A/N: Hey, everyone. I'm glad you all liked my last chapter. It wasn't too difficult to write, but after I reread it a couple of times I felt like crying. I was just writing it off of my feelings when my 17-year-old cousin died. He died about 2 months ago, so my family is still grieving him. Anyway, the whole thing with Troy having dirt under his fingernails and the half smile details, those were some of the things that I noticed at his visitation service. Oh and the All Faiths' Mortuary and the First Christian Church of the Nazarene are places in my hometown, so yeah I couldn't really think of anything original. Oh well. This story isn't very original because I got the idea from a book, but oh well. I'm done babbling. Here's the story.

Chapter 12

After the visitation at the mortuary, Gabriella and Maria went straight to the hospital to see Troy. Gabriella hadn't seen him since that Friday night, and she needed him, even if he wasn't awake.

When they reached the parking garage, Gabriella paused before she got out. She turned to her mother and said, "Mom, I never told you how sorry I was for sneaking out Friday. It was childish and irresponsible. I never should have done it."

Gabriella's mother looked at her full of compassion. "Sweetheart, you have suffered more in the past few days than I have my whole life. When your father died, I was devastated, but he was sick for a long time and it wasn't really that much of a let down like it is with Taylor," she paused and stroked Gabriella's cheek softly. "I was so proud of the way you spoke at the mortuary. You spoke with wisdom beyond your years. More importantly, you spoke from your heart. You opened people's eyes to what suffering and death is really about. You showed them that Chad is suffering also, and that is a great thing that you did. I know that you and Chad never did get along, but you did the right thing by defending him. I am proud of you."

Gabriella looked at her mom trying hard to blink away the tears forming in her eyes. She hugged her mom and she opened the car door, ready to face the world, more importantly, Troy.

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When they got up to Troy's room they saw Mr. and Mrs. Bolton asleep in chairs at the end of his bed. They looked worn out. Maria slowly walked over to Troy's mom, Cara, and gently woke her. Cara woke up with a start and looked around. She saw Gabriella sitting in the chair by Troy's bedside. Cara Bolton looked over to her husband, Jack Bolton, and gently woke him up. He woke up gradually and looked around. His immediate response was, "Is Troy awake?"

Cara shook her head mournfully, and slowly got up. She looked over at Maria and said, "I think we should leave these two kids alone for a little bit. Besides, I think I need some coffee from the cafeteria. Come on, Jack." Cara motioned for her husband to follow her as he slowly got up from his chair. Maria followed them out the hospital door.

When they left, Gabriella softly said, "Troy, you've got to come back to me. This is just too hard to deal with without you. I need you to support me. I can't do this without you. I'll die if you couldn't be with me."

Gabriella tenderly laced her fingers through Troy's hand. She noticed that the nurses cleaned him up. She lightly stroked Troy's face with her free hand and murmured comforting things, not only for Troy, but for herself as well. She needed him. She tried to force him awake with her thoughts, but it wasn't working out.

"Troy, remember that night at your house. You pleaded with me to make love to you, but I wouldn't?" she asked him as if he was awake and alive. Silent tears streamed down her face as she choked out the rest, "I wish I would have," she finished brokenly. She broke down crying. Her sobs were so loud that she didn't hear the monitor slightly speeding up. She cried into his chest, just like she did that summer when her mom said that they might be moving again. She cried on him like she did when Chad's sister got married. She remembered Troy whispering to her that one day that would be them. She remembered how he put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. She could almost feel it now. Strangely enough, she did feel it. Her heart started beating rapidly. She looked up immediately. There staring at her with piercing blue eclectic eyes, was her love, Troy Bolton.

"Troy!" she cried out as she bolted up in her seat. She kissed his cheeks and wouldn't stop. He looked stunned and pleasured at the same time. Gabriella looked up at him and he gave her his famous Troy Bolton grin. She planted a kiss squarely on his still smiling lips.

"You're awake! I can't believe it! Omigosh, Troy, I've missed you. Don't ever leave me again," she said as she hugged him tightly. He smiled at her slightly. Gabriella sat up in her chair and reached for the nurse's call button. She must have pressed it at least five times because she was so happy. She just smiled and smiled at her boyfriend. He must have thought she was going crazy, but she didn't care. She was just so happy to have Troy back.

A nurse rushed into the room and looked stunned at the scene. Gabriella was sitting next to Troy's bed holding his hand and grinning. Gabriella looked up and grinned at the nurse. The nurse rushed over and looked Troy over. She asked him how he felt.

"A-a little t-tired right now," he responded slowly. Gabriella continued to smile she just couldn't believe what had just happened. This was the best thing that had happened in days! Troy was awake and he was going to be all right! Gabriella was so happy that she could just dance. She was just about ready to do so, except for the fact that the nurse was right there, and she had a broken leg.

The nurse looked up at her and told her, "I need to do a few tests on Mr. Bolton, would you mind stepping out of the room for a bit?"

Gabriella nodded happily. She'd do just about anything if it meant that Troy would be able to go home. She gave Troy's hand a squeeze and kissed him before she reached for her crutches and left the room. When she got outside she danced about awkwardly while twirling around on her crutches. She was just so happy. Everyone in the hallway must have thought that she was nuts, but she didn't really give a hoot what anyone thought. Troy was awake! She exclaimed to herself.

"Gabriella?" she heard a voice behind her ask. Gabriella twirled around and saw her mother, Jack, and Cara staring at her curiously.

"Troy's awake!" she exclaimed at the three adults. Soon everyone was screaming and hugging and crying. They all must have seemed like lunatics by the time they were done screaming. Maria gave Gabriella a huge hug, and Cara gave her a kiss on her forehead. Even Jack, who was usually not too keen on being sentimental, gave Gabriella a warm embrace. Gabriella bounced about on her crutches and on her unbroken leg. She was so excited. Soon enough, Troy's doctor came out smiling.

"Troy is doing excellent. I don't know what happened. It's a miracle that he doesn't have any memory loss or any permanent damage to his brain after all that trauma received from the accident. Troy should be up and about very soon. It is truly a miracle that has happened here today. I'm not sure what or who turned this around, but it must have been something or someone strong to overturn this. I must be honest with you; I didn't have much hope for Troy. I thought he would soon become brain dead, but that wasn't the case. I'm truly delighted. Troy should be able to go home in a couple of days if you'd like," the doctor told them excitedly.

"Thank you, Dr. Norman. Thank you so much for everything," Jack said as he shook Dr. Norman's hand ecstatically. They all turned and went straight into Troy's room. Cara reached him first and she kissed and hugged her son tightly. She held him so tight that Troy looked like he was going to go purple. She finally let go and Troy took a deep gasp and said, "I'm glad to see you too, Mom."

Everyone laughed and then it was Jack's turn. He gave his son a man-hug while he grinned and said, "It's great to have you back, son." Everyone was smiling. Maria gave Troy a small kiss on the cheek and whispered, "I'm so glad you are back. We all missed you something terrible." Everyone murmured in agreement. Finally Gabriella wrapped her arms around her boyfriend and kissed him. She was so happy.

"I missed you too, baby," Troy whispered to her. She sighed and melted. She loved him so much, and now he was back!

When all the commotion was over with, Troy looked around at everyone and said to Gabriella, "What happened to you?"

Everyone looked at Troy questionably. Gabriella wasn't sure what to say. Finally, Jack said it for her. "Troy, don't you remember the accident?"

Troy looked at his father with a puzzled look. "What accident?" he asked.

"Troy, you, Gabriella, Sharpay, Chad, and…" Cara paused for a few seconds and then finished, "Taylor. You all were in a car accident. Don't you remember? You went to the JV West and East High Basketball game, remember?" Troy paused for a second, and then a look of realization came over him.

"Oh!" he responded. "I remember. Chad got into a fight with that guy and got us kicked out. He and Taylor got into a fight and they fought the whole way home," he paused for a second and looked at Gabriella's face. It looked filled with pain and anguish, but he didn't understand why. "The last thing I remember was Taylor yelling for Chad to watch the road. I also remember the horn honking and a bright light. That's the last thing I remember other than looking down and seeing that I was on top of Gabriella." Troy looked at Gabriella and gave her a look. She saw that he had more that he needed to say to her.

Gabriella sighed. She was glad that he remembered everything.

"How badly did everyone get hurt? I see that Gabriella's leg is broken and I was like 'asleep' or something, but how is Chad, Taylor, and Sharpay? They were in the car also."

Everyone looked away sadly. They didn't know how to say this. Nobody spoke for the longest time. Everyone expected someone else to say it, but nobody wanted to. Gabriella especially didn't want to be the one to tell him. Maria realized that nobody was going to tell him, and when he asked again for the answer, she spoke up.

"Troy, sweetheart. I don't know how to tell you this, but you have to be told." Ms. Montez said to Troy. "I'll start with Chad. He suffered minor injuries and was released." Ms. Montez waited for his reaction, but Troy just nodded as if to go on. Maria started again, "Troy, Sharpay suffered spinal injury. The doctors performed a surgery to try to help her, but it didn't work. She's paralyzed, Troy. She'll be in a wheel chair for the rest of her life."

Troy looked down. He felt horrible. The Ice Queen, as Chad and he used to refer to her, would never be able to dance on Broadway. Troy never admitted this to anyone, but he always thought that Sharpay was a great dancer. She was a better dancer than a singer!

Troy looked up at Ms. Montez and said, "What's going on with Taylor? Is she okay?"

Maria and everyone looked down solemnly. "Sweetie, Taylor died the night of the accident," she said sorrowfully. She didn't look at Troy. She felt silly about this, but she couldn't face her daughter's boyfriend.

Troy looked at Gabriella to confirm this. He wasn't sure if he could believe Ms. Montez. He didn't want to believe her. Gabriella looked away sadly. She couldn't face Troy, but his blue eyes seemed to just bore into her. She finally looked at him, but when she did, she immediately broke down. Troy understood then, that Taylor had died. He bowed his head and he brought his hand up to cover his face. He mournfully let out a cry, "No!" he yelled out. He couldn't believe that Taylor had died. Taylor was so strong. He remembered how Chad had confided in Troy about how on Valentine's Day, after the dance, Chad was going to propose to Taylor. He had even bought Taylor a ring and everything. It was a small diamond ring with two rubies on either side. He saw it on in November at a jewelry store. Chad had used up all his savings to buy her the ring. He had placed the ring on hold for the longest time until he had enough to buy it. Chad had bought it with Troy after basketball practice one day. Troy remembered Chad making Troy promise not to tell anyone, especially Gabriella, about Chad buying Taylor a ring. Troy promised him and never told a soul about it. Chad had said that he wanted to get married to Taylor that summer, but Troy now new that that would never happen. Chad wouldn't ever be able to marry Taylor. She was dead.

Suddenly the doctor came in and interrupted everyone's thoughts. "I'm sorry everyone, but Mr. Bolton needs his rest. You can see him in the morning," Dr. Norman said.

"Taylor's funeral is tomorrow, Troy. We'll come by after to see you," Cara told her only son sadly. "I love you," she said as she kissed his forehead. Everyone followed suit, but Gabriella held back. She wanted to talk to him. After everyone, including Dr. Norman, left she went to his side.

"Troy," she said to him softly as she laced her fingers through his.

"Gabriella, I'm so sorry you had to go through this alone. If I had known, I would have fought harder to get back to you. I'm so sorry, honey."

"Troy," she said again soothingly. "I love you so much. It's all right. I've had Sharpay there, and…. Chad to help me."

Troy looked up at Gabriella surprised. "Chad?" he asked her. She nodded and smiled. He just looked at her softly. He thought of how great she was. She comforted his best friend, even though she didn't like him. He loved her so much at that moment.

"I had the feeling when you were recalling what you remembered last," she paused looking into his deep blue eyes. "I had the feeling that you needed to tell me something."

Troy gave her a stiff nod, "The last thing I remember, was seeing you. You were in the ground, and I was on top of you. You looked so beautiful. I thought at first that…" he trailed off for a second and then finished, "I thought that it was our wedding night at first," he whispered.

Just then a nurse came in and gave Gabriella a look. Gabriella quickly got up, grabbed her crutches and kissed Troy good-bye. "I love you so much Troy, and I promise, that we will get married. I promise you." She left the room silently and met her mom outside. They went home in silence.

When Gabriella got home she went straight to bed without going into the bathroom to wash her face or brush her teeth. She didn't even bother to change into her PJ bottoms. Gabriella just went into a deep sleep. She blissfully dreamt of the day that she and Troy would say 'I do.'

A/N: I'm sorry. I said that this chapter would be the funeral, but it just evolved into something different. I hope all you Troy fans are happy that I didn't kill off Troy. He's just that good looking, I know. Anyway, review please!