Gabriella woke up to a little girl laying against her chest, fast asleep. Troy was there in the bed with them too. It was a small bed, but somehow the three of them managed to fit into it very easily. Gabriella looked up at Troy who was holding both of them in his arms. Gabriella didn't want to wake the little girl up.
"T...Tori?" she asked in a silent whisper.
Troy smiled, nodding his head and whispering back. "You were asleep when she got here, and she had been asleep when Dominick called your sister."
Gabriella looked around. "Where is my sister?"
Troy looked down at their daughter, softly running his fingers through her hair. "She wanted to let you rest. Dominick took her home. She'll be back in the morning."
Nodding her head, Gabriella looked over at the door. "Who is that?"
Troy looked over to the door. "That's Andre. He's not one of your guards. We hire him out from the Staples Center to give Dominick a break."
Gabriella looked back over at Troy. "Dominick is my bodyguard?"
Troy nodded. "Yeah. You call him Nicky."
Shaking her head, Gabriella looked down at the little girl between them. "I don't remember."
"That's ok," Troy whispered, understanding that this had to be just as hard on her as it was on him. "Don't push yourself."
Gabriella smiled softly, lifting her hand to softly caress the little girl's face. "She looks like you."
Troy let a soft laugh escape his mouth, shaking his head. "I think she looks mostly like you. She's got my eyes though."
Gabriella couldn't see her eyes though. The little girl was out like a light nestled between her parents. She really couldn't believe she was a mother, let alone to someone so perfect. But then she looked up at Troy, smiling softly again. He seemed to be perfect. It was no wonder she turned out as perfect as she looked.
"What?" he asked slowly, afraid to wish she was remembering something.
"She's just so perfect."
Troy nodded, that disappointment registering with him again, the same disappointment he feels just knowing she doesn't know anything. "She is. Like her mother."
Closing her eyes, Gabriella wiped away a soft tear. "I don't know how I'm going to do this, Troy. I don't know how to be a mother."
Slowly reaching across to her, Troy softly brushed her face a little drier from the tears. "I promised I would help you, baby, and I will."
She opened her eyes, looking up at him. She didn't know how she could feel so comfortable with someone she didn't even know. He called her baby and it made her feel so safe and so protected. Even in her uncertainty, she knew she could trust him. She didn't understand it, but she wasn't going to question it. It just felt right.
"I'm sorry I can't remember anything, Troy. I really am."
"Shhh," he whispered gently, tucking her hair softly behind her ear. "You don't have to be sorry for anything. This isn't your fault. None of it."
"Can you... um..." She didn't want to know this, but she had to know. "Can you tell me what happened? You said I was... you said I was shot?"
Troy hadn't been there, but he did wish he had been. He would have gladly taken that bullet for him. It had been all over the news. He'd seen the store's video surveillance of what had happened. He knew exactly what had happened, from the moment Gabriella walked in from the time the paramedics wheeled her out on the stretcher. He couldn't help but watch, no matter how painful it was. He wished several times that he would have been there to take the bullet for her. He would, a million times over, he would.
"You... uh, were at the grocery store," he told her quietly. "A man came in, demanding money. He shot the cashier. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. You weren't his target."
He knew the man had said he was sorry, he could hear it on the tape, but that didn't change how he felt about the man. If he was sorry, he wouldn't have shot Gabriella. There was no excuse for it. There was no excuse for what had happened. He almost took away the most important thing in Troy's life, and he knew he could never forgive him for that. He would never forgive him for that. And if he ever found out who he was, if the police ever found him, the man was gonna wish he never walked into that store that night.
Gabriella didn't want to know anymore. It was all too much for her, and she could tell that Troy didn't like telling her what had happened, so she didn't want him to continue. She knew enough.
"I'm tired, Troy," she yawned, closing her eyes. She couldn't believe how tired she was, especially considering she had been sleeping for so long, but she was.
Troy nodded. He had asked Dr. Hodgens about that earlier, and she said it was to be expected, so he understood. "Don't worry about it. Just sleep. Tori and I will be here when you wake up. Just rest."
Gabriella smiled, nodding softly, looking up at him. "Thank you, Troy. Thank you so much. For everything."
Shaking his head, he smiled, softly running his fingers through her hair. "You're welcome, Lily."
With the smile still on her face, she closed her eyes, snuggling closer to... her family. This just felt right to her. She didn't know them, but it just felt right to be like this with them. She felt like this was the way things were supposed to be. She fell asleep with the smile on her face. She was happy. Even if she didn't know who she was or who they were, she was happy.