They did the only thing they could. Wait. The thing that was very difficult for them now. Hours had passed, and they were very eager to hear from the doctors, nurses, and of course, Sharpay.

It was the hardest thing they could do.

More hours had passed and Troy flipped his phone open, checking the time; it was exactly 3:00am, he felt his eyelids attempt to close; but the reminder of Sharpay's limp figure on the floor gave his eyes the motivation to stay open.

He looked around the room and saw almost everyone asleep. He sighed and buried his face in his hands. He couldn't believe what was happening. He had imagined this happening, but he never thought he'd actually see it. And the real thing was a lot more disturbing than what he imagined.

Suddenly, he heard faint footsteps approach him. He looked up and saw the nurse walking towards him with a clipboard in hand.

"Good Morning, sir, are you a relative of Ms. Evans?" The nurse asked him,

"Um, no, I'm not her relative. But, I am a friend of hers." Troy explained.

"I see. Well, regularly, we do not allow non-relatives to visit the patient, but since she wishes to see anybody at this moment, I am allowing you to see her. Is that alright with you?" The nurse asked him,

"Yes, yes, of course" Troy said as he stood up immediately and walked with the nurse to Sharpay's room.

--

Troy silently opened the door; he peeked in first, before going inside thoroughly.

He saw Sharpay lying down on the white bed whilst fiddling with her fingers. The image made him smile. He walked inside and sat on the chair next to her.

She looked at him and gave him a sad smile.

"I'm sorry. I really am sorry" She weakly said, her voice breaking twice.

Troy just looked at her.

His silence spoke a lot of words to her. She looked down in embarrassment. She felt tears beginning to form on her eyes, and then they fell continuously.

As she cried her fears and emotions out, she suddenly felt a soft hand touch her shoulders. She looked at the location of the touch, and saw Troy's hand. She looked at him now, only to see his eyes shining with sympathy, worry, care, and love.

She threw herself at him, then. He immediately wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed on his chest.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" She cried. Troy rubbed her back comfortingly and friendlily kissed her hair whilst saying "it's okay, it's not your fault, I understand" every now and then.

Troy couldn't get mad at her now. He knew that she would get a mouthful from Gabriella, Taylor, Chad, and especially Ryan. He would be her armor, her knight, her escape. He knew she needed him more than ever. It wasn't because he liked her or anything…right?

When Sharpay calmed down, Troy slightly pulled away from their embrace to look at her. Her eyes were puffy and she looked very pale.

He used his thumb to wipe away her tears. She looked at him now, feeling slightly consoled.

"Now, I'm not gonna say that I'm not mad at you for what you've done. But, I will say that I'm shocked and disappointed. You know better than to let their opinions get the better of you" Troy said.

"I know, I'm sor--"

"No, don't say you're sorry. I heard you the first time. What I want to hear now is a promise. A promise that you will not do that again, you have to promise me that." he said.

"I promise" she weakly replied.

"Thank you." He replied gently.

"Where's Ryan?" She asked. She was scared to see him, but she knew she had to. And besides, he needed to see him; he always made her feel bad to make her feel better.

"He's asleep with the others in the waiting room."

"Others?" She asked.

"Yeah; Gabriella, Taylor and Chad are out there, too. Don't worry, we didn't tell your parents, or anyone else in your family" He ensured.

Sharpay shook her head. "They must be so angry and disappointed at me right now"

"I won't be so sure about that. They're more concerned and worried,"

"How can you be so sure?" She asked

"I've known them for almost my entire life, I'm bound to know what they think." He said with a smile. She smiled back.

"I'll take your word for it, then."

"Good. Now, I think you should get some sleep." Troy told her. She chuckled.

"I think you're the one who needs to sleep, not me" She said.

Troy chuckled and softly shook his head, "I'll go to asleep when you do."

--

The next morning, at about 7:00am, Gabriella walked inside Sharpay's room to give her a tray of food for her to eat.

"Good Morning" Gabriella shyly said. Sharpay responded with a simple 'good morning' as well.

"I got you some breakfast to eat" she said with a hushed voice, for Troy was still sleeping on the chair next to Sharpay's bed. He must've stayed here with Sharpay last night, Gabriella thought.

"Thanks." She said as she slowly started to eat her food.

"Sharpay, I need to tell you something." She awkwardly said. She wasn't good with serious talks, but she knew she needed to have one now.

Sharpay closed her eyes. Here comes the bomb, she thought.

"What is it?"

"I—I'm very upset about what you did, but I'm even more saddened by the fact that you didn't tell me. I feel very disappointed at myself for not seeing the signs. I mean, what kind of a best friend am I? Even Troy knew, and he isn't the sharpest of us all, and he didn't even like you. I don't mean to sound shallow, 'coz I do care about your condition, but you not telling me just makes me wonder where our friendship stands, or where I stand in your life" She let out her thoughts.

"I know what you mean. And I'm sorry. Truthfully, I didn't even want anyone at all to know about my condition. But, you must know that, even if I didn't tell you, that doesn't mean I don't trust you. Gabby, you and Taylor are my best friends, and the reason I didn't tell you is because I didn't want to change the way you look at me. I didn't want you to think I'm some kind of girl who is insecure about people's opinions, even if I am."

"Well, we wouldn't. I'm sorry you had to think we'd do such thing." Gabriella said as she held Sharpay's hand.

"It's okay. I forgive you… the only question is, do you forgive me?" Sharpay asked.

"Of course."

The two best friends shared a hug, when two figures entered the room.

"And we forgive you, too" Taylor said quietly.

They must have been eavesdropping.

Sharpay looked up from the hug to look at them with teary eyes. Chad and Taylor walked over to where they were and joined the hug.

"Hey, is there still a room in the hug for me?" They heard someone say, the looked up from the hug again, only to see Troy, already awake.

Sharpay laughed and said, "of course,"

Troy smiled and joined in the hug.

--

Author's Note: I am so sorry for not updating any sooner! School just started here in my country and I had a lot going on :D Anyway, I hope this satisfies you for now. The next chapters will be better [I'll try to make it better, at least]. :D Please leave a review.

With Hearts,

LA2021~

Quote: "A story is not called a story unless it' complete"

-LA2021. [ME!!]