Thanks to everyone who suggested what should happen with Larissa. I already had something in mind but I wanted to hear what you all had to say.
Disclaimer: Same as always.
Keeping it Together, Ch. 37
Sharpay watched intently as the doctor walked over to her and Troy. She could tell something wasn't right. This caused her to squeeze Troy's hand even harder.
Troy placed his free arm around Sharpay and looked at the doctor, "How is she? Was the surgery successful?"
The doctor took a deep breath, "Well the actual surgery was fine but…"
"'But'? There's a 'but,'" Sharpay said as she gripped Troy's hand again.
The doctor motioned for the two to sit down, "The surgery went perfectly well; we were able to remove her spleen and avoid any infection," he explained.
"Then what happened," Troy asked.
"Well right before we were about to close, we noticed that there was some bleeding…possibly from the removal of her spleen."
Sharpay took a sharp breath in, "So what are you saying?"
"Because of the bleeding, this has caused her to lose a lot of blood. Therefore we are going to need to do a transfusion."
"Transfusion," Troy said, gripping Sharpay's hand.
He nodded, "Yes sir. We are going to have to test the two of you to see if either of you is AB Negative. That is your daughter's blood type."
Sharpay placed her head in her hands and then looked up at the doctor, "She's adopted; I highly doubt that neither Troy nor myself would be a match," she said as tears began to flow from her eyes again.
"Well…do you know of any blood relatives she may have?"
Troy looked up, "Her sister Ana. We adopted the two at the same time and they are sisters," he said as he gave Sharpay a hopeful look.
The doctor nodded, "Very good then; I'll need to get her here as soon as possible to see if she is a match."
Troy took out his cell phone and dialed his parent's house where the kids were staying. He explained to his father what was going on and that Ana needed to get to the hospital right away. Jack told him that he would bring Ana over as soon as he could.
"Well," Sharpay said when she saw Troy walk back over to her and the doctor.
"My dad said he would bring Ana over."
She nodded and hugged him, "Please let her be a match," she said as more tears threatened to fall.
Katie and James…
The two sat down on the park bench. (A/N: It is not very late in the day since the accident happened in the morning)
James placed his arm around Katie, "Today was…great," he said as he let her rest her head on his shoulder.
She smiled, "Yeah; I had a great time today," she said as she looked at him. "I just…I wish we lived in the same state, you know?" She placed her head back on his shoulder.
James thought for a moment. Should he tell her? He wasn't even sure if it was going to happen yet and neither were his parents.
Katie looked up at him, "James? What's wrong?"
He took a deep breath, "Um…well nothing's certain yet but…" He sighed, "Promise you won't tell anyone about this?"
She nodded, "I promise."
He let out a long breath, "Okay…well my mom might get a promotion."
She now had a confused look on her face. How was this secret? "Um…okay, that's great."
James shook his head, "No, that's not the secret," he said seeing her confused face. "The thing is…well she…her job might move her to New Mexico," he said in one breath.
Katie's eyes grew wide, "Really? But why New Mexico?"
He shrugged, "From what she and my dad told us the partner lab is here in New Mexico…in Albuquerque to be exact," he said as he bit his lip. She had to keep this a secret; she just had to.
A smile came across her face, "Oh my gosh that is so cool!" She hugged him, "I hope she gets transferred here."
"Yeah me too," he said quietly.
"What's wrong?"
"It's just…well my dad would have to quit his job as coaching the college basketball team and he loves that job. It's caused some…tension at home."
"I'm sorry," she said as she took his hand.
"Thanks…I think it'll be okay though. He was saying something about seeing if he could get a job as a coach here since the high school might need a new coach next year," he explained.
Katie smiled as something had just occurred to her, "You know…if you guys do move here you and I would go to the same high school?"
He smiled, "I know and that is one of the things I'm looking forward to." He stood up and extended his hand out to her and helped her up.
"So…" she said as they walked through the park, "Any other little secrets I should know about?"
He thought for a moment, "Well Jen has this huge crush on some guy in her class who is a jerk. Every time she mentions him my parents cringe," he said with a smirk. "So she has sort of been seeing him secretly."
Katie chuckled, "I wonder what your parents will do when they find out…because parents find out EVERYTHING," she said rolling her eyes.
He nodded, "I have a feeling that she's going to be grounded for a while."
"Yeah…anyway…"
Before she could continue, James leaned in closely and kissed her gently on the lips. He quickly retreated, "I…I'm sorry. That just sort of happened."
"Well I liked it," she said as she leaned forward and kissed him back.
After a few moments of looking at one another and kissing off and on, James slowly pulled away, "We should probably get back to your parent's house…"
"Yeah I guess."
As they walked out of the park and down the street, James looked over at her and stopped her, "Please don't tell anyone what I just told you. Promise?"
She nodded and hugged him, "Yes I promise. I won't tell anyone. I just hope it comes true."
"So do I," he said as they began walking towards Katie's house.
Jack walked into the family room where Ana was watching TV. He walked over to her and sat down, "How does your arm feel?"
She looked up, "Its okay I guess. Is Larissa okay?"
"Well that is what I need to talk to you about. Your sister is pretty sick and she needs something called a blood transfusion."
Ana simply looked at him, completely lost, "Huh?"
"Basically the doctors need to test to see if you and Larissa have the same blood type."
Ana was still lost. What on earth was he talking about? The same blood type; what did that mean? Everyone had red blood…what else was there to know about it? One thing she did understand, however, was that her sister was quite ill. She would do anything to help her, "Okay," she said quietly.
He smiled softly and hugged her. "Come on, I'll explain on the way to the hospital."
Cindy walked over to the two, "We'll see you later honey," she said hugging her. "Good luck sweetie."
"Um…thank you?"
Jack took her hand and walked her out to the car and drove to the hospital.
"She's right in here," the nurse said as she led Troy and Sharpay into Larissa's room. She had been in recovery for half an hour but would have to go into another room for the transfusion.
Troy and Sharpay walked into the room and looked at Larissa whose eyes were still closed. As Sharpay looked at her, she couldn't help but to notice all the machines she was hooked up to. She tried her best not to cry, but it proved to be impossible.
"My poor baby," she said as she walked over to Larissa and sat in the chair beside the bed. She placed her hand on Larissa's.
Larissa could feel something touch her hand. She didn't know what it was but it was something that was warm and soothing; she wanted to open her eyes and tried…but she couldn't. Why couldn't she open them? What was going on here? She took a deep breath and tried once again. This time she succeeded…but all she saw was a big bright light. Oh my G-d I'm dead. I can't be dead! This can't happen. I have to wake up. Don't let me die, please!
Troy looked at Larissa and smiled softly; her eyes were now open and she seemed to be staring at the light on the ceiling. "Sharpay look."
Sharpay looked over at Larissa and smiled, "Larissa you're awake!"
Huh? Who said that? Wait I know that voice. Mom? Ouch, this hurts. I can barely turn my head. It is mom! And dad's here too! Hi mom! Wait a minute; they can't hear me. I need to talk. What is that thing in my mouth keeping me from talking? And why do I feel like I'm going to choke? Who is that behind mom?
The doctor walked into the room, "Ah, I see you have woken up Larissa," he said in an upbeat tone.
"Is there any chance that you can maybe take that tube out of her throat," Sharpay asked. "She is probably breathing on her own now."
Yes! I am! Listen to my mom; she knows. Maybe I'll try nodding. Then he'll know. Uh-huh, I can breathe on my own; I can even nod my head.
"I don't see why not," he said when he saw Larissa nod her head. He got a nurse into the room and removed the mouthpiece that was on Larissa. "All right Larissa I'm going to need to you take a deep breath in and then blow out as hard as you can. Do you think you can do that?"
She nodded.
"All right." He looked at the nurse who nodded. "When I count to three, you take the deep breath in and when I say 'now' let it out."
She nodded.
"Here we go. One, two, three!" Larissa took the deepest breath in that she could and held it. "All right Larissa," he said as he grabbed the tube. "Now."
Larissa breathed out as hard as she could. She nearly gagged as the tube made its way out of her throat and mouth. Once it was out, she coughed uncontrollably.
The nurse walked over and handed her a cup of water with a straw. "Try drinking some of this very slowly," she said.
Larissa nodded and did as she was told. Her coughing slowed down and her breathing slowly began to return to normal. "M-Mom," she said rather hoarsely.
Sharpay smiled with tears in her eyes and nodded, "It's me honey," she said as she hugged her. "You're going to be okay."
It was then Troy's turn to hug his daughter. "I am so sorry sweetie."
Larissa looked at her dad and shook her head, "It…wasn't…your fault," she said slowly.
Jack and Ana walked into the waiting area of the OR. "Excuse me," he said to the woman behind the desk, "We're looking for Larissa Bolton. She just got out of surgery and…"
She nodded, "She is in room 512," she said. "This way please."
Jack took Ana's hand and followed the woman. "Thank you," he said once they reached the door. He peaked in and saw that Larissa was awake. "Ready to see your sister?" He had explained to Ana what she would probably see when she was going to see Larissa.
"Yes," she said nearly pushing past him. All she wanted was to see her sister; she had to see for herself that Larissa was all right. She walked into the room, "Larissa!"
Larissa looked over and smiled weakly, "Hi."
Jack smiled and walked over to his granddaughter, "How are you feeling honey?"
"Like I just got run over by a truck." She bit her lip when she realized what she had just said. "I mean…"
"Its okay honey," Troy said.
She nodded and coughed once more, "Why is Ana here," she said her voice still hoarse.
"I'm going to give you blood," she said.
"Uh…okay?" Larissa looked at her parents confused. "Why does she want to give me blood?"
The doctor, who had left the room while Troy and Sharpay reunited with Larissa walked back into the room hearing the tail end of the conversation. "Well Larissa during the surgery you lost some blood and you need that blood so you can make a full recovery. The only thing is you need blood that is the same type as yours."
"My mom and dad have the same kind of blood."
"No sweetie," we don't," Sharpay said her eyes filling with tears.
"You have a special blood type called AB Negative honey. That is the kind of blood you need," Troy tried to explain.
Ana looked up, "Do I match?"
"That's what we're about to find out," the doctor said.
Troy looked at Sharpay who nodded. He walked over to Ana, "Honey do you remember last month when you had to get that blood test?"
She nodded, "Yes."
"Well that's what the doctor needs to do right now. It will be just like last month."
She nodded nervously, "Okay," she said in a shaky voice.
Troy took her hand and led her out of the room and followed the nurse into another room.
Several minutes later, the two came back. "We have an extremely brave daughter," Troy said proudly of Ana.
"I want to help Larissa feel better."
The doctor walked back into the room holding a piece of paper. "I have Ana's results here," he said.
"And?" Sharpay asked.
Ah, the evil streak continues, LOL. I didn't want Larissa to be in any MAJOR danger so I figured a blood transfusion would work. Actually if one doesn't get a transfusion when it is needed, the person could die.
So is Ana a match? Will James's family move back to Albuquerque? Please review and suggestions are welcome! Thanks.