Chapter 8
Sorry for the late update, enjoy.
Aria woke up in her bed in a state of sweat and panic. She was fully dressed and couldn't remember what happened the day before. She was wearing her black dress, shoes, tights and her baggy cardigan. She couldn't remember anything. She looked down at her stomach and it was flat. She had no bump. She remembered having a nice little, neat bump, but now her stomach was flat. She looked at her phone and it was Saturday, but Aria could have sworn it was Thursday yesterday. She remembered crying. Then everything came flowing back. About Ezra dying and the funeral and the baby. She got up and went downstairs.
"Mom what did we do yesterday?" Aria asked.
Ella looked at her daughter puzzled. "You went to school and I went to work. Why?"
Aria laughed. "I was just making sure I had the right day." She laughed again as if she was joking.
"And you skipped more classes." Ella said. "Sweetie why are you doing that? Are you being bullied? You do seem upset lately." Ella asked.
"No mom I'm not being bullied. I'm just tired lately. I promise I'll catch up on the work and go to all my classes." Aria lied.
"You better because your teachers are not happy and if you do it again I'll ground you." Ella smiled. "Why are you dressed like that?"
"Oh it's nothing. I'm going to get ready I told Hanna I'd go over." Aria said as she took a slice of toast.
"It must have been a dream." Aria thought to herself.
Aria got ready and went to visit Ivy she needed to know how Ezra was from someone other that her mother. She hadn't seen her sister in the last few days and now that she knew Ezra's death was a dream she needed to make sure it didn't happen. It was hard enough living through it in a dream she wouldn't be able to in reality.
Aria arrived at Ezra and Ivy's apartment building. She brought lunch for Ivy and herself. She knew Wren was with Kasey in the hospital. "Hey." Aria said shyly as Ivy opened her apartment door.
"Aria!" Ivy's eyes became wide as she opened the door and then they turned soft and then they turned to anger.
"I came with lunch." Aria motioned to the food in the bags. "And I'm so sorry I didn't get in touch earlier."
"Come in." Ivy said as she stepped aside to let Aria in.
They opened the food and made small talk.. They ate quietly for the first ten minutes until finally Ivy spoke." Why didn't you call or come to the hospital."
"I was scared. I am scared. I'm he's going to die and I cannot watch him die." Aria said tears filling up in her eyes. "I cannot watch the love of my life and the father of my unborn child die. I don't want to remember him in a hospital bed with broken ribs and bruises. I want to remember the spark he once had." Aria bawled.
"Your pregnant?" Ivy asked.
Shit. Aria thought. She slipped up. Aria didn't want Ivy to find out like this. Aria nodded. "I don't know what to do. I'm too young to have a baby, mom and dad will kill me and what if my baby doesn't have a father figure. Kasey has Wren." Aria explained between sobs.
Ivy stood up and hugged Aria. "It's okay. I will help you. Ezra is not going to die. Do you hear me? He is not going to die. He's strong the doctors say so." Ivy told her trying to make Aria believe. "You haven't told mom and dad?" Ivy asked.
"No. They can't find out, not yet." Aria said, still crying.
"I'll help you tell them. We can do it today." Ivy said.
"No. Please Ivy I'm trusting you, no." Aria begged. "I have to leave. It was a mistake coming here. I shouldn't have told you. Please don't tell please." Aria said collecting her stuff and exiting the apartment.
"No Aria don't leave." Ivy tried but it was too late Aria was already out the door.
Aria went straight to the bookstore. It was the only quiet place she knew and on a Saturday it would be empty. It was empty. Aria sat herself down with The Great Gatsby and a coffee. She had read the book before and this time she wasn't reading it she was just scanning the pages, instead she was thinking. Thinking about how much she missed Ezra and about how much she wanted him back.
About a week later Kasey was let out and was doing great. She was a little shook up and it took her a while to come back around to her normal self but she was out of the hospital and back at home. Aria didn't visit because she still hadn't spoken to Ivy. She did however see Kasey when Ella was minding her for a couple of hours one day.
Three weeks went by before Aria finally heard news from Ivy. Her sister had finally rang her once there was a change in Ezra. Ezra had woken up. The doctors slowly took him off some of his medication and he had woken up. He didn't need a life support machine or tubes to feed him anymore and he was a bit better. He had a badly fractured arm and bruised ribs. His legs were very badly bruised but he could still walk. He had had a concussion but everything was looking up for him. Ezra wasn't going to die. He was going to be okay. He would need help at home and he wouldn't be able to go back to work for two or three months but otherwise he was great.
Now Aria was ready to visit.
On Monday after school her mother gave her a lecture on skipping classes and stuck to her word on grounding her. And of course it did happen again and Aria was grounded for two days. Ella had her on lockdown. It was horrible she had to go straight to school with Ella and straight home with Ella. And if she skipped again she would be grounded for an extra day. Her phone was taken away too and she was only allowed make a certain amount of calls and they were being monitored so she couldn't call or text Ezra. She also had a doctor's appointment and knew she would have to ask one of the girls to cancel it for her. It was Tuesday and her appointment was on Wednesday.
Aria got up as usual and got ready. She was now just over 6 weeks pregnant but her bump was still pretty small, at the bottom of her belly it was hard and the top was normal. She didn't feel pregnant she just felt bloated. Aria had experienced morning sickness but she mostly got it at night. She had asked her doctor for prenatal vitamins to help and they did a little, but not much.
The school drive was awkward like most days. Ella asked her how she was doing in school and Aria answered with "fine". Ella also decided to ask her about why she hasn't been eating lately.
"It's nothing. I eat at school I swear." Aria said. Everything her mother made to eat made Aria feel nauseous. Before she was pregnant her mothers food was always so tasty and inviting. Now it was just disgusting.
"Okay. I hope you are. Your not a big girl Aria you need to eat you're a teenager and it's not healthy you skipping all these meals, especially since what you're going through." Ella said, her eyes focused on the steering wheel.
"Excuse me?" Aria asked feeling very anxious. The first thing that came to her mind when Ella said that was the baby.
"Well you need to look after yourself. You need to be healthy if your going through this huge change. It's not just going to go away, you have to learn how to control it." Ella replied.
Aria just looked at her mother vaguely. Did Ella know about the baby. Did she know who the father was?
"Honey if your periods are irregular and you're not feeling your best lately you need better eating habits." Ella smiled. "I'm here if you need to talk."
"Oh," Aria let out a huge breath as relief ran through her body. "Yeah mom I will."
Once they got to school they went their separate ways. Aria went to find the girls and Ella went to her classroom.
"Hey guys I need a favour?" Aria asked. The girls nodded. The bell rang and Aria dragged the three girls into the bathrooms. She checked the three cubicles before speaking. "I have an appointment tomorrow and I'm grounded and I need your phone." Aria smiled. "And Ezra woke up." She hadn't told the girls he had woken up yet but now seemed like a good time, she knew they'd help her find a way to see him.
She explained everything to the girls and they were really understanding. They cancelled her appointment and scheduled it for another day. They came up with a plan on how Aria would visit Ezra. Aria would tell a teacher she wasn't feeling well and they would send her home. Then she would go see Ezra. She would use Emily's name instead of hers so her mom would never find out and if they found out about Emily they could say she was bringing a present to Mr Fitz from the class. It was simple really.
Everything went smoothly and Aria got out of school. Her mom told her to go home to bed and Aria agreed only she left out the part of seeing Ezra first. She was on her way to the hospital in no time. When she got there Aria walked straight up to reception and signed her name as Emily Fields. The receptionist pointed her toward two double doors that said ICU on them. This was it. This was the first time in four weeks she would actually see him. And Aria was nervous. She never really got nervous especially when it came to Ezra but now she was. She looked at her reflection in the window of the door to make sure she looked appealing. Little did she know Ezra wouldn't care what she looked like.
Aria walked through the doors and a nurse said Ezra had just finished getting washed and was being dressed and to wait until she was called. It scared Aria to hear Ezra incapable of washing or dressing himself and that nurses had to do it. Once she was called she walked to the end of the hall and into one of the rooms. Ezra was behind a curtain. The nurse went to pull the curtain back when Aria whispered.
"Stop. Does he still... Is he... Will he look like himself?" Aria asked, scared of what she was about to see.
"He looks exactly how he did before. We are looking after him. It's okay to be scared, he's fine." The nurse said warmly touching Aria's arm. Aria nodded and the nurse pulled back the curtain. Ezra's eyes were closed and he didn't open them. The nurse walked over to him and touched his arm. His eyes opened and he looked at her. She told him he had a visiter and left. Aria was shocked when she saw him. He didn't look that bad. He had some cuts on his forehead and cheek but that was all. She couldn't see anymore of his body and tried not to wander what bruises he had under his pyjamas.
"Hey." Aria said warmly, slowly walking towards Ezra. He didn't reply he just looked at her. "How are you feeling, you look great." Aria tried again but Ezra still didn't reply. Aria stopped talking and looked down at her feet willing herself not to cry.
A few moments passed before Ezra spoke. "Why didn't you come sooner." He said vaguely. Aria couldn't read if he was angry or sad. He looked emotionless.
He was not happy to see her. After all this time she decides to come now. Was he not that important to her unconscious than he is conscious? He waited patiently for her answer but it never came. "I don't want you here.." Ezra said quietly.
"Please Ezra don't do that." Aria begged.
"Please leave Aria I'm tired and I want to rest." Ezra asked again. The nurse came in and started doing something with one of the machines beside him. "Nurse could you ask this girl to leave please." His tone was definite and it made Aria sick.
"I'm sorry but Ezra is not feeling up to visitors right now. Maybe you can come back in a few days." The nurse said leading Aria out of the room. "He will be discharged on Friday if everything looks good. Don't worry he's just tired and still getting used to things. It will be fine." The nurse smile warmly and walked away.
As Aria was walking out looking at Emily's phone. She had turned it off going into the hospital and now she was turning it on. She had two missed calls and three messages—they were all Spencer. Spencer wanted to know how everything went. Aria replied "fine" but didn't go into any detail. Her visit with Ezra was not fine. It couldn't have went any worse. They didn't talk and she didn't get to explain herself. Aria never got to tell him about keeping the baby or how much she missed him. As she was texting she bumped into someone when she looked up it was a tall teenage boy.
"I'm sorry." Aria said as her eyes found the boy's. They looked very familiar and very beautiful. Aria smiled and he smiled back.
"No it was my fault, wasn't watching where I was going." The boy motioned to his phone.
"Same." Aria laughed. "Well. Bye." Aria said and walked away. The boy walked too and Aria turned around once more to get a better look at him and when she did he had already turned to look at her. She laughed awkwardly and kept walking. Who was that boy? Little did she know he knew exactly who she was.
Hope you liked it and thank you for all your reviews. Ill update soon. Please review. Sorry for any mistakes. X
