Chapter 9 – Worst Feeling in the World
AN: Sorry about the cliffhanger last time, but I just had to do it. Hope you guys forgive me! (Puppy dog eyes).
Anyway, here is the next chapter. I'm not writing a long AN because you guys probably want the story.
So, here is it, the awaited chapter.
Jack's P.O.V
I had just finished talking to Lucille. She had been flown over, along with the gang, to Albuquerque hospital where they would meet the chopper. Hopefully their injuries were not to severe.
I then froze as I heard a gun shot ring through my ears. One of them was dead. I prayed it wasn't Troy, but then I didn't wish that fait for Gabriella either. Tears crowded my eyes. The officers around me began to frantically move quicker, breaking down the locked door to the cottage. We ran around, searching everywhere. As I neared the basement, I felt a pit in my stomach. I didn't know what I was going to find there, bit I knew it wasn't going to be pretty.
"Mr. Bolton, let me go first. I am trained." I nodded, and chief stepped in front of me. We walked down the steps slowly, and the sight that filled my eyes brought more tears, tears that were now cascading down my cheeks.
Troy's P.O.V
I waited for the pain to come, but it never did. I looked and saw Daniel's body fall to the floor. Before I even had time to react, I felt arms tugging at my wrists, and tilted my head to see Markus untying my hands. I was confused. As if he read my mind, he began to explain.
"Daniel has been getting me to do his dirty work for the longest time now. He never treats me normally, so he finally got what going for him. I'll go call 911, you go to your girl." I nodded and turned towards Gabriella. There was blood everywhere, and I felt bile rising up my throat. But I held it down as I walked towards Gabriella. I knelt down beside her and placed her head on my lap.
"Come on Gabi, wake up! I need you, Gabi I can't live with out you! Gabi please! You'll be fine, just wake up and stay with me." It was no use because she was unresponsive. Tears began dripping down my face, soaking her hair and my now bloody clothing. I didn't care if I stained my outfit, Gabriella was dying and there was nothing I could do. I heard a noise, and turned my head to see two men walking down the stairs. One was wearing a police outfit, and I recognized him to be the chief and the one organizing the search for Gabriella. I looked into the blue eyes of the second man.
"Dad?" I croaked.
"Troy, my boy!" He yelled. He pushed past the officer and kneeled down beside me. "Troy, are you okay?" he asked me, before looking down at Gabriella's limp body resting against mine. Tears continued to stream down my face as I looked back up at him. Before I could respond, four men carrying two stretchers came running down the stairs towards us.
"Sir" the first man said to me. "I need you to let go of her."
"NO!" I yelled.
"Troy, if you don't she won't heal!" my dad told me. Reluctantly, I let the paramedics grab her limp body and lift it onto a stretcher. It was then that reality hit me. Gabriella was dying, because of me.
"TROY! You're bleeding!" My dad yelled at me.
I didn't respond.
"Get a stretcher, he's going into shock!" I felt myself being lifted off the ground and being placed on something, lying down.
"Son, are you okay?" I was asked.
I didn't respond.
My mind was thinking about one thing.
The beautiful girl in the stretcher beside mine fighting for her life.
Lucille's P.O.V
The waiting was killing me. All I had been told was to get in the helicopter and go to the hospital, because there was a chance that they would be found, and then would be rushed to the hospital. Not knowing if they had been found was killing me. Sitting beside me was Taylor, wrapped in Chad's arms. Her eyes were red, showing she must have been crying for a long time after she heard about the 911 message from Troy.
Gabriella barely alive needs medical care urgent.
Those words have scared all of us. That had been told to us hours ago, we didn't how what condition she was in, never-the-less Troy as well.
Sitting oh the ground was Zeke, Sharpay sitting in between his legs. Zeke was stroking Sharpay's hair as she was gently dosing off on his knee. Beside them Ryan and Kelsi were talking in quiet whispers, and I knew Ryan was just trying to distract her. We were all nervous, awaiting the news of what's going on. I was then that my attention turned to the door. I saw Mrs. Montez walking in, huge bags under her eyes, her eyes themselves red and tear stained. She saw me, and rushed towards me.
"Are they here? Did you hear anything?" She was desperate, needing to know information about her daughter.
"Nothing, sorry." I looked at her sorrowful face. It made my heart break. I was almost relieved that she didn't know of the text message yet, or else she would have been an even bigger wreck.
"How could this have happened? Didn't Troy know about this boy, and that he could be a potential danger to Gabriella?" She asked me. I knew she was trying to blame this on someone because it would make her feel better. I knew that she understood that this was not Troy's fault at all.
"We were told he was sent off to jail, and from there he was sent to a mental institution. He was meant to remain there for life, under constant watch. We didn't realize he had somehow escaped, it was so secret it didn't even surface on the news. We ourselves are disappointed that we were not informed either. We should have been warned. Nobody could prepare for what was going to happen."
"Did Troy even tell Gabriella?" She asked.
"Yes, he explained everything to her. She understood what this boy is capable of." I replied. Our conversation was cut short by my phone ringing. I turned to see who was calling, and was relieved it was Jack. Then, it could be either good or bad news. I was nervous as I answered the phone.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Lucille?" I heard Jack's voice through the receiver.
"Where are you? Did you find them? Are they okay?" I knew Gabriella wasn't, but I was still praying that Troy had over exaggerated and she was not that bad.
"We found them. You at the hospital?" He asked.
"Yes, yes! Jack, are they okay?" I pleaded.
"The chopper should be arriving in Ambulatory Care shortly. I will be there right after. See you soon."
"Jack…" I was cut off by the tone, signaling the phone call had ended. I was furious. He had hung up on me, not telling me anything.
"Lucille, are they okay?" I heard Gina Montez ask me. I could feel the gang's eyes on me as I prepared to answer.
"He…hung up. He didn't respond, he just HUNG UP! HOW THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO JUST SIT HERE??" I yelled. I knew it wasn't Jack's fault, he probably just wanted to wait to tell us in person, being the gentlemen he always was, but it was killing me.
"We'll hear soon enough Mrs. Bolton." I looked to see Taylor looking at me. Sharpay was now awake, and Ryan and Kelsi had shifted closer to me.
She was right. Minutes later I heard the sound of a helicopter landing. Every eye in that waiting room looked to the doorway to see who was about to be brought in. The doors were swung open, and the first stretcher was wheeled in. The figure on the bed was instantly recognizable, his short brown hair in a mess.
When I saw Troy fully, my eyes opened wide, a hand coming up to my mouth. There was blood covering his clothing, mainly his shirt. His eyes were opened, but they were staring off into space. I could see there was a breathing mask on his face. I couldn't scream, the sight to terrible. I wondered if this was Troy's condition, what was Gabriella's like? I didn't want to know the answer. Unfortunately, my answer was wheeled through the doors seconds later.
We knew it was Gabriella instantly, her dark brown hair cascading over the bed. There was also a breathing mask on her face as well, but I could see beneath it many bruises and a deep gash that looked like it still had to be stitched up. There were four paramedics surrounding her, two wheeling her, two still trying to care for her. One had a gauze pad pressed firmly against the back of her head, the second tending to her stomach. That is when I noticed how severe the injury looked. Her stomach was wrapped in thick gauze, which had blood seeping through it. Her arm was in a sling, which also had some blood on it. Her knee was in a brace, so it was clear that was injured as well. Then I saw something that brought my second hand up to my mouth.
There were two burn marks on her chest.
Gabriella had flat-lined.
My thoughts were disrupted by the cries of Gina, who had now collapsed into one of the chairs. She was screaming and crying, seeing the seriousness of her only daughter's injuries.
"GABRIELLA! GABRIELLA HONEY!" She screamed as the stretcher was wheeled into the ICU. Taylor and Sharpay were crying into their boyfriend's shoulders, which were also crying as they wrapped their arms comfortingly around their girls. Ryan and Kelsi, though shedding tears of their own, were hugging and attempting to comfort Gina. My head turned to face the entrance as I saw my husband walk in.
Jack's P.O.V
I walked into the room to see everyone crying, and a hysterical Gina Montez. I then realized that Troy and Gabriella had been brought through already. I only had a second before I felt two arms wrap around my waist. I saw my wife holding on to me closely.
"Honey?" I asked her. Together we walked towards where the gang was sitting.
"Jack, I saw all the blood, it was terrible! Troy covered in blood, and Gabriella and all those bandages. It's horrible. Jack what happened? What's wrong with them? Why all the blood?" She asked me. It dawned on me that they thought Troy was injured as well.
"Troy's no injured." I reassured. Everyone, including Gina looked at me with puzzled faces. "He's just in shock."
"But, all the blood." Taylor asked.
"It's not his." The rest clicked in their minds.
"It was…Gabriella's?" Sharpay asked, dreading the answer.
"Yes." This brought on an even larger breakdown from Gina. I had tears in my eyes, seeing how distraught this woman was that her daughter was injured.
"What happened Jack, how did you find them?" my wife asked.
"We finally found the entrance. We drove up the drive and found the main cottage. It was silent, we were first thinking that maybe it wasn't the right place or something. After I called you Lucille, we heard a gunshot." Gina's face paled, as did many of the gang's faces. "We rushed into the cottage, trying to find them. It was then that we located the basement entrance, and walked down. I was frightened, I wanted to see who was shot, but at the same time I was nervous of the answer. When we walked down the stairs…" I was crying now, and it was hard to continue. Remembering the scene that I had seen when I walked into the room killed me.
"Jack, what did you find?" Lucille asked. She was crying, but wanted to know what happened.
"I first saw a body. I thought it was Troy, until I saw him in the corner. It was Daniel that had been shot. Apparently it was his assistant, Markus that shot him. He was fed up with how he was being treated, and Daniel pushed some buttons, which were the last straw. After that I turned to Troy…" I went silent for a second, drawing a breath. "He was holding Gabriella on his lap, hands clamped tightly around her. That's how he got all the blood on him. He seemed to be telling Gabriella to wake up." Tears were streaming down the faces of the gang. "Lucille I'm telling you, there was so much blood. It was everywhere. But it was the way I saw Troy was pleading with Gabriella that broke my heart. The look of love in his eyes, and I knew is Gabriella didn't get out of there alive he would have died himself. I'm telling you, it was the worst feeling in the world being down there." Our conversation was ended short when we heard a voice calling us.
"Relatives of Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez." Our heads turned to see the doctor.
"Yes." I heard my wife say.
"Are you all relatives?" He asked.
"We might as well be. These are their closest friends so they can be here. We…" I said, motioning to Lucille and I, "Are Troy's Parents and Gina Montez "I said directing a hand in her direction, "Is Gabriella's mother." The doctor nodded.
"Firstly, let's start off with Troy. He was in shock when he arrived. There are no injuries on him, except for some slight irritation on his wrists, probably from a string. We finally got him talking, and he's resting right now."
"When can we see him?" I asked. I needed to be there to comfort my son.
"You can see him tomorrow. Right now he needs his rest, and he also needs to be questioned by the police the second he wakes up. After that, you are free to stay with him. He can also be released tomorrow afternoon." I nodded. It was then that we heard a quiet voice that had not been heard in a while.
"What about Gabriella?" Gina asked.
AN: I know, cliffhanger right? Sorry (runs and hides in cupboard). Oh well, anyway, please tell me what you think! Hopefully good things!
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Vfanforlife