"How are you feeling right now, Montez?"

"Well, I just threw up what feels like most of my body weight," Gabriella started, "I don't have enough energy to get into bed, and I think I'm going to pass out. Why don't you take a wild guess as to how I'm feeling?"

"Morning sickness hasn't got you too down." Troy pointed out, crouching down to be eye-to-eye with Gabriella who was on the chaise lounge in their bedroom. "Still a feisty little spitfire."

"I'm not even in the mood to reply with something witty. I'm too exhausted. And it's not morning sickness if it's four in the afternoon." Gabriella groaned.

Troy reached out and touched Gabriella's forehead. She was pale, and her skin was cold and clammy to the touch.

"You want to lay in bed?" Troy asked. "I can carry you."

"No, I just want to stay here. I've gotten into a comfortable position. I don't want to move."

"Were you feeling this bad yesterday?"

"Yeah, I've been horribly nauseous since since Saturday and it's only gotten worse."

"How about some soup?"

Gabriella shrugged, "I'm going to throw it up immediately after, so what's the point?"

"Aw," Troy frowned, "this baby is really putting you through the ringer, huh?"

"Yes."

"But you got to try to eat something, babe. You can't go around without food."

"Okay. I'll eat something. But nothing too heavy. Maybe the soup is a good idea."

"Good." Troy stood up, "I'll be back soon."

Troy re-entered the room about twenty minutes later, a hot bowl of tomato soup in his hands. "I got you some..." Troy stopped talking when he noticed that Gabriella wasn't even in the room. "Brie? Baby, where are you?"

"In the bathroom."

Troy put the bowl down on the bedside table and walked into the en suite where he saw Gabriella, sitting on the floor, dry heaving in to the toilet. "Should I call your doctor? This is getting a bit ridiculous."

Gabriella shook her head, "No."

"Are you sure?"

"I just want to get some sleep. I'm tired."

"Okay." Troy slowly lifted Gabriella up and guided her to their bed. Gabriella slowly got in and Troy pulled the cover up on her. "I made your soup."

"I don't even have an appetite anymore."

"Well, I'll put it in the kitchen. You just get some sleep."

"I'll try."

"Troy!" Marcus called, wandering around Troy's house. "Troy!"

Troy heard his name and rose from his seat in the living room, "Marcus, be quiet!"

"Why?"

"Gabriella's upstairs, sleeping."

"Oh." Marcus said slowly, nodding his head. He held out his cell phone for Troy to grab. "Mom's on the phone."

Troy grabbed the phone and put it to his ear, "Hi, mom."

"Hi, sweetheart."

"What are you up to?"

"I was just thinking about how I haven't heard from my children in a few days, so I decided to call."

"Sorry," Troy sighed. "I was going to call, but I've been taking care of Gabriella."

"Is she okay?"

"I don't know. When you were pregnant, did you get really sick?"

"Yes, but I felt better after a while. Marcus gave me the most trouble." Lucille replied, chuckling. "Why? Is the morning sickness getting to Gabriella?"

"It's," Troy looked at his watch, "six forty-five now. She's been throwing up consistently for two days now and hasn't gotten any relief. She can't eat without throwing up, and she's so pale and weak and tired."

"I was at least able to eat some foods. Gabriella can't eat anything?"

"I tried to make her something, but while I was making it, she threw up again. Now she's just sleeping."

"Buy her some peppermint. That helps with the nausea."

Troy nodded, "Thank God for you. I had no idea what to do."

"I'm a mom." Lucille said." It's what I do, sweetheart. Now I have to go. I'll talk to you guys later, okay?"

"Okay. Love you, mom."

"I love you too. And you take care of my daughter-in-law."

"I will. Bye." Troy hung up and handed the phone back to Marcus. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

"To check on Gabriella." Troy replied, turning to the stairs.

When he made it to his room, Troy noticed Gabriella was still in bed. He walked a bit closer to her. She was still sleeping. He gently shook her shoulder, and Gabriella grumbled and rolled over.

Troy let of a sigh of relief. At least she hadn't fallen unconscious.

He turned around and left the room before she woke up.

When Gabriella woke up, she actually felt worse than she did before she went to bed, if that was even possible. She looked around the room. It was dark, so it must have been night time. Troy wasn't in bed so it couldn't have been too late, since he was the early bird in the marriage.

She heard noise coming from downstairs, so she assumed Troy was down there. Slowly, Gabriella made her way out of the bed and towards her walk-in closet on the other side of the bedroom. The first thing Gabriella noticed was an old sweatshirt that belonged to Troy lackadaisically tossed onto a stack of his shoe boxes. She grabbed it and put it on.

She walked out of the room and to the top of the stair case, grabbing the railing for support. Her head was spinning and she felt dizzy. Trying to walk down a flight of stairs probably wasn't the best idea, but Gabriella was going to do it.

When she made it into the living room, she noticed it wasn't Troy in there, but Marcus. He was sitting on the couch, playing with the dog.

"Marcus."

Marcus looked up at Gabriella and his eyes widened a bit. Gabriella looked...different. She was wearing sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt. Her hair was pulled into a sloppy ponytail, and her face was pale and tired looking. It was a complete contrast to the Gabriella he was used to seeing. The one who always looked runway ready. "Hey, you. Gosh, you look so...pretty."

"Shut up, Marcus, I know I look like shit."

"I'd never say that, but if that's how you feel then-"

"Where's Troy?"

"I think he went to the store to get you something for your vomiting. I'm babysitting you."

"I don't need a babysitter.".

Marcus carefully watched Gabriella who was swaying softly, unsteady on her feet. He stood up and walked over to her. "Here, let's get you seated."

"I can walk by myself." Gabriella said, defensively.

Marcus rolled his eyes. He didn't even reply to Gabriella. She was being too stubborn. He just gently grabbed her arm and walked her to the couch.

"You're a supermodel. I have no doubt in your walking abilities, Gabriella."

"Don't patronize me."

"I wasn't!" Marcus argued.

Gabriella's eyes softened, "Sorry. I just really don't feel good today. You know I'm not usually this snappy."

"I know. Everyone is entitled to their off days."

Gabriella sat down, "My hormones are all over the place, I don't feel good, I'm hungry but at the same time I'm afraid to eat. It's not a good combination."

Marcus helped Gabriella lift her feet up onto the coffee table. "Anything I can get you?"

"No, I'm okay right now. Thank you for offering though."

"How about some water? Do you think you can handle that?"

"I probably should drink some water. My mouth is extremely dry."

"Good. I'll grab you one."

Marcus walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. He held it up like he was about to throw it. "Catch!"

"Marcus!" Gabriella flinched at the thought of a water bottle being thrown on her. "Please don't throw that at me."

"I'm joking, Gabs, I'm joking." Marcus walked over to where Gabriella was sitting and gently placed the bottle of water in Gabriella's hand.

"Oh this is cold!"

"Yeah, I got it out of the fridge."

"I should have told you that I liked room temperature water." Gabriella put her feet back on the carpeted floor and slowly rose.

"What are you doing?"

"Going to get a bottle from the pantry."

"I can get it for you."

"It's fine. I can walk, Marcus. I'm not invalid."

"Not to be mean, but you kind of are. And please know I'm saying that as nicely as I can. I don't want you to kill me."

"Calm down, I'm not going to kill you." Gabriella grabbed on to the couch to steady her and walked to the kitchen. As soon as she made it to the kitchen, she rested on the counter, trying to stabilize her swaying body, and hoping to keep the nausea at bay. She took a deep breath.

"Gabriella? You okay in there?" Marcus asked, peering at his sister-in-law.

"Honestly?"

"I would hope so."

"I'm not okay." Gabriella admitted.

Marcus quickly entered the kitchen, "I'll get you to the couch."

"Thanks."

Gabriella removed her hands from the countertop and nearly collapsed. Marcus grabbed her in time before she hit the floor.

"That's it. I'm going to take you to the hospital. And I am a lawyer, and I make money by arguing with people for a living, so you won't win."

"I won't put up a fight. Trust me."

Troy was panicked. He was absolutely freaked out. So much to the point that he was practically shaking with anxiety.

He was about five minutes away from home when he got a call from Marcus saying he was in the emergency room of Cedars-Sinai with Gabriella. He was pretty sure he ran through ever red light he came across just to get there.

Troy entered the ER and found a receptionist sitting behind a desk. "Hi, I'm looking for my wife."

"Name please." The receptionist said, not looking up from her computer screen.

"Troy Bolton."

That caught the lady's attention. She looked up, "Sir, your wife's name is Troy Bolton?"

"No, that's my name." Troy chuckled, "I'm sorry, I'm really nervous right now. My wife is in here somewhere, and I am freaking out because she's pregnant and she's been really sick."

"I'm sorry to hear that." The woman's tone was monotone and dry.

"Do you know you have terrible bedside manner?"

"And you have blue eyes." The lady deadpanned. "Are we doing the 'state-the-obvious' thing?"

"Can you tell me where my wife is? Please?"

"What's her name?"

"Gabriella Bolton. Maybe it's still Montez. Try Gabriella Montez. Or Montez-Bolton? I don't know. I think she took my last name when we got married, but I didn't really care either way."

The receptionist typed something quickly into the computer. "Room 3. Right down the hall."

"Thank you."

Troy ran out down the hall to the room the receptionist told him to go to. Gabriella and Marcus were in the small room, Gabriella laying on the bed, while Marcus sat in the chair next to her.

Gabriella looked up and saw Troy, "Hey."

"Hey!" Troy let out a happy sigh and moved towards Gabriella. "What's going on?"

"She almost collapsed, so I brought her here." Marcus answered.

"Good." Troy said. "Thank you."

"No problem."

Troy ran his hand through Gabriella's hair and kissed her forehead. "How are you feeling? What did the doctors say? What's wrong?"

"The doctor is coming back any minute now to tell me what's wrong."

Troy nodded and sat down in another chair that was in the room. "Did you call your parents?"

"Marcus called them and Lola right after he called you. Lola should be here in a few minutes, but my parents will take a while."

Marcus stood, "I'm going to go get some coffee. I'll be back." He exited the room, leaving the couple alone.

"I shouldn't have left you alone." Troy said, breaking the silence.

"You left when I was sleep. You couldn't have known that I would nearly pass out."

"Do you still feel nauseous?"

"Unfortunately, I do."

"Let's hope that your doctors can put a stop to that."

As soon as Troy said that, a doctor walked into the room. His name tag said Dr. Barton. "Hi guys."

"Hi, doctor."

The doctor turned to Gabriella, "You're Gabriella?"

"That's me." Gabriella pointed to Troy. "This is my husband, Troy."

"Hi Troy." Dr. Barton greeted, smiling. "Nice to meet you."

"You too. Although, I wish it was under better circumstances."

Dr. Barton nodded, "I agree." He looked through the file on his iPad. "Okay Mrs. Bolton, for the most part, you're pretty healthy, except for appendicitis a few years back and some high blood pressure. Your blood pressure is lower than we'd like it to be right now, though. Now tonight, my dear, you're suffering from dehydration."

"Really?"

"Yes. That would explain the dry mouth, the dizziness, the thirst, and the low blood pressure. And you are eleven weeks pregnant, right?"

"Correct."

"So pregnancy and dehydration do not go together. And because of this we want to keep you here and put you on an IV." Dr. Barton explained. "And on your chart, it says that you haven't been able to eat and you have horrible morning sickness." Gabriella gave him a slight nod. "I'm going to get your OB/GYN, but first, we are going to go admit you in to the hospital. I'll have a nurse bring a wheel chair."

Gabriella's head was spinning. This doctor was saying stuff so fast. All she was able to grasp was, 'dehydration', 'IV', and 'admit...hospital'. Thank God Troy was there, and he was paying attention.

A few minutes later, Gabriella was situated in a room, an IV hooked up to her arm, and various other monitors around the room.

"This is not how I planned on spending my night." Troy teased, trying to break the silence.

"How did you plan on spending it?"

Troy shrugged, "I don't know. I thought maybe you and I would be at home, at least. I'd probably be cooking."

"Sorry, handsome."

"I'm not complaining."

"What would you have cooked?" Gabriella asked.

"Maybe burgers."

"Ooh, I love burgers."

"When you get out of here, I'll make you as many burgers as you want. Or we can go to Fatburger. I promise."

"I'm holding you to it."

Troy grabbed Gabriella's hand. She was tense. Extremely tense. He shook her hand. "Relax."

"I can't relax. This is nerve wrecking."

"The doctors ran all of the tests, so just try to get some sleep. You look exhausted."

"I am exhausted." Gabriella admitted.

"Get some rest, Montez. We're going to be here for a while."

"Have you met me? I'm Gabriella and I don't know how to calm down."

"Yes, you're a neurotic mess fifty percent of the time, Montez." Troy deadpanned. "It's a well known fact."

Gabriella anxiously bit the inside of her cheek. Where was her doctor? She wanted to find out what was wrong and go home. But knowing Troy or her mother—who was even crazier than she was—they would keep her in the hospital for the rest of her pregnancy if they could.

There was a commotion outside of Gabriella's room. She could hear two people bickering. Gabriella instantly recognized one of the voices as Lola's.

A few short moments later, Lola was walking into the room, muttering incoherent words under her breath.

"There are a few receptionists and nurses here that I wouldn't mind smacking." Lola said, shaking her head. "They are just so rude."

"Hi."

Lola frowned, "What in the world is going on? Marcus left me such an unnerving voicemail. Are you alright?"

"She has dehydration." Troy answered.

"Oh my goodness." Lola took a deep breath.

"Yeah, and the doctors are giving her fluids through an IV." Troy continued. "She can't eat anything right now without getting sick."

"I can still talk, you know." Gabriella pointed out.

Lola's eyebrow raised, "I've researched dehydration before and I don't think excessive nausea is a symptom. How sick have you been?"

"Honestly, this entire week has been hell, but I haven't been able to keep anything down for the past twenty four hours." Gabriella replied.

"Yeah, that's definitely not normal. Even in extreme cases of dehydration."

"Lo, how do you know so much about this subject?" Gabriella asked. "Last time I checked, you were a lawyer, not a doctor."

"Daddy always says that it's good to know a little bit of everything. Plus I researched it a lot for a previous case. We were trying to prove that my client was temporarily out of mind because he was delirious and hallucinating because of his dehydration." Lola explained. "I won that case."

"I have no doubt."

"Your doctors need to get in here, so we can-" Lola was cut off by Gabriella's doctor, Dr. Anderson entering the room.

"Wow, it's a full house in here." Dr. Anderson observed, smiling. "Four adults and a baby." She looked at Gabriella. "Hello, Gabriella."

"Hi doctor."

Dr. Anderson sat down at a desk that a computer was sitting on. She quickly typed something in and Gabriella's medical records popped up on the screen. "Gabriella did you know you are actually a few pounds lighter than you were on your last visit a few weeks ago?"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, darling."

Gabriella eyed her doctor, "I'd usually be pretty happy about that, but I'm pregnant."

"Yes, and that's why it concerned me. Now, we won't know this for a about 24 hours, but I am pretty sure you have hyperemesis gravidarum." Dr. Anderson said.

Gabriella shook her head, "I'm sorry, I don't know what that is."

"It's when you are nauseous during your pregnancy, and get no relief from it." Dr. Anderson explained. "And unfortunately, it can go well into your second, or even third trimester."

Lola crossed her arms, "Well, what can you do? Can she take medication? Do her foods need to be liquified? What's next?"

"Lola!" Gabriella chided. She turned to her doctor. "Excuse my sister, she's in lawyer mode. Lola, calm down."

"Don't excuse me." Lola ordered. "You're in the hospital, and I would like to know what we can do to help. Is that so wrong? This seems like a pretty serious condition to me. You can't eat, you can't stop vomiting, you're losing weight even though you are pregnant, and you were hospitalized for dehydration, so do not tell me to calm down, Gabriella!"

"I'm an adult! I don't need you to..."

Troy kept quiet and drowned out the bickering. Four years into his relationship, he knew better than to get in the middle of two stubborn, outspoken, hot headed, Montez women, especially when they're stressed out, and one is hormonal. He knew that it would be a grave mistake to intervene. He couldn't imagine the chaos to ensue when Cristina got to the hospital. Cristina wasn't going to go for anything less than top-notch care for her daughter. This poor doctor had no idea what she was in for.

Dr. Anderson bypassed the bickering and looked at Gabriella, "We're going to get you some anti-nausea medication and see if that helps, okay?"

"Okay." Gabriella replied. "You can do whatever you need to."

"Great." Dr. Anderson logged out of the computer and stood. "I'll go get a nurse and we can get this show on the road."

"You're thinking so hard, that I can practically see the thoughts coming out of your head." Troy teased, snapping Gabriella out of her thoughts.

"Sorry. I'm just all over the place."

"No apologies, baby."

"I'm just really, really nervous."

Troy got out of his seat and joined Gabriella on the bed. "I know you are."

"This would be a good time to take an anxiety pill. Or a horse tranquilizer." Gabriella joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Can I get you anything?" Troy asked. "Are you comfortable?"

"If you want to compare this hospital to our amazing, luxurious Beverly Hills townhouse with our very expensive, very comfortable, memory foam bed, then no, I am not."

"That was a stupid question, wasn't it?"

"Or I might be overreacting. I don't know if you know this or not, but I do that often." Gabriella joked.

"I don't think you're overreacting. This is a pretty stressful situation. It'd be weird if you weren't freaked."

"I was feeling pretty good. I thought this pregnancy was going to be relatively smooth sailing. I wanted it to be smooth sailing."

"Hey, for all we know, the next six months could be amazing."

"I hope so. I really hate hospitals."

Troy wrung his hands together nervously and stood. Then he sat back down. He had a lot of nervous energy that needed to be burned off. "Are you sure I can't get you something? Are you warm? Do I need to go flag down a nurse and ask for more blankets?"

"I'm fine right now. I'm just tired."

"Try to sleep."

"Easier said than done. Believe me."

"I said try. You're not trying."

"Sorry."

"Stop apologizing to me."

Gabriella opened her mouth to reply, but she quickly closed it. She just smiled at Troy. Her poor husband was a wreck. "Come sit down."

"I'm too restless."

"Come sit down." Gabriella repeated, her voice more firm the second time around.

Troy decided not to argue and he sat back down. Gabriella reached out for his hand, which he gave her. "You're the sick one. I should be taking care of you."

Gabriella ran her thumb across Troy's knuckles, then kissed them. "We're a team. Besides, I already know that you're gonna be waiting on me hand and foot with this pregnancy."

"Oh, I am?"

"Yes, you are. You're you. It'd be odd if you didn't hover over me."

"Now that you mention it-"

Troy couldn't finish his sentence because a flustered Cristina had walked into the room. "Oh my baby!"

"Hi, mom."

Cristina was at Gabriella's bedside in a matter of seconds. She wrapped her arms's around Gabriella and squeezed. Gabriella slightly winced at her mother's hard grip.

"Cristina, let the poor girl go. You're gonna squeeze all of the oxygen out of her."

Cristina let Gabriella and turned to face her husband, who was standing in the room next to her.

"Gregory, leave me alone."

"The last thing the girl needs is from you to bear hug her." Greg said, shaking his head. "She's a tiny little thing."

"I know what I'm doing." Cristina argued.

"No need to be defensive." Greg told his wife. He bent down to kiss Gabriella's cheek. "Hi princess."

"Hi daddy." Gabriella greeted.

Greg turned to Troy, "You're taking care of my baby girl, right?"

"Yes, sir." Troy replied.

"Glad to hear it." Greg slapped Troy's back. "Where's Lola?"

"I think she's somewhere harassing my doctor."

"What?"

Troy shook his head, "Gabriella thinks Lola is being a bit too aggressive when it comes to her questioning of the doctor."

Cristina scoffed, "There is no such thing. Sometimes doctors just need a nice little shove in the right direction. You just wait until I get ahold of her."

"Crissy, don't scare the woman." Greg warned.

"Don't tell me how to handle things, Greg."

"Hey!" Gabriella clapped her hands together to get her parent's attention. "Stop the bickering."

"Sorry." The parents said in unison.

"Guys, I'm really tired."

Cristina nodded. "Okay, sweetheart. Sorry for arguing. We'll let you get some rest."

Troy dug into his pocket and pulled out his house key. He tossed it to Greg. "Why don't you guys head back to the townhouse."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Gabriella said, not caring if she was rude or not. "We're sure. I'm just exhausted, so I'm going to sleep."

"I'll call you guys if anything happens." Troy compromised. "I promise."

Cristina frowned. She didn't like the idea of not being at the hospital with her daughter, but she was going to roll with it. "Okay."

She bent down to kiss Gabriella's head. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Greg reached out to touch Gabriella's hand. She knows he's freaked, but he'd never admit it out loud. "We'll be back as soon as the hospital lets visitors in."

"Okay."

Cristina and Greg walk out if the room after a few more minutes of talking.

Now that they were gone, there was no sound but the steady beeps coming from the monitors in the room.

"Is it bad that I'm happy everyone is gone?" Gabriella asked.

"I'm pretty sure Lola is still here, threatening to sue the hospital if you aren't feeling better by tomorrow."

"I just don't have it in me to entertain, even if she is my sister."

"Just get some sleep."

Gabriella rolled over so she was now on her back. "Easier said than done."

"I had to find out from fucking TMZ that you were in the hospital." Julia snapped pacing around Troy and Gabriella's bedroom. "TMZ!"

"Jules-"

"Save it, missy!"

Paparazzi were able to get a picture of Troy, Gabriella, and Gabriella's parents leaving the hospital earlier that day. Now rumors were spreading like wildfire.

"I'm sorry."

"What's wrong with you?"

"I was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum."

"What is that?"

Gabriella sat up in bed and crossed her legs. "Really bad morning sickness in layman terms. I got dehydrated and nearly passed out in the kitchen."

"Are you okay now?" Julia asked.

"Yeah, I'm still a little nauseous, but it's not as bad."

"Good. I just wish you'd tell me stuff."

"Jules, I have thrown up so much, there was literally nothing in my stomach to throw up, so I starting puking bile, and I have heartburn reaching the depths of my soul. I could barely walk yesterday, so forget calling anyone."

"You should have. I'm more than your manager, you're like a sister."

"You already have seven million sisters."

"That's not the point!" Julia frowned. "I sound awfully selfish right now, don't I?"

"Just a little bit."

"I'm sorry. I just freaked when I heard you got hospitalized."

"It's fine. I forgive you."

"Great." Julia squeezed Gabriella's shoulder. "You ready to announce this thing, kid?"

"Not really. I want to keep this to myself and my close family and friends."

"One public announcement, and you probably won't have to talk about it again."

"I don't know."

"Have you told VS?"

"No." Gabriella twisted her wedding band around on her finger. "I'll tell them once I'm out of the first trimester, and I know this baby and I are healthy."

"That sounds fair."

"I just want to sleep until I go into labor." Gabriella groaned.

"You're just getting started. You have six more glorious months of this."

"Please do not remind me."

"Gabriella! Baby, your soup is ready!"

Julia reached down and grabbed her purse. "Well, I think it's time to go."

"No." Gabriella caught Julia's wrist. "My mom, my dad, Troy, and Lola are driving me fucking insane. Do not leave me with these crazy people."

Julia rolled her eyes. "You'll be fine. I'll call you tomorrow to check up on you."

"Julia, I'm serious. If you walk out that door, I will get you."

"Love you. Bye."

"Julia!"