Disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue.
A/N: Wow, sorry this took so long. Saturday I was at Six Flags Great Adventure all day for a Teddy Geiger concert. Sunday I was at play rehearsals and dinner with my grandparents all day. Monday I was at a picnic all day. Yesterday I had the academic awards dinner at school. Wow, you really didn't need to know all that. Anyway, sorry for the delay. Hope you enjoy chapter 3!
WARNING: this chapter deals with suicide, violence, death, and the like. You have been warned.
I threw some medical stuff into this chapter, but you don't really need to understand it to get the gist of what is happening.
Random Moment of the Chapter: I LOVE TEDDY GEIGER!
Enjoy!
"I'm sorry," Drew whispered, closing his eyes and pulling the trigger. The sound of the gunshot rang loudly through the room, accompanied by a cry of pain. The entire store froze, and a body slumped to the ground.
Gabriella screamed, her hand flying to her mouth as she stared wide-eyed at the body. Sharpay was sobbing, and Ryan was struggling to keep his composure.
Bobby was lying face-down on the floor, blood spreading across the back of his shirt from a bullet wound near his shoulder.
"Oh, God," Drew breathed, the gun falling from his limp fingers as he stared at his brother's body in shock. Troy recovered first and threw himself to his knees at Bobby's side. His hands shaking, he felt for a pulse. Sighing, he sat back on his heels, closing his eyes.
"He's dead."
Gabriella and Sharpay both sobbed loudly, hugging each other tightly.
"No, man, come on, he's not dead," Drew said, putting his hands on his head in disbelief.
Troy shook his head, standing slowly and walking back to Gabriella, pulling her into his arms and holding her.
"Drew, face it. It's over. Bobby's dead. Let us out of here, you don't want another murder charge on your hands."
Drew shook his head, biting his lip as tears filled his eyes.
"I can't, I don't-I"
"Open this door now!" the police shouted from outside, banging on the door again. Drew slid down a wall, his head in his hands.
"I'm opening the door," Troy said, standing up and keeping his arms wrapped around Gabriella.
"No!" Drew cried out, looking up at Troy and Gabriella. "No, you can't, they'll arrest me."
"Drew, you're screwed anyway. I'm opening the door."
As Troy and Gabriella walked toward the door, Drew scrambled forward for his gun. Taking it in his hand, he aimed it at Gabriella, his hands shaking.
"Don't move," he whispered, standing up but keeping the gun trained on Gabriella. Troy stood between her and the gun, keeping his arms around her.
"Drew, put the gun down. You've already shot two people, you don't want to shoot another."
"Get away from the door."
"Drew, you're upset, you're not-"
Suddenly the door crashed open as police officers spilled in.
"Put the gun down!"
Drew looked up at the officer, his hands shaking badly as he refused to lower the gun.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, closing his eyes as he pulled the trigger again.
Troy shoved Gabriella to the side, taking the bullet in his chest. Pandemonium greeted this, as Troy slumped slowly to the ground in Gabriella's arms.
"Get paramedics in here now!" someone shouted, running to the two even as Ryan and Sharpay did the same.
In the chaos, no one noticed as Drew put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.
"We've got one dead, three critical, and a minor," a police officer said into his radio, standing by the door as other officers took the uninjured hostages out of the store. Gabriella was holding Troy's head in her lap, stroking his hair as she spoke quietly to him. Sharpay was holding his hand as Ryan knelt by them, pale and worried.
"Troy, come on baby, stay with me," Gabriella whispered, tears streaming down her face.
"I-I love you, Gabi," Troy whispered, his eyes slipping closed.
"No!" Gabriella cried, shaking Troy's shoulder gently. "Come on, Troy."
"Paramedics are here!"
Several medics hurried into the store, bringing gurneys and equipment bags with them. Two went to April, two to Drew, and two to Troy, while one attended to the other clerk, who was sitting against the counter, dazed and confused.
"Miss, you're going to have to move so we can help him," one of the medics said, gently moving Gabriella away.
"No, please, he's my boyfriend, I need to stay with him!"
"Miss, you can stay, just back up, please, let us work."
"You two need to come with us," an officer said, addressing Sharpay and Ryan.
"Wait, can't we stay with him?" Sharpay asked, looking up at the officer.
"I'm sorry miss, we need your statements. You can go to the hospital afterwards, it's procedure."
"Shar, come on, Troy's gonna be okay," Ryan said, standing and helping his sister up. "We'll meet you at the hospital," he told Gabriella as they followed the officer out.
"Pulse is 140, BP is 140/90."
"He's losing blood fast, we gotta get him to an ER."
"We're headed out, bullet wound to the head, barely hanging on," one of the other medics informed the officers as they rushed past with a gurney that held Drew.
"We're right behind you," Troy's medic said, hanging an IV bag on the gurney pole as they lifted Troy onto it.
"Can I come?" Gabriella asked quietly, her hand unconsciously reaching for Troy's. The medic nodded curtly and they quickly moved outside to a waiting ambulance.
"Bullet wound to the chest, close proximity to the heart. Two liters lost in the field."
"Started two IV's in the field."
"What's his BP?"
"120/70, and falling steadily."
The paramedics were unloading Troy's gurney at the ER, informing the doctors who met them of his condition. Gabriella followed alongside, keeping her hand entwined with Troy's.
"Miss, we're going to have to ask you to wait out here," one of the doctors said as they reached a room, bringing Troy in and starting to work on him.
"But-"
"It's okay, let the doctors work on him," a nurse said, putting an arm around Gabriella's shoulders and leading her away. She brought Troy's hand to her lips and gently kissed it, before turning and following the nurse out.
"Let's get two units of O-neg, and type-and-cross for six more! Someone notify his parents."
"I can't even see the wound there's too much blood."
"Start a chest tube, and stand by with an intubation tray," one of the doctors said, taking her stethoscope and listening to Troy's chest.
"Pulse ox is 85 on room air."
"We gotta tube him, we're losing him too quickly."
"Already 300 cc's out of the chest tube, page surgery!"
"I'm in, bag him and get a ventilator."
"Dr. Richards, his parents are here," a young woman said, sticking her head in the door and addressing the lead doctor.
"Alright, I'll be there in a sec, we gotta get him up to surgery, there isn't enough time for consent."
"What've we got?" another doctor asked, pulling on gloves as he walked into the room.
"Bullet wound with close proximity to the heart. Massive blood loss, we had to intubate and put in a chest tube. The chest cavity is full of blood."
"Shooter or victim?"
"Victim. Shooter's next door, bullet in his head."
The surgeon nodded, placing his hand on the wound in Troy's chest and watching the monitor.
"Alright, we've got an OR prepped, let's take him up."
"Mr. and Mrs. Bolton?" Dr. Richards asked, walking into the waiting room of the ER as she tossed her gloves into a trash can.
"Are you Troy's doctor?"
"What's going on, where is my son?"
"Please, I think it might be best if you sit," the doctor said, motioning to the chair opposite the one she was moving toward.
"Is Troy alright?" Kellie Bolton asked, gripping her husband's hand tightly.
"I'm afraid that Troy is very severely injured. The bullet entered his chest near his heart, and never exited. With the amount of blood he lost, and his condition, we fear it may have pierced a major blood vessel. One of our best surgeons just took him up to surgery. Your son is in good hands."
"Oh, God," Kellie whispered, holding a shaking hand over her mouth. Jack was struggling to keep his composure.
"Mr. and Mrs. Bolton?" Gabriella asked quietly, walking up to them from the hallway. She was returning from the bathroom, and had missed Dr. Richards' entrance.
"Gabriella? Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Kellie asked, looking in concern at her son's girlfriend.
"I'm fine. How's Troy?"
Dr. Richards explained everything to Gabriella, who sat next to Mrs. Bolton, watching the doctor.
"Is there anywhere we can go to wait for him?" Jack asked, holding his wife close to him.
"The OR waiting room is upstairs, fifth floor," Dr. Richards said, standing up and holding out her hand to the three. "I wish you all the best of luck. I have other patients I need to attend to."
She left after shaking their hands, leaving the three sitting there in shock.
"Gabriella, what happened?" Jack asked, looking at the teenager intently.
"We were at the store, and then these two guys came in with guns," she said, tears starting to slide down her cheeks again. "They-they shot the cashier. Then the older one, he shot his brother. I don't know what else happened, but Troy was on the floor, bleeding and-" she broke off, choking on sobs. Kellie wrapped her arms around the younger woman, pulling her into a hug.
"It's alright," she said, holding Gabriella tightly. "Troy's going to be okay."
A/N: Not a cliffhanger, but I didn't feel like any more cliffhangers. :D
Well, that was fun. Not.
Reviews greatly appreciated as always!
Coming in Chapter 4: What happens to Troy? What about April, Drew, and the other clerk guy? Or Sharpay and Ryan?
P.S.-For all who read my one-shot "Everything But You," I am currently working on turning it into a trilogy. I'm working on the prequel right now, it'll probably focus on Gabriella right after Troy left, and will probably be a song-fic to Teddy Geiger's "Air Dry." The sequel will be about Troy trying to get Gabriella to let him back in, probably set to Teddy Geiger's "For You I Will." Just letting you know!