"Can I seeth them?" Melissa asked.

"Well…" Linda trailed. "You can't move at all, because we can't risk your patella getting even more messed up…" she began.

And even at eleven, with her 1500 reading lexile, Melissa had no idea what the heck a patella was: maybe if she wasn't heavily drugged, but she was. "May pafella?" she asked.

"It's your knee, sweetie," Linda told her, "You fractured your knee cap, and if you want it to ever get better you have to keep it immobilized for a while."

"Kayth. So can I seeth them?"

"Yes," Linda confirmed, "But were gonna need to take you on that bed and with oxygen, so I'm going to need to go get some help, kay?"

And with that, Linda disappeared and then reappeared a few minutes later, with a male nurse at her side.

"Hold on," Linda instructed Melissa. "One the count of three, we're going to lift the bed and lock in place the wheels."

"One… two… three…" With the other nurse near her head, and Linda at her feet, the two lifted the bed, and began rolling Melissa down the hospital halls, and towards a hospital room.

They passed a few different areas, and even went up a floor, then went down another two halls, before finally stopping at one door.

Melissa took a deep breath. Was she supposed to feel this confused? It's just because I lied to the nurses… she kept telling herself, even though she knew that she was feeling this way because she was about to meet the man who literally created her, and was his fault for her very existence…

"We're here Miss Baylor," The other nurse announced.

Unable to speak, Melissa nodded her head, and Linda and the nurse moved her rolling bed inside of a room, and stopped it when it lay parallel to the other bed.

Melissa looked at the man, and gasped. Was she really ready for this? Maybe she wasn't after-all…

"Hi…" the man said. Too late…

"Hiiiy!" Melissa squeaked.

"How arth you?" Troy asked.

Eleven years, and all she got was a 'Hi, how are you?'

"Okayth,"

"Goodth," Troy responded.

Okay, so maybe he was just heavily drugged too, which would explain his half-shut eyes, and the drool drizzling from the sides of his mouth.

"How's Gabith- Moom?" Melissa asked.

"I on't mo…" Troy mumbled.

"Ith hearth she in ath coma…" Melissa told her birth-father.

And even though Troy's state wasn't stable, he had hurt his shoulder and was having trouble remembering a lot of things; you could tell that Troy was having a hard time accepting the fact.

"Noo! Nooth! Noth Gabith! My brave Gabbeee!" Troy slurred, tears beginning to fall from his eyes.

Suddenly, Linda, who had disappeared from the room for a few minutes, had reappeared.

"Miss Baylor, I really think that we should go now. It won't be good for either of you," Linda told the two.

"No!" Melissa shouted.

"Miss Baylor, you probably shouldn't even be here. It's five in the morning," Linda said sternly. "And the day nurses should be here in less than an hour."

"Can we visit Gabrithella Monteth? Pleeeeth?"

"Well…" Linda considered this, even though she knew that allowing Melissa out of her room was already breaking the rules but allowing two people in the intensive care unit? It was unheard of. "There's a family-only policy."

"I'm herth birth daughter, and this ith my birth daddy," Melissa explained.

Troy had a content, smile on his face.

Linda paused, before responding. "Okay… but only for five minutes… and we've already bent the rules a lot as it is…"

"Yes!" Melissa and Troy shouted.

Three nurses appeared, and along with Linda, they rolled Melissa, along side of Troy to Gabriella.

They rounded a corner, went up a story in an elevator, rounded another corner, went down a hall, and finally arrived in an intensive care unit.

You could hear the "beep…beep…beep…beep…" of Gabriella machines, and the hustle of doctors in the background.

And the nurse put the breaks on Troy and Melissa's beds, and went away, leaving the duo alone.

And for the second time in living (almost) flesh (the other time being just after her birth) in her eleven-year life, Melissa saw her birth mother.

And Troy saw the woman who he loved, fighting for her life, and his ill state, suddenly felt very healthy compared to Gabriella's.

And the two watched in silence as Gabriella's life hung in control by machines.

And Melissa knew that she would get in trouble soon, and Troy knew that enormous problems were soon to arrive, but even in their drugged-state, they both knew that things would never be able to go back to how they were before…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize!

AN: Whoa! I totally didn't expect that many reviews, guys (and girls)! You guys are awesome! Thanks soooo much for reviewing! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Anyways, any feedback is appreciated:-)