Time. That was what she needed, time. "Just give me my time, and I'll give you an answer." Little did she know that one simple request would turn out all wrong.
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"No Troy! I'm done trying to figure you out! What the hell is it? What do you want? Do you want me to stay? Do you want me to go? What the hell do you want?" Gabriella Montez asked furiously to her boyfriend Troy Bolton.
Troy Bolton threw his hands in the air, "Figure me out? What the hell are you on about this time? No I don't want you to go, but at this particular moment I don't want you to stay either!"
She winced slightly, "Ouch," was all she said. She then nodded and moved past him to their room, "Okay since at this particular moment you don't want me here, I'll go." She said as she passed by him and towards their bedroom. She took a duffel bag and began to stuff it with some of her belongings.
Troy sighed and rolled his eyes. He walked to their bedroom and leant on the door frame, "Baby, what the hell are you doing?"
"I'm leaving," she stated simply. He rolled his eyes yet again and asked, "No seriously, what are you doing?"
"Leaving," she stated again. He sighed, "Ella," he dragged out his nickname for her. "No Troy. I'm done. That's just it," she sighed as she made her way over to the front door, "I'll call you when I get to Taylor's."
He sighed and ran his hand through his already messy hair, "El, come on. What do you want? Just tell me what you want and I'll give it to you." She shook her head, "Time. Just give me some time and I'll give you an answer." She opened the door and walked into the hallway with her duffel bag. "Just know that I love you Wildcat," was the last thing she said to him.
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Troy tossed and turned in the empty bed. He was having a very restless night. Every time he would reach out to hold Gabriella, his arm was met with the cold mattress.
She didn't call. She had promised she would call, hadn't she? He looked up to the ceiling, then to the clock sitting on the bedside table, 3:04 A.M. it read. It was 10:47 P.M. when she had left and Taylor only lived 45 minutes away.
Troy sat up in his bed and reached over to grab his phone checking if he maybe had missed her call. Nothing, just his wallpaper of them together. He got up from the bed and decided to make himself a cup of hot chocolate. He leaned against the counter as the timer ticked away. He concentrated on figuring out where it had all gone wrong. What had he done? He searched every recent memory and couldn't find a damn thing that would've caused her to leave. The beeping of the microwave pulled him out of his concentration. He grabbed the mug and sat on the couch and turned on the TV.
The first thing that had come onto the screen was the 3 A.M. news. He thought that was stupid. Who needed the news at 3 A.M.? He shrugged anyway and began to silently watch the news.
Just as he started to dose off something caught his attention, a crash on Elmer Way. That was the road they took to get to Taylor's house. The car was a black Audi A4, her car. The driver was identified as Gabriella Montez. Troy's eyes widened, "This is one of the deadliest crashes I have ever seen," said the reporter. Troy saw the fire as the car exploded some more. "The cause of the crash was by a drunk driver that smashed into Ms. Montez's car. The driver has not yet been identified."
Troy's world crashed around him. He blinked his eyes at the TV screen. This was all one horribly sick nightmare. "Ms. Montez was taken to the Boston City Hospital." Troy closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again tears had begun to spill out. After realizing that this was real and that his Ella was in a hospital dying he ran to their room to grab a shirt and some sweats.
He rushed out of the apartment and towards the elevator. He continuously pressed the down button then decided that it was taking too long after waiting for a minute. He ran to the stairwell and began running down the steps. He reached the parking lot and again ran to his car. He switched on the engine, buckled his seat belt, and took a deep breath. He put the car in reverse and pulled out of the parking lot.
Please God. Let it not be true! It can't be true! He yelled in his mind as tears found their way onto his cheeks. Elmer Way was also the fastest way to the hospital. His eyes widened as an orange glow shined in his eyes. He stopped his car and jumped out. He walked towards the scene of the crash each time he took a step he felt his heart break slowly and painfully.
"Sir! Excuse me! Sir, you can't be here!" An officer said as he pushed gently on Troy's chest.
Troy just shook his head, "Ella? Where's my Ella?"
The officer looked confused for a second then realization dawned on him, "Troy Bolton? Are you Troy Bolton?"
Troy flinched at the sound of his name, "Yes that's me." The officer paled a little and looked down, "Ms. Montez told me to tell you that she's sorry. She said that she hopes to see you again soon… in another time." Troy shook his head fiercely, "No! No! Where in the fuck is my Ella!?"
"Sir! Sir, you need to calm down!" The officer said as he tried to calm Troy. "She's at the Boston City Hospital. You better go soon." Troy ran again. He ran to his car and sped off using another way to get to the hospital.
He finally arrived at the hospital and quickly ran to the receptionist's desk, "Gabriella, I'm looking for Gabriella Montez!" He panted out to the receptionist. The receptionist by the name of Stacey looked up, "Are you Troy Bolton?"
"Yes, yes I am! Now can I go and see her?" He nearly yelled as his fingers gripped the counter tightly. "I'm afraid she's in surgery right now. You'll have to wait," Stacey said to him sympathetically.
Wait. He didn't want to wait. He wanted to see his Ella now! He sighed and made his way towards the waiting room. Thoughts ran through his head, if he had fixed whatever he had done she could be alive. If she had left a minute later, she could be alive. If that driver hadn't been drunk, she'd be alive. Alive, well, and safe in his arms.
An hour had passed and there was still no sign of Gabriella. He sighed as his knee bounced up and down as he sat with his arms crossed over his chest and was slouched in the uncomfortable chair. He sighed while checking his watch for the sixth time that minute, he watched impatiently as each second ticked away. He sighed then ran his fingers through his hair; he leaned his elbows onto his knees, and closed his eyes. He listened to the droning sound of the wall clock. Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.
"Relatives of Gabriella Montez?" Said a female doctor by the name of Dr. Miranda Banks. Troy jumped out of his chair and almost ran to her, "Yes, me! Well, I'm her boyfriend." Dr. Banks nodded her head and referred to her clipboard, "Everything seems to be running fine with Gabriella, but she has suffered some severe burns to her arms, legs, and back, and her right arm is broken, and she has broken three ribs on her right side. Let's just say she's lucky we don't live in Europe. If that driver had hit her on her left side, I don't think we'd be able to save her." Dr. Banks sighed, "I am also very sorry for your loss."
Troy looked at her puzzled, "Loss? I thought you said she was fine?" He rubbed his sweaty palms together and cracked his fingers nervously. What loss?
Dr. Banks looked at him quizzically for a moment then realization dawned on her, "She didn't tell you? She, actually, might've not known at the time."
"Known what, Doctor?" Troy asked anxiously as he continuously rubbed his palms together.
"Gabriella was pregnant," was all she said, "I'm really sorry."
Troy stood there shocked. Gabriella was pregnant? He shook his head, "Did you tell her, Doctor? Or am I the one that has to tell her?"
"I thought she knew, I guess… I guess you'll have to tell her Mr. Bolton. I'm very sorry," she said. She took a quick glance at her watch then looked back at Troy, "in about, I'd say, half an hour, you can go and see her."
Troy sighed and rubbed his sweaty palms on his sweatpants he nodded his head. How could you tell your girlfriend that she had just lost a child? Their child, none the less.
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Thirty minutes had passed and Troy stood outside of Gabriella's hospital door. He took a deep breath and turned the knob. The first thing that ran through his mind as he saw her was Thank you, God. He walked over to her quietly and pulled the closest chair towards the bed. He looked at her and smiled. He reached his hand to grab her's and gently rubbed her knuckles with his thumb.
Gabriella moaned softly and turned to face Troy, but she was still asleep. Troy sighed and continued stroking her hand. He stood up from the chair and looked at her body. He touched the burn marks on her arms and the cast that was heavily placed on her right arm. He traced the burns that ran from her arm to her neck and down her back. He then looked at her covered stomach. He placed his hand there very gently, but she suddenly woke up.
"Troy? Troy, where am I?" She asked groggily while rubbing her eyes. Troy took a deep breath, "You're in a hospital, baby. You were in a car accident." Gabriella's eyes widened as she saw the orange flames and felt the impact of the truck. She placed her hand on her stomach, but it landed on Troy's hand instead. She looked up at him with wide and fearful eyes, "You knew?" He asked her quietly. He pulled his hand away and backed slightly away from the bed, "You knew you were pregnant?"
Gabriella bit her lip in fear, yes she knew. She found out that day, she was scared of how he would react so she was going to flee to Taylor's. Tears filled her eyes and poured from her eyelids as she clamped her hand over her mouth and began to cry. It wasn't supposed to be like this, her baby wasn't supposed to die. She was supposed to get encouraging words from Taylor, go back to Troy, and tell him that she was pregnant, and then they could live happily ever after.
"Why didn't you tell me? Why did you have to drive over to Taylor's? Why couldn't you have just goddamn told me you were pregnant?" Troy's voice rose with each question as he felt his own tears fall down his face.
Gabriella just held her mouth shut afraid that she would let out the sobs that wanted to tear loose from her throat, "Goddamn it Gabriella! Answer me!"
Gabriella flinched, Troy never shouted, never. "I was scared! I was scared of how you would react. I was scared of what you would think. I was scared you would leave me," with each answer her voice grew fainter and fainter. Her head began to feel light and her eye lids became heavy. Her breathing was shallow and the heart monitor began to pick up speed. "Troy, where are you?"
Troy froze on the spot. He didn't know what the hell was going on, but as soon as he heard her heart monitor stop, he ran.