This chapter is dedicated to those affected by 9/11. May all rest in piece that died that day ten years ago.

Chapter 10- Promise

I was sick of sitting in this stupid hospital room.

"Do we have to go to these classes?" I whined, I get to go home this afternoon and I was completely ready after a weeklong stay. I will get to go home and be normal, well as normal as things are going to get.

"Brie this is it," Troy said to me as he adjusted in his seat from across the room. I rolled my soft brown eyes, "Not really since I have to come back for two more classes." I told him, someone pretended to let an exaggerated cry out. "Our favorite patient is leaving us today Carter!" Eric said pretending to cry

"Oh Lord," I muttered giving both of them a huge smile. "I promise you I will come back." I said reaching for Troy's hand. Over the last two days, Troy and them have become better friends. Talking about basketball, football, and other manly things. I am sure Troy has talked to them about how he is feeling. It has been affecting both of us more than anybody would have thought.

"Totally," Troy added "But I am going to grab some coffee," Troy squeezed my shoulder with his rough hand before starting for the door. "We will come with you Troy," my parents told him; Troy kissed my forehead before completely walking out of the room, poof they were gone.

"Well this is it, one half classes. Then you eat lunch and are able to leave." Carter said I rubbed my arm where I had a bruise from my IV. Ashley took it out last night. I have to take a quick, which felt amazing. "Yeah, well I have to give myself a shot." I mumbled, "Don't worry; I promise you, it will all slow down, become easy." He explained as he did my vitals once more.

"What did you and Troy talk about yesterday?" I asked him, Carter fidgeted and he looked away nervously.

"I should let you two talk about it," He told me starting to put everything away. "Carter does he want to break it off because of…"

"Oh no! That would be the last thing we would ever talk about." I gave him a long lasting look, "He has new feelings Gabs, you're in the hospital and he trying to balance it all." I looked towards the window away from Carter, "He wants to just focus on you Gabi." I felt tears gaze over my eyes as Carter put his hand on my shoulder.

"I'll see you in the meeting," he told me walking out, for having a week to digest everything it was now that it was all sinking in. It felt like my world exploded in front of me. I curled my feet up to my chest as I let a teardrop down my cheek. I was sick of crying, I was sick of having people stab me twenty-four seven, I was tired and I just wanted my bed.

Troy had to go back to school tomorrow; I did not have to go back until Tuesday or Wednesday. My mind drifted again back to the whole diabetes thing. What if I did not want to live with it, a small sob escaped my throat as I felt the door to my room open and close. "Gabi sweetheart the meetings start in ten," A nurse told me before walking out, I only nodded my head and the door shut once more.

Last night was a rough one. My dad stayed with me and once I finally was getting ready to go to sleep I felt itchy and I kept seeing things, like red type ants on my sheets. I jumped out of bed scaring my dad half to death; Troy actually was not here last night to stay with me but was back early enough. I was so scratchy, I was crying like a lunatic and my dad had a nurse come in to change sheets.

My dad held me for several minutes before I finally climbed back into bed. Once I did I fell asleep, my dad asked me again this morning but I told him it was nothing. I tried wiping my tears away so I could get ready to leave but lately I just felt like a fountain. "Gabi honey are you ready to leave?" as my door creaked open, I couldn't even respond when she saw me in tears. She quickly set the coffee down on the table.

"Oh honey," she came over and sat down on the bed. She pulled me into the hug and I sobbed into her chest, "Baby girl we are going to get through this." She told me rubbing my back.

"I'm so scared," I cried, "I am so scared I am going to mess up or kill myself." She rubbed my arms and kissed my forehead, "You will do just fine. You are scared, I am scared. We are going to take you home, get you settled in." I pulled back a little sniffle escaping my nose.

"I know I just want everything normal. I want Troy and I to be the same together, I do not want him all over me. I want to be back in school but I do not want everybody looking at me. You know it's all away around the school already and its not even Monday yet." My mom rubbed my back while I talked, "I just want everything normal."

"We are going to get back to that, very soon. Right now everything is so new, fresh and scary." I rubbed my eyes as the door opened again for my dad and Troy to step through. I quickly tried to wipe away all of the tears that were evident on my face. Of course, Troy noticed that I had been crying quickly.

"Hey, Brie, are you okay?" he asked me, I pushed him off me and he gave me a quick glance. "I need some breathing space," I told him; his eyes softened a bit, as he knew I was having a hard time. His hand reached out for mine but I pulled it towards my chest. Troy let a dejected sigh out of his mouth, "I'll be waiting down the hall," he mumbled before walking out of the room.

I felt like bursting into a completely new round of tears, "Gabi," my dad said, "What the hell just happened?" I turned asking both of my parents. "The guy who has been there every step of the way and I basically rejected him. He wanted to comfort me but I pushed him away, I…"

"Calm down," my dad said rubbing my shoulder, "You need to relax,"

I took several deep breaths before I looked at them, "I just need to figure out everything and I…" I felt my head start to spin and my hands began to shake. I felt lightheaded and I looked at my mom, "mom, I don't feel…" I reached for the chair that was sitting next to me. My arm reached out but I missed the first time before grabbing on to it.

"Dave, go get a nurse or a doctor," my mom began to panic before my mom reached out to hold me up. I groaned as I began to feel fuzzy and I just wanted to sit. "Gabi there…" Troy's words stopped short, "Troy can you help her to the bed," my mom said rubbing her forehead.

"Whats going on?" Troy asked me, I felt his arms around my waist but I wanted to squirm free. I did not want anybody touching me, I just wanted to sit, and I just wanted to be alone. I tried to break free of his grip but my legs felt weak. I struggled with tears in my eyes as Troy pulled me closer to him.

"Gabi," Troy said with a sharp tone, I then felt my tongue starting to numb. What the hell was going on with my body, I was fighting Troy, I felt weak, dizzy, tired, numbness. I finally gave up, my body was done trying to fight and I collapsed against him. His arm was around my waist as he stroked my hair.

"Let's check her blood sugar," I heard somebody say, Troy picked me up taking me over to the bed. Troy set me down and knelled down in front of me. "Hey," he said as Eric grabbing my hand, I looked at him before looking back at Troy. I felt the prick but not as much as I did.

"You feeling okay?" he asked me as he rubbed my knee, I could not process the words he was saying. I could not form an answer in my head and before I knew it, food was in front of me.

"Gabi, you need to eat this." Eric said putting it in front of me, "Your blood sugar is 39 which is very low. I am going to have you eat this than you can drink some milk." He handed me the fruit snacks in front of him. "Brie, you need to eat them." He said they were open spilling into my hand.

I picked one up and set it into my mouth, I quickly ate it before it, and they were all gone. Eric was quickly backed with a carton of milk; I took a small drink before the whole thing had disappeared.

Slowly the fuzziness went away, the dizziness faded and I reached for Troy's hand. "You feeling better?" Troy asked me, I licked my lips and I nodded my head. "What happened?" I asked looking at Eric, "You have a bad reaction to a low. That was very bad; I mean i have never seen that from the first week."

Troy massaged my hand with his thumb, "I had no idea," I shook my head trying to figure it out. "Come on, you are going to have another snack down in room. We need to get started so we can let you go home." He took a glance at Troy, "Walk with her, please don't let her fall. Her legs might be a little weak."

"How about…" Troy said before quickly slipping me onto his back. I wrapped my arms around his neck and his held onto my legs. I let my head fall onto his shoulder, "I'm sorry," I whispered into his ear, "Not your fault, it's just something we are going to have to deal with."

I kissed his neck as we approached the room, "I can not wait to get into a room without parents, doctors, and nurses all around." I giggled softly as I kissed it again with more passion. Goosebumps raised on the back of his neck. "Someone likes that," I told him as he came into the room.

The other two kids were sitting there waiting, "Alright sorry to get started late but Gabi here had a low. One of her firsts," I rose an eyebrow, "Huh?"

"You had one last night, during the night according to the night nurses. You started drinking milk, you fell asleep in the process and then they gave you apple juice. You finished that off," I shaped an O with my mouth, "Well then…" Troy set me down and I got into the chair.

"Alright today we have four hours worth of information to cram into three." Carter started by passing out more information guides, "We are going to start off today by talking about…" I then tuned out everything Carter was saying while I played footsie with Troy.

After two and half hours with talking about shots, carbs, blood sugars, treatments, school stuff, doctors, getting meters and supplies to last us a few days and our pen full of insulin.

The pen of insulin was a vile that stuck inside, you dialed up the end and you just stuck the needle inside. Pushing it down, hold it in for three seconds and pull it out. Yea, of course they made it sound that easy. I felt like rolling my eyes when Carter began to cover it.

"One of the last things I want to talk about is Insulin Pumps," I raised an eyebrow looking over at them; these were new words to my ear. "What is an insulin pump?" they now passed out small binders with names on the front and packets of information. "These have to be the greatest invention ever."

I reached for the one that said Medtronic; I flipped through it to see something about as small as a pager. The first thing I could do was guess it was an iPod. It is exactly what it looks like.

"This is a machine that gives you insulin twenty four hours a day." I quickly pulled it closer to my nose, Troy let his hand slip up my thigh and I tried not to squirm. "This would take away every shot that you would have to do. You would have to change this every three days, three days." I quickly glanced at my parents but there nose was deep into the packets.

"Would you still have to check your blood sugar?" one of the other parents asked, "Yes," Eric answered, I sighed softly and Troy let his hand slip under my shirt which made my back hairs stand. "Troy," I said trying not to moan, "Look at this," I gave him a glance before he let his hand fall out of my shirt.

"Looks interesting babe," Carter rolled his eyes before starting to talk about something else, "You would only have to change it every three days, it calculates everything for you depending on which brand you get and it can make your life one step closer to normal."

The conversation about pumps went on for another forty-five minutes. We ordered lunch from the room as we talked and then we were all getting ready to be dismissed.

"Well, we will see you all over the next few weeks for classes. If you are interested in the pump please contact us and we can tell you more about them and how to get them." Eric said as he began to stand up, "But you are all free of our classes." He gave us a smile before standing up. I felt paralyzed for a moment, fear burning through my blood.

"That's it?" I asked them as everybody else got up to leave, Carter and Eric shared a quick glance, and "We taught you everything you need to know…"

"What about this morning? I had no flipping clue what the hell that was. I was pushing Troy away from me, I could not think or process what people were saying to me. I didn't know!" I felt myself being worked up and hot. "Gabi, you are all going to be very different. We can't teach you the way you are going to react."

I took another breath before Troy grabbed my hand, "It will be all right Gabi," his words were soft spoken and comforting, "It will all be okay." I bit on my lip before I stood up grabbing Troy's hand. "I feel like I need more information,"

"You have gotten tons," Eric said to us, "Its all overwhelming," my mom pointed out, I looked over at everybody. They all seemed calm and ready for this but I did not feel like I was there.

"I think she just needs time for it all to sink in." By this point, mostly everybody had left the room, "What if I don't want it to sink in. What if I just want it to all be over?" I looked towards my right where nobody was, "You need to face the music Gabs, your life isn't normal anymore."

I bit my tongue before doing anything I regretted, I quickly let go of Troys hand and escaped the room. I was not ready to give myself a shot or test my blood sugar without anybody else there. I felt a ride of pain wash through me. "Brie, wait up." Troy called; I closed my eyes as his arms circled around me. "Hey," he held onto me for a moment, "It will..."

"All be okay, I know you have said it to me a hundred times now."

"And it usually helps, Whats wrong with you today."

"I don't know anything! I feel like all I did in those classes is think or looked around, I don't feel prepared." I wanted to scream but standing in the middle of the hospital probably was not the best place to do it.

"Life has to move on Gabi, you can't sit here and beg to go back in time. Nothing is going to change this moment right now, nothing." I swallowed hard before I looked at him, "You have had this for a week and all you want to do is sit here and complain about shit. I know, you are hurt and wanting to escape all of it but you have to face it. You have to meet this dead on Gabi."

Troy was standing in front of me letting his blue eyes sink into mine. "Its so hard Troy," my speech bubbled from my mouth as I started to get choked up. We were standing outside my bedroom door where a shot was awaiting me. "It's hard to just face it when I feel so unprepared. I wish I just had notice of what was going to happen instead of getting blindsided."

"That's why we take one step at a time," Troys words helped, I could not deny that, they helped a lot. "You promise to be with me every step of the way?" I asked him, he bent over to give me a kiss on my forehead. "Would I be here if I wasn't?" he asked, I gave him small smile before he guided me into the room. I sat on the bed for Carter to enter the room.

"Hey, you ready to do this or what? The sooner you do this and eat the sooner you can leave." I grinned like a schoolgirl, "Lets do it, I am so ready to just go home."

"Good, we are ready for you to leave." He winked at me while I shook my head. "Alright you do everything; we will sit here and watch."

"Now when like I do it in my arms or whatever can my mom do it for me?" I asked, "Of course, your mom can do all of them or Troy but we just want you to do it once here." I nodded my head as my hands began to shake. I sat firmly on the bed, "When you checked your blood sugar, it was 124 good or bad?"

"Good," I mumbled as I focused on the needle in front of me. I pulled back the paper and screwed it to the top. "You need four units of insulin," Carter told me as I pulled the dial back. I chewed on my cheek as I did so, once I had the pen full of insulin ready to go I stood up. Carter handed me a wipe to wash the area of my skin, I pulled up my shirt and washed it. I the picked up the pen. Troy was standing behide me while everybody else looked at me.

"Alright guys you don't have to stare," I mumbled as they all kept looking, I put the needle closer to my skin and I felt the rooms temperature rise. I blinked rapidly before Carter put his hand on mine pushing the needle closer to my skin. "You can do it," he said as the needle poked the top of my skin.

He let go as I pushed the needle through, I closed my eyes as I pushed the insulin in. Once I was done, I held it in for three seconds and pulled it out. I set it down and let a huge grin come over my face. "I did it!" I exclaimed, I turned and buried myself into Troy's body. "I'm so proud of you!" he whispered to me, I grinned and felt happy tears approach my eyes.

"Good job baby girl," my dad said as I let go of Troy, "Great job Gabs," Carter, said cleaning up the mess, "You officially became a diabetic today. An independent diabetic," he said with a soft smile, "I am going to get your food so you can leave." He walked out and I was left with some of the most important people in my life.

"We are going to start loading up the car sweetie," my mom said as she began to pack everything up. All my bags were ready to go but we had hundreds of flowers, balloons and stuffed animals lying around. My dad had wheeled in cart to carry everything down in.

"Alright," I sat down on the made bed and I looked at Troy. His blue eyes were locked to mine, "You know how we talked about baby steps?" he asked me, I nodded my head, "Yea,"

My parents were finishing loading the cart and my mom looked up giving me a smile. "We will be right back," I nodded my head and they left.

"Well how about this conversation waits until we are at your house. Maybe a little walk?" he asked me, I turned to see them bringing my food in. I raised an eyebrow in his direction before nodding my head, "Alrighty then,"

They slide the sandwich and chips in front of me. I wanted something small so I could eat at home later. "My mom is waiting for me downstairs; I will be at your house in an hour." He came up to me and kissed my forehead. "I thought you were going to ride home with me."

"I was but I need to pick something up. I promise I will meet you at your house." He gave me one quick squeeze before he completely let go. My parents walked into the room and I suddenly did not feel hungry anymore. "Troy…" I asked but he put his finger to my lips. "Shh…I promise."

I watched as he slowly let go of me and he walked out of the room.

After being discharged and eating lunch, I was a free woman. I was dressed in a pair of sweats and Troy's hoodie. We were on our way back to the house and Troy said he was already there waiting for me. I feared a party would be there and I was not up for one of those.

"Mom, there isn't some party at the house right?" I asked looking at her, "Not that I am aware of, why?" she asked, I shrugged my shoulders. "Troy left early and is already there." I told her, I saw a small smile come over my moms face. "Oh no honey, he had to go do something." She told me, I gave a long look as if she was lying to me.

My mom turned up the radio to a Taylor Swift song, Our Song. I sighed as I looked out the window at the passing cars on the highway. I flipped the phone in my hand while we got closer to our house. I took a quick breath as we exited the highway and came onto the following street.

I pulled at the hoodie I was wearing as I felt my body began to heat up. I looked at the meter sitting in the bag next to me. There was a pen full of insulin. Some medical wipes, food, and some other things. Chewing my lip I looked to see our house coming into view and only Troy's car was in the driveway.

We were nearing the end to our junior year; I was so ready for it to be over. Senior year just needed to be here.

My dad opened the garage door and he pulled the car in. I had not seen the outside world in so long, I havent stepped foot out into it since I was entered into the hospital. Once I got out in the garage, I reached for the bag and I went towards the door. I opened it up and nobody was inside. Troy was sitting on the couch thinking about something.

"Hey," I said dropping the bag, Troy looked up at gave me a smile. "Hey baby," he got up and then came over to give me a hug. "So how about we get you settled in then we can go for a walk if you are up for it." He said leaning down to let his forehead touch mine.

"I would love to. I havent gotten to be outside in so long, I miss it," I pouted, Troy let his soft lips touch mine, I quickly let my hands go up to his neck. "Excuse me, I know the nurses arent around but parents are." My dad said, I groaned softly as I pulled away from Troy.

He winked at me before letting go, "Sorry Mr. Montez," Troy said looking at him with a smile, "Couldn't help me with this beautiful girl in front of me."

I giggled and my mom smiled at him, "Very good Troy," I picked up one of the bags for Troy to take it away from me. I grabbed his hand and lead him to my room, "Door open!" my dad yelled

I rolled my eyes as I opened my door; I took in the smell of coconuts. The air freshener in my room working well, the fan was on the bed was messed up and pillows were tossed around. "Do you want to change?"

"Is it cold outside?"

"Its windy," he said, I looked over at the brown Ugg boots sitting against my closet. I quickly slipped off the flip-flops that were my feet and slipped them into the brown boots. I discarded Troy's jacket for a small fitter one from Nike. It was purple, tight and thermal dry.

I pulled my hair up into a messy bun before slipping a grey band into it. I looked at Troy, "You are stunning," he said reaching over for my hand. I blushed as I took it; he guided me out of the room. "Whatever," I told him he shook his head, "Nope, I am serious." I giggled before we made it down to the bottom floor.

"Mom, Troy and I are going to go for a walk. We will be back soon," I told her with a small wave, "Do you know what your blood sugar is?" she asked me, I frowned, as I did not. "Mom, I will check it once I get back." I told her, "No, you need to check it before you leave Gabi. I don't want what happened this morning to happen again." She said to me, I gapped as the frustration ran through my veins.

"Why can't I just leave?" I mumbled as I bent over for the bag that I had left downstairs. I bit on my lip as I tried not to say anything back, this is what I meant by not normal. I just wanted to leave with my boyfriend but no, I have to stop, check my blood sugar, and then tell my parents.

I quickly did it faster than I thought I ever would. I put the blood onto the strip and it quickly came back as 123, I tossed it onto the bag. "Its 123 mom,"

"Why don't you take it with you?"

"No," I said firmly, I then opened the door but my mom was quickly coming towards me. "Gabi sweetheart you should really take it with you." Troy grabbed my hand to keep me from walking out the door. "Mom, I really don't want to take it with me. All I want to do is go on a walk with my boyfriend."

Troy looked at my mom with intense at eyes, "I'll take care of her, I promise." He said nodding his head, my mom looked at me and shook her head. "You better not make me regert this Gabi." I nodded my head as Troy and I stepped out the door. Troy shut it quickly. "Sorry you had to see that,"

He was quiet for a minute, "I know its tough," he told me while we walked off the driveway. Troy's hand laced with mine as we walked down the street. I leaned against him as we walked slowly down the street. "Are we heading towards the park?" I questioned, "Of course,"

"You keep saying promise Troy," I told him as we walked, "You know promise is a big word right?" his blue eyes caught onto mine and he nodded his head, "Of course, I know it's a big word but I mean it." He looked at me with a cheesy grin.

I giggled, "So are you ready to go back to school?" I asked him, "Nah," he told me, "But I have a question," he said to me, "What would be that question?"

"I know we have never talked about this but where do you want to go to school?" This was something we have never talked about, we tried to avoid I think because we never really thought this would last but I'm in love with him."

"Wow that one kind of blew me a little." I said laughing; I rubbed the back of my neck as I thought about it. "I don't know I have always wanted to go to Duke, NYU, Georgia, Princeton, Columbia, and Harvard." I told him with a shrug, "I havent really thought about it but I guess I should since senior year is right around the corner."

"Some people have already picked schools," Troy pointed out; we walked down the street watching the passing cars, "Well you have a huge weapon, your key way in to any school." I said pushing him a little; Troy gave a small smile before letting it disapper.

"Maybe I don't want to play in school," Troy said looking at me, we both stopped in the tracks of the sidewalk but Troy quickly started towards the park that was three more blocks ahead. "What do you mean you don't want to play in school? You have blown me off for the past months because of it, saying I need to practice for a scholarship." I mimicked him, Troy shifted as we gained a block closer to the park.

"I did." He started, "But then everything happened Gabi. I realized I do not want to be some superstar basketball play that is not me. I have an amazing girlfriend who is struggling with this…thing and that's my dad's dream." He told me with a small shrug, we were coming to the entrance of the park.

"My dads dream is for me to become some huge basketball star for the rest of my life. I mean for the past twelve years that's what I thought I wanted but its not."

"So you are saying?"

"I'm done with basketball. I want to focus on grades and get into a good school. I have always been a straight A student until this year when I was trying to balance so much." When we finally made it into the park, we walked under all of the trees and the little kids running around.

"So why did you ask me where I wanted to go?"

"Because I want to be with you," he said, "That's what I really want Gabi, I just want to be with you." We had finally stopped in front of the huge pond that sat at the edge of the park. It had a fountain in the middle that would lit up colors at night. There was a duck sitting on top of the water at the moment.

"You want to be with me?" I asked his with a curious look, he nodded his head. "You are my life anymore Gabi, I thought I was going to die when I heard you were in the hospital." His hand stroked my my arm before he reached into his pocket for something.

"I want to make a promise to you," he began; I felt the tears already bursting into my eyes as he said those nine words. "Troy…" he shook his head, "this is not an engagement ring," he told me as he pulled out a box from Zale's. I bit on my lip as I let a smile slip onto my face. "But it is a promise ring. I promise that one day you will be mine forever. I will slip an engagement ring on that finger one day followed by a wedding ring."

Troy opened the box and I gasped, this had to be so much money. "Troy," I said trying to stop the tears that were falling off my face, "This had to cost you way too much," I said looking up at him; he took the ring out of the box and grabbed my hand. "No need to worry about that," he said with a hint of a smile, "But will you Gabriella Montez take this promise ring and promise me you will be there waiting for me, once the engagement ring comes." I looked into his blue eyes.

"Yes," I said as I jumped into his arms, he spun me around as if we were engaged. I pulled back to kiss his lips and he held onto me. I massaged his lips to mine and he finally set me back down on the ground. He pulled on my left hand and then slipped the ring onto my ring finger.

It was a white gold band with a round diamond stone. It had to be the most beautiful ring until I looked on the side, T&G we engraved on the side. "Troy," I breathed, as I looked him into the eyes, "This is so beautiful," I whispered as I played with it on my hand.

"I'm glad you like it." He said as he leaned down to kiss my forehead. "After I saw you in that hospital bed and I said I love you I knew." Troy said, "Dating for a year,"

"So when are you telling your dad about being done with basketball?" I asked him, Troy then scratched the back of his neck. "Well…" I looked up at him, "I don't know, he thinks I love it but to be honest I lost the love a little while ago. Before everything happened. I missed you like crazy when we were apart like we were; I keep thinking back to all the March Madness I was obsessed."

I laughed, "Obsessed is an understatement." I mumbled as he slipped his arm around my waist, we began to walk back to my house. "So do we have to tell my parents?" I asked him

"No." he said to me, "I asked them before I did it," I felt in Awh as Troy told me this, "You asked my parents?" He nodded his head, "The proper way to do it,"

I shook my head, "You are amazing Troy." He gave me a smile, "I know." I rolled my eyes once more as I leaned into him, "I think it's the most beautiful ring ever." I told him as I looked at it.

"Well it's my promise to you."

Hey! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Sorry it took so long to update but I will try to keep them coming quicker! Hope you are all enjoying your day! The picture of the ring and the pen Gabi uses with her insulin is on my profile page!

9.11.01 ~ Never Forget /3