Brave

In the three and a half weeks since Troy had been hurt a lot had changed but it was change that was very welcome. He'd been given two weeks to recover before starting the training for his new role and once the fuzziness had cleared he'd put all of his efforts into moving his and the girls things into The Ranch; they now had most of their belongings with them, with just a few things left at the house along with furniture that would eventually be sold or donated and random things like kitchen utensils that Gabriella already had and they didn't need doubles of.

The house itself had been put on the market and the real estate company Troy had chosen were confident they could get him a good price; it was in a prime location for couples and families looking to buy their first home. After speaking it through with Gabriella and their friends, Troy had decided that the money from the sale of the house would go towards the girls; he'd put some in a college fund for each of them and also set them each up an account where the money could sit and grow with interest until they each turned twenty one and could access it. He would use the money he made from selling furniture and other unwanted items to treat them all to something special; he wasn't sure what yet but there was still time to figure all of that out.

For the last week and a half however he'd been away from home and the women in his life to complete the training he needed to start his now role. He'd been reluctant to be gone for that long but Gabriella had told him she and the girls would be just fine, it was only two weeks and then he would be home with them for good.

It was late Wednesday afternoon as he flopped down onto the bed in his hotel room; he was enjoying the course and learning all of the new things he needed to know as well as updating some of the knowledge he already had but it was a long and tiring process. He'd been phoning home everyday and had quickly realised that it was easier to speak to someone different each day; having the phone on loud speaker and speaking to them all at the same time just didn't work. He had of course spoken with Gabriella everyday, even if it was just a couple of texts back and forth each evening before bed, he made sure to at the very least tell her he loved her and couldn't help but smile like a love sick teen when she told him she loved him in reply.

Today his call was to Maddie and so he called her phone and forced himself up to sit on the edge of the bed; he couldn't let himself fall asleep, he hadn't even eaten dinner yet.

"Hi Uncle Troy, how are you?"

"I'm good thanks Mads, tired and looking forward to being back with you guys on Saturday but I'm doing alright, how about you? How are things there?"

"Things are good, I'm at Luke's right now, his Mum invited me to stay for dinner and I figured it would give Gabi one less person to worry about feeding, especially because she's got other children there today as well; I phoned and checked with her it was okay though, don't worry."

"Mads how is Gabi? Be honest with me; she's not over doing it is she?" Troy knew that without him there Gabriella wouldn't be sleeping well and so he hoped that on little sleep she wasn't working herself too hard.

"No I wouldn't say she's over doing it, she's obviously tired but you know how she just tends to power on through. Today is the last day she's got the other children there with her and then tomorrow Luke and I are going to cook dinner and Friday is obviously pizza night so that's meals sorted for the next couple of days. I reckon once the other children are gone she'll relax a little with just us there but we're all doing our bit to help; I promise you that if I thought she was overdoing it I would call Taylor or Sharpay and get them to pop by and check in on her."

"Thank you, I really do appreciate you stepping up and helping out Mads. Do you know how much sleep Gabi has been getting?"

"It's hard to tell because she's downstairs so I can't necessarily hear her moving about. I think she tries to go to sleep about midnight and she's always up by the time I come down for breakfast, so I'd say she's getting somewhere between five and six hours a night. I obviously don't know how often she's awake during the night though, sorry."

"It's okay, I think I'll call her tonight, I haven't actually heard her voice for a couple of days. I'll let you get back to Luke and his family but I will see you on Saturday Mads, I love you."

"I love you too Uncle Troy, bye."

TGTGTGTG

He'd eaten, showered, gone over his notes and was now in bed and ready to hear her voice; she answered almost straight away and he could instantly tell that she wasn't her usual self

"Hi Troy."

"Hey baby, how are you?"

"I'm okay just watching some TV in bed, how about you? How was your day?"

"It was good, long but good; I'm in bed too but I wanted to hear you voice before I go to sleep, tell me about your day."

"There's not much to tell really, just normal Ranch kinda stuff this morning and then childcare stuff this afternoon...that overly friendly delivery guy came today." Troy had met this delivery guy a couple of times and overly friendly was definitely one way to put it, the way he spoke to Gabriella went way beyond the usual small talk needed when making a delivery and apparently he talked a lot more when Troy wasn't there. Gabriella usually just let him talk, only giving the bare minimum answers while he unloaded her goods and then went on his way but lately she'd told Troy that she was finding it hard to get him to leave and had to always make up some kind of excuse to get him to go. Troy had told her to keep note of the things he was saying and doing and if it started getting too weird he would contact the delivery company and ask them to put someone else on Gabriella's deliveries.

"How was he? Did he make you feel uneasy?"

"He was the same as normal, he was trying to get unusually close to me today like when he handed me his clip board to sign for my stuff he made sure to touch my hand and then he went to touch my arm a couple of times but Barney and Zeus both started barking at him then so he left pretty quickly after that."

"I'm gonna phone that company next week once I'm home, it's not okay that you're made to feel uncomfortable on your own property, especially when you're running on very little sleep right now." Gabriella stayed silent and Troy could hear her shaky breaths on the other end of the line.

"I'm okay Troy, I just...I miss you."

"Oh baby I miss you too but it's only three more nights and then I'll be in that bed with you and you'll get the best night's sleep ever."

"I can't wait...you should go to sleep now handsome, I can hear in your voice how tired you are and you have your final assessment tomorrow." In the morning Troy would have one more lesson where he could ask any last minute questions he might have before his final assessment in the afternoon. If all went well he would find out his results that same afternoon and would be presented with his qualification certificate at a ceremony on Friday.

"Okay, I'll text you in the morning, I love you 'Brie."

"I love you too Troy, sleep well."

TGTGTGTG

The lasagne was in the oven, the dishwasher was on and the kitchen was clean; she'd never been very good at cooking but having Luke by her side had made it a whole lot easier and much more fun. They'd never done anything domesticated together before and Maddie couldn't help but notice how easily they worked together; Luke was a much better cook but she'd done her bit by tidying up behind him as he went and helping Amelia with her homework as she sat at the island.

"Maddie I'm going to go and help Gabi and Summer, shout me when you need me to set the table."

"Okay, good job on getting your homework done." Amelia gave a thumbs up as she turned and headed out the back door and Maddison smiled as she felt arms slip around her waist from behind.

"You're a great big sister, those girls are lucky to have you." Maddie started to turn in Luke's arms to respond when a high pitched scream was heard from outside and they both immediately took off running in that direction...

TGTGTGTG

Gabriella stood to stretch her back out and survey the hard work she and Summer had been doing. They were out by the colourful gate taking care of the weeds, they couldn't plant flowers here because it was too near to Troy's basketball hoop but that didn't mean they shouldn't keep it from looking it's best.

"Thanks for helping me Sum, weeding isn't much fun on your own." Summer smiled as she stood up but the smile soon faltered when she saw the look on Gabriella's face.

"What's he doing here?" Summer followed Gabriella's line of vision and saw that the over friendly delivery guy was here, only he wasn't in his van he was in a car and Summer suddenly started to feel fear set in.

The moments that followed were a blur, all three dogs started barking and Summer found herself hidden behind Gabriella as the obviously scared woman did her best to protect them both. The guy approached them both and managed to grab hold of Summer's wrist, twisting it painfully as he flung her off to the side. As she stayed slumped in pain on the ground Summer watched as the guy grabbed Gabriella by the shoulders and shoved her against the side of her house.

"All this time I've been delivering to you Gabriella and not once have you picked up on my advances, today I'm not giving you a choice."

"Please leave me alone, I'm in a relationship, I don't want you here."

"I'm not going any where, not until you admit we'd be good together." Luna was now at Summer's side and the frightened young girl wrapped an arm around the dog and watched as Gabriella was shoved to the ground and then winced when she heard a crack as Gabriella's shoulder took the brunt of the fall. Summer tried to shout for help but she was shaking and nothing came out, instead she had no choice but to lay on the ground and watch as Gabriella received kick after kick to her stomach and chest and then the guy grabbed her by the collar and pressed his face into hers.

"Please just go, I won't call the police if you just go." Gabriella was still trying to fight despite the obvious pain she was in and Summer wished she could do something to help. Gabriella had her eyes squeezed shut now, trying to block out exactly how close this guy was to her face and then out of the corner of her eye Summer saw movement and then a scream was heard; it was Amelia and Summer knew in that moment that everything would be okay, there was no way Luke and Maddie wouldn't come to investigate.

Seconds later they rounded the corner of the house and with extra people present the guy dropped Gabriella to the ground, the side of her head hitting the ground: knocking her unconscious.

"This isn't over!" The guy took off running towards his car but Luke was hot on his heels and although he didn't try to stop him from leaving he did take a picture of his car; he'd watched enough cop shows to know that people could be traced via their cars. Barney and Zeus had chased the guy to the gate where he was parked and as he called them to follow him Luke realised he would have to step up and take control; his girlfriend and her sisters needed him.

"Maddie I know you're scared but Summer needs you right now." Luke's voice snapped her into action and she was soon by her sister's side and wrapping her up in her arms to keep her safe. "Amelia I need you to be really helpful and run inside and get a pillow and a blanket so we can keep Gabi warm, I'm going to phone an ambulance; it's all going to be okay girls."

TGTGTGTG

Sharpay kept her arm wrapped around Summer as they walked along the corridor towards the relatives room. When the ambulance had arrived at The Ranch the paramedics had told Maddie to call an adult to meet them at the hospital but Chad was still at school in a meeting and at the time neither Sharpay nor Zeke were answering; Maddie was starting to panic until Luke mentioned Taylor.

Maddie knew Taylor was at work and so hadn't bothered to call her but it was then that she realised Taylor would be there when they got to the hospital and so asked the paramedics if they could get a message to her; they could and so while Luke turned off the oven, locked up The Ranch and loaded Amelia into his car to meet them at the hospital, Maddie went with Summer and a still unconscious Gabriella in the ambulance, knowing that as soon as she saw Taylor everything would be okay.

Taylor had been waiting for the ambulance to arrive, having spoken to her boss and been allowed to be with the girls until another adult could be with them; luckily she'd managed to get hold of Sharpay who was on her way to them. Maddie had calmed down considerably upon hearing Taylor's calming voice and so had momentarily been left with Summer while a nurse assessed her injured arm, allowing Taylor to go to Gabriella and fill her colleagues in on her friend's past; they needed to know that when Gabriella started to come round she would almost definitely start to panic upon realising where she was.

Sharpay had arrived with Zeke and while he sat in the relatives room with Amelia and Luke, Sharpay was taken to Summer and Maddison; who knowing her sister was in safe hands had herself gone through to the relatives room to be in the safe arms of her boyfriend. With her friends now here to be with the girls Taylor made one of the hardest calls she'd ever had to make. No one had tried to contact Troy yet knowing his assessment was taking place that afternoon and his phone had to be on silent but she knew it couldn't be put off any longer and had taken a deep breath and dialled his number.

The call had been short with Troy wanting to speak to his course leaders about getting home as soon as he could and when Taylor had spoken to him again half an hour later he'd told her that they'd managed to get him on a flight early that evening; the call had ended with her telling him that all four of his ladies were in safe hands and so he should just focus on getting packed to get on his flight, Chad would meet him at the airport and bring him straight to the hospital.

"Summer!" Amelia and Maddie were straight out of their seats as the relatives room door opened and Sharpay, Zeke and Luke watched as the three sisters held each other close; all clearly overwhelmed by the situation.

"Let's sit down girls, Taylor's shift finishes soon and then she'll be in to update us on Gabi." Summer sat down in the middle of her sisters and as Sharpay and Zeke sat down next to Amelia they couldn't help but notice how Maddie and Luke were in constant contact. Maddison was clearly putting on a brave face in front of her sisters but to the adults in the room she was scared and Luke's reassuring touches were the thing helping to keep her calm.

Only the ticking of the clock could be heard in the room until ten minutes later when Taylor walked in, her shift over and Taylor herself now changed out of her scrubs and into her street clothes.

"Sorry I've been so long guys, Chad's parents have got the twins and I was just checking in with them first, I heard your wrist isn't broken Summer, that's good."

"Yeah, it still really hurts though."

"Unfortunately muscle damage can sometimes hurt more then breaks can, the splint and rest will help it get better. Girls I'm really sorry but Gabi is hurt pretty badly." Taylor moved to crouch down in front of the girls and hold all of their hands. "You know she hit her head pretty hard which is why she's been unconscious and she's got a pretty bad cut above her eye. The crack you said you heard when she first fell Summer is a result of her breaking her collar bone and doing damage to her shoulder, she's also got a lot of bruising to her ribs and stomach from all the kicks she took but thankfully no ribs are broken and she's not bleeding internally. She did wake up but she was really scared and started to panic so the doctors sedated her to help them get their tests done; it will start to wear off over the next few hours but her being asleep isn't a bad thing, rest will help her body to start building strength again."

"Can we see her?"

"I know all you want to do Amelia is wrap her up in one of your hugs but she's pretty sore and also sleeping so it's best we leave her be for now, okay?" Amelia nodded and Taylor smiled as Sharpy wrapped the young girl up in a hug. "Uncle Troy's flight should land in about half an hour and Chad is already on the way to the airport to pick him up and bring him here; then you girls can all get the hug I know you're longing for."

TGTGTGTG

Chad had never been very good at being serious or well behaved, those things just weren't in his nature but today serious and well behaved were exactly what he was as he drove his best friend from the airport to the hospital. He'd filled Troy in on Summer's wrist and Gabriella's condition but Troy, still dressed in his shirt and smart trousers required for his course, had barely said a word, he clearly just wanted to get to his girls and so Chad drove as safely and quickly as the the speed limits would allow; not wanting to delay the reunion any longer.

Taylor met them at the entrance to the hospital and silently led them to the relatives room; it was clear Troy wasn't up to small talk.

"Uncle Troy, I missed you." Amelia was on her feet before Troy had fully entered the room and he wasted no time in scooping her up in a hug.

"I missed you too 'Lia." Troy put Amelia down only to scoop Maddie up, surprising her when her feet also left the ground.

"I'm so proud of you, you stepped up and stayed calm when none of us could be there to help."

"I would have been a mess if it wasn't for Luke."

"I owe Luke a thank you but first Summer; come here sweet girl." Being in her Uncle's safe arms was all it took to break down the barrier Summer had put up and Troy held her close as her painful sobs filled the room. Eventually Summer's tears turned to sniffles and Troy eased her away from him to sit her back between her sisters enabling him to crouch down in front of her while she used a tissue from the box Sharpay passed to her to wipe her eyes and blow her nose. "How's it feeling?" He asked gesturing to her right wrist which was wrapped in a Velcro splint and resting safely in her lap.

"It hurts but I don't care about me, Uncle Troy I didn't help her, I tried to shout but I couldn't, what if Amelia hadn't of come outside when she did? What if that guy had..."

"Stop right there, no what if's Summer Louise and no blaming yourself, no one gets to blame themselves; everyone did there part in looking after each other and taking care of Gabi today and I'm so proud of you all. The only person to blame is that man and the police have him in custody thanks to your photo of his car Luke, thank you." The police had been to the hospital and taken initial statements from the girls and Luke and had left with the image of the car, thanking Luke for his quick thinking, knowing it would lead them to this guy; they would be in contact tomorrow to take full statements and also view the CCTV that Gabriella had installed at The Ranch. With any luck the CCTV and the statements provided would mean this guy wouldn't see the outside world for a very long time. "Luke I can't thank you enough for what you did today, I've never doubted how much Maddie means to you but the way you took control of the situation and kept everyone calm; you stepped up and looked after them and I am eternally grateful." Luke simply shrugged, not stepping up and taking care of Gabriella and the girls had never been an option.

"They needed me, it's just that simple; it's just a shame they didn't get to taste my lasagne." Troy chuckled, he had been kinda gutted that he was going to miss out on Luke's famous lasagne.

"We'll have to reschedule, at least that way I get to taste it too. Now do either of your parents know you're here?" Troy smiled gratefully at Taylor when she slid a chair in behind him and he was able to stretch out his cramping legs.

"Erm yeah, I called my Mum; she's looking after my nieces and nephew or she would be here."

"I want you to pop outside with Chad and call her; ask her if you can stay at The Ranch tonight, let her speak to Chad if she's unsure, he knows the ins and outs of why we'd like that to happen, okay?" Luke nodded and after pressing a quick kiss to Maddie's forehead followed Chad out of the room. "Now girls I'm going to go and see Gabi now but I want you three to go home with Zeke and Sharpay, they're going to stay there with you tonight." Amongst the things Chad had told Troy in the car was the plan that Taylor had put in place to make sure everyone was happy and taken care of for the night; as usual she'd gone into 'Mum mode' and had thought of and taken care of everything.

"Are you going to stay with Gabi?"

"I am 'Lia yeah, when she starts to wake up she's going to be pretty scared so I want to be there to look after her. On the way home you should get Shar to stop at a drive thru, no one's going to want to cook but you all need to eat." He locked eyes with his blonde friend who simply nodded; she wasn't against the idea.

"Uncle Troy what about the animals? They're still all out in the fields and they need feeding but I can't do anything with my wrist."

"I know Sum, I think the best idea is for you to tell everyone what to do and they do it, just do the bare minimum things you need to do to get the animals fed and settled in for the night; we'll figure out the rest tomorrow, obviously you guys aren't going to school, one day off won't hurt." Summer nodded her understanding as Chad and Luke walked back into the room.

"What did your Mum say?" Maddie reached for Luke's hand before he'd even finished sitting down.

"I hadn't even finished asking the question before she said yes, she said she thought you might want me near by and she wasn't expecting me to go to school tomorrow after all of this anyway; I obviously need to go home to get my things but then I'll be there to help with whatever you guys need."

"Can I go with him Uncle Troy? I'll help with the animals once we do get home."

"'Course you can, just make sure you tell Sharpay what you both want to eat, everyone's bravery deserves a treat so make sure you get an ice cream or something too." He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and handed Sharpay some money before standing up and opening his arms to the girls. "I'll text Shar or Zeke later so you guys can have an update on Gabi before bed; I love you girls."

"We love you too Uncle Troy and when Gabi wakes up can you tell her we love her too?"

"Absolutely Mads; although I'm sure she already knows."

TGTGTGTG

Troy rubbed a hand down his face as he looked at himself in the bathroom mirror, he was tired but the likelihood of getting a good nights sleep was very low. Sighing he shoved the last of his things into his suitcase, which Chad had grabbed from his car before heading off to relive his parents of baby sitting duties and made his way out of the bathroom to the nurse's station where Taylor was waiting for him, having been getting an update on Gabriella from her colleagues.

"How is she?" He leant against the nurse's station and wished that he had better clothing with him but the course had required him to dress smartly and so the only other clothes he had packed were the various t-shirts and basketball shorts he used to work out and sleep in; so the last clean set he had left would have to do.

"She's slowly starting to come round but as of yet hasn't been coherent enough to realise where she is; we're hoping that you being here will distract her from any potential panic attacks or at least you'll be able to calm her down quickly if they do occur."

"Okay, where is she?" Taylor smiled at Troy and grabbed his suitcase before leading him to a room just to the side of the nurse's station. Entering the room the first thing that hit Troy was how small Gabriella looked in the hospital bed, she was in a gown and the blankets were pulled up to her chest so he couldn't see the bruising she'd sustained but he could see the swelling around her eye where she'd hit the ground, although the cut itself was covered by a dressing and a black sling was keeping her injured left shoulder resting safely against her. The only thing that identified her as the woman he was in love with was her crazy curls resting loosely over her shoulders.

"Do you want me to stay?" Taylor placed Troy's suitcase at the side of the room and picked up Gabriella's chart to have a peek at her vitals.

"No you head off Tay, you've done more than enough today, you should get home to your family."

"Okay but if you need anything don't be afraid to ask, they're a lovely bunch up on this ward, they'll help you in any way they can." Troy smiled as he let Taylor wrap him up in a hug.

"I'll be in contact in the morning, I know it won't be easy but try and get some rest." Troy gave Taylor one last hug and watched as she left the room before settling himself in the sort of comfy chair next to right hand side of Gabriella's bed, allowing him to pick up her hand and place a soft kiss there before holding it gently between both of his, being mindful of the drip that was pumping what he assumed to medicine into her veins through the cannula in her hand.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, there was a good chance he'd nodded off a couple of times, when he felt the hand sandwiched between his start to move and suddenly he wasn't so sleepy. Gabriella groaned a couple of times and he squeezed her hand in return before eventually she peaked her eyes open to see who was responsible for the squeezes.

"Troy?" She was very groggy but her eyes seemed to open that little bit more when she realised it was him.

"Hey beautiful, how you feeling?" Troy moved to the edge of his seat to get as close to Gabriella as he could.

"Not great to be honest, I feel really out of it."

"That's because when you woke up downstairs you started to panic so they sedated you to help them do their tests; the sedation is still in your system right now." Her eyes started to slip close again and he thought she was going back to sleep but suddenly her eyes opened really wide and she looked at him with fear written all over her face.

"Summer...Troy he pushed her and Amelia she screamed, is she okay? And Maddie and Luke, are they all okay?"

"Maddie and Amelia are fine, very shaken up but totally fine; Summer has a strained wrist from where he grabbed her but other than also being shaken she's fine, although she is worried that she wasn't able to call for help sooner. And Luke is the reason you got here safely, he stayed calm and took control, he's staying at The Ranch tonight along with Shar and Zeke, none of them are going to school tomorrow, also the girls said to tell you they love you."

"I love them too, they were so brave today...I'm so proud of them."

"You were brave too, I'm so proud of you." He watched as her eyes slowly started to take in her surroundings and suddenly her heart rate monitor started going crazy as it dawned on Gabriella exactly where she was. Troy reacted calmly but quickly, moving to sit on the edge of the bed and framing Gabriella's face with his hands, forcing her to look at him.

"'Brie sweetheart you're okay, you're safe here, take some deep breaths for me baby, you're okay." Troy vaguely heard a nurse enter the room to respond to Gabriella's monitor going off but he kept his attention solely focused on his girlfriend.

"Troy...it hurts...I can't breath."

"Yes you can baby, you need to calm down and take nice slow deep breaths, I know you can do it; in and out, nice and slow." It took a couple of minutes but with Troy's guidance Gabriella managed to regulate her breathing and with a nod from Troy the nurse left them alone, happy that her patient was in safe hands.

"I don't want to be here...I want to go home."

"I know you do my love but they need to keep an eye on you overnight to make sure nothing has been missed, remember when I had to stay in? When I hurt my knee?" She nodded her head and he wiped away her silent tears with his thumbs. "It's just like that; the only difference is I'm going to stay here with you all night."

"You won't leave?"

"No baby, I'm not going anywhere."

"Good...that's good." Her eyes started to close again and he moved from the bed back to the chair, immediately sandwiching her hand between his again. Just as he thought she'd nodded off her eyes opened again and he moved forward in the chair to tuck a stray curl behind her ear. "Troy your assessment...did you get to take it?"

"I did yeah."

"Did...did you pass?" She was forcing herself to stay awake and he loved that despite everything she'd been through today, she was still thinking about him.

"With flying colours." A smile made it's way onto her face and Troy thought it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. "Go to sleep now baby girl, I love you and I'll be here when you wake up."

"Promise?" She was barely awake now but Troy knew she needed to know his answer before she fully let herself go to sleep.

"With all my heart baby." And with that she finally gave in to sleep and Troy allowed himself to settle slightly more comfortably in the chair and pull his phone from his pocket; he scrolled through his texts until he found Zeke's messages and then sent a quick message which he knew would help the girls get to sleep.

Let the girls know that Gabi loves them too and she's so proud of them; as am I.

TGTGTGTG

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