Hi, thanks to you all, I love your reviews. I'm glad you understood what I meant when I wrote about the oxygen cylinder and all. Anyway, here is the next chapter.

Disclaimer; I don't own High School Musical.

Her Heartbeat

Chapter 5.

--

Laugh when nothing's funny, Dance when there's no music,
Sing like you've never sung before, Love till it hurts,
Cry when you're sad, Smile when you're happy,
And always live each day like its your LAST

--

Ryan was phasing back and forth, hands on his back. He was still in his auditioning clothes, but he didn't care. It was his sister's life they were talking about.

After driving as fast as possible to the hospital, he and Troy had rushed into the hospital, shouting for doctor Gellar. The receptionist, who was quite familiar with the Evans family, had called him up immediately, and he'd scooped Sharpay into his own arms, and then he had ran as fast as he could towards the room she usually was in.

He hadn't come back yet, and Ryan was getting nervous.

Troy was just sitting at one of the blue plastic chairs. He didn't know what was happening, and he wanted to find out. No-one had told him yet, but that was ok, he knew that Ryan was scared, and that their sister and husband haven't arrived yet. He understood them. They had to worry about her, and he could be informed later.

He was just really scared for Sharpay too.

He had really started feeling that maybe something could spire between them. He felt that she was always nice to him, and that could possibly be because she liked him too. Now he was positive, actually. He liked her. He knew it. No, he didn't just like her. He was in love with her.

He looked at Ryan, who by now had seated himself in a chair on the opposite wall. He looked tired and worn out. But again, that was understandable.

Suddenly Troy saw his mom running down the hall. She stopped when she saw him. "Troy? Oh, there you are! Someone mentioned that you were here, what happened?"

Troy stood up, wanting to calm his nervous mother, "Nothing mom. Well, one of my classmates collapsed. We had to take her here. What are you doing here?"

"Today was the day I had to take a tour on the hospital to get back in business. As soon as the courses are over, I can start. Doctor Flatts recognized you from the picture I showed him." Mrs. Bolton stopped to take a breather, "You really had me going there."

"Sorry mom." Troy said, "But we had to take her to the hospital."

Mrs. Bolton's smiled frowned, "Sure. What is wrong with her?"

Troy shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. But doctor Gellar took her with him immediately. I think she's one of his patients. I didn't even know she was sick!"

"Okay…" Mrs. Bolton bit her lip, "But I assume you're gonna stay here, right?"

Troy nodded, "Yes, I am. It's her brother over there." He pointed at Ryan, "I think he needs some support until their older sister gets here."

"Sure, I'll find you when I get off, and we'll go home together?" Mrs. Bolton suggested, "Is that a deal?"

Troy nodded and watched as his mother rushed off to get back to her class. He took a deep breath, and turned to look at Ryan, who was sitting at the chair, his face in his hands. Troy slowly took a seat next to him; "Are you ok?"

"It's my fault…!" Ryan said, looking at him, tears streaming down his face, "I let her convince me. I shouldn't have budged. I knew she wouldn't be able to do it. Why did I let myself believe she could? It's my fault she's lying there, Troy!"

"Slow down there, Ryan!" Troy said, "I have no idea what is wrong with Sharpay, because I don't know her at all, but I really think that she is the one responsible for this. Both you and her made that very clear on the stage at school, okay? Just calm down, hmm?"

"You're right." Ryan said, nodding to himself, "You're right. You know what? I need to go outside and get some fresh air. I'll wait for Matt and Becca to get here. If doctor Gellar comes, just go with him and sit with her. She's asleep for a long time, but just stay there with her. She always remember if one of us have been there."

Troy nodded, "Sure. I'll say hi to her from you."

Ryan got a quick smile on his lips, and quickly stood up. He made his way across the hall, stepping out, into the hot breeze.

--

Ryan got a huge smile on his face, when Matt's mini van pulled into the parking lot, and he and Becca came rushing out. They ran across the parking lot, and approached him.

Matt had a serious look on his face, and Becca had tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Ryan!" Matt exclaimed, "What happened? What is going on?"

"Is she okay!?" Becca asked, clutching Matt's hand in her own.

"I don't know…" Ryan trailed off, "Doctor Gellar hadn't come out yet before I went out here, but one of our friends stayed in there. He'd go sit with her if that was."

They went inside, and saw that Troy indeed was gone.

"We'll let him finish then?" Matt asked, unsure of whether or not they should go in, "We can find Doctor Gellar and talk to him?"

"First I need to know what happened?" Becca asked, looking straight at Ryan, who nodded. The three of them took a seat and Ryan told them the story.

--

Troy quietly sat there, starring at her pale face.

Her hair was sprawled across the pillow, like a halo, and he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. There was really no describing it. She had it all. He loved every little detail about her.

She was amazing.

He could feel her heart beating. He could hear her breathing. He could feel her hand safely tucked in his own. He took it to his lips and kissed it. It was cold, and he wanted to do nothing, but rub it, just to keep her warm.

What the cause of her collapse was, he didn't know. And how she ended up there, he didn't know. But he wanted her out.

It drove him mad, seeing her like this. She wasn't supposed to lie there. She was supposed to dance and sing around on the stage at school, making everyone else wish they had a voice like her. She was supposed to walk through the halls right now, attracting looks from all the boys she passed.

Troy squeezed her hand, a little tear slipping down his face. "Ryan says hi." He whispered, "It isn't because he doesn't want to be here. He's waiting for your sister. They'll be here soon. They all care about you. Like I do."

He took a deep breath, not really knowing if it was a good idea or not. But he did it anyway. He leaned forward a planted a soft kiss on her lips. At least he could say he'd kissed her now. And she hadn't slapped him away. Not that she'd be able to if she wanted, and that was perhaps why he dared to do it.

He sat back again, studying her face. She was just asleep, doctor Gellar had told him so. But she was so stiff. She didn't move at all. Doctor Gellar said that her heart couldn't take it, and all she needed now was rest and rest and rest. There would probably go a few hours before she opened her eyes.

Doctor Gellar hadn't told him much after he came and asked Troy to watch Sharpay. Doctor Gellar had to hurry to another patient, and he'd just told Troy to stay there until Becca and Matt got there. Then he'd talk to them.

"Troy!?"

Troy turned around, and found Ryan and two other people in the door – he assumed that it was Becca and Matt. "Oh, there you are. She's still sleeping. Doctor Gellar told me to just watch her."

"Oh my God…!" Becca exclaimed, rushing towards her bed. She stood beside Sharpay, and placed a hand on her heart. "It's still beating like crazy. I think she needs a lot of rest."

Matt approached the bed too, looking at Sharpay closely, "I can't believe we could let this happen! We should have known she wouldn't take no for an answer!"

"She never does." Becca agreed.

"What did doctor Gellar say, Troy?" Ryan asked.

Troy stood up, letting go of Sharpay's hand, which didn't go unnoticed by Becca, "He said that I should keep her company until you guys arrived. Then you should go talk to him."

"Okay then." Becca said, smiling at Troy, "Ryan you stay here, Matt; go find doc. G. And you, boy; I need to speak to you!"

Troy looked confused, as Becca dragged him outside the room, into the hallway. She let go of him, and just looked at him instead; "What's your name?"

"Uh… Troy Bolton?" Troy tried.

"Hi!" Becca said, waving a little. Some of the things she did reminded him an awful lot of Sharpay; "My name is Becca. I'm Sharpay's big sister. What are you doing here?"

"I-" Troy paused. What was he doing here? "I helped Ryan taking her here after she collapsed. I just stayed because I wanted to know how it all went with her."

"Okay…" Becca smiled at him, "Thank you then."

"For what?"

"For taking her here. You know, she needs a doctor immediately if she collapses for real. It can be really tough."

"That's all right." Troy smiled. "Can I ask one question though?"

"Sure." Becca said, "What?"

"What is wrong with Sharpay?"

Becca stopped and shot him a weird look, squeezing her eyebrows together; "You don't know?"

--

"So, basically, she'll have to stay here a few days until she's able to go outside, and her heartbeat is slower." Doctor Gellar said, "And after that, she'll have to stay home for some time."

Matt swallowed a lump in his troth, knowing that this would cause them troubles with Sharpay; "For how long, doctor?"

"More than a week." Doctor Gellar said, fumbling with his fingers, "I know how much she hates this, but it's the best to do right now. You should get her machine ready for when she's coming home, and prepare yourself for keeping her company."

"Okay…" Becca said, linking her hand with Matt's, "We'll do that. But I really think we should head home for now. We'll come back tomorrow. The first thing."

"Okay, say hi to Brooke and Ben from me." doctor Gellar smiled.

"Shall do."

Becca and Matt entered Sharpay's room, finding Ryan and Troy on each side of her bed, each holding a hand.

"Ry, it's time to go home now, you have school tomorrow, and you're exhausted. We need to pick Brooke and Ben up to." Matt said.

"But what about Shar?" Ryan asked, glancing at her sister.

"She'll be fine, Ryan." Becca said, "I'll come back here tomorrow, early, early. And you can come right after school."

"I'll go with you!" Troy quickly offered.

"Really?" Ryan asked, "That's great, thanks Troy."

"We spoke to doctor Gellar," Matt told them, "She'll probably wake up tomorrow, and then we need to tell her some bad news. But then it's good that you two boys can cheer her up after."

"When are you going home, Troy?" Becca asked.

Troy shot her a little smile, "When my mom comes to pick me up. She's at the hospital somewhere."

"Okay."

"Well," Ryan stood up, "I'll catch you tomorrow Troy. Do you want a ride to school? Then we can head here together too?"

"That'd be cool. Thanks Ryan." Troy smiled, "See ya' tomorrow."

Becca waved at Troy again and the three of them left the room. Once outside, Becca turned to Ryan; "Who is he?"

"Oh, Troy Bolton," Ryan said, crooking an eyebrow, "He's just Sharpay's long-time crush. Seems to me that maybe someone… is crushing back."

--

Troy was still watching Sharpay.

Becca hadn't told him what was wrong with Sharpay. She said that it was Sharpay who should tell him, if she wanted him to know. He respected that. He could just hope that Sharpay would let him be a part of her secret, then. It would be amazing to get to know her better. He wanted to.

He got the feeling that Sharpay's sister and her husband had liked him when they'd talked. Maybe that could come to have it's advances when something occurred. He really hoped Sharpay would agree to go out with him. Because he was planning on asking her. Big plans.

There was a soft knock on the door, and he turned around to find his mother there, looking curious.

"Hi…" he whispered, waving her nearer, "This is Sharpay. She'll make a much better impression when she's awake."

His mother laughed a little, taking the girl in. "Wow, she's beautiful. What is wrong with her?"

"I don't know." Troy admitted, shrugging his shoulders, "And I don't care. I still love her."

"You love her?"

"Yeah…" Troy trailed off, kissing her hand, "I really do."

Mrs. Bolton smiled, and hugged her son close to her, "We'll see about that. Maybe once she wakes up, you should invite her over. Then I can meet her properly. I bet she's a really sweet girl. Are you ready to go home?"

"I don't want to leave, but Ryan and I are coming back tomorrow." Troy said, "That's okay, right?"

"As long as you still do your school."

"Of course I do." Troy said. He stood up and looked at Sharpay again. Then he kissed her cheek, "See you tomorrow Shar."

Then he turned around and left the room with his mom.

--

"Hi Ryan. This is Gabriella. What happened to Sharpay? Everyone at school is really worried, and I thought I'd call you and ask. But since you're not answering, I bet you're really busy. I just want to let you know, we hope she's okay. Tay and me… and all the other students who were in the auditorium. Mrs. Darbus told us not to tell anyone about it, but I know words have slipped out anyway, so be prepared for questions at school tomorrow. I guess Sharpay's not coming, or…? Anyway, I'll hopefully talk to you soon. Bye!"

Ryan replayed the message for the thousandth time. She'd really called to ask how Sharpay was doing. That meant, she did care. That she didn't hate Sharpay.

Maybe Sharpay would like this when she woke up.

Like a light in the middle of every other dark thing.

He knew she'd hate that everyone at school knew, but that was something Ryan couldn't stop from happening. And Sharpay wouldn't have to deal with them in a couple of weeks. He'd be the one who would have to take it until she came back to school. He knew he couldn't tell them what was wrong, Sharpay would kill him.

Ryan grabbed his cell, knowing that he should call Gabriella, and talk to her. He quickly dialled her number, and waited for her to pick up.

Yup, the end of another chapter. I hope this was ok, and not too boring? Please review me again, and I'll love you ;p

And I've totally forgotten my Friends quotes, so here comes the first one;

Rachel: Yeah, you know what we should all do? We should play that game where everyone says one thing that they're thankful for.

Joey: Ooh-ooh, I! I am thankful for this beautiful fall we've been having.

Monica: That's very nice.

Chandler: That's sweet, Joey.

Joey: Yeah, the other day I was at the bus-stop and this lovely fall breeze came in out of nowhere and blew this chick's skirt right up. Oh! Which reminds me, I'm also thankful for thongs.

Well then, take care, you all; tootles, Stessa H. (with love for you all)