A dial tone came up on Troy's cell, his heart racing. He didn't know what to do, all he knew was the pain he heard in Gabriella's voice. Something was incredibly wrong with her. He told his mother about the call, and in a split of a second later, Mrs. Bolton was on the phone with Ms. Montez. Troy could hear sirens in the distance, and he prayed to God that she was going to be okay.
Troy couldn't sleep that night. He tossed and turned all night long, unable to get Gabriella's voice out of his head. "Please help me." Troy couldn't will it away. As soon as his alarm went off he burst into a cold sweat. He rushed to get ready, not caring about school at the given time. He ran as fast as he could to the Montez house, hoping Gabriella had been found. He knocked a bit harshly on the door, and Ms. Montez's face showed through the crack.
Troy could tell she hadn't slept well either. Her eyes were puffy, red, and swollen, with slightly black rings underneath. Her hair was a frizz and her clothes were askew. "Yes?" "I wanted to know if anyone has found Gabriella." Ms. Montez choked back a sob, and nodded. "Is she all right?" The woman forced a small smile. "No, she's in ICU, the doctors won't even let me back there to see her yet. They said my baby might not make it the next 48 hours, and they won't even let me see her."
Ms. Montez collapsed against the door, sobbing hysterically. Troy tried his best to hold her up, his shoulder quickly became wet from her incessant sobbing. He patted her back, trying to soothe her the best he could. When she was finally calmed down, Troy made his way to leave. He didn't know why, but he was heading in the direction of the hospital.
He went in, and to his relief no one noticed he was there. He looked at the directory, and saw that the ICU was on the top floor. It wasn't that hard to find her, the problem was getting inside without nurses seeing him. Luckily it was around noon, and everyone was mostly buzzing around to the other side of the hall to the elevators to get some lunch in the cafeteria.
When Troy went inside the room, he closed the curtain around the bed, since the walls were made of glass for 24 hour survelliance. It was bad, Gabriella looked halfway near death. Troy choked back his cries, now understanding Ms. Montez's reaction. He gently caressed her hand, looking into her. She was mottled with bruises. She had stitches placed on her in several different locations. Her grip tightened on Troy's hand, her eyes rolled as she tried to get them to focus.
She smiled, "Hi." Her voice crackled like flames on dry wood. Troy held some water for her to drink, to ease up her throat. "What happened?" She looked at him sadly before answering, "The police are taking care of it." "But you're not going to tell me?" "I'm afraid…of what you'll do if I tell." "Don't be." He took her hand again, and gave her an encouraging smile.
"Your teammates kidnapped me, and they be—" She held back her tears, she had to be strong. "They beat and raped me." Tears began streaking her face, making the wounds that much more noticeable. Troy couldn't believe it. Chad? His best friends had done this to the girl he had fallen in love with? He ran out of the room, he had to at least even the score. For Gabriella. She struggled for the nurse's button, anything to stop him. But it was too late he was gone.