Looking For A New Life Chapter 4
Two weeks had passed since Ali's ankle injury. In that time, she had gotten used to the crutches and cast. She had become closer with Aria and Emily. She was now hanging out with them in the office and having meals with them. Aria finished her spring semester and was now enjoying time off from school.
Ali then noticed one day that Emily seemed very down. She barely touched breakfast and lunch. It was evening time when Ali and Aria were in the office. They were looking over the list of the guests that were soon to check out.
There was a knock at the office door and Aria went over to answer it. When she opened the door, a young brunette woman appeared.
Aria said, "Hey Spencer, I didn't know you were coming back to town this soon."
The two hugged and Aria led her into the office.
Aria said, "Ali this is Spencer Hastings."
Ali said, "Hello, I'm Alison DiLaurentis, Aria and Emily have told me a lot about you."
"I hope they are good things." Spencer said.
She then asked, "Where is Emily?"
Aria responded, "She is up in her room. She has been a bit down today and I know it is because tomorrow is the anniversary."
Ali said, "The anniversary of her parents' death?"
Spencer and Aria both nodded.
Aria said, "She gets a bit depressed every year at this time. I can't blame her after going through all that."
Spencer said, "I'm going to go talk to her. Maybe I'll get her to come down and eat."
The short brunette responded, "Ok, but she is staying on the second floor in room 12 now"
Spencer nodded and then left the office.
She went up the stairs to the second floor. She knocked on Emily's door, but there was no response. She knocked a second time and then said, "Em, It's me Spencer."
Moments later, Emily opened the door. Spencer hugged her right away.
"It's good to see you." Emily said.
"You too. I've missed you and Aria.
"We have missed you too."
Spencer said, "I know you are a bit down right now because of tomorrow. But why don't you come downstairs and eat dinner with us. You need to stay healthy. Maybe tomorrow we can go see Dr. Sullivan. I know you like her and she has helped you in the past.
Dr. Sullivan was a therapist that the Montgomerys were recommended to take Emily to, when she was first released from the hospital. Emily refused to go for awhile. But after too many nightmares, Emily agreed to go.
Emily then thought back to her first session with Dr. Anne Sullivan. She didn't want to go out, but Dr. Sullivan assured the Montgomerys that she conduct sessions at their home for awhile. She understood Emily's situation.
Byron, Ella, Aria, and Mike were gone from the home. Emily was alone in the living room. She heard the knock on the door. She answered it.
"Hello Emily, I'm Dr. Anne Sullivan."
Emily shyly responded, "Hi."
The first session focused on Emily's nightmares about the fire. Dr. Sulllivan then wrote up a treatment plan which was going to include different types of therapies and medications. Over time, Emily became comfortable with the therapist.
In the present time, Emily said, "I guess we could go see Dr. Sullivan. The last time I saw her was six months ago. That was when I started having nightmares again."
Spencer said, "It will be good for you to go. I know it gets hard every year at this time, but you have to deal with it before it gets worse."
Emily said, "I know. But I just wish it would stop be painful."
Spencer wasn't sure of what to say, but she said, "I wish you didn't have to be in so much physical and emotional pain, but you are never alone. You have my family and Aria's family."
Emily smiled and hugged her friend, "You have all done a lot for me."
Spencer said, "We love you and we have learned from you too. Now, I'm starving and let's go eat."
Emily laughed and the two went downstairs.
Samara brought their dinners on a cart to the office.
Samara said to Emily, "Emily, I was wondering if you wanted to go out tomorrow night."
Emily quickly, "Tomorrow isn't good, maybe another time."
"Ok." Samara said sounding defeated.
Emily, Spencer, Aria, and Ali began eating. Spencer asked Ali some usual questions which Ali partially lied about again. Ali, at times, worried about someone in Rosewood finding out about her family.
The next morning, Emily was lying in her bed. She really had not slept the night before. She kept thinking about her parents. Her mother Pam was a bit strict, but loving and kind. The only conflicts they ever really had was when Emily came out of the closet at age 16. Pam was upset for awhile, but she learned to accept her daughter. Wayne was also a bit strict, but loving.
The fire broke out in the house at 1 in the morning. Emily woke up to the smell of smoke. She walked out of her room quickly and saw the fire in the hallway. A beam crashed in front of her parents' bedroom door.
She called, "Mom Dad."
She heard her father say, "We can't get out right now. Em you have to get yourself out of the house."
Emily said, "No, I won't leave the house without you two. I'm going to try get you two out."
A beam fell on her right shoulder and her clothing started on fire. The pain was immense.
That was all Emily remembered from the night. She later had that same occurring nightmare of the fire. In some nightmares, she had visions of her parents dying.
Emily got out of bed and went into the bathroom. She removed the tank top and sweats that she slept in. She looked at her naked body in the mirror. The right side of her body was heavily scared. The nipple on her right breast was heavily damaged that surgeons removed it during one of the surgeries. The doctors and firefighters theorized that she must have been rolling or something which prevented the left side from being burned.
Some of the damage on her chest and torso was fixed with skin grafts from donor skin. There was a scar underneath her left breast from a surgery that repaired her smoke damaged lungs.
She then filled up the bathtub with water and got in. She closed her eyes and relaxed for awhile. She got out dried off, dressed, and did her hair.
Emily went down to the lobby and found a bouquet of flowers. For the past three years, Ella put together a beautiful bouquet of flowers for Emily to take to her parents' grave. The bouquet was mix of the flowers that Pam Fields loved and favored.
Ella was in the office.
Emily said, "Thank you for this. You don't have to do this next year."
"I'll do it again if I can. I loved your parents too. There were good friends to us." Ella said as she hugged Emily.
Emily nodded and said, "I'm going to the cemetery now. I'll be back in awhile. Spencer and I are going to Dr. Sullivan's."
The brunette took the bouquet to her car and then made the fifteen minute drive to the cemetery out on the edge of town . She went to her parents' grave and put the bouquet on top. She sat on the ground for a few minutes before leaving.
Back at the boarding house, Ali and Aria had finished eating breakfast in the office. Aria's phone rang. She was talking to someone about a pipe bursting.
"That was my dad, a pipe in our house busted and he needs someone to go home and wait for the plumber. My mom just went to an appointment and my brother is busy with stuff. Ali, do you think you could watch the office for awhile?" Aria said.
"Yeah I think I could do it." Ali said.
Aria gave Ali some quick instructions about some things and then left.
Ali went to the front counter and sat on a chair, she propped up her casted leg on another chair.
An hour later, Emily came behind the front counter and said, "Hey Ali."
Ali noticed that Emily looked tired.
Emily took a chair and sat next to Ali.
"Where is Aria?" Emily asked.
"She had to go home and wait for a plumber, they were having some problems. I volunteered to watch the office and lobby. I hope you don't mind." Ali said.
"It's ok. I'm here for awhile. I have an afternoon appointment though."
Ali then bravely said, "I know I'm not a close friend. But I'm sorry about what happened to you and your parents. You must be very strong to survive all that."
Emily said, "Thank you. I don't know if I could be labeled strong. I get by most of the time. I'm so grateful for Spencer, Aria, and their families. They along with a therapist in town have kept me together for the most part. They look past the scars, which a lot of people don't look past."
Ali then put her hand on Emily's scarred right cheek and said, "I look past them too. I admit when I first saw you, it was hard to look at you. I can't imagine the pain you were in. I think you are still beautiful Emily."
A tear streamed down Emily's face and she stayed silent for a few minutes. She then learned forward and kissed Ali on the mouth. Ali out of shock pulled away. Emily was horrified at what she had done.
She panicked and said, "I'm going to my room."
Ali felt bad for how she responded to Emily's kiss and said, "It's ok, Emily you don't need to leave."
Emily then quickly walked upstairs. She went into the room and locked it.
Two hours later, Spencer appeared at the front desk and said, "Hi Alison, is Emily around?"
Ali nervously said, "She is upstairs. Something happened earlier. I was trying to comfort Emily and she kissed me. I was shocked at the kiss, but I wasn't upset. Emily freaked out afterwards."
Spencer said, "Oh. Let me go see if I can talk to her. She has an appointment this afternoon with her therapist."
The brunette then went up to Emily's room. She knocked on the door and said, "It's me Spencer."
Emily then opened the door. Spencer could tell that she had been crying.
Spencer said, "Ali told me what happened. It's ok, she isn't mad. She was just shocked."
"She said that I was beautiful. It felt so good to hear someone tell me that." Emily said.
Spencer said, "Em, you are beautiful. We have all told you that and we mean it."
"I know. But it felt good to hear someone that I don't know that well tell me that. It gave me hope that someone could love me in a deeper way." Emily said.
"There is always hope for you. Samara likes you and she has asked you out. Aria said that you two went on a hike the other day." Spencer said.
"I like Samara too. But I'm not sure if she could continue liking me like this or if she would be comfortable being seen with me in public all the time. When we went on the hike, it was in the early morning and we didn't see other people around the trail." Emily said.
"You have to take chances for love Emily." Spencer said.
"I guess so."
Spencer took Emily's hand and said, "We have your appointment with Dr. Sullivan. About we go over there and then we can have dinner in town to help get your mind off of what happened with Ali."
Emily and Spencer left the boarding house awhile later on. They went to Dr. Sullivan's office and most of the session was about Emily talking about her feelings on the anniversary of the fire and her parents' death. Dr. Sullivan gave Emily some reading material about the topic of grieving.
That evening, Emily and Spencer arrived at an Italian restaurant. Spencer had requested over the phone that they be given a private booth away from the other customers. She wanted Emily to be a bit comfortable for that evening. Aria meet up with them. They made their orders and ate.
Spencer explained to Aria what happened earlier in the day with Ali. The three went back to the boarding house.
Spencer said to Emily, "Will you be ok alone tonight?"
"Yeah I'll be fine."
Emily went into her room. She took a couple of sleeping pills and was out for the night.
She awoke the next morning and thought about what Spencer said about taking chances for love. She got ready for the day and headed to the office. She saw Ali and Aria there.
She said to Ali, "I'm so sorry about yesterday."
"it's ok, you don't need to apologize. I do mean what I said about you being beautiful. Beauty comes from strength too." Ali said.
Emily went over and hugged Ali and said, "Thank you."
The brunette went into the boarding house kitchen. She found Samara doing some food prep.
"Good morning Emily." The blonde said.
"Hi Samara. I know you have been wanting to go out on a date. I know I have said no and avoided it. But I'm ready now." Emily said.
Samara smiled and said, "I knew you would come around."
Later that evening, Aria and Ali were hanging out in Ali's room. They were watching a movie and eating popcorn.
Aria was looking at her phone.
She said to Ali, "I just got a text from Spencer. She is upstairs helping Emily get ready for a date with Samara."
Ali suddenly felt jealousy inside. She began to wonder if she was falling in love with Emily.