Chapter Ten

Hospitals are rarely places of comfort. They tend to make you rather melancholy and anxious. That's how Patrick felt as he shifted around in his seat, his mind running through endless possibilities. Blood stained his shirt and his hands were shaking. He was surrounded by doctors and nurses, mourning families and his guilt.

If he had gotten in that cab instead of her or insisted that she stay with him he wouldn't be in this heart wrenching situation. What would her parents think? How would he explain himself being there to her father? What would he do if Annie didn't make it out? He was sure he would die inside, the thought alone brought tears to his eyes. He was broken from his thoughts as the doors swung open and an extremely panicked Mr. and Mrs. Fitz came in. He and Aria made eye contact and she rushed over to him.

"Where's my baby? What happened?" She choked out, her voice trembling.

Patrick looked at her helplessly, "It was an accident. I'm so–I'm so sorry."

Ezra joined them, obviously confused as to who the young man was.

Aria answered the silent question, "He uh, he saw the accident and called 911. He's also her science teacher, Mr. Hemm."

Ezra gave him a nod and shaky thank you before he and his wife rushed to nurse's station. Patrick watched from afar as Aria broke into sobs, curling into Ezra's chest as he stroked her head, tears falling from his own eyes. He would never forgive himself if he broke up this family who obviously cared for each other so much. And as for him? He was stuck. He couldn't show how much he truly cared, he couldn't express the fact that he might lose the love of his life. No, he was just a teacher who happened to find his student after she was involved in a tragic accident and that was killing him.

"I'm looking for the parents of Annabelle Fitz," a doctor called out. He was a middle aged man with gray hair and thick glasses. He looked distressed, as if he was about to deliver bad news. Patrick prayed that Annie would be okay, she had to be okay. She just had to be.

"That's us," Ezra said as he approached the doctor, Aria still in his arms.

"Is she okay?" Aria asked as she looked expectantly at the doctor.

"Your daughter is very lucky," at this both Ezra, Aria, and Patrick, who was listening intently, breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank god," Aria sighed as she placed her hand on her chest and tried to control her breathing.

"Thanks to the alcohol in her system—"

"Alcohol?" Ezra exclaimed, wondering how on earth his daughter had gotten alcohol. Aria glared at Patrick and he simply hung his head into his hands. He was ashamed but also thankful that it had seemingly saved her life.

"Yes, the alcohol kept her in a somewhat numb state. I don't usually encourage underage drinking, but that probably saved her life. She was the only survivor tonight," the doctor explained solemnly.

"Thank you so much, Doctor..." Ezra said as he went to shake the man's hand.

"Kennedy," he replied as he shook Ezra's hand.

"Thank you, Doctor Kennedy. You have no idea how grateful we are," Ezra said again.

"Can we see her?" Aria asked hopefully.

"She's still coming off of the anesthesia. She should be waking up soon, you can go wait with her. But I should warn you, she's pretty beat up. She had four broken ribs, a broken leg and rather extreme whiplash. Take it easy with her and call me when she wakes up, " he informed, a sympathetic smile on his face.

"Our poor baby," Aria cried into Ezra's chest. He stroked her hair and willed himself not to cry, now was the time to be strong for his girls.

Patrick watched as the couple made their way to Annie's room, slightly envious. He needed to see her. He needed to see her in order to believe she would be okay. He closed his eyes and prayed for her recovery.

He was awoken two hours later by Ezra sitting next to him, two cups of coffee in hand.

He handed a cup to Patrick, "Looks like you could use it."

"Thank you, I didn't realize I'd fallen asleep," Patrick responded, his voice full of sleep.

Ezra nodded, "Thank you for being of help, I don't know what we would've done without you. But I'm sure you have your own life to get back to. You better head home."

"Yeah, I have classes in the morning," he got up and began to walk away before turning back to ask, "How is she?"

Ezra thought for a moment before responding, "She's going to be okay in the end. Hard to see it that way now, she so bruised up. She's uh, she's still asleep. It's really difficult picture my–my little girl."

He choked up, tears falling from his eyes, "This is embarrassing, I need to be strong for my family. And I definitely don't need to fall apart in front of a stranger."

"Sometimes strangers are the best people to break down with... Look, she's an amazing girl and I know she knows how you much you love her. She loves you, too. Probably even more than you realize," Patrick comforted, swaying from one foot to the other as he stood.

"You speak as if you know her," Ezra replied, and Patrick didn't miss the suspicious tone in his voice.

"She's a great student and she talks about her family a lot, especially you," he recovered quickly, hoping the father of his girlfriend would buy it. It seemed as if he did and Patrick waved goodbye before turning back one more time, "Just um, just tell her I hope she feels better quickly and that I'll really miss having her in my class."

Ezra nodded, "Will do, goodnight."

And with that Patrick left. He wished he could've seen Annie, given her a forehead kiss and reassured her that everything would be okay. But he knew that his message through her father would need to be enough.

Annie woke up minutes after her he left, asking for one person and one person only, "Where's Patrick? Did he get hurt?"

Her mother was about to answer, when her father stepped back into the room, "Who's Patrick?"

...

So she's alive and okay for the most part... What did you think of this chapter? And will Ezra find out the truth about good ol' Patrick Hemm, the science teacher of my dreams? Lol! Please review and let me know!

xoxo
-RissyWrites