AN: Well, here I am with another chapter of this story, when I have plenty others I should be working on. For those who have been reading, I promise I will have another chapter to "Hope Comes from Within" before I do anything else. It might still be a week or so. My boss seems to think that because school is out, I want to work all day, every day. Oh well, I need gas money.
ReviewReplies:
dreamer3097: Thanks! Skyline Romance: Thank you. X.ZaC-eFrOn-Iz-StUnNiN.X: Thanks for reading! 4-eyedDragon: Thanks for your review! Lady Zarobiti: I like Maggie too. I think she will be making an appearance again soon. Thanks for the review! a: I will update them soon! I promise! Thanks for reading! x17SkmBdrchiczxx: We've had a busy week too. I had graduation from my community college, and then mus sister had her senior prom that same night, and my other sister had to work, and a few days later I got what feels like the flu. This is a very busy time of year. I'm almost wishing for the Christmas rush. Well, thanks for always reading!
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Strength
A High School Musical Story
By LelaofBast
Chapter Five
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Gabriella's eyes glistened with tears as she held out her arms again, this time for her daughter. When Elizabeth moved close enough, Gabriella held her tight. The last time that she had held that girl, she was only an infant. Until this moment, she hadn't quite believed that her baby had grown up. Her own tears mingled with her daughter's, and she barely noticed when father backed away to give them a moment.
"You are so pretty," Gabriella said at last, wiping away tears.
"So are you," Elizabeth returned. Gabriella, wiped away her daughter's tears.
"Oh Elizabeth," she breathed, taking both of her hands. She opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. "I'm not quite sure what to say."
"Me either," Elizabeth said, sopping up fresh tears with a sleeve. "I missed you."
"I missed you too, Baby." It was silent again and Troy came closer.
"Tell your mother about school," he suggested.
"Where do you go?" Gabriella questioned, sending Troy a grateful look.
"East High," Elizabeth said, looking relieved to have a topic she could talk on without thinking about it. "I'm a Wildcat, just like Dad. I'm captain of the girl's basketball team and in a few weeks we have our championship game. West High beat us last year, but we're really pumped up now, and I think we have a shot of winning." She watched her mother. The woman was listening intently.
"What about your studies? Do you do well?" she asked as Troy pulled two tall chairs up beside the bed.
Elizabeth seated herself and then answered, "I like reading and history, but I am having a tough time in chemistry."
"Is it the math part?" During her senior year, Gabriella had used her free period to help with a tutoring program for her classmates that were not doing so well.
"Some of it," Elizabeth said, looking nauseated by the way the topic was turning. "I got really stuck when with limited reagent problems. And Dad is absolutely no help with that class."
"Hey!" Troy protested. "I tried to help you with that take-home test." Elizabeth grinned.
"And I got a 65. That is why Aunt Taylor has been tutoring me instead."
"Taylor McKessie?" Gabriella interrupted. Her heart leaped happily when she heard her daughter call her best friend "aunt." She was very glad to hear that Taylor was still around.
"Yes. She and Chad have been living in Albuquerque since he got out of the NBA. They have two little boys. They've always been there for me and Elizabeth," Troy put in. Elizabeth had pulled up a picture of the Danforth boys that had been stored on her phone. Gabby looked at it and grinned.
"I can't wait to see them."
"She'll be around before long," Troy said with a chuckle. "If I hadn't been brining Beth here today, Taylor would already be camping out. She decided to spend her day making phone calls to all of our friends and let them know about your miracle recovery."
"What else, Beth? Your father said that you sing." Gabriella noticed that her daughter blushed softly. She didn't like the attention any more than Troy had at that age.
"A little bit. I've been in a couple musicals, but just small parts. My friend Brooke is the theater-geek. She loves musicals. Tryouts are this week for the winter musical, and Brooke has been so excited, because they're doing "The Phantom of the Opera." That one is her favorite."
"Tell your mother that you are trying out too," Troy pushed.
"Daddy," she mumbled, looking even more embarrassed. Gabriella decided that her daughter was very pretty with pink cheeks. A moment later the girl looked back up. "I don't want a big part. I just like to be part of the chorus. I love the singing and dancing in the big musical numbers."
"How about boys?" Gabriella said. "Are there any special ones in your life?"
"Only one," Elizabeth said, smiling at her father again.
"Good answer," he teased, tickling her ribs. Gabriella pulled her daughter into another hug.
"You two are so close," she said. "I can't wait until I am part of this sweet little family we have here."
"You're already part of it," Beth said softly. "Dad told me all about you. I saw pictures from "Twinkle Towne," and your graduation, and even my birth. I know how much you love me and Daddy. I'm sad that I am not as close to you as I could be, but I just know we're going to fix that. I love you, Mom."
Gabriella patted the spot beside her on the bed, and Elizabeth climbed up.
"It's going to be a rough couple of months," Troy conceded, "But with a little hard work we will have you caught up in no time. It will be like you never left."
"Troy, my daughter is not going to shrink to bassinet size and let me feed her with a bottle. We can't go back in time. We have to make the best of the time we are given together. Now when you come back tomorrow, I want you to bring some photo albums and I want you to tell me about all the Christmases and Halloweens and birthdays my daughter has ever had."
"That might be a problem," Elizabeth said. "See, Dad's idea of a 'scrapbooking' is to put each set of pictures in a shoebox in one of our closets. The boxes are labeled with either the year or how old I was, but not both. It's really random, and confusing and hard to find anything."
Gabriella wasn't surprised. On the contrary, she was pleased. It meant that Troy had not completely changed since their early marriage. Every time he had folded towels, Gabriella had to rearrange them in the closet. Whenever he put away dishes, he always put the coffee mugs on the wrong shelf. Those two chores, along with putting away groceries, became things that Troy was not allowed to do.
Troy looked at Gabriella sheepishly.
"Oops?" he tried. "At least now you and Beth can put together new scrapbooks."
"That's a good idea," Elizabeth said happily. "We will all have to help, though, so everything gets put in the right order. It'll help Mom catch up."
"I can't wait," Gabriella said, settling back into the pillows.
There was a knock, then at the door. Gabriella looked up to see a tall brunette entering the room. Dr. Amanda Kilan smiled brightly at the Bolton family.
"I'm sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to check on you this morning," she said, opening a medical chart. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm wonderful," Gabriella said, grasping Elizabeth's hand.
"I have the results from most of the tests we ran, and your prognosis is looking very good. You will be released to go home the day after tomorrow."
"What about walking?" Troy asked. "How long do you think that will take?"
"Of course, that varies based on the patient. I'd say two to six months," Dr. Kilan said, pushing her glasses higher on her nose. "Over the next couple of days, we plan to help you make any necessary arrangements. We'll talk to a physical therapist, and arrange for a wheelchair. Another thing you'll have to decide is how you want to deal with the press."
"What does the press want with us?" Gabriella said.
"Mother, you are a living miracle," Beth pointed out.
"She's right," the doctor agreed. "I've already had twelve messages from reporters who want to cover your story. And that's just the local newspapers, and channel seven news. It won't be long before morning talk shows give you a call. Of course, you are entitled to your privacy, but it won't stop the press from trying to find out more about you. People are very interested in stories like yours; they give hope."
"Well it's something to think about," Troy said, hands in pockets. "Is there anything else we need to know? Do you need additional funds for any of the therapy and recovery costs?"
"Oh, Mr. Bolton, there's still plenty in your account," Dr. Kilan said in a voice that showed she couldn't believe he asked. "You will be reimbursed for the remainder as soon as possible."
"There's no hurry," he said, lacing his fingers with Gabriella's. "As long as my Gabby is ok, that's all I need to hear."
"Well, since I'm not wanted, I'll just move out with Bradley," Elizabeth piped up.
"Don't you dare," Gabriella said, shaking Troy's hand off to take her daughter's.
"I'll just leave you all alone. If you need anything, please remember to buzz the front desk." With that Dr. Kilan retreated.
"I thought you didn't have a boyfriend," Gabriella told her daughter.
"I don't," Beth replied.
"Then who is Bradley?" Gabriella asked. She shot her husband an accusing look, as if blaming him for hiding a boyfriend from her. Elizabeth giggled, opening her phone to reveal a black cat.
"He's my kitty," she said, showing Gabriella her wallpaper. "I've had him since I was ten. He was just a little baby then. He showed up on our doorstep one night, and he refused to leave. I begged Daddy to let him in. It was a Monday. Dad held out for three whole days; on Thursday afternoon Bradley was in the living room when I came home from school, and he was sleeping on this giant cat condo."
"I'm a sucker for a cute face," Troy said with a shrug.
"Hers or the cat's?" Gabriella asked mischievously.
The Bolton family talked for hours. There was so much to tell Gabriella, and she loved hearing the sound of her daughter's voice. She hoped that one day her daughter would feel comfortable enough to sing for her.
Around six in the evening, Elizabeth's phone rang. Reluctantly, she pushed the "ignore" button. A moment later it rang again.
"Answer it before Brooke has a stroke," Troy said, merriment in his eyes. "Tell her we'll be leaving here soon and you'll call her back."
"'Kay," Beth said, crossing the room to sit near the window. For a few mintues, Troy and Gabriella listened to the one sided conversation.
"Hey Brooke!…no…no… sorry…He did what?…Her?...Is he blind?..." She put the hand over the phone and rolled her eyes at her father. "Jonny Feldman asked out a different girl today. Brooke's probably going to go on for awhile."
"Is he the one with the spiked hair and the unibrow?" Troy asked. "Brooke likes this boy?"
"Hello! She's only been talking about him for a year. Wake up, Dad."
"And I've only been tuning out your girl talk for two years," Troy said. Elizabeth stuck out her tongue at him, turning her attention back to the phone.
"Yeah, I'm here…sorry…yes…well, sorry, but you will never guess what I did today."
"Brooke's quite the drama queen," Troy said lightly to his wife. Gabriella gripped his hand.
"Thank you for bringing her. I can't believe what an amazing young woman she's turned into. And that's all you, Troy."
He blushed faintly. "There's a lot of you in her too."
They lapsed into a contented silence. It gave Gabriella time to think. There was something the doctor said that had been bothering her.
"Troy? What account was Dr. Kilan talking about? I mean, how did we afford all this medical care?" Troy took a deep breath, checking that Elizabeth was thoroughly engrossed in her phone call.
"Gabby, yours was not the only car hit by that truck. Three other people died. One of the other families decided to sue the trucking companies for pain and suffering, and they won a great deal of money. When that happened, the business decided to settle with the other family, and then they contacted me and offered me compensation. I'll never forget the way that the lawyer worded it. He said: 'in the sum of 2.5 million dollars.'
"I wasn't going to take it, but then Taylor talked me into it. Elizabeth's future is secured. I put half of the money into a trust fund for her. She's set for college, and whatever else life throws at her. With the rest I bought the house, and paid off my car, and of course covered your medical expenses.
"Wow," Gabriella said softly. "That's a nice safety net. Like we always talked about saving up."
"Gabriella, when you come home it's going to be the life we always wanted. I'm so excited."
"Me too," Gabriella said, eyes straying to their daughter.
"Of course she is…Brooke…Brooke…I'll call you back when I get home…Brooke…ok…ok…Bye." Elizabeth stuffed her phone into her purse. "Phew. Sometimes you have to just hang up on her to get her to stop talking."
"She sounds like a lovely girl," Gabriella told her daughter.
"She tries. You know theater people. Very dramatic, but we basketball people still love them," she said lightly.
"Beth, we need to get going. I'm sure you have some homework to catch up on before school tomorrow."
"Will you come back tomorrow afternoon?" Gabriella said, disliking the thought of being alone.
"We'll leave straight from school," Troy confirmed. He kissed her softly. "I love you, Gabriella."
"I do too," Elizabeth said, coming over for a hug. Gabriella grasped her tightly.
"Good bye, Baby-Girl," she said. Elizabeth followed her father to the door. They turned, his arm over her shoulders.
"Bye, Mom."
Gabriella watched her family leave, then settled back into her pillows. She flipped the television on to one of the news stations. New weather girl, she thought. They need to replace the anchor. He's ancient.
She didn't last too long. The ancient man was also boring. Gabriella spent more time thinking over her visit with her family than she did learning about the world on the television. When she fell asleep that night, she did it with a smile on her face.