Dirty Little Secret

Gabriella sat in her silver Suzuki jeep outside a women's clinic she knew. She had an appointment for four o'clock and her watch read 3:53. For some reason, Gabriella couldn't go in. She looked at the entrance to the clinic. Then she looked at her watch again. It now read 3:57.

Why am I still sitting here? I can do this. I took off from work. No one knows but Taylor and hopefully, she won't tell Chad… Do I want to do this? Gabriella thought seriously. Gabriella then took a deep breath, got out of her car, and went inside.

Some Months Later

Troy was traded to the Phoenix Suns at the beginning of the year with a new contract and endorsements. He, Zeke, Chad, and Jason were playing a two on two game in the backyard of Troy's new house. Troy's cell phone started ringing so he called for a timeout. He ran over to a table and the call ID read Mom. "Hey, Mom. Where are you, guys?"

"Troy, you need to Phoenix County Hospital now!" Mrs. Bolton said upset. He could hear her crying.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Troy asked concerned.

Phoenix County Hospital

Gabriella got off the elevator and onto the surgical floor. She waved to a couple nurses and then walked into the doctors' lounge. A few seconds after the door to the doctor's lounge closed, Troy got off the elevator and passed the same door looking for his mother. He saw her talking with a doctor. "Mom!"

"Oh, Troy! Thank God you're here!" Mrs. Bolton cried. Troy embraced his mother and then faced the doctor she was just talking with.

"Mr. Bolton, I'm Dr. Allen." The two men shook hands. "I was just telling your mother that your father's heart attack was more severe than we thought. He needs to have open heart surgery and immediately." Dr. Allen said.

"What!" Troy cried. He couldn't understand it. His dad had always been healthy. They were just playing a one on one game yesterday.

"Don't worry. We have one of our best cardiothoracic surgeons operating on him. The surgery will take a couple hours but Dr. Riley is optimistic." Dr. Allen said.

"Thank you, doctor." Troy said and Dr. Allen walked away. After awhile, Troy left his mother in the waiting room to take a walk. Gabriella then walked out of the doctors' lounge ready to go home. She headed for the elevators.

Troy was standing at a vending machine when he glanced over his shoulder for a second and saw her. He watched as her long silky black hair flipped from left to right as she said goodbye to various hospital personnel. Her smile could have lit up at least a dozen Christmas trees. She is so beautiful. She always is. Troy thought.

Gabriella reached the elevators and pushed the down button. "See you soon, Gabi." A passing nurse said to her.

"Bye Jill." Gabriella replied, smiling. And then she froze when she saw Troy across the nurses' desk. The elevator finally showed up and the door opened.

Troy knew she saw him. Gabriella quickly got into the elevator so he ran to catch it. By the time he reached the elevator, the doors had already closed. She must have pressed the close door button in the elevator. Troy saw the elevator stop at the lobby. Gabriella got off at the lobby and headed for the entrance. Troy got off the stairs and saw Gabriella exit the hospital.

Gabriella searched for her keys in her bag and then she felt someone grab her arm. She turned around and saw an out of breath Troy. "Troy! What are you doing here?" Gabriella asked.

"Well hello to you too." Troy said panting. He took a deep breath. "It also would've been nice if your returned any of my phone calls."

"I've been busy." Gabriella replied. She glanced over her shoulder at her car.

"Too busy to call!" Troy said.

"Yes." Gabriella replied nervously.

Troy then noticed Gabriella was pregnant. He was speechless for a moment before he finally spoke. "Oh…I see," was his only reply. Then some kids ran up to Troy asking for his autograph. Gabriella then took her keys out her bag and went to her jeep.

Troy was signing autographs as fast as he could. He heard her car start. When he looked up, he watched Gabriella drive out of the hospital parking lot. She was making a left turn when a black Chevy Avalanche truck hit the passenger side of her jeep. Troy jumped. He couldn't believe what just happened. Even the kids asking for his autograph were stunned.

Troy then started running to Gabriella's car. "Gabriella!" Troy screamed her name as he ran over. He reached the car and forced the driver's side door open. "Gabriella?" Gabriella was unconscious. There was a cut above her left eye. She must've hit her head when the truck hit her jeep. She moaned as Troy unbuckled her and pulled her out of the car.

As Troy was carrying her to the hospital entrance when a couple of doctors and nurses came running out with gurneys. A nurse had seen the accident on her smoke break and ran back inside to get help. Troy laid her down on the nearest gurney and followed them inside. "It's Dr. Montez! Someone page Dr. Wilson!"

They took Gabriella into one of the trauma rooms in the ER. They checked her vitals and broke in an ultrasound. Gabriella's eyes then shot open and her EKG spiked on the heart monitor. The doctors tried to calm her down. Troy then took her hand. "Gabi, it's okay. It's okay." He said to her and she calmed down.

Gabriella's OB/GYN, Dr. Pamela Wilson, then came in and performed the ultrasound. Dr. Wilson looked at the screen and looked concerned. "Pam?" Gabriella said.

Dr. Wilson turned off the ultrasound. "Get my surgical team prepped. Gabriella, we need to get you in the OR stat." Dr. Wilson said.

"Why? What's wrong?" Gabriella asked anxiously. Troy still held her hand.

"The baby's heart rate is dropping and is in distress. We going to have perform a crash C-section." Dr. Wilson replied.

"Oh my god!" Gabriella said and squeezed Troy's hand when she felt a contraction. She was just going on maternity leave. She was not supposed to have her baby like this.

The doctors then wheeled her out the trauma room and into an elevator. "Stay back, sir." A nurse said to Troy and he watched the elevator doors close. They got off on the surgical floor and wheeled Gabriella into a room to prep her for surgery.

Troy went to tell her mother what had happened. His father surgery was going well so she told him to go and check on Gabriella. Troy waited for them to wheel Gabriella into surgery. Taylor McKessie got off the elevator looking for Gabriella. Taylor then bumped into Troy and her eyes widened when she saw him. "Troy!" She exclaimed.

"Hey Taylor. You here about Gabriella?" Troy asked.

"You heard about Gabriella?" Taylor asked.

"Actually, I was there. I saw the accident. Is her boyfriend coming?" Troy asked. Then people dressed in scrubs and wearing surgical masks wheeled Gabriella out of her room.

"Taylor, what are you doing here?" Gabriella asked.

"I'm your emergency contact, remember!" Taylor replied. Gabriella grinned slightly and nodded. Then they started wheeling her towards the OR. "I'll be right here when you get out of there, okay."

"Thanks, Taylor." Gabriella smiled at her friend. Troy walked with them towards the OR. "Can you guys just stop for a minute?" They stopped outside the OR.

"Gabriella, what are you doing? You need to get into surgery and now!" Troy said worried.

"Troy, just in case something goes wrong…" A tear rolled down Gabriella's face.

"Hey, don't talk like that." Troy said.

"But still, just in case something does go wrong." Gabriella motioned for him to move closer to her and he did. "I want you to know that this is your baby." She whispered in his ear.

Troy's eyes widened and he froze. Gabriella nodded and they wheeled her in the OR. All Troy could do was watch OR doors close behind them.

"She told you, didn't she?" Taylor asked.

"You knew?" Troy asked. His tone sounded hurt.

"I'm her best friend. She tells me everything. I'm going to get some coffee." Taylor said and walked away.

Troy walked into his father's hospital room. His mother was at his bedside just watching him sleep. Troy closed the door and leaned back against the door. "Troy, what is it?" Mrs. Bolton asked concerned.

Gabriella awoke the next day groggy. She saw Troy asleep in the chair next to her hospital bed. Oh my god, he's still here! Gabriella thought. The last thing she remembered was the bright lights over her in the OR before the anesthesia kicked in. She groaned as she tried to sit up, which caused Troy to awake with a start.

Troy stood and took her hand. "You're awake." Troy said.

"The baby?" Gabriella asked weakly. Troy hesitated.

"The baby's fine so just go back to sleep." Troy answered but she could see the worry in his eyes. Gabriella knew immediately he wasn't telling the complete truth.

"Troy, what's wrong with the baby?" Gabriella asked anxiously.

"The baby was having some trouble breathing. So they had to take him to the NICU." Troy replied calmly.

"Him? We had a boy." Gabriella said tearfully.

"Yeah. We have a baby boy. Six pounds and seven ounces. He's beautiful." Troy said. Taylor then returned with two cups of coffee in her hands.

"Oh thank God you're awake." Taylor sighed with relief and set down the coffees. "We were all starting to get worried."

"All?" Gabriella asked.

"Well I had to call Kelsi, Sharpay, Martha, Ryan, your mother and Chad." Taylor counted them off her fingers quickly.

"You called my mother! Wait a minute… Did you tell Chad?" Gabriella asked.

"I promised I wouldn't. All he knows is that you've been in an accident but he should know that he's now an uncle." Taylor said.

"Fine." Gabriella said and groaned. She promised her mother she would tell her who the father was when the baby was born. She had hoped she would've been able to stall for a few more weeks but there was no chance of that now. "When will my mother be here?"

"Tomorrow." Taylor said. Then her phone rang and she answered it. "Baby, guess what?" Taylor stepped out of the room to talk to Chad, leaving Troy and Gabriella alone. There was an awkward silence between the two.

Troy crossed his arms. "Gabriella, we need to talk." He said.

"The only times you called me Gabriella when we were alone was when you were serious or mad about something, or whenever we…" Gabriella stopped herself before she said 'had sex.' She felt her cheeks blush.

"Why didn't you tell me about the baby?" Troy asked plainly. Gabriella wouldn't look at him. "Will you just answer the question! It's a simple question!" He snapped.

"You wouldn't understand!" Gabriella snapped back. "Did you tell your parents?"

"Yes, I did. They're shocked but they want to meet their grandson. Don't change the subject. Just tell me. I may or may not understand." Troy said and she froze. "Gabi, I have told you many times that you can tell me anything. You still can."

"At first…" Gabriella hesitated. "At first, I wasn't going to keep the baby. I went to a local women's clinic to get an abortion but when they called my name… I couldn't move or say anything. I thought about calling you. I even wrote you a letter once but I never sent it. We had a one night stand, Troy. We had a one night stand and I got pregnant. It was a moment of weakness and that's all. I never wanted you back in my life and then the wedding and Paul. Things are complicated between us and I didn't want to complicate them further." She said.

Troy sighed. "Well just know that I am going to be there for my son." Gabriella nodded. "I'm going to go check on my dad." Troy said. He left her hospital room to think. He passed Kelsi and Sharpay and they knew they must have argued.

Taylor was standing in a random corner on the phone. "Chad, it's not nuclear physics. There's a bottle in the fridge. Take the lid off, put it in the microwave for thirty seconds, and give it to him. He knows how to hold a bottle. I got to go. Bye!" Taylor hung up and rolled her eyes. She saw Troy. "How's Gabriella?"

"She's dealing but I honestly don't know." Troy decided to change the subject. "Is Chad having trouble with Darius again?"

"Yes! He should really learn how to take care of his own son. He enjoyed the baby making but he acts like Darius is a nuclear bomb." Taylor said and chuckled. Troy grinned.

"Can I ask you a question?" Troy asked.

"Sure." Taylor said and they sat down in the waiting area.

"Do you know why Gabriella didn't tell me she was pregnant?" Troy asked. Taylor was obviously uncomfortable and she sighed.

"Don't tell Gabriella I told you this but you have a right to know… She was going to tell you after she didn't go through with the abortion. I, of course, had to go to her place and calm her down. She was freaking out! She was terrified to call you so she called me. It took me awhile but after she finished ranting about your bad breakup and one night stand, I finally convinced her to call you. But then she got a call on her cell." Taylor said.

"Who was it?" Troy asked.

"I don't know. But when she answered the call, she went pale. She took the call in the next room. When she finally came out, she changed her mind about telling you and swore me to secrecy. Troy, all I can tell you that she was scared of something…or someone." Taylor said.

Troy returned to Gabriella's room about twenty minutes later. A nurse was helping Gabriella into a wheelchair. "Well, are the nurses gossiping yet?" Gabriella asked.

"Like suburban wives, Gabi. The whole hospital is talking about Troy Bolton being your baby daddy. I put the word out to the NICU to make sure only you take pictures of your baby boy." The nurse said.

"Thanks, Jill." Gabriella said.

"Where are you going?" Troy asked.

The NICU

Troy wheeled Gabriella to the NICU entrance. A nurse handed them protective gowns to wear while they were inside. "He's doing just fine, Dr. Montez." The nurse said.

"Thanks, Hannah." Gabriella replied smiling.

"How many nurses do you know here?" Troy asked sarcastically.

"I know most of them. I've worked here for a few years, Troy." Gabriella said.

Hannah led them into the NICU to an incubator labeled Montez. Gabriella looked in and saw her baby boy sleeping. "I'll give you guys some privacy." Hannah said and Gabriella nodded. She hated watching him sleep while hooked up to a ventilator. Troy rubbed her shoulders as tears rolled down her cheek. She took his hand and squeezed it. And he squeezed back.

Later

Visiting hours were over so everyone had to leave. Troy awkwardly kissed Gabriella on the forehead. "I'll see you in the morning." He said.

"Okay." Gabriella replied. She grinned at him as he waved goodbye to her.

Just as soon as she closed her eyes to sleep, the phone in her hospital room started ringing. She groaned as she reached over to answer it. "Whoever this is, call back in the morning." Gabriella said.

"The thought did cross my mind." Gabriella went cold when she recognized his voice.

"Paul? How did you get you get this number?" Gabriella asked softly in fear.

"You think you can actually hide things from me?" Paul laughed. "I know where you are and what you're doing every minute of every day." He said coldly.

"It's over, Paul! Why can't you just leave me alone?" Gabriella said. Hearing him breathe on the other end made her shiver. She suddenly wished Troy was here.

"Congratulations on the baby. A boy, right?" Gabriella froze. "And I did find it hard to believe that your knight in shining is the father. When we were together, you talked only of your hatred of him for breaking your heart the way he did. Someone's been a naughty girl. Tsk, tsk, tsk." Paul taunted.

"Stay away from us or I'll…" Paul cut Gabriella off.

"Or you'll what, Gabriella? Have your precious knight come and protect you." Paul chuckled. "Just remember that he won't be around to protect you forever. And I can make sure of that." Gabriella knew from his tone that he was dead serious.

"Paul. Don't hurt him. Please. This is between you and me." Gabriella calmly pleaded. Her eyes filled with tears.

"Oh don't worry, Gabi. I don't want him dead…just yet. I only wanted to let you know that I'm getting out next month." Gabriella's eyes widened in fear. "I hope to see you soon." Paul then hung up.

Jesse Troy Bolton slept in his mother's arms as Gabriella sat in a wheelchair in the hospital lobby waiting for Taylor. Gabriella and Troy were so relieved when the doctors told them Jesse was going to be just fine. Troy came to visit Gabriella and Jesse every day for their two week stay in the hospital, and sometimes with flowers.

Gabriella smiled when she saw Chad and Taylor come running towards her with little Darius Danforth in his mother's arms. "We're so sorry we're late. Darius was very stubborn this morning." Taylor said and gave her best friend a quick hug. Taylor then handed Darius over to Chad. "Now, let me see my godson!" Gabriella handed Jesse over to Taylor. "Hi baby! Did you miss me?"

"He's only two weeks old, Taylor." Chad said and Taylor shot him a dirty look that made him shut up. "Troy wanted to be here but his parents are staying with him until the coach recovers." He gave Gabriella a quick hug. "Now we should probably go before…"

"CHAD DANFORTH!" A woman suddenly screamed, which made Gabriella jump. Then there was the sound of more women screaming.

"Recognizes me." Chad finished his sentence. Taylor quickly handed Jesse back to Gabriella, grabbed Darius from Chad, and rushed out the door. Chad pushed Gabriella's wheelchair as fast as he could. They rushed to Chad's yellow Hummer H2. They strapped in the babies safely and dodged the Suns fans.

They were now almost to Gabriella's apartment. Gabriella rubbed the scar now over her left eye. Jill told her that the driver that hit her wasn't drunk but unconscious. He was rushing to the hospital when he passed out from blood loss due to a stab wound.

They pulled up to Gabriella's apartment complex. Chad looked over his shoulder a few times for fans and/or paparazzi. Taylor opened the door to Apartment 14 and everyone entered the apartment. "SURPRISE!" Gabriella jumped.

Her living was decorated with a Welcome Home banner and It's a boy! balloons. Gabriella handed Jesse over to Kelsi as she hugged her friends. Troy then walked up to her holding a dozen red roses. "Thank you." Gabriella said. They smiled at each other.

While the guys were in the living room congratulating Troy, Ryan and the girls snuck away from the party and into Gabriella's bedroom. Darius and Jesse were with their fathers. Gabriella and Ryan remained standing as everyone else sat down on the bed. "Now what didn't you want to tell us over the phone?" Ryan asked.

Gabriella hesitated but her friends had to know. "Paul called me." All the girls gasped and Ryan's eyes widened. "He wanted to let me know that he was being released."

"What are you going to do?" Kelsi asked concerned.

"I got it!" Ryan exclaimed. "Gabi, you can come with me to my new kickboxing class."

"Ryan, don't be stupid! How exactly is kickboxing going to help Gabriella?" Sharpay asked.

"Gabriella needs to learn how to defend herself, just in case. You guys know we would never forgive ourselves if something happened to Gabriella or Jesse." Ryan said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"And to show how much we care about you, we'll take the class with you. Right, ladies?" Taylor said and looked at Sharpay and Kelsi.

"Fine." Sharpay and Kelsi said in unison.

"Thanks, you guys." Gabriella said with such relief. They did a group hug.

"Only one question…what are going to tell the guys?" Kelsi asked.

"Oh, we'll just say we're trying to stay in shape or lose weight or something along those lines. They won't ask questions. And it'll be a great way for Gabriella to lose all her baby fat and then some." Sharpay said.

"Thanks, Sharpay." Gabriella said sarcastically and Sharpay smiled.