Disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue.

A/N: So, the snow outside is officially melting. Yay! I hate snow. Anyway, focusing on the story now. And for everyone who wants Troy to remember, maybe he will, maybe he won't. Right now I'm leaning toward won't. But we'll see…

This chapter is a lot more fluff-type stuff than the other chapters. And it's broken up less. It's only three parts.

Anyway, here is chapter 8!

Gabriella walked up to Troy's ICU room, meeting his parents at the door. After greeting them, she stuck her head in to see Troy. He was sound asleep in the bed, his head resting lightly on the pillow.

"How is he?" she asked, turning back to his parents.

Kellie sighed. "No better. He still doesn't remember. They're moving him out of the ICU today, though."

Gabriella looked startled. "Are they?"

Jack nodded. "To a private room, on the fourth floor."

"Does that mean he's going to be released soon?"

Kellie shrugged. "They want him to start physical therapy before they release him."

"Oh," Gabriella replied, looking at her shoes. Suddenly, they were interrupted by a soft call from inside.

"M-mom?"

Kellie turned quickly, striding into Troy's room, followed closely by Jack and Gabriella.

"Hey, sweetie," she said, tenderly brushing back Troy's hair. "How are you feeling?"

"H-hurts," Troy whispered, blinking as his father drew back the curtain, allowing light to stream in through the window.

"I know sweetie, but the doctor already has you on a bunch of medicines and painkillers." Troy closed his eyes, sighing lightly. Gabriella found herself taken aback at the manner in which Kellie was talking to her son. They were treating him as if he were a mere child.

Suddenly, Troy opened his eyes, looking at Gabriella.

"Y-you w-w-were here l-last n-night," he said, searching her face for an answer.

She nodded, surprised that he had remembered. "I'm Gabriella," she said, stepping up closer to the bed.
Kellie and Jack looked at each other, conveying a message with their eyes.

"We're going to leave you two for a little bit," Kellie said, kissing Troy on the forehead. Jack clapped his son on the shoulder.

"Love you," he said, walking out the door. Kellie paused, pulling Gabriella aside.

"Take it slowly with him," she whispered. "Just tell him a little bit about yourself, see if you can get him to remember anything."

Gabriella nodded, and Kellie kissed Troy one last time before walking outside. Gabriella sat in the seat next to the bed, uncomfortably aware that Troy was watching her.

"D-did we kn-know e-each o-other?" he asked timidly, clearly afraid of upsetting her again.

She nodded. "We were dating for a few months."

Troy frowned. "I-I d-d-don't remem-mber."

Gabriella shook her head. "It's alright, Troy, it's not your fault."

Troy looked into her eyes, searching for anything that looked familiar. "W-were we c-close?"

Gabriella nodded again. She reached into her shirt and pulled out her necklace. "You gave this to me after we had been dating for a month." She held it out to Troy, letting him hold the charm, the light from the sun playing off the silver. She looked hopefully at him, hoping for a spark of recognition.

"I-I'm s-sorry. I j-just d-d-don't rememb-ber."

Gabriella felt tears sliding down her cheeks, and she turned from Troy.

"I'm r-really s-sorry," he whispered, his voice betraying his sadness.

"No, Troy, it's okay," Gabriella said, turning back around as she wiped her face.

"C-could y-you tell me ab-bout w-what w-we d-did togeth-ther?"

Gabriella nodded, smiling.

"We met on winter vacation. We sang together." She paused, smiling at the memory. "I transferred to East High, and we started hanging out. We auditioned for the winter musical together. I-"

"P-please st-stop," Troy said, putting his good hand to his head.

"Are you okay?" Gabriella asked, looking at him concerned.

Troy nodded slightly. "Its j-just t-too much inform-mation."

Gabriella nodded. "I'm sorry, Troy," she said.

"It-it's ok-kay," Troy said, tentatively holding out his hand to touch Gabriella's. She looked surprised at the contact, and started to draw back her hand. Instead, she returned the grip, their fingers interlocking.

Chad stood outside the hospital, looking up at the countless rows of windows. His mom was standing next to him, her arm wrapped around his shoulders for support.

"Are you ready?" she asked, looking at Chad.

He nodded. "Let's go."

They walked into the hospital, walking toward the elevators. Stepping in, Mrs. Danforth pressed the button for floor 4. Chad watched the indicator flash as the elevator passed each floor, slowly creeping up to the fourth floor.

When the doors slid open, Chad and his mother walked out. Spotting the nurses' desk, they walked over.

"Excuse me," Chad's mom said, catching the attention of the head nurse. "Could you tell us where Troy Bolton is?"

She nodded, turning to a paper behind her. "Room 427," she said, turning back. "It's the third door on the right." She pointed down the hallway, indicating the direction they should go in.

"Thanks," Mrs. Danforth said, turning in that direction.

The nurse nodded, already immersed in patient charts again.

Chad and his mom walked down the hall, finally reaching Troy's room. Chad's mother turned to him, placing both hands on his shoulders.

"I'll wait out here. You'll be okay, Chad," she said, kissing his forehead. Chad nodded, before walking to the door and knocking softly before walking in.

Troy was sitting up in the bed, Gabriella and his mother at his side, Mr. Bolton by the window.

"Chad," Kellie said in greeting, standing up to hug him. Chad hugged her back uncomfortably, looking over her shoulder at Gabriella and Troy.

"Hey, Mrs. Bolton," he said as she stepped back.

Jack nodded in greeting, and Chad went over to stand next to Chad. "Hey man," he said, reaching out to shake Troy's hand.

Troy smiled. "H-hey Ch-chad."

"How's it going?"

Troy shrugged slightly.

"We'll leave you two to talk," Kellie said for the second time that day. She wrapped an arm around Jack's shoulders as they followed Gabriella out of the room.

Chad stood uncomfortably at Troy's side, studying his shoes.

"My-my mom t-told m-me ab-bout what h-happened," Troy said, causing Chad to look up.

"Look, Troy, man, I'm really sorry. I never-"

"Chad, it-it's ok-kay. N-not y-your f-fault."

Chad looked at Troy. "Troy, it's my fault you fell. All of this, it's my fault."

Troy shook his head. "D-don't b-blame yours-self. I d-don't."

Troy sat in a wheelchair by his bed the next day, his arm held close to his body in a sling. He had just returned from his first physical therapy session, and was utterly exhausted. Gabriella had decided to return to school that day, as had Chad.

Troy groaned when Dr. Andrews appeared at the door.

"How'd it go?" she asked, walking over to Troy.

He sighed.

"It'll get easier. Where're your parents?"

"W-went h-home to g-get cl-clothes."

Dr. Andrews nodded. "How about we get you back into bed?"

Troy groaned again. Dr. Andrews smiled, walking behind Troy's wheelchair and helping him stand slowly. She helped him to the bed, allowing him to sit. She pulled her stethoscope from her neck, listening to Troy's breathing, then motioning for him to lie back.

"Well, the good news is you can probably go home tomorrow. Everything looks good so far, all things considered. How is your arm?"

"H-hurts."

"Well, I can't give you any narcotics, but I'll see if I can scrounge up a few aspirin."

Troy nodded, letting his head rest against his pillow.

"You're doing good, Troy. Just stay positive. You have a whole network of people that want to help you. Your parents, Gabriella, Chad, Taylor. Just have faith. It will all come back to you in time."

A/N: That's the end of chapter 8. Woohoo! Lol Reviews greatly appreciated.

Coming in Chapter 9: Troy is released from the hospital! Sharpay, Kelsi, Ryan, Zeke, and Jason all make appearances! Yay!