Okay guys, SOOO sorry for the long break ! I finally updated ! I have been killing myself with my college classes, and doing my Walking Dead fanfic, and I'm going to start a new one soon, so my mind has been in a million places at once ! I wanna say THANK YOU to all my amazing readers/reviewers ! You guys rock !
~Kaila G.
The ride to the hospital seemed to never end. Emily was on the edge of her seat the entire ride, trying her best to answer the girl's questions of what had happened. Emily couldn't even think straight, realizing that Nate was not even Nate at all. He wasn't Maya's cousin. He murdered Maya. And now he had hurt Hanna. Emily felt like an idiot for trusting him, but he had been so convincing. He had lied about everything, and she had believed him.
"So you're sure that Na-, Lynden, did kill Maya?" Spencer asked, switching her turn signal on as they arrived at the hospital. Emily felt her stomach tighten even more at the sight.
"That's what he said." Emily responded, unlocking her door. She nearly jumped out of the car before Spencer even had time to put it in park. Spencer and Aria jumped out quickly, running after their friend. Emily rushed through the doors, and went to the front desk.
"I'm here about Hanna Marin. They just brought her in." Emily nearly yelped at the receptionist.
"What's your relation to the patient?" The woman asked, not even bothering to look up from her paper work.
"She's my girlfriend." Emily said, her voice pained. The woman looked up.
"I'm sorry but I can't give you any information without an actual family member present. That's policy." And with that, she looked back down. Emily knew she wouldn't get anything from the woman, so all she could do was sit in the waiting room and wait for Hanna's mom.
"Anything?" Spencer asked, already knowing the answer.
"Nope. Snobby woman is tight lipped and silent until Ms. Marin gets here." Emily sighed, feeling stressed.
"It'll be okay, Em." Aria said, touching her arm. Emily couldn't even force a smile at this point. She just put her head in her hands and tried to think. Her thoughts were jumbled, and all she kept seeing was Hanna scream her name. Then she pushed Emily, and there was a loud pop. Emily shook her head against her hands, trying to rid the images from her mind.
"Emily!" Ashley's voice ripped through her thoughts. Emily jumped up, rushing over to the woman. A second woman walked through the door, and Emily felt relief that her own mother was there. She hugged them both, and walked with Hanna's mom to the front desk.
"I'm Ashley Marin, Hanna Marin's mother. What do you know?" Ms. Marin was like a pitbull. The receptionist began scanning through her computer.
"Your daughter's in surgery right now. She suffered a gunshot wound to her upper left side, luckily it missed her heart. She should be fine, Ma'am. A doctor will be with you shortly." The woman smiled sweetly, before focusing back on her paper work. Emily looked at Ms. Marin, and the two saw some relief in each other's eyes. They sat back down with the others.
Emily retold the story to Ms. Marin, who said the police did not go into much detail when she got the call. Emily had to keep herself from mentioning 'A' on several occasions. Ms. Marin didn't seemed shocked by the actions that Hanna took to protect the girl she loved. Ms. Marin smiled lightly at Emily.
"She has always been a fighter. It doesn't surprise me that she took that bullet for you. She really loves you, Emily." Ms. Marin said quietly.
"I really love her too." Emily said, in tears. "I'm so sorry...this is all my fault." She shook her head, and looked at the ground.
"Don't say that. None of this is your fault!" Spencer jumped to defend Emily from herself.
"She's right," Ms. Marin said, "it isn't your fault at all. That boy was mentally unstable, how were you to know that? Don't beat yourself up. Hanna is going to be fine, and I know she'll say she'd do it again if it came down to it. Hopefully you girls will catch a break."
"God knows, we need one!" Aria murmured. "Em, everything's going to be fine. Hanna is one of the bravest, strongest people we know. And she has us. We'll always have each other."
"She's right." Spencer half smiled. Ashley walked across the room to speak with the doctor.
"Thank you guys for coming tonight." Emily said, looking at the two.
"Are you kidding?" Spencer scoffed. "S.O.S means get your ass in gear!" She whispered the last sentence. Emily nodded and there was a faint smile on her lips.
"Pam Fields please pick up the nearest courtesy call." An announcement came over the loud speaker. Emily's mom looked slightly confused.
"Must be Dad." Emily said, then looked back down at the ground.
"No, I never reached him. He doesn't even know we're here." Her mom said, getting up and walking toward the nearest phone. The girls all began to look strangely at their surroundings. As if on cue, their phones went off. They all reached for their phones as they began to go off a second time. A call from a blocked number. The girls answered without a 'hello'.
"Emily, I owe you one." A gruff, undetectable voice said. Then it was gone. They all quickly put away their phones at Mrs. Fields returned.
"That was odd. There was no one there." She said, sitting back down. Movement to the left caught their attention, as Mrs. Hastings walked in, Garrett right beside her.
Emily couldn't believe what she was seeing. Garrett was in the hospital. Why wasn't he in jail? No, he didn't kill Maya, but they all believed he killed Ali. Emily whipped her head over to Spencer, who looked mortified.
"Mom! He's out of jail?" Spencer asked, panicked. Her mother nodded.
"Emily, I'm so sorry you had to go through that tonight. But I want you to know that you helped an innocent victim. Because of you, Garrett Reynolds is a free man." Mrs. Hastings said. Emily couldn't process the words as she saw Garrett turn to face the girls from the front desk. A wicked smile spread across his lips. Emily looked over at Spencer, who looked mortified.
Off in the night, dressed in a nurse's outfit, Mona droned on directions. When she spoke her last words of the night, the hooded figure turned around, only to be Toby Cavanaugh...