I don't know what you guys think of this story, so this might be the last chapter of this, plus it's getting hard to write, unless you tell me other wise. Enjoy!
4. Painful Memories
"Can you hear me?"
"Troy?"
"Are you o.k.?"
The earth spun around Troy as he attempted to open his eyes. Looking around, he noticed he was still in his car. "Wh-what happened?" He felt like he was going to throw up.
"Its o.k., we're going to get you out of here. Don't worry."
He didn't recognize the voice, but didn't care. Trying to move, he shortly found that he was pinned to the seat by the steering wheel and the roof of the car, which had caved in over him. Suddenly he was hit with the sudden realization that his mother had still been in the car. He tried to turn his head to try and see his mother, but he was trapped, not allowing him to move his head. "Mom?" He asked quietly, hoping, praying there would be an answer. There was none. Panic rose deep inside Troy as the thought of killing his mother ran through his head. This couldn't possibly be happening. It just couldn't. He shouted her name over and over, but silence always followed. The pressure surrounding his chest grew heavier as he slowly felt himself slip away.
----
"Yo, captain! Can you believe we're champions, again?!" Chad was just as excited as the rest of the team as he jumped to take a seat next to me on the bus back to East High.
"Ya, man!" We all high fived each other, celebrating the last game of our high school careers.
"WHAT TEAM?"
"WILDCATS!"
"WHAT TEAM?"
"WILDCATS!"
"WHAT TEAM?"
"WILDCATS!"
"WILDCATS!"
"GETCH'A HEAD IN THE GAME!!"
"Great game guys! I'm so proud of you all!" My dad looked immensely proud of his team. It made me feel good to know that I had pleased my father.
I grabbed the ball that Chad had been holding this whole time and spun it on my finger.
--
Troy jerked awake as he slowly started to open his eyes. Slowly, he took in his surroundings, which told him he was in a hospital. The walls were white and he could feel a tube in his nose. The tube was starting to bother him so he gently raised his arm to remove it. His attempt at moving the tube was quickly interrupted as a small gasp sounded from next to him. Quickly, he shot a glance to his left, only to see someone sitting right next to him. A flood of emotions took over him as that someone shaped out to be his mother.
"MOM!" All Troy wanted to do was throw himself out of his bed and take his mother in his arms. Instead, she leaned over and gave him a big, but gentle, hug. He couldn't help but let some tears go. After not getting an answer from her in the car, he had come to a conclusion that she was dead, and now, she was hugging him; it was all so surreal.
When they pulled away, Troy noticed irritated scratches on her face and her arm in a brace. Closing his eyes at the sight, he shook his head. "Mom, I'm so sorry, this is all my fault."
Shaking her head vigorously, she grabbed his hand and kissed it. "No, Troy, this is not your fault. You couldn't have predicted he was going to jump out in front of us, it just happened! Don't EVER blame yourself for this. Promise me."
The look in her eyes was hard and determined. There was no way his mother was going to let him get away with blaming the whole thing on himself. "I promise." They stared at each other for the longest time, before Troy came to another realization; Gabriella. "Gabriella!"
"Shh, she's fine. She just went to the cafeteria to grab something to eat. She's been here everyday, waiting for you to wake up." She slowly began to stroke his hair, calming him a bit.
Did she just say everyday? How long had he been in here for? "Days?"
His mother nodded and closed her eyes. "You've been out for 2 weeks."
Troy looked away and dreaded the question he was about to ask. "Am I, o.k.?"
The look in his mother's eyes showed him that she didn't know, but wanted the answer to be yes. "You're awake, that's all that matters."
He wanted to press the matter, to know if he really was o.k., but then again, if he wasn't, he wouldn't mind waiting to hear it. Just then, there was a soft knock at the door. Looking up, Troy looked right into the eyes of Gabriella. Her eyes were heavy and red, from crying he guessed. He couldn't imagine the pain she was going through, seeing him in the hospital, just like she had with Chad. Chad had slipped into Acoma and had had the plug pulled months later when there was no sign of him ever getting better. That was a hard time for Gabriella; he knew that, because he had been there, right next to her, praying with her that Chad would get better. They had been each others shoulder when the other was ready to collapse and never get back up. Troy began to wonder how, exactly, she had handled him leaving.
"Hey wildcat." There was weakness in her voice as she said the nickname only he had allowed her to utter. Slowly, she made her way to the other side of the bed and sat down in the seat next to the bed.
He couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was so beautiful, even in the stress she was in. "Are you o.k.?" For some reason, Troy couldn't help but feel like she had been in the accident with him, and had been in a hospital bed as well.
She gave a soft chuckle and grabbed his hand. "You're the one hooked up to all the wires, and you ask me if I'm o.k.?" Her smile was weak, but meaningful.
Troy just gave her a smile back. Before anything else could be uttered, a doctor cam in and looked right at him.
"Oh, I see you've finally awoken. I'm doctor Sanders. How do you feel?"
What a stupid question. He was just in a car accident and he asks how he was feeling. Unwilling to start trouble, Troy answered. "O.k., I guess. My neck is a little soar, but otherwise I feel fine."
Dr. Sanders removed the blanket from over Troy's feet and pulled out a pen. Troy was surprised to have not felt cold from the removal of his blanket, but thought nothing of it. "Can you feel this?" Slowly, the doctor touched the pen to bottom of Troy's foot.
"No." This started to worry Troy. Was he paralyzed?
Moving to the other foot, Dr. Sanders did the same thing. Troy shook his head. He guessed is question was answered on whether he was o.k. or not. Dr. Sanders put his Pen away and looked sympathetically at Troy. "You're not permanently paralyzed, just temporarily. There was an impact on you, causing trauma to your spinal cord."
Sighing, Troy asked another question. "Will I be o.k.?" Dreading the answer, Troy closed his eyes and awaited his fate.
Dr. Sanders tried to lighten the mood. "You should be fine. All you'll need is some therapy and good exercise, not that you really need the exercise. You're pretty well built." Troy let a smile go as his mother and Gabriella attempted to hold in their giggles.
"Don't worry. You'll be fine."
Opening his eyes, Troy asked one more question. One he knew he didn't want an answer too. "Will I ever play basketball again?"
Sighing, Dr. Sanders looked at Troy, than his mother and Gabriella. "Not this season. If you really work on your therapy, you could possibly play next season."
'Possibly' the word stuck at Troy. 'Possibly' How could this happen? If he didn't have basketball, he had nothing. He had to get better, he just had to. Nodding to show he had received the information, he turned to his mother and sighed. "I love you, but, I just need sometime to think."
She nodded understandingly and got up, motioning for Gabriella. "I love you. We'll just be right outside."
"NO, no, you should go home." He looked over at Gabriella. "You both could use some sleep. Go home, please, for me."
"Alright, Troy, I love you. Call if you need anything." He just smiled. His mom really did care for him.
"I love you too." He just smiled at them as his mom and Gabriella made their way out of the room. When they walked out, he turned his attention back to Dr. Sanders. "Honestly, how did the media handle this whole thing?"
"Well, they've been hounding the hospital since before you even showed up." He handed Troy the TV. remote to prove his point. Troy turned on the television, only to see his own face, followed by video clips of the crash. Not wanting to be reminded, he switched the TV. back off. "They're all rooting for you to get better." He pointed to things around the room, and only now had he noticed all of the get well balloons and fan memorabilia. "Also, your coach is in the waiting room as well."
Troy sighed and looked out the window. "Does he know?"
Dr. Sanders sighed. "Um, yes he does. Is that o.k.?"
Troy nodded his head. "Yeah, I don't think I could."
He nodded and started to leave the room.
"Hey." Sanders turned around and looked at Troy. "Thanks again, for everything."
As if understanding what Troy had meant, he gave a smile and walked out of the room.
Troy decided he might as well get comfortable since he was going to be here for a few more weeks.
--
Gabriella wanted to cry so bad the moment she heard the doctor tell Troy he couldn't play this season. She knew better than anyone that Basketball was his life, especially now, and taking that away from him was not something he was about to take lightly.
His mother invited Gabriella over for the night. She had said it was for dinner, but Gabriella could tell that she just wanted someone to be there with her while the only family she had left was in the hospital. Sure they both knew Troy was going to be o.k., but just the thought of a loved one being in the hospital was too much.
"O.k., so I ordered the pizza, they have 30 minutes or it's free." Gabriella tried to lighten the mood in the room, but she could still see the worry in her face. Moving over to Troy's mother, she sat down at the table and placed her arm around her shoulders. "Hey, everything will be o.k., trust me. Troy will be out of the hospital in a few weeks and then everything can go back to normal with you two."
His mother gave her a weak smile and looked away. Getting an idea, Gabriella went to the freezer and pulled out 2 containers, grabbed 2 spoons and sat them in front of Troy's mother. "O.k., so I have vanilla and chocolate ice cream that's just dieing to be eaten." Gabriella waved one of the spoons in his mother's face and giggled as she grabbed it and took the vanilla ice cream.
"You know me all too well." Giving a smile, Gabriella took the chocolate ice cream and dug in. "You know, it's been a long time since I've seen you over here, Gabriella." Gabriella gave another weak smile and continued eating the ice cream. "It's nice to see you again."
The two women smiled at each other and stuffed their faces with the ice cream while talking about anything and everything. From Johnny Depp, to wall colors. Troy's mother had been wanting to re do the kitchen for years, but never had the energy and will power to actually do it.
"Well, I still think that Captain Jack Sparrow is hotter than Edward Cullen." Gabriella was dead set on Captain Jack, though, who wouldn't a man that sparkles in the light?!
"Ya, o.k. Gabriella. You can have Jack plunder your treasure, while Edward busts my head boards." They both erupted into fits of laughter.
"This is such a weird conversation to be having." Who has this kind of conversation with their old friend's mother? Gabriella apparently.
"Oh, come on, we're both grown women, we can take it!" Ad for once, Gabriella felt like a real women, no longer a depressed child.
Glancing over at the clock, Gabriella noticed it shown 5:30 a.m. "Wow, it's really early. I don't think I've stayed up this late since high school!"
"No kidding!" They laughed again. Troy's mother stood up. "Well, I'm tired and want to be there for Troy in the morning, well later, so, I'm gonna hit the sack. Feel free to use the guest bedroom. It's already made up."
"Thanks ."
"Please, call me Lydia"
Gabriella smiled. "O.k. Night Lydia."
"Good night, Gabriella."
With that, Gabriella headed over towards the guest bedroom and layed down in the bed, knowing she wouldn't get any sleep. As long as Troy was in the hospital, there would be no sleep for her.
SOOO, what you think??!!!??!! I didn't personally like this chapter, but they will get better, at least I think so, so ya. Let me know what you think, I highly appreciate it!! SuzzieD : ]