Once Rosie was admitted into the hospital, Gabriella couldn't stop shaking from anxiety and fear of what was happening to her baby. Gabriella hated feeling helpless and not in control, it just wasn't in her nature. So you can imagine how blindsided she was with Troy. Now the stakes for heartbreak and confusion were even higher, now that Rosie was separated from her mother to be helped.
Troy had followed Gabriella and Rosie behind the ambulance straight into the hospital. Troy had to find parking since the side was only meant for ambulances to enter. Once Troy parked, he remained in his car, anxiety creeping up his body. The last thing Troy had expected or even wanted to feel like this, it was years ago when he had witnessed a loved one having a seizure. Troy heard about how experiencing trauma can also lead to having PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. That experience in itself would haunt Troy for the rest of his life. Troy rolled down the window and put his hands on the steering wheel and took deep breaths to ground himself. Troy knew he was the only person Gabriella and Rosie had right now. After his last deep breath, Troy rolled up the window's car, got up, and locked the vehicle before finding Gabriella.
Once Troy reached the waiting area, he was surprised to find the room completely empty, given the exception of a mother trying to console her son. Troy quickly found the brunette woman he was looking for. Troy approached Gabriella cautiously, as Gabriella had her head buried in her hands.
"Gabriella?" Troy whispered gently. Troy's heart fell down to his stomach and his face when he saw Gabriella look up at him with tears streaming down her face. Troy did not hesitate to sit next to Gabriella and hold her tightly against him. Gabriella tensed at the first contact because this was their first hug in god knows how long. Troy felt relieved when Gabriella relaxed and leaned onto him, fisting his shirt and quietly sobbing into him. Troy's heart broke as he saw Gabriella crumble. He reached out with his other hand and intertwined it through her hair.
"Shhh, she's gonna be okay Gab, she's gonna be okay." Troy coaxed.
"They've been in there with her for so long, and I don't know what's gonna happen or what to do I-"
"Hey." Troy interrupted boldly, quiet enough that no one could hear, but loud enough that Gabriella could catch herself before she started to hyperventilate. Gabriella snapped herself out of it when she heard Troy's tone. "They're in there because they want to take good care of Rosie and see what's going on. And when they're done, they're gonna come here and tell us that Rosie wants to see her mom, and then we'll go from there, okay?" Troy whispered, resting his lips on the top of Gabriella's head and planting reassuring kisses from time to time.
"We?" Gabriella stated confused, yet hopeful. Troy looked back at her and nodded twice before pulling her into him. "Yeah, I'm here, I'm right here. It's going to be okay." Troy reassured her.
Eventually, not too long after their talk, Gabriella kept fluttering her eyelids and eventually fell asleep on Troy's shoulder. Thirty minutes after Gabriella had fallen asleep, Rosie's doctor came called out for Gabriella. Troy straightened up before slowly shaking Gabriella awake. Gabriella opened her eyes, disoriented, and looked up at Troy.
"They're calling for you, let's go see what's going on." Gabriella composed herself quickly and walked to the doctor, Troy following behind.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Gupta," the doctor introduced herself and shook hands with Troy and Gabriella's hands. "I just wanted to let you know Rosie is doing okay right now. So as was seen, Rosie had a grand mal seizure. We further wanted to look into the seizure as she had fallen asleep from the exhaustion from the seizure. So we did an EEG, which was used to determine the seizure type and epilepsy syndrome."
Gabriella's eyes widened, "Are you saying Rosie has epilepsy?" She asked, her voice hitching in her throat.
"There is not a full diagnosis if Rosie has epilepsy or what kind she has, so we will have to go through some diagnostic processes to see what she is dealing with." The doctor replied calmly, as she saw Gabriella starting to shake.
Troy had also noticed this and put his hand behind Gabriella's back and chose to ask for Gabriella. "What kind of processes would Rosie need to get to get a definite diagnosis?"
"Well first, we need to look into Rosie's medical history to see if anything may have an effect and or triggered a seizure. Then we would need to do some blood work, and do some scans, and we will grow from there." Dr. Gupta stated. A couple of moments after seeing Gabriella distraught, she offered comforting words and put her hand on her arm. "Ms. Montez, it is completely normal to feel overwhelmed and scared. I know the feeling, my son actually also had a seizure at Rosie's age. It's scary and confusing, but I promise you, our team, along with your support, will get Rosie the care she needs." Dr. Gupta said in a hushed tone. Those words gave Gabriella the strength to look up and be assured that Rosie would be in good hands and be able to get the care she needs. The doctor's words also comforted Gabriella in knowing she wasn't alone or crazy for how she was feeling and thinking. Gabriella replied with a small smile to the doctor, nodded, and looked up at Troy and gave him the same smile, which Troy was happy to see.
"However," Dr. Gupta stated enthusiastically. "Miss Rosie really wants to see her mom, and, just so you know, she has been going on about wanting ice cream on the way back home." The doctor laughed, which brought Gabriella and Troy some relief with lightheartedness, which was much needed.
"Mommy!" Rosie exclaimed and held her arms wide open when she saw her mommy. Gabriella did not waste a second before hurling Rosie into her arms and planted a bunch of kisses on her face. "Hey, baby. How are you feeling?" Gabriella asked Rosie, not knowing how to even respond to what she may say.
Rosie seemed to shut down and quieted after Gabriella asked her question, Rosie buried herself into her mom's stomach. "It was a really scary mommy, it was really scary." Gabriella could feel and hear Rosie getting teared up. "Am I going to be okay, mommy?" Rosie asked, looking up at Gabriella in such an innocent yet heartbreaking tone. Gabriella took a big breath and faltered in a response. Troy chose to butt in at that moment.
"Rosie!" Troy exclaimed, happy to see the little girl.
"Troy!" Rosie jumped out of her mother's arms and wrapped her small ones around Troy's neck.
A silent moment passed before Rosie spoke again, "Troy, am I going to be okay?" Gabriella looked up at Troy helplessly, while Troy kept his eyes on Rosie's.
"You're going to be just fine. Something odd happened in here," Troy pointed kiddingly to her head before continuing, "so we're going to do some cool tests to see what's going on to make sure that doesn't happen again, yeah?"
Rosie's eyes widened quickly, "Am I gonna get shots?" Rosie's eyes started tearing up. Troy bent down, so he and Rosie were eye to eye. "You might need to get one or two, but you're one tough gal, Rosie." Troy looked at Gabriella and smiled softly at her, which Gabriella returned carefully. Troy grabbed her hand and pulled her towards Rosie and him. "Your mom will be right beside you. And hey, if you get one and you tough it out, I will personally buy you your favorite from shake shack. And who knows I may even get you something sweeter and bigger," Troy leaned closer to Rosie and whispered to her jokingly, looked at Gabriella, and looked back at Rosie, "And your mom doesn't even have to know." This made Rosie giggle and brought a huge smile to her. Gabriella took that moment and playfully whacked Troy's head warning him to let out a playful "Ow," "Hey, mommy heard that!" Rosie felt happier as she saw her mom joining in the conversation with her and Troy. Rosie couldn't stop laughing when she saw her mommy whack Troy. Gabriella bent down to their level, "but he's right, we can do that." Gabriella smiled towards her giddy daughter, so, so happy to see her in a better mood.
"Alright then, deal with everyone?" Troy looked at Rosie and Gabriella, who both responded with a yes.
"How do you feel about getting out of here, baby?" Gabriella asked, feeling more at ease now.
"Yes. But only if we can get ice cream!"
"Hmm, I remember Troy saying that when you would get a shot?" Gabriella replied playfully.
"But Mommy, you whacked Troy. That wasn't very nice, Mommy." She looked at Troy for support.
"Yeah, Gabriella, it wasn't very nice at all," Troy replied innocently.
"So you two are teaming up against me, huh?" Rosie just shrugged, hiding behind Troy's arms and smiling.
Gabriella zoned in on Rosie, "Fine, you two win." Troy opened up his palm for Rosie to high five him and which Rosie clapped back. "Good job, kid, that was smooth," Troy responded before picking up Rosie and carrying her to her mom.
Dr. Gupta smiled at three as they left the hospital room. She stopped Gabriella. "I picked up some brochures for you to look over if you need anything answered or resources. For now, make sure Rosie gets some rest, you as well, ma'am! And we'll call tomorrow to set up the appointment."
Gabriella smiled appreciatively towards the kind doctor and couldn't help herself and gave the doctor a hug. "Thank you, thank you so much," Gabriella replied in gratitude.
"Of course." The doctor smiled. "Now, from what I heard, you owe Rosie and Troy icecream?"
Gabriella rolled her eyes, playfully, "Unfortunately." Gabriella waved to the doctor before seeing Rosie holding Troy's hand as he guided them towards his car.
It wasn't until Gabriella got home and put Rosie to bed, that she could take a deep breath and reflect what just happened. Gabriella made sure to keep Rosie's door open and check in with her different times in the night. You couldn't blame her for being paranoid, because that is what all mothers do, especially when something like this happens.
Gabriella placed a mug of coffee in front of Troy at the table. Troy had come to help Gabriella and Rosie settle in. She sat down and looked up to the man who had been her complete rock for the past hours of terror.
"Troy, thank you so much for being here. For Rosie and me." Gabriella stated appreciatively.
"Of course, I'm glad I could help and be there for you guys," Troy replied, putting his coffee down. "Thanks for the coffee, by the way. All that sugar was giving me a headache."
"Hmm, that's not my fault, is it?" Gabriella teased.
"Yes fine, I get it, I get it! But Rosie looked really happy to get that cone."
"Yeah, she was." Gabriella smiled, looking down at her coffee.
The pair were silent for a while. However, this time it wasn't uncomfortable but familiar.
"Troy, I'm really sorry for how I reacted today, especially with Rosie. I don't know what I would've done or what would've happened to Rosie if you weren't here today. I- I was a mess. I feel terrible" Gabriella looked up at Troy with embarrassment.
"No, Gabriella, please don't feel that way. This was something sudden and unexpected and, honestly, not knowing how to handle this. I didn't know how to handle it at all." Troy replied, quickly catching his confession.
"What do you mean?" Gabriella questioned.
Troy took a deep breath. This was one of the many hardships and heartbreaks Troy's gone through these past years. He reflected and knew he could trust Gabriella and that she wouldn't judge him, or at least he hoped she didn't.
"After senior year, Chad and I actually came back to the gym to coach club basketball for kids. During one of our practices, this little girl, who was what, maybe nine?" Troy looked down and chuckled, shaking his head. It still made him emotional after so long. "Who was a damn good player. When I say that, Gabriella, I just knew she was going to play for the NBA one day. Somehow, some way. I just knew it. But, during one of our practices, she got hit hard with the ball and ended up having a seizure. I didn't know what to do at all. It was just me coaching that day. I was so scared that I thought this little girl's life was going to be taken away because of me because I didn't know what to do. Thankfully, one of the kids knew what to do to help her. He guided me along and told me what to do while the seizure was happening, getting her on her side, loosening up anything tight she was wearing, timing it, everything. This kid knew what to do, something I never even thought about. Chad came in not too long after and cleared everyone to go outside, so it was just us three. Eventually, my dad and some other supervisors came and took care of her. I was traumatized by what I saw. I won't ever forget the vision of her seizing and everything I felt." Troy swallowed the lump in his throat that was building and building as he continued to tell Gabriella what haunted him. "I then learned that she was having more frequent seizures. I blamed myself. A million thoughts were going through my mind of what I did wrong throughout those five minutes. We had to let her go because her safety was a big concern, and it just broke me. I was sitting outside after she had been told she needed to be released from the program. I started to cry because she was crying, it hurt so much, I don't know why. But when she saw me, she didn't look away or avoid me. She came straight up to me and gave me, what felt like the biggest hug and said thank you, thank you for helping her. I pulled away and didn't know what to say. I couldn't even say something comprehendible. I ended up brushing her hair back and said I can't wait to see her in the NBA one day. The little firecracker said, "I know, it's the other boys you should be worrying about" She smiled and then left with her parents."
Troy looked down and wiped his eyes. That story was always going to be a soft place in his heart. A strong girl with a stronger mind and a stronger spirit. That day forever changed him.
Gabriella put a warm hand on top of his shaking one. He looked up to see Gabriella with tears streaming down her face. "You're a wonderful man, Troy Bolton. And there's nothing you can say to convince me otherwise." Gabriella got up, and this time, she gave him the biggest hug. It was Troy's turn to be comforted in which he welcomed, he needed it.
