New Chapter

Troy looked out of the hospital window at the rain soaked streets below, any other day and the raging storm would have Gabriella terrified but today she was sleeping off another small dose of sedative and so was blissfully unaware of the craziness going on outside the window.

Earlier that morning the police had arrived to collect Gabriella's statement and while Troy had told them she wasn't ready; Gabriella herself had told them she was. If she didn't do it now, while it was still fresh and in her mind then she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to do it; this needed to be done now and so Troy had sat by her bedside and held her hand as she'd relived yesterday's ordeal. She'd stayed so calm as she'd answered every question they'd asked but it was as they left that she'd let the tears fall and the images in her head had caused her to panic; the sound of her monitors going off only panicking her more. It had taken longer than yesterday but Troy had once again managed to coach her through it only this time she was left with ragged breathing and vitals higher than what the nurses were happy with and so they'd hooked her up to some oxygen and given her a slight sedative, allowing her to recover and be well rested for her discharge later in the day.

The door opening caused Troy to turn from his weather watching to find Taylor walking in with three take away cups in a holder. "Please tell me one of those contains really strong coffee?" Taylor laughed with a nod as she handed Troy one of the cups and then put the holder down on the table at the foot of the bed.

"I'm assuming you didn't get much sleep then?"

"It was better than I thought, the nurses gave me a blanket and pillow but it's watching 'Brie go through a panic attack that really tired me out; it breaks my heart watching her feel like she can't breath."

"The sedative should start wearing off soon though, you said it wasn't a big dose?" Taylor had phoned Troy not long after the police had left and Troy had filled her in on their morning causing her to delay her arrival at the hospital to give her friend some time to recover.

"Yeah, she's moved about a couple of times but hasn't properly come round yet; are you here to convince me to go home and rest?"

"Rest? No, I know that's unlikely but you should go back and shower and see the girls."

"I can't leave her Tay; who knows what she'll be like when she comes round."

"I'll be with her, you trust me don't you?"

"Of course I do."

"Then go and see the girls, the police are going over within the next hour to take their statements; they need you."

"I know that but I can't split myself in half, can I?" Troy stopped talking and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Tay, I didn't mean to raise my voice, I know you're only trying to help, I just don't know what to do for the best; I've never had to chose between them before."

"Go." The quiet voice from the bed caused them both to turn and find Gabriella watching them.

"Hey beautiful, how you feeling?" Troy put his coffee down and moved to sit on the edge of Gabriella's bed and hold her hand.

"Thirsty." She answered and reached to take the oxygen mask off her face causing Taylor to come over and take it from her.

"Well I think Taylor brought you a hot chocolate, do you want some?"

"Not right now...you're changing the topic Troy, you need to go and be with the girls, I'll be okay with Taylor, she is a nurse, remember?"

"Yes I know...I just didn't want you to wake up and I wasn't here like I'd promised I would be."

"I would have understood but I'm awake now and I'll be just fine; if the girls have to give their statements then they have to relive yesterday and that won't be easy for them, especially Summer. I needed you by my side earlier when I gave my statement and now she needs you by hers; you aren't choosing them over me because I'm telling you to go." Troy ran a hand through his hair knowing this was a battle he wasn't about to win.

"Okay, how am I getting there?" He turned to Taylor who'd been putting the oxygen mask away and turning off the cylinder underneath the bed.

"Zeke's picking you up from the main entrance in about ten minutes."

"Is there anything you don't think of?" Taylor shook her head and Gabriella smiled at how defeated Troy looked knowing he was always going to be going home; whether he'd been okay with it or not. "Are you sure you'll be okay?" He turned back to Gabriella and reached up to tuck a stray curl behind her ear.

"I'll be fine Troy; go home, shower, take care of the girls and then you can come back in your car with a change of clothes for me, ready to take me home later." Troy smiled at the idea of having Gabriella at home with him and the girls.

"I love you and I will see you in a couple of hours." He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then got up to grab his coffee and suitcase.

"Troy?"

"Yes baby?"

"I love you too." He smiled and blew her a kiss before reaching for the door handle and making his way out of the room; she'd be perfectly fine with Taylor so now he could focus on the girls.

TGTGTGTG

Troy held Summer close as he swayed them back and forth in the hammock; she along with her sisters and Luke had given their statements to the police and Troy had been so proud at how they'd all handled themselves. He'd momentarily left Summer's side to help the police go through the CCTV footage and allowed them to download anything that might be helpful. Although the entire attack hadn't been caught on camera it had been near enough to one that sound could be heard that matched up with everyone's statements. The camera on the front of the house did catch the guy's face and also helped back up Luke's picture of the car which he'd left parked within it's range; Troy had seen the police out as they'd told him they'd be in touch and he'd returned to the kitchen to find everyone had gone outside to get some much needed fresh air.

"Uncle Troy what are we going to do about taking care of the animals when we all go back to school and work and Gabi's on her own?"

"I don't know Sum, she hasn't asked me about that yet and so I've not brought it up, I figured she's got enough on her mind but if we can figure it out for her then that would probably be for the best." Troy reached over to scratch Luna behind the ears, she hadn't left Summer's side since she'd arrived home last night; even being allowed to stay up in her room and 'protect' her overnight. "We might have to look online and see if there are any agencies who we can hire some temporary help from; although I'm not sure how Gabi would feel about being here on her own with strangers."

"I guess we can help before and after school and you can help when you aren't at work but Gabi does a lot of stuff during the day when we aren't here; at least I've injured my weaker hand and can still be kinda useful." Summer's voice broke as she spoke and Troy pulled her closer.

"Please don't get upset Sum, we'll figure something out; the main priority here is getting you and Gabi better." They were silent for a while as Summer enjoyed feeling the breeze Troy was creating in swinging the hammock that little bit harder.

"Uncle Troy, when do you leave to pick up Gabi?" Troy smiled at Maddison and Luke as they made their way over and then plopped down on the grass in front of the hammock.

"Within the next hour, why what's up?"

"We, well Luke actually has a proposition for you, it's to do with taking care of the animals."

"We were just talking about that and came up blank; so talk to us Luke, we are all ears."

"Well this was actually my Mum's idea when she called to check in with me this morning, she and my sister have a history with horses, they used to ride at a stables about an hour away but then they put up their membership prices and so they stopped going. Mum's offering her and Hannah's help with whatever might need doing here in return for getting to ride once or twice a week."

"Luke that sounds amazing but Gabi's going to need a lot of help here during the day time, are they sure they can spare that much time?"

"I mean they probably wouldn't be able to come everyday but between them they could spare some time three to four days a week, on the assumption that you guys would be here on the weekends that's most of the week covered. My Mum's job is doing the accounting for my Dad's garage which is only really a part time thing and my sister owns a florist so she's pretty flexible too and she's technically on maternity leave right now so she's free more than usual; although she would probably have my nephew with her."

"That wouldn't matter, it's not like this place isn't child friendly, is your Mum free now? Could you call her and we can have a chat? It would be great to bring Gabi home later with nothing to worry about other than getting better." Luke nodded and pulled his phone out of his pocket; his Mum knew how worried Maddie had been about how the animals were going to be taken care of, by offering their help she and Hannah would give Maddie and the others one less thing to worry about which in return made their son and brother less worried, it was a win win situation for everyone.

TGTGTGTG

He watched as she turned and slowly got out of the car, he hated seeing her in pain and he realised now what he'd put her through those times he himself had been hurt.

"What are you thinking about?" Troy snapped out of his day dream and closed the car door before wrapping an arm around her to support her as they walked towards the front door.

"That I'd do anything to trade places with you right now."

"You've already been in this place twice this year Troy and it's only April." Troy stayed silent as he considered this to be true but that still didn't change the fact that he didn't like to see her in pain. "Have Shar and Zeke already gone?" They were now stood on the front porch and she realised that her friends' car was gone and through the frosted glass of the front door she could only see four silhouettes.

"Yeah, they didn't want you to be overwhelmed when you got back so they've gone home; Shar's gonna check in with you sometime over the next couple of days though. Are you ready to go in?" Gabriella nodded silently and so he put his key in the lock and pushed the door open to reveal their welcoming committee.

"Hey guys!" She surprised herself with how upbeat she was but seeing the girls again did make her feel that little bit better especially with how excited Amelia seemed to be to see her. "Come and give me a hug then 'Lia, you look like you're about to burst." Amelia's giggle echoed throughout the hallway and she made her way over to Gabriella but was quickly blocked by Troy.

"Remember to be gentle please Amelia; Gabi's very sore right now."

"I know that Uncle Troy, geez I'm not a little kid you know?" Troy held his hands up in surrender and stepped back to allow Amelia to continue with her hug; he watched as the normally bubbly and energetic little girl calmly stepped to Gabriella's uninjured side and wrapped her in a gentle hug. In returned Gabriella wrapped her right arm around Amelia and rested his chin on top of her head; the pair clearly both taking comfort from the embrace.

"Alright Amelia, my turn." Amelia moved over to hug her Uncle allowing Maddie to take her place in giving Gabriella a welcome home hug. "I'm so glad you're home Gabi; I didn't feel right us being here without you."

"Well I'm here now and your Uncle isn't going anywhere either, this probably isn't the way any of us imagined the start of us properly living together but at least we're all here now." Maddie smiled and gave Gabriella one last gentle squeeze before returning to Luke's side. "Summer sweet girl, come here." Troy watched as his middle niece stepped into his girlfriend's waiting embrace and quickly moved to encompass them both in his arms when he realised they'd both started crying.

"I'm sorry I didn't call for help, I tried but nothing came out." Gabriella reached up to wipe away Summer's tears and was grateful that Troy had wrapped a supportive arm around her waist.

"You mean like I tried to call for help? Once he shoved you away from me Sum I didn't protect you at all."

"But that's because he had hold of you, who knows what would have happened if you called out; you kept fighting though, you know that right Uncle Troy?" Summer lifted her head to look at her Uncle. "Gabi kept fighting even when she was hurt, she was so brave."

"You were all brave yesterday and today too when you spoke to the police, I'm so proud of you all. Now I'm going to take Gabi to bed so she can rest but knowing that it's pizza Friday I'm sure she'll come and eat something with us later." Gabriella made sure Summer was safely in Maddie's arms before allowing Troy to lead her towards their bedroom but not before stopping and taking hold of Luke's hand.

"I don't remember much after you and Maddie came outside yesterday but I'm told it's your calmness that got the ambulance here to Summer and I and I just wanted to say thank you for taking care of us all." Luke simply smiled and squeezed Gabriella's hand as Troy led her away; this family was starting to make a big impact on his life and one of them in particular was starting to make a big impact on his heart, taking care of them all is what any kind hearted person would have done.

TGTGTGTG

As quietly as he could Troy stuck his head around Amelia's bedroom door and smiled when he saw her sleeping peacefully with Barney sprawled out on the floor next to her bed; since the girls had arrived home yesterday all three dogs had gone into protective mode and while Luna and Barney were sleeping in Summer and Amelia's rooms respectively, Zeus had taken up residence in the hallway ready to protect anyone who needed it.

As quietly as he'd entered he left and then checked in on Summer, happy to see that she was also sleeping peacefully; her injured wrist resting safely on her stomach. She hadn't complained about it much but every now and then he'd see her wince and knew that she was in more pain than she was letting on; she hadn't been prescribed any medication like Gabriella had but had been told to take every day painkillers whenever she needed them and so Troy had been making sure she did take them whenever needed, she didn't need to be in unnecessary pain.

He didn't check in on Maddie, she had Luke with her and so she was in safe hands; Luke had been allowed to stay in her room on the understanding that an adult could walk in at any point and that if they were found doing anything more than cuddling that arrangement would soon change. Troy knew though that after the events that led to Luke being allowed to stay, all the young couple wanted was to be able to hold each other close and offer reassurance and neither he, nor Luke's parents, were about to deny them that need.

Walking down the stairs he turned off lights and picked up random items of clothing as he went, why clothes never found their way to wash baskets he didn't understand and he made a mental note to remind the girls exactly where dirty clothes were supposed to be put. With the clothes thrown into the utility room to be dealt with tomorrow he switched off the kitchen lights and walked through to the bedroom where he found Gabriella stood in the doorway to the en-suite looking somewhat emotional.

"'Brie sweetheart, what's wrong? Are you in pain?" Gabriella shook her head and so Troy moved to sit on the edge of the bed, pulling her into his lap as he went. "Then what baby, talk to me."

"I thought I'd be able to do it on my own but I can't."

"Do what?"

"Brush my hair, I need to brush it before I can shower but if I can't brush my hair on my own then I'm not going to be able to shower on my own; I just want to wash everything away and feel clean again." Her voice cracked as she spoke and Troy cuddled her close as he thought about the best way to handle the situation; he didn't want to cause his girlfriend any more upset then he had to.

"So the way I see it we have two options right now, the first is that I brush your hair for you so it's not all knotty and then in the morning we'll call Shar or Taylor and ask them to come and help you shower or if you really want to shower tonight then I can help you." Troy knew suggesting this was a big step for Gabriella, they still hadn't seen each other in any state of undress; they were taking everything at her pace and as of now the furthest they'd gone was a couple of very heated kisses.

"I don't know Troy, I really do want to shower and climb into this freshly made bed but this wasn't exactly how I'd pictured you seeing me naked for the first time; I'm even more battered and bruised than I normally am."

"And yet you're still so beautiful." Troy pressed soft kisses into Gabriella's hair as she hid her blushing face in the crock of his neck. "What if...do you have a bikini or swimsuit somewhere?"

"Erm yeah I've got a bikini in the wardrobe, why?"

"What if I help you shower but you wear your bikini and I wear my swim trunks? That way neither of us are technically naked and you get to feel clean and wash everything away."

"I guess that could work but what about getting changed? I'm sorry Troy, I'm making this way more difficult than it needs to be; maybe I should just wait until tomorrow." Troy moved Gabriella from his lap to beside him on the bed, allowing him to cup her face with his hands and look her straight in the eye.

"Do you want to shower tonight?" Gabriella nodded. "Then no matter how difficult you think you're being we will make this work, I think you'll be able to change a little bit on your own and then I'll just close my eyes and help you with the rest, now first things first lets get your hair brushed; hopefully you think I'm a better hair brusher than Amelia does, according to her I pull more than I brush." Gabriella smiled as Troy pressed a kiss to her lips before he set about the task of brushing her hair, fortunately there was very little pulling involved. "Okay, hair is brushed, now where abouts in the wardrobe will I find this bikini of yours?"

"Erm it's at the back somewhere, it's yellow if that helps, I only own it because I needed it when we went on a spa day for Shar's hen do last year." Troy chuckled as he headed into the walk in wardrobe, finding his swim trunks first in a bag of clothes he still hadn't unpacked and then moments later locating Gabriella's bikini.

"Alright beautiful, I'm going to change in the bathroom while you do as much as you can on your own out here and then I'll help you with the rest, okay?" Gabriella nodded and stood to kiss Troy before he went into the bathroom; she was nervous about him seeing parts of her body he'd never seen before but he'd never made her feel anything but safe and comfortable around him and she doubted that tonight would be when that changed.

TGTGTGTG

Troy had started the shower running when she knocked and he called her in and she had to take a deep breath at seeing him without his top on; she knew he had a six pack, she'd felt it when they'd cuddled but actually seeing it was something else and she couldn't help but let her eyes roam over him.

"Like what you see 'Brie?" Gabriella blushed at being caught checking Troy out but still lifted her head to look him in the eye and smiled when she saw the teasing glint in his eye.

"Maybe." She answer and let her teeth graze over her bottom lip. "Can you just do the back part up please? The rest wasn't as hard as I thought it might be." Gabriella turned her back to Troy and he quickly fastened her bikini allowing her to move her arms from holding it in place; although her right arm did continue to support the weight of her left arm without the sling in place.

"Alright now get your beautiful butt in the shower, the water should be just right by now." Troy allowed Gabriella to have a few minutes under the warm spray of the water on her own before joining her; the cut of her bikini didn't allow him to see much of her breasts or the burns that he knew were there but he could see her hips and the similar scars that were there. He pulled her to him by her hips and ran his thumbs over the uneven scars a couple of times before resting their foreheads together and pressing soft kisses to her lips.

"You have no idea how incredibly sexy you are, I'm so lucky to have you in my life." Gabriella felt her cheeks redden again but didn't move her eyes from Troy's. "Alright my love, let's get you washed."

Gabriella allowed Troy to dote on her over the next ten minutes as he shampooed and conditioned her hair and then helped her to wash, even though he too did now smell like a 'tropical paradise' thanks to her shower gel. When he was sure she was clean and the events of the last twenty four hours had been washed away he gathered her in his arms and simply stood them under the warm running water; there was something about skin to skin cuddling that made him feel so much more connected to her.

"I'm gonna get out and dry off now beautiful but you enjoy the shower for a few minutes more and then I'll help you get dried and ready for bed, okay?" Gabriella nodded and pulled Troy in for one more kiss before stepping back under the water while he went off to get changed.

As Gabriella waited for Troy to return she thought about how she was going to get out of her bikini and into her clothes without Troy seeing her; it had been relatively struggle free to take off her sweat pants and underwear and pull on her bikini bottoms one handed but now she needed to get dried off and with her shoulder beginning to hurt more and more she wasn't sure that this time round it would be so easy.

"Alright here's what I'm thinking." Troy said as he walked back into the room now dressed in a t-shirt and basketball shorts and Gabriella turned off the shower before stepping into the fluffy towel he was holding. "We'll wrap the towel around you like you normally would and you can use your good arm to dry off and put on underwear and pj bottoms and then I will close my eyes and help you with the rest, I know I'll look like a bit of an idiot but this is all about you being comfortable 'Brie and if I have to look like an idiot in the process then so be it."

"I don't deserve you." Gabriella told him as she moved over to the sink to wring the excess water out of her hair.

"And I don't deserve you but somehow we're both here together so I think we should just accept the fact we have each other and get on with getting you dry so we can get in bed and snuggle." Troy's plan on getting Gabriella dried and dressed worked for the most part, despite Gabriella getting the giggles at how funny he looked trying to help her with his eyes closed but she'd felt comfortable and at ease the whole time and that had after all been his priority.

"In the morning you're telling Amelia how good I am at doing hair, maybe then she won't moan so much when I go near hers." Gabriella laughed as Troy ran the brush through her hair one more time having successfully just given it a quick blow dry so she wasn't going to bed with wet hair.

"I'll have to teach you how to do a couple of different braids, I bet she won't moan so much after that."

"That sounds like a challenge I'm willing to take on but right now we need to get you in bed and topped up on your pain meds, I can see you're in a lot of pain now." Gabriella didn't protest as Troy helped her to get comfortable in bed before leaving her resting her eyes while he went to get her tablets and some water.

Five minutes later and Troy turned off the lights and climbed into the bed; they'd had to swap sides so that her injured left shoulder wasn't in danger of being rolled into by Troy but as far as Gabriella was concerned she was simply claiming back her side of the bed, Troy had just been borrowing it while he himself had been hurt.

"Are you sure you're comfortable? You don't want another pillow or anything?"

"I'm fine Troy, I honestly am pretty comfy propped up like this, I'm just looking forward to a good nights sleep in my own bed with you by my side." Troy had arranged Gabriella's pillows so that she was sleeping slightly propped up like she had in the hospital last night, right now laying down and cuddling up like she normally would was just too painful.

"Okay just remember to wake me up if you need anything, no trying to be super woman and do things on your own."

"I promise to wake you up if I need anything if you come over here and snuggle with me." Troy smiled and moved as close to Gabriella as he could before curling up on his side and throwing his arm over her stomach, allowing his fingers to start drawing soothing doddles on the piece of skin on her hip he'd managed to get to where her top had ridden up. "I'm so glad you're home Troy, it wasn't the same being in bed without you next to me."

"It's good to be home baby, now go to sleep, I promise I'll still be here in the morning."

"Sounds good... I love you Troy."

"I love you too 'Brie, so so much."

TGTGTGTG

"Alright Mum you've seen the place now, still willing to volunteer your time to help out?"

"Absolutely, this really is a lovely place you have here Gabriella, we really are grateful that you're letting us come and help out."

"We're the ones who are grateful, without you and Hannah agreeing to help us out I really don't know what we'd do, so thank you." Saturday afternoon and after a slow start to the day, Luke's Mum Helen and his sister, Hannah had come over to get a feel for the place before they started helping out on Monday.

"All you need to do now Mum is convince Maddie that horses really aren't that scary, isn't that right Mads?" Maddison simply shock her head at Luke and turned to make faces at his seven month old nephew Noah, who she'd taken charge of while the adults went on a tour of The Ranch.

"I won't make you do anything Maddie but Hannah might, she can be very persuasive when she wants to be."

"I actually think I've come a long way since we first started coming here, I will voluntarily touch a horse now, I'm getting braver, right Gabi?"

"You are sweetheart yeah, I think we'll get you on a horse one day, it'll just be under your own steam." Gabriella smiled up at Troy when he appeared behind her and with his hands on her hips encouraged her to learn against him; she knew he could tell she was starting to feel tired and dizzy from being on the move for so long.

"How about this Mads, you learn how to ride a horse, when you feel ready and I will learn how to braid hair; we'll see which one of us impresses Amelia the most."

"I'll be impressed if you learn how to braid Troy, my husband has only just learnt how to do a pony tail and the girls are four now." Mia and Ava were Luke's twin nieces and while they normally didn't leave Maddie's side when she was near by, today they'd taken a shine to Amelia and were busy playing with her on the play set in the corner of the yard.

"Well I can't guarantee that I'll be any good but I'm more than willing to give it a try. Now you Miss Montez are going to go and sit on the hammock with Summer, you've played host for long enough, you need to rest now." Gabriella didn't argue with Troy and let him lead her over to the hammock where she gently lower herself down and then immediately let Summer curl up against her side.

"Stop worrying, it'll all be okay." Maddie blinked out of her day dream to find Luke, Helen and Hannah all looking at her as she watched Gabriella and Summer on the hammock, Troy having left them to go and get them both some painkillers.

"I know it will, especially with you guys being here to help out, it's just hard watching them both in pain, everything seemed to be falling into place before all of this happened." Hannah took Noah from Maddie and she and Helen made their way over the the excitable girls on the play set, allowing Luke to pull Maddie into a reassuring hug.

"Everything is still falling into place babe, okay so there might have been a bit of a bump in the road but you guys live here now, your Uncle starts his new job on Monday which means you will see him every day and Gabi and Summer have got amazing people around them to help them get better; it can and will only get better from here."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

Moving into The Ranch hadn't exactly been as smooth of a start as Maddie had hoped it would be but as she looked around her and saw her sisters happy and loved she realised that it was still a new chapter in their lives; one that deserved to be enjoyed and remembered because after everything they'd been through seeing them both happy was all she really needed to be happy too.

TGTGTGTG

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