Summary: When Paige hears about Emily collapsing at school she has to get to the hospital to see her; no matter what stands in her way.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars or anything related to the show.
A/N: Random one shot I found on my laptop, set during 2.8 'Save the Date'.
"Hey Coach, have you seen Emily?" Paige frowned at the empty spot in front of Emily's locker. It was almost time for the meet to start and their anchor was usually the first one in the locker room.
"Didn't you hear?" The Coach's expression softened as she stopped in front of the redhead, holding her clipboard up against her chest. "Emily collapsed this afternoon. She was taken to the hospital- Paige?" She called after the teenager as she ran out of the locker room. Paige had heard the words 'collapsed' and 'hospital' and her mind and heart had started racing in tandem.
She and Emily hadn't spent much time together since they'd come to the agreement that they would just be friends. In fact Paige had been pretty much all out avoiding the other girl. Being 'just friends' with Emily Fields was too hard; but that didn't mean she couldn't be worried enough to go to the hospital to check up on her. Friends could still worry about friends who ended up in the hospital.
"Whoa there kiddo! Where's the fire?" She'd been so distracted by thoughts of Emily that she'd run straight in to the path of her dad. He put a hand on each of her shoulder's to steady her as she caught her breath. It wasn't the physical exertion of running that her heart pounding; it was the thought of something bad happening to Emily.
"Em… one of my friend's got taken to the hospital-"
"Emily? I heard that… looks like my little star's going to be anchor after all."
"What? No, Dad! I need to go see Emily. Make sure she's-"
"Don't be crazy. There are scouts in there! You can see your friend after the meet. Now go on and get changed, they're starting soon." He spun her around and pushed her back towards the changing room. As usual, she didn't have much of a choice.
There was no way Paige would be able to concentrate on the swim meet without knowing what was happening to Emily though, so before getting changed she pulled her phone out of her bag and dialled the hospital. She asked about Emily and the snotty nurse who answered snapped that she could only give that information out to family. "I'm her sister." Paige lied, hoping the nurse had no idea that Emily was an only child. "Please, I just found out she collapsed at school and I need to know she's ok."
"Just a second." The nurse's tone was still sharp, but when she came back on the line her voice had softened somewhat. "You're sister's doing fine. She has a perforated ulcer, but the doctors have her stabilised and she's responding well to treatment."
Paige felt a flood of relief wash over her. Emily was ok.
"Thank you…can…can I come see her tonight?"
"Visiting hours are between four and eight." Paige hung up as she heard the coach calling them all. If she left straight after the meet she could go to the hospital for an hour or so to see Emily. Hopefully the other girl would want to see her.
Things didn't quite go to plan though. The meet dragged on and then her dad insisted on staying back to talk to the scouts. Paige couldn't concentrate on a word that was being said. Her attention was constantly on Emily; as it had been for months. By the time she managed to slip away and take her bike to the hospital it was almost eight. She'd been caught in the rain and was soaked to the bone. The woman at the front desk sneered at her in disdain as she asked for Emily's room number. "It's 112, but you'll have to come back tomorrow. Visiting hours are almost over."
"No problem." Paige forced a smile on to her lips as she thanked the receptionist and headed back towards the front entrance. When the woman was distracted she darted over to the elevators and made her way up to the third floor.
She was almost at Emily's door when a young doctor approached her. "Excuse me, visiting hours are over." He wore a polite smile and his accent gave him away as English. He barely looked older than Paige herself.
"Oh." She faltered; it wasn't like she could exactly tell him the same lie she'd told over the phone. He wasn't likely to believe she was Emily's sister. "Could I just have five minutes? Just to make sure she's ok?"
"Emily's had a lot of visitors tonight. She really needs her rest-"
"Please… I'm her girlfriend." The words left her mouth before Paige could really think about them; they sounded right.
"Ok." He backed down and stepped away from the door. "For five minutes."
She slipped in to the room and stopped in her tracks at the sight of Emily lying in the hospital bed. The stark white sheets looked severe in contrast to her tanned skin and the long dark hair spilling over her pillow. Her eyes were closed and she at least looked peaceful as she slept. Paige regretted barging her way in and turned to leave, but with only a soft light hanging over Emily's bed the rest of the room was in darkness and she bumped in to a food trolley. She cursed as Emily shot up in bed. "Who's there?" Her eyes were wild and unfocused. She looked terrified.
"It's me. Paige." She stepped forward in to the light and Emily slumped back down on to the bed, relaxing slightly at the sight of the redhead. "I heard what happened. Are you ok? Sorry I would have come sooner…do you want me to go?" She nervously wrung her hands together as Emily stared at her like she'd grown a second head.
"No. It's fine. Sorry…they gave me some drugs." An easy smile spread over her lips. "How did the meet go?"
"Great. We won and I beat my personal time." Paige smiled as she took a seat on the edge of the other girl's bed. Things weren't nearly as awkward between them as she had expected; though Emily being drugged up to the eyeballs helped.
"That's great." Emily didn't sound very happy as she stared up at the ceiling. A minute passed before she spoke again. "I can't swim. At least… not for a while." Tears had been welling up in Emily's eyes and she finally choked out a sob as Paige took hold of her hand. Emily surprised them both as she sat up and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl. She buried her face in Paige's damp hair and caught the scent of the pool. It only made the crying worse. Paige held her until the tears stopped, stroking her hair and reassuring her that things would be ok; that she'd make it back in to the pool.
She'd been there almost half an hour when the door opened and the doctor from earlier popped his head in. Paige almost pulled away, but Emily was still clinging to her. "I'm sorry, but it's been more than five minutes." He smiled at the two girls.
"Can't Paige stay a little longer?" Emily asked, her voice almost pleading as she reluctantly pulled away from her to address the doctor. She kept hold of her hand though, their fingers laced together.
"Sorry Emily, it's way past visiting hours. She can come back tomorrow-"
"Wren, please…" It sounded to Paige like the two of them knew each other and she could see the young doctor's resolve faltering as Emily pleaded with him.
He let out a heavy sigh and reluctantly nodded. "Ok, just a little while longer." He left them alone and Emily silently shifted over to the far side of the bed to give Paige more room. She lay down beside her, keeping their fingers laced together like they'd done the day of their picnic. Emily had missed the other girl's company. She wasn't ready to go back in to the closet for her, and Paige wasn't ready to face up to who she was; so they'd ended up in some sort of stale mate with neither of them willing to budge.
With the pain meds they had given her she felt more at ease than she had in weeks and nothing seemed to matter. Nothing except for Paige's slender arms wrapped around her.
"Wow, he gave in easy."
"I may have told him that I was your…um…"
"What?" Emily giggled as Paige ducked her head and a crimson blush spread over her cheeks. She mumbled something in to the side of Emily's neck, her lips brushing against the sensitive skin there. "My what?"
"Girlfriend." Paige finally answered as she looked up to meet Emily's gaze. "I had to say something to make him let me in…I was worried and I had to see you…ok, say something then." Paige frowned as Emily just carried on staring at her, the silent tension slowly mounting.
"Pretty ballsy." Emily finally broke her silence as her lips curled in to a smile. Paige returned the smile, her eyes glued to Emily's full lips. Without thinking too much about it she leant forward to kiss her. Emily's lips moved slowly in response at first, but she soon warmed up to the kiss. It was Paige who was shaking.
"You're freezing." Emily frowned as she finally realised it wasn't just the other girl's hair that was wet from swimming. She had been soaked through in the rain. "Here." Emily pulled back the covers and after a moment's hesitation the smaller girl slipped in to the bed beside her, cuddling in to the warmer girl.
"I still can't tell people." Paige sighed as Emily pressed a kiss to her forehead. Lying next to the girl she wanted so much, it was easy for Paige to set her fears and her doubts aside; but she couldn't ignore them. Nothing had changed between them. Neither of them was willing, or able, to budge.
"I know." Emily's eyes were already closing as she lay her head back down on the pillow. "Just…stay…for a little bit."
"For a little bit." Paige agreed as she leant in for another kiss, though this time Emily was already asleep.
As her eyes slowly opened, Emily felt the familiar stabbing pain in her side and she suddenly missed the meds they'd given her the night before. As she struggled through the fog in her brain she remembered that she'd had a visitor during the night, though when she turned over she wasn't surprised to find herself alone in the hospital bed. Paige had either flaked on her again, or she had been turfed out by a nurse. Either way, she was gone.
She might not have been surprised, but she was disappointed. Her phone started buzzing and she felt her disappointment turning in to gut wrenching apprehension. 'A' no doubt had something to say. He/She/It had probably been hiding under her bed the entire night; watching and waiting for Paige to sneak out the second Emily was asleep. She opened her waiting message and a small smile touched her lips. It wasn't from 'A'.
'I'm sorry I had to go before Dad realised I'd been gone all night. I'm sorry for a lot of things. You'll get back in the pool soon, I know it. Love Paige xxx'