A/N: Enjoy!
"Mike!" Aria quickly exclaimed when her and Eric ran into the ER's entrance. He had a large bandage on his head and his arm in a sling. "I'm okay," he breathed out, hugging his sister back with relief.
"But mom…you need to go get tested Aria," Mike told her.
"Tested for what?" Aria asked pulling away.
"Mom lost a lot of blood and the blood bank doesn't have enough of her type of blood. She needs the antibodies in the blood and I don't know… you just have to get someone."
Nodding, she hugged her brother again and quickly stopped a nurse. "Excuse me but my mom was brought in with my brother. She was in a car accident and I need to get tested to donate blood."
"I'll have the doctor come out to talk to you about that right away," the efficient nurse said before walking away. Standing around, Aria walked back over to the two guys and introduced Mike to Eric.
"Nice to meet you," Eric said shifting hands to shake Mike's since his right hand was in a sling.
"You too," Mike said going to sit back down on the waiting room chairs. It seemed like forever till the doctor came back and called their name. "Montgomery? Someone for Ella?"
"Here!" Aria announced getting up from her chair. The surgeon walked over to them with a file in hand, ready to talk about their mom. "I'm Doctor Jean…you are?"
"Aria Montgomery – you are working on my mom," Aria answered. The 5'10", 45-year-old looking woman with a long, sophisticated angular and edgy face nodded, taking off her scrub cap to show firey dark red colored hair. "Well, I don't know if anyone came to talk to you but your mom and brother got hit head on by a drunk driver in a vehicular accident." Aria swallowed hard and nodded. Mike already told her that. They were waiting at a red light after Mike's basketball tournament. "Your mother ended up with a severe concussion, four broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and her shoulder came out of socket. There was major internal bleeding from the seat belts pressure against your mom's frontal part of her body. We've stabilized her for now, but the blood bank is backed up which is why I suggested to your brother to get yourselves tested. She is going to need more blood than what we already have so it's the fastest way."
"I understand," Aria said trying to take it all in.
"Now your brother was just tested a few minutes ago but-"
"Where do I go?" Aria interrupted.
"Me too," Eric said speaking up. "I haven't been asked for my blood type in a while so I'd like to get tested." Aria smiled at his kindness but worried more for her mother. The doctor explained the directions, seeing how anxious they were, and then went to talk to Mike some more.
"Thank you – for doing this," Aria said as her and Eric came into the room to get their blood drawn.
"Not a problem," he replied with a charming smile rolling up his sleeve. The blood draw was quick and the hematologist there said she would have the test done in a few minutes and would come get them when she was ready. Sitting back down in the waiting room with Mike, Aria's head swarmed with worry. What if her mother wasn't going to be okay? What was going to happen with them? What were they going to do?
"Mike and Aria Montgomery? And…Eric Kahn?" the doctor announced coming back with the rest results. Spotting them easily as they all stood up, Dr. Jean came over to them. "Alright well, Eric, you are O positive so that may work for Mrs. Montgomery. If you would still like to, you can go down the hall and give blood. As for Aria and Mike…Mike, you AB+ like your father so if you could head over to the nurse over there and she can take care of you." Mike looked to his sister unsure, but Aria gave him a smile and had him go. She would be there with him in a few.
"Come on bro, lets go get some apple juice," Eric said reading the anxiety of the younger sibling. Again, Aria was thankful Eric was with her. She couldn't have done any of this without him right now. Mike was already stuck to her like glue and freaking out just as much she was.
"Aria, your blood type came up O negative. Are you adopted?" Dr. Jean wondered.
Aria stood there frozen wondering what in the world would make the doctor think that. "We tested your mother's blood type when she came in this evening and it showed to be A positive. Your father's is AB positive, showing up from both records we've had and what your mother's told us. With that genetic makeup, there should be no possibility that you have O negative blood." Still in shock, she swallowed hard. This wasn't right. The blood got mixed up or something… "Of course, its still possible for you to also donate. O negative is a universal blood type, but I would also encourage you to donate for more than just your mother. Many people are in need of your type of blood and its very rare."
She couldn't do this right now, she couldn't process this. Her parents weren't her parents? Is that what this doctor was saying? She was adopted?
"Aria," Eric called coming back down the hall. "Your brother really wants you." Mike was getting antsy and very nervous that Aria wasn't with him. Eric couldn't really blame the kid considering he was just hit face first with a car and decided to get Aria. He felt bad for the two of them.
"Coming," she answered gulping down some air and turning back to the doctor. "Thank you." Nodding, Dr. Jean watched the two teens went back to the blood room. They were nice kids and she hated delivering bad/awkward news…
"Is everything alright?" Eric wondered as they walked the hall.
"Yea, good. The doctor was just giving me an update about everything again," Aria lied. Walking into the room, Aria spotted Mike with his arm up and a needle in his vein. Taking a seat next to him, with Eric in the one next to her, she waited for the nurse to come over to them too and do the same thing.
Around three in the morning, after calls to her family, friends, and neighbors, Aria and Mike were finally able to go see their mother. Aria had pushed Eric out of the hospital after a few hours of staying there, saying thank you and he could leave because they would be fine but he refused. He was actually a heartfelt guy underneath it all because finally after much convincing he left like she instructed, only to come back with some munchies from the vending machine down the hall for all of them. He stayed for another hour after that and Aria really had him leave to go home after that. He missed his party and probably had ticket from not feeding the hospital meter.
"Mom," the two of them breathed out. Ella looked like a mess, all scraped up and black and blue. Aria's worry skyrocketed again and she worried about what their future was going to be like. They didn't live on tight paychecks, but this hospital bill was going to be huge…
"Come here," Ella instructed to Aria as Mike was already hugging her. Dipping into her arms, the kids put their heads on their mom's chest and took in a large thankful breath.
"You two look tired," Ella commented after they pulled away and sat next to her on either sides of her bed.
"It's been a long night that's for sure," Mike commented getting his sense of humor back. 'I heard you both gave blood to me." Aria gave a faltering smile, thinking about what the doctor said again. It wasn't possible for her to have that blood type if she was their child…
"Aria?" Ella asked, finding she skipped out on their conversation.
"Sorry," Aria said zoning back in.
"Everything okay sweetie?" Ella asked in a kind manner. Even though she was beaten and bruised the woman still cared. "Yea," Aria fakely smiled. Ella saw somewhat through the look knowing something was up but didn't question it. When Aria was ready she would bring it up (or maybe she could ask again later). The doctor came in, interrupting them. Ella was out of the woods safe and just needed to stabilize. It was suggested that the kids go home to let the mother get some rest but they both refused.
"Go you two," Ella instructed when the doctor left. "I'll be fine here. You both can come back in the morning."
"We don't mind staying here," Mike stated.
"I'm fine, get out of here," Ella said lightly. She didn't want her kids seeing the real pain she was in. The morphine was needed to be increased as she felt every ache in her body. Sensing the true reason why their mom wanted them gone, almost as if she was reading her mind, Aria got up from her chair and told Mike they really should go. "She'll get a better nights rest if we aren't in here to disrupt her," Aria explained grabbing her brother.
"Thank you Aria," Ella said knowing she knew she saw her pain. Going over, Ella kissed them both on their heads and watched the door shut when they left. Immediately she pressed the nurses call button and let out a slow deep breath.
When Aria and Mike both got home, they went straight for their rooms. It had been too long of a night and they were going to get up early tomorrow to go see their mom again. Changing into her pajamas and checking on Mike, who had crashed on his bed not even bothering to change, she went back to her room and shut the door carefully. She swiped her phone off her desk and sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the device while twisting the thick charm bracelet around her wrist. She really needed Jason right now and for things to be okay. The floor had slipped from her feet again and she knew he was stability, but could she call him? Her stubbornness was dead set, thinking he was the bad guy in all of her problems again but maybe he wasn't. Spencer was right – you couldn't hold a person against a past relationship. Biting her lip, Aria dialed Jason's number and put the phone up to her ear. It rang and rang making Aria a nervous wreck, and then it stopped.
"Hey this is Jason Di-"
Aria quickly ended the call not even bothering to leave a message. She was being stupid and clingy. She could do this on her own. She was strong – she always was before Jason came along and she could still be. Setting her phone down on her nightstand, she slipped under her covers and got some rest.
Jason was dead asleep a little after 2:30 in the morning, calling Aria with every possible second he could get. He thought that if he was persistent enough she would pick up his call, but it hadn't worked. He wished she would just talk to him. His heart ached every time he heard her voice on her voicemail. His day consisted of meeting after meeting and business lunches and dinners. Life wasn't worth doing what he was doing without Aria. He promised himself he would leave as soon as a contract was signed. Listening to her voice a few more times, he left a few more messages, begging for her to call him so he could explain everything. Cece was just…someone from his past. They dated for a while yes, but she was just a girl. How could he explain that? Jason was so tired that he didn't hear his phone ring at 4:50 in the morning with Aria calling…
Aria got up the next morning to see more calls from Jason and a few from her friends. They were all worried and wanted answers. Ignoring them all, she woke up Mike, got dressed for the day and headed over to the hospital. Her mom was doing a lot better today and the doctor said the blood had helped her.
Mike, Aria, and her mom were all sitting around the room talking when Aria's phone began to buzz. Pulling it out of her back pocket, she looked for who was calling and saw it was an unknown number.
"Hello?" Aria asked wondering if 'A' would actually call her over the phone.
"Aria? Its Eric," he said. Surprised, Aria arched her eyebrow.
"Hey Eric…"
"I got your number from Noel and Cece. I wanted to check in with you on how your mom was."
"Oh, she's good," Aria replied, surprised that he cared. Aria for sure thought he would return to his flirtatious boyish acts after last night.
"Glad to hear that. Hey, do you know your mom's favorite flower? Or maybe yours? I was going to send them over to her hospital room."
"You don't have to do that," she blushed.
"Ehh, well, it's a little too late hear that," Eric said stepping through the doorway with a vase of flowers in hand and his phone to his ear. Aria glanced at him shocked, melting just a bit that he was here with a huge bouquet of flowers in his hand.
Giving a large grin, Aria got up from her chair and introduced Eric to her mom.
"Well…thank you for the blood," Ella added when they became nice acquaintances.
"Yea, no problem, I was glad I could help," Eric said flashing those perfectly white teeth of his. Aria took the flowers from Eric, setting them on a table across the room for her mom. They were beautiful and huge; a mixture of lilies, daisies, carnations, roses and some other ones she didn't know.
"So how do you two know each other?" Ella wondered, noticing how Eric was so focused on her daughter as she walked away from him.
"Oh well Mike plays lacrosse with Noel Kahn and Eric is his older brother," Aria answered, not bringing up that they met at a party last night before she got a call about the accident. Curious, Eric went along with it when Ella peered at him to confirm the story. "We happened to cross paths the other day."
"Interesting," Ella said clearly seeing there was something going on there.
"So…it was great to meet you Mrs. Montgomery, Mike good to see you. Aria, I'll-"
"I'll walk you out," Aria commented, trying to be polite and ignore her mother's interested stare. Eric was just a friend nothing more. What was her mother thinking? Walking beside Eric, they went down the hall in silence.
"So…what was with the whole 'he's Noel's older brother' introduction?" Eric wondered with his arms behind his back.
Aria blushed and twisted her hands in each other. "I'm sorry about that. I just-…my mom probably didn't need to hear I was at some party a half hour away."
"Alright," Eric nodded, hoping he could use the situation to his advantage. "To make up for it though, I say when you have a free time we grab a bite to eat together." Aria rolled his eyes, completely ignoring the way he was trying to hit on her.
"Oh come on," Eric said bumping shoulders with her with charm. "It would be fun Montgomery."
"Maybe when pigs fly," she decided while stopping near the entrance of the hospital. This was his stop.
Eric put a hand over his heart, giving an "ouch" sound, while trying to look wounded.
"Thank you – again. And for the flowers," Aria added with a small chuckle as she went to leave.
"You can still take me to lunch!" he called when she walked away.
"You can pay for your own!" she exclaimed back over her shoulder as she waved him goodbye. Her day was a bit uplifted after that, Eric putting a smile on her face from his cheesy lines and flirting. It lasted for a while, up until her dad and Opal came into the room.
"We came as soon as we could," Byron said holding his new pregnant wife's hand.
"Wow Ella, you look…" Opal seemed to have a terrified and somewhat disgusted look on her face, which made both kids glare at her.
"Thank you," Ella said not enjoying her statement anymore than Mike or Aria.
"So are you okay now? Did you need us to do anything?" Byron asked acting concerned.
"I'm doing much better," Ella answered with a fake smile plastered on her face. "Mike and Aria are doing a great job keeping me company." She smiled at her kids who quickly smiled back at her.
"And I'm fine here. I'm hoping that you can check up on Aria and Mike from time to time though? I'm not allowed to be released from here for a few more days and…"
"Of course," Byron said speaking up.
"Oh that's great!" Opal said too overly enthusiastic. "We can show the kids the new nursery! Oh and Mike! We can start getting your new room all set up!"
"Excuse me?" he asked looking to the two adults.
"We bought a new place together a few days ago," Byron explained. "With the little one on the way we couldn't live in an apartment forever."
The three gave raised eyebrows and surprised stares at the happy couple.
"So anyways, we have a spare room for you Mike. And Aria, if you ever wanted to come along, I'm sure Mike wouldn't mind you crashing in his new room with him."
Aria made a face and felt a bit hurt that her dad decided not to give her a room for her in their house. It was just Mike. Why?
"Do they have any jello around here?" Opal asked rubbing her belly. "Green jello sounds great right about now."
"Mike…why don't you go take Opal to find some," Aria suggested before her father could. Mike shot her a glare, getting up to do so. "You owe me," he muttered to her as he took her to get some.
Watching them leave, Aria quickly went over and shut the door.
"Aria?" Ella wondered cautiously.
Taking in a deep breath, Aria got her bearings before facing her parents and asking the question she wanted to know. "Am I adopted?"
She didn't miss the look her parents shot each other and the happiness her father had plastered on his face turned serious.
"Why would you say that?" he wondered.
"When mom came in from the car accident the doctor said that the blood bank was backed up and if we would go get ourselves tested so that we can give some. When Dr. Jean came back with my blood results he said I had type O negative blood. I could still donate because I was a universal donor but he curious if I was adopted."
Aria glanced between her parents again before repeating the question. "Am I?" Byron was staring at Ella, having this silent conversation between them. Aria's heartbeat thudded in her eardrums making her feel dizzy. The longer they stayed silent the longer she could see it was true. Clammy handed, Aria swallowed hard and tried to keep an open mind.
"You were delivered on our doorstep," Bryon finally spoke, cutting off his stare with his ex wife to explain the story to his daughter.
"Byron," Ella snapped, glancing to Aria.
"She needs to know the truth Ella. We can't hide it any longer."
Ella gave a sad sigh and gazed at her daughter listening to Byron tell the story. "It was when your mom and I first got married – the 'just married' sign was still hung up above the porch on the new house we just bought."
Aria swallowed hard and leaned against the door paying attention. "It was one afternoon when your mother and I were both home. We just came back from our honeymoon and began painting the house together." A flash of her and Jason doing the same thing to his house went through her mind but she quickly shoved it away. She couldn't think about him right now.
"The doorbell rang and we were fooling around. We mustn't have heard it because it rang again a few minutes later and then there was a cry – a baby cry." Byron paused for a second, seeing his daughter try to keep up with the story. "You couldn't have been more than a few days old when you were placed on our doorstep."
This was all like a movie Aria thought to herself. She was the orphaned kid being placed on some stranger's doorstep.
"We quickly took you into our home, calling the police and neighbors for any information on a person who might have seen you get dropped off. Unfortunately no one saw and when the police came, they thought it was best to put you into foster care."
"We discussed it for a while, asking ourselves if we could handle a child. And after that we decided that you would be ours," Ella cut in when Byron had a hard time continuing. It looked like he was getting emotional from remembering the day. Ella kept her eyes focused on Aria. "You were placed on our doorstep for a reason and we took that as a blessing."
"When you said you had kids young…" Aria said thinking back to the conversation about her dad wanting the young life again. That was because of her…because she came into their lives.
"You were ours," Byron said cutting off Ella. Agreeing with her ex husband, Ella tried to help Aria as best as she could "It didn't matter that you weren't conceived by us. We still loved you. We kept it our secret that you were dropped on our doorstep; I claimed that I was pregnant sometime after the wedding and throughout the honeymoon. Our families didn't question the difference and all rushed over to see you."
"Why?" Aria wondered shakily. "Why did you do that?"
"We didn't want you to feel any less than what you already are to us Aria," Ella said with a gentle voice. "You are our daughter and we love you very much."
"But I'm not actually your daughter," Aria clarified as the gears turned in her head. "I'm not actually yours by birth…or blood."
"That doesn't matter to us," Bryon stated, taking a step by Aria. Ella knew it was the wrong thing to do because Aria quickly freaked out, backing herself against the door further. Don't corner her Byron, Ella said in her head as she watched the scene unfold. The father took a step further wanting to hug Aria but she wasn't ready for that yet. She was too rung up and it caused her to dash from the room.
"Aria!" Mike called when she passed him and Opal. She ran out of the hospital and settled down against her car parked out on the street. This was real. This wasn't a dream or a nightmare. Her life was based on a lie. Who she was…it was a lie.
Wiping some tears away, Aria got in her car and sat there for a few minutes. She wanted to believe her parents did the right thing and be thankful that they took her in, but the deception hurt her. No one knew she wasn't really a Montgomery…or a Rose for that matter; she was a stranger living in this world. She didn't belong. Getting upset again, Aria whipped out her phone and dialed the only number she knew could save her from her destructive minded self.
"I made a terrible mistake and I need you," Aria broke down to Jason over the phone when he picked up. "Please come home – I c-can't…I'm s-o-o s-sorry." She sobbed over the phone with her hands against her face still fighting to keep her composure. She didn't want to break down but she knew she could with him. Jason, still on the other line felt helpless on what to do. He was so glad that he picked up when Aria called again – he had been beating himself up in the morning when he saw he had missed her call earlier – but now he was panicked.
"Ar? What's going on? What happened?" he asked, briskly jogging down the rest of the hallway of hotel rooms only to slide into his. All he could hear is muffled sobs and Aria brokenly crying.
"Aria," Jason said gently. He sat there for a while, listening to her try and pull herself together. It took almost 10 minutes for her to do so and with each second he was worrying for her. Did someone die? Did someone get hurt? She couldn't what? What had she been trying to say before she broke down?
"I miss you – so much," he stated when she gave some hiccupping breaths.
"I miss you too," she answered wiping some more tears away. "I'm so sorry for everything. I was hurt and I –"
"I should have told you about her," Jason spoke up cutting off her apology. "I'm coming home today. I don't care about this job anymore – it doesn't matter if it gets done or not."
"No, you should stay," Aria sniffled, wiping her last few tears away. She felt better after hearing his voice and crying.
"I need to see you – I need to be with you. I'll be home by tonight," he pleaded and affirmed with urgency.
"No," she repeated taking in deep breaths. "I'm okay now."
"… What happened?" he wondered, sitting back down on the bed after attempting to empty the hotel drawers of his clothes to fit in his suitcase.
Aria couldn't speak the words that she was adopted. They hurt too much. Instead she was silent. She reeled over everything her parents told her in her head and slowly tried to deal with them without crying.
"How much longer till your home?" Aria wondered quietly, breaking the silence between them.
"If I come home tonight then…"
"You know what I mean," she cut in already telling him not to leave his business trip. She had a weak moment and he was there for her. Now it was done.
"A few more days…a week at most," he answered giving a long sigh.
"Will you call me tonight? Before you fall asleep?" she wondered.
"Of course," he said gently. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yea," Aria stated trying to put a smile on her face. In the rearview mirror it more looked like a grimce, but it was the best she could do right now. Jumping when there was a knock on her window, Aria saw it was Mike.
"I have to go," she murmured to Jason.
"Ar," he said thinking she was back to her old self, avoiding him and his calls.
"I'll talk to tonight," she added, sensing his oncoming fear. Disconnecting the call, Aria stepped out of the car and faced her brother.
"Are you okay?" Mike wondered when he saw her face. It was red and blotchy with tears.
"Yea, I was just calling Jason," she replied wiping her cheeks. "We miss each other."
Somewhat skeptical, Mike continued to question her. "What was with leaving me with Opal? And what the hell was wrong with you when you ran down the hall?"
Aria could tell he was upset and disbelieving with her previous lie. Mike was a smart kid.
"I was talking money with mom and dad," Aria lied. "I didn't want you to be in the room for that."
"And? What happened?" Mike pushed.
Aria gave a shrug, completely lying about all of this now.
"Aria, come on. I'm old enough to know we are going to have a huge stack of hospital bills we are going to have to pay. Should I get a job? I could help out somehow too," Mike said.
"No, no don't," Aria said quickly. "Mom wouldn't want you to quit sports and stuff just for that. We're going to be fine. Mom doesn't want dad's help right now – we've still got money saved and I'm working too. If we need dad's help we'll ask him again."
"Are you sure?" Mike wondered, believing it a bit more. "I don't mind getting a job and helping out."
"No Mike you don't have to," Aria said slinging an arm around his shoulders. "We'll be fine."
"How was getting Jello with Opal?" Aria wondered when they walked back into the hospital.
"I swear, if hear any more about that green giggly stuff – or even watch her eat it again – I am going to puke. She does the weirdest thing with it and makes these sounds…" Mike said with a disgusted face while imitating her. It had Aria laughing from her stomach, clearly enjoying the picture he was painting for her.
"I swear, you ever send me with her again and you owe me big."
"Fine," Aria laughed, walking back into the room with their parents. Both Ella and Byron gave their daughter a thankful and worried look while Opal sat in the chair picking at her nails.
"Everything okay?" Mike wondered, picking up on their stares at Aria.
"Oh yea, we were just noticing how great you two get along now a days," Ella noted with a smile to her son. Aria's face fell and she no longer enjoyed her parents company; that out of place feeling started to creep over her shoulders again.
"It's a miracle, I know," Mike stated breaking the darkness surrounding her. It perked up Aria quite a bit and she pretended to be offended giving him a small shove to the shoulder. He replied with a jolly laugh clearly enjoying the sibling banter and swatted her back on the arm.
