Author's Comment: Missed me? ;) Just kidding. Well, as you might see, I started a new story and since this first chapter is lying around for over a month now already, I thought I should post it. This story is different from "The Girl Next Door" (obviously) and I hope you'll like it. I don't expect as much devotion as I got for my first story, but maybe some of you will enjoy it anyways.
Summary:He had his whole career ahead of him, when a terrible car accident changes the life of Troy Bolton within a second and brings back people from the past he never thought he'd see again nor needed as much as he does now.
If Only For A Moment
by jewel2502
Chapter 1: Crash
22-year old Gabriella Montez opened the door to her small apartment in Brooklyn, carrying three paper bags full of groceries in her arms, struggling to bring them all in without dropping them on the floor. Gabriella sighed, when she looked at the mess in the apartment, before she put the bags on the kitchen counter. She took off her winter coat and started to sort all the nourishments into the fridge and the shelves nearby and even sorted the letters she had just taken out of the mailbox.
Gabriella put the bills aside, cringing by only thinking about having to pay for them next week. She grabbed the daily newspaper out of the mail pile and as a matter of routine took out the sports section and threw it into the trash. With the rest of the paper, the brunette beauty sat down on a comfortable sofa, shoving some toys and stuffed animals aside and started reading, a hot cup of cappuccino right beside her. Gabriella enjoyed the calm before the storm, as she called the hour between five and six pm, which was basically the only time she had for herself after a long day of work.
---
--
-
"They said we can't do more but wait," the blonde tall girl explained, sadness visible in her emerald green eyes.
"But we're waiting for two weeks now already, Sarah, and nothing changed," a despaired Taylor McKessie replied, sitting in the corridor of the 'Century City Hospital' in the heart of Los Angeles, looking at her friend.
Sarah only shrugged with her shoulders, because she didn't know how to react to Taylor's statement.
Taylor sighed. "I'm going to talk to Dr. Banks again. I finally want to know what's going on here," she exclaimed decisively and got up from the white plastic chair to find the surgeon that operated Troy two weeks ago. She found the young doctor a few minutes later in the cafeteria and although Dr. Banks seemed to enjoy her lunch with a male colleague, Taylor didn't hesitate and walked up to the dark-haired woman. "Doctor, I need to talk to you concerning Troy Bolton," she said severely, staring at the woman sitting in front of her. Dr. Banks already knew Taylor and her friends. They came here every day to spend a few minutes with their unconscious friend. She found it enviable how devoted they were.
"Miss, I already told your friend that all we can do is waiting for him to wake up," the doctor said apologetically, not looking Taylor into her chocolate brown eyes.
Taylor looked at her irritated. She had the feeling Dr. Banks wasn't telling her everything she knew. "Doctor, I know you might have been a little careful in what you told Sarah, since she is Troy's girlfriend, but please tell me, what is really up here?" Taylor now dared to ask, looking straight at the person in the white coat.
Natasha Banks hemmed, playing with the green apple in her hands. "Well, to be honest with you, Ms. McKessie, we don't know why Mr. Bolton is not waking up. His internal injuries are healing faster than we thought and his bruises are slowly disappearing," she explained. Taylor looked at the doctor with a questioning face. "It seems like Troy doesn't want to wake up - or not yet at least. The unpleasant thing is that the longer he stays in that condition, the lesser we can guarantee that he will be 100 healthy when he wakes up." Natasha took a bite from her apple and continued. "His heart was injured pretty badly and it would be best if Mr. Bolton started breathing on his own again," she now completed exhaling heavily.
Taylor had tears in her eyes by only hearing what the doctor had to say. "C-can we do anything?" She now asked with a shivering voice and didn't notice the tall blonde standing behind her.
"Talk to him. Familiar voices are important for comatose patients. He needs to realize that the people he loves are here for him," the doctor explained and Taylor contemplated.
"But everybody he loves comes to visit every day. Even his parents flew over from Albuquerque," Taylor replied desperately.
"Not everybody is here…," another voice was interfering into the conversation at the table. Taylor turned around and saw her good friend Sharpay standing in front of her, looking intensely into her eyes.
"Who's mis-? …Oh no Shar, we can't do that," Taylor expressed rigorously. Dr. Banks looked at the two women in front of her with curiosity.
"Why not? We have to think of Troy here in the first place and although this was a long time ago, she's probably still the closest person to his heart," Sharpay tried to debate with her friend.
"She's closest to his heart? I think she'd be the one person that makes him sleep even deeper;" Taylor replied stubbornly and folded her arms in front of her chest.
"You don't actually believe that, right?" Sharpay posed appalled, but got interrupted by Dr. Banks.
"Girls, whoever that is you're talking about, it's definitely worth a try," she said calmly.
"You call her!" Taylor pointed at Sharpay and walked out of the cafeteria without saying another word.
---
--
-
Gabriella was still reading her newspaper, her legs spread out on the sofa, when her telephone rang. "Montez," she sweetly breathed into the earphone.
"Gabriella, it's Sharpay," the voice on the other end of the line replied.
Gabi stopped breathing. "S-Sharpay Evans?" She asked shocked and went death pale.
"How many Sharpay's do you know?" The blonde answered irritated. She really had no time for small-talk right now.
The brunette in New York scratched her forehead and adjusted herself on the sofa. "Ehm yeah, just you, but-"
"Gabriella, just listen to me, alright?" Sharpay interrupted the ramble of her old High School friend and Gabriella went silent. "Troy's still not woken up out of the coma and if that doesn't happen the next week, it'll have negative consequences for his health," Sharpay explained without taking a breath.
Gabriella didn't say a word, but her heartbeat began to increase. She was just lucky she was already sitting. "What c-coma?" Gabi almost whispered, assuming the worst.
"Gabriella Montez, smartest girl in High School, doesn't know that her ex-boyfriend had a terrible car accident?" Sharpay explained reproachfully but shocked at once. Who hadn't heard about the accident by now? It was all over the news.
'Accident'. That one single word shrilled in Gabriella's ears and she still wasn't able to articulate herself properly. "Listen Gabriella, we want you to come to L.A. to talk to Troy. We need to try everything to wake him up," Sharpay continued telling her what Dr. Banks had said earlier.
'Accident' was still all that got through Gabi's mind.
"Montez, are you still there?" Sharpay curiously posed in the payphone in the hospital's hallway.
"I can't," Gabriella swallowed out of her mouth and slowly pressed the red button on the phone to end the conversation with Sharpay. She sank back against the backrest of the couch and breathed out heavily.
Right at that moment the entrance door to Gabriella's apartment got opened and a cute little girl came skipping into the room. She was wearing her almost black hair in braided pigtails that were hanging down on both sides of her head. "Mommy, mommy, mommy," the three year old literally jumped on Gabriella's lap. "Guess where Madison took me today?" She asked cheerfully with her childish voice and Gabi couldn't do but smile.
"Well, regarding to the chocolate ice cream in your face, I'd say the ice cream parlor," the young mother laughed and tried to wipe the leftovers out of the toddlers face.
"You're no fun, mommy," Jamie pouted and rolled off of her mother's lap, running into her own room.
"Hey Gabi," a girl approximately the same age as Gabriella started to talk. She had curly brown hair, which was falling onto her shoulders, which were wrapped into a thick winter coat.
"Hey Madison", Gabi smiled lop-sided, thinking back on what has happened before Jamie stormed in. "How did she behave?" She asked, pointing towards the child's room with her head.
Madison got rid of her coat and sat down next to Gabi. "Energetic," she replied and leaned back on the couch laughing.
"So nothing new?" Gabriella chuckled and handed the remote control for the TV to her nanny. "Come, you watch your silly daily soap and relax and I'm going to change Jamie's clothes", Gabi said, getting up from her seat, while Madison relaxed on the sofa and turned on the TV. Gabriella was glad to get out of the room; otherwise Madison might be able to tell that something wasn't right with her.
"…he still hasn't woken up out of the coma…Troy Bolton, NBA player and according to People Magazine 'one of the 100 hottest celebrities alive' crashed into an empty bus station exactly two weeks ago…"
Madison changed the channel and noticed that Gabriella was still standing next to the sofa, staring at the TV. "It's horrible, isn't it? I mean this guy had the brightest future ahead of himself, and BANG!!!" Gabriella jerked when Madison made the crashing sound. She only nodded towards her nanny and slowly walked off into her own room, tears starting to run down her face. She shut the door behind herself and crashed on the bed, now crying bitterly.
She didn't notice, when the door to her room got opened and two tiny arms got wrapped around her waist. "Why are you crying, mommy?" Jamie sweetly asked her mother, kissing her on the wet cheek.
Gabriella sniffed and tried to be bold in front of her daughter. "Oh, mommy just watched a very sad movie, sweetie", she explained and saw how the turquoise eyes of Jamie's lit up.
"Oh mommy, don't watch those bad movie", she said and hugged her mother's small body tightly.
"Where's Madison?" Gabi now asked, supporting her body on her elbows. She really didn't want her good friend and nanny to see her like that.
"Sleeping on the couch," Jamie casually replied, playing with her pigtails. "Mommy, can we play something?" the little girl asked, already seeming to get bored again.
Gabriella sobbed one last time, reaching for a pack of tissues on her nightstand. "Mommy needs to make a phone call, but after that we can play, alright?"
About two hours later, Gabriella woke up Madison, who was still sleeping on the couch, her daily soap long over. Gabi had managed to erase the last signs of her crying earlier from her face, so that Madison wouldn't notice. "Maddy! Wake up, babe," Gabi shook her nanny's shoulder. Madison stirred and raised her head, her eyes almost closed. When she saw Gabriella in front of her, fully dressed in her outdoor jacket, a pair of skinny blue jeans and a small trolley case next to her, her eyes popped wide open.
"Where are you going, Gabi?" She asked irritated and rubbed her tired eyes.
"I'm going to L.A.," Gabriella replied determined, her voice still a little labile.
"L.A.? That's on the other side of the country. What are you doing there?" Madison's questions won't end.
Gabi scratched her neck. "Ehm…it's a business trip. My boss just called and asked me if I could go," she lied through her teeth.
"You work in a grocery store, Gabi. What kind of business trip could there be?" Madison didn't believe a word her friend said.
"Maddy," Gabi begged her, not deferring to Madison's observation. "I really need to go to L.A. Can you take care of Jamie for a few days? I don't want to take her with me. I should be back on Friday the latest," she stated and rolled her luggage towards the closed door.
"O-kay," Madison extended the 'o'.
"Thank you so much, Maddy. I owe you big time. Jamie's already sleeping. Take whatever you want and need out of the fridge and I left a 50$ bill on the counter. See you in four days," and by saying this Gabriella was out of the door, heading towards JFK airport, not hearing the 'where did you get all the money to pay for the trip from' anymore, that Madison was calling after her.
---
--
-
Hours later, Gabriella got out of the airplane and took a cab that brought her directly to the hospital she expected Troy to be lying in. She sighed, when she handed a 20$ bill to the cabdriver. For that amount of money she had to work four hours and she didn't even know why she was here in the first place. Seeing the pictures of Troy's fully destroyed Porsche totally shocked her and hearing again what Sharpay had already told her, made her heartbeat rise to a maximum. She didn't know what it was, but since she was a little girl, she always listened to her heart first and this time it told her to fly to L.A. and face her past, even if she couldn't afford the trip at all. Every cent she had saved for her daughter's future, she had used for the ticket and she really hoped she wouldn't regret what she was doing, but she somehow thought she would.
Entering the hospital, it was only seven in the morning, but Gabriella had no place to stay yet and she didn't even know if she needed one. Maybe her flight home was earlier than she thought. She reached the celebrities' hospital's information desk, where a young blonde woman was sitting, typing on her keyboard vigorously. "Hello," Gabriella greeted, making the nurse look up from the screen. "I'd like to see Troy Bolton," Gabi continued determined.
The nurse now nibbled on her fingernails. "Don't we all, girl," she replied annoyed, "don't we all?"
Gabriella rolled with her eyes. This was harder than she thought it would be. She totally spaced on the fact that Troy was not the High-School-Troy anymore, but a well-known celebrity. "I'm Gabriella Montez. Troy's friends are kind of waiting for me," she said in a fake sweet voice, trying to stay calm.
The nurse still didn't seem to believe her. "One moment please," she replied, holding her finger up, dialling a number on the telephone with the other one. "Mark, do you know anything about a Gabriella Montez visiting Troy Bolton today?...Uh-huh, yeah I can wait." It got silent for a few seconds until Mark seemed to be back on the phone. "Ah yeah, interesting. Thanks Mark." The nurse with the name tag 'Britney' on her white coat looked at Gabriella with a satisfying grin. "I'm sorry, miss. The relatives don't know about you. My colleague just asked Troy's girlfriend," Britney explained mock nicely. "I guess you have to ask for an autograph another time, sweetie."
Gabriella gulped. His girlfriend? Probably one of those super hot and famous models that had no idea that Gabriella even existed. This was the first time she regretted to always skip the TV channel when Troy was on and throwing away the sports section in her newspaper every day.
Gabi was thinking heavily now, while Britney started a new cards game on her computer. "Listen Britney," she emphasized the name of the blonde on front of her. "I'm Gabriella Montez, the mother of Troy Bolton's child, so it would be really nice if you could let me to him now, or I'll tell your bosses what you're really doing when you're supposed to work," Gabriella now hissed at the nurse, trying not to get too loud.
Yeah, you can roll your eyes now; there's a child in this story again. What can I say, I tried writing childless Troy and Gabriella, but that didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. So you just have to live with it. ;) Tell me what you think. As always, I'm way ahead of you with the chapters, so updates should be regularly (I hope), but if you tell me it's crap, there's always the delete button… :)