'I refuse to let her be taught by him. I won't let him.' Troy told Dr Thomas in his office.

Dr Thomas leaned forward. 'He is the most respected physiotherapist in America, Troy.' They were on a first name basis since Ashley had been in hospital for so long.

'But I…' Troy felt tears in his eyes. 'It kills me to see her in pain, so, so much, and leaving her with him, it just…it doesn't feel right. I saw how he scared her. I hated it so much.'

Dr Thomas sighed. 'Okay. Look, Troy, I can't let her go home. But if you are so intent on him not teaching her, I only have one proposal.'

'And that is?'

'You teach her.'

'What?!' Troy stood up, pushing the chair backwards, knocking it over.

'I have no more physiotherapists that are so trained to deal with your sister's condition, Troy. The only way I can think of is if someone she trusts helps her.'

'But she doesn't trust me.'

A nurse walked in. 'Ashley is asking for you, Troy.'

Troy nodded and looked at Dr Thomas, who raised his eyebrows. 'Oh yeah, she doesn't want you at all.'

Troy breathed heavily. 'Ok, fine. I'll do it. 'I'll…try…to help her walk again.'


'How is she?' Troy rang Gabriella, and those were the first words he heard.

'Better. I have a suggestion for you.'

'Okay, shoot.'

'Dr Thomas wants me to teach Ash to walk because that idiot of a physiotherapist scared her half to death.'

'And this involves me?'

'I want you to help. I want you to be there.'

'Oh, Troy…'

'Please? Please, please, please?'

'Troy, let me finish.' There was a light laugh from his girlfriend. 'I'd love to help. All I was gonna say was that I'm flattered.'

'Oh, right. Okay, good. Well, um, today then? 2 o'clock?'

'Yeah, sure. See you there.'


'Ashley, I'd like you to meet your new physiotherapist.' Dr Thomas walked in.

Ashley rolled her eyes. 'Great.' She murmured sarcastically. 'Bring them in then.'

Dr Thomas smiled slightly and opened the door, letting her brother walk in. He grinned at her face.

'Okay, you lost me.' Ashley's forehead creased in confusion.

'Your brother is your new physiotherapist, Ashley.'

'You're kidding?!' Excitement filed her voice. 'Since when?'

Troy walked forward. 'Since now. And if my lovely assistant would bring the complimentary snacks in.' Gabriella came in holding a basket, filled with muffins. 'Homemade.' Troy winked at his sister.

Ashley snorted with laughter. 'Ow, ow, ow.' She said, holding her chest.

Dr Thomas frowned. 'Still hurting, hey?'

'Yeah, little bit.' Ashley laughed airily. 'It's nothing. It doesn't hurt that much.' Troy knew that it was probably killing her insides, but he knew she'd kill him if he said it in front of everyone.

'Okay, I'll come back to check on you later. Have fun.' Dr Thomas walked out, and Troy put on a patronising voice.

'Now, Miss Bolton…' Ashley grinned. 'If you would be kind enough to take my hands, I will guide you across this sterilised tiled floor.' Troy grinned back at her, and then changed back to his normal voice. 'Okay, seriously. I'm just gonna take our hands and stand you up straight and see if you can stay on your feet unaided, okay?'

Ashley nodded and Gabriella moved her legs out of bed, spinning her body round until her feet hit the cold floor. Troy took the tips of her fingers, so as not to touch the IV, and pulled her up. Ashley wobbled slightly, and screamed in pain quietly. 'Oh God, what do I do?' Troy asked.

'Don't panic, Troy.' Ashley said slowly. 'Just…don't…panic. See, I'm fine. Just a bit of pain, I'm used to it.'

'Thanks for the reassurance.' Troy said sarcastically.

Ashley mimicked him. 'Thanks for the reassurance.'

'Hey, do you wanna walk or not?'

Ashley blew a raspberry at him, being childish, and then grinning.

'Okay…' Troy let go of her hands and her legs buckled, sending her down to the floor. Troy caught her before she hit the ground fully and picked her up, sitting her on the bed.

'You alright?' he asked her. There were tears in her eyes but she furiously wiped them away. 'Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Let's try again.'

Troy was unsure, but still picked her up off the bed and tried again. He let go, and once again, her knees caved in and she fell. Gabriella reached out but wasn't fast enough, and neither was Troy. He knelt down next to his sister, and hugged her, her crying on his shoulder. 'Can we stop, please Troy? It hurts so much.'

Troy nearly cried as well at the sense of pleading in her voice. 'Yeah. Yeah, let's stop for today.'


Troy sat in his guest chair next to his sister's bed. Gabriella slept in the one next to him. It was now 1:18 in the morning. He'd tried sleeping, but he had dreams, and none of them were good. He kept thinking about his sister. She was so young, yet she might never walk again.

The beeping of her heart machine caught his attention. The only good thing about the noise was that it wasn't one long continuous beep. He got up and bent over his sister, frowning. She looked fine at a glance, but then he noticed the redness of her face, as if she'd been sunburnt. He knew that wasn't the case, but he wished it was. Troy put a hand on her forehead, and the sudden coolness made Ashley's eyes slide open. Her temperature was at least 104°F, maybe even more.

'Hey, sweetie. What's wrong?' Troy cocked his head to the side, biting his lip.

'I'm really cold.' Ashley murmured, shivering.

Troy woke up his girlfriend, who shot awake when he told her what was happening. She came round to the side of the bed.

'What's wrong?' She said, smiling reassuringly.

'She's burning up.' Troy said. Gabriella turned to Troy. 'I'm going to get a doctor.'

Troy nodded and looked at his sister, who laughed, embarrassed. 'So what happens now?' She grinned. 'Is it curtains?'

'No, of course not!' Troy grabbed her hand. 'You're such a drama queen. You're gonna be better in no time, right Gabs?' he looked towards his girlfriend, who didn't answer.

She opened the door and grabbed the first nurse who came past. 'Can you get Dr Thomas please?'

The nurse looked in the room and saw Ashley shivering, and she nodded quickly, hurrying off. A few seconds later, and Dr Thomas ran in. 'What happened?'

'I don't know. She just suddenly burned up and her heart machine went really fast. She says she's cold.'

Dr Thomas nodded and called for backup. 'Wrap her in the duvet and follow me.' He told Troy. Troy curled his sister up in the duvet and carried her down to ICU, and Gabriella wheeling the drip with them. Dr Thomas told him to put her on a bed and he did. Dr Thomas started to wheel her away and Troy was stopped. He kissed her forehead and hand and waved goodbye to her, her waving back slightly.

He just hoped she was going to be alright. Tears were welling up in his eyes. Gabriella put a hand on his shoulder, but she didn't know what to say.

Eventually she told him she was going to ring the others and went to the outside of the hospital, doing just that.

Troy stared after his little sister, breathing heavily. 'Oh God….' He ran a hand though his hair. 'Oh God, please be alright…'

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