"Discharge papers?" Gabriella said in shock seeing the doctor hand them over. She looked around the room seeing everyone smiling at her. "I really get to go home?" She asked as he nodded at her.
"You are stronger, healthier and recovering quicker than I expected." Her doctor said smiling. "I'd say one month rehabbing and then in two you'd be ready for the force." Gabriella smiled so wide. She bit her lip looking down at the paper's as tears built up.
"God, I'm just so excited." She said wiping a tear as Troy gave her an encouraging smile. He also was so excited to see the papers too. His girl was coming home and that's all he could ask for. Lucielle smiled stepping out and grabbing her duffel bag.
"Are you ready?" She asked as she lifted the bag. Gabriella looked at her quickly and then around the room.
"You knew?" She asked as they all nodded.
"We wanted you to be surprised." Troy said as Gabriella smiled and blushed. She all stood up out of her bed giving everyone hugs. She went to the bathroom to change as everyone began to clean-up the room that they spent a week and a half in. They told them when she woke up that she would be in the hospital for three to four weeks. She showed no signs of progress when she woke up, and then all of a sudden she blossomed and excelled. She opened the bathroom door seeing Troy only.
"So ready to sleep in our bed." Gabriella commented as he nodded.
"It's been pretty lonely there." He supplied as she walked up into his arms, getting a huge comfortable hug from Troy. He kissed the top of her head as she looked around the room before they exited. She looked up at him.
"To the next chapter…" She said as he nodded.
"We got this." He said as they walked out into the hallway holding hands. She immediately was greeted by police officers lining the hallway of the hospital wing. She looked around in awe seeing fellow officers smiling at her. She almost burst into tears, smiling at her work family.
"Attention!" A sergeant said as the officers all saluted. She did start crying at this point, as everyone looked at her. She looked at Troy who was grinning from ear to ear. "Officer Montez is leaving the building." He finally called as she walked down with her family and Troy. She smiled, waving at officers, some hugging her. She was so thankful that her love had arranged this. She heard bag pipes when they neared the exit, seeing a huge crowd of people outside the hospital. She was met by the Mayor, her dad, chief and other white collared officers.
She was so thrilled that she was able to be home and out of the hospital alive. That's all she could have ever asked for.
Troy rubbed his temples sitting at his desk going over the paperwork that his new partner sent over. He couldn't figure out the motive behind her planned shooting as this wasn't an accident. A male knocked on the door walking in. Charlie was an awesome partner. He had short brown hair, chocolate brown eyes and a super muscular build. Troy used to hang out with him at the bars and he would always have girls draped all over him. The two got promoted at the same time, them sharing an office and cases.
Troy was only focused on one case though, and that was Gabriella's shooter.
"Forget about what I just gave you. You need to come with me." He said in a hurry as Troy nodded, standing up and walking to a debriefing room. He was met with Roberto, Chief and Lee sitting there.
"Good afternoon everyone." Troy said as he looked at the white board with pictures of Gabriella, Troy and Chad. "What do you have here?" He asked as Charlie sighed adjusting his coat and handing over papers to Troy first, hesitating with handing them out to the others.
"What is it?" Captain Montez asked looking over the files as Captain Montez gazed his tired eyes on the paper. Troy shot his head up reading over the evidence from the burner phone. "What, tell me!" Her father said standing up as Troy looked at Charlie sigh looking at the men in the room.
"Captain, we think you or Gabriella were the intended target of the shooting." He finally said as the oldest Montez nodded, sitting down and getting a grip on what was happening. Troy looked at her father, the man who was always trying to get her to get off the streets and into headquarters, defeated.
"What do you mean?" He asked upset. Charlie sighed.
"The person who did this has inside information…they hacked the computers that showed that a Montez was out on patrol. There was never a suspicious person's call from our operations..." Troy looked at him and Charlie looked back at him sober. He sat there stunned.
"Why do you think this was an inside job?" He wondered as Charlie nodded.
"I looked into her files and the man that stalked Gabriella was a hired man to kill her, again a Montez." Charlie opened the folder and Troy looked on surprised.
"Wait, are you telling me that this has been in the works for some months now?" Troy asked surprised as the guy nodded.
"Just wait, the car that plowed into you at that protest wasn't an accident…it was intentional. We nabbed the guy and arrested him because we believed he was trying to cause specific harm but when I did some digging into it, he was hired by the same phone number and wire that the man had…a Montez was assigned to that car." Troy was shocked, he remembered switching with her when they almost broke up.
"What do you need from me?" Roberto asked looking around at everyone. Troy looked at Charlie before doing anything.
"We need a list off all the people you've ever arrested and how many went to trials." Troy said looking at him as he nodded, the color drained from his face. Charlie pat him on the back. "The same for Gabriella…we need both arrest records to see if we can connect someone." Charlie gave him a forced smile.
"Thanks for doing this man." He said as Charlie patted him on the back.
"If we have a cop killer, we have to seriously get going before he strikes again." Charlie said confidently. Troy nodded seeing Roberto already leaving to head to files. He needed to go home and see his fiancée.
Gabriella walked around the living room touching her flowers, seeing the cards and looking out the window. She sighed, feeling this ominous cloud over her. Sharpay left the bathroom walking in to find her touching the flowers.
"Hi." She said as Gabriella looked up. "How are you doing?" She asked as Gabriella shrugged.
"Getting used to life I guess…things just feel different." She said as Sharpay ahhed, looking at her ring.
"Maybe some wedding planning might help get your mind off things?" She suggested and Gabriella laughed, walking over to the kitchen to make some tea. Gabriella really hadn't thought of planning any of her wedding yet.
"I don't know…" She admitted shyly. Sharpay sat up in her chair.
"Well all I know is that you should book your venue or date so that it makes things easier." She said with a smile. Gabriella looked over to the blonde. She was only home for a day, looking down and frowning. She wasn't expecting to have this talk with just Sharpay. "Do you miss Taylor?" She asked as Gabriella looked up from her tea.
"How di-"
"I just know…I also know she hasn't seen you yet. It's probably killing you inside." She said as Gabriella looked back down.
"I don't get why she's avoiding me." Gabriella said, tossing her long brown hair to the side. "Is she afraid of me?" She wondered sadly. Sharpay frowned.
"I'm not one to really spill some drama but your dad said some harsh things to her in the waiting room." Gabriella frowned looking down. "She also is avoiding Chad and Troy. I guess Chad visited you at the same time she was going to." She nodded figuring it was going to take Taylor sometime. They heard the door open and Gabriella looked right at the doorway seeing Troy. She smiled seeing his smile grow locking eyes with her. He walked over and kissed her sweetly as Sharpay smiled raising a hand to her chest.
"So no wedding planning?" She asked as Gabriella just wrapped her arms around his waist as he looked at Sharpay confused.
"What?" He asked as Gabriella snuggled into his chest laughing. He kissed the top of her head.
"I'm just getting used to things around here and she suggested to start planning our wedding." Troy ahhed, still holding Gabriella not caring Sharpay was watching. He craved her every touch since she wasn't at the precinct and while she was in the hospital.
"Well do you want to start planning our wedding?" He asked as Gabriella let go of him, walking over to the kitchen as he internally sighed feeling the absence of her touch. She shrugged.
"I was really enjoying our life before I got shot so…no. Not really." She said looking down as Troy felt a sucker punch to his stomach. Sharpay looked over to a concerned Troy as he felt the same vibe.
"Are you not enjoying life right now?" Sharpay asked cautiously as Troy remained in the doorway, careful to not approach her the wrong way. Gabriella looked down biting her lip that was quivering, hugging her arms and still looking down.
"There's this cloud hanging above me…a dark cloud that keeps raining." She said crying as Troy started to cry too. He stared at his broken fiancée standing in the kitchen crying. "I want a restart…I want to start that day over and pretend this all didn't happen…I was so so happy and now I'm just-" She paused wiping her tears away. "Living because I'm breathing…" She said distant as Troy walked over, scooping her up in a hug as Sharpay stood up walking into the kitchen. Gabriella cried in Troy's chest feeling him rest his head ontop of hers.
"I'm living because of you." Troy said as she started to stop crying. "I know things were so happy before this all happened but I promise you we can get back there…just have to let these clouds break up so we can get a sunny day." He said as Gabriella laughed through her tears.
"That was so cheesy." She said as he chuckled, wiping her tears away. Sharpay gave her a hug when Troy released her.
"I have a great therapist the precinct recommended me…It helped me get rid of the clouds too." Sharpay said as Gabriella looked up to Troy as he smiled.
"Let's do it." He said as Gabriella thanked Sharpay taking the number down.
Hey guys, I hope everyone is doing well these days. I hope my story gives you something to get your mind off of things.
Much love,
Nic
