AN: This is assuming that all the Wildcats graduated high school as the Class of 09.
Disclaimer: I do not own HSM or any of its characters.
After the shock of Gabriella's confession stunned Troy into silence, Ethan's sniffing brought him back to reality. Looking at the young boy, who by now looked miserable and tired, Troy was thrown back into doctor mode.
"Well, it's good to meet you Ethan," said Troy extending out his hand to shake the boy's hand. "I hear you're not feeling well at all today. Let's see what's going on with you," he spoke motioning for the Ethan to jump unto the examination table. After a thorough physical examination, Troy removed the stethoscope from his ears and turned towards Gabriella.
"So, it looks like Ethan has strep throat," said Troy as he helped Ethan get down from the exam table so he could sit on his mother's lap.
Pulling the boy towards her, Gabriella gave him a short hug before asking "So, what do I do?"
"Well, I'm going to prescribe Ethan a 10 day course of amoxicillin to help the infection. You can also give him some children's Tylenol or Advil to help bring down his fever. The important thing is to make sure he rests and stays hydrated," replied Troy as he reached into the pocket of his white coat to pull out his prescription pad. After figuring out the correct dose for the antibiotic, Troy ripped the prescription from his pad and handed it over to Gabriella.
"Thanks so much Troy," said Gabriella softly as she took the piece of paper from him. Both took a short breath in as their hands touched.
"So, um… what are you doing in Philadelphia, Gabriella?" asked Troy trying to make it sound casual as to not betray the beating heart in his chest.
"Sharpay's new CD is launching here. Apparently, Philadelphia is the new music hotspot."
"Oh yeah, I heard that she had a new album coming out. I wanted to call and congratulate her, but I didn't know whether or not she still had the same number," said Troy feeling a bit of nostalgia at the mention of one of their high school friends.
While Gabriella and Sharpay never got along in high school, after graduation, they decided to leave all the drama behind and to start anew. They soon realized that they had more in common as they both loved shopping and music. Both girls were sad to see fall come as they were developing quite the friendship, but they promised to continue despite going to separate colleges. True to their word, they saw each other every time Gabriella went home to Albuquerque, and Sharpay always planned a "girls reunion" once a semester for Gabriella, Taylor, Kelsi, and herself to get together at one of the girls' colleges.
Troy grinned at the memory of walking into Gabriella's apartment in Palo Alto only to find all four girls dressed in their pajamas lounging in her living room during a fall visit to Stanford.
"She does have a different phone number. She had to get it changed when one of her friends lost his phone. Somehow, a fan found it and posted her phone number on Twitter," replied Gabriella. "It was quite a disaster. But I can give you her new number. She has a separate phone line for private calls," offered Gabriella, as she reached down into her purse to pull out a spare piece of paper to quickly jot down a phone number.
Taking the offered paper from Gabriella, silence overtook them again as a mental debate when back and forth in Troy's head. Finally, one side won out as he blurted "How long are you in town for? Do you want to catch dinner sometime?"
"We're here for another 3 days. Our flight leaves on Saturday, but tomorrow night is Sharpay's launch party," answered Gabriella. "Oh, wait! Why don't you come? You can tell her congratulations in person, plus the party is going to have a lot of food, drinks, and fun entertainment."
"I can't," said Troy regret filling him as soon as the words left his mouth. "I'm on call tomorrow at the hospital, but how about the next night? I know it's the night right before you leave, but I have the evening off."
"Yeah, that works out well. We're staying with Kelsey, but I'll ask her if she doesn't mind watching Ethan for another night," replied Gabriella as she once again pulled out a piece of paper from her purse, but this time writing her own phone number. "Why don't you give me a call and tell me when and where to meet."
"Sounds like a plan," said Troy. "Did your husband come on this trip with you too? You should bring him to dinner too."
Before Gabriella could open her mouth to speak, they were interrupted by a knock on the door. After a quick moment, Greta walked in apologetically.
"I'm sorry Dr. Bolton, but one of your interns are on the phone. They said it was an emergency."
"Ok, thanks Greta. Can you tell them I'll be with them in a moment?" asked Troy as Greta nodded in response and turned to close the door behind her. Bringing his attention back to Gabriella and Ethan, he noticed that she had stood up and began gathering her things things.
Crouching down so that he could be at Ethan's level, Troy extended his hand once again to shake his hand. "It was good meeting you Ethan. Feel better soon ok?"
Taking his hand, Ethan shook it. "Thanks Dr. Bolton! You know, my doctor back at home has Spiderman stickers."
Troy laughed as he said "Well, we don't have Spiderman stickers, but I'm sure Greta has some Transformers stickers lying around."
A look of excitement passed Ethan's face as he yelled "How cool!" and proceeded to quickly run out of the room towards the receptionist desk.
Grinning, Troy stood back up to see Gabriella smiling at him. "That kid," she started "I could barely get him out of bed this morning. Who knew Transformers stickers were the trick? He sounds better already!"
"Well, when you've been around kids for so long, you begin to understand their love for Transformers," replied Troy as both he and Gabriella laughed. "Like I said for dinner tomorrow, make sure to bring your husband-"
A beeping noise coming from Troy's pocket interrupted them again. Pulling his pager out of his pocket, he quickly scanned the message. "I'm really sorry Brie," he said apologetically. The use of his old nickname for her did not go unnoticed by Gabriella. "But it seems that my team really needs to get in touch with me. I'll definitely call you later with details!" he said as he walked backwards toward a room where there was a spare phone to use.
With one last glance at Troy's retreating figure, Gabriella went back to the reception area where she could hear her son's squeals of enjoyment over the newest Transformers stickers.
"Hey Gabriella, this is Troy. I'm at the hospital right now, but I just wanted to tell to tell you about tonight. Let's meet at Philly's Diner at around 8. It's pretty casual so don't worry about getting all dressed up. I'm excited to catch up with you and finally meet that husband of yours. I'll see you there."
Gabriella sighed as she pulled the phone from her ear and pressed "9" to save the voicemail. It was now Friday night, and Gabriella was trying to pack hers and Ethan's luggage for their flight the next morning. However, she had been distracted by the voicemail she had recently received from Troy.
Kelsi leaned at the side of the doorway of her guest room observing her friend. "Was that Troy?" she asked.
Gabriella looked up at her friend to reveal an unsure expression. "Yeah," she softly replied. She left the opened suitcase next to her on the floor to sit on the edge of the bed.
"Then why do you look so glum?" asked Kelsi walking over to join Gabriella next to the bed. "You haven't seen him in years. You should be excited to see him! You guys were such a great friends. Not to mention you were once in love with each other."
"Oh I am excited to see him and to find out what he's been up to," said Gabriella a spark of excitement obviously present in her voice. "Kelsi, you should see him now. When he examined Ethan, all I could do was stand back in awe as he switched into doctor mode."
Kelsi responded with a smile as she noticed pride was written all over the brunette's face at Troy's accomplishments. "Then why did you look so pale earlier when you listened to his message?"
"Because he's expecting to meet Trevor," explained Gabriella.
"Wait, he doesn't know what happened?" asked Kelsi.
"No, I guess not. I have no idea how he doesn't know. I was sure that Chad or his parents would have said something," she replied.
"Well, are you going to tell him tonight?"
"I'm sure I'll have to. He's going to have so many questions, especially about Ethan. How am I supposed to answer them all?" Gabriella asked as she sat on the bed and put her face in her hands.
"Gabriella, no matter how much time or distance has gone by, Troy will always believe the best in you. He won't judge you at all" said Kelsi softly as she wrapped her arm around Gabriella.
"I know but I'm still nervous," answered Gabriella, as she laid her head on Kelsi's shoulder. "Thank you again for agreeing to watch Ethan tonight. He seems to be feeling better. His fever practically gone, and he's beginning to have a little bit more energy."
"No problem. I have the whole night planned out for us that include movies and board games," replied Kelsi. Gabrielle laughed as she hugged Kelsi thanking her again for allowing them to stay with her.
After chatting a little bit more about how Kelsi's day had been, Kelsi left to allow Gabriella to get ready to meet up with Troy.
Troy sat at the bar of the restaurant waiting for Gabriella and her husband to show up. If he was honest with himself, he was excited to see his high school/college sweetheart again. It reminded him of how he used to feel in high school whenever he saw Gabriella. However, he tried to convince himself that he was merely excited to see an old friend again and not because she was more stunning now as she had grown up and matured. She, afterall, was married now, and Troy completely respected her relationship with her husband.
The first two years of college had been pure bliss for Troy and Gabriella. They spent every weekend together. Gabriella went to all of Troy's basketball games, and he attended every single one of her debate team competitions. While they made their own friends at their respected colleges, both sets of friends knew that to be friends with one half meant you were also going to spend a great deal amount of time with the other half. Gabriella was very popular with the men's basketball team at UC Berkeley mainly because she would bring treats after practices when she came to meet up with Troy.
During the summer between their sophomore and junior year, Gabriella received a great opportunity to spend the summer abroad in London studying the criminal justice system of Europe. Anticipating for the distance, Troy and Gabriella promised to make their relationship work. However, with Gabriella in a different time zone, and Troy in summer training sessions with the basketball team, they soon found the distance difficult and straining on their relationship.
When Gabriella got back that fall, they agreed that the summer had left a lasting effect on their relationship that they couldn't get back. While the break-up had been mutual, it saddened them both as they felt their hearts were now incomplete without the other.
Going back to their lives, Troy and Gabriella didn't talk or see each other all semester until that Christmas when Chad had a Wildcat reunion at his place. The friends witnessed the awkward moment between their two friends as they saw and spoke to each other for the first time. It had been difficult for Troy and Gabriella, but after a few hours, the two friends began to relax and genuinely catch up with one another.
It was during this conversation that Gabriella learned that Troy had gone on a couple of dates with some girl he met. He insisted that he only did it because his roommates kept bugging him about "getting back into the game". It was also at this time when Troy learned that Gabriella had enough credits to graduate early in May, and she and Taylor were already applying to Harvard Law School for the following fall.
From there, the two decided that despite no longer being in a relationship, they would always be there for one. They were best friends after all, and they had gone too long without each other. In February, Troy had been the first person Gabriella thought to call when she received her acceptance letter to Harvard Law School. In March, Gabriella was there in Houston to support Troy on UC Berkeley's journey through the NCAA Tournament only to see him get injured on the court. She was there when he was rushed to the hospital to get x-rays and to hear the doctor's diagnosis of a torn ACL.
In June, Troy had been there on the Stanford campus lawn, albeit with his crutches, to watch her, along with the Class of 2012, walk across stage to receive her diploma. He was there two weeks later in Albuquerque to help her and Taylor pack up a U-Haul full of their stuff as they got ready to spend the summer in Massachusetts to prepare for law school.
The memory of Taylor and Gabriella trying to close the jam packed U-Haul as several boxes threatened to fall out still brought a smile to his face. However, his smile disappeared as he remembered the moment that would shatter his heart.
March 02, 2013
Maria Montez would like to cordially invite you to the wedding of her daughter
Gabriella Anne Montez
to
Trevor Thomas Donavan
son of Allen and Elizabeth Donovan
on
May 16, 2013
at
3:00 PM
in the
Cathedral of Holy Cross
1400 Washington St
Boston, MA 02118
Cocktail hour and reception to follow at the
Boston Park Plaza Hotel
50 Park Plaza (at Arlington Street)
Boston, MA 02116
Please send the attached card to RSVP
Troy remained frozen as he read the invitation again and again. After back-to-back classes of Biochemistry and Infectious Diseases, napping had been on the top of his list of things to do when he got back to his apartment.
But now, with the fancy black and white linen card in his hands, sleep was the furthest thing from his mind. He knew that he and Gabriella had drifted apart since she left to move across the country for law school last summer. He admitted to himself plenty of times that he too was also responsible for their lack of communication. Changing his major to pre-med at the end of his junior year meant that he had to double up on science classes and spend his summer at school. Though, he and Gabriella tried to keep in touch, tests and lab assignments kept piling up, and she called less and less up until the beginning of fall when they just disappeared.
Sighing, Troy held out the RSVP card with his right hand. Staring at it, he weighed out whether or not he should go. Deciding he couldn't handle the pain in chest at the though of Gabriella in a wedding dress to be married to another man, Troy ditched the idea of sleep, and walked to his room to change into basketball shorts to go to the gym, leaving the invitation and uncompleted RSVP card on the coffee table.
Troy snapped out of his memory when he heard someone behind him. Turning around, he had to stop himself from audibly gasping at the woman in front of him. Gabriella had let her hair down and her curls cascaded down her back. She wore a simple white shirt with a grey cardigan with dark-washed jeans with black flats. It was a simple outfit but Troy thought she looked stunning.
Gabriella smiled at Troy as she noticed that he was now in more casual clothes than in the clinic. It had unnerved her to see him dressed up in a tie and collared shirt and white coat. She was more used to seeing him in the outfit he was in now: a plaid red, white, and blue shirt over a white shirt with dark-washed jeans. On his feet, the dress shoes were now replaced with flip-flops. While his outfit reminded him of their college days, it didn't go past Gabriella that Troy had changed physically. His arms were much more muscular and his facial features were more defined and sharpened.
"Hey," Troy greeted her with a hug interrupting her thoughts.
She responded by returning the hug. "Hi, I'm sorry if I'm late. I missed the bus that Kelsi told me to take so I had to go and flag down a taxi instead."
"No, it's ok. I think I'm actually early. The hospital is just down the street, and I just stopped by there to visit one of my patients," said Troy.
"I thought you had the evening off?" asked Gabriella taking the seat next to Troy at the bar.
"I did. But I was there strictly as a visitor though. I went to check up on one of my favorite patients. He's a good boy, but sometimes he just terrorizes the nurses."
"Sounds oddly familiar. Are you sure he's not related to either you or Chad?" retorted Gabriella with a smile. Troy returned with a smile of his own.
"Where's your husband? Trevor, right?" asked Troy turning and looking around the restaurant not exactly sure why as he didn't even know what Trevor looked like.
Gabriella sighed as she shook her head. "Troy, I'm surprised you haven't heard," she started getting Troy's attention back to her. "But there's something you should know. I know I sent you the invitation, but I never got married."
Thanks to everyone for all the reviews! I really appreciate it! I hope you guys continue to like the story.
