A/N: Thank you for all the feedback! I really appreciate it!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the HSM characters. This story is pure fiction!
August 3rd, 2015 6:00 pm (Troy's POV)
"Daddy!!" I heard two little voices call as I walked in the door a little past 6 o'clock. Anna and Brayden came totting up to me grinning.
"Hi you two. Were you good for grandma and grandpa?" I asked kneeing down so I could give the two kids a hug.
"Yeah! We color." Anna told me as I scooped them both up and walked into the kitchen.
"That's good. Hi mom, dad." I said looking at my parents would were sitting at the table. Mom was feeding Gracie her bottle.
"Troy, we didn't expect you home." Dad said standing up and taking Brayden from my arms.
"I wanted to come put these two to bed before heading back up there." I told them.
"How's Gabi?" Mom asked as I kissed Anna's forehead before putting her on her feet. I watched Anna walk over to dad and grin up at him.
"She's got the start of pneumonia. The doctor told me that it's good that they caught it in time." I told them.
"Did they say how long she's going to be in for?" Dad asked me as I shook my head.
"They want to make sure they have the pneumonia under control first before they send her home. It all depends on what the medicine they have her on does." I told them.
"Do you want us to stick around?" Mom asked me as I smiled at them.
"Hannah and Cameron told me they were going to stay with the kids tonight while I go back up to the hospital." I told them.
"All right. We're going to go up to the hospital and we'll see you then." Dad told me.
"All right. Have they eaten yet?" I asked looking at Brayden and Anna talking to each other in their own language.
"We fed them at 5:30." Mom said taking a quick glance at the clock.
"All right. Thank you guys." I said going over and hugging my parents before watching them leave.
"What are we going to do now guys?" I asked looking at Anna and Brayden sitting at the table and Gracie in her bouncy seat.
"Movie?" Anna asked looking at me with her innocent face and eyes.
"I'm game. How about we go put on pajamas and then we'll settle down and watch the movie?" I asked looking at the three kids.
"Okie dokie daddy." Brayden told me as I picked up Gracie and followed them upstairs.
I quickly dressed all three in their pajamas before heading back downstairs. I let Anna and Brayden pick the movie before settling on the couch.
"Daddy, where momma?" Anna asked looking at me with her innocent chocolate eyes that reminded me so much of those of her mother.
"She's at the hospital. Momma's a sick lady right now but the doctors are going to help her." I said looking at my oldest daughter.
"She all right?" Brayden asked looking at me with his big blue eyes.
"She will be. Maybe I'll bring you three up to the hospital tomorrow so you can see her." I told them as the familiar Disney logo came on the screen.
Anna and Brayden curled up to my side as I held Gracie in my arms. I watched all three kids' eyes grow heavy before they slowly started to close. I held Gracie close as I walked upstairs to put her in her crib. I kissed her forehead before putting her in the bed.
"Night Gracie, momma and daddy love you so much." I whispered quietly before turning on her sound machine and leaving the room.
I walked back upstairs and picked up Anna. I carried her upstairs and opened her crib before putting her down inside.
"Good night Anna. I love you." I whispered as she rolled over and buried her body in the covers.
I watched her sleep for a few minutes before going to Brayden and carried him upstairs to put to bed. I whispered my good night and I love yous before stepping back and watching both of 20 month olds sleep.
I heard the front door open before deciding to walk out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind me. I picked up some stray toys that were in the hallway before going downstairs.
"Hey." I heard someone whisper as I walked down the stairs and into the living room.
"Hey guys. How is she doing?" I asked looking at Cameron and Hannah.
"She was still sleeping when we left. Mom and dad told Taylor and Chad to go home to Katie. They told us to come home to you so you could come back. Are the kids down for the night?" Hannah asked me.
"Yeah I just put them down. They should sleep the entire night." I told them going over to the TV and popping the DVD out.
"It was a Tarzan night I see." Cameron said pointing out the obvious.
"Brayden wanted to watch that." I said smiling a little at them.
"Troy how are you doing? I know you're worried about Gabi, but I'm worried about you." Hannah told me as she opened her arms open so I could go into them.
"I'm just worried about Gabi. She's always been the healthy one and now that she's in the hospital, I'm just worried." I told her giving her a hug.
"She'll be all right. While we were in the room, the nurse said her fever was down to 102.7." Cameron told me.
"Thank you two for doing this." I said giving them slight smiles.
"We're family. Anything you need, we'll be there for you." Hannah said giving me another hug.
"Again thank you two. If you need anything, you have Gabi's room number or my cell phone will be on." I told them.
"Go be by your wife's side and don't worry about the kids." Cameron said giving me a look.
"I won't. I'll call you guys tomorrow morning." I said walking towards the door.
We said our goodbyes before I headed towards the car. I got in, started it, before headed back towards the hospital. Once I got to the hospital, I parked the car before heading in and up to Gabi's room.
I pushed open Gabi's door and peaked in. I saw mom and dad sitting on Gabi's right side, holding hands, and talking among them. I pushed the door open more before heading in. My squeaky shoes gave me away.
"Troy, hey. We didn't expect you for a little while." Mom said as my watch chimed 8 o'clock.
"The kids fell asleep while watching Tarzan so I put them to bed before Hannah and Cameron came over." I told them.
"That's good. The nurse just came in and said that she's doing better. Her fever has come down a little since we sent Hannah and Cameron home." Dad told me.
"Good. Thank you guys for coming and sitting with her." I told them smiling faintly.
"It's not a problem, Troy. You're our son and she's our daughter in law. We're family." Mom told me coming over and giving me a hug.
"Thanks." I said giving them a faint smile.
"Do you need anything else?" Dad asked as I thought about it for a minute.
"Not that I can think of. I'm planning on sacking on in the chair tonight." I told them.
"Call us if you think of anything." Mom told me.
"I will. I'll see you guys in the morning." I told them taking a seat in their vacant seat.
I quietly watched the slow rise and fall of Gabi's chest. She looked so peaceful and so not herself as I was used to seeing her. I picked up her pale hand and held it between mine.
"Hey Gabi. I just want you to get better. You had me worried there for a little bit. The kids are fine; I just put them to bed before coming and staying with you. I love you, you know that right? I promised myself that if you're all right, then I'm going to tell you everyday from here on out. I don't want you to go a single day without knowing how much I love you. You're my baby girl, you're my soul mate, and you're my one. You're it; the person I want to spend the rest of my life with." I said gently kissing the back of her hand.
I pulled the blanket that was folded up on the chair beside me and quickly got under it before continuing to stare at Gabi. I felt my eyes slowly close before sleep overtook me.
August 4th, 2015 2:30 am
A familiar laugh flew into my ear as I slowly opened my eyes. My eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the little light in the room. Once they were adjusted, I quickly looked to the bed. Gabi was smiling a little but was still asleep. I leaned closer to the bed and took her hand in mine and kissed it gently.
"You should be home you know." I heard her sweet voice say as I raised my head and looked at her.
"I know but I couldn't leave you here alone." I said quietly as she smiled a little bit.
"How bad did it get?" Gabi asked as I looked at her.
"You had a high fever of 103.5 when I brought you in at 4 yesterday afternoon. You have the start of pneumonia." I said as she started to cough.
I helped her sit up while she continued to cough. I pulled her hair back as she covered her mouth.
"It's starting to become loose." I told her sitting on the side of the bed.
"That's a good thing. So who all knows I'm here?" Gabi asked as I smiled at her.
"My family and our friends." I told her as her eyes went wide.
"Did anyone come visit?" Gabi asked as I nodded my head.
"Yeah; Hannah, Cameron, mom, dad, Taylor, Chad, Kelsi, and Jason all came. I watched Lizzy while our friends came in." I told her.
"How are Anna, Brayden, and Gracie doing?" Gabi asked me.
"I left about six last night and went home to put them to bed. We curled up and watched Tarzan. They were out before the movie was half done. Hannah and Cameron are staying with them." I told her.
"That's good. Will you go tell someone I woke up so I can get so more meds?" Gabi asked as I leaned over and kissed her forehead.
"For you m'love, I will gladly do that." I told her standing up and walking out into the silent hallway.
I walked down to the nurse's desk to see three nurses standing around quietly talking to one another. Kim was standing there with a worried look on her face.
"Hey Kim?" I asked breaking her from her thoughts.
"Oh hey Troy. Is there something wrong with Gabi?" Her nursing instincts kicked in immediately.
"She's actually awake currently." I told them as Kim's face relaxed a little.
"That's a good thing. I'll be in her room in a minute." Kim told me as I smiled.
I walked back to Gabi's room and went in. Gabi was looking around the dimly lit room.
"Where did the flowers come from?" Gabi asked as I took a seat next to her.
"I think mom and dad brought them. I didn't notice them when I came back." I told her.
"Oh I was just wondering. Is the nurse coming?" Gabi asked as I nodded a little.
"She said she'll be here in a few minutes. You need some more sleep." I pointed out to Gabi.
"I know but I want meds more." She said as I laughed a little. The door was pushed open as we both looked towards it.
"Kim what are you doing here? I thought you worked at the other hospital." Gabi said surprised to see her college roommate.
"I got transfer a couple of months ago. Now I'm working here." Kim said taking Gabi's blood pressure.
"Sweet!!! Did you keep Troy in line while the doctors were checking me over?" Gabi asked as I smiled at her.
"Nah a couple of your friends showed up and kept him in line. I was just the barer of news." Kim told us.
"He needs kept in line every now and then." Gabi teased as I playfully glared at her.
"I'll let it slid because you're stuck here." I told her while leaning over and giving her a kiss on her cheek.
"I want to go home." Gabi said pouting and sticking her lower lip out.
"I know you do baby but you have to get better first." I tried to reason with her.
"But I want my own bed. I don't like this thing." Gabi told me as Kim and I both grinned.
"I'm sorry but did you see what I was sleeping on. I'll take that big old bed any day than that little chair." I told her smiling.
"You could have slept with me in that bed, you know." Gabi told me as I rolled my eyes.
"And push you out of the bed, no way!" I told her as she smiled at me.
"I'll share my bed with you tonight." Gabi told me as I smiled at her.
"All right we'll make it work. How's she doing Kim?" I asked looking at our long time friend.
"Your lungs sound better but not where the doctor wants them. I'm going to inject some meds into your IV and they're going to put you to sleep." Kim told her.
"All right. I think I can sleep a little to catch up on all the sleep I've been missing." Gabi said as I laughed.
"Ok there you go Gabi. I'll be by in a little while to check up on you. Get some sleep." Kim said as Gabi nodded her head and yawned.
"Come on, get up here." Gabi told me patting the bed as I stood up.
"Are you sure Gabi?" I asked her unsure if both of us would fit in the bed.
"If you want some comfort tonight, you better get up here or I'm going to fall asleep and you won't have a comfort place to sleep tonight." Gabi told me.
I carefully got on the bed and situated myself so Gabi's head was lying on my chest. I ran my hand through her hair as she sighed in contentment.
"Just sleep Gabi. I'll be here in the morning." I said kissing her forehead before feeling her head grow heavy on my chest.
I closed my eyes and slowly drifted into sleep with my arms wrapped around Gabi.
August 4th, 2015 8:00 am
"She's in the hospital and he's still putting on the moves." I heard a distinct voice say as he came into the room.
"Shut up Chad." I groaned pushing myself off the bed and stretching a little.
"How long have you been in that position?" Taylor asked as I looked up at their grinning faces.
"She woke up at 2:30 and I crawled into bed at 3 after she got some meds." I told them.
"Fun stuff. When is she getting out?" Chad asked me as I watched Gabi sleep peacefully.
"The doctors want her lungs to be a little more cleared out than they are but they haven't given us an exact time and date she can go home." I told them.
"Is she in a good mood or is she a little bitchy?" Taylor asked me with a knowing grin.
"When we talked at 3 she was fine. She was whining about wanting to go home but other than that she was worried about the kids but I told her they were fine." I said grinning.
"Speaking of the kids, where are they?" Chad asked me.
"Hannah and Cameron stayed at the house last night and watched them. I told Hannah I would call her today if Gabi wanted her to bring the kids up or not." I told them.
"I'm sitting here listening to everything you're saying." A groggy voice said as we turned and looked at the bed.
"Gabi! You're awake. How are you feeling?" Taylor asked as Gabi playfully glared at her.
"Oh I'm fine after I heard the bitchy comment." Gabi said showing off her grin.
"I had to get the scoop on how you were acting. I'm sorry." Taylor said leaning over to give Gabi a hug.
"It's not a problem. So what brings you guys to the dreaded hospital?" Gabi asked looking at our friends.
"Well we heard a poor old soul was locked in here and we decided to try to spring her loose but the guard at the door made us promise we would just visit. Personally, I think there's some nut jobs in here and the guard said the one in this particular room is a special case of nut job that he hasn't seen in a while." Chad told Gabi as she leaned over and hit him.
"That was mean and I'm alone here in this gross hospital. I would have thought you would have been nicer especially while I'm trapped in here." Gabi told Chad as he grinned.
"I gave you a grace period which was last night but now it's time to pick on Gabi." Chad said showing off his grin.
"First off, last night doesn't count because I wasn't aware of the fact that I was in the hospital. And two, I'm a girl so I should have all the grace periods I want." Gabi said crossing her arms and glaring at Chad.
"Hey you two, why don't we break this up before it become an all out brawl?" I asked stepping and trying to stop the arguing.
"Why do you have to ruin the fun?" Chad asked looking at me with a funny face.
"Go ahead call me the mean one but Gabi needs her rest." I said putting my foot down.
"But Troy I've been sleeping for the past 16 hours straight. Why do I have to sleep more?" Gabi asked as I grinned.
"You want to go home soon don't you?" I asked her as she thought about it for a minute.
"Yeah but what does that have to do with sleep?" Gabi asked as Chad and Taylor both laughed a little.
"The more you sleep, the faster you'll get out of here." I told her as the light bulb clicked over her head.
"All right I'll sleep. Thank you for coming, Chad, Taylor." Gabi told our friends as they both smiled.
"We just want you to get better soon. We miss having you around." Chad told her.
"See this is the nice guy I was hoping to see today." Gabi told him as Taylor and I both laughed.
"All right Gabi get some rest and I'll be back in a minute." I said as her eyes slowly shut and she snuggled into the covers.
I watched Chad and Taylor walk out of the room before turning my attention back to Gabi. I watched her sleep before leaning back in the chair I occupied and closed my eyes as well.
There you guys go. Feedback is always a big plus for me.