Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. Thanks.

A/N: Wow, I never expected this story to be so well-liked. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed it, your reviews are so helpful! I just realized that Troy's dad has a name, but his mom doesn't. So now, her name is Kellie. The End.

There are way too many reviews to reply to each one individually, likeI normally would, so I am addressing everyone: I love you guys! I was having a horrible day yesterday, but reading you reviews cheered me up. I'm so glad that you guys love the story, and I promise that I'll try to make it as good as I can. As for Troy dying...well, I'm not answering that right now!

Here's chapter 3! Enjoy!

Gabriella wiped a stray tear from her eye as she gazed at Troy's pale face. Her fingers were intertwined with his, the pallor of his skin clashing with the warm tan of hers. Reaching forward, she brushed a stray lock of hair from his forehead which had fallen into his eyes. Sighing, she extricated her fingers from Troy's and stood up, walking to the window.

Suddenly, she caught sight of her mother walking toward the room, her face creased with worry. Gabriella ran out of the room and threw herself into her mother's arms, crying into her shoulder. Ms. Montez rubbed her hand in circles on Gabriella's back, comforting her.

"Shhh, baby, it's going to be okay," she soothed, leading Gabriella to a chair and sitting down. "It's okay."

Gabriella sobbed. "What if he never wakes up?" she asked, her voice choked with tears.

Her mother shook her head. "Don't think like that, you need to stay positive. Troy is going to be fine."

"I want to, Mom, but it's just so hard," Gabriella whispered, more tears falling from her eyes. "He's just lying there, and I can't do anything about it. He-"

She was interrupted by Troy's parents, who had made their way back to the ICU, Dr. Andrews following close behind. The doctor nodded, before walking into Troy's room and preparing him to be moved.

"What's going on?" Gabriella asked, trying to dry her eyes as her mother greeted Mrs. Bolton. "What's wrong with Troy?"

Jack sighed. "He's bleeding into his brain, they're taking him to surgery."

Gabriella gasped, her hand shaking as she covered her mouth with it.

Chad walked into his house, slamming the door loudly behind him. The sound of running footsteps met him, as his mother rushed out from the kitchen.

"Chad! Where have you been, it's ten o'clock at night!" his mother exclaimed, watching worriedly as Chad set his bag on the floor and walked half-heartedly into the kitchen.

"Hospital," he grunted, pulling the refrigerator door open with more force than was necessary and pulling out a can of soda. "Troy got hurt."

"What? Is Troy okay? How are his parents?"

Chad shrugged. "He's unconscious, his dad kicked me out before they told me anything else."

"He kicked you out?"

Chad nodded. "It was kind of my fault," he half-whispered, taking a sip of his soda. "I set Troy up, it was my fault he fell. He hit his head on the concrete."

His mother gasped. "Chad-'

"I'm going to bed, mom," he interrupted, taking his soda with him and leaving his mother standing there, staring after him.

Gabriella sat with her head on her mother's shoulder, half-asleep in the hard plastic chair of the waiting room. Troy's parents sat next to them, holding each other as they tried to sleep. It was well into the third hour of Troy's surgery, and with each passing minute their worry increased.

"Why is it taking so long?" Kellie asked her husband, her voice quiet so as not to wake Gabriella. "Dr. Andrews said it would be two hours. It's been three."

Jack sighed. "I don't know," whispered back, gently brushing his wife's hair behind her ear. "I'm sure they'd tell us if something was wrong. He should be almost finished." As if on cue, Dr. Andrews walked into the waiting room, headed straight for their small group.

"How's Troy?" Kellie, asked, standing up to meet the doctor as Ms. Montez gently shook Gabriella awake.

Dr. Andrews sighed. "I have good news, and bad news."

"What's the good news?" Jack asked, searching the doctor's face for answers.

"He made it through the surgery, and we think we managed to control all of the bleeding." She paused before continuing. "However, his heart stopped three times during the operation. We managed to bring him back each time, and we kept him on the ventilator which meant that he wasn't deprived of oxygen. Unfortunately, this will most likely lengthen his recovery time, as his heart will not be able to take the extra strain that physical therapy will put on it."

Troy's parents looked as if she had slapped them, and Gabriella felt more tears filling her eyes. Jack swallowed hard, before speaking.

"Is he-is he going to be okay though?"

Dr. Andrews sighed again. "It's touch and go from here on out. If the surgery worked, he should be waking up within the week."

"If it didn't-?" Kellie asked, leaving the sentence hanging.

"We'll deal with that when the time comes. Right now, we have to focus on the positive, which is that Troy is alive, and that he has a very good chance of pulling through."

Chad lay on his bed wide awake, every light in his room turned off. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't have fallen asleep. The scene of Troy falling down the stairs, his head bouncing off the concrete, kept replaying in his mind, as if on a VCR with a broken stop button. Shaking his head, Chad rolled over onto his side, staring at the neon numbers of his alarm clock, which flashed 11:30.

Suddenly, his cell phone began ringing, lighting up on his nightstand. Bolting up, he snatched for the phone, seeing Taylor's number flashing across the screen. Flipping open the phone, he pressed the answer button.

"Hello?"

"Chad? Is that you?"

"Yeah, what's going on Taylor?"

He heard an audible sigh on the other end of the phone, before Taylor answered. "Gabriella just called me. Troy just got out of surgery. He was bleeding into his brain, they had to operate to fix it."

Chad cursed under his breath, the video in his mind freezing at the point where Troy's head connected with the concrete as he replied. "Is he-?"

"He's alive, but he's in a coma. They don't know how his brain was affected yet."

"I want to go over there."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, sweetie," Taylor said, her voice filled with compassion. "Gabriella said they told her to go home, that there was nothing she could do for him."

Chad sighed. "You're sure that-"

"Chad, we can go see him tomorrow, does that make you happy?"

"I guess. See you tomorrow."

"I love you," Taylor whispered.

"Love you, too" Chad replied, before hanging up his phone and flopping back onto his bed, the video restarting.

The next morning, Chad and Taylor walked into the hospital together, meeting Gabriella at the entrance before they headed up to the ICU. Taylor and Gabriella hugged, the former smiling comfortingly at her friend. Chad also hugged Gabriella, handing her the flowers he was holding.

"Those are for Troy," he said quietly, handing her the card to go with them. "Taylor picked them out."

Gabriella smiled. "Thanks," she whispered, placing the card into the flowers as they headed upstairs.

"Have you seen him?" Taylor asked, pushing the button for their floor once they entered the elevator.

"Not since before they took him to surgery. His mom spent the night with him, and his dad came back this morning."

Chad paled at the mention of Troy's father, but continued to stare straight ahead. They rode the rest of the way in silence, finally reaching the ICU and getting out of the elevator. Gabriella led the way to Troy's room, where his father was standing outside, his mother sitting with him.

"Hey, Coach," Chad whispered, looking at the floor.

"Chad," the coach acknowledged, nodding. "Taylor."

"How's Troy?" Gabriella asked.

The coach sighed. "Same as last night. I'll tell Kellie you want a minute with him." He stuck his head into the room, and a moment later Mrs. Bolton walked out, smiling at the three as Gabriella walked in and sat in the chair.

Chad and Taylor watched through the window, taken aback at Troy's appearance. His head was now tightly wrapped in white gauze, small spots of blood visible beneath the stark white bandages. Gabriella was quietly talking to him, stroking his hair as she whispered. Suddenly, the piercing sound of a shrill beep split the air, causing Gabriella to bolt up in surprise. A flurry of doctors and nurses rushed into the room, gently pushing her out as they started to look Troy over. The one thing that burned into Chad's vision was the thin, flat green line scrolling across the screen of the monitor.

A/N: Well, that was fun. Not. Please review!

Coming in Chapter 4: Troy's flat-lining! Chad is holding a razor…what does he do with it? Gabriella is about to have a nervous breakdown! Oh, the horror!