Spencer burst through the double doors of Rosewood Hospital, already out of breath and drenched in cold sweat. She braced her hands on her knees for a moment as she gasped for air and then continued to run to the front desk. Her parents had taken her car to the shop, but that hadn't stopped Spencer from getting to the hospital. She had run the full four miles across town to get there the second she received the call.
"I need to see someone. Right now." She gasped out the receptionists, leaning against the front of the desk.
"Who?" She asked, strictly professional with her no-nonsense brown bun and glasses on the tip of her nose.
"Cavanaugh. Toby Cavanaugh." Spencer replied.
"Are you family?"
"No, but – "
"Then I'm sorry, Miss, but you must leave. Visiting hours aren't available for the patient right now unless they are a family member or spouse."
"Then I'm his wife!" Spencer spat at her, her sarcasm dripping like venom. "Just let me see him! It's important that I do!"
"Miss, I will not allow this treatment at my hospital – " The receptionist started, but Spencer was already halfway down the hall. "Stop her!" She screamed as Spencer made a run for the hallway.
Two doctors who were lingering the halls were quick to answer the receptionist's call and clamped down on her arms from behind, pulling her backwards, dragging her tiny frame away.
"No! Just let me see him!" Spencer screamed, way past worrying about making a scene by then. She needed to see Toby.
The doctors held her down until she stopped struggling, surrendering with a sigh.
"At least tell me he's alright." Spencer whispered softly, tears burning in her eyes as the doctors cautiously let her go. She got to her feet and leaned against the receptionist's desk again.
"Well, he's stable." The woman responded, looking at her with a stern face, yet still supplying her with the words she needed to be kept sane. The block of ice that had clouded her chest suddenly melted, her fear washing away with those words. "But he was beat up pretty badly. The doctors are going through some tests and seeing what they can do."
"Alright." Spencer nodded. "Can I just wait here?" She asked.
The woman looked at her from over her glasses and sighed. "Fine. But don't try anything, young lady." She said, sounding most motherly.
Spencer nodded and began to round the corner towards the waiting room. Once she was out of the receptionist's sight and the woman was ruffling through papers again, she continued walking briskly through the hall, trying to keep quiet as she began to search for the rooms.
Alexandra Iving. Jessica Dunbar. Owen Opal. No. Spencer thought as she hurried down the hall, reading the names of each patient inside posted on the door. As she turned a corner, she ran smack into a body, knocking whatever they were holding to the ground.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I – " She started, but stopped when she looked up and registered who it was. "Wren." She said, her face impassively smooth.
"Spencer." Wren replied, "What are you doing here?" He asked as they both stooped to gather up the files that had fluttered to the floor. "You aren't supposed to be back here."
"I came here to see Toby. They wouldn't let me in so I just snuck back here." Spencer answered, handing him the rest of the pages. When they got to their feet, Spencer crossed her arms and stared at him straight in the eye. "Why didn't you tell me Toby was in here? I got the call from Hanna. Hanna, Wren. Hanna who spends less time in a hospital than I do in detention."
Wren cast his eyes downward. "I…Spencer, you have to understand."
"Well I don't." She responded, her tone blunt and harsh. "Not telling me about him being here was a lie, Wren."
"He isn't your boyfriend anymore." Wren said back, his voice sounding cynical for the first time. She had never heard him be so abrasive.
"What? You think I'd just forget about him? Stop caring about him? You don't forget your first love, Wren. You just don't."
Wren pursed his lips and Spencer felt like she had the upper hand once more. She spotted something out of the corner of her eye and gasped. "Oh my God."
T. Cavanaugh. The name was scrawled on the board beside the door of the room just a few feet behind Wren. She shoved against him, trying to get past. He easily blocked her. "No, Spencer. He isn't allowed to have any visitors!" Wren said, taking her by the shoulders and looking her dead in the eye. She broke free of his touch, as if it had burned her.
She shoved past him quickly, making a run for the door and grabbing the handle before Wren could stop her. She turned it and jumped inside, closing it quickly. She expected Wren to follow, to wrench the door open and drag her out, but the door remained as soundless as the air.
She sighed and turned into the room. Luckily, there weren't any other doctors floating inside.
There, on the hospital bed, propped up on the pillows, was the sleeping face of the only man she ever truly loved. His whole body was bandaged severely; a cut creased his left eyebrow, newly stitched shut by the doctors. She gasped as she stumbled towards the bed, as if everything was in slow motion and her legs were made out of jelly. She collapsed into the chair beside his bed and bit her lip as the tears came. She took him in, his fragile state, the sound of his heart monitor beeping consistently. She sighed as she reached out slowly and touched the side of his face – the side that was unmarked and not bruised. She ran her fingertips slowly over his soft skin, feeling the tears fall down her face.
A had done this. She had tried so hard to protect him by breaking things off with him – only hurting them both more – but A had still broken him. Shattered him, like the precious jewelry box Spencer had loved so much as a child that Ali had destroyed.
She clenched her eyes shut and put a hand over her mouth to keep from sobbing. Her phone beeped and she fished it out of her pocket with shaking hands.
"Congrats to me! I managed to break the two things that you loved most. – A"
She slammed her phone down so hard against the tile floor that the battery flipped out, but she didn't care. She bit her lip and let herself cry for a second before getting to her feet and kicking off her shoes. She carefully slipped onto the bed beside Toby, curling up into a ball next to his sleeping body. She cautiously leaned her head against his uninjured shoulder and pulled the covers over both of them, breathing in his soft, sweet scent and closing her eyes, just letting the moment soak in. She let her hand rest against his chest so gently, sighing as she felt his hear thud steadily beneath her palm.
"I love you." She whispered, even if he couldn't hear her. "And I want to be here when you wake up."