Disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue.
A/N: About Troy waking up in this chapter, I was just kidding. No, actually, I came up with another plot twist so Troy isn't waking up in this chapter. Maybe the next one. Or maybe never…tee hee
I don't like this chapter either. But I needed random crap to fill the gaps at the beginning before I got to the part about Troy.
The parts with Troy and Chad in this chapter are simultaneous.
Anyways, here's chapter 5!
Taylor sat on Chad's bed with him for a half hour, holding him in her arms as he cried onto her shoulder. His sobs eventually died down, his breathing evening out as he fell asleep, his head in her lap. Taylor gently moved his head onto his pillow, brushing aside his hair as she kissed his forehead. Sighing, she took the razor and slipped it into her pocket, looking around for anything else dangerous.
After pocketing the pair of scissors sitting on the desk, she slipped out of the room, walking slowly toward the kitchen. She found his mom by the stove, stirring something in a pot.
"Taylor? Where's Chad?"
"Mrs. Danforth, there's something I need to tell you."
Gabriella sat on her bed, looking through a box of photos. There were dozens of pictures of her and Troy, all taken in the last 6 months. She smiled as she flipped through the snapshots, remembering the good times she had had with Troy.
She reached into one of the packs and pulled out a random picture. It had been taken a month before, at a concert the four of them had gone to. Gabriella was standing on her seat, her arms wrapped around Troy, who was standing on the floor. They were both smiling happily, Chad and Taylor right next to them. Gabriella smiled, standing up and pinning the picture on her bulleting board, right next to the one from the after party of the championship game.
She spent the next few hours looking through pictures, hanging them on her bulletin board. Soon it was covered with pictures of her and Troy, pictures of them kissing, holding hands, eating lunch together, walking on the beach. There was even a shot of them in the play, during "Breaking Free."
At eleven o'clock, Gabriella finally fell onto her bed, exhausted, gazing at her newly made collage. She had no clue why she had done it, but she knew that she wasn't going to let Troy slip away from her.
Chad walked into his kitchen the next morning, only to find his mother sitting across from Taylor at the table, both with steaming cups of coffee in their hands. Tear tracks ran down both their faces, and neither was looking him in the eye.
"What's going on?" he asked, pulling open the refrigerator and taking out the milk.
"Chad, I'm taking you to see a psychiatrist," his mother said quietly, gazing intently into her mug.
The milk jug fell from Chad's hand, landing on the floor. Milk splashed onto the tile, but he didn't move to clean it up.
"What?"
"Chad, you need help," Taylor told him, grabbing a dish towel and wiping up the milk, her voice filled with concern.
"I'm not crazy," he said, his anger growing as he looked at his mom, who had yet to lift her eyes.
"I know, Chad, but-"
"Mom, I'm not crazy! You're not taking me to a shrink, there's no way!"
"Chad, calm down!" Taylor pleaded, placing a hand to his arm.
"Shut up!" he shouted, violently whipping his arm from her grasp. Taylor shrank back, clearly scared.
"Chad!" his mother cried, jumping up and going to her son.
"Oh, God," he whispered, looking at Taylor. "Tay, I'm so sorry." He put his hands over his face, his shoulders shaking. "I'm sorry."
Gabriella walked to Troy's ICU room, where she was met by his parents.
"What's going on?" she asked, noticing the worried looks on their faces.
"Dr. Andrews is examining Troy. She thinks that there's something wrong, because he hasn't gotten better yet," Jack said, turning to look into the room.
"But it's only been three days," Gabriella said, her voice wavering. "She said-"
"She says Troy hasn't shown any signs of improvement, and that he should at least be breathing on his own by now."
Gabriella closed her eyes, her heart sinking. "This can't be happening," she whispered. Suddenly, the door to the room opened, revealing Dr. Andrews, a solemn expression on her face.
"How is he?" Kellie asked, her voice strained. Dr. Andrews shook her head.
"He's not triggering the vent, which means that he has yet to take a breath on his own. His brain function, according to the EEG, is limited, and he's not responding to any stimuli. We've tried voice commands, pain, everything. He's too deep in the coma to respond to anything."
Kellie and Gabriella gasped simultaneously, and Jack turned away.
"Is there anything you can do?" Kellie asked, her voice choked.
"I'm afraid not. We can wait it out a little bit longer, but it doesn't look hopeful. We need to seriously consider the options here."
"What options?" Jack asked, anger coloring his voice.
"We can wait it out, but the longer Troy remains comatose the less of a chance he has of regaining consciousness. If he goes downhill, or if his heart stops, we can try to resuscitate him, but chances are that, if that happens, he'll never recover. The best thing to do is consider signing a DNR or taking him off life support."
"What the hell does that mean?" Jack half-shouted, as Gabriella and Kellie began to cry.
"Do Not Resuscitate. It means that if anything happens to Troy, if his heart stops or if he stops breathing, we won't do anything to try to resuscitate him. No heroic measures. We'd take him off the ventilator and let nature run its course. He may begin to breathe on his own, but he may also go the other way."
"You mean just let him die?" Gabriella gasped, a shaking hand over her mouth.
Dr. Andrews sighed. "It may be his time. We can't stop nature from taking its course, even if that means letting Troy go."
Chad sat in the psychiatrist's office, staring at the ceiling as the doctor tried to get him to talk.
"Chad, can you tell me why you wanted to hurt yourself?"
Chad remained silent, his eyes fixed intently on the tiles of the ceiling.
"What made you feel that you needed to hurt yourself?"
Still nothing.
"Chad, you need to open up to me. I want to help you."
Chad sighed loudly, folding his arms behind his head and leaning back in the chair, stretching his legs in front of him.
"I'm not signing it," Jack said loudly, glaring at his wife, who was holding the DNR papers in her hand.
"Jack, please, what if it's really time to let him go?"
"Let him go? God, Kellie, he isn't even seventeen yet! He has his entire life ahead of him!"
"Jack-"
"You can't seriously tell me that you want to watch him die?"
Kellie sighed, her face betraying her deep sadness. "No, I don't. But, Jack, what if he's like this forever? What if he never wakes up?"
"And what if he does?"
"We don't know that he will."
"And we'll never know if we just let him die!"
"What if he does wake up, Jack, and he doesn't remember anything? Or he can't walk? Or he can't feed himself, or take care of himself? Do you want that to happen?"
"What if he wakes up and he's perfectly fine?"
"Jack, do you really want to take that chance? Sit here for who knows how long to wait for him to wake up?"
"Kellie, he's our son! We have to do something! I'm not just going to let him die!"
She sighed, folding the papers in half and shoving them in her pocket. "2 more days. That's all I'll wait, then I'm signing the papers."
Chad walked out of the psychiatrist's office, silently storming past his mother and Taylor, who looked to the doctor.
"We'll try again next week," he said, smiling encouragingly at them. The two women sighed, shaking hands with the doctor and walking out after Chad, who was standing by the car.
"How'd it go?" Taylor asked, climbing into the backseat next to Chad. He simply stared out the window, ignoring her.
"Chad-"
"Leave me alone."
Gabriella sat by Troy's bed again, her mind running over what the doctor had said. Troy's parents were in an empty room, discussing what to do. She was gently stoking Troy's hair, whispering in his ear.
"You have to come back to us, Troy. They're going to take you off life support soon, so you better hurry." She broke off, looking out the window. Ironically, the day was bright and sunny, the polar opposite of the atmosphere inside the room. "I miss you, Troy. We all do. You have to come back."
She sighed, laying her head on Troy's chest. Suddenly, the door opened, and his parents walked in, clearly angry with each other.
"What did you decide?" she asked, sitting up.
"We're going to wait two more days, then we'll decide," Kellie said, looking at her husband, who was scowling.
Gabriella nodded. "I better get back home," she said, kissing Troy on the forehead. She couldn't help but feel intrusive as she watched his parents fume at each other. "I'll see you tomorrow."
She smiled at them, squeezing Troy's hand one last time before leaving the room. Moments after she left, an alarm by the bed went off, the shrill beep cutting through the silence. A nurse appeared at the door, checking the monitor.
"What's going on?" Kellie asked, her voice alarmed.
A/N: Well, that was fun. Is he dying? We may never know! Silly Troy's mommy, wanting to kill him off. Why would she do that? Anyways, please review!
Coming in Chapter 6: Chad finally opens up! Troy finally wakes up (for real this time!)! Everything is fine and dandy and the story ends! Not really…that would be way too easy!