Title: Dance from the Heart (4/?)
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.
0o0o0o
The meal was possibly the fanciest one the hospital had ever seen inside its sterile doors. Ryan had brought over the Evan's best picnic set along with Sharpay's favorite Chinese take-out, creating a spread of fine china and dim sum over the end of her bed with a mini-juice bar on her tray table, crystal glasses at the ready.
Sharpay delicately speared a dumpling as Ryan poured her another sparkling water. "Dad called," she said, taking a sip of her drink. "He's going to Singapore until Christmas."
"Yeah, I heard," Ryan said, playing with his food. He'd had a huge argument with his father the night before on that very subject. He'd accused Vance of running away from something he couldn't fix or control with his money and his father had stared Ryan down with fury in his eyes but it hadn't stopped him from leaving the next morning on the first flight out.
Sharpay shrugged. "It's not much different than having him here." She poked at her food with a pair of porcelain chopsticks, one more of Ryan's surprise gifts. "Mom told me today that she's started group therapy, to help her deal with the trauma."
Ryan fought hard not to roll his eyes. "Oh, god ..."
"They tried to give me a therapist here and I told them to go give it to someone who needs it." Sharpay's mouth twisted derisively as she blindly stabbed at her plate, the sticks going tick-tick-chick against the china. "It's like everyone's expecting me to go crazy or something. It's like they think I can't deal with things." Eyes flashing, she looked searchingly at Ryan. "You know I can deal with this, right?"
"You're the strongest person I know," Ryan replied carefully. He looked down at his plate, not really seeing anything. "But no one would think less of you if you needed someone to talk to. It's not like losing the Star Dazzle award. This is ... this changes your whole life, Shar. It's not easy and you don't have to pretend to be strong when you're not feeling that way."
Her voice turned cold. "I don't need therapy. I'm fine." Shakily, she pushed her plate away. "I'm not hungry anymore. Could you get rid of this?"
Quickly, he gathered the plates, scraping them clean before tossing them haphazardly back in the basket. "Okay." He stole a glance at her, watching as she struggled to push herself back onto the bed, her balance thrown off by the lack of leverage from her left leg. For a second he debated helping her, but thought better of it. The therapists had pulled Ryan aside and warned him -- the more she did on her own, the better off she'd be in the long run.
Still, it was hard watching her struggle, seeing how tired she looked from such a minor activity. She flopped back onto her pillows, gasping for air, staring at the ceiling. "Okay, this sucks. Is that what I'm supposed to be admitting right about now?"
"I don't know. You have to be honest about how you feel. This does suck, there's no two ways about it." Ryan settled down into his chair. It was an overnight fold-out, kindly provided for him by one of the orderlies who'd looked after him during his own stay. He took up the remote and began flipping channels aimlessly, stopping on Dancing With the Stars. "Hey, the season's not over yet. We can still catch the end."
A strange look came over Sharpay's face as the dancers twirled on the screen above her. "Turn it off," she ordered, her face suddenly pale.
Ryan looked at her curiously. This was one of their favorite shows. She never let him even go to the bathroom while it was on except during commercials. "But ..."
"I asked you to turn it off." An edge of hysteria to her voice and Ryan quickly switched the channel to baseball. "Thank you," she muttered, sounding oddly breathless.
"Sure, sis." He looked worriedly at her. She was breathing hard, biting back tears and he couldn't figure out exactly why. It could be one of a hundred things; the rigors of physical therapy, the pain of the injury ... being stuck in this miserable place. He was trying his best to make things easier for her but there was only so much he could practically do.
The Diamondbacks scored a run and he settled back to watch the game, keeping one eye on Sharpay who slowly began to relax and drift off to sleep. At least baseball would bore her into a good nap, he thought, turning the volume down.
Eventually, he passed out into a fitful sleep, filled with disturbing dreams of him and Sharpay dancing, both of them out-of-sync, with him missing all the steps.
0o0o0o
School went by as slowly as ever, lightened a little by lunching with the Wildcats who were amusing for the most part, when they weren't 'accidentally' shooting ketchup out of the packets at his expensive polo shirts. Chad in particular made him laugh, talking loudly through a mouthful of food, gesticulating wildly with a juice in one hand and a fork in the other.
Ryan never had any idea what he was so worked up about all the time -- the cheeks full of mashed potatoes would have necessitated a translator, anyway -- but that didn't matter. The team's constant state of happy excitement distracted him and when it became too much, there was always the geek table with their odd, quiet discussions that he never had to join; Gabriella made sure of that.
It was all well and good enough, until Gabriella turned to him and asked "Will Sharpay be back before the Harvest Dance?"
Ryan thought for a moment. The Harvest Dance was a casual school tradition, not as fraught as the yearly musical, but as always, he and Sharpay took it seriously enough, putting all their hardest moves into a single dance for the event, turning an ordinary school social into a 'must-see' event, with one show-stopping number. "When is that?" he asked, fumbling for his handheld and scrolling through its electronic calendar.
"Six weeks," another girl piped in. "This year's theme is "renewal". Something about celebrating fall as a precursor to life instead of ..." She paused at the confused look on Ryan's face. "I think they're just trying to make fall cool. Or something like that."
Gabriella bit her lip, looking suddenly uncomfortable. "Never mind, Ryan. Forget I mentioned it. You and Sharpay have so many other important things on your mind besides a silly dance."
"A silly dance?" Ryan drew himself up, feeling oddly offended. In his own way he was as proud as Sharpay of what they'd accomplished together on East High's many stages and wasn't very fond of all those hours -- years -- of work being derided, even as gently as he knew Gabriella meant it. With a shrug, he gathered his tray and bag. "Sharpay's being scheduled for release in another three weeks, pending her last few fittings. I don't see why we won't be at the dance."
Everyone at the table brightened except Gabriella who looked abashed and embarrassed at the same time. "That's great, Ryan! Oh my God, we can't wait to see you both there."
"With that, I bid you all a good afternoon," he said with a short tip of his hat. He walked off hurriedly, still bristling and not sure why.
Until it hit him.
There would be no killer number for him and Sharpay this year at the Harvest Dance. There would be no more dance numbers of any kind, for any school event; he wasn't even sure she could do a slow waltz on her new leg.
The shock of this revelation nearly made Ryan drop his tray. A cold chill ran down his spine as he suddenly remembered Sharpay's miserable reaction to 'Dancing With the Stars' and damn it to hell, how could he have possibly been so blind? So incredibly blind and stupid?
Oh, God ...
Tossing the untouched remains of his lunch in the trash, Ryan hit the speed-dial for his chauffeur. "Jack, how soon can you be here?" he asked hurriedly, opening a side door with his shoulder, pushing his way to the empty campus outside. He still had three more classes left but as far as he was concerned the day was over. "Yeah, I know it's early but I really need to get to the hospital pronto. Okay. You can? That would be great. I'll be waiting for you."
Flipping the phone shut, he strode to the parking area on shaking legs. True to his word, Jack pulled up less than fifteen minutes later and Ryan threw himself in the back, holding his head in his hands the entire ride. He didn't remember running up to Sharpay's room, but he'd never forget the look on her face when she saw him, their twin telepathy never stronger.
Her eyes were already ringed with red, sorrowful, as if she knew. "It just hit you, didn't it?" she said quietly, her mouth trembling.
That made the dam break and Ryan fell into her arms, sobbing as she held on tightly, silent tears slipping down, her shaking fingers running through his hair. She shouldn't be the one that comforted him, he thought wildly, unable to make it stop -- to make it better.
To make his sister whole again, which was impossible.
To make her spirit whole again, which seemed as far out of reach as the sun.
0o0o0o
tbc ...
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