hi i wrote the first four chapters of Endless Summer if you know me from that.
The walk from the airplane to the waiting area of the airport was a bit of a challenge that Emily wanted to avoid. It held up the people behind her on the plane, and she felt like they were annoyed by her as she sat down in a wheelchair that a flight attendant brought her. The green camo uniform made her feel like unnecessary attention was being placed upon her, it wasn't everyday a military soldier was wheeled out of an airplane in a full leg brace with crutches.
As an attendant of the airport took over the pushing of the wheelchair, Emily felt eyes turning on her everywhere they went as she was steered through the airport. One young boy pointed obviously at her and said something rather loud to his mother about Emily being hurt, she definitely didn't like the attention that came with this. At one point, right before they were going to arrive at where Emily's parents were waiting to pick her up, she forced the man pushing her wheelchair to stop so that she could get up and crutch the rest of the way. It caused less attention than being pushed in a wheelchair, she was still capable of moving on her own.
As she approached, she saw both her parents on the other side of the barrier that separated paid flyers and people who were here to pick up said paid flyers. Her mother, as if she thought that Emily wouldn't see her, started jumping up and down slightly while waving her hand high up in the air. Even from where Emily stood, her mother looked like she was on the brink of tears. Her father however, smiled brightly at Emily as she crutched her way towards them, holding up his phone to take a picture of her. Typical Wayne Fields.
The second Emily had made her way passed the barrier, her parents were all over her. Her mother pulled her into a tight hug, that almost made her topple over as she tried to keep her balance. She hadn't seen her parents since February of earlier in that year, when she took her 30 days of leave. She could only imagine how they felt when they got the call that she had been injured out in Afghanistan during combat. When she first talked to her father on the phone while she was having surgery in Germany, her father said that her mother first thought Emily was dead, but he had to remind her that military officials come to you directly when a soldier has died. Wayne meant for it to be a joke, Emily understood, but it wasn't at all funny. Especially when she was just recovering from surgery after breaking her leg in three different places.
Looking back, Emily isn't quite sure why she chose to go into the military. Her father was in it yes, but the career in the military that she chose was one of the most dangerous according to the people around her. Being a combat medic wasn't easy stuff, you had to put yourself through emotional and physical stress in order to save people's lives. Combat medics often have to choose to attend to adults rather than dying children since the adult had a better chance of living than the child. Many people asked her how she was able to put up with it that often, but Emily just liked helping people stay alive and help a greater good.
"We're so glad to have you back, Emmy." Wayne said, giving Emily a much less bone crushing hug.
"It's great to be back." Emily said, as she breathed in her father's comforting smell. It's been awhile since she smelt it and she already felt a little better inside. "I honestly just can't wait to get out of this uniform though."
"I can't believe the airport didn't provide you with a wheelchair so that you didn't have to crutch around all the time." Pam huffed. "You would think the airport would care more about wounded warriors."
"Relax mom," Emily said, resting her armpits on the tops of her crutches. "They gave me one, but I got sick of everyone staring so I got out and told the guy pushing me to get lost. I'm really fine, I like it better being able to move even one of my legs anyway."
Her mother pursed her lips, and nodded vigorously as her father helped get the carry on backpack that was on Emily's back, off of her shoulders. Pam looked like she was about to start breaking down and cry in the middle of the airport, as if Emily already had enough attention drawn to her already.
The family slowly began to make their way towards the baggage claim, following the signs and walking a small distance behind Emily, who was determined to stay at least ten feet ahead of them despite being on crutches. Her arms ached by the time they made it to the baggage claim, and she bit her lip to hold back her disgruntled look.
"Olivia is going to be so happy to see you!" Pam said, trying to lighten the mood as they waited for the conveyor belt to start moving.
"Oh, I didn't realize that she was staying with you guys. Is her mom still-?" Emily began to ask.
"Yes, Rowan is still in rehab." Wayne said, his facial expression clear that he was very uncomfortable with the topic of his sister. "She may be staying with us for a while longer."
"Oh…" Emily said, looking at her mom, who looked like she was regretting bringing the topic of Emily's cousin up. "Does she like Rosewood High though?"
"Um, she's having a little difficulty still with adjusting. But she's only been at the school for two months, she still has time to get used to everything. Hopefully November brings some structure." Wayne said.
Emily didn't quite know what adjusting meant. It could mean Olivia wasn't making friends, or that the workload was too much, or even that being in a stable home for once was making her uneasy. Before Emily could open her mouth and ask what that meant, her mother spoke up as father had bent down to grab Emily's small camo duffle bag which only carried a few necessary things that she needed to bring home with her. She had left all of her things behind in Rosewood when she left for the army, she hadn't worn street clothing in months.
"Speaking of November, we're thinking of throwing a small party for you since you're 24th birthday is next week." Pam said.
"Oh mom, you really don't have to-" Emily began, not wanting to make her stay home a big deal.
"Oh don't be like that, I invited your girlfriends from high school. Nothing big, I know how you are." Pam said, waving her off. "Just for dinner and some cake, they'll all be happy to see you."
"Do they want to see me though?" Emily muttered, clearly too loudly since her mother answered her question.
"All of them already confirmed that they are going, they can't wait to see you." Pam said.
"Well, looks like we should get to the car and head home. We'll stop at the high school on the way home to pick up your cousin so that she can see you." Wayne said, carrying Emily's backpack and dufflebag to the car.
"Oh, Emily!" Pam said, opening her purse to dig through it. "I brought you your cellphone, we had it reactivated since you'll be able to use it now that you're home. I already contacted Hanna and Caleb and they want to take you out for dinner on Saturday night."
"Oh... thanks mom." Emily said, taking her phone from her mother before resuming her crutching through the airport. As she crutched, she felt her phone continuously vibrating with notifications in her pants pocket, it was if everyone contacting her forgot her phone wouldn't work in Afghanistan.
The parking garage of the hotel was chilly, the mid-November air blew through the openings and sent a chill up Emily's body even though she was practically sweating from all the crutching she just had to do. Her father went ahead and told she and her mom to stay where they were, going to retrieve the car himself so that Emily didn't have to crutch through the levels.
By the time her dad pulled up in the black SUV, Emily was struggling not to collapse from her already sore arms. Her dad got out and tried to help her into the backseat of the car, even though Emily kept telling him that she was completely capable on her own. Clearly she wasn't able to, as she lifted herself onto the seat and bumped her braced knee on the side of the car, causing a large amount of pain to hit her. She grit her teeth, trying not to scream out in pain as her dad closed the door and put her luggage in the trunk. She situated herself by lifting her leg gingerly with both hands and rested it behind the driver's seat where she sat.
As her dad began driving out of the Philadelphia airport parking garage, Emily took off the camo cap on her head and undid her hair from the bun it was in since she woke up hours ago back in Germany. She unbuttoned her army jacket, leaving her in a pale green t-shirt. She threw the jacket to the other side of the backseat, before pulling out her cellphone which had finally stopped blowing up with notifications.
Looking through all of them, most of them were missed phone calls and voicemails from people who probably didn't know better that she was off in Afghanistan. A few messages were from her friends, who knew that she didn't have her phone, but still sent her a few messages anyway. The rest of the notifications were from games, saying it has been a certain amount of days since she last played.
Seeing nothing important, not even on her Facebook page which had been inactive since February, Emily stowed her phone back in her pocket and made herself comfortable in the backseat. She was exhausted from traveling, and was unable to sleep at all on the plane. She knew even now she wouldn't be able to sleep well either, she wasn't able to since the event that caused her to come home from the war.
Somehow she was able to rest her eyes for the hour car trip back to Rosewood, which was better than nothing and a lot better than what she was used to. She listened to her parents talking, mostly about Emily herself since they probably thought she was sleeping in the backseat. They were concerned for her, and her mother had apparently scheduled her weekly time with a psychiatrist in town who would be able to prescribe her antidepressants once Emily visited him in a few days. They also talked about Olivia, more particularly her mother, who wasn't doing well in rehab.
When Wayne pulled into the familiar parking lot of Rosewood High School, Emily lifted her head which was resting on the glass of the car window. She looked around at her old school, noticing how similar it looked to when she used to attend. Everything was still the same, even the faded blue benches outside of the school.
Wayne parked and told the two girls to wait in the car while he went to sign Olivia out from school. It was barely past one o'clock now and Pam already began asking Emily what she wanted to eat for lunch. Emily had no idea what she wanted to eat, she had been living off of MRE's or Meals Ready to Eat for the past eight months. It was always nice to come home to her mom's home cooking for a month while she was on leave, and not have to eat beans and chili with dried fruit for a while.
Telling her mom she would think about it, she saw her father and her cousin Olivia exiting the front doors of Rosewood High. Neither of them looked happy, and Emily could only guess why. As Olivia approached with her backpack hanging off her shoulder, Emily could see how much she had grown since she last saw her. The last time Emily saw her cousin was going on three years, since she never had time to see Olivia when she was on leave. Olivia, now sixteen-years-old, and not the thirteen-year-old girl with braces that Emily remember, approached the back seat car door that Emily wasn't sitting in and opened it up.
Quickly picking up her army jacket so that Olivia could occupy the seat, she threw her backpack down in the middle seat and got in. Olivia didn't even look in Emily's direction, causing Emily's happiness to see her cousin drop a little.
"Well hello to you too." Emily said, as Olivia crossed her arms.
"Hi Emily." she said, as Wayne got in the driver's side.
"What's going on?" Pam asked. "What happened?"
"Someone wasn't in their English class. She skipped class and went to the cafeteria to be with the kids in the study hall." Wayne said, clearly annoyed. "Apparently this has been the fourth time Olivia has skipped class."
Pam sighed in frustration and rubbed her temples, "Olivia, you need to go to class. Junior year is very important, it's what colleges pay attention to."
"But I already know everything that Mrs. Rollins is teaching! Plus, I always get A's on everything she gives out in that class." Olivia protested, running her hands through her black hair.
Emily examined Olivia as her father pulled out of the parking lot of the school. Olivia was, like Emily, a definition of a Fields. She had the same black hair that everyone in the Fields family had, the same eyes, and tan colored skin. Olivia's eyes were more of an amber brown than Emily's chocolate brown, but she could now see why people would say Olivia looked like her.
"You still have to go to class." Pam said. "Olivia you know this."
"One or both of us has a guardian/teacher conference on Friday to discuss Olivia's behavior with Mrs. Rollins." Wayne informed them, tapping on the steering wheel as they approached a traffic light.
Pam sighed, "What time Friday?"
"After school, four P.M." Wayne said. "I won't be back from work yet, could you go?"
"I can probably make it." Pam sighed. "Emily did you figure out what you wanted for lunch yet, honey?"
"Yeah, can we just get McDonald's?" Emily asked. "I haven't had chicken nuggets and a milkshake in months."
At eight PM, Emily was all settled back into her old room. Everything was the same from when she left it after she graduated high school. Old pictures were on her dresser and bedside table, swimming medals hung on the door to her closet. There even was her old favorite pair of sunglasses that she would wear everyday in the summer even if there was overcast. It was a snapshot of what Emily's life used to be before she joined the army, and she hadn't changed it because she didn't spend enough time in it to really do anything. When she stayed with her parents, all she did in the room anymore was sleep. No slumber parties were held, and no secrets were spilled on the bedspread, she can't even remember the last time she had brought food into her room since senior year.
It was a bit of a challenge for Emily to take off her brace, then her uniform, hang it up, find some comfortable clothes, put them on, and put her leg brace back on. She almost toppled over at one point as she was trying to pull gray sweatpants on that she remembers buing in her junior year, and zip up a black hoodie. As she gets dressed, she can't help but silently thank God that she's able to at least properly use the bathroom on her own, even if it's as much as an event as putting on clothes.
From where she sits on the edge of her bed, waiting for her mom to call her to dinner, her eyes catch on a photo that must have been taken from when she was sixteen. She's in the swimming pool at Rosewood, her hair tucked under a blue Rosewood Sharks swimming cap, and her red goggles are resting on top of it right above her eyebrow. She's smiling widely but she's clearly out of breath. Emily remembered the day like it was yesterday. It was the day she beat the school record for the butterfly stroke.
Emily smiled slightly as she reached out and touched the frame lightly, as if she was going to jump back into the memory. Simpler times, happier times. She always thought she was going to become a professional swimmer in the Olympics, but the Army called to her and she had a bigger chance of doing successful in the army than becoming an Olympic gold medalist.
"Emily! Dinner's ready!" her mom called, causing Emily to snap out of her nostalgia.
She sighed and reached for her crutches, which helped her stand up and begin to make her journey towards the dining room. In these moments, she hated that her bedroom belonged on the second floor and that she would have to make the slow journey up and down the stairs everyday. Her parents did offer her to sleep in the living room on the pull out couch, but Emily was too stubborn to sleep anywhere but her own room.
The smell of cooking food grew stronger as she made her way slowly down the stairs and into the dining room. Her mom looked up at her as she crutched by the kitchen, calling to Emily that she could've helped her down the stairs. Emily ignored her and sat down in her usual spot in the dining room, her dad already sitting at the head of the table as usual.
"Get settled in?" he asked, smiling warmly at his only daughter.
"Yeah, everything's almost going back to normal." Emily said, lowering the sleeves of her black sweatshirt. It was a chilly night tonight, and Emily wasn't that used to the cold anymore from being in Afghanistan.
Olivia came into the dining room right behind Emily's mother, who set down the meatloaf in the center and went back to get the mashed potatoes and asparagus. Olivia sat down next to Emily, still typing a text message as she pulled her chair in.
"Hey, no screens at the table." Emily's father said, almost immediately after Olivia sat down.
"Okay, I think everything is ready. Let me just go and grab the bread." Pam said, as Emily was passed the pitcher of lemonade from her father.
Emily poured herself a glass as her mom brought the bread and everyone began serving themselves. The strawberry shake and chicken nuggets that Emily had consumed earlier seemed long gone as she put meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, asparagus, and bread on her plate. This would be her first home cooked meal in eight months, and it smelt way better than any food her mom had ever cooked.
Meatloaf wasn't even her favorite dish that her mom made and yet, the first bite was like eating gold in food form. She was clearly eating faster than the others, and was already done with her first portion before any of the others were halfway done.
The meal was relatively silent, the only sound was utensils hitting the plate and the ticking of a clock in the corner. The silence was fairly uneasy, and Emily felt on edge as she started eating her second portion of meatloaf and potatoes.
"Did you do your homework yet?" Wayne asked Olivia.
"Yeah." Olivia muttered, pushing her meat loaf around on her plate.
"That's a lie, your backpack is still in the same spot it was when you got home." Wayne said.
"Well if you knew it was a lie, why did you ask?" Olivia huffed.
"Olivia, you really need to try. English at least, you want to be a writer. Colleges will look at your English grade if that's what you want to be." Wayne said.
"I am trying, but the book Mrs. Rollins assigned us doesn't make sense. The wording is from like the 18th century, why does she think we can read this?" Olivia asked.
"Probably because she thinks you can challenge yourself." Pam pointed out.
"What book are you reading in her class?" Emily asked, turning to look at Olivia.
"Great Expectations. It's about some poor boy who falls in love with some cold rich bitch who uses him so he goes and becomes a gentleman so that she'll like him." Olivia explained.
"Hey, language." Pam said, pointing a finger at Olivia.
"Sorry." Olivia sighed.
"I read that book, a few times actually. It's really good, I can help you if you want." Emily offered.
Dinner continued in silence, and Olivia left the second the dishes were being cleared. Emily continued to sit in her seat, unable to help with cleaning up. Her father went into his study once dinner ended, and her mother brought Emily in a bowl of french vanilla ice cream. Pam sat down across from her, nursing her cup of decaf coffee as Emily took a bite of her ice cream.
"I don't know what we're going to do with her." Pam said in a hushed whisper, as if Olivia was in the other room. Olivia was in fact upstairs, in the guest bedroom which had been converted into her own bedroom. They even painted it purple for her.
"Why is she staying with you for so long anyway?" Emily asked.
"Well your father's sister isn't doing well with the heroin issue, and the Child Protection Services got involved. Your father and I offered to take custody of Olivia instead of her being put into the system, we thought it would be ok since it was just us two now that you were gone, but Olivia's been through a lot." Pam explained.
"Is she seeing anyone for what's going on? Therapy at school?" Emily asked, her spoon clinking against the glass bowl.
"Yes but her therapist says that she barely talks when they have their sessions. We don't blame her for her behavior, anyone in the situations she's been in would act that way." Pam said. "We're just trying to keep her on the right track."
"How much longer do you think she'll be staying?" Emily asked.
Pam sighed, "A long time from the looks of it. I'll let you finish your ice cream, you can leave the bowl there when you're done. I just need to go and take the clothes out of the dryer before they wrinkle."
That night, Emily didn't even attempt to get out of the sweatpants and hoodie she was wearing. They were comfortable enough clothes to be worn to bed, so she decided it wasn't worth the battle. She sat at the edge of her bed by her bedside table and took the bottle of pills that were sitting on the top. Opening the lid, she took out the correct painkiller dose and the glass of water that her mom brought up for her.
Placing the pills in her mouth, Emily took a long drink from the water and closed the pill bottle before placing it back where it was before. Sighing, she got herself situated in bed and used four pillows to prop up her broken leg. Right as she turned off the light in her room, her phone vibrated from her bedside table. Reaching over to retrieve it, a text message alert from Hanna appeared on the screen.
Hanna Marin: hey emily! just wanted to text you and confirm that caleb & i are taking you to this new restaurant 'the radley' on saturday. apparently they converted the old mental institution into a hotel/restaurant/bar? anyway, we have reservations for 8:15pm, so we'll pick you up at 8. is that ok? btw, hope you're settling in! :) welcome back to rosewood sweetie ;)
Emily smiled, Hanna still texted like a high schooler sometimes. At least her grammar had improved. Hanna's simple text made Emily feel a bit better, she missed Hanna's personality greatly over in Afghanistan where everything was so depressing all the time. She quickly typed her phone to respond, wanting to get the text out of the way before she forgot.
Emily: hey! yeah, 8 is fine. can't wait to catch up! see you both! :)
Placing her phone on her bedside table, Emily shut her eyes and tried to fall asleep even though she knew that she would be getting no where. She tried hard to this time, but just as she was somewhat started to drift off, she felt like she was falling all over again and jerked back awake.
Getting frustrated, Emily got up and carefully avoided putting pressure on her left leg until she got her crutches. She made her way towards the stairs and hobbled down them, getting on her butt at one point to slid down the steps quickly.
At the bottom, Emily made her way to Olivia's backpack which was still in the same spot by the door since she got home earlier that day. Emily bent down awkwardly since her leg brace was preventing her from properly doing so, and opened Olivia's backpack. She pulled out her copy of Great Expectations.
By the time she got to the living room, it must've been ten minutes since she got out of bed. She plopped down on the couch and re-elevated her leg with the couch cushions, opening the worn book carefully since it was clear a few of the pages were close to falling out. Inside the book written on the binding was a list of names of students who were assigned the book in years before. Looking through the names she saw written a few names before 'Olivia Fields 2017', she saw written in glitter green gel pen, 'Aria Montgomery 2010'. Smiling to herself, she ran her fingers delicately over the indent of gel pen on the book, remembering the beginning of junior year when she and Aria read the book since they were in the same class with Mr. Fitz as their teacher.
As Emily flipped through the title page and the intro, she squinted to read the small print on the page. The only light was coming from the dim moonlight that shined through the window and onto the book, scarcely allowing her to make out the text. She began reading, immediately getting caught up in the only booked she liked that was assigned to her in her four years of high school.
She read all night, and only stopped when she heard movement from upstairs and the sound of footsteps coming down the steps. She was caught up in Pip's story, and currently she was at the part when Pip is told that a mysterious benefactor has paid for him to go and become a gentleman. She looked over at the landing of the stairs as her mom came into a view, and realized that the sun was coming over the horizon. She realized she should've known earlier since the sunlight had made it easier to see, but she wasn't paying much attention to the real world.
"Emily!" her mother said, startled by seeing her daughter lying on one of the couches in the living room. "I didn't realize you were up."
"I never went to sleep." Emily said, closing the book and mentally reminding herself of where she was in Olivia's book. "It's been hard lately."
Her mother blinked her eyes, clearly still trying to wake up. "Well I was just about to start getting breakfast ready so that Olivia and your father could eat before he took her to school and he went to work. I'm at the station today until five, are you fine here alone? You can rent a movie or something if you want."
"I think I can figure something out, thanks mom." Emily smiled slightly. "I think my challenge for today is taking a shower."
"Oh I can help you before I got to work, don't you worry!" her mother said.
"Um, I think I'm going to try to figure this one out on my own. Thanks though." Emily said.
"I'm making coffee, would you like any?" Pam asked, motioning to the kitchen behind her.
"Yeah, that would be good. I'll come in and sit at the table while you make breakfast." Emily said, pushing the blanket off of her as she sat up. "I just need to put this book back into Olivia's backpack."
"Oh here, I got it." Pam said, quickly walking over to where Emily sat. She took the book from where it was next to Emily and hurried off into the front hallway of their house.
Emily sighed as she repositioned the pillows back in their original spot as reached for her crutches. Pulling herself up into a standing position, she slipped them under her armpits and slowly made her way into the kitchen and towards the little table. Pulling the chair out, she gradually sat down at the table as her mom came back into the kitchen to start making breakfast.
"I'm making omelets, do you want one as well?" Pam asked, opening the fridge and bending over to get out the carton of eggs, the milk, and other vegetables to put in the omelet.
"Yeah, that would be nice." Emily said, as her mom scooped coffee grounds to put in the coffee pot.
"I'll make yours first since the other two won't be down here for another fifteen minutes." Pam said, as Emily examined the clock near the stove. It was just past six o'clock in the morning, had she really been up reading for close to six hours?
"I made an appointment with a local psychiatrist for you that's on Monday. Well, every Monday." her mother said, as she started the coffee and went into the cabinets for a mixing bowl.
"Oh?" Emily asked, remembering her mother mentioning it to her father in the car when they thought she was asleep in the back seat.
"It's a fairly new practice. Dr. Rollins and Dr. Gordon opened it about a year ago, both nice young men. I scheduled you one with Dr. Gordon, he should be able to prescribe you some medication to help you with your sleep and other things. Also, you're supposed to go to a physical therapy clinic to help heal your leg properly, we want to make sure that you can still walk after your leg recovers." Pam explained, as she cracked eggs into a bowl.
"And when does that start?" Emily sighed.
"Once you get your brace off." Pam said, grabbing a whisk from a drawer. "It's lucky the government pays for all of this."
Emily rubbed her temples, already feeling a bit stressed out with all the things that needed to be done for her leg to heal properly.
By the time the bacon was being taken from the frying pan and Emily had finished about half of her coffee, Olivia came walking into the kitchen with slightly wet hair and her clothes for the day on. Another thing Emily noticed about Olivia was her clothing style, and how Olivia was wearing exactly what Emily would've worn to school back in high school.
"Hey wait, is that my blue varsity jacket?" Emily asked, recognizing the blue jacket with the black sleeves.
Olivia stopped and looked at Emily blankly for a moment, "Maybe." she responded. "Do you care that I wear it?"
"No, I was just wondering since I really haven't seen it since I was in high school." Emily said, sprinkling pepper on her omelet before taking a bite.
"Oh, sorry. I've been raiding your closet since I got here to be honest. You have nice clothes and, no one really wears them. I thought I would put them to use." Olivia shrugged, sitting down across from Emily.
"It's fine really, I'm glad you're wearing them. But since I'm back now, just ask if you ever want to borrow something of mine again ok?" Emily asked.
Olivia nodded and stretched as Emily's mom put bacon and Olivia's omelet on a plate before placing it in front of her.
"Thanks Auntie Pam." Olivia said, trying her best to smile.
"So that book you're reading for English, I don't understand how you don't like it." Emily said. "Your teacher has good taste in literature."
"Yeah, she's pretty cool. This is her first year teaching I guess, at least that's what I heard. She's like really young too, like a little older than you. Like right out of college, so obviously every guy in my class practically drools over her." Olivia said, taking a bite of her bacon.
"Do they?" Emily chuckled, remembering how the girls in Emily's junior English class did the same to Mr. Fitz. Aria in particular.
"Good morning everyone." Emily's father said, walking into the kitchen while trying to button the sleeves of his collared shirt with one hand. He kissed Emily's mom's forehead, and did the same to Emily. "Sleep well?"
He sat down in the seat next to Emily while adjusting his tie, and Emily got a strong whiff of his cologne that he must've put in only seconds ago.
"Are you okay with staying here all day, Emmy?" her father asked, as he drank a sip of his dark coffee.
"What?" Emily asked, turning her attention to her father. "Oh yeah, of course. It's really not a problem, it's not like I can do much anyway."
As breakfast continued and then was quickly wrapped up, Emily rose from her seat and denied help from both her parents as she crutched her way to the stairs. It was a lot harder going up than down, but she strongly believed that she made it up faster than she did the first time last night.
When she got back to her room, she looked through her closet and pulled out jeans with a plaid shirt and tank top that she laid on her bed before grabbing her bathrobe and slowly made her way towards the bathroom of her house.
It was clear that Olivia had just used it, the whole bathroom smelled of fruity shampoo and the mirror was still foggy with steam. Emily made her way to the toilet and close the lid so that she could sit down. She began undoing the velcro straps to her leg brace before carefully sliding it down her leg. Next came her sweatpants, and she cringed at the sight of her broken leg.
Her broken left leg was considerably swollen compared to her right one, and her left leg was also a bruised color pretty much from her knee cap down. She slowly peeled off the large bandage that was on her leg from the surgery she had a few days before, revealing the stitches from the incision they made on her leg to get all the bone fragments out.
Once she got in the shower, she held onto the side of the railing and let the warm water run down her face as she took several deep breaths. The water felt nice on her skin, and as she massaged shampoo into her hair, she was finally able to relax slightly.
She was exhausted from not sleeping, and wished she could sleep for long periods of time still. But falling asleep was just filled with nightmares and the sensation of falling all over again.
She tried to clear her thoughts of back in the war, and all that she saw since February by metaphorically washing it away with the water from the shower. But it was easier said than done.
On Friday afternoon, her mother came home from the station at around two to find Emily starting season 3 of Orange Is The New Black on Netflix, a show she never had time for since she was in the army but for the past few days she had binge watched almost the whole thing. She was wearing a maroon sweatshirt that was zipped up slightly and dark colored jeans.
"Hey, you're back." Emily said, looking at her mom from where she sat in the living room.
"Olivia's teacher conference is today, at 2:30. I just wanted to stop home and change out of my work clothes." her mom explained. "You should come with me, you haven't been out of the house in days."
"Why? I'm not her guardian." Emily frowned.
"You are over eighteen and you do live in the house, so you're technically a guardian of her." Pam said. "Come on, get some fresh air."
"If you can't tell, I'm kind of immobilized. There's a reason why I can't get much fresh air." Emily said.
"Please just come." Pam sighed.
Emily chewed on her bottom lip as she contemplated if she should go with her mom or continue to watch her show.
"Fine, I'll come with you. Let me just get shoes from my clo-" Emily began.
"I'll bring them down to you, just wait here I won't be long." Pam said, hurrying towards the stairs to get changed.
When they were both in the car on the way to Olivia's school, Emily looked out at the familiar scenery of the town as they drove through it. They passed the white church that her family often went to, Spencer's family's house, and the grocery store. Emily tapped her legs slightly as they drove in silence, and only tore her eyes away when they arrived at the school.
Emily quickly got out before her mom could try to help her, and followed her into the school that she hadn't set foot in in five years. Many memories began flooding back, despite the school being almost empty since the school day ended a half an hour ago. Emily's mom went to the front desk as Emily looked around the front hall of the school.
The beige lockers and the white floor brought many memories of walking through the hallways with her three best friends. She smiled slightly at the posters on the walls of clubs and school events that were coming up, as her mom exited the front office.
"Okay, Mrs. Rollins' classroom is on the first floor, so we won't have to get you up any stairs." Pam said. "Do you know where room 24 is?"
"Yeah, that's my old English classroom actually. It was Mr. Fitz's old room." Emily said, already remembering the path to the classroom.
She and her mom began to head in the direction, passing only a few students who stayed after school for clubs or just because they didn't want to go home. Emily remembered taking the same route every day in high school with Aria, trying to get to his class before the bell rang.
They approached room 24 and Emily stayed back slightly as Pam, opened the door to the classroom.
"You can go in first mom." Emily said, when her mom tried to hold the door open for her.
Pam entered with Emily close behind her, trying to close the door without smacking her broken leg into the door frame.
As she turned around from closing the door, she looked over at the teacher's desk where a woman was sitting at the front of the room. Her hair was long and a bright blonde, and it looked like she was grading papers while waiting for Olivia's guardians.
She looked up as both women entered, and immediately flashed a warm smile that Emily instantly recognized.
"Hi," she said, warmly. "You must be Mrs. Fields."
Emily squinted as she remembered the face from her high school days, if it wasn't her Emily was going absolutely insane. She didn't say anything as she her mom introduced herself and shook Mrs. Rollins' hand.
"And this is my daughter Emily, she's one of Olivia's guardians as well." Pam said, motioning to Emily.
"Emily," Mrs. Rollins said rather breathlessly, looking surprised to see her.
"Hi Alison," Emily said, shifting awkwardly as she remembered the previous interactions she had with the woman in front of her. "You were a DiLaurentis last time I saw you right?"
"It hasn't been DiLaurentis for almost two years but yes." Alison said.
"It's funny, you're not how I remembered you being." Emily said, as she sat down in one of the chairs that were in front of Alison's desk.
"I was quite different back in high school, I know." Alison said. "I don't like to look at my high school days though, they're a thing of the past."
Emily was never friends with Alison in high school...well, they were sort of friends. Alison and Emily did do some things together alone that some would label as friends, but neither publicized their friendship, which was a rather flirtatious friendship. Alison was popular, very popular. In high school, Alison wasn't the nicest of girls. She had always been nicer to Emily, especially when they were alone. It was weird seeing her so nice and mature, since Alison was known to be a party animal back in their high school days. She and Emily had engaged in a few party activities.
"So we should probably start discussing the topic of your niece." Alison said, looking down at what looked like a transcript in front of her. "This is Olivia's transcript for the first quarter so far."
She slid Olivia's grade sheet across her desk and towards Emily's mother, who picked it up to examine it. Emily placed her cellphone on the edge of Alison's desk so that she wouldn't have the uncomfortable feeling in her pocket.
Pam sighed and rubbed her temple with her free hand, "A D+." she stated.
"She hasn't been turning in her homework and not testing her best on top of skipping class." Alison said. "I know she has interests in journalism or writing when she graduates, but colleges won't accept D's in English."
"Is there anyway we can fix this so that she still has a chance to get into college?" Pam asked.
"Well unfortunately, quarter one is ending right before Christmas so I don't think she'll be able to get much higher than a C this quarter. But if she works hard in her classes, and not just this one, she will be able to get pull it together for college applications next year." Alison explained.
Emily looked around the room as her mom discussed Olivia's grades with Alison, looking at the eiffel tower picture and the France map in the corner of the room. A giant poster of Great Expectations was also hanging on the wall, with a few quotes from the book scattered on the wall around the room as well.
"Olivia has a lot of potential, which is something I can't say for all of my students. I think if she tried a little harder, she would be able to get much farther than she already is now." Alison explained. "I know she's been switching schools a lot and a general understanding of her family life. I can't speak for her, but I know how it feels to not have your mother be there much for her. My mother never seemed to be satisfied with me or my brother and sister. If she ever needs to talk to someone about it, I'd be happy to listen. I'll tell her that in class on Monday when I see her again."
"Thank you, Mrs. Rollins." Pam said.
"If you don't have any questions, I can show you both out." Alison said.
"I think my husband and I will discuss it more with her when we get home." Pam said, rising from her seat to shake Alison's hand lightly. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Rollins."
"And to you too." Alison smiled, making her face look at least ten times more pretty when her dimples became visible. "It was nice to see you again Emily, it's been a while."
"Nice to see you as well, Alison." Emily said, following her mom towards the door.
Alison closed the door behind them when they left, and Emily and Pam began their path back to the front of the school. They almost made it to the front door when Emily stopped in her tracks, realizing she had left her cellphone back in Mrs. Rollins' classroom.
"Hang on mom, I left my phone back in the classroom." Emily said, turning around.
"I can go get it for you!" her mom called as Emily quickly crutched back down the hallway.
"No it's fine! I'll meet you in the car!" Emily called as she picked up her pace.
By the time she arrived back in front of Alison's classroom she was almost out of breath, and knocking on the door of Alison's class.
"Emily, didn't think I would see you again so soon." Alison said, sounding almost surprised that Emily was back.
"I actually just left my cellphone on your desk, I'm not used to carrying it around much." Emily admitted sheepishly, almost feeling intimidated but Alison's mature beauty.
Alison laughed, which sounded just as nice as her voice. "It's alright, I'll grab it for you."
"I didn't know how much you were into Paris and Great Expectations too." Emily observed, referring to her decorated classroom.
"I spent a semester abroad in Paris and I fell in love with Great Expectations when we had to read it in junior year. There's something magical about Pip and Estella." Alison said, smiling as she grabbed Emily's phone and brought it back to her.
"Thanks." Emily said, stowing the phone in her pocket.
"You know, I heard about what happened to you in Afghanistan, well I sort of know." Alison said. "I just wanted to say sorry for all those people that feel like they need to do everything for you."
"Why are you apologizing?" Emily asked, letting out a breathy laugh and smiling.
"Because I know that in high school you were pretty independent and liked to stay in the background. I could only assume that you still feel the same." Alison said.
"I didn't know you paid attention to me in high school." Emily said, smiling widely.
"I paid attention to everyone in high school." Alison said. "But you in particular, I totally thought I was going to see you one day in some foreign country participating in the Olympics."
"Hey things change." Emily pointed out.
"They do." Alison agreed. "But you haven't, you're still the same Emily Fields' that half of the student body was fawning over."
"I think you have the wrong person, no one fawned over me. I only had one girlfriend." Emily said, feeling a blush creep in on her cheeks and her stomach slightly twist.
"Oh but they did, I was one of them." Alison admitted. "Anyway, you should probably be getting to your mom. I'll see you around hopefully? You are staying in Rosewood for a while right?"
"Yeah I am until my leg heals and I walk again. Then I have to get cleared to make sure I can still do my job correctly, then I go back." Emily said.
"Rosewood is small enough that you just keep bumping into the same people, maybe that will be the case with us." Alison said.
"Goodbye Alison." Emily smiled, turning to leave the classroom.
"Please, call me Ali." Alison said. "And see you around, Em."
Saturday evening brought bright headlights streaming in through the front windows as Emily waited to be picked up by Caleb and Hanna. Quickly rising from the seat and grabbing her crutches that were right next to her, she made her way to the door and opened the front door to see Hanna holding her hand out as if she was about to knock on the door.
"Hey you!" Hanna said, quickly wrapping her arms around Emily before Emily could react.
"Hey Hanna." Emily grunted, as one of her crutches fell from under her shoulder and hit the porch floor.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry." Hanna gasped, bending down to pick up the crutch that fell before giving it to Emily. "Caleb's in the car, he's so excited to see you."
Following Hanna down the porch steps, Emily got down the two steps slowly and denied Hanna's offer to help her. The sky was almost completely black and Caleb waved to Emily through the window from the driver's seat as Hanna opened the back door of Caleb's Jeep.
"Hey Fields!" Caleb said, happily twisting in his seat to smile at Emily. He still looked the same as he did when they were in high school, but now smile lines were starting to form at the corner of his eyes.
"Hey Caleb." Emily smiled, situating herself in the backseat as Hanna got in the car.
"Okay, so the reservation is soon so we should probably get going." Hanna said, as Caleb put the car in reverse.
"Don't worry Hanna, I wasn't going to stall in her driveway." Caleb chuckled slightly as he backed out of her driveway.
As they got on the main road towards the new restaurant, Emily and Hanna began catching up on all that they missed. Caleb chimed in occasionally, but most of the ride was them listening to the hit radio station and talking about how Caleb and Hanna's neighbor tried to tell them that their dog kept using the bathroom in her yard.
"She was so wrong because Captain has an electric fence, so he wouldn't be able to go over there if he tried." Hanna said, as they pulled into the parking lot.
Inside the restaurant, the atmosphere was dim and from the looks of it, very fancy. There were white clothed tables with candles and fancy table setting everywhere. Fancy music could be heard just enough to make it background music, and the bar near the front of the restaurant had two bartenders in black collared shirts dishing out drinks at a fast pace.
Caleb approached the girl in a black polo standing at the front behind a dark colored podium, looking up from a bright screen as he approached.
"Reservation for Rivers." he said, his voice raspy as the high school looking girl checked over her book.
"Of course, right this way Mr. Rivers." the girl said, grabbing three leather menus and motioning for them to follow.
Hanna followed Caleb and Emily stuck close behind. The restaurant was crowded with people in fancy clothes and they all looked up from their red wine or fancy meals to look at Emily crutch by. The amount of people inside the restaurant was a bit overwhelming for Emily, and she felt a tightening in her stomach as they were led to a table for four.
"Actually, can I sit on that side of the table?" Emily asked, when Caleb and Hanna moved to sit on the side of far side of the table. "I kind of want to be able to see the door."
"Uh, yeah. Of course." Caleb said, as he and Hanna quickly switched sides of the table.
Once they all sat down, each was given a black leather menu with the name 'The Radley' embroidered on it in gold. Emily opened the menu and examined it, looking at the prices of all the food and what she could pick from.
"Oh by the way Em, dinner is on Caleb so don't worry about paying." Hanna said, placing a hand on Caleb's wrist which was resting on the table as he looked over the menu.
"Oh, I can pay for my dinner. It's really not a big deal, I have money." Emily said.
"Really Emily, it's fine. Like Hanna said, it's on me." Caleb said.
A few minutes later, a waitress approached them in a black collared shirt and white waist apron. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and looked no older than thirty-five. Her lips were a dark red and her hair extremely dark in the dim light, but Emily could make out her bright green eyes.
"Hello everyone, welcome to 'The Radley,' the new hotel, bar, and restaurant in Pennsylvania." she smiled. "My name is Anya and I'll be serving you tonight. Can I start you off with any drinks?"
"What red wine do you recommend?" Hanna asked, looking up from her menu to smile slightly at their waitress.
"I personally recommend the cabernet but the sheroz is also very good." Anya said, as Caleb closed his menu.
"I'll have the cab then." Hanna said brightly.
"Same for me." Caleb replied, placing his menu in front of them.
"And for you?" Anya asked, looking at Emily as she wrote down their orders on her notepad.
"I'll have a vodka and soda." Emily said, not looking up from her menu.
It wasn't until Anya walked away to go and get their drinks, that Hanna spoke up.
"Emily...are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked timidly.
"Was what a good idea?" Emily asked, looking up from the different steaks she could choose from.
"To have a vodka and soda." she said. Emily glanced at Caleb and noticed that he looked equally nervous. "Aren't you on like wicked strong painkillers or something? Won't it mess alcohol mess with your medication?"
"Hanna, I haven't had a drink since February. I think I'll be fine." Emily almost snapped, and she could see Hanna gulp dryly from where she sat.
Hanna didn't bring up the topic of Emily's drink choice even after their drinks were placed in front of them. The three of them ordered their dinners, Emily going for a classic spaghetti and meatballs.
She took a sip of her drink and tasted the alcohol in the back of her throat as she swallowed, making it tingle along with the fizz from the lemon-lime soda. She looked up at the couple that was being sat at the table in front of them and one to the right, recognizing the girl by her blonde hair.
Alison sat down at the table for two right by them, a slightly older man with dark brown eyes and a strong jawline sat down across from her, his back facing Emily. Judging from his Rolex watch on his wrist, he was a very well off man. He didn't look that much older than Alison, maybe late twenties but Emily was never good at guessing someone's age from their appearance.
Alison didn't look over at Emily, instead smiling slightly at her husband in front of her as she was handed her menu. Emily tried to turn her attention back to the conversation that Hanna and Caleb were having about their dog, but it was hard since she didn't share the same adoration for their dog that they did.
She began tapping her fingers on the table as she sipped her drink, glancing at the door of the restaurant as people entered the hotel. She adjusted her leg, but hit the leg of the table unintentionally and yelped out in pain.
"Oh my God, are you ok?" Hanna asked, ending her conversation with Caleb.
"Yeah." Emily said, tears springing to her eyes. "I'm fine. Really. Let's just keep talking, when are you guys planning to have your wedding?"
Hanna instantly lit up, and began talking the same way she did when Emily first heard about their engagement in a letter that was sent to her out in Afghanistan.
"We just talked to a wedding planner, and we were thinking April at the earliest, early May at the latest." Hanna said, as Caleb smiled and looked at Hanna. "But I did need to ask you something important, Em."
"Yeah, sure. Anything." Emily replied, nodding her head.
"I want you to be my maid of honor in the wedding." Hanna said, causing Emily's eyes to widen.
"Wha-, are you serious?" Emily asked.
"Of course!" Hanna said. "Why do you sound so surprised?"
"I thought you would've asked Spencer or Aria for that honor, honestly." Emily said, shocked that someone would actually ask her.
"Emily, you were my best friend in high school. More than the other girls, and the only reason we haven't talked much is because you've been off in Afghanistan. You're my best friend Emily, and I want you to be the maid of honor in our wedding." Hanna said.
"Hanna, I would be honored." Emily smiled. This was the first good news she had heard since she got back to Rosewood.
Hanna smiled, happy with Emily's reaction as they continued to chatter about what they had in mind for the wedding. Caleb wanted a simple and small wedding, one that wouldn't draw a lot of attention, well more than what a groom would get. Hanna wanted the wedding to be outside, with the reception in a pavilion with a DJ and dance floor.
"You guys should definitely have that pizza truck cater your wedding." Emily suggested, knowing full well that she would convince whoever she was going to married that they needed to have a pizza truck at their wedding.
"I would be down for that." Caleb smiled, as Hanna pushed his arm slightly in unspoken disapproval.
"You both wish." Hanna said, as Emily finished her first drink.
She blinked a few times as her spirit lightened, the drink doing her well in making her feel better. Her eyes flickered over to the door of the restaurant and then to the table nearby that sat Alison and her husband.
Alison had a glass of red wine in her hand, sipping it slightly as she listened to her husband talk animately while glancing down at his phone in front of him. She looked like she was trying her best to at least pretend to be interested in what he had to say, but Emily could see in her bright blue eyes that she was anything but impressed. Alison's blue eyes suddenly flickered over to where Emily sat, a warm smile breaking out onto her ruby red lips. Her dimples immediately became visible when she smiled, her eyes twinkling slightly in the candle light. She waved slightly to Emily, who flashed her a smile back.
"Who are you smiling at?" Hanna noticed, looking behind her at who Emily was looking at. The waitress returned with their food, placing the steaming dishes in front of them.
"No one." Emily responded shaking her head as Hanna looked obviously for who Emily exchanged a smile with. She turned to the waitress quickly, "Can I get another drink?"
"Alison DiLaurentis?" Hanna asked, turning back around, a slight smile on her face. "I didn't know you were talking to Alison DiLaurentis."
"She's my cousin's English teacher." Emily responded, picking up her fork and began to twirl her spaghetti. "I talked to her for the first time in five years yesterday, it's not that big of a deal."
"Yeah, but you both seemed pretty friendly just now." Hanna smirked.
"She's married Hanna." Emily said, taking a bite of her pasta as her eyes flashed over to the door again.
"Why do you keep looking at the door?" Hanna asked, cutting into her chicken.
"I'm not." Emily said, as the waitress placed her new drink in front of her and picked up her empty class.
"Yes you are, you're fidgeting and you've done it at least twenty-"
"Shut up Hanna." Emily snapped, picking up her fist and slamming it on the table.
Everything on the table moved, making a clinking noise that made people nearby turn around to look. Emily glanced at Alison's table and saw her husband crane his head around to look at her, even Alison looked over at her with a blank expression.
Realizing what she just did, she looked at Hanna and Caleb who were both staring at her in surprise. Hanna's mouth hung open slightly, and Emily instantly felt terrible with what she just did.
"I-I, I'm so sorry, Hanna." Emily said, her mouth hanging open. "I don't know why I just did that."
Hanna seemed to recover quickly from the shock, "No it's fine, Em. I get it. You must've had a lot of stress on you overseas, I shouldn't have said anything."
Dinner continued awkwardly, and Emily noticed that Hanna and Caleb kept exchanging uneasy looks with each other as they ate. Emily didn't speak much, only giving one word answers in response to the questions that were asked.
She ended up eating a more than half of the plate of spaghetti that was served to her. Caleb paid with his credit card, as the waitress took their meals away to put them in leftover bags. Emily glanced one last time at Alison as she finished her second drink, tapping her fingers again on the clothed table.
"Okay, here's your credit card you guys are all set." Anya said, as she placed their bagged meals and the black book with Caleb's credit card inside. She turned to Emily before walking off, glancing down at her braced leg. "Did you break your leg falling from something?"
Emily looked down at her leg, before back up at their waitress. "No, actually I just got back from a tour in Afghanistan." Emily said. "And no I didn't break it from falling off something, I broke it from a building collapsing on me."
"So, you haven't been able to sleep since you've returned home from Afghanistan is that correct?" Dr. Gordon asked, from his spot on the chair facing Emily on the couch.
Emily was sitting up on the couch, her crutches next to her in a fairly quiet room. The only sound besides the scratching of Dr. Gordon's pen on his notepad was the ticking of the clock behind him, signalling that there was still forty five minutes left of their session.
Dr. Gordon was already balding even though he was in his early thirties, his face cleanshaven and his clothes pressed neatly. He seemed like a quiet man, married judging by the silver ring on his left hand, and had a son, judging by the picture on his desk of him and a small boy who looked about three.
"Yeah, I mean I've fallen asleep briefly but not for much longer than an hour." Emily replied, glancing at the closed door to Dr. Gordon's office.
"And do you feel tired at all during the day? Nauseous, headaches, anything?" he asked, his icy blue eyes looking up at Emily as he waited for her response.
"I guess I'm pretty tired, but it comes and goes." Emily said simply.
"Any nightmares?" he asked.
Emily thought for a moment, thinking about the times she did fall asleep for a short while. "Yeah, I did."
"And what do those nightmares consist of, do you recall?"
"Falling." Emily said, looking up from her shoes.
"So about what happened in Afghanistan, would you consider it-" Dr. Gordon began, but Emily cut him off instantly.
"I don't want to talk about what happened." she said, shaking her head.
"Okay, we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." he said, crossing something out on his notepad.
Emily looked at the table on the side of the couch, looking at the stack of business cards that were placed on the table. It read, "Gordon & Rollins", with the names of the doctor's listed underneath.
Rollins, could Dr. Rollins be related to Alison's husband? She wasn't sure what her husband worked as, or if he had other members of his family in Rosewood.
She and her psychiatrist didn't talk much, only a few more things were exchanged in their scheduled hour.
"Well, Ms. Fields it looks like you're suffering from PTSD due to the event that happened to you in Afghanistan." Dr. Gordon said.
"Yeah, no shit." Emily scoffed. Dr. Gordon looked up at her with an unamused expression on his face, and Emily cleared her throat. "Sorry."
"I'm going to prescribe you some sleeping medication as well as an antidepressant that you should take with your pain medication that your doctor prescribed you." Dr. Gordon said, reaching for prescription slips to write out for her to take to the pharmacy. "Prazosin is normally for high blood pressure, but it also can be used to help you sleep better at night. It should help with the nightmares. I'll start you off with 1mg capsules, you should take one at least a half an hour before bed each night."
Emily reached out and took the slip he wrote, and watched as he began another one.
"As for the antidepressant, I'm prescribing you Zoloft which should help with your anxiety and what you described as fidgeting. Neither of these should interfere with your pain medication for your leg, I'll see how you're doing next Monday when you visit."
"Thanks, doc." Emily said, taking the slip from him before starting to stand up.
"Oh and Emily," Dr. Gordon said, as she slipped her crutches under her arm. "a word of advice."
"Sure." Emily responded.
"You should try and resume your life from when you put it on pause when you joined the army five years ago." he said from where he sat in the chair.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning get out and be with people. Get a significant other maybe." Dr. Gordon.
Emily let out a breathy laugh, "The only person worth going after isn't available."
"Well then find someone else." he shrugged. "You survived a life threatening situation while trying to save your fellow soldiers. That's heroic."
"All I did was break my leg when a building collapsed on top of me. That's not heroic."