Cole's eyes lids felt like they were being held down with bricks. The fight to open her eyes was intense. Finally, after what seemed an hour her eyes slowly opened. It took a few seconds for her vision to focus. She felt panic for a moment until she realized she was in a hospital. She was struggling to remember what happened. She turned her head to the left and saw Jason sleeping in a chair. Seeing him comforted her and then the memory of the car crash came back to her. After a couple of minuets the pain in her body registered and she groaned. She saw Jason jump up and rush over to her bed side.

"Oh thank god you're awake." She saw the relief flashing in his eyes. "Are you okay?" Her mouth felt like it was lined with sand.

"I don't know." she managed to croak out. "I need water." He poured some water in a plastic cup and opened a straw and brought it to her lips. It was the best water she had ever had in her life up to that point. "Thank you."

"Do you remember what happened?"

"I vaguely remember a car carsh."

"Let me go get your doctor. We'll talk after he checks you over.

"I'm glad you're awake" The doctor had kind eyes. He made Cole feel comfortable. Which was nice. "I ordered some more pain meds since you seem to be in a substantial amount of pain still."

"Thank you. So what happens next?" Cole knew she would be in the hospital for a while. Much to her dismay.

"Well right now let's get some blood work done and keep your medicine going. If you're feeling up to it tomorrow we can try some soft foods. But lets start on liquids first. We'll discuss what will happen going forward tomorrow once you've rested and are feeling less pain and are more comfortable."

"Okay. Can Jason stay?" Cole asked. She didn't want to be alone.

"We normally don't allow non-family members to stay" The doctor saw the panic in the young woman's eyes. "But we can make an exception for you. You've been through a lot. I want you to relax and if Mr. DiLaurentis being here aids in that, I'm okay with it."

"Thank you Doctor. I'll make sure she gets plenty of rest" Jason shook the doctor's hand.

"I'm sure you will. I'll have the nurses check in frequently. But do not hesitate to push the call button." Jason nodded as the doctor left the room.

"So I was out for 2 days?"

"Yes. But you needed it. Your body went through a pretty serious trauma."

"Clearly- I'm missing an organ and now I have some hard ware in my collar bone." Jason leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"I called Spencer and your mom. I told them the doctor said to wait until tomorrow to come up and see you."

"My mother?"

"Yes. She was here for the entire day when you came in. I sent her home though. But she put up a fight. Cole she was terrified she was going to lose you. The guilt she feels-" Cole put her hand up to stop him. A tear slid down her cheek.

"I shouldn't have pushed her away. I wont anymore. This was a harsh reminder of how short life can be. I don't want to waste any more time with her."

"Do you remember what happened before you crashed?"

"My brakes didn't work. I don't know what happened. It's almost a brand new car. It was strange. And then when the car crashed, I swear I saw someone in a black hoodie snapping a picture from the distance. But I don't even know how that would be possible. I think I was just confused." In the pit of his stomach, Jason knew she wasn't confused. But he had no idea why someone would want to see her get hurt.

"Cole woke up." Spencer said as she sat down with the girls for lunch. They were happy to see her more relaxed than she had been the past few days.

"That's great Spence. When?" Hanna smiled at her friend. Happy that her sister would seemingly be okay. The night at the hospital had been a hard night for Spencer, Jason and Veronica. She had never seen Jason or Veronica that broken down and it was a rare occurrence for Spencer.

"Last night. Jason called at about 11:30. My mom wanted to go up right then but the doctor suggested we wait until this evening. Give her a day to get her wits about her. But Jason stayed with her."

"I'm so happy she's awake." Emily squeezed Spencer's hand.

"Yeah that's great news." Aria feigned enthusiasm. She obviously didn't wish harm on Spencer's sister. But she wasn't too fond of her and she could tell the feeling was mutual. Even worse, Ezra seemed to be a big fan of her as well. Aria hated the idea of him getting close to another woman. Even if they were just friends.

"She's in a lot of pain, obviously. I talked to Jason a little while ago and she said that she's definitely a little spacey from all the morphine. She's having a hard time keeping a train of thought going. But she seems to be in good spirits."

"Did she say what caused the crash?" Hanna was curious as to what happened. She saw Spencer's expression change.

"Jason told me that all of the sudden her breaks stopped working. Her car is almost brand new. It doesn't make sense. And then she told him that she saw a black hoodie taking a picture of the crash. But she quickly lost consciousness so she thinks it was her imagination."

"Wait- so this is A?" Aria was confused.

"It seems to be. What if Ali isn't A? What if we accused her and we were wrong?" Emily felt panic deep in her stomach.

"No. Alison is A. We know she has someone on the outside helping her. She found out that Jason is spending time with her and that she and Spencer are getting close and she wanted to ruin that." Hanna said matter of factly. Emily wasn't so sure.

"Either way- A is going after her. Jason has one of his friends checking out her car discreetly. What's even more concerning is Jason knows too. What if both he and Cole are the target?" Spencer felt unsettled.

"We'll figure this out Spence. But in the mean time, Cole is in ICU, so she'll be safe. Jason will be there most of the time and when he isn't we'll make sure someone is. I know Ezra will help, even Caleb will sit watch if we need him to." Hanna reassured Spencer. Aria internally flinched.

"I'll let you guys know when I hear back from Jason on her car. I'm going up after school if you guys want to come with me?" Spencer asked hopefully.

"I'd love to, but I've got to help my mom with some stuff." Aria lied. She had no desire to sit by Cole's bed side. Hanna had plans with Caleb but Emily agreed to go up with her.

Cole had sent Jason home to shower and get some clean clothes. He had been at the hospital for almost 2 days straight. She rested her head back on her pillows trying to fall asleep when one of the nurses came into her room.

"A friend of yours left this at the desk. You were sleeping so he didn't want to wake you." Cole tensed up and took the card from the nurse who quickly exited the room. She slipped the card out of the envelope. It was a cheesy get well soon card. She didn't realize she was holding her breath until after she opened the card.

"Cole,

I'm sorry I haven't returned any of your calls. I just can't face you right now. I've completely ruined my own career. It wasn't helping you that got me in trouble at work. I was dating Alison. It was so stupid. I don't know what I was thinking. I promise you that I didn't tamper with any evidence. They think that I changed her lie detector test. But I swear to you I did not. I would never do that. Alison is innocent. I know she is. But I would never go so far to obstruct an investigation. I wanted to let you know that I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for abandoning you when you got into town. I know this all has to be hard for you. I was so worried when I heard about your accident. I'm glad you're going to be okay. I miss you. be safe.

-Gabe

Colette blinked back tears. She had forgotten how much she missed her best friend. He couldn't be bothered to see her? How ashamed of himself could he be? She could have died. And what the hell was he thinking getting involved with Alison? She opened the drawer on the stand next to her and put the card inside of a bible. She didn't want Jason to see it. He would go berserk if he knew a grown man had been messing around with Alison.

He peaked around the corner as the nurse was walking out of Cole's room. He could see the look of panic in her eyes before she opened the envelope. The fact that she was fearful of him already was a pleasant surprise. And that card wast he perfect way to get hers to stop trying to contact Holbrook and get him to come back to Rosewood. He couldn't have her contacting the authorities to find him.