Standard disclaimer applies.

Note: I decided to make Sharpay the elder of the twins because…well, she just seems like the bossy elder sister type (am speaking from experience here, so I should know).


Heart of the Game
Part VII


"A…a stroke? You must be joking!"

"I'm afraid that I'm not, Mr. Bolton."

"B-But, it isn't possible," Troy's mother hiccoughed, hands covering her mouth as tears made their way down her ashen face. "He's only seventeen years old. How is that possible?"

"That is one of the most common misconceptions I'm afraid. Illnesses don't differentiate between ages or gender. Strokes can strike patients as young as those still in the womb. Especially ones with a long history of health problems. Does your son have any previous health anomalies? Such as hypertension or heart problems?"

Too overwhelmed to speak, Jack could only shake his head.

"Is he going to be all right?" Chad gulped, silently hugging himself as he found himself wording out the one question that was on everyone's mind, but they were too afraid to voice.

"That much is uncertain; we have him on medication to help stop the bleeding and to ease the pressure on his brain, but we will still have to conduct an MRI to see how much proportion of the brain was affected. The human brain still remains the most delicate and complicated part of the human body, and I'm afraid that there is no test yet available that can tell exactly how much or which part had been affected as the result of injury."

"In your personal opinion…" speaking in a voice just a little louder than a whisper, Mrs. Bolton locked eyes with the doctor, as if attempting to pry the truth out of him as she verbalised her question. "His taking this drug…this…whatever's happening to him…what chance does he have?"

The doctor exhaled, breaking eye contact. Deep down, he knew that she would ask this question, everyone asked this question. But it never made the answering any easier. After all, how do you tell the parent that there was chance that they would have to bury their child. How can you?

"Troys' condition, at the moment, is stable, but he isn't out of the woods yet. Like I said, the nature of the brain and the way it is made up, it is almost impossible to decipher how serious an injury or a result of a stroke had effected it. In Troys case, the substance that he'd consumed, when taken within a short time span of caffeine had caused pressure to build up in one of the fragile brain vessels and this led to the stroke. When someone suffers a stroke, it is almost impossible to tell just which part of the brain was damaged; there have been cases where patients suffer almost no side-effects. But for the rest, it could leave patients with partial or full paralysis of the limbs. Sometimes the effect on the brain is too much and patients remain in a permanent vegetative state."

"Permanent vege…a coma?" Gabriella's voice hitched as she snuggled closer into Mrs. Darbus' shawl, unable to accept the fact of the doctors' words.

"I cannot give you my personal opinion, because I have none. I could say that Troy will make a full recovery when his condition takes a turn for the worse. I could say that he will be permanently effected by this, but instead, he makes a complete recovery. At the moment, we have high hopes. We will know more once the MRI results come out. I will keep you informed."

"Can we see him?" daring himself to speak, Jack didn't mask the anxiety and fear he was experiencing. His mind was a jumble of thoughts, some were his own, others were the words of the doctors' playing over and over in his mind.

The rest turned expectant eyes to the doctor who had just turned to leave.

"It is not advisable…however…only immediate family are allowed in the Intensive Care Unit."

Mrs. Bolton immediate took to her feet. She paid no heed to her husband or the rest of the people in the room as her mind could only fully concentrate on one thing; Troy. Following behind the doctor as he lead them out, she left her husband standing rigid in the middle of the waiting room.

"You kids…Darbus…" he muttered out in a daze, seemingly unable to focus on anything in particular.

"I will look after these kids, Bolton, and inform the school to what had happened. You just concentrate on your son," leaving Gabriella to sob into Sharpay's chest (the blondes' tears staining Gabriella's shirt as they slid down her face), she walked over and placed a hand on the mans' shoulder, attempting to offer some sort of comfort, no matter how miniscule it may be. "Now go and see him," she gave him a gentle nudge in the direction of the door, watching with sad eyes as his hunched shoulders disappeared behind the bend before turning back to the four stunned teenagers in her company.

"So…what now?" Chad broke the tense silence of the room, looking over his three classmates before finally resting on the plump drama teacher. "I mean, do we go back to school or something?"

"I'm staying here," Gabriella answered quickly, wiping her face with the back of her hand. "I don't care if I can't see him, I just need to be here."

"I'll stay too," Sharpay added, rubbing Gabriella's shoulder comfortingly.

"Ryan?" Mrs. Darbus looked over to the last member of the group, leaning discretely against the far end wall lost in thought.

Hearing his name being called, the younger Evans looked up, answering her wordless inquiry with a small shrug of indifference.

"All right; Ms. Montez and Sharpay will stay here, while Mr. Danforth and Ryan will accompany me back to school."

The four gave almost unnoticeable nods of agreement and the latter two walked in-step behind the teacher as she walked out, not in a particular rush, but not necessarily calmly either. The weight of the revelation was burdening down on them like an anvil as all three were plagued by the same worry for their friend, comrade and student.

Would Troy ever be the same after all this?

- - - - -

It was a tense laced lunch period in the cafeteria of East High. The news of Troy's sudden collapse had raged through the school like wild fire. By third period, rumours of his demise had spread through the grapevine, toppling the circulating belief that he'd been infected with the long eradicated Ebola virus and putting to rest the preposterous wind of him contracted HIV through unprotected sex with a Russian prostitute during the summer holidays.

The cliques gathered together in a heated debate over the subject, concocting various scenarios and causes of Troy's sudden illness, though the atmosphere over the one of the tables was anything but heated.

Members of the basketball club were gathered together at their usual table, paying no heed to the students around or those who walked up to ask questions they had no answer to. By the fourth inquiry, Zeke had snapped and this was the main cause for the apparent rift between the club and the rest of the school. Taylor had walked by a few times, thought not verbally asking, they all knew that she was looking for Chad, and from the look on her face, it was obvious that she had been hurt by Chad and Gabriella's' disregard. She'd though that at some point, she had already been included with the 'in-crowd', meaning Chad, Troy, Gabriella and her…but apparently not.

"What do you think happened?" Someone asked, feeling the amounted tension at the worry for Troy, coupled with the fact that they had been stopped from going to the hospital to see him.

The principal was currently the most hated man in the school.

"No one knows, so shut up."

"I was just asking, dude, no need to bite my head off."

"Oh, if there was head biting being planned, you would know it."

"What the hell's your problem, man?"

Then commotion at the table began. Bodies were shoved and insults flying around. Many of the students residing at the surrounding table wisely got out of the way, knowing not to get in the way of brawling club members.

"What are you two doing? Troy's in the damn hospital for god knows what reason, and you two are fighting like a couple of girls. Get your priorities straight!" Zeke decided to take a stand once and for all. His teammates were not the only ones who were worried for Troy, if anything, he'd known Troy and Chad much longer than they had. He had even more right to be stressed about the whole predicament. Cookies and soufflés be damned.

Zeke's voice of reason seemed to strike a core in the two who muttered out a silent apology and took seat; sending a wave of relieved sighs blowing across the table.

"Guys."

In the commotion, none of the boys seemed to notice the two people walking up from behind them until the one of the spoke.

"Chad!"

"How's Troy?"

"He's going to be all right, right?"

Unable to comprehend the flurry of questions being directed towards him, Chad merely raised a hand up to halt their inquiries. "We should go somewhere…less public," looking around at the expectant stares the rest of East Highs' population was casting him, Chad's gaze came to rest on his teammates who readily agreed.

"What're you buzzing around here for, Evans?"

Hearing the comment, Chad turned around to look at Ryan and the glares most of the basketball club members were shooting him. "Chill, guys. Ryan's in this as well."

Though no one seemed to be any less apprehensive towards the blonde, they all decided to let the matter drop, following Chad as he let the way out instead. Leaving the rest of the students in disappointment.

Their walk continued in silence until they reached the deserted locker room, Ryan bringing up the rear. Once all the people concerned had arrived, Chad turned around, his eyes showing the apparent exhaustion he was experiencing. He spoke in a grim voice. "I think there's something you guys need to know…"

To be continued…


Well, I can safely say that I'm proud with this story because--unlike my other two on-going stories--this one seems to be doing just that…going somewhere. So here's to hoping that this story will continue upon the path to somewhere ness on which I have set it until the very last chapter.