Here's the next chapter! I had problem with this one when I saved it, so if they're any weird symbols, they're either apostrphase or quotation marks.

With much love,
Kat

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CHAPTER TWELVE

Watching Troy fall to the gym floor, Gabriella ran out of the stands into the court, tears in her eyes.

"Troy!"

The timer ran down on the clock as the basketball swished into the net.

"HOME TEAM WINS!!!" the MC shouted with a worried tone in his voice.

Gabriella arrived at his side, Troy looked at her. "Didn't I tell you we'd win?" he managed to weakly get out with a smile on his face before closing his eyes again.

Holding him close to her chest, Gabriella cried, hoping that Troy would be okay. A paramedic arrived at her side and so did the Coach. Letting the paramedic take a look at Troy, Gabriella turned to the Coach.

"Why did you do that?" she asked, worried about Troy.

"Do what?!"

"Do that last play! The other team were all on Troy since the beginning of the game. You should've known that they were all on him!" Gabriella yelled.

Coach didn't answer. He stayed there, thinking about what he did. Soon the rest of the team arrived.

"See, we told you that they would expect the last play to be all Troy," Harley said, standing next to Chad.

"Yes, even Troy knew that," Chad said, "but he did the play anyway. You shouldn't have put so much on him."

"Miss," the paramedic said, "We need to take Troy to the hospital. He's suffered from a major stress attack. He's needs to be monitored."

"Okay," Gabriella answered, "Can I come with you?"

"Yes, he needs a familiar voice talking to him. Maybe it would wake him up."

The Coach sat there, feeling sorry for his actions, feeling sorry for Gabriella, feeling sorry for the team, feeling sorry for Troy. He shouldn't have put so much pressure on him. Chad and the other boys were right, they were a team, not only one player.

"Miss," the paramedic said, "We need to go now, please come with me."

Pushing back tears, Gabriella got up and followed the paramedic who was now pushing Troy in a stretcher.

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Troy lay unconscious in the stretcher as Gabriella sat next to him in the ambulance. The ride was smooth and Gabriella held on to Troy's still hand and leaned on his chest.

"Troy," Gabriella said, "I hope you're okay. And I knew that you'd win."

A silent tear slid down her cheek and soaked into Troy's jersey.

"There was something that I wanted to tell you. Something that I hoped we could do together," she said through her tears, "I wanted to put a duet on the CD, but I wasn't sure if you'd agree to that. I wanted a duet with you on the CD."

Troy's hand moved slightly and Gabriella sat up, her hope renewed.

"Troy, I love you," she whispered, "I don't want to lose you. 'Cause if I do, I don't know what I'd do."

"Gabriella," Troy said quietly, "I love you. I won't leave, don't worry about that."

Gabriella smiled and another tear slid down her cheek. "I know that you won't leave Troy."

The back doors of the ambulance opened up and they took Troy out an into a room. Gabriella followed, her hope faintly growing with every step.

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Gabriella sat anxiously outside of Troy's room as the doctor was inside examining him.

"Ring-Ring!"

Digging through her purse, Gabriella pulled out her phone and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Gabi," it was Chad again, "How is Troy?!"

"I don't know at the moment," she replied, "I'm waiting right now, they're looking at him."

"Well, can you call me as soon as you learn any news?"

"Yeah, of course I will. And tell Taylor not to worry, I know she'll be freaking out if she found out!"

"Too late for that Gabi!" Taylor said.

"Taylor? Is that you?" Gabriella inquired, wondering how she could hear her.

"Yeah, Chad put us on three-way," she answered, "I'm driving home right now."

"Well, Tay, you needn't freak out. Troy told me he was going to be fine."

"I hope so. How did this all happen anyway?"

"Well..."

"Mrs. Bolton," the doctor had appeared from the room, "May I speak to you?"

"Mrs. Bolton?" Taylor asked, "Did the wedding happen already?"

"No," she replied into the phone, "but I'm hoping it does. Anyway, I've got to go. Chad can you explain what happened?"

"Sure," Chad replied, "Remember to tell any news."

"I will," Gabriella said, "Call you later."

"Bye Gabi," Taylor responded.

She hung up and stuffed her phone back into her purse. Walking into the room, she noted that Troy wasn't awake yet.

"Mrs. Bolton," the doctor said, "Troy, as you probably know, has suffered from a serious stress attack."

"Yes, I know. Listen, not to rush you or anything, but is Troy going to be alright?" she asked with a worried tone in her voice.

"Yes, Troy will be alright. He's just resting right now."

"Thank goodness," Gabriella let out a relieved sigh.

"Yes, Troy will be alright, but he needs to stay away from whatever was causing him the stress for a while. Do you happen to know what it was?"

"Not really sure. Maybe it was the Coach or our upcoming wedding?"

"Upcoming wedding? I thought you two were already married," he chuckled to himself, "Well, if you ever find out, please inform me of anything."

"May I stay here with him?"

"Yes, of course," the doctor answered, "He'll have to stay overnight also, would you like to stay with him through the night?

"Yes, please, I can't leave his side until he's better," Gabriella answered.

"Okay, miss," the doctor left the room.

Knowing that Troy was peacefully sleeping, Gabriella sat on his bed and watched him.

"Troy," she whispered to herself, "I love you."

He shifted positions and Gabriella moved closer to him. Running her finger softly against his cheek, she watched his chest rise and drop with each breath.

"Everyone's worried about you," she told him as if he could hear her, "Chad's telling Tay what's happening right now. Trevor sent me a text saying that he's on his way. And Sharpay and Ryan are worried sick about you.

"Not only are they worried about you, so am I. I'm not leaving your side until you're better."

Gabriella leaned in and gave Troy a gentle peck on the lips. A tear slid down her cheek and feel to the bed covers, quickly soaking into the spot.

"I just hope that you be okay so you could tell me what you wanted to tell me. You won the game and I'm so happy for you. Chad and Harley told me about the last play. How it was all about you and how you agreed to it. That was brave of you Troy. You're a brave guy, a hero to the team. You're my hero," Gabriella smiled and chuckled to herself, "and you're also an idiot. Taking on that play, but you're just headstrong like that. And that's why I love you."

The door opened and Trevor ran in, rushing to Gabriella's side.

"Is he alright?" Trevor exclaimed, looking at Gabriella with worry.

"Yes, he's alright. He's just had a major stress attack and he needs to rest."

"Great," Trevor responded, "As soon as Christine and I heard the news, we called everyone. But I reached a busy signal for all of them, so I texted you. Luckily, I got an answer from ya."

"Yeah, I wouldn't want you to be in the dark," Gabriella smiled, looking at Troy peacefully sleeping.

"How long does he have to stay here?" Trevor asked, taking a seat in the chair beside the bed.

"At least overnight," she answered, stroking Troy's hair.

Trevor's phone beeped and he opened it. "A text from Christine," he said reading it, "She said that the Broadway show was postponed until further notice. I guess Sharpay and Ryan want to make sure that Troy's alright."

"Sharpay," Gabriella reminisced, "I remember when we were sorta like enemies. It was in high school, right when I moved to East High. We were competing for the lead roles for the musical and apparently Troy's heart.

"I never really knew that I fell in love with Troy until the time when he said that I wasn't important, but it was all a misunderstanding. And look where we are today, me and Sharpay. She's practically my sister."

Trevor chuckled along with Gabriella. Suddenly, he got up, remembering that he had to do something.

"I'm sorry I can't stay with you, but I've got to go," Trevor said.

"It's alright, I'll be fine," Gabriella answered, giving Trevor a warm friendly hug.

"Bye Gabs," Trevor said, opening the door, "make sure you keep me updated."

"I will," she answered as the door closed.

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The moonlight shone through the windows, illuminating a tired Gabriella, who was still awake, sitting beside Troy on the bed. The digital clock read 1:00 am. Sleep was consuming Gabriella as the seconds ticked by.

Settling into Troy's side, Gabriella cuddled next to her sleeping fiancé. Holding him close to her, she felt the heaviness weighing on her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, Troy stirred awake. He slowly opened on eye and saw the darkness of the room. Feeling Gabriella's head nuzzling into his chest, Troy smiled to himself.

Looking around at his surroundings, Troy could tell that he was in a hospital room. Brushing his fingers through Gabriella's hair, he tried to remember what happened in the past few hours.

"I remember Gabi crying and I didn't want her to cry. I never want to see Gabriella cry."

As if the moonlight had a special power, Troy felt his eyes become heavy. Before allowing them to fall, he turned over and kissed Gabriella on the top of her head.

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Sunlight penetrated through the closed blinds of the hospital window room. The clock read 8:00 am. Troy was already awake, stroking Gabriella's hair as he waited for her to wake up.

The door opened and the doctor walked in, noticing that Troy was awake.

"Mr. Bolton, you're awake," he said, relieved, "How do you feel?"

"Better than yesterday," Troy responded, "What happened?"

"You suffered from a major stress attack. You're body shut down it's systems because you were becoming too stressed," the doctor explained, noting that Gabriella fell asleep on the bed, "My, she fell asleep on you. Would you like me to wake her?"

"No," he answered, "I wanted her to stay by my side."

"Well, Mr. Bolton, I would advise you to stay away from whatever has been causing you all the stress."

"Okay," Troy replied, "Am I able to leave today?"

"Yeah, you seem to be alright. Just try to relax this weekend. Don't work yourself too much."

"Alright, I will."

The doctor left the room and smiled to himself. "They're going to make a wonderful couple."

Quietly, Gabriella stirred awake, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Good morning' Gabi," Troy said softly.

"Troy, you're awake!" she hugged him, excited that he was alright, "Thank goodness you're okay!"

"I told you that I wouldn't leave you. I love you Gabi," Troy answered.

"I know that you wouldn't," Gabriella replied, burying herself into Troy's chest.

"Gabi, remember that thing I wanted to tell you?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it was that Coach was giving me a lot of crap about you because my focus has been slipping. He thought that it was because of you, but it wasn't. He was getting on my last nerves by constantly putting pressure on me. I really wanted to quit the team and that's what I'm going to do."

"Really Troy?" Gabriella asked, "I thought that you loved basketball."

"I realized that I don't love it as much as I love singing and as much as I love you," Troy answered, sitting up against the headboard, "Also, I wanted to know if you would let me sing along with you, so instead of you being a solo artist, we could be a couple."

"Troy, are you being serious?" Gabriella looked at him skeptically.

"I knew that it was a stupid idea," Troy said, "Never mind I said anything about it."

"No, Troy, I love the idea," Gabriella quickly said, "I wanted to ask you the same thing, but I was afraid that you'd think it was stupid."

"So is it agreed?"

"Yes, I would love for you to be my singing partner!" Gabriella giggled.

"Well, let's hurry up out of here. We've got a wedding to plan, you know."

"Let's go!" Gabriella said, getting up and grabbing her purse.

Together they walked out of the hospital room and left for home.