Crushed •|COMPLETED|•

Chapter 7

I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing all over the room. I checked the time. 3am.What the hell?! I hate mornings. I am definitely not a morning person, apart from work, I choose to wake up pretty late than the usual time.

"Hello?" I answered still feeling sleepy.
"Hello, Gabrielle..its your brother. Alberto... Y...you need to come home. He's very sick. Please my child, come home" she sounded scared.

"Mamma? What's wrong with him?" I said getting up. I felt like the world got smaller gradually as she kept talking and crying through the phone.
Something was wrong. Alberto never got this sick before. My hands got sweaty and my body heated up.

"Okay mamma..please just stay strong for me okay? Please I'll be there soon. Just take him to the hospital, don't worry about the bills. I...I'll get something. Mamma don't cry.. It hurts me. Pl..please mamma" I say trying to not cry too. I dropped the call, ran over to Quincy's room.

"Quinn! Quinn! Wake up! Its my mom.." I shouted shaking her till she managed to get up.
"What?? What's wrong Gabby?" She said when she noticed my eyes wet with tears.
"Mom just called. Alberto's sick. I don't know what's wrong. Where am I gonna get the cash from? I haven't been paid yet.. Quinn, I can't loose him or my mother. You know she's got a high blood pressure.. I.." I explained crying in her arms.

"Shhh shh... Stop, nothing bad is gonna happen. Everything will be fine. You can't drive in this state and sadly, I can't drive. I'll call Edwin and he'll take us there okay? Just calm down..it'll be fine" she hugged me tight, gently touching my hair as she said.

I watched her walk away from the room and overheard her talking with Edwin on the phone. She was worried too. To me she wasn't just my best friend, she was my sister. Whenever I cry, she cries along. Whenever I rejoice, she rejoices with me. She loved me like a sister and always showed it.

I kept pushing and twisting my hair. I'm so unsteady and my mind wondered to places I was scared of.

Oh lord please don't let anything happen to Alberto...

Luke's Prov:
I couldn't sleep. I rolled all over the bed. Got up to use the bathroom. Got back in bed again. Still couldn't sleep. I wasn't one of those people who'd just sleep right away after shutting their eyes.
I walked from the room to the dinning room. Living with Edwin wasn't one of my plans in life but the guy has been ever good to me. Together, we built this house, furnished it, started a business and have established quite a lot.

Soon we'll part ways which is for sure. He'll get married and have his own family, so would I. But not now. I still have a long way to go.

I heard his room door open and close. His footsteps coming downstairs.
"where are you off to so early?" I asked as I sipped my coffee.
"It's Quinn. She said something 'bout Gabby's brother been sick and they needed a ride to her parent's place. She sounded scared Luke" he said taking his keys.

My hands got shaky for a moment. I couldn't imagine what Gabby was going through but I wasn't going to stay here knowing that something's wrong.

"I'm coming with you" I said standing up.

He seemed surprised at my words but didn't say anything. We got into the car and drove as fast as we could to Quinn's.

They were already outside when we got there. She looked rather pale and was held by the arm by Quinn. Her dark hair loosely parked. She was still in her PJ's. I got off the car, helped her to get in while Quinn sat in the front seat.

"Are you okay?" I managed to ask.
"No...no I'm not Luke" she said bursting into tears.
I hate to see her like this. It breaks my heart. I hugged her and kept telling her it would be fine. I didn't know what, but I knew deep down inside me, she'll be alright. I felt her hold my hands so tight as she buried her face in my chest.
I want her to be fine, I need to see her happy again.

She brought her phone out and called her mom. We had to drive to the hospital now.

Gabrielle's Prov:
I didn't care about a single thing apart from seeing my family. We got to the hospital after going past my parent's house. Mom was outside. Her face lit up when she saw me get off the car. I ran to her, she opened her arms, hugging me.

"Mamma Dónde está Alberto? I asked her holding her hands.
"He's fine, he's inside now. The doctor said he had a convulsion before but, that's been settled. Gabrielle, its okay" she said hugging me again.
Luke, Edwin and Quinn stood behind me. They all greeted mom with a smile.

"And dad? Where is he now mamma?" I asked her again turning away.
I knew he wouldn't be here. He cared less about us. All he did was kill my mother's happiness and steal the money I sent for them. The only difference between he and the devil was that he was my father. He never for once performed the role of one.

"Where is he mamma? Gambling? " I scoffed.
" I don't know why he's still alive honestly! All he does is hurt you! Hurt us!" I yelled. I hated to yell at her but I couldn't help it. She's letting a man kill her slowly.
"Cállate Gabrielle! You would not speak such of your father! No matter what, he's your father and you have no option but to accept it so!" She reproved.
"I'm so sorry mom, we'll talk to her..she's just worried that's all. Luke can you?" Quinn said to her while Luke took me away from the drama.

Why would she even let Luke do the talk to me job? We walked for a few minutes then I found a bench where we sat on.
"I'm sorry about all of this" he said looking down.
"Its not your fault. It has nothing to do with you. Thanks though for been here " I said.
It was dawn already. Birds began to chirp. It looked beautiful and I felt a little better.
Luke was a nice guy. I just needed to open my eyes and let him in- as a friend.

"I'm sorry you had to see that. Its just... My dad makes life so hard for us. He doesn't support my mom or help my brothers in school. I'm the only one who does that. Soon mom would go into retirement and how the hell does he think they'll survive? I gave up college just because I needed to work out money to take care of them...
To answer your question, I chose to become a janitor cause that was all my certificate could afford to get me. I study on my own but that doesn't matter because companies need certificates to prove you actually know what you're doing. I'm just tired of all this problems" I finally finish off.

He held my hands up to his lips and kissed them softly. I felt my blood thicken and my heart beat faster.
"It's going to be fine. You're the strongest woman I've ever seen if you ask me. You're independent and you've got what it takes to be successful. So please Gabby, don't ever feel like its a burden. You're going to crush these challenges, trust me" he said looking into my eyes then smiled at me.

" I'm...I'm speechless. Thank you. Really, I'm grateful" I acknowledged.
"You don't have to say anything, it's fine" he assured.

We sat there for a while before heading back to the hospital. I guess we were both gonna miss work today. Thank goodness he's the boss and also my friend.

Author's note:
Good day sweethearts, thank you so much for reading and your votes lately...
I made use of some Spanish words and here are their meanings:
*Mamma dónde está Alberto?( mamma where is Alberto)
*Cállate (shut up)

Thank you so much and see you in the next chapter love y'all❤❤😘