Over the next few days Sophie recovers well in hospital while her mum and flat-mate pack her stuff. Josh and her dad Andrew, do the heavy lifting and moving. They are getting on well, bonding through the physical task of moving furniture and loading it into Josh's old 4WD. When Andrew first saw the rusty 4WD he was concerned that it looked like Josh was either a feral or a bum ( in his opinion ) but then his worries were dispelled when Josh took them to his apartment with it's security intercom and comfortable modern fittings. All very neat and new ( Josh did some cleaning ).
Andrew; " Well, this is a decent apartment !"
Josh; "thanks"
Andrew; "you're renting ?"
Josh; "no, no, it's my apartment"
Andrew stares at him, wondering what dodgy dealings Josh has done to get some extra cash, cops aren't supposed to be paid much....
Josh feels the need to explain; "years of overtime you know.....too much work probably, keep my mind off things......"
Andrew; "Exactly what kind of cop are you anyway ?"
Josh; "Tactical Response, we deal with specific issues like hostage situations, negotiation, rescues, bomb threats and other more serious disputes................it's very competitive and you do extra training in a variety of things........"
Andrew; "You get paid more than a regular cop I assume ?"
Josh; "Yes..........."
Andrew; "Right, and how long have you been doing this tactical response ?"
Josh; "It's only a new initiative, just started, so not long, but I've been a Sergeant for a few years now"
Andrew; "A Sergeant ?" He's impressed but still perplexed by the rusty 4WD. Still, it's a good sign that Josh doesn't waste his money on flash fast cars."
They put Sophie's things in Josh's spare room. He just had an exercise bike and some boxes of old stuff in there, there's plenty of space. Sophie has a few too many heavy books on Photography but otherwise she doesn't have much stuff, she's a Uni student and hasn't bothered to acquire furniture yet. She has a nice collection of DVDs though and Josh is already planning on building a shelf for them in the lounge-room.

Sophie's mum cleans out her old room for her. Sophie is discharged from hospital and comes home to Josh's place. She's already spent quite a bit of time at Josh's but it's still a new sensation to arrive there and see her clothes in the cupboard and all her worldly possessions in the spare room. They have dinner with her parents. Josh isn't the best chef but over the years he has managed to conquer a recipe or two and he cooks them a good lasagna served with salad and red wine. They have strawberries and ice-cream for dessert. It's a successful dinner and Sophie's parents leave for the countryside satisfied that their daughter is in capable hands. Sophie is exhausted, she's still on medication, and she falls asleep quickly on the lounge while Josh is cleaning up. ( Fortunately Josh has a dishwasher ). He carries her into their bed.

Sophie spends her days organising her stuff, throwing things out. Her mother had just shoved everything into boxes and Sophie takes the opportunity to have a cull, make a new beginning, some photos of old boyfriends are the first to go, and letters........ Josh is at work, sending her text messages when he is bored. She's still easily tired, gets headaches and sleeps a lot during the day. Sometimes she has trouble sleeping at night.

One afternoon they go back to her old place. Marisa called to say that she found a few more of Sophie's things there. They have coffee with Marisa and talk about her plans to move to Sydney. Out the front they say goodbye and start to walk towards the car when a man approaches. It's Luke, the ex-boyfriend.

Josh doesn't know, he hasn't met Luke yet, but Sophie suddenly clings to him in horror and Marisa cries out in panic. Josh quickly puts two and two together. He pushes Sophie behind him towards Marisa. "Go to Marisa now" Josh orders her and he stands in front of Luke blocking his path. Luke also hasn't met Josh, in fact he has no idea who Sophie's new man might be ( i.e. that he is a big strong cop ! ) nor that she really even has a boyfriend. He's still deluded that she's his girl.
Josh ( in an angry and threatening tone ); "Are you Luke ?"
Luke ( nonchalantly, no idea of the threat ) "well yeah, and who are you ? Let me past !"
Josh pushes him; "Get the hell out of here and don't you ever come near these girls again"
Luke; "Cool it mate, I just want to see my girl, we had a little misunderstanding the other night"
Josh grabs him by the collar and shoves him up against the car. He's being remarkably restrained actually, he doesn't want to get too violent in front of the girls but he would love to smash this scum to pieces....
Josh; "I'll repeat it nicely, get the hell out of here and don't you ever EVER come near Sophie again. She's moved in with me now and she doesn't want to see your face again. If you don't understand that I'll smash your face in right now !"
Sophie; "Josh !"

As much as Sophie would love to see Josh annihilate Luke, she's terrified that Josh will get out of control and land himself with some serious assault charges. She isn't worried that Josh might get hurt !

Marisa and Sophie are clinging to each other, terrified. One of the neighbours has seen the disturbance and called the local cops.

Luke is genuinely intimidated by Josh, but he's a slightly crazy and deluded man, and he still thinks that he can have Sophie. He scuffles with Josh and although he's not really fighting, he's not going to give up easily either so Josh throws a punch and Luke falls back on the ground holding his chin in surprise. Josh is standing over him fuming, he would so love to smash him into the ground, Josh has not been this angry in years.

At this point the cops arrive and they get out of the car.
Cop 1; "What's going on here ?"
Luke; "The bastard hit me !"
Josh; "This is the scum that bashed my girlfriend...."
Luke interrupts; "She's not your girl !"
Josh ignores this comment.
Cop 2 gets out of the car and walks over.
Cop 2; "Hey Josh ! What's going on ?"
Luke is none too pleased with this connection.
Josh; "Hi Matt.......like I was just saying, this piece of.................bashed my girl last week and put her in hospital........."
Luke interrupts again; "It was a misunderstanding..........."
Josh; "and now he's come back for more........" Josh turns around and points to the girls who still look terrified.
The cops lift Luke off the ground.
Cop 1; "I remember there was some incident at this address last week......"
Cop 2 to Luke; "Is this true ?"
Luke; "Nuh ! He's full of it !"
Cop 2; "You're saying that Sergeant Joshua here is a liar ?"
Luke; "Sergeant ? What .....he's a cop ?"
Cop 2; "Yeah and a good one, you'd better pick your fights more wisely. Come on, lets go"
They take him to the car and check his record on the computer. He's down for assault last week, in fact, he's out on bail !
Cop 2 walks back over to Josh.
Cop 2; "Listen mate, we'll take him away, but there's not a lot we can do unless he attacks her again"
Josh nods gravely.
Cop2; "I suggest you take an AVO out on him."
Josh; "No worries"
Cop 2; "Be careful, hey ? Can she lie low for a while ?"
Josh; "She's already moved in with me, he won't find her anymore"
Cop 2; "Good one. Hey, good luck with that Josh !" ( He winks at Josh ) " thought you were a sworn bachelor !"
Josh chuckles. He's just relieved that Luke is gone without too much drama.
Josh goes back to the girls and tries to calm them down. Later that day Josh and Sophie file an AVO against Luke.

That night Josh attempts to reassure Sophie.
Sophie; "It's stupid I know, he's not that strong.........but I'm scared of Luke, Josh. He's crazy, how can we stop him ?"
Josh; "Well for starters, he doesn't know where you live now, and he's got me to contend with, and it's a good security building...."
Josh runs her a warm bath and gives her a calming massage. She relaxes enough to fall asleep soon after in bed.
Josh calls Lawson and fills him in on the Luke situation.
Lawson: "Well there's not much more that we can do..............unless you want to organise surveillance on him !" ( Lawson chuckles ) " and an alarm when he goes anywhere near her !"
Lawson thinks it's hilarious but Josh isn't amused. If Kerry was there she'd say he's being a dickhead.
Josh; "I can't account for my actions if he comes near her again.

Josh is worried about Sophie. It's a couple of weeks since she was hospitalised and she has trouble sleeping. She often wakes up terrified and so Josh also isn't getting enough sleep. She hasn't been able to go back to her studies and has had to postpone this semester while she recovers. She regularly sees a counsellor and takes medication to help her sleep. She's bored too. Now that she doesn't have her studies, some of her worried friends call her and try to get her to go out but she spends much of the day sleeping.

In the TR changeroom

Lawson to Josh; "Everything OK mate ? You're pretty quiet these days and you look tired."
Josh; "yeah, well the last month has been full-on"
Lawson; "How's Sophie ?"
Josh; "It's a slow recovery"
Lawson; "It hasn't been that long you know, go easy on her........."
Josh; " Don't worry, I am.........thanks mate"
Lawson pats him on the shoulder;"Go for a drink ?"
Josh; "yeah ok, but ........you know I can't stay too late."
Lawson; "Christ, you'll end up like Dom next !"
Josh smiles and they go to the local together.

At this stage you could insert the healing holiday storyline that I already wrote and posted under Josh after Gracie storyline. ( When they go to Wilson's Promontory ) Lawson would suggest they take a break together because Sophie is stressed about the Luke incident.