Hey! I'm back with another chapter of A Broken Promise of Love. This is chapter Thirty Three! Wow! I'm surprised I surpassed 20! I made this one really long for you guys. And to all the reviewers: Thank you so much. You guys have shown so much support. I'm kinda depressed that this story is coming to a close soon. Just a quick question to all the readers: This story is not being edited by anyone. How is my grammar and spelling?

Troy and Gabriella looked over at the door when a knock echoed through the room. Dr. Brown walked in and picked up the clipboard that hung on the end of Gabriella's hospital bed.

"Good to see you awake, Ms. Montez. You gave us quite a scare."

Gabriella ducked her head shamefully.

"Sorry."

Dr. Brown chuckled.

"It's alright, Ms. Montez."

"Please, call me Gabriella."

"Okay, Gabriella, do you remember what happened this morning?"

Gabriella pulled away from Troy and sat up straight.

"I spent a lot of time in bed the past few days. When I got out of bed this morning, I realized I may have forgotten to take my pills last night. I was going to the bathroom to get a drink of water. I heard my dad call me and that was it."

Dr. Brown nodded as he took down notes.

"Okay, Gabriella, we're going to keep you here for awhile. We're not sure the pills are strong enough anymore."

Troy and Gabriella looked confused and worried as Gabriella held tightly to Troy's hand.

"Why aren't they strong enough?"

Dr. Brown sighed and pulled up a chair.

"Do you want Troy here with you?"

Gabriella nodded furiously and clutched Troy's hand tighter, causing both Troy and Dr. Brown to smile. Dr. Brown's face, however, turned serious.

"Gabriella, you have been very stressed lately, which is completely understandable. But your body is getting weaker. I'm afraid after your mother passed, your will hasn't been strong as it used to be. Now, I've discussed this with your father ad we've decided to let you live as long as you can. Gabriella, dear, I'm not sure how long that will be. But it is almost completely up to you. You've lived this long because you wanted to. It is mostly you willpower."

Troy gripped Gabriella's hand in both of his as Dr. Brown continued.

"I can't let her die. She would just leave me here, would she? Her will to live has gone down. How can I make her see that I need her here? I'm being selfish. I can't just force her to live if she really doesn't want to. But then I can't live without her..."

Troy looked down at Gabriella when she placed her hand on his cheek. She noticed the expression on his face and knew what he was thinking. She leaned up and planted a sweet kiss on his lips.

"I'm not going anywhere, Troy. Not if I can help it."

Troy let out a sigh of relief and buried his face in her luscious brown locks.

"Thank you."

Dr. Brown watched the young couple in front of him and smiled. He stood and walked out the door, giving Troy and Gabriella some time alone.

♪

After receiving a call from his uncle, Troy reluctantly left Gabriella at the hospital to eat dinner. Troy had spent all day with her and it was nearly seven o'clock.

"I'll bring you something when I come back. Hospital food tastes like crap."

He leaned down to kiss Gabriella on the forehead. She giggled and pushed him away.

"Go, Troy! Eat! And shower, too. You stink!"

Troy gasped dramatically.

"I do not! I smell like hospital and so do you!"

Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"Bye, Troy."

"Don't you roll your eyes at me, young lady."

Gabriella giggled again.

"Go, Troy!"

Troy put his hands up in defeat.

"Fine. Fine! I can tell when I'm not wanted."

Troy pouted and Gabriella pulled on his hand until he was leaning over the bed. She placed a kiss on his lips and whispered in his ear.

"I love you. Now go, Troy."

Troy grinned.

"I love you, too. Be back later."

"You don't have to come back, you know? Go sleep on your own comfortable bed."

"Nuh uh! I've already asked the nurse if I could stay."

Gabriella's eyes widened.

"You didn't!"

Troy smirked.

"I did."

Gabriella watched, amused, as Troy waltzed out of her hospital room.

"I'm going to live... for Troy."

♪

Zac watched as Troy used the leftover chicken to make a sandwich. Troy had told him about Gabriella and her mother. It was nice to see Troy running around the kitchen, preparing a basket of food for his girlfriend.

"There are juice boxes in the fridge."

Troy looked up from the counter and flashed his uncle a grin.

"Thanks, Uncle. I'm gonna take a couple, okay?"

Zac nodded.

"Sure. Nessa just bought them for Ashley's lunches. She won't need them all."

Troy chuckled when he opened the fridge and saw the six cases of various juice boxes.

"On sale?"

Zac rolled his eyes.

"Of course."

Troy grabbed an apple and a strawberry kiwi and placed them in the already full basket.

"I'm gonna go back to the hospital now. I have my overnight bag so I probably won't be back 'til tomorrow sometime."

Zac nodded.

"Sure, Troy. I'll see you later."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Zac watched Troy jog to his truck and carefully place the basket in the passenger seat. Troy gave his uncle a small wave and took off down the road. Zac turned from the window and walked to his office. He shuffled through the drawers of his desk and pulled out a black address book.

"What are you up to, honey?"

Zac looked up and saw Vanessa standing at the door.

"I'm gonna try to help Troy and Gabriella. He's found a good thing in her and I'm not about to let him lose it."

Vanessa smiled and walked over to her husband's desk, leaning over to kiss him.

"Good luck."

Zac had a large grin plastered on his face as Vanessa left the office. He shook his head and returned to the address book. He flipped through it until he came to the page he was looking for. Zac reached for the phone. After dialing, he placed the phone to his ear and waited. Someone picked up on the third ring.

"Hello. Lucas Grabeel here."

"Hey, Luke. It's Zac."

"Zac! Hey, buddy. Haven't heard from you in a while."

"Yeah, it's been too long. How are you?"

"I'm good, man, you?"

"Been better. Listen, Lucas, I need your help."

"Sure. What can I do for you?"

"Troy has a girlfriend..."

♪

"Hey, Gabi."

Gabriella looked up and saw her boyfriend with a large basket in his hands.

"Troy! I didn't expect to see you until later!"

Troy chuckled and shrugged.

"I ate fast."

Gabriella giggled.

"So, what'd you bring me?"

Troy set the basket in the little table and started taking things out.

"Well, I have chicken sandwiches, fruit salad, cookies and juice boxes."

"Wow, Troy, I didn't know you had it in you!"

Troy gave her a confused look.

"What, bringing food?"

Gabriella giggled, noticing how cute Troy looked with his nose scrunched up.

"No, bringing fruit!"

"Hey! I can eat healthy! I just prefer other things. Things higher in the food pyramid."

Gabriella took Troy's hand and stroked it gently, as if she was about to tell him something serious.

"Honey, I'm sorry but... sugar isn't on the food pyramid."

Troy's face was filled with horror. His blue eyes were wide with mock shock. Gabriella couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing, causing Troy to join her.

"Your... face was so... funny!"

Troy rolled his eyes and opened the basket. He handed Gabriella her sandwich and unwrapped his own. Gabriella looked at him confused.

"Hey, didn't you already eat?"

Troy took a bite of his sandwich and nodded.

"Yeah."

Gabriella rolled her eyes and took a bite out of her sandwich. They ate mostly in silence, giving each other smiles every so often.

♪

Gabriella and Troy were sitting in the hospital a couple days later. Gabriella's health had gotten worse, but her spirit was as strong as ever. Troy was more worried than Gabriella herself. They sat in a comfortable silence, each reading something. Gabriella was reading a romance novel while Troy occupied himself with a sports magazine.

A knock at the door caused both heads to swivel to the figures standing by the door.

"Uncle?"

Zac walked in, followed by a tall, young blond.

"Hey, Troy, Gabriella. This is Dr. Grabeel. He's an old friend of mine."

Gabriella smiled at the doctor.

"Hi, Dr. I'm Gabriella and this is Troy."

Dr. Grabeel shook both Gabriella and Troy's hands.

"Please, call me Lucas."

Gabriella nodded and smiled.

"Okay, Lucas."

Troy looked at his uncle.

"What's up?"

Zac had a smile on his face.

"Well, Lucas has agreed to perform surgery on Gabriella. I think he can really help her."

Lucas flipped through Gabriella's charts.

"I've spoken to Dr. Brown and he agrees that I can at least prolong your life. You and your father have to agree, but this could put you in remission."

♪

Thursday morning, three days after meeting Lucas Grabeel, Gabriella was being prepped for surgery. Troy stood by her as she waited for nine o'clock to come.

"Another seven minutes."

Troy, noticing how nervous Gabriella was, took her hand and kissed her palm.

"It'll be fine, Gabi. Uncle Zac said this guy is good. He's one of the best in New York."

Gabriella nodded, trying to take what Troy said to heart. She smiled. Troy just being there was making her less nervous.

"Imagine if he wasn't here. I'd be a complete wreck."

"I love you, Gabi. It'll be fine."

Gabriella clutched his hand tighter.

"I know, Troy. I love you, too."

"Gabriella, it's time to get you into the OR."

Gabriella smiled politely at the nurse and nodded. Troy stood and leaned over to kiss her forehead.

"I love you. See you when you get out."

Gabriella nodded and wrapped her arms around Troy's neck, pulling him down into a tight hug.

"I love you, too, Troy."

When Troy pulled back, he winked at her as the nurse wheeled the bed out of the room. Troy walked with them to the doors of the OR and kissed Gabriella's forehead again.

"See ya, Gabi. I'll be here when you get out."

"Bye, Troy."

Troy watched as Gabriella was wheeled through the heavy metal doors. He sighed and sat down in a hard, plastic chair, running his hand through his hair. He mentally said a pray to keep Gabriella safe.

"Thank you for being there for her, Troy."

Troy looked up to see Mr. Montez looking down at him.

"I wanted to be."

Greg smiled and nodded, taking a seat next to Troy.

♪

Five hours, forty five minutes and eleven cups of coffee later, Dr. Lucas Grabeel pushed through the heavy metal doors. Zac nudged Mr. Montez, who had fallen asleep a couple hours earlier. He stirred awake and saw Lucas standing before him and Zac with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Well?"
"Mr. Montez, Zac, Ms. Montez is currently in a comatose state. She lost a lot of blood on the table and with her body weight... that could be fatal..."

♪

And I'm being gay and ending it there! Sorry guys. You'll have to wait to see if she ends up dying or not. For those of you who have watched A Walk to Remember, you know that Jamie dies in the end. At first, I was upset with the writer for making it that way, but after writing my own story, I learned that it is hard not to kill off the girl. I mean, she's already dying. It would be really awkward and totally unrealistic if she all of a sudden got better. Right? So... I haven't quite decided if Gabriella dies or not. I have two endings written. I'm gonna read through them and see which one fits better. Thanks for all the support.

Jay