Sorry this took me so long!

Ryan's head was swimming. He was lying there, in the most uncomfortable bed known to man. He felt like he was lying on nails. Well not that extreme, perhaps like sleeping on a bed of pebbles, like when you go to a beach that is covered in shingles. His entire body felt stiff, and he had a horrible itch on the bottom of his foot. If he couldn't scratch it soon, he would go entirely mad. He willed his hand to just move down, or his foot to shift slightly so he could rub it against the scratchy hospital sheets, but every time he tried, it was as if his limbs didn't belong to him, like he was playing on his Play station at home. Like when Sharpay thought it would be HILARIOUS to unplug the controllers, so however hard he might try, the characters wouldn't move. They would just stand, and eventually get an arrow through their head from the Mayan god of whatever. But he couldn't just plug himself in.

He felt almost like he was swimming, drowning. He was stuck underwater, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't do anything. He supposed that's why he had tubes everywhere. He wasn't awake very often, and by awake I mean able to think. He could think, he could hear, and he could feel the small hands caressing his own. He just couldn't let anyone know.

He could hear people talking to him every now and again just snippets of conversation. Everything was all muffled, like he had earmuffs on, and he would usually drift back into his state of non thinking whilst people were still talking to him. When he could feel Sharpay's hand stroking his forehead, he could feel her tears hitting his cheek. He could feel his mothers head resting against his chest, listening to his heartbeat and he could feel her soft peck goodnight. It was breaking him to not be able to kiss them back, to tell them he loved them, to give his sister a small hug.

"Ryan you have to wake up. I need you. Please."

That sentence made his heart ache. He was awake, he just couldn't tell her. He couldn't even open his eyes. He sometimes felt like giving up, to just stop trying. But he didn't want to leave without telling Sharpay.

Tonight it was his mum sitting with him, doing the hair stroking and tearful whispering.

"Oh ducky, we are struggling without you. Especially Pay. She went to a party tonight though! It took a lot of cajoling on my behalf to get her there though; she didn't want to leave your side. I'm sure you understand that though. I remember when you were both 8 years old, well of course you were 6 at the same time, your twins! But anyway, Sharpay fell off the swings in the play park, and broke her arm so badly she needed that metal plate, remember? Whilst she was in the hospital, you absolutely refused to leave the hospital until you knew she was ok. And then in school afterwards, you were only just in Albuquerque Elementary and you were still trying to make friends, but obviously you weren't very good at it, being the fantastic New Yorkers you were. But people were teasing Sharpay, and trying to attract her across the room with magnets. She was so upset, but you punched Chad Danforth is it? Yes, you punched him as hard as an 8 year old could, and then you bit him! I was so angry with you Ryan, the principle called me in for my perfect boy! I was in shock. It was near Christmas, and we were going to put up the tree that night, but I said you weren't allowed to help and you had to stay in your bedroom all night. You didn't complain, but when Sharpay told me what had really happened, oh I felt terrible! You always looked out for each other, although I felt sorrier for people who messed with you, imagine having Sharpay out for your blood! She's my 

daughter and I love her more than anything, but my gosh is she scary! Well, she was. She's a bit weak without you love. She's blaming herself for everything. She thinks that you not waking up is you trying to avoid her, she thinks her arguing distracted daddy. She thinks she's the reason he's... he's..." At this point Eleanor Evans broke down, draping herself across her son's chest, staring at his face.

This was too much for him, his mother needed her. He would do whatever he could to be there for his girls. Eleanor saw his eyes flutter, and felt the fingers that she held tightly in her hand twitch slightly. Her boy was coming back.

"Help! HELP! Someone, please?!"

Accck! Ryan's coming back! Woo! And I apologise most profusely (how formal!) for the massive delay, but I've been doing my A level exams, and I've just finished, so I can update more often. I also got a pretty nasty flame, and it kind of dented my spirit a bit, oh how corny. I really hope that not too many of you have lost all interest in this, because I really like knowing that my work isn't going unnoticed!

So yeah, tell me what you think! Id love any opinions on how to take the story further. Thanks! x