Okay, here -after a long wait- is Chapter 11. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 11

The color in Mack's face drained as she watched her big brother fall to the ground with a sickening crash. Almost instantly, she was running down the steps toward the court.

"Jason, keep her off the court," Jack yelled as he rushed to Troy. Jason did as he was told and grabbed Mack.

"Let me go! Jason!"

"Mack, the less people out there the faster the paramedics can get to Troy."

"He's my brother Jason! Let me go." She had tears streaming down her face. But it was too late for her to go out there. Principal Matsui and the assistant coach were pushing people back and even if Jason let her, she wouldn't get close enough to tell Troy anything. She stopped wiggling.

Jason led her closer. With sympathetic eyes, Principal Matsui let them watch. The paramedics were using a portable defibrillator to revive him, trying several times before managing to get a pulse going- weak, but a pulse. Mack felt her stomach churn. She and Troy had been fighting. Jason had lowered his guard and she broke free.

"Mack!"

She looked down at Troy's pale face. "Troy, I love you. Don't die," she said, kissing his forehead. The paramedics lifted him into the ambulance and Jack jumped in too. Mack turned around and sprinted out of the gym and into the hallway. She put her head to her knees and cried, hoping that Troy knew that she loved him. She hoped that he wouldn't die. So many emotions were running through her head.

"Mack?"

She looked up and saw Chad. She stood up and cried into his chest. "Chad...he thinks I hate him..."

"No, he doesn't."

"We got in a huge fight and he hasn't talked to me since."

"So."

"I don't want him to die Chad."

"He won't, I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," she whispered.

"I'm going to the hospital, you want to come with me?"

She nodded. Chad led the way to Zeke's car and they climbed in the back with Jason. Zeke and Cam were occupying the front seats. The radio was on and playing "Always by your side" by Sheryl Crow and Sting. She looked out the window, seeing everything in a new light, seeing parts of Albuquerque that she had passed by, but never seen to it's full extent.

When they got to the hospital, Mack followed Chad around like his shadow. He led her to the waiting room, where they were met by Ryan, Sharpay, Gabriella and Taylor.

"How is he," Chad asked Ryan in a voice barely above a whisper.

"They haven't said anything. I guess no news is good news," he replied in the same manner. Ryan looked over at Mack and shook his head. "She been silent the whole way?"

"Ever since we got in the car. Cam tried to cheer her up; she ignored him completely."

Mack sat in the chair staring blankly at the set of double doors. She was listening to every word that came out of their mouths. She knew that they were trying to talk without her hearing, whispering so she wouldn't become upset.

"You mean they haven't said anything to Coach?"

Ryan shook his head and leaned up against the wall. "They haven't come out. But, coach said his heart stopped another couple times in the ambulance. He was still unconscious when they wheeled him in."

"Great," Chad whispered sarcastically. "Think he can pull through it?"

"I don't know. Troy's strong, I just hope he's got enough will power left to keep fighting for his life."

Mack swallowed her tears. She felt hands on her shoulders and looked up into Cam's face. "How you doing?" He walked around and sat in the chair beside her.

"Fine," she said.

"Smile a little," he said. "If you smile..."

"What? Troy will get this huge energy boost? I don't think so."

"I know that smiling is hard for you. But, when Calum was in the hospital, I learned that frowning just makes you more depressed. You have to smile, even if I have to do this." He took his first fingers and lifted up the corners of her mouth. "You will smile."

She couldn't hold it back. No matter how hard she tried, a grin spread across her face. "Success," Cam yelled as he stood and walked to Chad and Ryan, who had been watching the whole time. "The operation was a success!"

Mack looked across the room to her parents. A doctor had come out to talk to them and Jack was shaking his head. The doctor nodded his head and turned around, entering through the double doors. She walked over to her parents and she stared at them for a moment, trying to judge how bad the news was.

"What was that all about? Troy?"

"Yeah," Jack said sitting down and sighing.

"Well, how is he? Is he okay?"

"He's stable, but he's not out of the woods yet."

"Stable? Is that all they can tell us? How come he's not out of the woods, isn't that was doctors are supposed to do; make him better-"

"Mack," Jack roared. "We're lucky he's stable. His heart stopped four times Mack, four!"

She just stared at him. His young face looked old from worry and his eyes held that tired look. Her mother's attention was caught on the double doors, waiting for a doctor to come out with news on Troy. She sighed and walked back over to the basketball team. It was going to be a long wait, she could just feel it.

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"Hey, I'll meet you there in a minute," Calum called as he, Bailey, Keisha, Adam and Teagan ran through the hospital doors.

"Hurry, I'm sure Mack wants to see you," Bailey said. The group headed toward the ER. Calum slinked over to the elevator and pressed the up button. Soon he was walking down a hall, obviously decorated for children under the age of six. He walked to an open door and entered.

"I was wondering when you'd come."

Calum sat on the end of the bed and looked a the figure in the bed. "How you doing Mikaela?"

"Tired, but I'm okay."

He sighed. "Sorry I haven't visited."

"It's fine," she said sweetly. "I completely understand. You just weren't ready yet."

"How can you be so understanding? You have every right to hate everything and anything on this earth!"

She smiled. "I do have the right, but I don't want to use it. You just try to forget about the bad stuff thats happened to you, because you'll never make it through if you're being negative. At least in my case."

"So, what's been happening," she asked after a pause.

"Troy's here. His heart stopped at the game. I don't really know much more."

"Oh." She yawned. "You should go see Mack."

"Yeah, probably. But, one question. Are you afraid?"

"Of dying? No." Calum's face showed pure shock. "Look Calum, I know I'm not going to make it much longer. I've been at this hospital as long as I can remember. My kidneys are failing Calum, that's why I'm here. I'm on dialysis, you're the first person I've told. My organs are starting to shut down. I've been preparing for this day for a long time."

"I thought you said you needed to be positive."

"I am," she said. "If I was being negative, I would be walking around saying 'screw the world.' You don't see me doing that do you?"

"I guess not."

She laid her head on the pillow and looked out the window. "Well, thanks for coming. It meant a lot to me."

"Anything I can do?"

She sighed and looked up at him. "Promise me you'll come again?"

"Of course."

"That's all I can ask for, now go see Mack."

Calum smiled and walked out of the room.

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"Mom, Dad?"

Jack and Elaine looked up at Mack. She was standing right in front of them, playing with the end of her shirt. "I probably should have told you this awhile ago, but I didn't think something like this would happen. Troy...wasn't taking his medicine."

"What," Jack asked.

"I found the container in the cabinet full, but then we got in a fight and I just-"

Jack stood and walked to the wall. He placed his forehead on the white paint before turning around. "I don't get that boy. He has things that can help him and then he pulls one of these 'I don't want to' moods." He put his head in his hands. "He deserves everything he gets. It's his own fault if he dies, not ours or the doctors'."

Mack stared at her father before running out of the waiting room and out doors. It was raining outside, but she didn't care. She ran as fast as she could, sure that her father was chasing after her. But, even she couldn't run forever and started to wear down, giving Jack a chance to grab onto her.

"How could you," she screamed at him.

"Mack-"

"How could you talk like that about Troy? All he ever wanted to do was make you proud!" Her tears blended in with the rain. "And it is the doctors' fault if he dies, it's their job is to save him!"

"Mack, it's no one's fault if Troy dies-"

"Which he won't!"

"Mack! Listen to me, don't go getting your hopes up. Troy could very well slip away."

"That's a good one, slip away," she said sarcastically. "You don't want to believe it, you're just as scared as I am," she told him coldly. She shook his hand off her arm. "You don't want to bury him either."

"Who would want to bury their child? Look Missy, I am scared, because when he wakes up -if he wakes up- no one knows what he's going to be like, what care he'll need."

"He'll be normal," she said.

"See, you don't understand the seriousness of this issue!"

"Yes I do! His heart stopped. He could have died!"

"Mack, I'm not arguing with you."

She shrugged. "Then why did you run after me?"

"Because, no matter how much you hate it, you are my daughter and I don't want you to run out upset and get run over by a car."

Mack sat on the curb. She was already soaked, what did she care if she sat in water? She played with the puddle on the side of the road and looked up at Jack. "Do you remember when Troy got hit by the car?"

Jack sat next to her and looked her right in the eye. "How could I forget. It was your ninth birthday party and you had to throw that ball in the street."

"Hey, I didn't want it. It was pink and I didn't like pink."

"I know."

"And then Troy chased after it and didn't look both ways and then the car came."

"Lucky it wasn't going fast," Jack said as he watched the cars on the street whiz by him. "He didn't even break a bone, that was the impressive part."

"But, I felt bad for weeks." She paused. "Dad, do you really think Troy might die?"

"I don't know Princess. It's out of our hands."

So, how did you like it? Tell me what you think.

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