Thank you for the reviews! I noticed that there was some confusion with the ending of the chapter. What I am going to write in this chapter should clear things up a bit…I hope! ;-)

A/N: I got all the medical stuff I'm talking about here from my mom the nurse…she used to work in a critical care unit in the hospital.

Disclaimer: Same as always.

Keeping it Together, Ch. 36

Gabi walked over to where the doctors and nurses were and peeked into the room. She could see a person…but that person couldn't be Larissa. This person was too tall. She looked into the next room and saw Larissa lying on the bed, the machine still beeping. "Oh thank goodness," she said to herself. She walked back out to the waiting area and put her hand on Sharpay's back. "Sharpay…"

Sharpay, who had been crying in Ryan's arms looked up, "Please…don't let her be…"

Gabi sat down beside Sharpay and turned her around so she was now looking at Gabi. "No, she's not…it wasn't Larissa that coded Sharpay," she said softly.

Relief spilled over Sharpay's face. She then began to tense up again, "But they said…curtain area 4. That's where Larissa is," she said as more tears began to stream down her face.

"Yes, she is in curtain area 4, but it was the person in the next curtain over who coded," she said as she took Sharpay's hand. "Larissa is still sleeping."

Sharpay nodded, "Thank you Gabi," she said softly as she hugged her best friend and sister-in-law. "I…I need to go see Troy," she said as she began to stand up. As she did, however, she began to feel woozy from everything that had gone on that day.

Ryan took her in his arms, "Maybe you should just sit here for a while…"

"No!" She took a deep breath, "I mean no," she said in a calmer tone, "I need to see him…if you could just…help me over there…"

He nodded, "Of course." Ryan assisted Sharpay over to the area in which Troy was in. But for some odd reason, they couldn't get through. "Maybe they're still helping that person who coded," he offered.

"Maybe."

"I need a doctor over here, stat!" A nurse yelled from the curtain area that was exactly where Larissa was.

"No!" Sharpay could feel her muscles begin to collapse again.

"Maybe they just need to give her more medication for something," he said, trying to keep Sharpay calm.

"I need to see my baby…now!"

Ryan looked around and finally saw someone who would be able to talk some sense into her. He helped her over to him, "Troy."

Troy looked up, the same worried expression on his face. "What is going on with my daughter Ryan?" He then looked at Sharpay and handed Sam to Ryan so he could hold Sharpay. (Well you know what I mean by 'hold'…I don't actually mean hold her like a baby…okay you get the picture.)

As soon as Ryan placed Sam back in his carrier, he rushed over to a doctor who was heading into Larissa's room. "What is happening to her," he demanded.

"I'm sorry sir but that information is for family members…."

"I'm her uncle! Her mother is my sister. Now tell me what is going on with my niece. Please."

The doctor nodded, "Well she seems to be having some internal bleeding from the accident; the other doctor who tended to her when she first came in believes that it may be that her spleen has ruptured," he explained.

A look of horror could be seen on Ryan's face. "W-What do you normally do about that?"

"Well if it is in fact her spleen that ruptured, we are going to have to operate as soon as possible to remove it."

"Oh my G-d…" Ryan didn't know what to think. How was he supposed to go back and tell his sister and brother-in-law that their daughter may have a ruptured spleen? "C-Could you please tell them? They're worried sick and…"

He nodded, "I was just on my way to do that after I had a look at the x-rays taken." He walked into the room Larissa was in.

"Thank you." Ryan just stood there and waited for the doctor to come back out. Five minutes later…something that seemed more like 5 hours to Ryan, the doctor emerged from the room. Ryan looked at him, "Well?"

"It is in fact…well I should tell her parents," he said as he walked over to Troy and Sharpay, Ryan right behind him.

Troy who was holding a sobbing Sharpay looked up, "Hey the doctor's here; maybe he can help," he said gently.

Sharpay wiped her eyes and looked at the doctor expectantly. She then looked at Ryan who had a solemn look on his face. "No…no…"

"Mr. and Mrs. Bolton," the doctor began, "Your daughter has been experiencing some internal bleeding and…"

"What?" Troy exclaimed, nearly leaping out of the bed he was in.

"We have detected that she has a ruptured spleen," he continued, "And…"

"Ruptured…as in ripped or torn," Sharpay who was now on the brink of a full out nervous breakdown asked.

He nodded, "Yes ma'am. But this can be stopped," he said quickly trying to reassure the two.

Sharpay looked over at Ryan who nodded, "He's right Shar," he said as he walked over to his sister.

"How can it be stopped," Troy asked.

"Well we would need to get her to the OR and remove her spleen. That is the only way the bleeding will stop," he said.

"Remove her spleen?" Sharpay looked completely horrified.

"People can lead perfectly normal lives without their spleen," he said. "The only repercussion is that she may experience is a lower white cell count."

"What does that mean," Sharpay asked as she clung to Troy.

"Her immune system may not function as it used to; she may be more prone to catching colds or the flu…"

Sharpay nodded as she could feel herself relax; although she was still extremely scared and worried for her daughter, she knew that as long as the doctors knew exactly what was wrong and were able to fix it, that things would be okay.

"The only thing we need from the two of you is for you to sign the consent forms so we can operate as soon as possible to stop the bleeding."

"O-Of course," Troy said. "Can we see her first?"

He nodded, "Yes you can." The doctor had an orderly bring a wheelchair in the room for Troy even though he was perfectly capable of walking; but he wasn't about to argue with the doctors now.

"Thank you," Sharpay said. She turned to Ryan and hugged him, "Thank you."

He nodded, "You know I'm always here for you."

"I know." Sharpay glanced over at Sam, "Do you think you could maybe…"

"Watch him for a while? Yes." Ryan picked the carrier up and hugged Sharpay once more. "She'll be just fine Shar. She's a trooper."

"Yeah." She followed the doctor and Troy into Larissa's room. Tears welled up in her eyes when she saw that she was no longer breathing on her own. "Larissa," she said as she hurried over to her daughter's side. She picked up her limp arm and kissed her hand. "Mommy's here…and so is daddy," she said quietly. "You're going to be fine." She looked at the doctor, "Why isn't she breathing on her own?"

"We normally do that before a surgery," he said.

She nodded and looked back down at Larissa and kissed her head. She then moved so Troy could be by his daughter.

Troy kissed her hand, "It's daddy honey," he said trying to keep it together. "The doctors are going to make you feel all better; there isn't anything to be afraid of."

The doctor walked over to the nurse and took the form from her, "If you would please sign here…"

"The consent form," Sharpay asked.

"Yes ma'am. We just need you to sign here and for your husband to sign here." He pointed out two separate lines.

Sharpay took the pen and paper and signed the form and then handed it to Troy to sign. "When are you going to take her upstairs?"

"Just as soon as your husband finishes signing the form we can take her."

She nodded, "Thank you."

Troy took a deep breath as he watched the doctor and two nurses lift Larissa up off the bed and on to a gurney. "We'll be right there when they're finished honey." He wiped his eyes, "Why isn't she awake, damn it?"

"Troy."

"No! I want to know why she isn't awake!"

"The concussion caused her to pass out and she just hasn't woken up from that yet," the doctor explained as he walked over to Larissa and checked her vitals before giving the nurses permission to move her out of the room.

Troy had officially been released from the hospital since he had only suffered several scrapes and bruises. He and Sharpay decided to check on the other kids before going upstairs. To their surprise the doctors said that all three would be able to go home that day. However, considering the circumstances, they would be going home with Troy's parents rather than with their own since Troy and Sharpay were staying at the hospital to be with Larissa.

"There we go," Sharpay said as she lifted Kayleigh up off the bed and carried her into the waiting area. Troy was too sore to carry any of the children so he decided to wheel Ana out to the waiting area and then come back for Zach.

"Mommy will Larissa be okay," Kayleigh asked as she and Sharpay entered the waiting area.

"She's going to be just fine sweetie."

Jason who was reading a magazine looked up, "Kayleigh."

Kelsi bolted up, "Huh?" She looked in front of her and saw Sharpay carrying the little girl into the room. "Kayleigh! Oh I'm so glad you're okay," she said as she scrambled to her feet and hugged her.

Kayleigh nodded, "Larissa is sick…"

Kelsi sighed, "I know honey but she is going to be okay."

Jack walked over to Sharpay and took Kayleigh from her, "How are you feeling sweetie," he asked as he held her in his arms.

"It hurts here." She pointed to her ribs which had been bruised from the accident.

"Well you are one brave little girl, you know that? I don't think I would be able to be as brave as you," Cindy said as she walked over to Jack.

Ana soon joined her extended family and showed them her cast. "It's my favorite color," she said as she admired it.

"Yeah…it sure is," Gabi said, trying not to lose it. Never in her life had four members of her family under the age of 13 been so sick…at the same time. "Green is definitely your color."

Just then David and his mother came into the ER. "Mrs. Bolton!"

Sharpay turned around, "David?"

"I'm sorry," David's mom said. "It's just…well we saw on the news that there had been a car accident and when the reporter said that it involved a father and four of his children…well David put 2 and 2 together and insisted that we make sure it wasn't you and…"

"It's okay," Sharpay said giving David a sympathetic smile.

"Where is she," he demanded.

"David," his mom said exasperated.

Sharpay shook her head, "No it's all right." She looked at David, "Well David…she um…she needs to have some surgery," Sharpay said as lightly as possible. The last thing she wanted was to upset the incredibly sweet young man who was so worried about his friend…girlfriend.

David just stood there, not knowing what to do. "Why does she need surgery?"

"Okay it's time to go," his mom said when she saw that Sharpay looked as though she was about to start crying. "We will talk to you in a couple of days…and Larissa is in our thoughts and prayers," she said gently to Sharpay.

"Thank you," she said. After they left, Sharpay turned to Troy, "I want to go upstairs."

He nodded, "All right."

They kissed the kids goodbye and promised them that they could come visit Larissa the next morning.

Three Hours Later…

Sharpay sat in the waiting area of the Operating Room. She had nearly fallen asleep several times but every time she made sure to wake herself up. She didn't want to be sleeping when the doctor came out to tell her and Troy that Larissa was out of surgery…or that something had happened. She could feel her eyes getting heavy again and begin to close. Just before they did, she heard the door open. She turned to Troy who was sleeping from the pain medication he was given. "Troy. Wake up Troy," she said as she shook him.

"Hmm? What's wrong," he asked groggily.

"Someone's coming…"

The door opened and the doctor came out and walked over to them.

I'd write more but there is a HUGE thunderstorm (again) going on right now and I'm afraid that we might lose power or the internet or…something so I am going to end it here to be on the safe side.

Anyway how do you think Larissa is? And yes my evil streak is continuing. ;-) How do you think Larissa's surgery went? Please review and suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

P.S. – I know I said I'd have Katie/James, but I got wrapped up in this 'storyline,' hehe.