Relocation

Chapter 10: Troy's Angel Saves the World

By music is happiness

Hey everyone! Sorry for the late update, I was stuck. But when I started writing, I got so many ideas. That seems to happen a lot. :D I hope you enjoy the chapter and please review!

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Last Chapter…

She hugged my neck and entwined her fingers in my hair. Her tongue beseeched me for entrance, and I gladly accepted. I held her close to me and kissed her right there. I ran my fingers through her soaking hair and pulled her closer to me. It was a perfect moment, one that I would remember for the rest of my life.

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It was a week later. The sweltering Mexican sun beat down with the same energy as it always had. Life went on. A tourist even fell into the ocean after losing their footing on the dock. Now the Rivera Maya Safety Commission had installed thick ropes by the docks to ensure no more accidents would happen.

Or so they thought.

"I bet you someone is still going to fall in." Troy said, leaning over a pole and staring into the cerulean, clear waters. He side-glanced at her, daring her to fall in.

"I bet you twenty bucks someone will fall in." She grinned, leaning against a thick wooden pole, that the rope went through.

"You're on. What shall we seal it with?" He moved in closer. Sharpay found it harder and harder to breathe.

"I have an idea." She grinned crookedly and filled in what little space was left between them. She got a little too into the kiss and wrapped her arms around Troy. He leaned forward, which disrupted the careful balance that was keeping her on her feet. With one more degree of a lean, Sharpay toppled over the edge of the dock, taking Troy with her. A great splash met the landing. Troy, who was dragged down by his clothes, found his way to the surface fairly quickly. Gasping for breath, he looked around him, treading water and trying to scour out Sharpay.

She was nowhere to be found. Which could only mean one thing…His eyes bugged out as he dove below the surface again. It couldn't have happened….

As he could not see underwater, he had to grope blindly in the depths to find her. After a few seconds, he finally found her. The distance downward wasn't too bad, but it was deadly regardless. She seemed to be on the seabed and limp. His panic increased as he grabbed her limp frame. It took him longer than before to break the surface, with the new weight he was lugging. The first person oxygen greeted was Sharpay, closely followed by Troy. Being out of the water didn't seem to help her much. Supporting her with his hands, he swam rapidly the few feet to the dock's foot holes back to the planks. Every second counted.

He set her on the dock and kneeled beside her. He frantically took both her shoulders and shook them, hoping to revive her. She only lolled around on the wood, hair surrounding her face like an angel.

Troy's angel.

"Sharpay, are you there?" He repeated those words over and over as he shook her more. He felt tears come to his eyes. He bit his lip to keep them down. Then an idea struck him. He thought himself an idiot for not thinking of it initially. He brought his lips to her and blew air into her. He did this over and over, hoping against hope it would work. He wasn't exactly certified to perform CPR, but drastic times call for drastic measures.

In between air pumps, he whispered against her lips "Come on, work with me, please." He got more and more fearful with each passing moment.

"Sir, what's that matter?" A voice a bit away from Troy asked. He raised his head to see who the passerby was. He was tall and muscled, with thick black hair and caramel skin. His eyes looked exactly like Gabriella's. This brought back Troy a little bit. He had never known if Gabriella had a living father….He shook himself. The state of Gabriella's parents were not his concern right now. She was in his past, this was now.

He addressed the man quickly. "My girlfriend fell off the dock and isn't breathing. Or moving." It didn't seem like a very well thought-out explanation, but he was too worried to think straight.

The stranger nodded. "Want some help?" He seemed quite polite.

Troy nodded and went back to attempting to revive Sharpay. The man assisted him, checking her vitals. He reported that she had a heartbeat, but it was faint. It was some consolation to Troy. He stopped performing CPR and went to making a triangle-shaped hand formation and pumping Sharpay's stomach with it. With every pump, Sharpay's head and shoulders rose and fell. Troy was too engrossed in it that he didn't notice the small crowd around him and his helper, who must have been a medical professional. A tall, sinewy, teenage girl broke away from the pack. She looked very confused and worried.

"Troy? Is that you?"

He turned his head slightly. "Layla? What are you doing here?"

She kneeled down next to him, looking from him to Sharpay worriedly. "I was walking around town. What are you doing?"

"Sharpay fell off the dock and she isn't responding to anything." He pumped harder.

"Huh?" Her voice was getting more and more squeaky with every minute passing.

Troy realized that Layla hadn't been at the dinner where he had introduced Sharpay to some of his family. "She's my girlfriend."

"Do you need any help with…?" She gestured to Sharpay, who was getting paler and paler.

"I think I have it under control. Can you just keep the crowd away?" He nodded toward the growing throng. Layla didn't need to be asked twice. She turned on her heel and flailed her arms at the crowd, letting them know that they were to leave immediately.

Sharpay's heart was growing fainter and fainter and Troy tried to save her with a renewed vigor. Finally after an exceptionally powerful push, Sharpay stirred and coughed up at least a gallon of ocean water. Her eyes remained closed and she made no effort to sit up. But Troy was just happy that she was alive.

"Should I call a paramedic?" the man said. He was standing up by now, and had a hand in one of his pockets.

"What? Oh, yeah, that would be great. Thanks." He grinned up at him. "What's your name? So I can thank you properly."

"It's Peter Montez. And it's no problem." He smiled down at Troy and his grin faltered. Were there other Montezes in the world? There must be. Or this was just a freaky coincidence. Before Troy could think about this properly, Peter left just as quickly as he had come. Sharpay quickly re-grasped his attention.

"What happened?" She rubbed her eyes. She was still so pale. She still hadn't opened her lovely eyes.

"You fell off the dock and started to drown, but I saved you. I was so…so afraid that I had lost you." His voice broke on the last part. The thought of it was too much to bear.

"Oh. Am I okay?"

"I hope so. Someone called the paramedics, they should be here soon. But for now….rest." He smoothened her hair and pulled it away from her face.

Within the next five minutes, the white-clad workers came with a stretcher and scooped up Sharpay. Troy followed and no one stopped him.

However, they made him wait in the hospital waiting room while they were getting Sharpay situated. It seemed like the longest wait Troy had ever sat through. Or rather, paced through.

"Mr., please sit down. You are making the other waiting room occupants nervous." The receptionist said, cracking a wad of gum.

He stopped pacing and found himself standing in the middle of the room. With an inpatient sigh, he stopped pacing and sat down, putting his head between his hands.

"Mr…" Troy heard papers rustling, "Bolton?"

He raised his head. "Yes?"

"You can see Ms. Evans now." She pointed behind her into the well-lit hallway. He didn't need to be told again. Springing up, he half-ran toward his girlfriend's room.

"What's the matter?" Sharpay asked groggily when he rushed through the door. She was hooked up to numerous tubes and monitors. She didn't look much better here than on the dock. But then again, she had only been there a short time.

"What did the doctors say?" He knelt down beside her, as the only chair was filled with a loudly beeping monitor.

"They just said that I have to stay here until I get better. They don't like the buildup of water in my lungs, so they want to drain it out." She grimaced. It probably wouldn't be the most comfortable procedure ever, but she knew it was necessary.

"Do you want me to stay?"

She nodded and grasped Troy's hand weakly.

"I'm here, as long as you want me to stay." He kissed her forehead gently.

"Troy?" Sharpay said after a few moments.

He drew back and looked at her seriously. "Yes?"

She coughed. "Come a little closer."

He dipped her head down a few inches.

"A little closer," The whisper was hoarse.

He moved in closer.

"Closer." He could barely hear her now.

He filled in what space was left. His ear was right by her mouth now.

"Yes?" He repeated.

"I believe," she said, her lips right by his ear, "that you owe me twenty bucks."

He again jerked back. "What?" He looked confused. Sharpay chucked.

"I bet you twenty that someone would fall in. So you owe me." She grinned devilishly.

"I cannot believe," He said, half-grinning, "that after everything that has happened today, you still worry about a silly bet."

She pouted. "It wasn't silly! Those twenty dollars could save the world. But you would never know since you refuse to give them to me."

Troy kissed her nose. "I never said that." He seized his wallet from his back wallet.

He fished through the sparse green to find Andrew Jackson among the Washingtons and Lincolns. He finally located a twenty and pulled it out.

"Here you are. Go and save the world now." He took her hand and turned it upside-down so her palm was facing upward. Placing the bill in her hand, he folded her long fingers over the paper and kissed her knuckles.

She didn't say anything, just looked at him with an expression poorly disguising laughter.

"What?" he asked.

"You do know that you are extremely cheesy, right?"

"I'm aware of that, yes." He grinned more.

"Thanks for the money. I'll save the world, don't worry." Using her other hand, she slung it around his shoulder and pulled him closer. She attached their lips and they stayed like that for a few seconds.

"Who's the cheesy one now?" He challenged.

"Can't the cheesy live in harmony?" She inclined her head and raised her eyebrows.

"Of course they can." Troy said, kissing her forehead again.

The door opened and a nurse who must have been in her early thirties walked in, all her focus on her clipboard. She made a few marks on it and then set down her pencil. Catching sight of Troy and Sharpay, she coughed politely. They sprung apart immediately, both looking embarrassed. The nurse smiled slightly.

"Yes, Doctor?" He asked, already half out of his seat.

"Mr…..Bolton, is it?" She asked, glancing down at her board. Troy nodded. "I need to ask you to leave. I need to do the procedure to drain the water out of Ms. Evans' lungs."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his girlfriend flinch. He pinpointed her hand and squeezed it, comforting her. She squeezed back.

"Sure." With one last squeeze and a reassuring glance at Sharpay, he left. Sharpay sighed. She hadn't noticed how lonely she had been before Troy had arrived.

"Hello, Ms. Evans. I'm Nurse Sali, as in 'Sally'." She laughed a light laugh. People must mispronounce it a lot.

"Hello. You can call me Sharpay." She grinned, but it faultered.

"Ah, you're nervous? It won't take that long, though it is a bit uncomfortable. But I'll knock you out while it's happening. You'll only feel the discomfort for a few minutes while it's kicking in."

Sharpay nodded, still nervous.

Nurse Sali turned to a drawer a few feet from Sharpay's bed and retrieved the materials needed for the draining. Sharpay gulped. She had never liked the doctors. But then again, who did?

"Who was that, just now, in here?" The nurse mad a stab at conversation.

Sharpay grinned despite her agony. "My boyfriend." It felt peculiar saying it.

She grinned. "He seems nice."

"He is." Such a difference between her old escort. She frowned. She shouldn't be thinking of Chad now.

"I remember first love. It's a great feeling. Hold onto it." She closed the drawer. Sharpay's nerves returned. She could only nod at Sali's comment.

"Okay, here, take this." She handed Sharpay a long tube. No less than five seconds later, Sali took it from her and instructed her to open her mouth. She obeyed unwillingly. The nurse pushed the cylinder down Sharpay's mouth. It was obvious that she was trying to make it as comfortable as possible, but it still felt terrible, like a gag.

Sali clicked on a machine next to Sharpay and the tube started taking water from Sharpay's lungs. At least it was working. The nurse strapped on a mask on Sharpay's face to numb her. Little by little, the uncomfortable feeling slipped away until she couldn't feel anything at all.

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Well, that's my update! :) Please review!