January 29th, 2013
The time ticks away on the clock. Hours and hours pass, and no sleep overcomes him. All through the day, he listens to the moans of hurt people, crying kids and babies, sickly people, and the staff frantically dealing with the overload of people. There's not one quiet moment in the hospital until night. Now, being eleven at night, everyone sleeps and the staff quietly takes breaks and caters to only a few patients at a time. Everything is quite peaceful.
Troy throws the blankets over and swings his feet over the edge of the bed. He carefully touches the bandage on his head, feeling to see if any blood has dripped through. He finds no wet spots, so therefore, he stands up and begins to pace the room. Bryan took his phone shortly after he and Keith left, just to be an asshole to Troy. There's no TV in his room because he gave it up to a little girl who had a broken leg and was screaming her head off. The TV calmed her down, and she fell asleep after that. There were no books, since the janitor came around and took them to the lobby. No way of entertainment.
He cracks the door open slightly and looks around outside. Nobody is around. Before he has a chance to close the door, the hospital phone beside his bed rings. He raises an eyebrow, but still answers it.
"Troy Bolton, would you like a visitor?"
He laughs a little, "Sure, bring 'em down."
He hangs up, chuckling, "I wonder what Keith and Bryan are going to do to me this late at night..." He quickly jumps into bed and throws the blankets aside. A small knocking sound falls upon the door.
"Come in," he says.
The door opens slightly, then all the way. It isn't who he expects.
"Gabriella, what are you..."
She must have just been released from work, because her short hair is up in a ponytail and is straightened. She still has on her work shirt and a pair of jeans. Her gorgeous eyes are bloodshot and her cheeks are slightly red, as if she's been crying. She looks weaker than the last time he saw her at school, like she's been sucked of her muscle mass.
"I heard that something happened to you," she says in a gentle voice. She doesn't move away from the door.
Troy is almost speechless just at her voice. He cannot believe that she came to visit him while he was in the hospital. She ignores him elsewhere.
"I just have a cut on the back of my head and a concussion, but I'll be fine."
"How did you do it?"
"I don't even remember. Keith and Bryan said I slipped on the ice or that I must have went unconscious all of a sudden."
She bursts into tears and turns her head to the side, "Sorry, I can't-"
"It's okay... I'm okay, don't worry about me-"
She wipes her cheeks, "How can I not worry about you?"
He chuckles a little, "I'm completely fine, there's nothing to worry about. I'll be out of here on the first of February, but I'm only in here for observation. Like I said, I will be okay."
She stands in the corner, trying to hide her tears and her pain, but Troy senses it. He knows when she is truly upset. She's not faking it. He's loved her for so long, he knew almost everything about her. It was more upsetting to him that she was scared for him.
"Gabriella, you can sit down," he reaches over and drags the chair out of the corner of the room. She glances over at it, then hesitantly walks to it. She examines it for a minute, then looks at him before taking a seat. She sets her keys on the nightstand beside Troy's bed and her purse beside the chair. He notices that she has a car key. He looks up at her with a big smile.
"You got your license?"
She looks over at her keys, "I took my test the day I turned sixteen."
"Good for you," he says.
He is taken back to a time where he was almost sixteen and Gabriella was too scared to drive. He took her on the back roads and gave her the wheel. She struggled to learn where everything was and to get over her fear, but with Troy's help, she soon got her permit and began driving all over the place with her dad. Troy loved watching her drive because she looked so free.
"I'm really sorry about your mom. She was always so nice to me and she never turned me down for anything. She was like a second mom to me."
He nods a little, "She talked about you all the time when you weren't there. She really liked you."
"I heard you dropped out," she says. "I don't see you at school anymore."
He lets out a small sigh, "I did drop out."
"And I heard that you have another girlfriend."
"I did for about three d-"
"She's pregnant, isn't she?"
An awkward silence weaves between Troy and Gabriella. He doesn't know what to say. Telling Gabriella is like telling her that he did cheat on her, but how can he possibly lie to someone he cares about so much?
"Yeah," Troy admits
She looks down at the ground and quietly says, "Oh."
Troy knows that his words just tore her apart. He remembers her talking about kids all the time. She loves kids. She always used to talk about her favorite names for boys and girls. Every time she saw a baby or a young kid, she always asked about them, wanted to play with them, wanted to be their mother. She wanted a baby more than any regular person wanted kids. What made her longings for kids so special to Troy is she wanted her kids from him, not from anyone else. She wanted to be with Troy forever, so he knows that when she thought he cheated on her, she must have been shredded. She was probably even distraught for all that matters.
"Are you keeping it?" she asks in an upset tone.
He looks at her body, which is arched over and her head hanging low. He can't lie to her.
"I was thinking about it. She doesn't want it. I only have a few weeks to decide on it, though."
A sob frees from her body. It makes Troy jump. She must not have expected it either.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she uses a hard tone.
"Let's not talk about this any more, I don't want to make you upset."
Clearly, it's too late. She has tears falling from her eyes to her jeans, and she is quick to try and rub the liquid away from them.
"It's just hard, Troy. It's really, really hard. I still cry all the time."
"Gabriella, I didn't cheat on you. Whether you believe me or not, I didn't."
"How could I not have concluded that when you ditched me and supposedly just drove her home? How suspicious is that, Troy?"
"I thought you had a ride! You KNOW I wouldn't leave you there if I thought you didn't have a ride. I fucking loved you, and I still do!"
She stands up, "Do you know how hard it was to just show up here? I just wanted to know if you were okay, and I get this again-"
Troy also stands up, "Do you still love me?"
Troy and Gabriella lock in a nasty stalemate. Their stares pierce each other and tear one another down.
Troy becomes defensive, "Answer the fucking question."
Every tear that drips from her eyes jerks another part of Troy away. He loves her so much, and watching her cry out of hurt feelings kills him. He knows that she wants to turn and run, but she's entranced in his view. There is no backing out. The truth is the only thing that will let her be free.
"I've always loved you. I never stopped loving you. You never stop loving your first love."
A tear falls from Troy's eye as well. He shakes his head.
"Then why won't you come home?"
"I don't belong with you-"
"Yes you do and you know you do."
She begins to break down. She cries out her innocence and drops to the floor. She curls up in a small ball with her knees to her chest and her head buried in them. Troy drops down to her level and places his hand on her back, unsure of her reaction. When she doesn't respond, he moves it up and down her spine. Her trembles find him and squeeze his body tighter, retching out every drop of resentment towards her that he may have. He pities her.
"I miss you so much, I just wish you would believe me. Have I ever lied to you?" he says.
She sobs loudly and shakes her head guiltily.
"I wish you would give me another chance to prove that I love you and that I would never hurt you."
From the corner of her eye, she looks at him, blinks, and then sobs again. He gives her the softest expression that he could possibly muster. She snakes her arm and grabs his arm, then pulls herself to a sitting up position. She scoots towards him and collapses into his arms, burying her head into his shirt. An entire new light fires up in Troy's heart.
"I missed you so much," Troy buries his face into her hair.
"I don't know if I can go on any longer without you," she cries.
Troy scoops her up in his arms and stands to his feet, dropping her on the bed. She moves over willingly and allows him to slide in bed beside her. He pulls her close once again, but this time, strokes her hair.
"Do you believe me?" he asks.
She gives a simple nod.
"Do you still love me?"
She nods again.
A smile rises upon his face.
Soon, both sleep peacefully.