Chapter 14

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Troy woke up in the ER. He saw both his mother and father standing with their backs facing him. He could even tell from behind how worried and tense they were.

"Mom, dad?" he said softly. They quickly turned around and rushed to him.

"Troy! Oh my baby…" his mom began to sob.

"Son, we were so worried." His dad said. He looked at his dads face and knew that he had been crying as well.

"How long have I been here?"

"Almost three hours. You were in and out of consciousness. You had a small concussion from the accident." Troy lifted his hand to his forehead again and felt that it was all bandaged up. He looked down at his leg and saw that it was bandaged as well.

"They had to give you a few stitches for your leg and your forehead. You only have to stay the night so they make sure you don't have complications with the concussion. We are just so happy you are ok." his dad said.

"Where's Gabby? I have to see her!" Troy said suddenly trying to get out of his bed. His dad quickly but gently put his hand on his chest to lay him back down.

"You can't do that right now Troy. You need to rest. That was a nasty cut you had."

"No dad, I need to see her. Where is she, is she ok?" he parents looked at each other and exchanged worried glances.

"Mom, dad. You need to tell me right now, where is Gabby?"

"Sweetie, you need to relax and then we can talk." His mother said trying to be soothing.

"Mom, I can't calm down unless you tell me." His mother looked at his father and he then nodded his head.

"Troy, I will tell you but you can't get worked up. They are doing everything they can." His dad said calmly. Troy felt his hands begin to get sweaty and his heart was about to beat out of his chest.

"What's going on?" he said as calmly as he possibly could.

"Her injuries were a little more complicated. She wasn't wearing her seat belt and was thrown from the car. She was unconscious immediately so they don't think she was in any pain." Troy started to feel his whole body go limp and started to breathe more heavily.

"And….?" He said softly.

"She has some road rash on both of her arms; they have to scrub some of the gravel out. Her left arm was broken, as well as her right leg. She had a deep wound in the back of her head. The impact was causing her brain to swell and they were worried that there might be some hemorrhaging in her brain." Troy sat silently taking it all in. how could this have happened to his Gabriella.

"Where is she now?"

"She is still in surgery son, there was some internal bleeding, they needed to find it and stop it before she bled to death."

"But she is still alive?" Troy asked with some hope.

"Yes. They really are doing everything they can at the moment. I am so sorry Troy." Troy began to feel like he couldn't breathe. His chest was tight and his heart wouldn't stop pounding. He raised his hands to his face and began to cry freely.

"Troy, honey. Do you want anything?" his mom asked trying to make him feel better.

"Yes, I want Gabriella to be here instead of me. Why her? She didn't do anything!" he began to get really emotional and his dad got the hint that maybe he needed to leave his son alone.

"Troy, your mother and I will go get you something to drink. We will be right back." Troy waited until they exited he room to start crying again. All he could think about was the promise she had made to him so long ago.

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Troy was shaken awake by a nurse that needed to take his temperature and blood pressure. He looked around and saw that his parents were gone. He also looked at the clock and noticed that he had been asleep for over two hours. He didn't even remember dozing off.

"Do you know where my mother and father are?"

"They are in the waiting room speaking with some of your friends. Would you like me to go get them for you?" the nurse replied without even looking at him.

"Um, yeah if you could that would be great, thanks." The nurse nodded and wrote some things down on her clipboard before leaving again. He sat up a little straighter in bed and tried to stretch out. He winced with pain as he tried to move his leg and decided to give up on moving anywhere.

He leaned back on his pillows and started thinking about Gabriella. By the time he had talked to his parents it had been three hours since the accident. So by now it had to have been about five hours. So she had to be out of surgery. Maybe his parents would give him some good news and he could go see her. He heard talking in the hallway and saw his mom and dad's faces appear.

"Hey son, how are you feeling?" his dad said while he walked up to his bed side."

"Do you really want me to answer that? Dad, how is Gabby?"

"She is out of surgery."

"How did it go? Can I go see her?" he started to say excitedly.

"No son, I'm afraid you can't yet. She is in the ICU, strictly doctors and nurses right now. They haven't even let Mrs. Montez back there yet."

"Well, how is she?" Troy's mother and father looked at each other like they had done when he had asked him how she was the first time, so he knew that it wasn't good.

"Dad?" Troy asked softly.

"They did stop the bleeding Troy; I guess her pancreas had ruptured. As for her head, they had to make an opening in her skull to relieve the swelling in her brain. They also had to place a drain in the back of her head, where the neck and skull meet to drain and fluids that might build up." Troy sat in silence for a moment while he took it all in. he didn't have to be a doctor to know that her chances were really slim.

"What about her arm and her leg? I mean could they fix that?" he said calmly.

"Yes, they fixed them; the road rash on her arms and hands was also taken care of. Son, I am so sorry."

"I know dad." Troy sat there basically in shock. He had no control over what was happening and that absolutely killed him. He couldn't just rush in there and make everything ok. The love of his life could die and he couldn't do a damn thing about it. He put his face down into his hands and tried to remember her face. He was trying to remember anything he possibly could so he could hold on to it.

"Is there any way I could talk to her doctor?"

"I'm sure I could find out for you honey. I will go check. In the meantime, Chad and your other friends are waiting outside in the waiting room. They are all so worried. Do you want me to send one of them in?" his mom asked. He could tell that all she really wanted was for Troy to cheer up.

"Yeah mom, that'd be great." He said trying to smile for her. She nodded and walked out of his room.

"Well, I have to go get some things taken care of with the insurance company."

"Oh dad, whatever happened to the man that hit us?"

"He is actually fine; he seemed to have lost control of the wheel. They don't know if he got distracted or if he just wasn't looking."

"Right." Troy looked down. Just thinking about someone's carelessness doing this to Gabriella made his blood boil. To think that that man walked away without a scratch and Gabby was lying in the hospital barely clinging on didn't seem fair. All Troy wanted to do was make him hurt as much as he had hurt Gabriella.

"I know how you must feel right now, but the important thing is to make sure you get better, Ms. Montez as well. I will be back soon." His dad said as if had read his mind. Troy nodded and sat back to wait for one of his friends to come in. it didn't take long for Chad to peek his head around the corner.

Troy could tell that Chad had probably taken it harder than he made it seem. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was puffy. But of course, you could never get him to admit that.

"Hey Chad, thank you for coming man." Troy said trying his best to smile for his best friend. Chad gave him a half assed smile too and walked up to his bed side.

"Um, how are you feeling?" Chad asked. Troy could tell that Chad was probably the most uncomfortable he had been in a long time.

"Seriously?"

"No, not seriously, that was stupid question." Chad said while trying to think of something else. Troy sat there for a moment and started to feel bad so he decided to let Chad off the hook.

"Listen, you being here is enough. You don't have to say anything." Chad looked up and nodded at Troy.

"Everyone is really sorry about what happened. We are all praying for her." Chad whispered. Troy nodded showing that he did appreciate what his friend had just said. Then he remembered something that he really wanted to share with him.

"I asked her to marry me Chad." Chad looked up and looked like he was about to choke up.

"You did?"

"Yeah, before the accident…..I asked her, and she said y-yes." Troy said as he felt a lump rise in his throat. Chad put his hand on Troy's shoulder to try and comfort him.

"You are still going to marry her, and I am going to be standing right next to you watching her walk down the aisle. Troy looked at his best friend and smiled.

"Thank you." He said appreciating what his friend was doing.

They sat there in silence for a few moments just appreciating each others company when a nurse came in asking for Troy.

"I'm Troy." He responded wearily.

"Hello Troy, your parents have given me permission to allow Ms.Gabriella Montez's doctor to speak with you, would that be alright. Troy looked at Chad and nodded at the nurse.

"Do you want me to stay man?" Chad asked quietly.

"No, I think I need to be alone for this. But could you do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"Don't leave yet, I may need your help later. Tell everyone that I am fine and to keep praying for Gabriella."

"Ok sure, I will be in the waiting room." Chad said before getting up to leave. Troy watched his friend leave and felt his heart start to race. He knew that his mom had probably asked the doctor to speak to Troy, but it still made him nervous as hell. He sat patiently waiting for the doctor and then he heard a knock at the door.

"Troy Bolton?" a man in scrubs said. Troy assumed it was the doctor and nodded for him to come in.

"Hello, I am Doctor Clark, may I have a seat?" he said while pointing to the chair next to Troy's bed. He sat down and opened up a folder he had in his hands. Troy looked at it and saw Gabriella's name scribbled on the top of it. Troy gulped and prepared himself for the worst.

"I have gotten permission from both of your parents, by both I mean yourself and Ms. Gabriella Montez's legal guardians." Troy nodded trying not to look too upset. He couldn't help but brace himself.

"Now, I have here that she was not wearing a sear belt, is that correct?"

"Yes sir." Troy said softly. How had he not checked that before they had left? How did he not make sure? It wasn't like her not to wear a seat belt, but then again, they were only like 5 minutes away from their school. He knew that wasn't any excuse and brought himself back to listen to what the doctor was saying.

"Now, we don't usually release any details to people who aren't related to the patients, but it has been requested by Gabriella's mother that you know some specific details."

"Specific details?" Troy asked confused. He thought that he had known everything, what weren't they telling him?

"Son, I'm sorry to tell you that there was nothing we could do." Right then, Troy felt his world fall apart.

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Uh oh! Just kidding, sorry it took so long to update, I guess the website was having problems, here is Chapter 14, hope you enjoyed, and remember, the more you review the more I update! And again, thank you all so much.