Disclaimer: I own nothing. All mistakes are my own.
AN: Thank you for all the reviews, views and favorites. I had hoped to update earlier but life happens, but here it is. Hope you enjoy.
She could hear muffled voices, and the most annoying beeping sound, the beeps radiated though her skull, and her brows furrowed at the pain it caused. She felt a soft, warm familiar hand in hers and she could make out the voices now, it seemed like Emily and Hanna were having a whispered argument.
"Come on Em, we have to wake her up. She was there, she knows what happened to Mona!"
"She was hit hard Hanna. Just back off!"
Paige's eyes opened slowly, blinking rapidly to try and clear her vision. She was definitely in the hospital, the bright light caused the pain in her head to intensify and she groaned loudly as she shut her eyes.
"Paige?" Emily squeezed her hand, brushing stands of hair off her girlfriend's forehead.
"What happened?"
A glare from Emily stopped Hanna from answering Paige's question and Hanna held her hands up in surrender.
"A attacked Mona and you."
It came back to Paige suddenly, her talk with Caleb, going to Mona's house, Mona on the floor covered in blood. She sat up, and her head spun. Emily gently helped her lay back and Paige tried to raise her hands to press her fingers against her temples but found that her right arm had been strapped to her body.
"Is Mona..?" Paige trailed off unwilling to imagine it.
"From what Caleb told us you got there just in time and then thankfully he did too. Mona's in the operating room. Aria and my mom are with Mrs. Vanderwaal and Mike." Emily answered as she helped her girlfriend get comfortable.
"Em?" Paige looked at Emily and then down at her arm.
"The doctor said it's a partial dislocation." Emily offered at Paige's questioning look, the look turned to horror. "It's partial, they set it while you were still unconscious. He said if you make sure to let it heal and go for physical therapy it shouldn't affect your swimming too much."
Hanna glanced at Emily before continuing, "What were you doing there Paige?"
Paige met her girlfriend's eyes and saw the many questions in them. She was saved from answering them when her parents, followed a doctor walked in.
Emily, after pressing a kiss to the back of Paige's hand, excused herself and Hanna and left the room to let them talk.
"Are you okay?" Hanna asked Emily as they took a seat on the chairs across the hall from Paige's room.
Emily rubbed her face, she hadn't expected to see Paige's car parked outside of Mona's house. Caleb had gotten there before them and when she stepped into the house her stomach had dropped at the sight of so much blood. They heard the sirens in the background heading towards them, but all Emily could focus on was her girlfriend's still, form. Paige's face was covered in blood, and for a moment she felt like she couldn't breathe. Hanna rushing passed her seemed to set the world in motion again, and while Hanna and Caleb tried to stem the wounds Mona had received from A, Emily and Aria moved to Paige trying to find the site of her wound and stop the bleeding. What felt like hours but was probably only a few short minutes later the Paramedics arrived and took over. Wasting no time in stabilizing and loading the two victims up. Aria drove her and Hanna, who was on the phone with Mona's mother, to the hospital. Caleb stayed to give his statement to the police officers who had shown up with the ambulances. The rest of the day had been a blur of pacing until Emily's mom showed up, informing them that the McCullers were on their way back from Scranton. Emily had calmed down when Paige was wheeled into her room, the doctor took pity on her and informed her that baring a concussion and a partially dislocated shoulder Paige was okay.
"She's alive, so I'm okay. What about you?" Emily laid a comforting hand on Hanna's forearm.
"I think I'm still in shock." Hanna shook her head. It had been a long day.
"You sure you don't want to go to Mrs. Vanderwaal?"
Hanna chewed on her lip, it wasn't that she didn't want to be there. She was scared of what the doctors might come out and say to them. She glanced up at Paige's room window, it looked like there was a fight going on inside. "I think I'll go. It looks like you gonna have some damage control to do." She nodded towards the window
Emily glanced up, her eyebrows raising slightly at the scene. "Text me if you need me okay?" Emily gave her a one armed side hug.
Hanna nodded and stood walking towards the waiting room of the operating rooms. Emily watched her leave, her attention brought back to her girlfriend when Mr. McCullers stormed out of the room and down the hall.
"Could you stay with her?" A flustered Mrs. McCullers asked Emily as she hurried to catch up with her husband. Emily waited until the doctor left before she entered Paige's room.
Paige swiped angrily at the tears that had fallen, the muscles in her jaw flexing.
"Paige?" Emily took a few steps forward, stopping when Paige shook her head and held up her hand to ask her to stop.
"Just give me a minute okay?"
Emily could hear her take a couple of deep breaths trying to calm herself down. She retook her seat next to the bed and began to play with Paige's fingers. Her fingers tips grazing her palm, up to her wrists and then all the way up her forearm and back again. When Paige's breathing returned to normal, Emily glanced up and found Paige watching their hands. She continued her ministrations waiting until her girlfriend was ready to speak.
"My parents want me to go to California." Paige finally broke the silence. "They say Rosewood has become too dangerous, and since I have enough credits to graduate early. They want me to move there."
Emily's fingers stilled, "Do you want to go?" Emily asked after a few seconds of silence.
Paige shook her head. "No."
Emily pushed the wheel chair Paige was currently in towards the waiting room. Her girlfriend had argued against it, but when she attempted to stand up and swayed dangerously, she finally relented and allowed Emily to help her into it.
Hanna was sitting next to Mona's mom, holding her hand. Mrs. Vanderwaal looked distraught her bloodshot eyes fixed on the door, waiting for any kind of news. Mike and Aria were next to them, Mike's fingers laced together, propping his chin up. Emily wheeled them closer and when she had settled them on the other side of Hanna, Emily laced her fingers with Paige's and they too turned their attention to the door.
It was late when Mona's doctor finally came through the doors and Mrs. Vanderwaal was on her feet, moving towards him before the doors had swung shut again. They talked quietly and then suddenly Mrs. Vanderwaal hugged the doctor. Everyone waited with bated breaths until she returned and relayed the news.
"She's pretty banged up but she's alive, she's okay. He said she was lucky the knife missed most of her major arteries and organs, but they've managed to repair the damage done to her liver." Mrs. Vanderwaal relayed to the group, "She'll be moved into a recovery room."
Hanna was the first to react, standing up to hug the older woman. "I'm glad she's okay."
"I am too." Mrs. Vanderwaal glanced at Paige over Hanna's shoulder as if seeing her for the first time. "Thank you. For my daughter."
Paige nodded, a small smile gracing her lips. She turned her attention to Emily, who leaned closer. "Can you take me back to my room please?"
Emily nodded, stood and after they said their goodbyes, wheeled Paige back. While they had been sitting and waiting to hear about Mona's condition, Emily couldn't help but wonder what Paige had been doing at the Vanderwaal home. She had sat and bit her lip in order not to ask but she needed to know. She helped Paige to get into bed, feeling slightly guilty for what she was about to bring up because her girlfriend looked so tired, and it had been a long day.
Paige took one look at Emily's conflicted face and knew what was coming. "Em? Could you come lay here? Just for a little while?"
"Of course." Emily put the railing down on Paige's uninjured side and got up on the bed next to her, carefully curling herself into her side. Paige put her arm around Emily's shoulders and pulled her closer. "You really scared me today…I thought…" Emily's words trailed off and Paige pressed a kiss to her temple.
"I'm sorry for scaring you." Paige took a breath, "I know you want to know why I was there, I can see it every time you look at me. Remember what I told you at the Brew earlier? I don't want to lie to you Em, and I know that given my records that it isn't easy, but I'm asking you to trust me. And when the time is right I'll tell you everything."
Emily chewed on the inside of her cheek and pulled away slightly so that she could look into her girlfriends eyes. "I don't like secrets between us."
"We all have our secrets, but this one…for right now its best that only those involved know."
Emily opened her mouth to argue and Paige shook her head, "Please. Just trust me."
With her mouth set in a grim line, Emily gave a reluctant nod. "You'll tell me soon."
"I promise. Now please come here."
Emily relented and resumed her position, her mind doing a mile a minute trying to figure out what Paige was up to.
AN: Let me know what you think, constructive criticism is welcomed.