Title: Dance from the Heart (2/?)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Angst, Drama
Characters: Mostly Sharpay and Ryan, the others show up on occasion.
Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or these characters. I'm just playing around.
Summary: An accident, a struggle and redemption.
0o0o
Sharpay was still in ICU when Ryan slipped out of his bed, pulling his IV pole behind him. An orderly caught him almost right away, but once Ryan explained, he simply escorted him to the unit, making sure his lines didn't tangle.
The nurse on duty ushered Ryan inside, holding up five fingers while nodding at the clock. Five minutes was all he would get but it was better than nothing. His heart froze when he saw his sister, lying directly in front of the nurses station. She looked so tiny and lost in the huge hospital bed, surrounded by wires and tubes, her long, gorgeous hair stringy even while carefully brushed back in a loose ponytail. Her face was still bruised, but that wasn't the worst of it.
Ryan's throat tightened when he saw the outline of the sheet below her left knee lying flat against the mattress. He quickly looked up to Sharpay's face instead. "Hey," he whispered and was heartened to see her smile weakly at him.
"Hey." She held up her arms to him and he bent down into her embrace, holding her as tightly as he dared. "I was worried about you," she said with uncharacteristic calmness. She squeezed his forearm. "But you don't look any worse than usual."
A little joke and Ryan chuckled gamely. He could still sense that bit of sheet covering a missing something and he shifted uncomfortably, not knowing what to say.
Frowning, Sharpay shook her head at him. "It is what it is," she said thickly, whatever little color there was left in her cheeks draining away. "There's no point in thinking about it." She shrugged, her mouth trembling. "It's better than being dead. They said I died on the table, you know, then came back."
Ryan inhaled sharply. "Mom and Dad didn't tell me that."
"Mom and Dad are idiots," she snapped. "They're already looking at me like I'm some sort of freak."
"Oh, no ... I don't think ..." Ryan interjected, but the nurse cut him off with a touch to his shoulder. He sighed before bending to embrace Sharpay again. "I love you, sis. You know that, right?"
"Of course you do," she replied, trying to sound like her old self, but Ryan could tell her heart wasn't in it. She just looked so tired and the nurse assigned to her began to hover closely. "Come back later?"
"If I can sneak past the castle guards," he said, glancing around at the efficient staff. He blew her another kiss. "See you real soon."
"Right," she said, before turning her head and closing her eyes.
It wasn't until he was in the elevator, its automatic doors shutting the world out, that Ryan allowed himself to cry, sobbing until the light for his floor rang the doors open again.
0o0o0o
Sharpay was out of ICU and in a regular room by the next morning, sitting up in a wheelchair by the window when Ryan came to visit. There was no avoiding seeing her heavily bandaged leg, the second half of it missing just below the knee. It was neither as horrible or shocking-looking as Ryan feared it might be, like Sharpay had said, it merely was. Besides, she was still his sister, she was still alive and for these two things Ryan was far too grateful to let something like this bother him in any permanent way.
To his eyes, she was still the most beautiful sight in the world.
He sat next to her, quietly watching as she stared out the window, tracing invisible patterns on the glass with her finger. "They let me wash my hair today," she said briefly, not looking at him. "Well, one of them did it and the shampoo was awful, stinky stuff, but I guess it's better than nothing."
"I'll bring your shampoo with me when I come back."
"They're letting you out of Alcatraz?" She laughed shortly, without smiling. "Lucky you. I could be stuck her for another month or two."
"I heard. They have to make ..." He paused, hesitating. "Make your ... you know ..."
Sharpay rolled her eyes at him. "It's called a prosthesis, Ryan. They stopped using peg legs a couple of centuries ago." She blew out a long breath. "Please don't turn into another asshole like Mom and Dad are being, okay? Please? I have to have someone I can talk to who isn't going to freak out about every little thing."
Taken aback, Ryan stared at the floor. "I'm sorry, Shar."
She shrugged carelessly. "If I can deal with this, you people have no excuse not to."
There was something about her tone that made Ryan wonder if she was dealing with things as calmly as she seemed to, but he decided not to question it. "Right," he said, squaring himself up and smiling at her. "So what can I get you today? Magazines, candy ... a pink wheelchair? Your wish is my command."
At this, she gave him a genuine grin. "I wish. If you can get me a pink wheelchair you'll be the best brother in the whole world. I also want a Big Mac, no fries and a strawberry shake. Oh, and some moisturizer that doesn't smell like ass. That would be fabulous."
He bowed to her. "One moisturizer minus the ass, one Big Mac minus the fries and a chariot that's worthy. I'll be back," he said, giving her a quick kiss before leaving. Glancing back, he studied her for a long moment, noting that even wearing that shapeless blue hospital gown, without a touch of makeup and practically covered in bruises, she was still the prettiest girl he'd ever seen.
As well as the strongest and for the first time since the accident Ryan felt hopeful that maybe, someday, they'd be able to put this all in the past.
Maybe.
0o0o0o
Ryan was released a few days later with a pile of appointments for physical therapy and enough painkillers to put down a horse. His father pulled the family minivan around and Ryan suddenly began hyperventilating at the thought of getting back in a car ... any car. Stop being so stupid, he thought, but he purposefully avoided the passenger seat, letting his mother take it while he strapped himself in the minivan's far back, nervously staring at the hospital's multiple buildings.
Sharpay had been moved to the nursing home section, where she'd have the easiest access to the physical therapists and orthopedic specialists. She was going to be in there for a while the doctor warned, with more surgeries always a possibility. It took Ryan's parents a lot of convincing to get him to come back home with them, but what they didn't know is that he planned on spending the rest of his time shuttling between school and the hospital, no matter how much mileage would have to be put on their chauffeured cars.
When he'd left that morning, Sharpay was already doing some upper body lifting with small weights in the gym, sitting prettily in a bright pink wheelchair Ryan snatched off of some buried eBay listing, paying nearly double to have it delivered the previous afternoon by overnight courier. It was worth every penny to see Sharpay brighten at the sight of it and he made a mental note to buy her more fun things as soon as possible.
Clothes especially as she'd finally taken to trying to turn the hospital gowns into something more stylish using bits of crafting supplies stolen from the pediatric therapy section with help from some of the little patients who had a great giggling time strategically gluing sparkles and sequins on Sharpay's gown of the day. She even created a jaunty beret out of a surgical cap and an entire bottle of glitter, making the orderlies purse their lips at her, while they swept up the shiny detritus left everywhere in her wake.
Even her doctor had gotten into the spirit, finding a long roll of hot pink surgical wrap for use on her stump, which amused everyone in the section to no end. "It's vet wrap," he whispered to Ryan when Sharpay wasn't looking, "... but don't tell her that, please. It's the only one that comes in different colors."
He didn't tell her and it hurt like hell to leave her behind, watching her try to smile as he hugged her with the discharge papers in his hand, was perhaps the hardest thing he'd ever had to do. I'm going to miss her, Ryan thought, watching the hospital fade in the distance as they drove away.
But he'd be back, right after school, every day, until she came home. No matter how long that took.
0o0o0o
tbc..
Reviews are appreciated, thanks!