Oh. My. Freaking. Goodness. You guys are AMAZING! I posted the last chapter before bed the other night and by the morning I had 24 new reviews...that number grew through the day and now, since posting it, I have had like, 43 new reviews – 30 for chapter 18 and 13 for earlier chapters from new readers!!! WOW! I was so stoked!! A huge welcome to all my new readers and reviewers, it's great to have you on board!

A huge Merry Christmas to all of you, I hope Santa is good to you and you have a wonderful time with your families and friends :)

Hope you enjoy chapter 19...not exactly a 'happy' chapter, but...enjoy all the same...

Charli xox

PS – there were a few questions asked in the reviews but I'll answer them next time – if I don't get to sleep, Santa won't come – it's almost midnight here!! Merry Christmas!


Chapter 19

Lucille Bolton felt her son slump against her as the words left the doctor's mouth. She wrapped her arms around him, supporting his weight and helping him over to a chair.

Maria stood in the middle of the corridor, one hand covering her gaping mouth, the other across her stomach. As she tried desperately to process the doctor's words, all the noise around her faded to a dull drone in the background. The room around her seemed to spin and time came to a halt. She could see Dr Zamitt's mouth moving but she couldn't hear a word she was saying. Looking briefly to her side she could see Lucille trying to comfort Troy, who was sobbing hysterically into her chest. Forcing her attention back to the doctor, she barely caught the end of his sentence.

"...need to get her upstairs now...you can come with me..."

Maria found herself nodding, and suddenly her legs were carrying her in the same direction as Dr Zamitt. The doors of the emergency treatment room opened once again and the trauma team emerged wheeling a bed, in the middle of which lay Gabriella – pale and lifeless, lines and drips attached to almost every visible part of her fragile body. Maria felt her knees go weak as Dr Zamitt kept a supportive grip on her arm, helping her along the corridor.

Troy heard the doors open but couldn't bring himself to look up, scared about the sight that would greet him. Instead, he kept his head firmly against his mother's chest, allowing her to rock him back and forth as tears of grief continued to stream down his face.

Lucille looked up at an unfamiliar nurse who was standing in front of them.

"Dr Zamitt said to let you know you're more than welcome to wait in the family room on the ICU if you would like some privacy," she said gently.

"Thank you," Lucille replied gratefully as the nurse hurried off and she turned her attention back to Troy. "Oh honey," she said softly, rubbing his back. She was feeling so heartbroken and scared herself right now – she couldn't even begin to imagine how her son was feeling.

"I can't lose her, Mom. Oh god...I can't...she can't..." Troy broke down, he was absolutely inconsolable. "God, Mom – I love her so, so much...I...I..."

Lucille was crying too now. "I know baby, I know. She is very special to all of us, but you have to believe in Gabriella – she's a fighter. We just have to pray with everything we have that she has the strength to get through this."

"I love her, Mom. I love her..." Troy repeated, over and over as Lucille rocked him back and forth.

"Shhhh," she soothed, just as she could recall doing when he was a tiny baby. "Shhhh."

After some time, Lucille gently prised Troy off her. "Troy honey, I'm just going to go and call your father to let him know what's happening. If...in case...if...well, he will want to be here," she moved to stand up, but Troy reached out his hand to stop her, looking into her eyes with his own blue pair which were currently filled with grief and fear.

"No!" he cried, bordering on hysterical. "No Mom, don't leave me. Please don't leave me...I need you..."

HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM

Lucille and Troy sat in the family room at the end of the ICU. Maria was with Gabriella and Jack was on his way to the hospital with Taylor, Chad, Sharpay, Ryan, Kelsi, Zeke and Jason. When Lucille and Troy had made it up to the ICU, Maria had bravely asked Lucille to contact the Wildcat's and let them know what was going on. If the worst was to happen, she explained, they at least deserved the chance to say goodbye. The gang hadn't been told exactly how bad things were, but they knew it was serious. Maria had gone back to be with Gabriella whilst Troy and Lucille waited for the others, however they looked up as she came back into the family room after a few moments. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, she looked worn out and distant, and her hands were still shaking.

"Um, I need...Dr Zamitt...I have to meet with him and some of the trauma team," her voice was distant - barely louder than a whisper, and she stumbled over her words. "I don't want to leave her alone...can you...can one of you sit with her, I...I don't want her to be by herself..."

Troy was on his feet. "I'll go," he said firmly.

"Honey, are you sure you're ready?" Lucille asked, standing up herself and moving to comfort Maria.

"I need to see her. I need to tell her I love her. I need to hold her hand and...and tell her everything will be ok," Troy replied, tears filling his eyes. As he made his way from the family room out into the Unit, Maria placed a hand on his arm.

"Thank you," she whispered. Troy just nodded, unable to find the right words.

When he reached the room that held his beloved Gabriella, Troy drew a shaky breath before entering. Tears falling silently down his face, he hung back near the door, taking in the site before him.

Gabriella.

It was her...but it wasn't. He had never seen her looking so vulnerable, not even right after her major surgery. Her lips were colourless, her eyes were closed, her hands rested gently at her sides. She was intubated to help her with her breathing and that tube emerging from her mouth was just one of many which seemed to crowd her.

Slowly he took a nervous step forward, followed by another and then another until he found himself sitting in the chair that remained right by her bedside, recently vacated by her devastated mother. Troy ran his eyes over Gabriella, starting with her sweet head – bald apart from that one stubborn lock that lay across the front– and sweeping over every single feature, taking in each minute detail, engraving her image into his memory.

Finally, Troy found his voice. "Come on Bella. Don't do this to me. Don't you dare give up now..."

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Chad and Taylor comforted each other as Lucille sobbed into her husband's arms, letting the emotions of the day out. Ryan tried his best to console his hysterical sister, whilst keeping his own emotions in check, Zeke patting them both awkwardly on the back. Kelsi and Jason sat next to each other, hands intertwined, staring straight ahead in shock.

"Is Troy...?" Chad started, his voice thick with emotion.

"Yes honey," Lucille nodded. "He's with her. Maria is meeting with the doctors right now."

"Can we see her?" Taylor asked tearfully.

"I don't know, sweetheart. We're waiting for the doctors' verdict. Maria just thought it was important for you to be here in case...in case she...so you could all..." Jack hushed his wife as she broke down.

After a few moments, Sharpay pulled herself off Ryan and wiped her eyes furiously. "Ok, enough is enough," she started bravely. "Gabriella wouldn't want us all sitting here like this – you know she would be laughing at us right now, calling us all a bunch of softies and telling us to get a grip," a murmur of agreement and a fond smile at the thought rippled throughout the group.

"Sharpay's right," Chad spoke up. "Our Gabster needs us to be strong for her – now more than ever. We've got to be here for each other, and for that girl in there who's fighting her damned hardest to stay alive. We need to do everything we can to make sure she knows how much we love her and how much she has to live for. Who's with me?" he stuck his arm straight out in front of him. Taylor immediately covered his hand with her own, closely followed by Zeke, Jason and Kelsi. Ryan and Sharpay joined in next, with an emotional and proud Lucille and Jack closing the deal.

Chad grinned at his friends. "What team?" he said softly.

A unanimous reply followed.

"Wildcats!"

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The steady 'beep' of the heart monitor and the rhythmic whooshing sound of the ventilator were somewhat comforting to Troy as they gave him reassurance that the precious girl in the bed beside him was still clinging to life.

"Oh Gabi, you like to keep us on our toes, don't you?" Troy sighed, smiling sadly as he rubbed her cheek with his thumb. "Geez, I know we had talked about trying to get the leads in the winter musical again after new years but gosh – you didn't have to go this far in the drama stakes!" he joked. "I'm sure Darbus would have been fine with us learning a new song or something...I know Kels has been cooking up some new stuff for us to get stuck into once you're up and about again. God Gabs, you have to get through this – we still have so much to do together. Gabi, you need to beat this and sing with me again."

Troy was suddenly hit with an overwhelming sense of sadness as the thought that he may never get the chance to sing with her again struck him. However he stubbornly pushed those horrible thoughts out of his head as he concentrated on pouring every ounce of love and strength towards his girlfriend. He moved his hand from his cheek to brush over her head.

The lone remaining curl came away in his hand.

Feeling tears on his face, Troy held the soft dark curl to his cheek, closing his eyes. "Gabi..." he breathed. Opening his eyes again, he curled the lock of hair around his finger and tucked it away in his pocket.

Stretching slightly and shifting in the hard plastic chair to find a more comfortable position, Troy's hands fell into his lap as he continued to watch the steady rise and fall of Gabriella's chest. She looked so graceful even in her sleep...she continued to amaze him every single day.

'My Amazing Grace..." Troy thought to himself. Shakily, he hummed the first few bars of a familiar song that he had once found Gabriella singing to herself on her balcony. He had heard it before but when she sang it...it sounded like nothing on Earth. She told him she had first learnt it at church, when she was very young. It was a special song to her; he knew that – she had told him one day that her father used to sing it to her all the time.

Troy stopped humming and cleared his throat. His hands fumbling nervously in his lap, he began to sing softly.

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me...

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now, I see..."

'Ironic,' Troy thought to himself. 'She really was the one that helped me find myself...she showed me who I really am...'

Troy paused for a moment to take a breath before continuing.

"T'was Grace that taught...

my heart to fear.

And Grace, my fears relieved.

How precious did that Grace appear...

the hour I first believed."

"It's true, Gab," Troy said – aloud this time. "That night I saw you for the first time...my heart stopped. I didn't believe before then that I could ever feel like that...and now I feel that and so, so much more," tears formed in his eyes as he spoke, recalling that night which had changed his life almost a year ago. Drawing another shaky breath and trying to hold back the tears, Troy sang a third verse.

"Through many dangers, toils and snares...

we have already come.

T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far...

and Grace will lead us home..."

Troy couldn't hold back a fresh wave of tears as the lyrics he was singing to her hit home. They had been through so very much together, to get to where they were today. It was almost as if some unseen force – much higher than any of them – had pulled them through hurdle after hurdle, ensuring they came out the other side stronger because of what they had overcome together. Troy knew he had to put all his faith in this same grace to pull them through this – the biggest, toughest and most frightening challenge of them all.

Looking down at his interlinked hands, Troy noticed he was subconsciously fiddling with the elaborate gold ring that adorned his right ring finger. He twisted it around and around, pulling it off, and slipping it back on again. Looking over at Gabriella's sleeping figure, Troy pulled the ring off again and picked up her right hand, sliding it onto her ring finger. It was a little big on her slender finger, but Troy thought it looked just perfect. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it gently before placing it back down on the bed, her fingers interlinked with his own.

Troy Bolton wasn't really much of a 'God' person, but sitting there - right in that moment - Troy felt desperate enough to try anything. Tilting his head skyward, Troy found himself doing something he hadn't really done since he was a little boy.

He prayed.

"The Lord has promised good to me...

His word my hope secures.

He will my shield and portion be...

as long as life endures..."


All lyrics (italics) are from 'Amazing Grace'. Next up, Gabriella's battle continues. Will she make it through the most critical hours of her life? Pleeeease review, and have a wonderful Christmas!

Charli xox