Zoe had never imagined herself doing, or had particularly enjoyed, doing housework, but as she washed up the plates and the glasses from the breakfast in bed Max had made them both, her heart sang for joy at the notion that she had someone to look after and they were there to look after her in ways she couldn't imagine. She'd never had anyone she felt more comfortable with; no-one she could so casually confide in.

*Trigger Warning*

Hi guys, quite a dramatic update here... took me a long time to write this and I'm still not sure about it, I hope you enjoy it, but sorry if you don't. I've tried to balance drama and cuteness. Reviews here would be much appreciated!

Things weren't great at the hospital; she dreaded starting her shift in… 45 minutes. She knew there was a huge pile of paperwork on her desk that wouldn't go away, and an ever-mounting list of problems and complaints. She sighed and buried her head in her hands to regain her composure. "Hey" Max spoke softly from the doorway "are you worried about the hospital again?" Zoe nodded in reply and she looked so desolate and scared that Max went to her and collected her in his arms. Normally she felt smaller than him but strong, determined. Today he was afraid he'd break her if he squeezed too hard in the wrong places. He kissed her head, reminding her that he was with her every step of the way. Whatever that way was.

"What a wonderful day it's been", Zoe thought, smiling to herself as she looked down at Max's head lying on her lap and ran her fingers through his hair. It had been hectic at work – she'd barely seen Max all day, but they'd more than made up for it since arriving back at her apartment. She was glad he was in her life, and such a big part. It scared her, but it made her feel happy. Overjoyed, even. She'd never sought comfort in relationships, never seen them as the answer to all her problems. Yet here he was, making her life even more manic and confusing, yet so simple at the same time.

While she was enjoying the quiet of the apartment, broken only by Max's gentle breathing, there was a knock at the door. Zoe wasn't expecting anyone and the knock was loud and violent. She'd always trusted her instincts, and right now, her instincts told her not to answer the door.

"Max?" she whispered, and then repeated a little louder. Since he'd been sleeping she'd missed his lopsided grin and stupid comments. "Max!" She hit him gently and saw his head lift in confusion "huh?" he asked. "There's someone at the door, I don't want to go" she told him. It was strange for Max to see Zoe so scared- he couldn't remember seeing her scared. It caused him to feel a bit nervous, as well. He didn't know what to expect, but still groggy from sleeping, he dragged his feet over to the door. Still on the sofa, Zoe missed her contact with Max and despite herself, went to see what was happening.

Standing at the door she saw Mr Reynolds – a man whose 6 year old son she had treated when he was involved and badly injured in a car accident and who had sadly died. Mr Reynolds had not taken the news well and Zoe was not comforted by seeing him standing at the door to her apartment. She didn't know how he'd found out her address. "You need to leave. Now" She told him firmly, stepping towards him on her bare feet. She felt lost, less powerful without her heels that she'd kicked off earlier. "And why is that?" he retorted. "Uh, this is my house. You can't be here. If you have a complaint I'd love to listen to it. Tomorrow. At the hospital. OK? Good bye"

The man made no move to leave and as Max began shutting the door, he barged past into the large open plan living room. Max stood in his way, blocking his path to Zoe. He heard a voice behind him. "Look, I'm sorry about Tommy, I really am. No parent should have to go through losing a child, but I'm afraid there really is nothing I can do and this isn't helping anyone." Max silently willed Zoe to stay quiet. She was right, of course she was, but he didn't want her to make this worse for any of them and he had no idea what this man wanted to, or was going to do. "Please, Zo…" he begged her. She flashed him an apologetic smile.

"Have you ever lost a child, do you have any idea, ANY IDEA what it's like?" The man fired at her. "Right, O-OK, that's enough" Max told him, gently stepping forward and forcing him towards the door. He glanced nervously back at Zoe, trying to show that it was all going to be OK and he wouldn't let this virtual stranger hurt her.

"aaaaggghhh" he cried out in pain as the man punched him in the stomach, leaving him a crumpled heap on the floor. The unexpected attack made Zoe want to run and hide in the bedroom, but she couldn't leave Max, not with him. "Max? Are you alright? Max?" "Yeah, yeah", he gasped and made a move to stand up and put himself back between the man and Zoe; the gap between the two ever diminishing. He couldn't do it; his legs gave way under the pain and he was forced back to the floor. He didn't care about the pain, whatever had happened to him, he just wanted to protect Zoe; what use to her was he if he couldn't even do that?

When he came round, he was still lying on the hard laminate flooring; he could only just remember what Happened. He must have passed out. "Zoe?" He looked around the room for her. He noticed the front door was wide open and his heart pounded, expecting the worst. How could he have let this happen? What had he let happen? This time he didn't let the agony in his stomach stop him and he slammed the door shut, before rushing through the apartment looking for his beloved.

He was alerted to her presence by small sobs coming from the bathroom. His heart leapt almost through his chest as he looked in and saw his beautiful Zoe collapsed against the side of the bath. She had no clothing below her waist and her shirt was ripped. "Baby… baby" he said as he saw her. As he got nearer he began to notice the bruises covering her body; her legs and her arms. "No. Please.. No" he spoke out. He must have got it wrong. This couldn't have happened. Not while he was there. Not to Zoe. These things didn't happen to real people. Just people far, far away in TV land.

He didn't know what the time was, but a short while ago they'd been sitting down in un-wedded bliss and now he was faced with this. He didn't have a clue what to do. And he couldn't deal with this by joking and being a cheeky chappy. "It's time to grow up, Max". He thought to himself. He went to sit down next to Zoe, but she cowered away from him. He'd never seen her so small and weak.

"I love you" He whispered to her. They must have been sitting there for at least an hour. In virtual silence. Occasionally Zoe's sobs or Max's loving whispers broke the air, but neither really knew what to say. Max longed to get her some pyjama trousers to protect her modesty (he hoped she had some- she'd never had cause to wear them around him before), but he didn't feel the time was right to leave her.

"Zo, shall we have a bath?" He gently whispered into her ear. She nodded hesitantly in response. She didn't really want to be touched by Max but she did know she could trust him and she definitely needed a bath. To wash the fear off, to get clean, to take a tiny step towards moving on. Max moved from his position and ran some warm water into the tub. "C'mon then", he said eventually, holding her hand to help her up and helping to remove what was left of her shirt. Her hand movements told him she didn't want to take her bra off and he certainly wasn't going to push her to do anything like that. He wasn't sure what to do about his clothes, should he take those off too? He thought maybe a good compromise would be to remove all but his boxers, which he did, and helped Zoe into the bath. He sat behind her and allowed her to position herself between his legs. It filled him with dread to see the amount of blood that turned the water red; it churned his stomach. He gingerly put an arm around her stomach, hoping that she'd show him if she was comfortable and she did, by eagerly grabbing his hand and holding it tightly in hers. "shhh" He whispered to her, holding him to her. As the sobs started again, Max picked up a cloth and began very gently cleaning the wounds and bruises. He placed kisses over each one, letting her know just how much he cared.

Eventually the water grew cold, and Max moved them both to the bed, being careful to dry every inch of his gorgeous woman that she'd let him. He'd never known her so quiet, so placid, so still. One action had completely changed her. And his love for her. She may have become weaker, but his love for her was so much stronger, so much more mature and so much more complete.

He had found her pyjamas and gently dressed her in them. She clung on to him, and that gave him a small amount of pleasure. He loved independent Zoe, but he was glad that she hadn't become afraid or suspicious of him. This was hard enough to deal with anyway. He wasn't sure if he could deal with her shutting him out, too.

As they lay on the bed, as close as they could get, Zoe curled into him, a baby. As precious and as delicate. They both knew they weren't going to get a lot of sleep, but they had to try, had to get strength to get through tomorrow.

You got through it! :-) Was it OK?