Hey everyone!

I'm really sorry for the long delay with this chapter! I've been super busy and haven't had much chance to write! :(

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I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Love Hannah.

oxoxox

Casey

"How is she doing?" I ask the medic as he sits at the top of Gabby's head, staring at the screen placed directly before him as I sat clutching Gabby's warming hand tightly in my own.

The dark skinned man nodded as he turned to look at me, "Her vitals are stable and there doesn't seem to be any massive trauma. The only thing I am concerned about is her cracked ribs, but the doctors can easily tend to those no problem."

I appreciated that he was telling me the truth, highlighting me to slight worry that he had, but I was comforted by the fact that he didn't seem to be overly worried about Gabby's injuries.

"Is there a reason why she hasn't woken up yet?"

He shrugged, "From what I've seen, I'd put it down to trauma. Her body is in survival mode, especially after being out in the cold for so long. It's not something to be worried about – she'll wake in her own time."

I find myself smiling slightly at his words, "If I know Gabby she does everything in her own time."

The EMT smirked, "That's women for you man. I've been married for fifteen years and not once has my wife not done something in her own time."

"Fifteen years?" I ask, looking up at him stunned, "What's your secret?"

His answer slipped as easily from his mouth as the smile appeared there, "Communication. Hacking out our problems. Letting the arguments happen rather than avoid them – it only builds up then and it makes it worse. Communication, my friend, is the key to any relationship."

I stare down at Gabby's sleeping form, the tension in her face slowly relaxing, "We think keeping our problems to ourselves protects each other," I murmur quietly as I run my thumb over Gabby's knuckles, bringing the back of her palm to my lips.

I feel the EMT watching us, "You love her," he says; it wasn't a question.

"More than anything," I reply swiftly back, my voice never sounding as truthful as it did right then.

"Then don't let anything else stand in your way."

It was then that we arrived at the hospital. The doctors met us at the door, instantly rolling Gabby's gurney into the hospital, talking loudly about facts and her vitals, her injuries and what had happened to her. So I tried to block it all out, reducing their buzzing voices to a murmur in my head, focusing solely on Gabby's pale body as I wished for her eyes to open, to see those big brown eyes that I'd missed much.

Then a firm force hitting my chest halted my step as Gabby continued to be rolled away. When I turn my eyes from Gabby's face I find that it is a hand pressing against my chest, a hand that belonged to a blonde middle-aged nurse, who had a sympathetic look in her eye, "Sir, I'm sorry but you can't go any further."

"But she needs me," I murmur as a reply, the words desperate as I watched Gabby until they placed her in a bay and surrounded her with nurses and doctors, taking her out of sight.

"She's in the best possible hands sir, I promise you that," the nurse answers softly as she leads me towards the waiting room, where I inevitably knew I'd end up.

Then she left me alone to pace in the empty waiting room, the disinfectant smell and awkward atmosphere of hospitals finally hitting my senses. I paced around, nervous, but no longer fearful. Gabby was safe. And in truth, that's all that matters.

I hadn't lost her.

"Matt, where is she?" Antonio's voice broke me from my inner thoughts, stunting my pacing as I noted that behind him, stood the very weary and the very tired family that had come together to find Gabby. Firefighters, medics and cops alike filled the room, relief seeping from every pore.

"I tried to go with her. The doctors wouldn't let me, I wanted to but-" Antonio putting his arms around me halted my rambling.

"It's okay man," Antonio says quietly and finally I accepted these comforting words.

He moves to sit on the closest seat to the door and then Kelly stands before me, asking quietly, "Did the doctors say anything?"

I shake my head, "I wasn't really listening. It was too much."

Kelly shrugs, "They'll be out soon Matt. Gabby's a fighter, she's gonna be fine."

I didn't have chance to answer him before I heard a distant screaming. A screaming, a voice, that I recognised all too well, "Get off me! Get off! Please stop! Stop! No! No! Don't touch me! Get off!"

I'm out the door the moment I process what's happening, rushing towards where I saw the doctors take Gabby, following her yells until I found her.

The doctors and nurses had jumped back in shock as Gabby lay on her bed, fumbling with the wires, screaming for them not to touch her. Whenever someone stepped forward, she swatted them away, her screaming becoming louder and more desperate.

I rushed to her side, ignoring her as at first, she too swatted me away. But I place my hands on her now bare arms and murmur softly, "Gabby, baby, it's me… It's Matt. You're okay, I promise you're okay. I'm here baby…"

Gabby stares wide eyed at me, the look in her eye one of disbelief as if she couldn't believe that she was seeing me. Shaky seconds pass before she collapses into my arms, clutching tighter than ever before at my body, her tears instantly soaking through my shirt as I encased her in my arms, holding her close, whispering reassurances into her ear.

As I cradle her body in my arms, I notice Antonio had followed me. He stared with tears in his eyes at his sister, completely heartbroken at what he'd just seen.

"I've got you baby, I'm not going anywhere, I promise," I whisper to her as I feel the quaking of her body start to slow.

It was a promise I was going to keep for the rest of my life.

I stay with Gabby whilst the doctors do everything they have to do. It's the only way that she'll let them near her and it's much easier for them to tend her when she's not struggling or screaming at them. Antonio stays close by, watching from the edge of the bay, resting against the wall with his arms crossed and an unreadable expression on his face.

Eventually when the doctors have done everything that had to and after Gabby's had a full body x-ray, they move her to a private room, and she does not let my hand go for a second.

Cracked ribs.

Minor concussion.

Multiple bruising covering her entire body.

Rope burns and cuts to her wrists.

Dehydration.

Defensive wounds.

It was a list of the extent of Gabby's injuries, not including the mental trauma that Victor Ramsey had inflicted on the strongest woman I know.

A while ago the tears had subsided, the shaking not long after, until now Gabby just stares up with bewilderment at me, her hands clutching mine tightly.

"You came," it's the first words I hear after her screams. Her voice was dry, croaky, but she was still Gabby. Still Gabby.

"What else would I have done?" I murmur softly back, bringing her knuckles to my mouth, kissing them, trying to ignore the white bandages around her wrists.

Something flickers in her eyes. Something I didn't like, but I don't press it. Now is not the time for pushing her.

"I'm sorry Matt," Gabby says, her voice barely audible.

Tucking a lock of wild curly hair behind her ear I say, "You have nothing to be sorry for. What he did-"

She shakes her head, "This has nothing to do with Ramsey. I'm sorry for everything that happened before."

I was confused at what was going through her head, usually she was so easy for me to read, but right now, I had no idea what she was thinking, "Gabby, we've got plenty of time to talk about that okay? But right now we just need to focus on you getting better."

Defiantly, Gabby says, "I want to go home."

I nod, "We will, soon - when the doctors say that it's fine for you to be discharged."

"No Matt now, I'm not sitting here for however long talking over and over about Victor Ramsey and what he did. I'm not a victim," Gabby says coldly, her eyes fiery, determined to argue over this.

"Gabby, nobody has said that you're a victim-"

"But that's exactly what it'll seem like when everyone comes. I don't want my life to revolve around Ramsey for another minute."

Gabby turns away then, her eyes focusing on the bedding, her jaw tight. She doesn't want to deal with what happened; she just wants to 'forget' about it.

I sigh, but I'm not giving up, "Gabby you're life does not and will not revolve around Ramsey and what he did. But we almost lost you to him, I almost lost you to him, and we all just want to help you through this."

"I don't need help because there's nothing to get through Matt. I'm fine. I want to go home," she was resisting me and the determined tone in her voice told me that she wasn't going to back down on this just yet.

I try a different angle, "Gabby, can you look at me please?" I ask in a gentle tone, squeezing her hands to show her that I wasn't going anywhere.

After a few begrudging seconds Gabby does, reconnecting her brown eyes with my blue ones, softening just a little bit, "I love you Gabby and no matter what I will always love you. You don't have to be scared that I'm going to leave if you talk about Ramsey. I'm here, I will always be here, and I'm going to be here to help you through every single step of this okay? You can let me in."

Tears threaten to fall in her eyes. One does, and I reach up with my thumb to wipe it away as Gabby murmurs, "I love you too."

"Shall I get Antonio?" I ask her when I realise that Gabby isn't going to say anymore.

She nods slowly, "Just Antonio okay? I'm not ready to see the others yet... Not like this."

I kiss her forehead, "They'll never judge you Gabby," I assure her.

"I know," she whispers as I slip out of the room and head to the waiting room. I find Antonio standing right outside with Halstead and the moment he sees me his eyes flicker.

"She wants to see you, she's calmer now..." I didn't have to tell him twice. Antonio races down the hall before I'd even finished my sentence.

Kelly then steps out of the waiting room, eyeing me curiously, "How is she?"

"Calmer," is all I can manage to get out. How was Gabby? I didn't know.

Kelly stays quiet until I speak again, knowing that I wanted to get something off my chest, "She's pretending that she's fine. She doesn't want to talk about Ramsey. It's like she just wants to forget that all this happened... The first thing she said to me was that 'she's sorry' about what happened before Ramsey took her. That she's sorry. What the hell does she have to be sorry for huh?"

"You think she just wants to bottle it all up?"

I nod, "She keeps asking to go home. That's all she wants. It's like these past few days haven't happened in her mind."

Kelly rubs his mouth before answering, "Matt what Gabby went through was traumatizing, even for the strongest of people, this may be, however right or wrong, her way of coping."

"Pretending it didn't happen isn't coping Kelly," I answer sharply, running my hand frustratingly through my hair.

"You and I know that Matt, but look what she's been through. Anyone in her position would want to forget... Look, maybe right now isn't the time to encourage her to talk. Give her a few days, just to process what's happened, and perhaps then it'll be easier for her to open up."

I lean my forehead against the wall and sigh shakily; I could only hope that Kelly was right.