She was mad. No, she was more than mad…
She was livid!
Gabriella angrily continued to wash the dishes as she waited for her fiancé to finally get home. Her fiancé had made her cancel AGAIN because of some work meeting. This had been the fourth time he called her to say he got caught up at work and she was over it.
Her fiancé, Troy Bolton, was a marketing manger while she was a high school history teacher and girls volleyball coach. The two of them had been planning their wedding for the last 2 months since they had officially set the date. They still had another 9 months left, but she wanted to get everything done now. In the beginning, Troy was all for helping and being apart of everything but the last couple of weeks he had been so wrapped up in work that he hasn't even been paying attention to the wedding. She knew he was busy at work, but she also knew that their wedding would be here sooner than later and they needed to get started on everything before it was too late. Gabriella felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she heard the door open and close to their apartment.
"Ella! I'm home." Gabriella rolled her eyes as she didn't move. Of course, she knew he was going to come home as if nothing was wrong. She wasn't in the mood for this right now.
"Hey baby." Troy felt Gabriella's body tense up when he touched which caused confusion on his face.
"Hey is everything okay?" Troy asked as Gabriella spun around. He was taken back by her face. He had only seen that face a few times since they have been together. He knew that face and it wasn't good.
"Is everything okay?! No the hell it isn't okay! You bailed on me again Troy! We were supposed to meet with the wedding planner today but no you have a damn work meeting." Gabriella was so angry, her face was nearly red. She had never been so mad at Troy in the 5 years that they have been dating. Troy rolled his eyes as went to grab a beer.
"Ella I already told you I was sorry. I had a meeting that I couldn't get out of."
"Bullshit!" Troy was taken back as he looked at his fiancée once again. "This is the fourth time Troy. The fourth! Do you know how embarrassing it was to have to cancel again!"
"You act as if we don't have time. We still have 9 months before we get married." Gabriella groaned as she walked into another room with Troy hot on her tails. She knew he was going to follow her even though there was so much tension in the room between them.
"Gabriella would you just chill. It was just a meeting."
"It wasn't just a meeting Troy. Your meeting at work was JUST a meeting! This was a meeting for OUR wedding! You remember that don't you? You asked me 4 months ago to marry you or do you not want to marry me anymore?" Troy looked at Gabriella as if she was crazy. What type of question was that?
"Are you crazy!? Of course I want to marry you! If I didn't want to marry you, I wouldn't have fucking asked."
"Then act like it! You have been acting like we aren't planning a wedding for weeks now. It seems like your damn job is more important to you then our damn relationship." At this point they were both in each other's face. You could tell that Troy was over the conversation and Gabriella was just getting angrier the more they talked about it.
"Gabriella you're fucking overreacting it was a damn meeting. We can make it up just chill the fuck out and stopping being so fucking dramatic. It's just a fucking wedding!"
The moment those words left Troy's mouth, he wished he could've taken them back. His eyes grew as he looked at her. Gabriella felt tears in her eyes as she shook her head before grabbing her jacket and walking towards the door. Troy followed her as he tried to grab her hand, but she jerked it back from him.
"Ella…Ella wait.I-I didn't mean any of that. Baby, just please….where are you going?" Gabriella turned back towards Troy and he instantly felt his heart break when he saw the tears.
"I'm going for a drive before either one of us says something we'll regret but it turns out you may have already."
And with that she was out the door.
Troy's POV
I paced the living room as I called Gabriella again for the 7th time.
"Hi this is Gabriella. Sorry I can't get to the phone right now but leave a voicemail and I'll get back to you"
I groaned as I left her yet another message. "Ella…baby, please answer your phone. I'm so sorry for what I said. I didn't mean any of what I said. You know I care about our wedding. Just…please come home so that we can talk. Please baby. I love you."
Gabriella had been gone for the last 2 hours and I was getting worried. It was late and raining and I just wished she would call me back or better yet, walk through the door! I had no clue where she could be. I sighed as I sat on the couch and sent her another text message.
Please call me…I'm sorry.
I tossed my phone on the other side of the couch before running my hands through my hair. I felt like a complete ass ever since she walked out of the door. She was right. I had been a jerk. All I had to do was ask to reschedule the damn work meeting. It's not like I was trying to prolong the stuff on the wedding. I had just been really busy.
God Ella where the hell are you! I jumped as I felt my phone ring from the other side of the couch. I jumped up to grabbed my phone hoping that it was Ella calling me, but it was Taylor. I raised my eyebrow as I wondered why Taylor was calling me.
"Hello."
"Troy, where are you right now?" I raised my eyebrow as she sounded like something was wrong.
"I'm at home why? Is everything okay? Is Chad okay?" Taylor was married to my best friend Chad Danforth. They were the people that introduced Ella and I when we were all at college together at NYU. Taylor and Chad had been dating since our junior year of high school and then Gabriella met Taylor when they ended up on the dance team together at NYU. Chad worked with Gabriella at the high school as the English teacher and the basketball coach while Taylor was a nurse at the local New York Memorial.
"Gabriella's been brought into the hospital. She's been in an accident."
I felt my heart dropped into my stomach. My body went into overdrive as I grabbed my jacket and car keys and raced out the door. As I was speeding to the hospital my mind just kept thinking of the worse. Taylor was a ER nurse and if she was calling then it had to be bad. I tried to think positive, but I was scared as hell.
God please let her be okay.
Once I got to the hospital, I hurried and parked my car before running inside. I looked around for Taylor before hearing someone calling my name. I looked up to see Chad waving me over.
"Chad, where is Taylor?! What is going on?" I looked around as Chad tried to get me to calm down.
"Dude just breathe. Taylor called me 20 minutes ago. I just got here so I have no information." I ran my hands through my hair as I felt as though I was about to throw up.
"Troy!" My head spun around as I saw Taylor walking over to us. Chad and I ran over to her as a million and one questions were coming out of my mouth. Taylor placed her hands on my shoulders as if to calm me down.
"Troy I need for you to calm down before I tell you."
Calm down! Why does everyone want me to calm down! I took a deep breath as I nodded my head.
"She was hit on the driver side of her car by a drunk driver. It didn't look good when the EMT's brought her in. There was blood everywhere, but the doctors are working on her okay. They wouldn't let me help because she's my friend but, Troy I promise you they are doing everything possible."
I felt like the breath had been knocked out of my lungs. The room started spinning and I felt my legs give out from under me. I felt Chad grab my arm before sitting me down in a chair. I tried to process everything that Taylor had just told me but I just…I just couldn't think straight.
"Troy, I need for you to breathe okay." I looked over at Chad as I felt like my heart was about to beat out of my chest. I felt the tears in my eyes as I grabbed my head. Taylor rubbed my back as I couldn't breathe.
"This is all my fault." I looked over at them with tears in my eyes as they both looked at me confused. I closed my eyes and shook my head as I tried to get the tears to stop but it was no use. "We were having a fight and she walked out. I shouldn't have let her leave. I shouldn't have stayed at work for that damn meeting. Chad this is my fault."
"No Troy this isn't your fault. You didn't hit her. Some jackass did. Don't blame yourself. You know Gabriella wouldn't." I shook my head as I needed for her to be okay. She had to be okay.
It had been four hours since I got to the hospital and I still hadn't heard anything from Taylor or the doctors. I had called Gabriella's parents who lived in San Antonio. They were getting on the first flight out and I told them I would give them information the moment I heard anything. Chad was still sitting by my side which I was grateful for because I needed him here. I needed someone to keep me from doing something stupid.
"Dude…" I looked over at Chad, who nodded his head towards the door. I looked over that way to see Taylor walking with a doctor. I stood up as I was nervous for what he was about to say.
"Troy this is Gabriella's doctor, Dr. Anderson. Dr. Anderson this is Gabriella's fiancée, Troy Bolton." I shook the doctor's hand as I prayed he had some good news.
"Mr. Bolton, I am going to be honest with you..." I closed my eyes as I already didn't like where this was going. "There was a lot of internal bleeding, but we were able to stop it. Unfortunately, when Gabriella got hit, her head hit the steering wheel which called her brain to swell. Now I was able to stop the swelling but she's no where near out of the woods. We have her on a ventilator now. We have to watch her carefully." I couldn't even talk after the doctor said everything. I didn't even know how to process it all. I felt the tears start to come back to my eyes but I was able to hold them at bay.
"Can…can I see her?"
Dr. Anderson nodded as I looked back at Chad and Taylor before following him to Gabriella's room. I had to take a deep breathe before I entered her room. I felt the blood drain from my body as I looked at Gabriella. Those tears that I were trying to hold in came back and started falling before I even entered the room. It was so quiet that all I could hear was the beeping of the machines. I walked over to her bed and just stared at her. She didn't look like my Gabriella, but this was her. She looked pale and had scratches over her face. Her arm was in a sling and she had a bandage on her head. I grabbed her hand of her arm that wasn't in the sling as I pushed some of her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead. I connected our foreheads as I couldn't stop the tears from coming.
"I am so sorry baby…. Th-this is all my fault. If I would've just come home you wouldn't be in this hospital. I shouldn't have let you walk out of the apartment. I just…I'm sorry Ella." I looked over her body as I shook my head. I just wanted redo. I just wished I could go back in time and stop her from walking out of that door. "Ella, baby please don't leave me. I-I don't know what I'm going to do if you leave me. I need you baby. You've been by my side for 5 years. I don't know what life is without you anymore." I felt myself getting choked up as I listened to the machines that were keeping her alive. "We still have so much to do. We still have to get married in September. We still need to travel and have children. Remember how you said you wanted to go to Italy and to the Caribbean and remember how we talked about starting our family….well I need you alive and healthy in order for that to happen. Just…please don't leave me."
9:30pm
I sat in a chair next to Ella's bed as everything was quiet around me besides the beeping of the machine that helped her breathe. The tears in my eyes would stop but the more I looked at her, the quicker they came back. I had kept her parents informed on everything since they couldn't get a flight out until tomorrow. Her brother was flying in with them also. I felt awful because I couldn't stop blaming myself. I couldn't stop thinking about how we left things. The auguring, the yelling, her walking out of the house. I didn't even tell her I loved her. We could've avoided all of this. I closed my eyes and shook my head as I just prayed that this was a nightmare. I looked up when I heard a knock on the door to see Taylor. She gave me a small smile as she walked into the room and over to Ella's bed.
"Visiting hours are over Troy." I shook my head as there was no way in hell that I was leaving her.
"No, I'm not leaving her. Not now. I need to be here if something happens." Taylor gave me a seldom look as she sighed.
"I know you don't want to leave her, but they won't let you stay. Especially because she is in ICU. I will be here until 8am and visiting hours open back up at 9am. If anything happens, I will call you, I promise." I took a deep breath as I looked at her and then looked over at Gabriella. I knew Taylor was right, but I was scared as hell to leave her.
"Okay…can…can you just give me a minute." Taylor nodded before walking out of the room. I grabbed Ella's hand and moved some hair out of her face.
"I don't want to leave but I have to. I will be back first thing in the morning. Please stay with me, okay baby. I can not lose you. I need for you to fight okay. Fight to stay here with me." I felt a tear roll down my cheek as I leaned in to kiss her forehead. "I love you baby."
With that I walked out of her room. I saw Taylor in the hallway as she gave me a hug and told me to call either her or Chad if I needed anything. I kissed her cheek before walking out to the car. The moment I got into my car, I yelled. I yelled until I couldn't yell anymore. I punched at my steering wheel until my fist started to hurt. I couldn't stop the tears from running down my face. After about ten minutes, I finally started driving back to our apartment.
Once I got to our apartment, I walked inside and stumbled into our bedroom. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I finally sat down. I looked beside me and saw Gabriella's favorite sweatshirt laying on her pillow. I grabbed it and instantly felt the tears come back to my eyes. I placed it up to my nose as I closed my eyes while smelling her sent. I looked around our room as I couldn't help but let the memories come back to my mind.
I felt the sun in my face as I rolled over and placed my face in my pillow. I reached out next to me and felt a small smile tug to my face. I lifted my head and laid on my side as I looked at the beautiful creature that laid next to me. Gabriella and I had been together for two and a half years and this was our first morning in our new apartment together. We had just graduated college a little over 2 months ago and we were both lucky enough to get jobs right after graduation.
We had decided to move in together since it would save us both money and I already feel as though it was the best idea of our lives. Of course, we had stayed over at each other apartment during college, but this was ours. I was going to be able to wake up every morning and fall asleep every night with her in my arms. I pulled her closer to me as I kissed the top of her head before slipping out of bed. I went into our kitchen as I turned on some music before pulling things out for breakfast.
As I prepared breakfast, I couldn't stop smiling and thinking about how right this felt. 2 years ago, if you would've told me that right after college, I would be moving in with a girl, I would've laughed but now I can't imagine not living with her and its only been a day.
"If this is what I'm going to get everyday, then moving in together was definitely the right move." The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I turned around to see Gabriella leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed. She was wearing one of my shirts and her hair was messy but she couldn't have looked more beautiful. I smiled as I opened my arms causing her to move into them. She lifted her forehead as we shared a kiss. I pulled her closer, if that was even possible, as she ran her fingers through my hair. I pulled back and kissed her nose causing her to giggle.
"Well good morning beautiful." I ran my fingers through her hair as she laid her chin on my chest.
"Good Morning handsome. If you would have told me that move in with you would get me breakfast and a show, we would have done this a long time ago." I laughed as I ran my hair though her hair again and kissed her forehead.
"Baby trust me when I say I would have moved in with you after our first date." I watched as she blushed and hid her face in my chest causing me to laugh again.
I pushed open the door to our bedroom with my hip as I was carrying a tray with chicken noodle soup, tea, water and medicine. Gabriella was fast asleep in our bed as she had ended up catching the flu that had been going around lately. This was day 4 and she was starting to feel somewhat better, but I could tell she still wasn't 100% more. Her color had started to come back and she was breathing better which made me feel at ease.
I sat the tray down and sat down on the bed. I really didn't want to wake her up, but she needed to eat and take her medicine. I felt her forehead to see that her fever was mild but still there.
"Baby…" I kissed her forehead causing her to groan. I rubbed her hair as it took her a while to open her eyes but when she did my heart damn near broke. Her eyes were glossed over and I just wanted to take the pain away.
"Hey baby girl." She gave me a weak smile as she let out a cough.
"How long was I asleep for?" She asked with as raspy voice.
"2 hours. I would've let you slept longer but you need to eat." She sighed as she nodded her head and sat up with some of my help. I moved her pillows behind her back to help her breathe before grabbing the tray and sitting it in front of her. She gave me a weak smile as she kissed my cheek.
"Thank you baby. You didn't have to do all of this." I shook my head as I kissed her forehead.
"Nonesense. You are sick. Its my job to take care of you." She gave me another kiss on the cheek and rubbed my chin.
"How did I get so lucky?" I blushed as I looked at her and shook my head.
"I ask myself that same question everyday baby girl."
I tossed and turned in our bed for the millionth time that night as no matter how hard I tried I couldn't fall asleep. I couldn't stop thinking about Gabriella. I looked over at the clock to see it was 3:45am causing me to groan. Why was time moving so damn slow! I just wanted it to be 9am already so I could be sitting back next to Gabriella. I grabbed my phone as I facetimed Taylor. I prayed that she would answer because I needed some type of clarity.
"Hey Troy." Taylor answered when our call finally connected. "I'm surprised it took you this long to call." I rubbed the back of my neck as I was just as surprised myself.
"Yea I'm sorry for calling so late, or early, or whatever. I just…I'm worried about her Tay and I can't sleep. How is she?" She gave me a sad look as I knew it wasn't good news.
"I've been checking on her best I can but nothing has changed. She hasn't gotten worse which is good, but like I said nothing has really changed." I sighed as I ran my had over my face.
"Can…can you just let me see her. Please?" Taylor bit her lip as she nodded and went to Gabriella's room. She flipped the camera around, and I felt the tears come back. She looked the same as when I left her, and I didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
"I have to get back to work now Troy but just keep hope. You know Gabriella is strong." I nodded and thanked her before ended the call.
I wiped my eyes as I just wished that she was here. I hated not having her in my arms at night. The bed felt so cold and I felt like and ass for not being there with her right now. I opened my phone and went to one of my favorite videos of her. It was actually of the both of us. Taylor had recorded it and sent it to us. It was during our senior year of college and her and I along with Taylor and Chad had went to Colorado for Christmas and New Years. I was chasing after her in the snow after we had just finished snowboarding. I had tripped in the snow causing her to burst into laughter and I damn near cried at hearing that laugh. It was my favorite sound to hear and now I don't even know if I'll ever hear it again. I laid my phone on my side table as I pulled her pillow close to me to smell her scent.
Please come back to me baby….
I pulled into the parking lot of the hospital at 9:05am. I grabbed the yellow and red roses and walked through the hospital as I signed in, grabbed my badge and went to the 10th floor where the ICU was. Waking up this morning wasn't as hard as I still never fell asleep. I was just tossing and turning until I was actually able to get up and start getting ready. I had talked to Gabriella's family again as their plane would be landing in a little over an hour. I walked into Gabriella's room and sighed as she looked a little less pale opposed to last night. I sat the roses down and I pulled my chair closer to her bed. I grabbed her hand and kissed her forehead.
"Hey beautiful. I told you I would be back. Thank you for holding on through the night. Your parents and brother are on the way. They should be here soon." I rubbed her hair and sighed as I just wanted her to make some type of move for me.
"Baby I need you to come back to me okay. Last night, being alone at the apartment was hell. It was so quiet. I wasn't able to sleep because I was so worried about you. I just….i just need you back baby girl." I rubbed her hand as I prayed that she was able to hear me.
I woke up to feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. I looked at the time to see it had been two hours since I've been here. I was dosing in and out of sleep, the only sleep I could get at the moment. Her doctors and nurses would come in a check on her and I just stood to the side, watching, praying that they had some good news. I looked down at my phone to see that Chad and Gabriella's dad had texted me. Chad was asking how I was doing and her dad was saying they were about 20 minutes away. I had texted them both back as I stood up and went to bathroom. I came back to see Taylor sitting on the other side of Gabriella's bed. She gave me a sad smile as I came around to hug her.
"How is she doing?" I shrugged my shoulders as I took place in my seat.
"I was hoping you knew more than I would know." Taylor gave me a seldom look.
"I'm sorry Troy. No changes have been made which is both a good thing and a bad thing. These things move slow." I nodded my head as I rubbed my face.
I wished for the life of me that she wasn't right but I knew she was. Hell, she was a nurse after all. I just wished that Gabriella would wake up already and we would be over to move on from this horrible nightmare. I felt my phone vibrate to see a text from Ella's dad.
"Her family is here."
"I can send them up. I need to get out of here and run some errands, but I'll be back tonight at 8." Taylor stood up as she looked at Gabriella again before coming over to hug me.
"Stay strong Troy. This is Gabriella we are talking about. She is going to pull through and be here laughing with us in no time." I felt my eyes water up as I nodded my head and kissed her cheek. I sat back as I wiped my eyes and looked over Ella's body. I just needed her to wake up. I needed to hear her voice and she her eyes, and to just hold her body close.
"Troy…" I looked up to see Ella's parents, Diego and Christina and her brother, Antonio.
"Hey." I stood up and hugged all three of them as they all went close to her bed. Ella was super close to her family, especially her father. She was a major daddy's girl. Her brother was 3 years younger than us and in his final year of college. They were as close as two siblings could get. She still talked to her family every week and we would always spend at least one major holiday with them.
I stood back as I watched her Mom move her hair away from her eyes with tears in her eyes. Her dad kissed her forehead as I saw that he was holding back tears. I was trying my hardest not to cry because this was my fought. They wouldn't all be here standing around her bed if it wasn't for me. I shook my head as I ran out of the room towards the lobby. I slide down a wall as I tried my hardest to breathe. I put my head in my hands as I couldn't think. I felt a hand on my shoulder causing me to jump. I looked up to see Antonio sitting next to me.
"Woah sorry to scare you dude. I was just coming to check on you. I turned around and you were gone." I shook my head as I took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, I just…I couldn't stay in there, seeing you and your parents cry. Not when this is my fault."
"Did you hit her with your car? No some idiot did. So why are you blaming yourself." I felt the tears come back.
"We had a fight. She had to cancel a meeting about the wedding because I had a work meeting. She was pissed and we were yelling and she walked out the door." I wiped my eyes as I thought back to yesterday. "I shouldn't have let her leave. I should have chased after her." Antonio rubbed my back as I tried to take deep breathes.
"Dude you can not blame yourself. Gabriella wouldn't. I know how Gabriella can be when she is pissed. Its probably good you didn't follow her." I shook my head as he was right but that didn't make me feel any better.
"Yea but I need for her to wake up Antonio. I need her. We should be planning a wedding right now. She shouldn't be fighting for her life for a stupid mistake that I caused."
"You know if Gabriella was awake right now, she would probably yell at you for blaming yourself." I smiled a little as he was right. I knew he was right but I still felt like crap.
"I remember the first time I met you Troy." I looked over at Antonio as he had a small smile on his face and he shook his head. "I will say I wasn't happy at all when I found out that when my mom said "Gabriella was bringing a friend home" that was code for "Boyfriend"…
Antonio's POV
I was sitting in my room playing on my playstation as I tried to enjoy the beginning of Christmas Break. I probably should be starting my loads of homework that my teachers decided to give me, but I mean who does homework on Christmas break.
"Tony!" I jumped hearing my mothers voice causing my character to get shot. I cursed as it had taken me forever to get to that level. I groaned as I got up and went downstairs to see what all her yelling was about. I went into the living room to see my mom cleaning which caused me to raise my eyebrows. Why in the hell was she cleaning and she legit just cleaned yesterday.
"You yelled mom." Her head popped up and she smiled when she saw me.
"Tony honey, I need for you to take the trash out before your sister gets here. Your father went to pick her up, they should be back any minute now." I rolled my eyes as she couldn't be serious.
"You are going crazy because El is coming home?"
"She is bringing a friend home as well." I didn't pay attention to the excited smile that my mom had on her face as the moment I heard friend, my ears perked up.
"Friend? As in one of her friends from the team, why didn't you say that sooner?" I ran to the kitchen to grab the trash as I needed to put on some decent close if El was bringing home a friend.
Her friends from her dance team were beyond hot. When we went to go visit her last month for one of their competitions, I couldn't keep my eyes off of them. I needed to call my friends and have them sneak over. Once the trash had been taken out, I heard my mother scream, that only meaning that Gabriella was home. I looked down at what I had on and realized that this would just have to do. I took my phone out and checked how I looked before walking back into the house. Once I got back to the living room, I noticed my parents talking to my sister and a tall boy. "Who the hell is this?" I thought as he seemed to have a pretty nice hold on my older sister. I cleared my throat causing everyone to look at me.
"Tony!" El yelled as she walked out of the boy's grip to come over and hug me. I laughed as she hugged me super tight as I hadn't seen her last month. "What's up squirt." I rolled my eyes as I hugged her back.
"You do know that I am taller than you right." Gabriella shrugged as she was only a foot shorter than me but I was still growing.
"Who's your friend?" I raised my eyebrow as the boy was looking at us or more like just looking at my sister.
"Oh Tony, this is my boyfriend Troy. Troy this is my baby brother Antonio." Boyfriend…..The moment those words left her mouth, my little brother radar went off. I instantly hated this guy.
"It's nice to meet you Antonio. Ella has told me a lot about you." I glared at him as he stuck his hand out for me to shake it. I looked him up and down and just looked at his hand. I felt Gabriella nudge me as I rolled my eyes before shaking his hand.
"Hmmm wish I could say the same." I mumbled causing Gabriella to hit me upside the head. I glared at her as she rolled her eyes. "It's nice to meet you as well. Funny how we didn't meet when we came to visit a month ago."
"Uh I was away for a basketball tournament and sadly had to miss the competition. I was upset I couldn't be there physically, but I was watching it live on my phone. She did an amazing job as usual. " Gabriella smiled over at this guy as I gave her a weird look. This wasn't her first boyfriend but she had never looked at any of the guys she brought home like this before. Hell she had only brought one or two guys home before and they never lasted that long. I wonder how long pretty boy here will last. I give it about a month or two.
"Mmmm basketball you say." I raised my eyebrow as this guy maybe okay and that's a strong maybe. Just because he played basketball doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on him.
"Yea I got a scholarship. Ella tells me you made varsity this year congratulations. Maybe we can play one day while we're here." I shrugged my shoulder as I looked out of the corner of my eye at my sister to see her smiling. I gave off a small smile as I guess I would try if it made her happy.
"God I wanted to hate you but the moment I paid attention to they way you treated her, I knew it would be hard. You actually cared about having a relationship with us and not just with her. I had never seen my sister so happy in my life. By the time you guys left, I was happy that she had you to take care of her. When she called me and told me that you guys were engaged, I was so damn happy. You two are great for each other Troy. My sister is one of the strongest people I know. I remember she sprained her ankle while playing volleyball in high school. Nobody knew until after the game because she hid the pain so well. She's going to come back for you. She isn't going to give up without a fight."
I gave Antonio a smile as he was an awesome brother. I have two sisters so to be able to have another guy around is great. We had become really close over the last five years which Gabriella was beyond happy about. I knew he was right about everything he was saying. I just needed it to happen sooner than later.
One Week Later
"Troy where are you taking me." I looked over at my beautiful girlfriend as I had woken her up earlier than usual but I had a special reason.
"It's a surprise Ella." I laughed as she rolled her eyes.
"This better be one hell of a surprise for you to wake me up so damn early." I grabbed her hand to intertwine our fingers.
"I promise baby it will be all worth it." I kissed her hand causing her to smile at me as I continued driving. Within the next 30 mins we were at our destination causing Gabriella to look around confused. To the right of us was a big open field and I was happy that my surprise was hidden otherwise she would have figured it out right away.
"Where are we?" I just smiled as I got out of the car and went around to open her door. I took her hand as I eased her out of the car and we walked down onto the field. Once she saw where we were going, she gasped and squealed causing me to laugh.
"No way! Troy!" I laughed harder as she squeezed my hand causing me to bring her into arms.
"Yes way." I whispered into her ear as I pulled her forwarded. We finally reached the hot air balloon causing our pilot to jump out and greet us. He told us how everything would go and the proper instructions as I looked down at my beautiful girlfriend. She had this excited smile on her face as I could only just smile while looking at her. Once he finished going over the instructions, I hopped into the balloon first before helping her in. Once she was safely in place, she squealed again and jumped into my arms.
"A hot air balloon Troy! How did you do all of this?" I kissed her forehead and moved a piece of her hair as I looked down at her.
"Its been on your list for a while and I figured, why not. You have been so busy lately and I wanted to do something special for you. You deserve it." I saw her melt on spot as she kissed me so hard it took my breath away.
We felt a slight tug as we pulled apart to see that we were taking off. Gabriella rushed to the look over the side of the balloon as I just stared at her. I couldn't believe my luck. How did I get so lucky to get a girl like this? We met at 19, kids still in college not knowing what the world was going to throw at us and she's still here right by my side. We've had our opens and our downs but she's always been there for me. I touched my pocket as I felt the box that had been burning a hole in my pocket the last 6 weeks.
"Troy" My head snapped up to see her looking at me as I cleared my throat and let her pull me towards her. I kissed her forehead as we watched the sunrise. I felt the box again and I knew I had to do it soon before I let my nerves get the best of me.
"Ella" She looked up at me as I took both her hands and kissed them causing her to smile.
"You know I love you right?" She nodded her head as I took a deep breathe. "I always wonder how in hell I go so lucky back in college. I never had any plans on meeting you and falling in love. I just wanted to play basketball and enjoy my newfound freedom and then you walked into my life. To this day I will still thank Chad for wanting to stop and get a bunch of snacks. When I saw you that day, I knew it was something special about you. You looked so beautiful and I knew I needed to get to know you. Once I knew you, I fell for you hard and I haven't stop falling. Everyday is a brand new day with you and all I want to do is create a bunch of memories that we will remember for a lifetime. You deserve so much more than I can ever give you but I know that I will spend the rest of my life making sure that I give it to you. You deserve to be loved every second of every minute of every hour of every day. I've been thinking a lot about my future, our future. When I see my life in the next five, ten, even fifteen years, you are the one thing that has never changed."
I wiped the tears coming from her eyes as I took the box out of my pocket and got down on one knee. Ella gasped and placed her hands over her mouth as the tears didn't stop. I gave her a small smile as I opened the boxed causing her to cover her eyes to hide her tears. I gently took her left hand and tugged on it causing her to look at me.
"I need you in my life Ella. Today, tomorrow, forever. You are my best friend, my soulmate and I'm hoping that you will be my wife. So, Gabriella Sophia Montez, will you marry me?" I felt as if time was moving slow as I we stared at each other.
"Yes" I felt my eyes pop out my head as I looked back at her to see her smiling.
"Yes?" She nodded her head which caused me to smile as I slid the ring on her finger as Gabriella jumped into my arms.
"Oh My God…Troy!" I laughed as she pulled back and grabbed my face and kissed me hard. I ran my fingers through her hair as we had to pull back because of air.
"Does this make up for the early wake up call?" I asked as I moved a piece of hair behind her ear. She blushed and laughed as she nodded her head and looked at the ring.
"Its beautiful baby."
"A beautiful ring, for my beautiful girl." She smiled at me as she kissed me again while placing her left hand on my cheek as all I could think about was how she would soon be mine forever.
"Troy…..Troy wake up" I jumped to see Chad standing over me. I looked over to see Gabriella still laying in her hospital bed. I looked at my phone to see it was 3 in the afternoon.
"Sorry dude. I must have fell asleep." Chad gave me a small smile as he looked over at Gabriella. The two of them also had a very close relationship. They were like brother and sister. The two of them would always play pranks on each other in college which Taylor and I just shook our heads every time.
"Taylor told me that you've been here for hours. Let's go get some food downstairs." I sighed as I nodded. I kissed Gabriella's forehead before following Chad. We walked towards the elevator and got on and we went down to the 5th floor. Gabriella's family had come by to visit early and they would sit for some time before leaving and coming back again before visiting hours were over.
"How you holding up dude?" I just shrugged as we entered the café.
"I'm just….numb. I miss her Chad. I miss hearing her voice and her laugh. I miss seeing her around the apartment. I miss everything." I ran my hand through my hair as I looked around at what I wanted to eat. I honestly didn't want to eat anything but I knew Chad and Taylor would fuss at me so I just grabbed a sandwich and a lemonade. "Its hard going home every night. I can't sleep because I'm worried that I'm going to get that phone call." I sighed as Chad nodded his head.
"Hey do you remember when you first met Gabi?" I gave off a smile as I had been thinking about that day almost everyday…
"Dude why are we stopping in this café again. I just want to go home and relax." Chad was dragging me in the local college cafe. We had just left from a two hour practice and all I wanted to do was go home and take a nap.
"Hello I just worked off some many carbs! I need fuel for my gaming tournament against Jake once we get home." I rolled my eyes as we walked around and watched Chad grab a bunch of snacks.
I heard an angelic laughed as I turned my head to see where the sound came from. I looked over to see Taylor, Chad's girlfriend, and a girl had never seen before seating at one of the tables. This girl that Taylor was sitting with was one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Who the hell was she?
"Dude, who's that girl sitting with Taylor?" Chad turned to see where I was looking.
"Oh that Gabriella. She's a new girl on the dance team and Taylor's new roommate." Gabriella…God could that name get any better. I started walking towards them as Chad followed me.
"I thought you were ready to go home." I looked over at Chad as gave me smirk.
"I just want to say hi."
"Mmmhmm sure." I walked over towards the table and I felt my heart speed up when she turned to look at me.
Those eyes…..
I had never seen eyes like that before. They were so damn beautiful.
"Hey baby. Hey Gabi. What are you two up to?" I turned to see Chad kissing Taylor but my eyes went back to the beautiful girl.
"Hey babe. We were just grabbing some food before we head to practice. Gabi I can finally introduce you to Chad's best friend, Troy" She turned to look at me again as she gave off a beautiful smile. God, I could just melt.
"Hi." Oh God her voice. Say Something Troy!
"Hey I..I'm Troy." I mentally kicked myself. I barely even know this girl and she already had me tripping over my words.
"Gabriella" She stuck her hand out and I gently took it. As soon as our hands touched, I felt sparks run through my body. Our eyes connected as we both smiled at each other.
"We didn't even go home after that. I think we ended up staying until they had to leave for practice. I think after that day if I saw you, she was right there by your side." I laughed as it was true. We were always together. We would go out to eat at the café, watch movies or just hang out and do homework. It took me about 3 months to finally get the nerves up to ask her out on a date.
"Yea it took me long enough to ask her out." Chad rolled his eyes at that statement.
"Don't I know it. You two flirted everyday and yet you were putty in her hands and couldn't just ask her out." I laughed as it was true. Hell I'm still putty in her hands.
"Its not like I tried. I just could never get the words out or it was never the right time. The good thing is that I actually did it."
Before Chad could response, loud ringing was heard throughout the speakers. Code Red, ICU, Room 325…Code Red. I felt the blood drain from my body as I realized that it was Ella's room they were talking about. Chad and I looked at each other as we both jumped up and ran towards her room. I felt myself getting sick as we took the stairs two at a time before we reached the 10th floor. I ran to her room to see the machines going off and doctors and nurses all around her body.
"What is going on?" Nobody was paying attention to me as I felt my body shake. "What is going on!"
"Nurse Danforth…get Mr. Bolton out of here." Taylor struggled to push me out of the room as I wasn't leaving her. Leaving her is what got us here.
"Troy you have to let them do their job." I heard her flatline as I tried to push myself back in the room. I saw a nurse do CPR on her as I couldn't breathe.
"Ella! Ella baby don't leave me! Please! Ella!"
I felt Chad grab my arm as I wanted to push him off of me, but I saw the doctors pushing Gabriella out of her room. I tried to follow them, but Taylor stood in front of me blocking my path.
"Where are you taking her? I need to go with her. Tay please!" Taylor shook her head as I tried to hold in my tears.
"Troy she has to go into surgery. The swelling in her brain came back. They need to stop it quickly before we lose her. Just stay here…she's going to be okay." Taylor ran off with the doctors and other nurses. I felt my body shake as I couldn't breathe. I turned as I grabbed my head to try to regulate my breathing.
"Troy…" I slide down the wall as the tears couldn't stop. "Troy man she's going to be fine."
"I can't lose her Chad, I can't." I closed my eyes as I prayed this was all an awful dream.
I sat in her hospital room just watching her. The surgery lasted 3 hours and I just…I didn't know anymore. This time she had a tube down her throat and when I saw her I damn near broke down again. They got the swelling to go down but at this point it was a wait and see. I couldn't handle hearing that. I couldn't just sit and wait anymore. I needed her. The tears still haven't stop falling as I needed her. I needed her more than she knew.
"Baby…I need you to wake up. I need you, I need you more than you know. Things aren't the same without you. I don't know how to process things without you. You've been in my life for what seems like forever. I can't think, I can't sleep, I can't eat. Ella baby I love you. Come back to me…please." I moved the hair out of her face I laid my head into her shoulder. I felt a squeeze of my hand as I popped my head up. I looked at her to see her eyes were still closed.
"Ella…Ella if you can hear me squeeze my hand again baby." My heart jumped when I felt her do it again. She looked like she was struggling to open her eyes. Please don't let this be a dream.
"Gabriella, baby open your eyes for me please. Open those eyes I miss so much." When she opened her eyes I felt like I was going to faint. She's awake!
"El…Ella." She squeezed my hand again as I felt my heart speed up again. I jumped up and ran to get a doctor before anything changed.
"Mr. Bolton is everything okay?" Dr. Anderson asked me. I couldn't get the words out of my mouth fast enough.
"She's awake!"
I ran back to her room with him following me. I smiled when I saw that her eyes was still open. She couldn't move her head because of the tube but she was awake.
"Ms. Montez, if you can hear me, blink twice." I looked over at her as I watched her blink twice at Dr. Anderson.
"Okay great, I'm going to take the tube out of your throat. This will hurt but I will try to be fast." She nodded her head the best she could as I grabbed her hand and kissed it.
"Just squeeze my hand baby girl." The doctor started to take the tube out and I saw the tears in her eyes.
"Shhhhh baby I'm here. I'm here. Remember just squeeze my hand." She squeezed my hand tightly as I rubbed her hair. Once the doctor got it out, Gabriella started coughing as I quickly got her something to drink. I helped her drink the water as I kissed her forehead. She looked up at me as I gave her a watery smile.
"Hi beautiful. God did I miss seeing those eyes of yours."
"Okay Ms. Montez. I'm going to ask you a couple of questions and I just need you to answer them the best you can. Do you know where city you are in?"
"New York" Gabriella replied with a raspy voice. Her eyes didn't leave mine as I kissed her hand.
"When is your birthday?"
"July 15th"
"Do you know who the man is sitting next to you?" She had tears in her eyes as she nodded her head and gave me small smile.
"My fiancé." I nodded my head as I kissed her hand.
"Yea baby, I'm your fiancé." I connected our foreheads as both our tears didn't stop.
Two days later
"Be careful Ella." I opened the door to our apartment as after many test, Gabriella was finally released this morning. I had come home yesterday to make sure everything was together and ready for her when she got home. I did so much cleaning because I knew she needed to rest the next couple of weeks and I didn't want her to worry about anything.
"Troy, you have been telling to be careful since I left the hospital room. We legit went from the car to the apartment. I'm fine." Gabriella rolled her eyes as she entered the apartment. I blushed as she was right, but I mean could you blame me.
"I'm sorry, I just.." She pulled me in for a hug as she placed her hand on my cheek.
"Shhhh I know baby." She gave me a kiss on the cheek as she walked to the bedroom.
I sat everything down before following her into our room. I leaned against the doorway as I just watched her. I felt like this was all a dream. I wanted to pinch myself to make sure this wasn't a dream but if it was, it was one hell of a dream. She gently laid down on the bed as she sighed and closed her eyes.
"Ugh it feels so good to be back in my bed." I laughed as I nodded my head.
"Trust me baby girl, I missed having you in bed with me. Now do you need anything? Some water? Your medicine." Gabriella stared at me as she just opened her arms.
"I just need you to hold me." I gave her a small smile as I walked over to my side of the bed. I laid down and gently pulled Gabriella into my arms as I kissed the top of her head.
"Now this I can do." I just held her tightly as it felt amazing to have her back in my arms. I closed my eyes and placed my head in her shoulder and just held her.
"Baby are you okay?" I pulled back to see Gabriella looking at me. She reached up and wiped my face causing me to realize that I was crying. I didn't even know that I was crying.
"I-I'm fine baby." Gabriella ran her fingers throw my hair as she just stared at me. She gave me a sad look as I tried to get the tears to stop.
"Talk to me baby." I shook my head as I pulled her closer to me, if that was even possible.
"I just…I was scared as hell baby. I thought I lost you. When Taylor said that you were in an accident I didn't know what to think. Then I got to the hospital and the doctor told me how bad it was I…I just thought you…" I couldn't even talk anymore. Gabriella just wrapped her arms around me as we held each other.
"I wasn't leaving you Troy." I shook my head as I pulled back to look at her.
"It was my fault. If I would've just come home, we wouldn't have gotten into a fight, you wouldn't have left and gotten into that accident." Gabriella sat up and pulled me up with her as she gently sat in my lap.
"Troy listen to me, this was not your fault. You didn't hit me with a car. We got into a fight, I left. I was angry at what you said and I couldn't be around you anymore. If I didn't leave this wouldn't happen but neither of us knew. Do not blame yourself okay. I'm fine. I'm alive and I'm here with you okay." I felt my eyes tear up as I pulled her in for a kiss. A true kiss. A kiss that I had been missing for the past couple of weeks. When we pulled back, I kissed her forehead and wrapped my arms around her.
"You know I heard you." I raised my eyebrow as Gabriella grabbed my hand and linked hers with mines before giving me a small smile.
"When I was in the hospital. I heard everything that you said. I heard you asking me to hold on, to come back to you. I heard you talking with Chad, Taylor and my family. I heard you blaming yourself. I heard it all. I think that's what kept me holding on. I knew I had to fight to get back to you. I knew I had a life to come back to. I knew I had to come back to you. I couldn't leave you alone." She leaned back against me as I felt my heart burst. I just shook my head as I squeezed her close to me and kissed the top of her head.
"Thank you for coming back to me." She turned around and placed her hand on my cheek as she gave me a small smile.
"I'll always come back to you baby.
Hi All! Well this took me sooooooo long to complete. The school year has started back up and things have been super busy. This might be one of my favorite stories that I have written! Please leave a review and tell me what you think.