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Chapter 7: Something's Definitely Up
Troy rolled over and shut his alarm off. He got dressed and went for his morning run. Runs weren't the same with out Gabriella. He was wondering how she was doing, the truth was, he really missed her. But he didn't dwell on that today, like he normally did. He had a bad feeling about today. Maybe it was just that Dylan was leaving to head back to UCLA for school again, and the house would once again go dead.
He walked up to his room and got in the shower. Coming back downstairs 30 minutes later everyone was waiting on him.
"Dude, I'm gonna miss you." Dylan gave his little brother a hug.
"You have no idea Dyl, the house is dead without you around here." Troy laughed. 20 minutes later he had to head out to school. He got there and parked. Going in this feeling never left him. Something bad was going to happen, he just couldn't put his finger on what it was.
His friends were standing at his locker when he showed up, he smiled realizing he'd heard nothing about their bullying. He looked down the hall and saw Gabriella laughing with her friends. Laughing, that was a beautiful sight. And a musical sound.
The bell rang and school officially began. He sighed, waiting for the bad. He assumed he'd forgotten about a homework assignment, a quiz, or a test. He just couldn't figure it out, so he decided to let it go.
Gabriella laughed as she made her way to homeroom. Even though she was laughing, she felt like something bad was going to happen. Not to her, but to someone she cared about. Her mind flew to Erin. She hoped that nothing bad would happen to her today.
Finally the day came to a close. Troy sighed as he got changed for basketball, nothing bad had happened during school.
"Dude, you okay? You've been sighing a lot today." It was Ryan. Ryan was his real best friend, at least in his mind. He trusted Ryan and respected him.
"Something bad's going to happen today. I just don't know what or when." Troy replied, lacing up his basketball shoes.
Ryan nodded and the team made their way to the gym. They all went and sat on the bleachers when they saw that Coach Bolton wasn't there. "Where's coach Troy?" Chad asked
"Don't know." Troy said uneasily. After 15 minutes Jack Bolton still had not shown up. Troy stood up, ready to initiate practice himself when the gym doors flew open. All eyes turned to see an older man that was like Troy's twin.
"Uncle Mike, where's dad?" Troy asked, running up to his mom's brother.
Mike Taylor looked uneasily at Troy, he was going to take this hard. "At the hospital."
"What why?" The gym erupted into chaos.
"Dylan was in a car crash on his way to the airport." Troy froze, Dylan? No not Dylan, not his brother Dylan. Troy ran to the locker room and grabbed his stuff. Sprinting back through the gym to his car, the basketball team hot on his heels, as Chad called the rest of their friends.
Troy sprinted inside, "Dylan Bolton." The nurse looked at him.
"Family only, sorry hone." She replied turning around.
"Hey lady, he's my brother and if you don't tell me I'll just go in and out of every last fucking door until I find him."
The nurse turned around. " Room 2601, 6th floor." Troy nodded his thanks running to the elevator. He pressed the button for the 6th floor and willed the elevator to move faster. Instead it stopped at every floor along the way.
Finally it opened at his destination and he sprinted down the halls until he came across the room he was looking for. He opened the door and gasped at the sight in front of him. His mom was crying on his father's lap. His aunt was wearily leaning against the wall looking out the window, and Dylan, he was in a coma. He looked like he'd been to hell and back. Everyone looked up when he entered.
His mother flew to his side and whispered comforting things in his ear that he didn't want to hear right now. Right now he wanted to know how bad it was. "Stop mom. I don't want that now. I want to know how bad it is."
Jack stood up and walked over, he looked 10 years older than he was from all the crying and stress of the day, "He's in a coma. A drunk ran him into a telephone pole on the highway. He'd been drinking all night and well into the day. He's lost a lot of blood and there might be paralysis in his legs, and if, when, he wakes up, there's a good possibility of brain damage."
Troy gaped at his brother, his best friend, the person he cherished the most. It hit Troy at that moment, Dylan was going to die. God wasn't going to put him through hell on earth if he woke up, no he was going to die.
The door burst open and his uncle and friends came sprinting in.
"Troy are you okay?" Sharpay was at his side in an instant. He nodded mutely.
"Oh Troykins, everything is going to be okay. Helen will make it all better." Helen said, giving him a peck on the cheek. Troy looked at Ryan for help, but Ryan just gagged.
30 minutes later everyone left except for Ryan and Sharpay. They hung around, just chatting, trying to distract Troy until they decided it wasn't working.
"Troy we're going to go. But we'll come by tomorrow." Sharpay said. Troy stood up and walked them to the door.
"Thanks guys." He said, he hugged Shar, and she gave him a peck on the cheek. Ryan gave him a hug.
"No kiss from me man." Troy laughed at Ryan's antics.
"Much appreciated." Troy replied. Once they were gone his aunt and uncle decided to go home to get some rest.
"Troy," his mother said, "I think we should go home too, there's nothing we can do here."
Troy looked up, "I don't wanna leave just yet."
His dad nodded, "That's fine, call us when you leave." They walked out silently. "How long do you think he'll be here for?" Jack asked his wife when they were safely down the hallway.
"I don't know. But he's going to be beating himself up over this." Diane said quietly.
EARLY THAT SAME DAY
After school Gabriella called Mrs. Shepard. "Hello."
"Mrs. Shepard, it's Gabriella." She greeted her nanny.
"Hello dear, is everything okay?" Mrs. Shepard was worried about her, Gabriella looked flustered this morning.
"Um, I think I'm going to run on one of the treadmills in the work out room. So is it okay if I'm home in a couple of hours or do have somewhere you need to be. I don't want to inconvenience you." Gabriella rambled on.
"Oh, honey it's no bother whatsoever. Go for a run, clear that pretty head of yours." The two said goodbye and Gabriella walked out to her car to grab her bag with running clothes in them. She went to the bathroom and changed before heading up to the work out room. She got on a treadmill and began running. After a while she stopped. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and decided that she needed to go home and sleep, not run. Grabbing her bag she walked back downstairs.
As she went into the bathroom to change she saw an older gentleman that looked like an exact replica of Troy. She shook her head, she'd been thinking of him too much she decided.
When she came out she saw the entire basketball team coming out, they were all talking really fast. She caught Chad's conversation with Sharpay on the phone.
"He's in the hospital. Troy sprinted out of here….well you know how close he and Dylan are…Sharpay, look we're all going to the hospital…Troy was freaked…we'll meet you there." He hung up.
"There was the feeling." Gabriella mumbled running to her car.
And that's how she ended up here, walking down the hospital hallway with Erin in tow. Thankfully she was asleep in her baby carrier. Gabriella walked up to the nurses station, "Dylan Bolton. Is it too late to visit?" Gabriella asked
"No sweetie, the Bolton's told us to let whoever in whenever. He's in room 2601 on the 6th floor. I think his brother is still in there." Gabriella thanked the lady and walked to the elevator. Once she reached the sixth floor she made her way down the hallway until she found the room.
Gabriella quietly opened the door and found Troy sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed with his head in his hands. He hadn't seen her enter, quietly she sat in the chair next to his, putting Erin at her feet. Gently she pried one of his hands off of his head and took it in her own.
He looked up, slightly surprised to see her, but another part of him almost expected to see her in the next couple of days. He gave her a smile as she rubbed his hand soothingly. They sat like that for 20 minutes, not saying a word, just sitting and watching Dylan. Suddenly the silence was broken by Erin.
Reluctantly Gabriella let go of Troy's hand and bent down picking Erin up. As soon as she did Troy held out his hands. Gabriella didn't hesitate, she handed the baby to Troy. Troy stood up and began walking around the room, as if holding the baby was soothing his own fears about losing his brother. Gabriella watched, fascinated as he got Erin quiet, and was now talking to her as she gurgled at him happily. Getting up from her chair she walked over to Troy, carefully taking a once again sleeping Erin from him and replacing her to her carrier.
As she did this she grabbed a piece of paper from her bag, walking back over to the window, where Troy was standing, she placed it in his hand. "It's my number and new address. Don't hesitate to call if you need anything or someone to talk to. And please feel free to come by if you need somewhere to run to, we've got room." She smiled at him.
He nodded, "Thanks Ella." He said, returning a small smile. She leaned up and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.
"Call me if his condition changes, let me know what happens. How bad is it?"
"Bad." Was the response.
She nodded, knowing that he didn't really want to talk, "Night Troy."
"Good night Ella, give Erin a kiss for me." Gabriella nodded and made her way out.
When the elevator arrived Ryan Evans stepped out. She nodded to him and he said a simple 'hello' as he made his way down to Dylan's room with a bag of take out in his hand.
"Okay, something is DEFINITELY up if she came here. I think I'll see if Troy tells me anything, but keep it to myself, I don't want to cause anything." Ryan mumbled walking into the room again, to see if he could get Troy to eat anything and then maybe go home to get a good nights rest.
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Mollie XOXO
