Disclaimer I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.
A/N: Hey guys!! I am sitting in my room in the dark right now (the power went out about 2 hours ago), typing on my laptop, which is my only source of light. So it's kinda weird, but I thought since I have no internet access why not type up the new chapter. So I probably typed most of this in the dark hehe. Enjoy…
Last Time…
She knocked lightly on Troy's door, when no reply came she just figured he was asleep. She opened his door and entered the room quietly. For the second time that day Gabriella's heart stopped. The bed was empty and made. Where was Troy?
"Troy?" Gabriella asked breathlessly. "Troy?" she asked again louder. "Troy!" she cried desperately. Just then Lisa walked into Troy's room.
"Gabriella honey-" Lisa began softly.
"Where is he?" Gabriella asked fretfully.
"You should sit down Gabriella" Lisa said softly.
Chapter Twenty Five
Rejection
"What's wrong?" Gabriella asked tearfully.
"Honey there have been a few complications" Lisa said softly. "Gabriella I hate to be the one to tell you this but Troy had to be placed in the ICU. He's having a rejection episode. This last night he had a fever and this morning he was having trouble breathing." Gabriella felt hot tears slide down her face,
"What about the anti-rejection medicine he was taking? Shouldn't that help?"
"It should, but sometimes the rejection medicine doesn't work as well as we'd like it to. The doctors are pumping powerful drugs into his body to help." Lisa explained.
"I have to see him!" Gabriella said frantically rushing towards the door.
"Gabriella wait! There's more, his immune system is practically non-functional. He's been placed in a completely sterile environment to prevent any infection. Even the slightest germ could kill him. He's been placed in a coma for his own safety. You might not be able to see him. Sometimes the doctor will let family in, but only for a short period." Lisa explained softly. Tears were now falling freely from Gabriella's eyes,
"So I can't even see him?" she asked.
"I don't know. Dr. Patterson has to approve visitors and Mr. and Mrs. Bolton have to decide if they want to allow you to visit him." Lisa replied. "Come on follow me"
Gabriella let out another gasp of tears as she walked towards the elevator and went down to the ICU. Lisa led her to Troy's new room.
"You'll have to wait here. I'm going to find Dr. Patterson" Lisa said softly stopping in front the ICU waiting room. Gabriella nodded and walked inside the room.
The waiting room was quiet, most people were sitting silently with tear stained faces. Gabriella looked over and saw a couple sitting together, the woman sobbing softly on her man's shoulder.
Gabriella let more tears fall from her face. She didn't know how long it would take for Lisa and Dr. Patterson to come back. She needed someone. Gabriella reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone dialing her home number.
Ring….
Ring….
Ring….
Ring…
Hello you have reached the Montez household, please leave a message after the tone and we'll get back to you as soon as we can…Beep
"Hi, mom it's me…um when you get this can you call me…I need you" Gabriella spoke softly her voice breaking as she finished leaving the message.
She tried calling Taylor, Sharpay, Kelsi, Zeke, Chad and Jason's cell phones, but not one of them picked up.
Gabriella let a tear fall down her face, why was no one picking up their cell phones'? They always kept them with them. Then it hit her – this wasn't high school anymore, they probably only used their cell phones while they were out. But the problem was Gabriella didn't have the gang's home phone numbers. She put her head in her hands and tried to think. What should she do? She needed someone. Dr. Patterson and Lisa didn't seem like they'd be coming back anytime soon. 411! That was it she'd call 411.
She dialed the number and waited for the operator.
"Hello you've reached 411 how may I help you?"
"Could you give me the number for the Danforth household?" Gabriella asked.
"Um let's see here in Albuquerque I have Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Danforth or Mr. and Mrs. Chad Danforth. Which would you like?"
"Chad Danforth please" Gabriella said.
"Ok, the number is 267 246 2538"
"Thank you"
"You're welcome. Goodbye"
Gabriella let out a sigh of relief. She quickly dialed the number, praying they would pick up.
At the Danforth Household…
Chad, Taylor and Chris were sitting around the table eating an early dinner when suddenly the phone rang.
Ring…
"Who is it?" Taylor asked. Chad leaned over and looked at the caller ID.
Ring…
"It just says unknown number" Chad answered
Ring…
"Then just leave it, it's probably just someone trying to sell us something." Taylor said.
Ring…
Yo, this is Chad, Taylor and Chris, we can't come to the phone right now so you're going to have to leave a message. Don't forget to leave your name and your number so we can call you back.
Beep…
"Guys…" came Gabriella's desperate voice over the phone. Taylor and Chad's heads shot up. Gabriella let out a sob. Chad quickly reached over and picked up the phone,
"Gabs, what's wrong?" He asked immediately.
"Chad…I need you guys" she said softly.
"What do you need?"
"Troy's rejecting his lung, they've moved him to the ICU" Gabriella managed to say her voice broke.
"We're coming down there" Chad decided. "Is anyone with you?" he asked.
"No…Lisa is with Dr. Patterson, no one was picking up their cell phone…I don't anyone's home number I had to call 411"
"Don't worry Gabs, we're coming right now. We'll call the rest of the gang and have them come down there too." Chad said.
"Ok, thank you" Gabriella whispered.
"We'll see you soon" Chad said.
"Bye" she said softly.
"Troy's in the ICU." Chad said simply. "Gabriella needs us, we'll call the others on the way."
"Ok, come Chris, let's get your shoes on" Taylor said.
A/N:OMG THE POWER JUST CAME BACK ON! Sorry…let's continue…
In Doctor Patterson's Office…
"…Mr. and Mrs. Bolton I'm terribly sorry. We did everything we could to try and protect your son against rejection." Dr. Patterson said. Lucille and Jack Bolton listened carefully as the doctor explained what was going on with their son.
"So now what?" Mr. Bolton asked.
"Now we wait and hope"
"How long is he going to be in a come for?" Mrs. Bolton asked.
"That really depends. First we have to wait until he stops rejecting the lung so that we can lessen the amount of drugs we pump into his body. After that it's all down to him. It could be 3 days or 2 weeks or never." He explained.
Lucille let out a small gasp. "Never" she choked out.
Dr. Patterson nodded slowly. "There is always the small chance that he will never wake up."
Lucille let out a loud sob as Jack tried to console her.
Just then there was a knock at the door.
"Excuse me for one second" Dr. Patterson said as he got up to answer the door.
"I'm sorry to bother you Dr. Patterson, but I need to speak with you about Troy" Lisa said quietly.
"I'm kind of busy right now with his parents" Dr. Patterson whispered.
"I know, but Gabriella just got here and she really wants to see him" Lisa explained.
"I think you should tell her that she should just go home for today. We need to keep visitors to a minimum." He answered.
"Well I am not going out there to tell her that, it will break Gabriella's heart" Lisa said her voice rising slightly. Jack Bolton looked up,
"Gabriella's here?" he asked.
"Yes she just arrived a few minutes ago" Lisa explained.
"Well, where is she now?" Mrs. Bolton asked as she got up from the chair.
"She's in the ICU waiting room" Lisa said.
"Did you tell her?" Lucille asked.
"Yes I did, she wants to see him, but I wasn't entirely sure if it was allowed so I can here."
"Why can't she?" Jack asked.
"Mr. Bolton, your son should keep the visitors to a minimum, the less people we allow in the room the less likely it is that he'll get an infection." Dr. Patterson explained.
"So you want to go out there and scare her even more. If you tell her that she can't see him, she'll think he's going to die." Jack argued.
"I'm not going to scare her" Dr. Patterson said, "I'm just going to tell her the truth"
"Please just let her see him" Lucille begged. "That's the first person Troy would ask to see"
"She can have 10 minutes with him" Dr. Patterson gave in.
"Thank you" Lucille said happily.
"We should go find her, she's probably worried." Lisa cut in.
"Come on let's go then, we need to let that girl see Troy" Lucille said motioning for everyone to leave the room.
In the ICU Waiting Room with Gabriella…
Gabriella hung up her phone; her friends were coming, thank god. She needed them. She set her purse down next to her and drew hug legs up hugging them tightly. This was an old habit. For some reason it made her feel safe. It made her feel invisible, kind of like the way little kids think you can't see them if they cover their face.
She let silent tears fall down her face as thoughts passed through her mind. She couldn't help but think her life was falling apart, again. Troy was in a coma, she was getting threatening messages, which she couldn't tell anyone about. Her world was crumbling down and she couldn't help but feel alone.
Her father had told her it would be hard, but she didn't expect this.
"Gabriella" Mrs. Bolton's voice came as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Mr. and Mrs. Bolton standing before her with Lisa and Dr. Patterson behind them. Gabriella launched herself at Lucille hugging her tightly. Lucille wrapped her arms around Gabriella and hugged her back.
"Can I please go see him?" she asked softly.
"Of course you can" Lucille replied softly. "Come on" she continued.
Gabriella followed the adults to a small room.
"Now Gabriella, you'll have to put on these scrubs, a face mask and gloves." Dr. Patterson explained.
Gabriella nodded and quickly put on the gear.
"Now you can have 10 minutes with him" he continued opening the door that led into Troy's room. "I'll let you know when it's time to come out" he said as she walked slowly into the room.
When Dr. Patterson shut the door behind her Gabriella began walking slowly towards the bed Troy lay in. His bed was surrounded by monitors and machines. Instead of the usual one IV there were now several, not to mention the tube that was helping him breathe or the several monitoring his heart and other organs. Gabriella sat down next to him in the chair. Carefully she took his hand in hers. She ran her other hand down his cheek.
"Troy" she whispered breathlessly.
Gabriella brought her hand towards the necklace that hung on her neck.She pulled the necklace out a little so that she could look down at it. Clamping her hand tightly around it, she closed her eyes and began to speak,
"Do you remember when you gave me this necklace? You said to me, whenever you feel sad, or lonely, or afraid, just hold onto this necklace and know that I am always with you, no matter where I am. And while you were
away that worked for me, I don't know how but it did. I would close my eyes and I could hear your voice saying whatever I needed to hear to calm me down or make me smile."
"After Jeff started abusing me, I remember crying myself to sleep most nights" Gabriella began as the painful memories began to come back to her. "And on those nights I would fall asleep clutching onto the necklace. I remember not understanding why it made me feel better or how it could give me some hope, but for some reason it made me feel loved." She paused taking a breath before continuing.
"Now I realize that it was because deep down in my heart Troy, subconsciously, I knew that you loved me and you always would no matter how far away from me you were." Tears rolled her face as she the words rolled off her tongue.
"You kept your promise Troy, but me. I lied to you, I told you I'd always be there for you and then I left you, I'm sorry. But Troy, please, I need you now, I need you so much"
Gabriella let her head rest on the edge of Troy's bed as she sobbed.
She heard a loud buzz noise and her head snapped up.
"Ms. Montez, it's time for you to come out now" Dr. Patterson's voice came from over the intercom. Gabriella let out another sob. She took Troy's hand in hers one last time and brought it up to her face, trying to remember his touch. She placed his hand back down and kissed his forehead gently.
"I love you" she whispered.
Gabriella walked back to the door. Lisa helped her out of out of her scrubs in the small room next to Troy's.
"Are you ok?" she asked.
"Fine, I'm fine" Gabriella answered quietly, before she went back out into the hallway. She made her way to the waiting room. Before she entered the waiting room she peered through the glass in the door. She could she her friends sitting with Mr. and Mrs. Bolton and her mom. They all looked like they were having some sort of in depth discussion about Troy no doubt. She wiped her tears, put on a brave face and entered the room.
She walked over to her friends and family and waited for them to acknowledge her presence. The group was so into their conversation they didn't notice Gabriella until she tapped Taylor on the shoulder. Taylor immediately turned around and engulfed Gabriella in a tight hug,
"Gabriella!"
Taylor released Gabriella only to have the rest of the gang hug her as well.
"I'm sorry we couldn't get here sooner Gabs we had to get all the kids to their grandparent's house" Sharpay said.
Gabriella froze at Sharpay's words. Kids. What was she going to tell the class? Her brave face faltered and she broke down. Chad caught her in his arms and she cried into his chest.
"Shhh, Gabs, it's going to be ok. Troy is a fighter, he'll pull through." Chad soothed.
"What am I going to tell the class, they'll be heartbroken?"
A/N: So…there you go, another chapter…finally. I hope you liked it! I'm really really really really sorry I didn't update sooner. The author's note at the top I actually wrote on March 8th, then after the part when I say the power has come back on, I wrote that part about a week later and tried to write whenever I could after thay. These past two weeks have been crazy, I've had so much to do. So, I'm really sorry again. I hope the wait was worth it. Please review!
Oh wait…
HAPPY EASTER!!