Byron and Ella Montgomery were more nervous than they have ever remember being in their lives.
The last three weeks for them had been absolute hell. Waiting to hear any information on where Aria and her friends were. They both knew that Toby and Tanner had been working around the clock, as well as most of the Rosewood PD and that they were getting closer, but neither of them would really feel at ease until their daughter was safe in their arms again.
The parents of all the girls had stuck together for the most part, trying to put two and two together and figure out what could have happened but sometimes the worry would get the best of them and they would spend days in their homes, glued to the phones and the news hoping for something. Ashley at one point had to be hospitalized because she got so bad. She was later released and had been staying with the Hastings.
Caleb and Ezra too had been helping the investigation as much as they could. While Byron and Ella still were not the biggest fans of Aria and Ezra together, they had been impressed by Ezra's dedication to help bring their daughter home.
During one of the countless nights that Byron and Ella lay awake, the two had talked about their relationship at length and had decided that now that Aria was 18 and had gone through more in the past 2 years than most people had to go through in a lifetime, who were they to stop them from being together if they wanted to be.
That is if Aria came home.
They tried to stay positive but doubt always crept in and brought them back to the worst case scenario.
Last they had heard, they knew the girls were alive, just no one had any idea where they were.
Currently, Ella was nursing a cup of tea while Bryan paced the living room in front of the fireplace. Toby and Ezra had just called, saying they had a very good hunch where the girls were and were on their way there with police back up. They had begged to let them come along. They wanted to get their hands on their daughter as soon as possible.
Toby assured they that he would let them know as soon as he could what was going on and where to meet them. Toby also didn't want them to be disappointed incase they were being led on a goosechase by Andrew and they had to start the process of looking for them all over again.
He did say if they found them they would probably be taken to a hospital. Ella didn't want to think about what Aria possibly has been going through and how much recovery it was going to take to get her back to normal, not that any of them really knew what normal was anymore. The fact that she would need medical attention, made her want to breakdown into tears.
So while they wouldn't get to be there the minute Aria was found, they had to be okay with the fact that Ezra would be there and that he would take care of her until they had a chance to see her.
The minutes seemed to pass like hours as they waited for news.
Both of them nearly jumped out of their skins when Byron's cell phone rang. Bryon answered, immediately putting it on speaker.
"Hello," they both said.
They were met with silence for a few moments before, "Mom … dad?" came out of the phone, barly louder than a whisper.
Ella immediately had tears streaming down her face. Byron was trying to hold them back but wasn't doing all that well.
"Aria?" Ella quietly said, almost not wanting to spook her daughter.
"Yea … it's me." Ella could hear the tears that she's sure were falling down Aria's face. She could also hear how tired she was. Understandable after everything she had been through.
"Are you okay sweetheart?" Bryon said.
"Yea, I'm okay, just tired. It's so good to hear your voice."
"It's so good to hear your voice too baby."
"They are going to take us to the hospital. I think they want us to stay for a few days to check us out."
"What hospital? We'll meet you there."
"Rosewood Community."
There was a moment of silence, both parties trying not to get overwhelmed with tears.
"We're so glad that you're okay Aria. We love you so much."
"I love you guys too." Aria said, Byron and Ella hearing her voice crack, trying not to cry. "I can't wait to see you."
"Oh sweetheart you have no idea how much we can't wait to see you. How are all the other girls?"
"Physically, we're all okay, not great, but okay. Mentally, that's another story. We're all more tired than anything."
"Well we're just glad you guys are safe. Are they letting Ezra go to the hospital with you? We don't want you alone."
"Yea. Don't worry. I don't think Ezra will let me out of his sight until i'm with you guys."
"Good. He's holding up his end of the deal."
"I'm not even gonna ask," Aria said with a laugh. Ella and Byron almost broke down in tears again being able to hear Aria laugh.
"They are ready to load me into the ambulance, so i'll let you guys go. I'll see you at the hospital?"
"Of course honey. We love you. Can you hand the phone off to Ezra real quick?"
"Yea. Love you guys."
There was a brief pause before Ezra answered. "Hey guys."
"Thank you Ezra, for everything."
"Not a problem. There isn't anything I wouldn't do to see Aria safe."
"We know. We know we should have known that all along. We'll see you guys soon."
"Yep, see you soon." Then they hung up.
During the phone call, Ella and Byron hadn't noticed that they had ended up clinging to each other. Ella had Byron's shirt balled up in her fist and there were wet spots where she had her face curled up in his chest crying. He had one hand holding the phone and the other protectively wound around her waist. The two looked at eachother for a moment before a smile appeared on both of their faces. Bryon wrapped his other arm around his ex-wife and pulled her closer to him. After everything that they had just gone through, the reasons that they broke up, didn't seem that important anymore. What was important now was helping their daughter heal after what happened and to raise their children … together.
"Let's go get our baby girl." Bryon said before planting a quick kiss on her lips.
"Let's" Ella said as she took Byron's outstretched hand that lead her out of the house and to the car.
The scene at the hospital was a mad house. All of the parents, along with Allsion's were in the waiting room. Police were everywhere trying to keep the media at bay. News had spread fast that the girls had been found and this is where they had been taken.
Byron and Ella went straight up to Veronica to try and figure out where the girls were.
"Are they here yet?"
"Yea, they are all back in emergency getting evaluated. The doctors promised to get all the necessary things done as soon as possible and get them into rooms where we can all see them."
"Should we be allowed to go back now? They shouldn't be alone through all of this." Byron almost yelled.
"They're not alone. I know Ezra was allowed to stay with Aria and each of the other girls have someone. They just don't want to overwhelm them with a ton of people back there. More people in the way would delay the process."
Ella put her hand on Bryon's chest and he looked down at her. They locked eyes and together took a deep breath. Their daughter was here getting checked out and they would get to see her soon. Ezra was with her, so they knew she was being taken care of. That's all they could ask for right now.
The waiting room was tense as the time went by. Eventually, a doctor came out and headed straight for the anxious group of parents. He was immediately bombarded with questions and had to wait for a moment for them all to calm down before he could start to talk.
"Physically, all of the girls are fine aside from some malnourishment and dehydration. We are going to keep all of them here for a few days to give them some antibiotics and just keep a watchful eye on them. They are all being moved to rooms right now. They refused to be moved unless they were all near each other"
"That sounds like our girls." Veronica said with a smile, getting a laugh from the others.
"Yes, they were very adamant. As soon as we have them settled you all can see them. For now we're asking that only immediate family be allowed in, the exception being the 4 that came in with the girls. You guys can head up to the 4th floor and the nurses will direct you all to a more private waiting room."
Words of thanks were directed at the doctor as he left the room.
The parents all made their way to the elevator and were silent on the ride up. There was a nurse waiting for them when they got off and they were directed towards a waiting room at the end of the hall.
It was a short time later they they one by one were told their daughters were ready and in their rooms.
Bryon and Ella were scared what they were going to find when they opened the door to Aria's room. Inside, they found their daughter sitting up in bed, hooked up to an I.V., talking to Ezra who was sitting next to her in a chair, hold her hand. Both of their heads snapped up in their direction when they heard the door open.
Aria, Byron and Ella had instant tears in their eyes when they saw each other. Ella ran straight to her daughter and pulled her into a tight hug. Ezra stepped back and allowed Byron to hug Aria from the other side.
Minutes went by before the family let go of wiped the tears from her eyes and was finally able to get a good look at her daughter. Aside from the dark circles under her eyes and slight look that she had lost some weight, she didn't look too bad.
"We have so many questions …." Ella started to say but Aria interrupted.
"Can we talk about all of that later. I'm tired and the meds they gave me are making me a little loopy." Aria said as she laid down.
"Of course honey. You get some rest. We can talk later." Ella said softly as she tucked the blankets up closer to her, being careful of her I.V. and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
Byron nodded to her and Ezra to follow his right outside of the room.
"Ezra we wanted to thank for everything you've done over the last few weeks. Veronica clued us in one all the work you, Caleb and Toby have been doing. Who knows if they would have been found so quickly without your help." Ella said.
"No worries. I hope i've begun to prove to you that I would do anything for Aria."
"You have. We have been talking and we've decided we're not going to stand in your way anymore. We can see how happy you make her and we can't ignore that you were there for her in times when we couldn't be. After all of this, we can't deny her that. So you have our blessing."
"I don't know what to say." Ezra was shocked. He had no idea this was coming.
"Just say you'll keep her safe."
"I'll do everything in my power to make sure nothing bad happens to her."
Byron reached out for a handshake, which Ezra enthusiastically returned. Ella pulled him in for a hug and Ezra couldn't wipe the smile off this face. The three then looked back into the room where Aria was fast asleep, looking at peace for what they guessed was the first time in weeks.
Their girl was safe. They had a long road to go but right now Aria was safe and happy. Everything else could wait.
