Chapter Nine

Emily sat up and searched her nightstand to kill the incessant buzzing of her cell phone. She had survived a rough night; the night when she stood Jru up at the theater and hid out at Aria's house for most of the night. It was nearly midnight before Emily realized that Jru was serious about keeping her side of the deal. She hadn't contacted her, and even though it hurt to know, Emily figured she would have to put Jru Favors in the rearview of her mind and heart.

The ringing stopped for a moment and then started again. Emily picked it up and rubbed her eyes. It was a number she didn't know and although she was reluctant to pick it up, she did. "Hello," she answered, still groggy.

"Emily," the voice said softly, almost as if it were whispering. "This is Colby."

Emily rolled her eyes despite herself. She hadn't figured Jru would be the type to get her ex-girlfriend to do her dirty work. "Before you start," Emily began with annoyance. "What went on between Jru and me is our business. We don't need you playing referee. And I definitely don't want you defending her honor and then swooping in to pick of the pieces of her broken heart…"

"Emily, Jru was in a motorcycle accident last night. She's in Presbyterian Hospital. I thought you'd like to know." And with that, the phone line went dead.

How was she supposed to react to that? Emily sat dumbfounded in the middle of her bed for a few more minutes before getting dressed as quickly as possible. Presbyterian Hospital was only about fifteen minutes away but in those fifteen minutes every possible question had gone through Emily's mind. Why had Colby called her? Didn't Jru know that she didn't show up last night, or did the accident happen before then? Emily was so confused, but more than anything, she was terrified that something serious had happened to Jru.

"Jru Favors," Emily said quickly to the man at the front desk.

"She's in the ICU, room 8," the man replied, confirming one of Emily's greatest fears immediately. It was serious enough that Jru was in the ICU. She reached the ICU in sheer panic mode but stopped when she saw Colby standing outside of room 8.

"Kelly, calm down…she's out of surgery and resting," Colby whispered outside of the glass pod-shape room. "Your mother got here this morning; she is on the warpath for whoever hit her baby, or ran her off the road or whatever. Andrew is calm as always though." Her words stopped when she saw Emily standing in the distance. "Hey, I'll call you back later. You are coming back aren't you?" Colby hung up after a few more moments and shifted from one foot to another.

"What happened?" Emily asked gently. She figured Colby disliked her presence almost as much as she hated hers, but they weren't there for themselves. Jru was hurt, and although Emily hated this fact, she knew that Colby cared deeply about Jru.

"As far as I know, she was dropping a motorcycle off at her parents' house for Kelly and she had an accident. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but her spleen ruptured and they had to repair it."

"So she's going to be fine?" Emily questioned uneasily.

"Colby, did you get in touch with Kelly?" an older redheaded woman questioned. She looked almost exactly like Jru's older sister but older.

"Yes, Athena, she's actually on her way back now," Colby informed the woman.

"Good," the woman ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm going down to the cafeteria to get breakfast, would you like anything?"

"No thank you," Colby answered.

"I'll be back in a little bit," she said to Colby before heading towards the elevator.

Colby turned back to Emily, giving her a look that displayed that she didn't quite understand Jru's attraction to the girl. "She's going to be fine, most likely," Colby informed her. "She has awakened once this morning."

"Only once?" Emily asked worriedly.

"She's on a lot of medicines after the surgery," Colby explained.

Emily leaned against the wall for a moment, "Oh okay." She was suddenly more frightened than she was before. "Maybe I should let her rest…" she said insecurely.

"She asked for you. While she was awake, she asked for you," Colby said trying to squash Emily's panic. "She wants to see you Emily."

Emily entered the pod as quietly as possibly, but the small amount of noise she made was enough to make Jru open her hazel eyes. She managed a weak but even smile and tried to sit up. "Hey, don't try to move," Emily advised. It was hard for her to keep her tears at bay; Jru looked so fragile and weak lying in the hospital bed. Her gown lay haphazardly off of her thin shoulders and the dark purple bruises showed on her left shoulder.

"I'm fine," she mumbled, closing her eyes to a slight shot of pain that raced down her ribcage. "You didn't have to come this early," she managed.

"Stop, don't be silly," Emily said finally feeling comfortable enough to come closer. She cupped Jru's face gently. "What happened?"

Jru readjusted her position but closed her eyes. "It really doesn't matter now, does it?" Emily looked at her seriously. "I slid off of a motorcycle, broke a rib that ended up lacerating part of my spleen. I had a tiny amount of bleeding into my abdomen and passed out; and now my mother and father are freaking out."

"It doesn't sound like a small bleed," Emily corrected her.

"Well, I never had much of a stomach for blood," Jru laughed at her own pun, although Emily couldn't find it funny. Jru shrugged and took Emily's hand. "Stop worrying; I'm still alive and well. A lacerated spleen can't stop me. I'll be fine in three weeks or so…"

"Is that what the doctors told you? Is that why you are in ICU?"

"I'm in ICU because there is some risk of infection when the spleen is weakened. And Athena Favors will sue this place closed if I so much as sneeze too hard. Where is my mother?"

"I think getting breakfast," Emily told Jru. "You didn't tell me your father's name is Andrew."

Jru interlocked her fingers with Emily's but fought to stay awake. "How do you think I got a screwed up name like Jru? My dad was upset when he realized that my mom had no intentions of giving me his last name…Athena Favors' loves her name more than anything, so the compromise was me being named Jru," she closed her eyes, "I wish I would have gotten a vote on that…"

"I love your name," Emily brushed a few runaway strands of hair out of Jru's face, "even more, I love you." Jru was already asleep. Emily sat back in the chair beside Jru's bed and watched her sleep for upwards of an hour before deciding that there were things she needed to take care of herself. She kissed Jru's hand, then forehead and exited the room as quietly as possible. Once outside, she quickly dialed Spencer.

"Spence…Jru had an accident," she began without preamble.

"What do you mean?" Spencer asked automatically alarmed.

"She had a motorcycle accident last night. She's in the hospital now, in the ICU; but she's fine. She was awake and she was talking a little earlier."

"What, I don't understand. She texted me before she went to meet you last night." Emily could hear Spencer moving around. "I'm coming to the hospital now."

"Okay, but I'm headed out. I'm coming back in a few hours though."

"Okay. Hey Em, thanks for calling," Spencer said before hanging up.

Emily looked at the time on her phone. Twenty-three minutes after eleven; as good a time as any to do what she had to do.


"Emily…I didn't know you were coming this morning," Paige smiled. She loved when her girlfriend popped up unannounced, but the look on Emily's face made her pause. "What's the matter?" she asked carefully.

"We need to talk, Paige," Emily started. Paige pulled her inside of the house and they settled in her living room.

"What do we need to talk about?" Paige questioned frowning.

Emily looked down for a while, unsure of what to say next. This was a lot easier in her head on the drive over. She would simply explain to Paige that she and Jru had become closer than she expected and that she had fallen in love. But now, looking at Paige, it would feel like punching her in the face to say that.

"Em," Paige said slowly. "What is it?"

"I had kinda worked out how to say this in my mind…it's much harder in real life," Emily admitted shifting. Paige was determined not to say anything. Perhaps her silence would make this moment pass without the gut-wrenching heartache that she was sure would soon follow. Realizing that Paige wasn't going to bail her out, Emily took a fortifying breath and said, "I think we just need to be friends." Paige closed her eyes; the exact words that she didn't want to hear. She had felt it for a couple of weeks now, but there was absolutely nothing worse than confirmation. "Are you going to say anything?"

"It's about her isn't it?" Paige asked through gritted teeth. "Spencer's friend, Jru or whatever? I see how she looked at you, how you looked her," a few tears spilled pass Paige's eyelids unchecked. Your friends really love that don't they? Especially Spencer…what did she do? Introduce you two; hook you up because she hates me? Emily, they have been trying to break us up forever! Especially Spencer…"

"It's not like that," Emily began to explain.

"Baby you don't love her! This is something Spencer cooked up because she hates me, Emily!"

"Spencer has nothing to do with this," Emily sighed. "Or Jru, for that matter; we're just better as friends Paige."

"So what?" Paige yelled, standing up quickly, "You just used me to bridge your loneliness after Maya?"

"Don't!" Emily said standing up too. "Don't bring Maya up; this is about us!"

"This is how it always is for you and your friends, isn't it Emily? You use people, get your way and then drop them when you don't need them. But who cares right; I'm sure Jru is right up your alley. I bet you two were laughing behind my back the entire time!" A fresh flash of anger passed over Paige's face at the thought.

"No, she didn't know about you at all until that day at Spencer's."

"That makes me feel a lot better," Paige plopped back down defeated. She buried her head in her hands and cried. "You are all I've ever wanted…"

"This doesn't have to stop us from being friends, Paige," Emily said finally.

"We say that don't we…but I can't be your friend; I won't be your friend."

"Paige…"

"Just go!" Paige said trying to choke back the disgust in her voice. "You don't get to be the good guy now and laugh at me with your friends and new girlfriend later."

"I would never do that!" Emily said adamantly.

"Yeah, because Ali never did that; and Spencer and Hanna and Aria never do that now! Just leave me alone Emily."

Emily knew there was nothing left to say. She headed toward the door and stopped, "I really am sorry, Paige, and one day I hope we can be friends."

"I really feel sorry for Jru…you aren't the prize you appear to be Emily Fields," Paige said sadly still wiping tears away. Emily closed the front door behind her and fought back the sting of Paige's last words as she headed back to Jru.