Tick tick tick tick tick. Hanna, Emily, and Spencer watched the clock anxiously. Normally, English class was fun, seeings as it was the only class the three of them plus Aria all had together. But today, they had a substitute because Mrs. Montgomery was out of town, and they were watching a very dull BBC documentary on Shakespeare's life. Normally when they had a substitute, Hanna would spend the class on facebook, and Spencer and Emily would catch up on their homework (after school sports made their schedules tight). But old Mr. Weinstein, a frequent Rosewood substitute, had hawk-eyes and demanded that they pay every ounce of attention to whatever mundane, time-filling activity they were given when their teachers weren't there.

DING DING DING! The bell blared and the class all jumped from their seats. "Saved by the bell!" said Emily cheerfully.

"Saved from slowly killing myself," mumbled Hanna as the she slid out the door. "Who knew Old England could be dull. I'm surprised Shakespeare lived long enough to write plays before he died of boredom."

"Well, I thought it was fascinating," Spencer interjected. She proceeded to ramble of a list of her favorite facts she learned from the movie as they walked down the crowded hallway towards their lockers. Emily caught Hanna's eye, and the two of the chuckled quietly. Of course Spencer thought it was fascinating; she also thought cell division was thrilling and that solving calculus equations was a joy.

"Aren't you going to call Aria?" Emily interrupted. She silently apologized to Aria. The last thing the poor girl needed while being sick was to have Spencer checking on her every hour. It was nice that Spencer was so concerned for her friends, but it was a little OCD for her to keep calling. Aria was probably trying to sleep.

"Yeah, just as soon as I get my lunch," Spencer said, neatly placing books in her locker. Suddenly, Spencer's cell started ringing and everyone jumped. The familiar, uneasy feeling washed over all of them. Was it "A" texting Spencer? No, her phone kept ringing; someone was calling her.

"It's Aria," Spencer said, squinting at the screen. She flipped open the phone. "Hi! Are you feeling any better?" Spencer's voice went up an octave and she talked slowly, like she was speaking to a toddler. But all of a sudden, the cuteness vanished. "Aria?" said Spencer in her normal voice. Her forehead wrinkled in concern. "Aria, stop crying. I can't understand what you're saying."

Crying? Emily and Hanna stopped what they were doing and looked at Spencer. They tried to hear what Aria was saying, but all that was coming from the phone was loud, muffled sobs. "Aria, take a deep breath." Spencer tried to keep her voice even, but Emily and Hanna could see the panic on her face. "Okay, now tell me what happened," Spencer said when the sobbing coming from the phone stopped. Emily and Hanna watched her face slowly fall as Spencer muttered "uh-huh" every few seconds. She grew paler every second.

"Spencer, what's going on? Is Aria okay?" Hanna asked, unable to take it. Spencer put up a finger to shush her.

"Okay," Spencer said finally, taking a deep breathe. "Get dressed and I'm leaving school now. I will be there as soon as I can. Everything will be okay, Aria." With that, she shut the phone, and she threw her backpack into her locker.

"Spencer, what just happened?" asked Emily. She hoped her voice didn't convey her panic.

"Go to the office and tell them I got really sick and drove home," Spencer said hurriedly. She then broke into a run and started down the hallway, towards the school's exit.

Hanna ran after her, with Emily close behind. She grabbed Spencer's arm mid-stride. "What's going on?" she cried. "What happened to Aria? Is she okay?!"
Spencer looked at her and Emily mournfully. "Aria's fine, but Ezra isn't. He's been in a car accident. Aria needs to get to the hospital."

"Aria, slow down!" Spencer called after Aria as she sprinted down the hospital hallways. Aria dashed around corners, frantically trying to find her way through the ICU. Spencer trailed after, only being able to follow her by the squeaking sound of her sneakers on the tiled floor. When she finally caught up, she only caught a glimpse of Aria before she dashed into a nearby room.

Out of breath, Spencer jogged into the room after her. Once inside, she let out an audible gasp. There was Ezra, lying on the hospital bed. Dried blood was matted in his hair and ran down the side of his face and arms; he had a broken leg, the bone tearing through the bloody surface of his thigh; and endless tubes were snaking out of his body.

"Aria?" Ezra choked out weekly, blood running down the sides of his face with every cough.

Tears welled in her eyes, but she tried to keep an even face. She knelt down closer to the bed, but the smell of Ezra's blood instantly made her queasy. Everything started spinning really fast, and she promptly slipped and fell on her butt. Spencer was the in an instant, carefully helping her up in a chair that was by the bed. "Slow down; you're still sick," she said.

"Sick?" said Ezra. "Are you ok? What's wrong?"

This was so shocking to Aria that she burst out laughing. She probably sounded like an idiot, but she was too surprised. "Of course. Of course you'd be in a hospital bed, asking about my 24-hour flu. Shouldn't I be asking if you're okay?"

Ezra smiled, and Spencer laughed uneasily. She sensed that the two wanted to be alone, so she turned to Aria and said, "I'll be right out in the hall if you need me." Aria nodded, and Spencer squeezed her hand one last time before walking out.

Aria turned to Ezra. "Why aren't there any doctors in here? Why isn't anyone doing anything?"

Ezra sighed deeply before responding. "I'm having surgery in about half an hour. Apparently the impact tore a muscle in my heart, and I have to have it stitched up as soon as possible, which means I can get a cast or stitches yet, if that's what you meant."

Aria was silent for a long moment, unsure of what to say. Finally, she whispered, "I'm sorry about what I said yesterday."

"No," Ezra hissed. "I'm the one who needs to apologize. I shouldn't have acted like that."

"Why were you so upset? We've never-"

"Aria, lately, my future hasn't been as. . . certain as it once was. I've had to do a lot of thinking about what really matters to me. What, when it comes down to it, I would fight for. What really matters."

"Ezra, you're not making sense."

Ezra cleared his throat nervously. "Aria, reach into my pocket."

"What? Why-"

"Please. There's something I need you to see."

Aria was hesitant; she didn't want hurt to Ezra or have to touch the blood. But she gingerly leaned forward and snaked her hand into the front pocket of Ezra's ripped, bloodied khakis. She felt a soft box, just small enough to fit in her palm and wrap her fingers around. She grabbed it out and looked at it. It was black velvet and had a clamp in the back. It looked just like a box where someone would put a-

"Open it," whispered Ezra. But Aria didn't have to. She knew, even before she opened the box, what would be inside.

"It's beautiful," she breathed. A round diamond stared up at her from a silver band. It threw rainbow prisms all over the room when she removed it from the box.

Ezra looked at her sadly. "I bought it yesterday. I was going to give it to you on your birthday next week. Your 18th birthday." Aria didn't say anything. She just stared at Ezra, confused.

"That's a hell of a birthday gift," Aria said finally. She put a fist around the tiny ring, too afraid to drop it.

"Well, I did a lot of thinking about what to get you. When you turn 18, you become an adult. That means we can spend time together. All of our time. And I don't want to spend any time without you."

Ezra paused before continuing, and Aria grabbed his wrist with her free hand. "Aria, I want to be with you for the rest of my life, whether it's for five years, or fifty years, or five minutes here in this hospital room. So, Aria, will you marry-"

Before he could finish, Aria leaned over and kissed him, kissed him like it was the first day they met, in that pub. Kissed him like it was the last time she'd ever kiss him.

Which it was.

Suddenly, Ezra pulled away from Aria and started coughing. Aria held onto his hand tightly when the machines around him started beeping faster, louder, angrier. Fresh blood came pouring down his shirt. It took a moment for Aria to realize the blood was coming from Ezra's mouth. He coughed louder and the machines kept beeping.

Men and women in baby blue scrubs poured into room. They started talking fast, working over Ezra's jerking body. One man with green eyes (that was all she could see below his cap and above his mask) grabbed onto her arm. "You need to leave, sweetheart." He was gentle at first, by when he saw that she wasn't going anywhere, he yanked her up from the chair But her hand was still locked onto Ezra's.

Aria didn't say anything, just screaming Ezra's name. He didn't respond. The doctor grabbed Aria's wrist, but she fought him, grabbing onto Ezra for dear life. Spencer ran in the room and grabbed her by the shoulders just as the loud beeping stopped. Only one machine was still going, holding a single, deafening note: the note of a heart-monitor gone flat.

"CLEAR!" someone screamed as they placed paddles on Ezra's chest, and that was when Aria's grip slipped and she let go. She screamed, and Spencer grabbed onto both of Aria's wrists from behind her.

"CLEAR!" someone screamed again, as Spencer dragged Aria backwards. Aria was still screaming and tried to dig her feet into the floor, but it was too slippery against her rubber sneakers.

"Clear," said a doctor calmly, clearly giving up. Spencer finally succeeded in getting a hysterical Aria into the hallway. She wasn't crying, but her screams were so loud they could have been heard on the next floor. Spencer tried to hug her, but when she let go of Aria's wrists, she dashed down the hallway.

Spencer followed her through hospital corridors. For someone who was lying in bed sick this morning, thought Spencer, she sure can run pretty fast. "Aria!" she screamed. But Aria didn't slow down. She ran to the ER lobby and went straight out the door.

Spencer followed her through the pouring rain to the end of the hospital driveway. But when Aria dashed across the street, Spencer had to stop as car after car came whizzing by. She squinted through the rain, trying to find where Aria was going, but she was gone. Spencer didn't see her anywhere.