"So you have everything you need?" Troy asked for what felt like the hundredth time, but he didn't care as he needed to know that Gabriella would be okay.
He looked up waiting for her response as it had been two days since the accident and nothing had changed with Anna. The surgery went well and now she was in a coma as the doctors said it was all up to her when she would wake up.
He looked Gabriella over as she sat in a chair, pulled up to her mothers bed at the end with her school books in front of her. He was sitting right next to her, holding her hand, slowly running his thumb over her knuckles as she just stared forward and down at the books.
He had to go to school on Thursday and Friday while Gabriella stayed at the hospital with her grandma for she insisted that Troy just bring her homework with him since he would be stopping by after basketball practice to check up on her, and she only had a small headache as the vomiting stopped the first night and her eyes adjusted to the lights again.
"…yeah. Thanks." She turned her head and Troy looked sadly at her. Something was bothering her, but he just figured it was her mom's situation; he had no idea that it was something else mixed in with that.
He saw the cut on her forehead as there was no small bandage on it anymore and he lightly reached up his hand and traced it as Gabriella leaned her head into his touch. "I don't want to go." He said as he knew he had to leave within five minutes or else he would be late to warming up for the second playoff game.
Gabriella's soft brown eyes bored into his blue ones and he held her gaze. He heard Gabriella sigh softly as her delicate mouth opened to speak. "I'll be listening on the radio Wildcat and I'll see you tomorrow."
Troy nodded his head, but he was still worried. Ever since the accident he had become even more protective of her and barely left her side when he came after basketball practice and school.
Gabriella offered him a small breakable smile as it seemed to him the past couple of days that everything about Gabriella was so fragile. The way she moved seemed like she could just collapse right there, the way she was so small and brittle made her like glass that you had to be careful with, and the way her eyes dropped a couple of shades with sadness weighing them down.
Gabriella must have seen the uncertainty in his eyes as she tentatively reached up and brushed his cheek slowly; caressing the skin, "You'll do great." Her voice picked up several notches of enthusiasm as encouragement was laced within also. She offered him a smile which melted his insides and made his heart beat faster. "For me?" She asked sweetly in a whisper and he felt himself nod his head. He would do anything for her.
"For you." He confirmed with a nod of his head again. Gabriella pulled back as his hand that was resting on her cheek dropped down and the hand that was on his cheeks moment before pulled back as she looked down and straight again at the three books in front of her containing her homework.
He saw the time and knew that it was time to go. "Gabi, I have to go." He informed her as he stood up and stretched a little from sitting down for two hours straight. He saw her head nod with her curls bouncing a little and his heart broke at just seeing her defeated form. "I love you." He whispered in her ear and pressed his lips against her cheek, longing to kiss her on the lips, but he hadn't done that since she woke up two days ago as Gabriella had been a little too preoccupied to kiss, and he wasn't going to push her.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his car keys and waited a second to see if Gabriella would respond to him.
"…I love you too." Her distant voice said as she turned in her seat and he swore that he saw a flash of fright flash through her brown eyes. Ever since the accident he saw this in her eyes and he always wondered what it meant. He followed her eye line and saw her staring at the keys in her hands. "Drive safe, okay?" She asked as if he wouldn't already.
He nodded now understanding what was wrong. He knew she wasn't supposed to drive since her concussion because of her head ache and her body was still sore from it, but she also now had a fear which he wished he could take away. "I promise. Uh, I got to go, but I'll call you." He said as Gabriella just nodded and he walked out of the room silently.
When Troy entered the locker room he saw almost everyone in there except his dad who was probably in his office making sure he had every play perfected for his team. Troy past various people before making it to his locker and each guy greeted him with a nod of the head, clap on the back, or a 'hey'. And all Troy did was nod his head at them with a straight face.
He rounded a corner and saw his best friend already without a shirt on. "Hey man. How's Gabs?" Chad asked right away as him and Troy did their guy shake.
He started unbuttoning his polo as he felt his tan muscular shoulders go up and then down in a shrug. He chucked his shirt down on the bench and unzipped his duffel bag that he brought with him. "She's doing…okay." Troy said unsurely thinking back over the past couple of days. "She doesn't really talk about it. You know?" Troy said nonchalantly even though it was getting under his skin in the form of worry. He wanted to be that person she'd confide in, if only he knew other things were on her mind also.
"Don't sweat it man." Chad clapped him on the bare shoulder as Troy slid his jersey on over his head. "My cousin was in an accident two years ago and he didn't talk about it for a couple of months." Troy knew Chad was trying to make him feel better, but Troy just didn't believe it.
"But Gabi's a girl." He pointed out as Chad rolled his eyes.
"I would hope she's a girl or else you're gonna have to come clean about something." Chad joked hoping it would put a smile on Troy's face.
Troy now rolled his eyes at his best friend's little joke. "Aren't girls supposed to want to talk about things? It's not like her to bottle her feelings. She usually just…I don't know." Troy trailed off quietly as he finished getting his shorts on and zipped up his duffel bag and tossed it in a locker.
"Just give her time." Chad advised. "Let her come to you if she really wants help or needs it." Chad added as he gave Troy a look and Troy looked back at him confused.
"What?" He asked as the two of them heard Troy's father's voice call out and ask the boys to hurry it up.
They both walk forward and out from behind the lockers to where his father was standing, waiting for a couple of boys so they could head out for warm ups.
"You know what I mean." Chad pointed out as Troy really had no idea what his best friend was getting at. Chad seemed to be able to read Troy's confused mind as he continued, "You know, don't make her tell you what's wrong and especially if nothing is wrong in the first place and she's just shaken up still."
"I would never make her talk if she didn't want too." Troy defended himself quickly as he didn't miss a beat. Is that what his best friend thought of him? Of some guy who made his girlfriend do things?
"I know." Chad said quickly trying to make sure that Troy understood where he was coming from. "I know." He repeated. "Just make sure that you remember there might not be something wrong, things might just be a little overwhelming. Just don't jump to conclusions."
Troy nodded his head. He could do that. But something in his gut was telling him something else was wrong. She had become a little more distant than what she was Wednesday afternoon when she woke up.
"Let's go Wildcats!" Troy's dad announces as Troy's blue eyes look somewhat dimmer and catch onto his father's light blue ones and he sees that his dad tilts his head to the side somewhat, indicating that he wanted to talk to Troy off to the side.
Troy was at the beginning of the line, as others behind him wait for him to rush out of the locker room and out onto the court that held their fans as it was a home game and their next game would be away.
Troy slips out of the line and his eyes catch Chad's who's right behind him and Chad looks at him curiously. "Chad, lead them out." Jack announces as Chad shrugs and rushes out of the room, doing the famous Wildcat cheer.
Troy walks over to where his dad was standing in his suit with a clipboard in hand and looks at him curiously. What could his dad want right before a playoff game?
"How you doing son? You don't look too well." His dad's voice was laced with concern as Troy looks down at the ground, knowing his dad was right. He wasn't getting that much sleep worrying about Gabriella, but he just made himself think about her situation and realized his wasn't nearly as bad as hers.
He looks up and shrugs. "Thanks dad." He says sarcastically, trying to lighten the mood with a forced chuckle. "But…I could be better." He admits as his dad claps him on the back.
"Anything I can help you with?" His dad asks as Troy shakes his head.
"I think only one person can." He sees his dad nod, showing that he understood what Troy meant as he patted Troy on the back again. "I'm gonna get out there." Troy says as Jack nods once more.
"I'll meet you. I just have to grab one more thing, and son…" Troy turned his head as he stopped in the doorway. "Things will get better. I promise."
Troy nodded with a small smile as he remembered the promise he made Gabriella. He was going to get a hold of his weird mood and thoughts of something else on Gabriella's mind and use them to help him win this game. He was going to beat whatever team they were playing and follow through with his promise.
Gabriella looked down at the German sentence in front of her and even though it was more of a freshman class since it was only German one and Gabriella was taking it for fun, she still did not want to do homework. Her mind felt all mixed up right now. It kind of felt like she was a book and someone put her back in the wrong spot and now she had no idea what to do.
She heard the steady beeping of the machine hooked up to her mother, indicating that was a good thing as she laid peacefully in bed. Her chest moving up and down normally, hair in her natural curls when she usually always straightened it.
"Danforth passes to Baylor down low and Baylor passes back to Bolton who's past the three point line…and he scores!" Gabriella barely registers what the guy is announcing on their school radio station as she scoots closer to her mom in her seat and picks up her hand.
She would do anything to take back what she told her before the accident. If she would've known that this would have happened she would change so many things that would make them avoid this whole situation.
She wouldn't have opened her mouth at that moment and fight with her mother. She wouldn't have driven to school as she was angry, even though that had nothing to do with it and the person who hit them was drunk, presumably just getting out of a bar.
"I'm gonna make this up to you. I promise." Gabriella whispered in a tired voice.
"Cross takes the ball down the court. The other team is pressing and he passes it off to Bolton…"
Gabriella looks at her mother as she wipes one of the curls off of her face and puts it behind her ears. She had a decision to make as she knew Troy didn't deserve to be dragged along. She needed to concentrate and she knew that wasn't going to happen if she had a boyfriend right now, and it wouldn't be fair to him that she would drag him along. He deserved better than that and she wanted the best for the person she loves.
And even though she loves him, she loves her mom too. She was determined to make her proud and that meant doing anything.
Gabriella sighs dejectedly as she squeezes her mom's hand tighter. "How about you just move your little pinky and let me know you can hear me." Gabriella suggests even though in the back of her mind she knew that her mother wasn't going to respond until she woke up for sure, and the doctors said it could be days to weeks until she does.
"So I need your help," Gabriella starts as she wished her dad or grandma was there to listen to so they could give her advice. But her dad was at work, clearing out his schedule for the next couple of days so he could spend some time with her and her grandma was at home, calling all Anna's cousins and Aunt and Uncles to let them know what happened. She was also staying with Gabriella until Anna woke up and was on her own two feet again as Carlos offered to take Gabriella too, but Gabriella was barely home anymore so it wouldn't matter and in a couple of days she could try dance again.
"Bolton goes to shoot, but oh!…He's fouled and down on the ground, getting up slowly. He gets two free throws."
Gabriella smiles sadly down at her mother. "I need to know what it felt like not being able to dance anymore." Gabriella stated as her mind was split in two. Part of her just didn't want to dance, but that part was very little now. The other part of her only wanted to dance because of her mother and that outweighed almost anything.
"But in order to dance for you…I need to be concentrated and obviously our whole fight two days ago was about me not being concentrated enough on the bigger picture: My future." Gabriella said slowly as she shut her eyes. Why did this have to be so confusing? She loves Troy, what more is there? But then again, she loves her mom too and if her mom's in a coma, what if she doesn't get another chance to make it up to her?
"And it's half time Wildcat fans. The score is 37-30 with the Wildcats having the upper hand. I'm Mark…"
"I think I found a way to make you proud again, and I'm just afraid that Troy can't be apart of that. It's not fair if I'm always dancing and gone for him to be just following me and making it work. I'd be dragging him along and he has his own future to look after too as the Championships are coming up and there's no doubt that there's going to be scouts there."
Gabriella stared intently at her mother. "Just give me a sign of what to do." Gabriella pleaded as she didn't hear her cell phone vibrating from where it was sitting on top of the stack of homework Troy brought with him that day.
She looked at her mother one last time before dropping her hand and getting up and heading over to the chair that was in the corner of the room, about five feet away from the bed and grabbed the white afghan that her grandmother brought that day just incase Gabriella got cold, but Gabriella knew that her grandma was just trying to keep herself busy without breaking down and showing that she was actually worried.
Gabriella sat down in the same chair as she just watched her mother. "You know…" Gabriella spread the blanket over herself and tried to get as comfy as possible. "if I knew Eric's phone number I'd call him."
Gabriella's eyes drooped shut for a second before she forced them open again. "I know you still love him. Your love is just like mine and Troy's. It's real…" Gabriella trailed off as her eyes drooped shut again and this time she let them stay shut as she was running on lack of sleep and knew that sleeping in a chair wasn't going to do any good to her sore body, but it was better than being at home and feeling like she was going crazy.
"The high is wearing down as it has been twenty minutes since the Wildcats have won their second playoff game…"
Troy knocked lightly on the door before hearing no answer and that almost worried him. He had called several times, but received no answer. He had cut his shower time short to rush over to the hospital to make sure that everything was okay. He remembered what Jake told him the previous day and how Gabriella was really hurting, but Troy didn't need to be told twice as anyone could see how hurt she was.
The basketball captain opened the door slowly and walked in. He knew that it was almost selfish to feel happy, but what he saw almost brightened his day. He saw Gabriella sleeping soundly in a chair and her phone sitting on the pile of books.
He shut the door behind himself and walked over to her. He wanted to comfort her and even though she was asleep, he knew she was still hurting.
He gently scooped her up and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. She stirred a little, but he quickly sat down and put her in his lap.
Her head perked up a little as she looked around tiredly and planted her head on his shoulder again, and Troy guessed she didn't even register that someone moved her.
"Troy?" Her voice called out a little and Troy knew he guessed wrong.
His hand gently rubbed up and down her back soothingly and he shushed her. "Shh…just go back to sleep baby." He whispered. "Everything's okay."
Gabriella snuggled deeper into his chest and he held her closer. "God I love you." Gabriella whispered as she trailed off quietly and fell into a slumber.
"I love you too."
Author's note--So review and tell me what you think. This story is almost done as I only have four or so chapters left. And I have a trailer out for my new story which I'm starting once school ends called, Love In Disguise. Check it out and leave me a review on that too. Thanks--