Chapter Three: Some Good, Some Bad

A few hours later a nurse came out to Chad and the gang to inform them of Troy's condition. "Your friend Troy has a slightly broken upper arm and will be in a cast for about three weeks. He'll be up in about ten minutes when you guys can visit him," she told them with a smile.

They nodded as they all breathed a sigh of relief. Nobody said a word until the nurse came back out to get them. "Troy will be able to see you now…" The trio followed the nurse into one of the backrooms. As they entered they saw Troy with an IV hooked into his arm and a few other devices attached to his torso. "Hey," he said smiling weakly.

Gabi erupted into tears as she approached Troy. She took his open hand in hers give it a reassuring squeeze. "How're you feeling, Troy?" she asked as tears streamed down her face.

Troy took his free hand from hers as he wiped the tears from her face. "I feel like I was hit by a truck," he said laughing lightly. She was still crying and Troy didn't want to see her cry anymore. "Look at me," he said putting his hand under her chin and lifting her eyes to his. "Please don't cry, I'm fine."

"But you could have been hurt worse!" she exclaimed grabbing his hand again.

"But I'm not… shh… it's all gonna be alright," he whispered into her ear. "How are you feeling Chad?" Troy asked looking up from Gabi.

"Better than you, dude," he said chuckling. "I'm glad you're only gonna be in that thing for three weeks because we have a state championship to win… of course we're going to have to make it to the game without your help. Thanks, Playmaker," he said chuckling.

"Oh, let's make me feel bad, Chad," Troy chuckled. "I'm sure you guys can pull it off for a few weeks. You can survive without me."

"I'm glad to see that you're ok, Troy. You gave us quite a scare," Taylor said from the back.

Troy chuckled, "Sorry about that, I'm sure you guys would much rather be back at the party. Of course you would be if Greg wasn't such a prick…" As those words came out of his mouth the nurse came in.

She gently pulled the IV out of Troy's arm and disconnected him from the machine. "You're free to leave whenever you want, just no driving. You're still hooked up on all of those drugs."

"That won't be a problem, ma'am," Chad said from behind her. "I'll be driving him home."

Troy slowly sat up, getting his bearings straight. He swung his legs over the side of the bed as Gabi got up to help him up. Troy had a cast on from his shoulder to his elbow, securing both joints so that they couldn't move. The hospital didn't bother to have Troy change into the medical gown because he wasn't going to be there long, so they just left him in what he was in. He tested his legs to make sure they wouldn't give out. Seeing that he could actually walk, Troy took Gabi's hand as Chad led them out of the hospital. They stopped at the front desk, Troy giving his insurance information and his parents' names to the hospital clerk. After that was all taken care of, they headed out to Chad's car.

The first drop off was Taylor. Chad stopped the car and helped Taylor out, walking her to the door. "Thanks for coming with me and Gabi. It means a lot to me that you were there for my friend. I'm sorry you had to miss the party though," Chad said averting his eyes.

Taylor smiled, "It's alright, Chad. Troy's my friend too. I heard what you did to Greg when you saw the two fighting. Troy is lucky to have a friend like you…"

"Have a good night, Taylor," Chad said as he turned around to walk back down the stairs toward the car. Taylor grabbed his shoulder and turned him around, kissing him on the cheek. "Good night, Chad," she grinned as she let herself into her house. Chad touched the spot she had kissed him and skipped, yes skipped, back to the car.

"Looks like someone is in a good mood," Troy said chuckling as he playfully punched his arm. "But dude, I don't want to see you skip ever again," he said breaking out into full out laughter, Chad and Gabi joining him. Chad rolled his eyes as he started the car again, heading towards Gabi's house. Troy wrapped his good arm around Gabriella, kissing the side of her head. Gabi blushed, laying her head on Troy's shoulder.

"You know you ruined my date with Taylor, right?" Chad asked smirking from the front seat, looking into the rearview mirror.

"Yea, and Greg ruined mine…" Troy smiled back. "But at least this is a more interesting story to tell. Plus I get a battle scar!" he joked.

Gabi playfully smacked his arm as she laughed with him. Chad pulled up to the Montez house as Troy and Gabriella got out. Gabi slipped her hand into Troy's as they walked up to her house. "I'm glad you're alright, Troy, but I never want you to do that again. You could get hurt!"

Troy rolled his eyes, looking at her. "It's better me hurt than you hurt." Troy hugged her to him tightly before kissing her softly on the lips. "Night, Gabi," he whispered to her. Gabi unlocked the door to her house and kissed him again for good measure, "Good night, Troy." She closed the door, leaning her back against the door as she slid slowly to the floor.

Troy wore a funny grin as he walked back to Chad's car, sitting next to him. "Now who is happy?" Chad asked laughing.

"That is definitely me," Troy exclaimed as Chad's SUV burst back into life. "I hope the guys didn't trash your yard too badly," Troy said after a period of silence.

"Eh, I'm sure they were fine. Let's get you home, I already called your parents and told them what happened, so you should be able to just get to bed as soon as you walk in." Chad told him as he turned onto Troy's street.

"Thanks, Chad. Now I know why you're my best friend," he said shoving him as the car stopped. They chuckled as Troy shook Chad's hand. "Until tomorrow, Chad?" he asked getting out of the car and walking around towards his house.

Chad rolled down his window shouting, "You better believe it, Playmaker!" Chad drove off upon seeing the wave Troy gave him, heading back towards his house where the party was just wrapping up. Amazingly, as Chad inspected his lawn, there wasn't much debris or trash on the house. It looked like the team had done a pretty good job of keeping the house in one piece while he was away. He got out of his car and walked up to Zeke who was picking up the remainder of the trash along with most of the basketball team.

"Hey guys, thanks for cleaning up. You know you didn't have to though," he said approached Zeke.

"We know, but after what happened with Troy and you having to take him to the hospital and all, we decided that it was the least we could do," Jason told him from the front steps. "Anyway the party pretty much stopped after you guys left," he said smiling.

"So did anyone call the cops like I asked?" Troy said looking towards where Greg was.

"Yea, they took him away after asking me a few questions. I gave him Troy's, Gabi's, and your numbers so that he could call you guys to figure out what happened first hand," Zeke said as he walked towards him.

"I knew I could count on you, Zeke," he said patting him on the back.

"So how long is the cast going to be on? We have the State Championship in four weeks… if we make it that far…" Shawn asked from the stage, as he disconnected most of the equipment.

"He'll be back to normal in three weeks. At least that's what they told us. Hopefully they're right…"

Meanwhile at Troy's house…

Troy laughed as he opened the door and was engulfed by his mom. Troy waved at Chad, telling him that he made it inside, even if it didn't look like it. "I'm alright, Mom," Troy begged trying to get out of her grasp. "You're cutting off my air, mother," he gasped out. His mom quickly let him go as she inspected the cast.

"How long is it going to be on?" she asked worriedly.

"Three weeks. Just in time to be off for the State Championship and opening night for Twinkle Town. I'm sure Dad is going to be thrilled that I cracked a bone in my arm tonight," Troy said rolling his eyes.

"Now why would I be thrilled about that Son?" his father asked from the doorway. "I'm just glad you're alright. You don't know how many college scouts approached me about scholarships after that game."

"I don't want to know right now, I just want to get some sleep," Troy told them truthfully as he headed up the stairs.

"Ok, Troy, have a good night's rest. We'll see you in the morning!" his dad called after him. Troy got to his room and threw open the door, falling onto his bed as he fell asleep almost instantly.

(A/N) Sorry about the wait, I've been really busy working two jobs and whatnot. Hopefully it was worth the wait. Of course I'm also working on three stories simoultaneously, so it depends on what stories I get the ideas for which will decide which one I update. Hopefully everyone enjoyed this chapter. Please REVIEW, it helps me to write more frequently. I solemnly swear I am up to no good!
-Honos