wait to see her!" Ryan said.
"Ok, let's see – we don't have many sections left to finish," Kelsi noted, gathering the completed pages into a pile. "We have finished the Twinkle Town section, the group sleepover section just has one more page left to finish, Junior Prom is done, so is the Summer Holiday's part – including the Talent Show, and Ryan is just finishing the last page of miscellaneous group photos...so looks like all we have left to do is the Troy and Gabriella section."
"Which is going to take us foreveeeer," Chad joked.
Taylor laughed. "We have so many cute photos of the pair of them!" she picked up a photo of the couple at the Junior Prom. Her laughter faded as she traced fingered the image. "She looked like a princess that night..."
Kelsi nodded, moving to wrap an arm around Taylor's shoulders. "Yeah, she did."
"Pretty darn gorgeous," Jason agreed.
"And not just on the outside," Ryan added.
"She's going to get through this," Chad stated firmly, nodding his head. "She has to."
The entire gang murmured their agreement as they got back to work.
HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM
Later that afternoon, Troy was reading to Gabriella from one of her favourite books – Wuthering Heights. Troy keep trying to skip out parts of the story but the problem was, Gabriella knew the story inside out and if he so much as missed out one word, she would open one eye, clear her throat and glare sideways at him.
"Sorry, I thought you were asleep," Troy told her sheepishly.
Gabriella raised her eyebrow. "That's what you said the last seventeen times," she said with a weak smile.
Their banter was interrupted when the door opened and Dr Zamitt entered with a friendly looking woman who looked to be in her late twenties.
"Good afternoon Gabriella, Maria, Troy," he smiled, giving them all a nod. "This is Aryanna - she will be your physio, Gabriella."
"Nice to meet you," Gabriella said softly.
"You too Gabriella," Aryanna smiled at her. "Although I have to warn you, you're probably going to hate me in a minute," she added jokingly.
Gabriella looked at Dr Zamitt, confused.
"It's important we get you moving – even just a little bit – each day following surgery, until eventually in a few days' time you are up and about again," the doctor explained. "I'm just going to check you over quickly, and then Aryanna will have a session with you. We're going to get you up on your feet and into the chair," he said, gesturing at the cushioned patients chair in the corner of the room, by the window.
"Oh...ok..." Gabriella whispered apprehensively.
Troy squeezed her hand and Maria placed a hand on her shoulder.
"It's ok honey, you'll do great," she told her.
"Ok Gabriella, I'm just going to take a look at the incision sites and check the drainage tubes are working properly. We will remove them in the next couple of days but for now I need to be sure they are doing their job in keeping any fluid build up away."
"Ok," Gabriella replied as the doctor carefully adjusted her gown so he could examine her abdomen. It was the first time Gabriella had seen her stomach since the surgery and her head span a little as she saw the slightly bloodstained dressings which adorned it.
"Right, they look very nice," Dr Zamitt said happily, covering her stomach again. Gabriella looked at him like he was crazy and he laughed. "Stats are good, temp is fine, surgery sites look good – I'd say it's time to get her up."
Aryanna nodded and Dr Zamitt moved to the foot of the bed.
"Ok Gabriella, I'm going to wind the back of the bed up a bit more, so you will be sitting straight up. If you feel any pain, tell me and you can have a breather."
Gabriella nodded and the doctor began turning the handle. She groaned a little as she felt the wounds on her stomach pull slightly with the shift in weight.
"Easy does it," Dr Zamitt said gently. "Aaaand...we're there."
Gabriella was puffing a little, her hand resting lightly on her stomach.
Dr Zamitt gathered up his notes. "I'll be back later this afternoon to have another chat to you all," Dr Zamitt said as he was leaving the room. "Make sure if you feel sick or dizzy at all, let Aryanna know you need a break."
"Mmhmm," Gabriella murmured, closing her eyes momentarily.
"Alright sweetheart, just take a minute to catch your breath, and we will get you sitting on the edge of the bed," Aryanna said.
Troy rubbed her back gently and kissed the side of her head. "You're doing awesome, Gab."
"She's doing great," Aryanna agreed. "Ok, I'm going to move you so that your legs are over the side of the bed now. Just let yourself relax and when we get you sitting, let your feet rest on the floor. Do you have a pair of slippers or anything you can put on when we stand you up?"
"I'll grab them," Maria replied, rummaging through the overnight bag Lucille had brought in earlier.
"Thanks Ms Montez. Alright, Gabriella – take a deep breath and on the count of three I'm going to move you."
Gabriella nodded again, slightly tearfully. She was obviously hurting, but she was determined.
The physio began to count. "1...2...3," she slid an arm around Gabriella's back and one under her knees, and shifted her so she was now sitting on the edge of the bed, her thin legs dangling over the side. Silent tears rolled down her face.
"You're doing really well Gabriella," Aryanna encouraged as Maria slipped a pair of fuzzy purple slippers onto her daughter's feet. "We're going to stand you up in a moment. Now, I'm going to support your upper body, but Troy, could I get you to come and stand in front of Gabriella and Maria could you stand on her other side, just in case she is a little unsteady on her feet."
Troy and Maria obediently took up their positions.
"Again, on the count of three. 1...2...3," Aryanna pulled Gabriella to her feet.
"Oww," Gabriella moaned softly, tears continuing to stream down her face. Her legs shook so much with the weight on them that she sat back down quickly.
"It's ok," Aryanna told her. "Whenever you are ready."
Gabriella nodded and Aryanna counted again. "1...2...3," Gabriella was on her feet once more. She stood for around 7 seconds before her legs turned to jelly and she sat back down on the bed for a second time, her frustration with herself making her cry harder.
"I can't do it," she sobbed. "I want to – so badly – but it hurts and my legs won't hold me."
"It's alright," Aryanna soothed. "We can take it as slowly as you need to. I'm not going to push you."
Troy sat next to her on the edge of the bed wrapped an arm around her, wiping her tears. She leaned against his shoulder.
"I can't do it Troy – I feel so stupid and weak," she cried into his shoulder.
"Hey," he whispered into her ear, rubbing his hand up and down her arm. "You are not stupid OR weak – you are the smartest and strongest person I know. You had major surgery just yesterday, Brie. Of course your body is going to rebel a little. But if we take this one step at a time, you will be chasing me up the halls in no time."
Gabriella smiled through her tears. "How come you always know exactly what to say?"
Troy just grinned and resumed his position standing in front of her.
"I'm ready Aryanna," Gabriella said adamantly.
Aryanna nodded. "1...2...3."
This time when the physio pulled her to her feet, Gabriella's legs shook a little but she held herself up determinedly. When she managed to stay upright, she beamed at Troy and her mother.
"How are you feeling?" Aryanna asked.
"On top of the world," Gabriella replied with a small laugh.
Troy couldn't help but smile seeing how proud she was of herself.
"Well then, how about we try taking a few steps – just to the chair," Aryanna instructed. "Slowly, slowly does it."
Gabriella drew a breath and carefully shuffled one foot forward, and then the other. Breathing deeply, in and out, and with Aryanna's support, she continued to take slow, shuffling steps until she reached the chair. Aryanna helped her to turn, and gently guided her onto the seat.
"I did it!" Gabriella exclaimed. She was exhausted but proud.
Maria and Troy were now either side of the chair, and both leaned down and kissed her cheek – Troy her right and Maria her left.
Although the next few months were going to be filled with many hurdles, in that moment Gabriella had just overcome the first obstacle in her journey towards recovery, and the small victory felt wonderful.
Voila! There you have it. Coming up next – the gang visits Gabriella...but will Sharpay join them? And Gabriella starts Chemotherapy. Please review!
Charli xox