Chapter 21 One More Secret

Aria was white as a sheet, and her three friends stared at her in concern.

Spencer spoke up again. "But he's okay, right? I mean…he's going to be all right, isn't he?"

Ms Beale sighed. "As far as I can gather, it's not serious, no. Now, touching as your concern for your teacher is, we do have work to do here. Can anyone tell me what chapter you're on at the moment?"

Undercover of the scuffling of books opening and muttering that ensued, Emily leaned across to Aria. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

Aria tried to bring the desk in front of her back into focus, and failed. Ezra. Ezra had been in an accident. And she didn't know. She hadn't known because obviously no one would have known to call her. What if he was…bad? What if the father of her baby died, and she wasn't even there, because as far as anyone was concerned, she didn't exist? How would she go on without him? And how would she ever hide her grief from the world, when he was only supposed to be her teacher, and nothing more?

"Ms Beale? I don't think my friend is feeling well. Can some of us take her outside?" Emily asked.

"Not again," came a mock-groan from the back of the class. "Baby allergic to English class, Aria?"

Aria, feeling the eyes of everyone, especially Ms Beale, boring into her, forced herself to raise her head and look up, even though there were black spots dancing before her eyes.

"I'm fine, Emily," she said with as much strength as she could muster. "I just got dizzy for a second. I'm sorry, Ms Beale. Please go on."

"Why, thank you, Miss Montgomery," the new teacher said sarcastically, her eyes flickering down to Aria's belly, or what she could see of it. "I do appreciate it. Turn to page 45, please, everyone."

Aria managed to open her book to the correct page, and kept her head down for the rest of the lesson.

When the bell rang, her friends rushed over to her.

"Aria? Are you okay?" Hanna asked, worriedly.

"You look like hell," Spencer commented. "Come on, we're taking you to the nurse's room."

Aria pulled her arm away from the one Spencer had linked with hers. "No! I have to go to the principal! I have to find out if Ezra…if Ezra's okay." She swayed, and Spencer and Emily both put their arms around her.

"All right, but you've got to lie down, Aria," Emily said, concerned. "You look like you're going to fall over any second, and you need to think of the baby. Come on, you've had a shock, and you need to lie down and get some juice or sugar water or something in you."

"But I have to find out…" Aria protested.

"Looking like that? I don't think so! It's written all over your face how scared you are for Mr Fitz," Hanna said bluntly. "Look, I'll go. I'll tell the Principal the class wants to send a gift or something to the hospital for Mr Fitz, and I'll find out where he is – and how he is. But only if you let Em and Spencer take you to the sick room. Okay?"

"Okay, okay." Aria gave up. She really did feel like she could faint or be sick – or both – at any moment. Her stomach was churning; whether from shock or fear or nausea, she didn't know. Probably all three. She let Emily and Spencer lead her out of the room, and Hanna left them at the door, making her way in the opposite direction.

##

"She's not feeling well," Emily explained, as the school nurse came in. Spencer was helping Aria onto the bed, and the nurse eyed her coldly.

"Aria Montgomery, right? I've heard of you."

"She feels faint. She was fine, but then she had a bit of a shock about…something," Spencer said, meeting the nurse's eyes firmly. She wasn't going to let her friend be treated badly by anyone, least of all some stupid school nurse who was too big for her boots.

The nurse sighed. "I'll take her blood pressure. Has she had anything sweet to drink?"

"Not yet."

"I'll get something."

"Fruit juice…the last time I fainted, Ezra gave me fruit juice," Aria said from the bed. "It helped."

Spencer glanced round, but the nurse had gone into the next room already. "When was this?"

"The night I had to go to hospital, a few months ago. When I got scared because A left me that picture, and then I ran and I got dizzy and passed out…"

"Okay, say WHAT now? A left you a picture?" Spencer demanded.

"Oh, shit." Aria hadn't meant to let that slip out, but she could barely feel her head, it was so light and floaty, and she hadn't been thinking.

"You told us you hadn't heard from A for months," Emily said, accusingly.

"I didn't want to scare everyone, okay? I'm almost 100% sure A's just doing this to freak us out. She's known since the beginning about me and Ezra, and she still hasn't done anything. So I just kept quiet about it. I didn't want to freak out everyone else; that's exactly what she wants!"

"And you still haven't told Mr Fitz about A, have you?" Spencer asked.

"No. Look, you guys, I don't need to worry him with this! A's not going to do anything!"

"I wish I could be as sure of that as you," Spencer said darkly.

The door opened and they all stopped talking. It was Hanna. She came in and closed the door behind her, and Aria sat bolt upright. "So?"

Hanna glanced round for the nurse. "He's okay," she said quietly. "Principal Yates says he's gonna be fine. It was just cuts and bruises and a dislocated...something. Collar bone, I think. No surgery or anything dramatic like that, even."

Aria sank back onto her pillows and started to cry. "Where is he?"

"St James'. I told the principal we were gonna get together a deputation or something and go see Mr Fitz, and he said he'd be there for a few days still. I think he was actually kind of impressed at how concerned we as a class all were." Hanna grinned and took Aria's hand. "So please stop freaking out, okay? It's not good for you or the baby."

"Here you go, cold fruit juice," the nurse came bustling back into the room. "Drink that and then sit up and let me take your blood pressure. You three," she eyed Hanna, Emily and Spencer, "you should be in class."

"We just wanted to make sure Aria was okay," Emily said uncertainly.

"Well, that's why I'm here," the nurse said briskly. "So toddle off now and do some work. When Aria's feeling better, I'll send her along to join you. Go along."

The trio had no choice but to do so, and they trooped out.

"Man, that woman's worse than Nurse Ratched," Hanna commented. "I hope Aria's gonna be okay in there with her."

Aria didn't turn up in the next period, or the one after, but at the beginning of lunch, Spencer got a text.

"Nurse finally let me out. Going to see Ezra. Cover for me please? Aria"

"She's nuts," Hanna said, with certainty. "Every eye in the school is on her at the moment. How on earth does she think she's going to skip out halfway through the day without anyone noticing?"

Apparently, Lady Luck was with Aria, for she managed not only to get out of the school building, but out of the parking lot as well, without anyone spotting her. The hospital – the same one Ezra and Ella had taken her to the night she'd told Ezra about the baby – wasn't far away, and she made it there within five minutes.

"Where can I find Ezra Fitz?" she demanded as she arrived at the reception desk.

The receptionist raised an eyebrow at the young pregnant girl, but said nothing, and typed the name into her computer.

"Fitz? F-I-T-Z? Oh, here it is. Ezra Fitz. Ward C, room 12. Visiting hours only start in 30 minutes, but if you don't mind waiting-"

But Aria was gone. The receptionist shook her head and went back to her work. She didn't have time to worry about people arriving outside of visiting hours. Someone on Ezra Fitz's ward would have to deal with that.

Aria arrived at Ward C and got lucky again, because there was no one at the nurse's station there. She walked straight past and opened the door to room 12 quietly.

Ezra was lying in a bed by the window, his eyes closed. His face was scratched and he had a big bruise on his left cheekbone, but at least he wasn't hooked up to the machines and tubes which always scared Aria. She made her way over to his bed, and as she sat down on the chair next to him, his eyes opened.

"Hey, you," Aria smiled.

"Aria!" Ezra tried to push himself up. "Thank god! I was so worried!"

"You were worried?"

"I couldn't get hold of you. My phone was in the car, and they towed the damn thing away while I was – well, goodness only knows where I was, but I was pretty out of it. And as soon as I woke up I tried to get someone to call you, but I couldn't remember your number properly, and the nurse told me to get some sleep and she was sure someone would get hold of you, but I knew they wouldn't, because how could they-"

"Ezra, shut up." Aria said, half-laughing. She leaned over and kissed him, and then continued. "I'm here now. And you're okay. I was so scared."

"I'm so sorry, Aria. I'd have done anything to spare you that."

"It's not your fault. We had this horrible sub, and she wouldn't tell us anything more than that you were in an accident, so eventually Hanna had to go to the principal to find out what was going on, and he at least told us you were okay, and that you were here." She chuckled. "Hanna says he was quite touched at our concern."

Ezra smiled weakly. "I'm just sorry I put you through that. I know you must have been freaking out."

"Yeah, a bit. But it was okay as soon as I knew you weren't…bad." She swallowed hard, and Ezra reached up with his good arm and stroked her face.

"Oh, god, I'm so sorry, my love. That must have been awful."

Aria took his hand and continued holding it against her cheek. "What happened, Ezra? Was it when you went out to get dinner?"

Ezra nodded. "I'd just left my apartment when it happened. Some guy skipped a stop street and I swerved to avoid him, and went into a wall."

"Oh my God."

"I remember it happening, and I don't know if I passed out or not, but suddenly there were all these people around the car, talking to me, helping me out of the car, and I couldn't seem to speak, and I couldn't move my arm, and all I could think about was you sitting waiting for me at home, and me not coming back, and then I started thinking, "what if I never do get back? What if this is what dying feels like?""

"Oh, Ezra," Aria choked, tears running down her cheeks.

"Oh god, I should just shut up now," Ezra said. "As if I haven't upset you enough for one day. Look at you. You look like you should be the patient, not me. Come on." He shifted over to the other side of the bed, and patted the empty side. "Come on, get up here."

"Don't be silly, Ezra," Aria smiled. "I'll never fit in there, not with your giant baby attached to me."

"Oh yes you will. Anyway, I want to say hello to my giant baby properly. I can't see it down below there. So get up."

Aria grinned and clambered carefully onto the bed, squeezing up to Ezra, who put his arm around her.

"See?" he said complacently.

"I just hope no one decides to walk in now. I'm sure this isn't allowed," Aria replied, snuggling her head into the crook of his neck.

"I don't particularly care at this point, to be honest," Ezra said. "God, Aria, I was so worried about you. I love you so much."

"I love you too," Aria replied. She lifted her head and kissed him, softly at first, afraid she might hurt him, then more passionately as he pulled her closer to him.

"Ezra?"

Ezra and Aria separated, startled at the sound of the woman's voice at the door. It belonged to a dark-haired woman in her early fifties, with a classically pretty face, at present wearing a look of confusion.

"Mom?" Ezra gasped.

Oh….fuck, thought Aria. She climbed quickly off the bed, turning her back on the newcomer - Ezra's MOTHER, holy crap – and pulling her coat closer around her. With luck, his mother hadn't seen her baby bump, and the bulky coat, which she hadn't even removed in her haste to see Ezra, hid it nicely.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Ezra was asking, confused.

"What sort of question is that? The hospital called me last night and I flew in as soon as I could."

"You didn't need to do that. It was just some bumps and scrapes and a dislocated collar bone. You didn't need to come all the way from Seattle."

"Anyone would think you weren't happy to see me," Mrs Fitz replied, leaning over and kissing her son on the cheek, and then looking across at Aria, who was standing awkwardly on the other side of the bed. "Have you been trying to keep this young lady a secret from me, Ezra?"

Ezra glanced over at Aria, who shrugged, almost imperceptibly. His mother had seen them kissing, so there was no way she could be anything but his girlfriend. But just in case –

"Hi, I'm Elizabeth," Aria said, holding out her hand to shake Mrs Fitz's across the bed.

Elizabeth? mouthed Ezra. Aria nodded.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Elizabeth," Mrs Fitz said, shaking Aria's hand in return. "I wish I could say I'd heard so much about you, but I'm afraid my son seems to have slipped up in that department."

"Mom, it's just-"

"Oh no, please don't blame Ezra," Aria interrupted. "I'm kind of bad at meeting parents, so I didn't want him to say anything about us until we'd been together a bit longer. It can be kind of intimidating."

"I don't see why. I'm a perfectly nice woman and you seem like a perfectly nice girl. How long have you two been together, then?"

"Only a couple of months," Ezra said quickly, feeling like this conversation was getting out of hand around him.

"And what do you do, Elizabeth?" Mrs Fitz asked. She had the same blue eyes as Ezra's, Aria noticed, but there was something about them…a sharpness, that wasn't present in Ezra's. Or maybe that was just because of the way she was staring at Aria.

"Oh – I'm a student," Aria said.

"At Hollis," Ezra added quickly.

"Oh, so that's where you two met?"

"Yes," said Ezra, feeling this would be easiest, at the same time as Aria said, "No". Mrs Fitz raised an eyebrow.

"Well, er…we didn't actually meet AT Hollis, but we met through a, um, mutual friend from there, so I guess it was kind of both," Ezra made up on the spot. It was actually kind of worrying how easily he could lie to his mother. He just hoped she hadn't seen Aria's baby bump. If she had, she hadn't let on, but he never could tell with his mother. It would be exactly like her to let them think she hadn't noticed, and then bring it up at the most inopportune time, just to make them squirm.

"Well, I – er – I guess I should go," Aria said, uncertainly.

"Oh, no, don't go just yet. You just got here," Ezra said, grabbing her hand and looking pleadingly at her.

"Yeah, but your Mom's come all this way, and you two haven't seen each other for ages. I'm sure you want to catch up," Aria replied. That, and this is incredibly awkward. "I'll be back later. Do you want me to bring you anything? Can you have your laptop here?"

"I'm sure I can. That would be great, my love." Ezra smiled at her, and she back at him, lost in each other's eyes for a moment, until a movement from Ezra's mother reminded them that she was still there.

"Ok, well, I'll be off then." Aria bent down and gave Ezra a peck on the cheek. "I'll see you later. Mrs Fitz," she held out her hand, "it was great to meet you."

"Likewise, Elizabeth," Mrs Fitz replied. Aria nodded and left the room.

Why do I feel like she was scrutinizing me? she thought as she walked down the corridor.

Back in Ezra's room, he was saying pretty much the same thing. "You know, your eyes can bore holes in someone, Mom."

"What? I didn't do anything. But of course I'm interested in her. I seem to recall asking you just a few weeks ago if you were seeing anyone, and you told me no, point blank. Then I arrive here and see this girl practically in your bed with you. You can't blame me for wondering why you were hiding her."

"Mom. I wasn't hiding her," Ezra protested. "I just didn't want to talk about it too soon. I wanted to see if things were going to work out." I'm the worst person in the world. Lying to my mother straight to her face.

"Well, clearly she is a lot younger than you," Mrs Fitz mused.

"She's not that young," Ezra said quickly. "She's nineteen."

"That's what I meant. Of course, she LOOKS about fifteen, but obviously she's over eighteen… still, there's a big difference between nineteen and twenty-four, Ezra-"

"Mom, age isn't a problem with us, okay?" Ezra interrupted. "Why are you trying to make it one the second you walk in the door?"

"I'm not. I'm just thinking of the future…when you're ready to settle down and have a family, and she wants to party it up around Europe, don't come crying to me."

"For goodness' sakes, Mom! We've been dating for a few months! We're not worried about The Future yet," Ezra lied, his anger at his mother's interference adding conviction to his statement.

His mother gave him a shrewd look. "Oh, be honest, Ezra. I can see it all over your face. You're completely crazy about this girl."

"So?"

"So don't tell me you haven't at least been daydreaming about a future with her, because I won't believe you."

"Mom, can we just not talk about this right now?" Ezra asked, suddenly worn out. "I crashed into a wall last night, and all you can talk about is my love life. I appreciate your concern, I really do," he added quickly as he saw the hurt look on his mother's face, "but I just want to sleep now. These pain meds I'm on aren't exactly keeping me awake."

Mrs Fitz nodded. "I understand. I'll go to my hotel room and shower and change, and then come back later."

"You've booked a hotel? You could have stayed at my place," Ezra objected, though secretly relieved that she wasn't. His mother laughed.

"Oh, please! Me in your delightfully Bohemian bachelor pad…I don't think so, dear. Anyway, wouldn't that have been awkward for Elizabeth?"

"She doesn't live with me, Mom, if that's what you're getting at," Ezra said wearily.

"But she stays over sometimes?"

"Mom…did you miss the part where I really don't want to talk about this now?"

"I'm sorry, dear," his mother said cheerfully. "I'll let you sleep now. I'll be back tonight. Ta-ta!"

Ezra lay back and closed his eyes as his mother left the room.

What more can life throw at me today? he wondered as he fell asleep.