Okay, so I received a few comments that the last chapter I had posted was abrupt and lackluster. So, I reread it, agreed and decided to rewrite the ending. There should definitely be a few more chapters after this. I'm guessing one or two. So let me know what you think!

Against All Odds
If You're Gone

Troy felt lost after he had been rushed out of Gabriella's room. He stood there, facing the door to her room for the next ten minutes, unsure of what to do. Only twenty feet away from him, Gabriella was dying. He saw it. The look in the doctors' and nurses faces. The line running straight across her heart monitor and the loud screeching noise that accompanied it. And he didn't know what to do. He thought back to all the times he had promised her he would save her. From that day at the after party, he had promised himself that no harm or pain would come to Gabriella Montez. And he had failed.

His body had, unbeknownst to him, begun to shake. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see a nurse standing behind him.

"Sir, are you okay?"

Troy stared at her.

"Sir, you're shaking and you look really pale. Are you feeling okay?"

Troy continued to stare at her, before breaking out in a run down the hallway. He could hear the nurse calling after him, but his legs didn't stop, taking him to a place he wasn't even sure of yet.

Minutes later, when he had finally stopped running, he realized he was standing in the chapel inside of the hospital. He fell to his knees and stared up at the large cross on the wall.

"You can't have her." He said, the tears falling from his eyes. "Please, just don't take her yet. She does so much good down here, and she's so special to all of us. Please, just don't take her from us yet."

He allowed the rest of his body to fall into a heap on the floor, and only every so often would look up that cross and plead some more.

Isabella was lost in a world of her own. Hours before she had found herself hanging on to the hand of her daughter's boyfriend, using any strength he had as her own. It almost felt like the closer she could get to Troy, the closer she could get to her precious Gabi. She knew that this was hard on him as well. Hell, this was hard on every single person in this room, but nothing matched that look of defeat and despair in Troy's eyes. The once rich cerulean blue eyes were now a dark and dismal gray.

But then Troy had left, and here Isabella was alone silently praying to whomever would listen to her.

"Isabella Montez?" she heard a voice call out and looked up to see Dr. Moyer standing in the waiting room. She quickly pushed herself up off the chair and met him at the far side of the room.

"Is everything okay?" She asked in a shaken voice.

The doctor's eyes told her everything. "We almost lost her there for a moment."

"What?" It was the only thing Isabella could manage to say.

"Her heart gave out, and we did an emergency surgery and saw there was some internal bleeding as well. But after the surgery and resuscitation Gabriella's body began to react to some of the tests we ran on her. It looks like she's going to be okay."

This time, Isabella couldn't find any words to say and threw her arms around the doctor. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

She pulled away, and turned around looking for Troy and then remembered he had been in the room with Gabriella. "Where-where's Troy?" She asked turning back to Dr. Moyer. "He was in the room with Gabriella."

"He had to leave the room once the monitor signaled. He didn't come back here?"

Chad had been sitting close enough to Isabella to hear that Gabriella was going to be okay. His heart swelled at the fact that one of his best friends was going to make it, but then it darkened at the words "Where's Troy?"

He was currently walking down a corridor, knowing exactly where Troy had disappeared to. It was only several years ago that it was he who was in this dark place and Troy was the one lifting him up off his feet.

As he rounded the corner into the chapel, his thoughts were confirmed by the sight of his best friend in a huddled mess up in front of the first set of pews.

"How'd you know I was here?" He heard Troy ask in a voice that he had never heard Troy use before. It was ragged and small, almost childlike, and weak, Chad could hear the fear and hopelessness, and he knew that Troy was giving up.

"I spent every day in this place when my mom was sick. I pretty much thought it was over. I had given up hope even before she did. You remember that?"

Chad waited a few moments for Troy to respond, and after hearing nothing, he continued. "But it was you who found me here. It was you who convinced me that she needed me to get through it. And guess what Troy? You were right. So you need to get up off this floor and go back to Gabriella."

For the first time, Troy looked up and his eyes met with Chad's. "I can't Chad. I was trying to be strong. But then, the sound and all the doctors. Chad, what if she doesn't make it?"

Chad watched as fresh tears gathered in Troy's bloodshot eyes. "Troy, the doctors just told Ms. Montez there was a really good chance she'll pull through this. And when she does, do you think Gabriella wants to see you here? A huddled mess on the floor? Hell no. She's going to need you to be strong. She's going to need you to be there for her. Not because she'll be in pain, but for a lot more reasons. Because of what Tim did to her. He took something from her, and she'll need your help to get it back. She's going to need that person who gave her the strength to sing, who stood behind her when no one else would." Chad's voice was strong and powerful. He knew that he not only needed to help Gabriella, but he needed to help Troy as well. "You hear me?"

Troy looked back at the cross behind him before turning and facing Chad, slowly nodding his head. "Yeah. I hear you."

"Then why are we still here?"

With a new found confidence, Troy stood up off the ground. "I don't know."

And with that, the two boys set off down the hall.

Once Troy had reappeared in the lobby with his friends and family, he was filled in on all the details the doctor had told Ms. Montez earlier. It seemed that Gabriella was reacting well to the medicines, and they all really believed she would pull through it. It was just a matter of her waking up, and it was something that would come when her body and mind were ready for it.

So they sat in the lobby and waited for news. Any news. It was almost five in the morning, and the toll of yesterday's were beginning to show on all the faces in the room. None of them had slept, and hardly moved from their seats they currently obtained.

Isabella's eyes, much like every other person's in the room, had barely left the TV screen in front of her. The news had been playing all night, showing different accounts of yesterday's events - everything from pictures to videos that different people had obtained. She wasn't sure why none of them had changed the channel. It was almost as if they needed the TV to tell them what had happened was really real. That her daughter really was fighting for her life just a few yards down the hall. And so she remained transfixed to the TV in front of her.

"I think you should all go home and get some rest." She said with a kind voice, her eyes still watching the television. "Gabriella wouldn't want any of you putting yourself through this."

For several moments, no one responded.

"I know that I only speak for myself when I say this Ms. Montez," Taylor said softly. "But there's no way I'm leaving until I know she's okay. If I go home, the only thing different I'll be doing is calling the hospital every ten seconds to see if there's any change. So it's probably easier if I just stay here."

Isabella smiled at the young girl. She looked around at all the other teenagers who nodded their heads in agreement. It seemed that the entire group would be staying.

"Ms. Montez?" Everyone's heads shot over to wear the doctor was currently standing. Isabella stood up.

"Gabriella's awake."