This is sort, and rather cheesy chapter, fyi. Yah, I know coma isn't terribly original I couldn't think of anything better…and I was in one of those weird moods when I wrote this story. Anyhow, enjoy :) please comment/critique!

Wednesday: Wake Up Call

Sharpay sprinted inside the hospital door, causing the small group located in the chairs to jump to their feet.

"Where is he?!" She screeched at them hysterically, waving her arms with wild eyes. "Where is my brother?!"

"I'm assuming he's in a room," Troy said dryly, emerging from behind her. Avery could tell by the stuffed car parked nearby that they had just arrived back home. "Calm down, Shar, you are not supposed to yell in a hospital!"

"How can I not yell when Ry is in a coma!!!? My poor twin!" Sharpay collapsed dramatically into Zeke's arms, and he awkwardly comforted her. Troy bent down to kiss Gabriella hello, but she pulled away.

"I'll tell you later," she whispered in answer to his hurt look. "I just can't deal with it right now" Troy shrugged, and then proceeded to greet everyone else there. Chad introduced Sharpay and him to Avery as well.

"May we go visit Ryan Evans?" Taylor asked the lady at the front desk. She obliged them, and soon Sharpay sat down next to her twin, her brown eyes swimming with tears.

"How did this happen?" she finally managed to choke out, not taking her eyes off of Ryan's unmoving face.

"It's my fault," Gabi blurted out before anyone else had a chance to speak. All eyes turned to her. "It's my fault Ryan is in a coma"

"What happened?" Sharpay said sternly after a long pause.

"Can we leave the room, first?" she said, glancing nervously at the sleeping junior. "I would rather we talk about it without me having to look at him the entire time. I won't be able to tell the story" The friends filed out into the hallway, and then turned to Gabriella.

"Alright, will you tell us now?" Avery asked sarcastically.

"Well," Gabi sniffed, "I should probably start from the beginning"

"That would be much appreciated," Taylor said.

"When I heard that Troy was leaving, a plan formed in my mind. It was a horrible plan, and I hate myself because of it. Back then, it seemed like nothing could go wrong. My mother and I, as most of you know, are rather low on cash. Troy always gave me many gifts, which I didn't ask for, and it was very sweet of him to do so. After a while, though, I took advantage of the profits it was giving my family. Now that Troy was leaving, that flow of…ok, flow of money would be gone. I needed a new way to bring it in"

"Find a job!" Chad suggested.

"I didn't want to do all the hard work! My other idea I viewed as far less work for more profit. I asked myself, 'Where could I find money to support us? Who has that much money to spare?' Then it hit me. The Evans always seemed to have plenty of cash! You guys always wore such nice clothes, and always had spare change. That was how I came by the idea to date Ryan"

"GABI!" Troy said in horror, staring angrily and disbelievingly at her. "You didn't!"

"I'm afraid I did. Not ten minutes after you left, I flirted dangerously with Ryan. As you might expect, he didn't go for it…" And so the ashamed Montez related the past month's happenings, confessing that it had all been her doing.

"I was so busy talking to him that I didn't notice the car coming," Gabi concluded sadly. "He ran out into the street and pushed me out of harm's way-but didn't have time to save himself" She sighed, her eyelid twitching. "Even after all I did to him…Ryan still went out of his way to save me" Troy by now had sat down in the chair, and at last looked her in the eye.u

"I can't believe you did this to me…and Ryan!" he growled. She squatted next to him.

"I was only thinking of me and my mom! I know now that it was a horrible, bratty, self-centered thing to do! You have to believe me!" Troy shook his head, and stood up, his back to the group. After a long silence, he turned around, his mind made up.

"Alright Gabi, I'll give you a second chance" She sighed in relief. "But that doesn't mean that I'm not mad at you, or that I am not breaking up with you. We're over now, understood? Now don't think any more about it!" Gabriella nodded, and sat down hard in a nearby chair.

"You have no idea how long I have wanted to get that off my chest"

"We do," Avery said, sitting down next to her. "But Ryan doesn't" She glared at every person present. "No thanks to any of us." Everyone looked at each other, all eyes agreeing that she was overreacting a bit. Troy rolled his eyes, and Chad leaned, bored, against the wall. "Don't think I don't know what is going through your brains!" Avery growled, standing up and prowling around them. "Stick with your thoughts if you wish, but don't come to me crying when Ryan dies under the firm belief that no one cares about him! That no one loves him! He very probably wants to die, and get away from this mean world!" She whipped around, and stared at the bewildered Sharpay and Troy. "While you two were away, Ryan tried to end his sorry life on the back staircase at school" Sharpay gasped. "Yes, that's how I thought you would react! I was there when he told the counselor the reason he attempted suicide. It was because there was no one left to love him. Chad, Taylor, Zeke, and I never bothered to go out of our way for him. Gabriella forces her fake feelings upon him while his own father and teacher physically abused him. His mother is never home, while Troy and Sharpay never bothered to keep in touch. This is the world of Ryan Evans"

There was a long pause after her speech. It was a thoughtful, confused, and horrified silence. Avery nodded, her teeth clenched, at the quiet group.

"All of us need to wake up to the facts about this. Ryan is a regular human, just like the rest of us, and regular humans need attention. So don't you dare walk out of this hospital without thinking about what I just said" Finished with her scolding, Ms. Loveday stormed towards the elevator, leaving Chad, Taylor, Gabriella, Troy, and Sharpay standing next to hospital room.