This wasn't right. This wasn't part of the plan. This wasn't supposed to happen. Finding his throat dry, Ryan Evans gulped, his hand trembling as he lost feeling and dropped the lethal contraption. His knees buckled and soon enough, he was on the ground, his head in his hands, torturous regret stabbing his heart over and over again as he let out guttural cries.

Everybody stared in astonishment and grief, frozen on the lonely parchment of the Montez household. The collision of the events that had occurred during the past month all aggregating into one as their eyes filled with tears they never knew held so much sorrow and despair.

Troy Bolton felt an enormous lump grow in his throat as he watched his other half sacrifice her life for his own. She'd saved his life. She's sacrificed her life to spare him another chance of living. She's taken the bullet. The bullet that was supposed to be for him to take. Not hers. He'd never thought a feeling of such continuous pain growing in the pit of his stomach, colliding with his now shattering heart had ever existed. Until now…

Letting out a whimper of pure distress, Gabriella felt the bullet sink deep into her chest as she closed her eyes and waited for the impact with the cold, solid ground. But it never came. Instead, she felt two strong, familiar arms encase her before it happened.

"Gabby?" His voice was hoarse and full of agony.

She opened her eyes and her brown orbs came in contact with his icy-blue ones. "Hi…" She said.

"Mom!" The hysterical cry of Jen Bolton rang through their ears as they watched her hastily make her way toward her parents along with Maria.

"Hey, Jen…" Gabriella forced a smile.

"Mom…"

Gabriella winced, squeezing her eyes shut and opening them once again. "If I don't make it through this… I want you to be a big girl and take care of daddy for me, okay?"

"No, don't say that…" Troy inclined, tears streaming down his face as he squeezed her small hands and looked down at her. "You're going to make it. You're strong. You're not going to… to…" He couldn't bring himself to say it.

Gabriella smiled, closing her eyes as her world started to slip away.

"Troy! Gabby!" Sharpay's cry sounded as she and Taylor started making their way toward them.

Chad, on the other hand, was making his way toward the blonde culprit, his fists clenched in a ball as he picked him up by the collar and looked deep into his eyes, his own filled with anger and rage.

"You… you have to go through all this just to get what you want?!" His voice shook as Ryan coughed. "Now look what you just did! Why are you doing this?! Does it make you feel better?! Does it make you feel like a man?! If that's what you think, then you're wrong! None of this is going to help you!"

"Quick, we have to get her to the hospital!" Taylor appointed.

In one swift motion, Troy stood up on his feet and made his way to his car with Gabriella in his arms, the others following behind. Except for Chad, who was still taking his anger out on Ryan.

"Chad, come on! We gotta go!" Sharpay called.

With one more glare, Chad harshly dropped Ryan to the ground and followed along. He suddenly stopped and turned back to Ryan, and spoke, his voice in a dangerously low tone. "If someone's supposed to die here, it's you. Not Gabriella. It's not your life to take."

At the Hospital

"MY WIFE NEEDS A DOCTOR! SHE WAS SHOT!" Troy yelled as he ran into the hospital with Gabriella still in his arms.

The whole car ride there was filled with him repeating, "Just hold on baby, you have to live. You're going to be okay." Then he soon realized he was trying to convince himself of that too. Chad had drove his car while he was in the back with Gabriella, and he felt that he wasn't driving fast enough. Sharpay, Taylor, and Jen had all rode in Sharpay's car.

A nurse saw and heard him and ran up to him and an unconscious Gabriella. "Follow me and we'll help your wife."

They went through the hospital until they met up with a few other doctors and nurses that were coming towards them with a stretcher so they could take Gabriella back to the operating room. He laid her on the bed as a tear fell from his eye.

"Is she going to be okay?" He managed to get out without completely collapsing on the floor sobbing.

"We're going to try our best," She answered, trying to smile for this man who was scared to lose his wife. "Just go sit in the waiting room and we'll come and get you when we're done."

He nodded in response. He started towards the waiting without another word. He was too absorbed in his thoughts. When he got to the waiting room, he saw Jen, Chad, Taylor, and Sharpay sitting there with worried expressions. Maria had stayed behind to explain everything that she knew of the situation to the police after she had called 911.

Jen was the first to notice her father walking towards them. Without hesitation, she got up out of her seat and ran towards him, clinging onto him like if she didn't, he would get hurt too. She sobbed into his chest, not caring if people were staring at them or giving them sympathetic looks.

"Shh…she's going to be okay, baby girl…she's going to be fine…" Troy whispered into her ear as he hugged her back and shed a few tears himself. He started leading her towards where everyone else was sitting.

"How is she?" Taylor asked worriedly.

"She was unconscious when I left, but she still had a pulse." He answered.

Sharpay stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. "Listen, Troy, I'm so sorry everything happened. I never knew that he would intend to shoot anybody, and I just can't help from feeling guilty that it happened. If I would have known-"

"Shar," He interrupted with a slight smile on his face. "It's okay. It's not your fault; it's Ryan's. Don't worry about it."

Jen suddenly winced as the scar on the side of her face touched Troy's shirt. Troy looked at her concerned, and saw a scar that ran along the right side of her face.

"Jen, when did this happen?!" He asked, turning her head so he could get a better look at it.

"I don't know; probably at Ryan's when he started punching and kicking me." She answered.

"Come on, I'm getting it checked out. It looks pretty deep." He said as they started walking towards the desk.

"Dad, I'm fine. You should be over there waiting for any news on mom," She protested and tried to wiggle out of the grip he had on her wrist.

He tightened his grip, but not so tight that it would hurt her. "No, we're getting you checked out first. The surgery might take a while, so we have plenty of time." He replied. "I'm just being a concerned father. Can you really blame me?"

"I guess not," She said and smiled as they got to the desk and Troy began to fill out the health forms for her.

With Chad, Taylor, and Sharpay

"I can't believe he would do something like this," Taylor said when Troy and Jen left.

"Nobody can, Tay," Chad replied and held her hand. "I guess he did it so neither him or Troy could have her."

"Do you think she's going to make it?" Sharpay whispered so Chad and Taylor couldn't hear her, but Chad did.

"How could you say something like that?! Of course she's going to make it! Do you think she would really leave Troy and Jen behind?!" He exclaimed. "She's a fighter. She's going to make it."

"I agree with Chad. Gabby is definitely a fighter. That's why she was on the debate team back in high school." Taylor put in, trying to lift their worries.

They sat in a semi-comfortable silence until Sharpay spoke up again.

"Where did Troy take Jen?" She asked.

"He was concerned about the scar on the side of her head, so they went to get it checked out." Taylor answered.

Sharpay nodded and began to read a magazine that was on the table next to her. Then she spotted an interesting article on the latest news in Hollywood.

"Oh my gosh, you have to look at this!" She squealed and went over to sit by Taylor as they began looking at the magazine.

Chad sat there and shook his head. "Women."

With Troy and Jen

"Well, it is a pretty deep scar, and she might need a few stitches. Otherwise, it's fine." The doctor announced after taking a good look at it.

Both Troy and Jen sighed in relief. "That's great news. Are you going to do the stitches now?" Troy asked.

"Yes, I'll be doing them. I just need to go get something and I'll be right back to do them." He said and left the room.

"See dad, I told you it was fine. You should listen to me more often," She giggled and poked him in the shoulder.

"Isn't it the other way around? You should be listening to me more often, missy." He said jokingly.

"I listen to you. It's just I listen to mom more often." She defended.

"I don't blame you; your mom is a very smart person," Troy said and they fell into a comfortable silence and waited for the doctor to come back.

"Is she going to make it?" Jen asked, breaking the silence.

"Of course she is, Jen. Your mom is the strongest person I know. She's going to be fine," Troy assured.

She smiled and hugged him. "I love you, daddy."

"I love you too, sweetheart," He said just as the doctor came back in.

--

After he was done putting the stitches in, Troy and Jen were walking back to the waiting room. They got back and saw Chad, Taylor, and Sharpay still sitting there. The girls were still looking at their magazine and Chad was reading a sports magazine.

"Hey guys," Troy greeted as he and Jen sat down with Troy next to Chad and Jen on Troy's right side. "Did anybody come out and tell you guys any updates?"

Before any of them could answer, Gabriella's doctor walked out. "Gabriella Bolton?"

In the blink of an eye, everyone was gathered around the doctor.

"What's wrong? How is she?" Troy asked.

"Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that she is alive and we removed the bullet successfully." Everyone let out a breath that none of them knew they were holding. "The bad news is that she slipped into a coma after the surgery. And Mr. Bolton, I'm so sorry to say this, but she lost the baby."

A/N: hsmgal142/Abbey here! Anyways, pretty intense chapter, huh? But Angela did an amazing job on the beginning of the chapter! So, review! I hope you all liked it! And isn't that a BIG shocker at the end? I thought so! LOL