Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Chapter 16 – It's Too Soon

Eight-month pregnant Gabriella sat on the sofa watching TV while Annabelle was down for her nap. Troy was at work for the day. Gabriella hadn't been feeling well today and was trying to rest. She had been having pains, but nothing like contractions; just small ones. She didn't think it was anything to worry about. However, when she stood up to go into the kitchen, she felt liquid running down her leg.

Oh my god! It's too soon! I shouldn't be going into labor! Gabriella started freaking out. She called her mom.

"Hello?"

"Mom, I need you to come take care of Annabelle. I'm in labor!"

"What?! It's too soon, though! You shouldn't be in labor this soon! Are you sure you are?"

"Mom, my water broke…I'm positive…just get here soon!"

"I'm on my way!"

Gabriella hung up with her mom and called Troy, hopeful that his phone was on where he would hear it, even if it was during one of his classes.

"Come on…pick up please!" Gabriella said as she listened to the constant ringing.

"Hey, you've reached Troy. Leave me a message." (beep) "Troy please call me back! I'm in LABOR!!!"

Gabriella hung up but decided not to wait on Troy to call her back. She called the school instead to have Troy paged.

"East High, Kathy speaking."

"Kathy, its Gabriella. I need you to page Troy, please! It's an emergency!"

"Oh, hi, Mrs. Bolton. Certainly. Just a moment."

Gabriella waited impatiently as the contraction pain worsened. A few minutes had passed and Troy finally picked up.

"Hey babe, what's wrong."

"Troy, I need you to come get me now! I'm in labor!!"

"Are you serious? Are you sure? Oh my god! Uh…I'll be right there."

Troy hung up quickly and told the principal what was going on. The principal told him to not worry about a thing and Troy ran as fast as he could out of the school.

Five minutes later, Troy was pulling into his driveway. He barely got the car turned off before he was jumping out and running inside the house.

"Brie? Brie! Where are you?"

"We're in here," Ms. Montez said from the living room. Troy ran in and saw both women sitting on the couch as Ms. Montez was trying to comfort Gabriella through another contraction.

As soon as the contraction was over, Troy grabbed the overnight bag and helped Gabriella up off the couch and into the car. She sat quietly the whole way to the hospital, occasionally doubling over in pain from a contraction. Troy held Gabriella's hand the whole way, saying words of encouragement to Gabriella letting her know that he was here for her and everything was going to be ok.

They got to the hospital and checked in. Gabriella was in labor for 3 more hours before it was time to deliver. Troy and Gabriella had decided to wait to find out the sex of the baby until it was born so they were both anxious to see if they had a son or another daughter.

Troy went with Gabriella into the delivery room and was by her side the whole time. A beautiful baby boy was born to them.

"Would you like to the do the honors of cutting the cord, Dad?" the doctor asked.

Troy beamed and nodded his head. He had just cut the cord and was staring at his newborn son when he heard monitors suddenly start going off. He whipped around in the direction the sounds were coming from and saw Gabriella's still form laying on her bed.

"Her heart rate is decreasing." "She's losing blood."

Troy heard these two things, and then shut out the rest of what the doctors were saying as he stood there staring at his wife, scared at what was happening. Finally a doctor grabbed him and pushed him out the door. "I'm sorry, but you can't be in here while we work. We'll let you know something as soon as we can."

Troy stood there alone in the long hallway, speechless. What was going on? What was happening to his Brie? He needed to know! She couldn't leave him now! Not with a new baby boy and a beautiful daughter at home. He needed her, now more than ever!

Troy finally walked down to the waiting room and sat. It was several hours later when he felt someone shaking his shoulder. He sat up and realized he had fallen asleep. He looked up to see the doctor that had made him leave her room earlier.

"How's Brie? Is everything ok?"

"Mrs. Bolton is stable, but she has been placed in ICU. She is unconscious right now. We're hoping that she awakens soon, but the chances are not in her favor. She had some amniotic fluid slip into her bloodstream shortly after delivery that caused some complications. However, your son is just fine. He is a very healthy boy who I'm sure would enjoy being held by his father."

Troy could only nod. His Brie was in ICU…she was unconscious…she had complications…All he could think of was Brie. But he knew he had a new baby to think about now too. He decided that he would go see the baby first, and then go to check on Brie.

When he arrived at the nursery, he saw lots of babies. He went inside and told the nurse the last name. She led him over to a baby bed that said "Baby Bolton". Troy picked up the boy and looked at him. He looked just like Gabriella, except for his eyes. He had Troy's eyes. Troy walked over to a rocker and sat down, still staring at the baby in his arms. Tears came to his eyes. How could this world be so cruel to give me a beautiful baby, only to possibly take away the most important person in my life?

Troy sat there and cried, the tears slowly trailing down his face as he watched his son sleep. He sat there for about 20 minutes, slowly rocking the baby until he decided he needed to go check on Brie. He told the nurse he would be back later. She nodded and took Baby Bolton back to his bed.

Troy left and went to the ICU unit where he had been told he would find Gabriella. He went to her room and saw her lying very still on the bed. She was very pale and had monitors of all kinds hooked up to her. She was still unconscious. He walked over to the side of her bed where a chair was sitting. He sat down and took Gabriella's hand in his. He softly stroked it and began talking to her.

"We have a beautiful baby boy, did you know that? I just got to hold him for the first time. He looks just like you except for his eyes. He has my eyes." Tears started coming to Troy's eyes again. "Brie…you know…you need to wake up. I can't be a parent without you. I need you here with me, taking care of these amazing kids that we have been blessed with. Annabelle needs you. And our son needs you. We haven't even chosen a name for him yet. He needs a name, and I really don't want to choose one without you. We really never got the chance to talk about names." Troy was silent for a moment, and then softly whispered, "Come on Brie. You can fight this, I know you can. You just have to. I can't live without you." Troy broke down in sobs and sat there crying for a few minutes as he watched Gabriella for any signs that she was responding to him…none.

When the crying ceased, Troy remembered that he hadn't called anyone to tell them what was going on, especially Ms. Montez. He quickly got out his phone and called his house.

"Hello, Bolton residence."

"Ms. Montez, its Troy."

"Troy! How's my girl? Do you have a baby yet?"

"Yes, we do. We have a healthy boy. But there's some bad news…"

"What? What happened?"

"Brie had some complications after the delivery. She's unconscious and she's been put in ICU. They're not sure if she will wake up." Troy started crying again

"Oh my god! My poor baby!" Ms. Montez started crying as well. "You stay by her side. Don't worry about Annabelle. I'll take care of her and I'll let everyone know. It'll be alright, Troy. I know it. Gabriella's a fighter, especially when you are around. You make her stronger. Just give her time."

"It's just so hard. I wish she would wake up right now so that I wouldn't have to worry anymore. I just want her to be ok. I can't live without her."

"I know, Troy. But you have to be strong for her and your new baby, no matter what happens."

"Thanks, Ms. Montez."

Troy hung up the phone. He stood up and leaned down to kiss her softly on the forehead then whispered in her ear, "Please wake up, Brie. I love you so much."

Troy sat back down in the chair. He leaned forward and rested his head on the bed next to Gabriella, watching her breathing softly. He slowly drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep.