A/N: Hey guys! I'm so sorry for the long wait! I had a really bad case of writer's block! Since I finished writing the climax, I didn't know where to go... it took me a while to figure something out. The idea for this chapter was thought of only recently, thus the bad writing. In my opinion at least. I sped-typed it up. Sorry for the grammatical/spelling errors (if there are any). Thanks for the reviews! Even though I probably don't deserve them because I'm a horrible updater.
ILuvLucasGrabeel: Intense... and yes, I love that song too! When his album comes out I'm buying it.
Zac's my boyfriend: Thanks! Here's an update!
highsmusicalrox: Thanks! I love Chad too!
Vanessa Turner: Thanks!
lol925: Thanks! You really think I should make this into a movie? Hmm... maybe when I grow older and when I'm an actress (that's what I'm aiming for, anyway), I could play Gabriella! Yeah, sorry about all the blood and pain. But I didn't think it would be as suspenseful if I didn't put a lot of those in.
Ryella.4.Ever: Haha, yes, Chad is a life saver. Here's an update!
Tigerlily Brown: Sure... can it be a virtual tissue?
TheFabMax: Haha, I'm glad your spleen's okay. But what would've happened if I did make that last part a cliffie? gasps
03survivor: Aww... you don't like cliffies too? Boo... lol, jk. Here's an update!
Queen Desvel: Haha, yeah, you gotta protect that tailbone!
Anyway, here's the long awaited chapter 28. I hope you guys like it!
This Is War
Chapter 28: Open Up Your Eyes
"Is she awake?" Sharpay said as she woke up on the same hospital bed she's been sleeping in for the past week. Ryan, wearing the hospital gown, didn't care anymore that his backside showed as he held tightly onto Gabriella's hand, hoping his warmth will make her wake up. Sadly, her eyes remain closed. The heart rate monitor kept beeping at the exact slow pace, mocking Ryan's anger, frustration, and worry.
"No, she's not."
"Ry, it's been a week. You think she's okay?"
Ryan just looked at Gabriella's pale face, and waited for something – anything – to happen. But nothing happened. Her chest continued to rise and fall in the same slow pattern.
"I don't know. I hope so." He says as he took Gabriella's hand up to his lips and kissed it.
"Hey, aren't you going to get admitted out today? Why don't you go home and I'll take care of Gabriella? You look like a zombie. Besides, you have to rest your arm." Sharpay suggested as she looked at her brother's pale appearance, his dark, sunken eyes, and his tense muscles. He hasn't slept in days.
"The hell with my arm. I wanna make sure I'm here if she wakes up. I'm not giving up on her Shar, I'm not."
"I'm not saying you should give up on her. I'm saying, you should take a rest and give yourself a breather. She'll understand why you're not here."
"I can't! Don't you understand? We've been away from each other for so long! Well, it's time I make up for that loss. I'm staying here." He said stubbornly. Sharpay sighed and rested back on her pillow.
"Is she awake yet?" Ryan heard Taylor say as she, Chad, Jason, Kelsi, and Zeke enter the room. She set down a new bouquet of flowers by Gabriella's bedside table, replacing the old wilted ones.
"No." Ryan says in a soft voice, not taking his eyes off of Gabriella. The gang sighed.
"Don't sweat it dude. She'll be all right, we know she is." Jason said, as he patted Ryan's back. Ryan's eyes began to tear up. He reached his hand up to Gabriella's face and felt the same coldness that resembled the temperature from her hand.
"Gabriella, please wake up. I want you to wake up. I need you to wake up." He pleaded, stroking her cheek with his thumb. Again, the heart rate monitor continued its steady beeping noise.
"Can't you see what you're doing to me? I can't function without you, I can't work without you, I can't even sleep without you. Gabby, I can't live without you. I need you." He begged to Gabriella's cold form. Nothing changed in her appearance.
"Why won't you wake up?" Ryan shouted as he banged his fist on his thigh. Kelsi comes up and rubs his shoulders, trying to get him relaxed.
Ryan held Gabriella's hand in his. The tears in his eyes fell, trailing on his cheek. It reached his chin and they fell on Gabriella's hand. Ryan felt her hand twitch.
"Gabriella?" He said as he stood up and stroked her hair. The rest of the gang – excluding Sharpay – circled around them.
"What happened?" Kelsi asked as she also looked over Gabriella.
"She twitched." Ryan answered.
"What do you mean she twitched?" Zeke asked.
"She twitched when my tears fell on her hand."
"She responds to you, Ry! Do something else!" Taylor commanded. Ryan bit his lip.
He wrapped his free arm around her body and bent down to hug her. The heart monitor started a new rhythm, a faster one. Gabriella's heart rate had gone up.
"Keep doing that!" Taylor commanded once again.
Ryan released Gabriella. He cupped his hand around Gabriella's face and lifted it a little, so he could take a good look at her whole face. Even though she was very pale, she was still well put together.
"You know, you really are beautiful." Ryan said as his thumb stroked her cheek. Her lips twitched a little as the heart monitor started to beep faster.
Ryan noticed the faster rhythm and smiled. He stopped stroking her cheek and cupped her face once more. He bent down and kissed her. Something he hasn't been able to do for a long time. He heard the heart monitor beep faster and faster as he took longer and longer to let go. He finally released her lips and the heart monitor kept its new steady beat, faster than it was before he kissed her.
"Come on Gabriella, wake up." He pleaded once more. She started to twitch again. Everybody held their breath and looked on.
The heart monitor kept beeping as it grew faster and faster by the second. Suddenly Gabriella's hand began to twitch. The twitch transferred onto her arm, then her shoulders, and soon, onto her whole body.
"Gabriella?" Ryan said, as everybody watched, confused and scared. He gripped Gabriella's hand tighter, as if trying to stop her from moving. The heart monitor started beeping madly and uncontrollably. Ryan took notice and his eyes darted from the heart monitor to Gabriella's unconscious twitching body, to everyone else's scared faces.
"Gabby you're scaring me. Stop it." He said. This time the heart monitor beeped even faster as Gabriella began to shake vigorously.
"Someone call the nurse!" Sharpay shouted. It took a minute before anything began to register in anybody's brain.
"Chad! Go get the nurse!" Kelsi said frantically as she began to realize what was going on. Chad ran to the door and opened it with a bang and ran down the hall to go and get a nurse.
Ryan embraced Gabriella's body, trying to stop her from shaking and twitching. The heart monitor was getting even faster. If that was even possible.
"Gabriella, don't die. Please don't die. Gabriella!" Ryan shouted as he began rocking her back and forth, still shaking under his arms, big globs of tears dropped from his face.
He cupped her face with his hands another time. "Listen to me Gabriella. You're not going to die, okay? You won't die. I won't let you die. I forbid you to die." He said while stroking her hair.
"If you go, and you leave me with two twin girls, feeling hopeless, dead, and sad, I swear to God I will hunt you down. You hear me? When I die, I'm going to hunt you down in the deepest chambers of hell." He said, trying to make a joke and trying to lighten up the intense moment. It didn't seem to work, as Gabriella didn't stop. He bent down again and kissed her. He then hugged her and started crying like he's never cried before.
Chad and the nurse burst into the room. Ryan stood aside so the nurse could take a look at Gabriella. But just as the nurse laid eyes on her, she bolted out the door, trying to find a doctor.
"I can't take my eyes off of you… I know you feel the same way too…" Ryan sang as he started rocking Gabriella's body.
"Gabby, I'm sorry! I'm sorry for everything I've ever done wrong to you! I'm sorry if I ever made you feel miserable! I'm sorry that I'm not good enough! I'm sorry I'm not as perfect as you want me to be! I'm sorry if I don't deserve you! Gabby, I can change! Just please stop shaking and wake up!" Ryan pleaded into Gabriella's hospital gown.
The nurse and the doctor came to the room. The doctor pushed Ryan off of Gabriella.
"Excuse me, son." The doctor said as he took Gabriella's pulse, blood pressure, etc.
"We're going to need everybody out of the room. Nurse Zoey, please call all the other doctors. Everybody, please, this is very serious, we need you out of the room."
"But, I can't! I need to be here!" Ryan begged the doctor.
"I'm sorry sir, you're going to have to go too."
"You don't understand! I'm-"
"Ryan, come on!" Chad said as he pulled on Ryan's good arm.
"No!" Ryan said, resisting Chad's pull. Surprisingly, he succeeds in pulling himself all the way to Gabriella and grabbed her arm. The heart monitor beeped faster.
"Ryan you need to let go!" Kelsi said as she tried to pry Ryan's fingers off of Gabriella's arm. "You're hurting her!"
"Ryan, listen to me! I am your older sister! Let go of Gabriella this instant!" Sharpay shouted, trying to help in getting Ryan out, even though she's confined to a bed.
"I won't let her die!" Ryan shouted.
"Come on, man! The doctors are gonna do everything to make sure she's okay! Now let go!" Jason said as he grabbed onto Ryan's shoulders and gave a hard pull. He managed to pull Ryan off of Gabriella. Before he could gather his strength and pull himself to Gabriella, the gang – excluding Sharpay – grabbed hold of him and pulled him out the door. Ryan, struggled, wriggled, and kicked, just so he could be by Gabriella's side. But it was no use. He was outnumbered.
"Gabriella!" He shouted, hoping Gabriella could hear him.
"Gabriella!" He shouted once more as they passed the door. But before the doctor could close and lock the door, he whispered, "I love you."
"Ms. Davis, you have a visitor." The nurse said as she went in Leslie's hospital room. Her leg was in a cast and sling. She had no chance of escaping. Besides, she can't escape even if she managed to walk on her bad leg because by her door and windows were a few police officers standing watch, to make sure she couldn't escape.
"Wonderful." She said sarcastically. She watched as a tall person with recognizable shaggy hair walked in.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"What? Can't I visit an ex-girlfriend?" Her visitor said. It was none other than Troy Bolton.
"What do you want? I thought you broke up with me." She asked.
"I did. I just came for a few questions."
"You got five minutes."
"That's all the time I need." Troy said as he sat down on the chair next to Leslie.
"Ryan told me that you only wanted the girls in the first place because you wanted to make him miserable. You wanted to make him miserable because he made you miserable. Is this true?"
"Why do you need to know?"
"I'm just asking."
Leslie thought for a while and looked at him, thinking whether or not she should answer it. "Yeah, it's true."
"He said that you're jealous that he got to do what he wanted to do with his life and you never even had a shot. Is this true?"
Leslie merely nodded.
"What did you want to do?"
Leslie sighed. "I wanted to be a film maker. You know, directing, producing, writing, you name it. Living in Beverly Hills, living the 'perfect' life, signing autographs, being recognized, I wanted that life!"
Troy nodded. "What stopped you from getting that life?"
"Ryan got me pregnant, that's what."
"Hm… okay, let me get this straight. You got pregnant, you gave birth and you and Ryan became like a family for the twins after college?" Troy asked and Leslie nodded.
"Okay, then you abandon Ryan and the twins and move on with your life." Troy said, and Leslie nodded once again.
"Okay, here's Ryan, a struggling young man, with two twin daughters. Even though he had tough times, he was still able to do what he wanted to do with his life. What about you? You were a young woman, no kids, just a few years fresh out of college, looking to do what you want in life. Now, about four years later, you're still in the same state. Why do you think that is?"
"He just got lucky." Leslie scoffed.
"You really think so? Look at it this way: Ryan had a few part-time jobs to support himself and the twins. As he was working and parenting, he searched for any play or movie audition that he could find. He got turned down by a couple of few but then he auditioned for a role in a Broadway play. He worked hard for that, and guess what? He got the part. Soon, he kept auditioning and auditioning, finally, landing a role in a movie. Which is how he became such a big hit."
"I don't see where this is going."
"Okay, what about you? You didn't even search for a decent job! You only look for things that you like or want to do. Well guess what, sometimes you just gotta take what's given and work hard at it. You were out there, partying your ass off, not giving a damn about anything. So, it's not actually Ryan's fault your life has been miserable. It's yours."
"What are you some kind of preacher? You're telling me this stuff as if I don't already know it."
"Just thought I'd let you know some things you should probably think about." Troy said before standing up and walking to the door.
"You think I'm actually going to think about what you said? You are out of your mind."
"Hey, it was worth a shot. And you never know, you might actually think about it." Troy said before walking out the door and leaving her in her in her hospital bed.
Ryan paced the hall like a worried husband waiting for his wife to deliver their firstborn child. He changed from his hospital gown into a pair of brown cargo pants, a black button up shirt, black sneakers, and a brown fedora after he checked out of the hospital while waiting for the doctors to finish with Gabriella.
"Ryan, will you please sit down? You've been pacing for over an hour now. You're making me feel like I should be worried about you instead of Gabby!" Taylor yelled as she grabbed Ryan's good arm and attempted to sit him down on the seat next to hers. But it did no good. Ryan stood back up and started pacing near Gabriella's room door.
"Dude, calm down. Give yourself a break. It's not like it's your fault she's in there." Zeke said, trying to calm Ryan down. But like Taylor, he did not succeed. Ryan kept on pacing, not caring about anything else.
"Ry, come on man. She'll be fine. I promise you. And if she's not, hey, you can always kill me." Chad offered, earning a slap on the arm from Taylor. Ryan continued as if nobody ever spoke and he heard nothing.
Kelsi sighed. "RYAN, SIT YOUR STUBBORN ASS DOWN ON THE FRIGGIN CHAIR!" Kelsi shouted, getting more and more frustrated. Ryan stumbled a little on the loudness of Kelsi's voice, but nonetheless, he continued pacing after he caught himself.
"Kelsi!" Jason shouted.
"Such language coming from you." Taylor teased.
"I'm sorry, it's just getting so annoying seeing him so friggin miserable! Not to mention he's making me friggin dizzy with him walking around like that! Then he's making me think about the friggin things that could happen to Gabriella! Oh, God, I think I'm gonna puke." Kelsi said before abandoning her seat and rushing off to find the nearest bathroom.
Ryan just kept on pacing.
"Hey guys, what's going on?" Troy asked as he arrived with flowers in hand. "Why are you guys outside?"
"Where were you?" Taylor asked.
"I just had lunch. Man's gotta eat sometime."
"You should've been here a couple of hours ago. The story is, Ryan is trying to wake Gabriella up. So he like, hugs her and kisses her and stuff. Then her heartbeats started to go faster and faster. But then it gets too fast so I had to go get the nurse and the nurse got the doctor and they're in there right now. They locked the door." Chad tried to explain.
"Wait… what? You're talking too fast! What did you say?" Troy asked. So everybody, except for Ryan, who was still pacing, and Kelsi, who was still at the bathroom, carefully explained to Troy what had happened.
"Why didn't you come before lunch?" Zeke asked.
"Oh yeah, I talked to Leslie."
"What could you have possibly talked to her about?" Chad asked, anger fluttering in his voice.
"You didn't get back together with her, did you? Because if you did, I will-"
"No, Tay, calm down. I didn't get back together with her. I can't even stand looking at her anymore. I just said some things that might make her mind going."
"What things?"
"Just things. And no, it's not what you're thinking. If that is what you're thinking." Troy said, confusing himself and the others. "What are you guys thinking?"
"Oh my, goodness." Jason said, obviously exasperated. They see Kelsi as she walked back from the bathroom.
"Hey Troy." She greeted. He smiled at her. "So… uh… what's wrong with Ryan?"
"He won't stop friggin pacing since we pulled him out of the friggin room." Kelsi said.
"Is 'friggin' your favorite word or something? You've been saying it so much." Taylor pointed out and Kelsi blushed.
"I like that word!"
The gang stared at Ryan for a bit. Zeke suddenly perked up from his seat. "Guys! I have an idea! I don't know why I just now thought of it." Zeke said as he took out his cell phone.
"What are you doing?" Troy asked.
"I'm gonna text Sharpay. She's still in there, remember? Maybe she can tell us what's happening!" Zeke exclaimed. Ryan stopped pacing and leaned over to the group and started to listen.
"But what if the doctors pulled the curtain around her. You know, to get some privacy?" Jason asked, making a very good point.
"We don't need her to see what's happening. We could just ask her what she's hearing!" Zeke exclaimed, sounding extremely proud of his plan. Ryan started walking toward the group.
"That's not a bad idea." He says.
"Oh, so now he talks." Chad said sarcastically, earning yet again another hit from Taylor.
"Ask her what the doctors are talking about." Ryan commands Zeke. Zeke types in the question and quickly hits 'send'. Within a few seconds of hitting 'send', Zeke got a reply saying that the doctors were taking her blood pressure and taking tests.
"She says that the doctors are done." Zeke said as he read the text message.
"So how come they're not coming out yet?" Ryan asked frantically.
"Because they're performing tests and stuff, Sharpay says." Zeke said. Suddenly his phone beeped again, signaling a new text message. Zeke quickly reads it.
"They're coming out!" He shouted and Ryan waited by the door. One of the doctors came out looking for Ryan. Ryan stepped up right in front of him and stood silently, staring intently at the clipboard that the doctor held.
"Mr. Evans, I'm afraid we have bad news."
Haha, it's another cliffie! I hope you guys liked it, I hope it came out okay, and I hope you guys leave me a nice little review! Thanks!
Oh, and thanks for all those who read my recent oneshot "What's In A Name?" If you haven't read it yet, then check out my profile. You can find it there!