Chap. 4. Trucks, Hospitals, and Tickle Fights.

Troy ran his fingers through his hair. He had done it this time, but it wasn't his fault. It was Ashley's. He was so mad at her. He needed to try and calm down and find Gabriella. He walked around the school looking for her. No luck. He sat down on a bench and took out his phone. He dialed her cell number and waited. After three rings someone picked up. This someone was not Gabriella.

"Hello?" it was a deep voice.

Troy looked at the phone to see if he had dialed the right number. "Um… hello?"

"Hello. This is chief Robert. Are you of any close relations to Gabriella Montez?"

Troy's heart skipped a beat. "Yeah. I'm her boyfriend. Is she ok? What happened?"

"Well the story we have is that she was trying to cross the street when a truck hit her."

Troy's face lost all of its color. "W-what?"

"Yes. We are taking her to St. Johns Hospital right now. You can meet us there if you'd like."

"Yeah. I'll be right there." He hung up and sprinted as fast as he could towards his car.

On the way there he ran into Chad. "Dude what's wrong?"

Troy gasped for breath. "G-gabriella… truck… St. Johns Hospital." And with that he was off sprinting to his car. In no more then fifteen minutes he was there. He rushed up to the front desk and gasped for breath. "G-gabriella Montez."

The secretary looked up at him. "Hold on one moment please." She turned and shuffled through a few papers. "She's in surgery right now. Level four. You can wait in the waiting room if you'd like." If Troy had had any color in his face at all, those words just washed it away. Slowly he walked over to the elevator and pressed the button for level four.

"How could I let this happen?" he thought as the elevator took him up to the fourth floor. When it did he stepped out and walked up to the front desk. "Gabriella Montez."

The lady shuffled through a few papers before taking one out. "Ah yes. She in operating room six. You can wait right over there." She said pointing at a group of chairs. He went over and sat down. He felt tears burning behind his eyes but he wouldn't let them come out.

A few minutes later Mrs. Montez burst in looking hysterical. "Troy! Oh my goodness! My baby! How is she?"

"I don't know. They haven't told me anything. She's in surgery now."

Mrs. Montez cried into her tissue. She looked up at him and choked out, "W-what ha-happened?"

Troy sighed. He knew this was coming, but what was he going to tell them? That he kissed his ex and Gabriella saw so she ran away and got hit by a truck? I don't think so! "Well… it's kinda… I didn't…" he was saved explaining by the gang running in. They saw Mrs. Montez and Troy and ran over.

Chad looked at Troy. "What happened?"

Troy opened his mouth to answer just when a doctor walked up to them. "Hi. I'm dr. Levingston. Is anyone here a parent or guardian of Gabriella Montez?"

Mrs. Montez stepped up. "Yes. I'm her mother."

"Could you step over here for a moment?" Dr. Levingston asked. Mrs. Montez nodded and stepped away from the gang so they couldn't be heard.

Chad turned to Troy. "Are you going to tell us what happened?"

Troy looked at his hands then back up at everyone. "Ok. At homecoming when we were getting punch AJ walked up and accidentally bumped into Gabriella so that she spilled her punch all over her so he took her out to get cleaned up. I was waiting for her to come back when Ashley came up to me and dragged me out onto the dance floor."

"I bet it was her who did this!" Sharpay said.

Troy shook his head and went back to the story. "I was about to tell her off for dissing Gabriella but right then she kissed me." The gang gasped. "I heard someone crying and turned around and saw Gabriella standing there. She ran out of the gym and I ran after her. Unfortunately when I got out there she was gone. I walked around and tried to find her. I finally gave up and tried calling her. When the phone was answered I heard a deep voice saying that she was being taken to St. Johns Hospital because a truck hit her. When I got here they told me that she was in surgery. Now I'm here." When Troy was finished he couldn't hold them back any more. He let the tears fall.

Taylor collapsed into Chad's arms and started crying. He held her close as she cried into his shoulder. Sharpay was on Zeke's lap crying into his should while he rubbed her back. Jason held Kelsie close while she cried into his chest.

A few minutes later Mrs. Montez walked back over looking white as a ghost. Troy ran up to her. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Mrs. Montez's lip trembled and she started crying. She went and sat down on in one of the chairs. She looked up at Troy and took a deep, calming breath. "The doctor said that she flat lined in surgery. They got her stabilized but she won't wake up. They said if she doesn't wake up soon then she might slip into a coma." She put her head in her hands and started crying.

Dr. Levingston came up to them and asked, "Would you like to see her?" Troy nodded his head and stood up to follow him with everybody else right behind. Dr. Levingston led them down three halls and into a room. When they entered they saw Gabriella lying on a bed with a machine hooked to her mouth. She looked horrible.

Troy heard a gasp behind him and turned around to see Taylor faint. Chad's eyes opened in surprise and he picked her up as dr. Levingston told him to lay her on the bed next to Gabrielle. Chad did as he was told and laid her down and took her hand in his.

Dr. Levingston called a nurse in who looked over Taylor and went out of the room. She came back in with an icepack that she put on Taylor's head, which Chad held as he sat on the side of her bad.

Troy turned back to Gabriella. She looked sad. He had done that to her. He couldn't believe it. He went and sat by her bed and took her hand in his and started stroking it with his thumb. He wanted to tell her that what she saw wasn't real, that he didn't kiss Ashley back.

"W-what happened?" Troy turned around and saw Taylor starting to sit up.

Chad pushed her back down into the bed. "You fainted. Just rest for now." Taylor nodded and laid back down while Chad held the icepack on her head with one hand and held her hand with the other.

Sharpay, who had been crying on Zeke's shoulder, lifted her head up to look at the clock. It read 11:00. She wiped her tears away and said, "I better be getting home. I'll come back tomorrow. I don't care what time but call me if anything happens." She got a murmur of ok's and sure's and then got up to leave with Zeke.

Kelsie lifted her head from Jason's chest. "Y-yeah. I b-better leave too." And with that she headed out the door with Jason's arm around her.

Mrs. Montez was sitting in her chair rocking back and fourth with her hand on her mouth. She suddenly stood up and turned and left the room.

Taylor started crying. "Why d-did this happen t-to her?" Chad gathered her in his arms and started stroking her hair. "Ow!" he had hit her bump.

"Sorry. God Taylor. When you hit your head you really hit your head. You've got a huge bump!"

Taylor reached up and felt her head. "Yeah. I should go home. My mom's probably worried." Chad nodded and helped her up. When she tried to stand her knees collapsed and she nearly fell again. Chad picked her up into his arms. She put her head on his chest and closed her eyes. They left leaving Troy alone with Gabriella.

He sat there for about an hour looking at her. He didn't know where Mrs. Montez had gone, but she still wasn't back. He really hoped Gabriella would wake up.

"Hey Gabby. I'm not sure if you can hear me but I'm really sorry. What you saw tonight wasn't real. I didn't kiss her she kissed me. It was all a set up to break us up. She took it to far." He looked down at the floor. "I understand if you never want to talk to me again." He felt Gabriella's hand squeeze his. He looked up and saw Gabriella looking at him.

"Gabriella!" he jumped out of his seat and ran into the hall and grabbed the first doctor he saw. She came in and took the breathing tube out of Gabriella's mouth and ran a few tests.

While they were doing this Mrs. Montez came back. "Troy what are they doing? Is she ok!"

Troy smiled. "Yeah. She woke up. They're just running a few tests. I'll be right back. I'm going to go call everyone." He stepped aside and called everyone. When he finished he walked back into the room to see Gabriella sitting up talking to her mom.

When Troy walked up she looked up and smiled at him. "Hey Troy."

"Hey." He was relived she didn't demand that he leave right away. "So you're not mad at me?"

Gabriella smiled. "No. I could hear you when you were talking, and yes, I do still want to talk to you."

Troy smiled. "Well that's good."

They were interrupted by the door bursting open and everyone coming in, Taylor was still holding onto Chad for support. They were all in their pj's which looked pretty funny. The girls came over and hugged Gabriella while the guys told her how happy they were that she was ok. Troy stood up so that Taylor could sit down.

Mrs. Montez stood up. "I'll let you guys talk." And with that she left the room.

Sharpay looked at Gabriella. "So what happened?"

Gabriella stopped smiling. "Do I really have to tell you guys?"

"YES!" everyone yelled at the same time.

Gabriella sighed. "Ok. Well me and Troy were getting punch-"

Kelsie cut her off. "Troy already told us that part. We wanna know what happened after you ran out of the gym."

"Ok. Well I felt really hurt so I went outside for some air. I heard Troy calling my name so I ran as fast as I could. After I was sure I was far away and no one was following me I slowed down. I wasn't paying attention and walked out into the street and the last things I saw were headlights. Then everything went black."

The girls all gasped. Taylor stood up to hug Gabriella but sat back down with her hand on her head. Chad looked concerned. "You should get someone to look at that and make sure it's nothing serious."

Gabriella looked confused. "What should you get looked at? What happened?"

Taylor Gave Chad a death glare as he looked at her head. "I just fainted when I saw you and hit my head. It's nothing really."

"Yeah it is. It's purple. I think I'll go get a doctor." With that he stood up and started to leave the room.

"No! I'm fine! You really don't need to." To late. Chad was coming back in with a nurse. She came over to Taylor who reluctantly let her look at it.

"You have a concussion. The best thing to do is lie down and keep ice on it. I'll go get some for you. If you'd like you may lie down on that bed next to Ms. Montez." She walked out of the room.

Chad picked Taylor up and put her on the bed next to Gabriella. They put the bed in an upright position. The nurse came back in with the ice, which Taylor wouldn't take so Chad had to hold it on her head again. Taylor sent another death glare at Chad. "I didn't need that."

Chad gave her a stern look. "Yes you did little miss attitude. A concussion is a big thing." Taylor huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. Chad rolled his eyes. Everyone laughed.

Sharpay, who was sitting on Zeke's lap, looked at Taylor and smiled. "I think it's sweet that he cares so much." Taylor relaxed a little but still had her attitude face on.

Jason, who had his arms around Kelsie's waist, laughed. "You're never gonna change Taylor." Everyone laughed.

Gabriella smiled. "I think it's cute. You should thank him for being so loving." Taylor still wouldn't move.

Chad smiled. "Fine then." He put the icepack down and started tickling Taylor.

She laughed so hard her face started turning red. "Ok C-chad! M-mercy!" was all she could get out. Chad stopped tickling her and pulled her onto his lap where she laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes. Chad held her close and put the icepack back on top of her head.

Troy looked at Gabriella and smiled. He was so happy she was ok. He wanted to talk to her in private, but he couldn't just kick everybody out. He'd just have to wait.

(A/N): TA DA! Yeah I know this capture sux but I was having total writers block. Sry I didn't update sooner but I had a lot of homework and a school play so I've been busy. Plus I have an annoying sister that I've had to baby-sit like every night. Hope u liked my sucky chapter and please review!

mwah!

renee