"Mrs Fields, Mr Fields..." Wren walked in to the family room where Emily's parents were waiting anxiously for news on their daughter's condition. Spencer and Paige were with them. They'd been waiting to hear how Emily was doing for over an hour. A nurse had ushered them in to the waiting room after Emily had started crashing and her parents had been called in. Paige felt sick to her stomach as she waited to hear what Wren had to say. "We've got Emily stable. Would you like to talk in private about her condition?" He looked apologetically over at the two teenage girls, he knew they were desperate to know how their friend was doing, but he had to put Emily's parents' wishes first.
"You can talk in front of the girls." Pam took hold of her husband's hand as she answered for both of them. Paige felt a flood of relief at being allowed to stay, but she was still anxious about the uneasy look playing on the young doctor's face.
"Emily has developed Cerebral Malaria. We've been treating with her broad spectrum antibiotics, but she's not responding. The malaria is causing her kidneys to shut down which is leading to renal failure and repeated seizures; both of which are putting a great deal of stress on her heart. We've started her on dialysis and we're administrating Artesunate intravenously to help fight the malaria. As I said, Emily's condition is stable for now, but the next twenty-four hours will be critical. If the swelling in her skull goes down we'll be able to try and bring her out of the coma."
"And if it it doesn't?" Spencer asked, giving voice to the question that was playing on everyone else's mind. She took hold of Paige's hand, squeezing it almost painfully as she waited for Wren's answer. The British doctor looked down at his feet, contemplating just how honest to be with his answer.
"Go on." Wayne Fields urged as he wrapped an arm around his wife. They needed to know the facts if they were going to face Emily's condition head on.
"There are three primary symptoms of cerebral malaria: impaired consciousness with fever, generalized convulsions and neurological abnormalities, such as seizures, and finally coma that lasts for twenty-four to seventy-two hours. The longer Emily is in her coma the harder it will be to rouse her."
"Oh god!" Pam let out a strangled cry as she turned to bury her face in Wayne's chest. "We should never have let her go! We should...she..." Pam faltered as she gave up trying to talk and burst in to floods of tears. Paige felt numb inside. She had known Emily's condition was serious, but she hadn't considered the possibility that she could actually die from it. She'd been getting better. She was in a damn hospital! They were meant to be making her better!
"Paige!" Spencer called after Emily's girlfriend as she rushed past Wren and ran out of the door. She had no idea where she was running to, she just couldn't face being cooked up in that room anymore. Paige was good at running from her problems. She'd done it her whole life, whether it was running from her feelings for Emily or from Allison's bullying. Emily had been the first person to make her stand still and face things head on. She had forced Paige to face up to her sexuality; as well as her shortcomings.
Paige McCullers was simply better for having Emily in her life. There was no two ways about it. She was no longer the bitter, angry, closet case that she had been the previous year. Emily had brought about that change in her; she had made Paige want to be a better person. The thought of losing Emily from her life was simply too much to bear. She collapsed against a metal railing by the ambulance bay, struggling to catch her breath as her anxiety developed in to a full blown panic attack. She was going to lose the only person in her life who had ever made her feel wanted; loved even.
"Paige?" She felt a hand on the small of her back as Pam Fields approached from behind her. Emily's mom moved her hand in soothing circles as she waited for the teenager to calm down and get her breath back. "It's okay sweetheart, take your time." Paige had never felt so weak in her life as she fought back tears. The woman's daughter was lying upstairs in a hospital room, fighting for her life. Yet there was Pam, trying to comfort Paige; it should have been the other way around.
Paige berated herself for not being strong enough for either Emily or her mother. Her anger and self hatred helped her to focus on catching her breath again and she finally managed to calm down enough to speak. "Mrs Fields, you shouldn't be out here worrying about me. Emily needs you."
"She needs us both right now." Pam took hold of both of Paige's hands and gave them a gentle squeeze as she looked the teenager right in the eye. "Emily needs our strength and our prayers; and our love."
Paige lost what little control she had managed to summon up as she lurched forward, throwing her arms around the older woman and bursting in to tears. Pam held her tight, as though she were her own daughter, and simply let her cry. Paige had been far too strong for too long. She just needed to get it all out.
"I've loved Em forever..." Paige sobbed in to Pam's shoulder once she finally found her voice again. "It's not enough...it won't ever be enough. I've lost her-"
"Don't you dare think like that!" Pam snapped harshly. She pulled back and held Paige at arms length as she stared the teenager square in the eyes. "Don't you give up on my little girl!" There were tears in Pam's eyes as her lower lip wavered. The woman had aged years in a matter of days, her daughter's accident clearly having taken a great toll on her.
Paige stepped forward to hold her, returning the offer of comfort that Pam had been kind enough to offer her. She could have just as easily blamed Paige for everything, the accident, Emily running off to Haiti, the malaria; Paige felt responsible for it all, regardless of what anyone else tried to tell her. The only person that could truly vindicate her conscience was lying in a coma, and it didn't look likely that she would pull through from it.
Pam was right though. They had to stay strong and have faith that Emily would make it through the night. "Come on, let's go back in." Paige started leading Emily's mom back inside hospital, holding on to her waist like she was the only thing keeping the older woman on her feet; in all honesty, she probably was.
They made it back to Emily's room, where Spencer and Emily's dad were already sitting in the uncomfortable hospital chairs, keeping a silent vigil by the teenager's bed. Paige helped ease Pam in to the chair beside her husband before making her way over to Emily's bedside and taking hold of her hand. She looked so peaceful, like she was just sleeping. It was hard to believe she was fighting for her life.
Paige leant in close and pressed a kiss to her girlfriend's lips, not caring that her parents were right behind her. "Emily? Emily, baby, you've got to fight this... You have to fight, Em!You're stronger than this! I love you! I love you so much it hurts...please wake up, please..."
Emily woke up alone on the floor of Aria and Ezra's cottage. After her dizzy spell the afternoon before their group had decided to head straight to the cottage instead of going after Allison and her hair. Emily had insisted she felt fine to carry on, but Paige hadn't wanted to hear it; the other girl had still been pale and a little out of it for most of the ride to the cottage.
Things had been a little tense when they'd shown up with Spencer, but Aria had forgiven her sister much quicker than Hanna had. She and Ezra had already amassed all of the herbs and spices they would need for the spell, so they were one step closer to carrying out their plan to make A human again. Emily was certain they were on the right track. Hearing the other Paige's voice the evening before had pretty much proved it.
Emily pulled her cloak on around her shoulders and went off in search of Paige. They had fallen asleep together on the living room floor, but Paige had been nowhere to be found when she'd woken up. She padded outside, leaving her Converse by the pile of blankets she and Paige had slept on. It was warm enough outside for her to go barefoot out in to the garden and the grass was dry and crisp beneath her feet. "Hey." She spotted Paige sitting by a pumpkin patch, sharpening the knife that usually sat in a holster around her calf. "You're up early." Emily bent down to kiss her cheek before taking a seat on the ground beside her.
"Couldn't sleep." Paige shrugged, her attention still fixed on her knife.
"Everything okay?" Emily probed, trying to get the other girl to open up a little more.
"I just can't believe how close we are to pulling this thing off. We just need Allison's hair and some elf blood. We could actually do this!"
"Wasn't that the plan?" Emily laughed, teasing her with a small smile.
"Yeah, but before I met you I was pretty much on a suicide mission." Paige ducked her head with her admission. "I didn't have a hope in hell's chance of actually pulling it off; but now I do. Thanks to you."
"Thanks to all of us." Emily corrected her. She emptied the other girl's hands before pulling Paige's arm around her and leaning in to her side. "A's going down; that bitch is finally getting what she deserves!"
"You're pretty cute when you're mad." Paige smirked as she leant in for a kiss. She had been trying to distance herself from Emily, hoping to make it easier on herself when she finally had to give the other girl up; but it was impossible for her to ignore the perfect creature cuddled up against her. Whether Emily was a water goddess or a displaced soul, she was simply perfect to Paige.
"Are you two love birds planning on coming in for breakfast?" Toby called over from the door as he finished pulling his tunic on over his head. Paige was happy enough where she was, but Emily insisted on dragging her inside to eat. Inside the cottage was cramped, with eight people crammed in to the small kitchenette.
Aria had made some kind of porridge like substance for them all. Thankfully it tasted better than it looked. Paige still had to force it down though. She felt too anxious to eat. Things were going far too well and Paige was just waiting for everything to blow up in her face. She took a few mouthfuls of the lumpy porridge before sliding her bowl across to a grateful Toby. Once everyone was finished eating she brought up the subject of going after Allison. "We need to figure out a plan to get Allison's hair."
"That's easy! Just get Emily to ask for it." Hanna quipped. "She's Ali's favourite. She'd do anything for Em."
"What, like turn her over to A?" Paige huffed, hating the sight of the blush that was creeping over Emily's cheeks.
"I hate to admit it, but Hanna's right. Emily is our best chance at getting to Ali." Spencer agreed with her fellow goddess. The ancient fairy could be a temperamental cow at the best of times, but Emily seemed to have a way of getting through to what little compassion she had left.
"Or you bitches could try inviting me to your little party?" All heads turned to the back door as Allison's scathing voice cut through the room. The blonde fairy was perched against the door frame, her usually pale blue eyes were dark and stormy as she took in the people gathered inside of the tiny cottage. "If I was the paranoid type I'd think you were all plotting something."
"You see the fucking future, you already know what we're trying to do; and you know what we need!" Spencer didn't mince her words as she rounded on the other woman. "Now are you going to help us or not?"
"What, before little Emily over there has the chance to beg me for it?" Allison teased, enjoying the way Paige's nostrils flared in response and her hand hovered over the hilt of her sword.
"Okay, okay. Jeez, take a joke!" Allison snapped at the seething young princess and dismissed her with a wave of her hand. "Yes, I know what you're up to. I'm here to help." She reached a hand up to her hair and yanked out a few golden strands before offering them out to Emily like a proverbial olive branch.
"Why?" The time of Emily blindly trusting Allison DiLaurentis had come and gone. She was all too aware that the blonde was probably running some kind of angle.
"Let's just say I like the odds of you and your little band of misfits pulling this off." Allison answered smugly, indicating she had seen the outcome of the spell already. Emily and the others felt a surge of reassurance from the fair offering to join them, but Paige felt uneasy about it. Allison had already told her that she would fail to kill A, and that she would lose Emily, as well as her life. What had happened to change the future so unexpectedly? Was it because they had Spencer and her spell? Or was it to do with having all four goddesses reunited?
"I also want to make amends." Allison carried on spinning her deceit, and Paige was ashamed to see Emily and the others were lapping it up. Sensing that Paige wasn't buying what she was selling, Allison turned her attention on to the distrustful princess. "What I did, feeding Mona those secrets, it cost me everything. I betrayed the only family I had left."
"You're not my family fairy. You're nothing!" Paige snapped back at her, confusing Emily. She had thought Allison was talking about the goddesses when she'd mentioned family, yet Paige had seemed to think she was talking about her.
"Like it or not Princess, you come from my blood line!" Allison growled back at her, her nice girl act quickly slipping. "I am Arcasia, Queen of the fair folk and mother to the royal blood line of mortals, and you will show me some respect, runt!" Allison fumed indignantly. She wasn't used to being spoken to so bluntly by lowly humans.
"Arcasia?" Emily quizzed, vaguely recalling the name from the story Paige had told her about the brothers who had fought over the throne; it seemed like it had been a million years since she had heard it, yet it had only been a few short weeks. "The fairy queen who left her people to be mortal?" If Allison was really Arcasia, then that meant she was somehow related to Paige, like her great-great-great grandmother's mother or something.
"Got it in one sister." Allison smiled grimly at the human girl who had inherited her old friend's powers. "Where do you think that spell to turn immortal beings in to humans came from? I created it to stay with my human husband; I was so young and stupid." She shook her head bitterly, her soft curls bouncing around her shoulders.
"It made her mortal until her lover died." Spencer explained, ever the fountain of knowledge.
"I couldn't live among the humans, watching my children grow old and die." Allison almost sounded human again as she reflected on the agony of outliving her own offspring. "But I couldn't go back to my own kind; they'd already left the woods. So I was alone, with only the gods as my friends."
"And you turned your back on all of us!" Aria snapped angrily, finally speaking up from where she was hovering by the stove. Ezra stood beside her, clinging to his wife's hand like he was afraid she was about to launch herself at the fairy.
"That was a mistake!" Allison argued, her eyes fixed on Emily as she apologised. "I want to help now. So here. Take them." She offered the hairs out to Emily again and the human girl took a timid step towards her to take them. Her expression was stern as she stared the fairy down.
"This is your last chance, Allison. Don't make me regret it!"
"You won't." Allison beamed up at her with those baby blue eyes that had sucked Emily in so many times before. Her eyes flitted over to Paige as she took hold of Emily's wrist and pulled her in close. She pulled their bodies flush together as her lips found Emily's ear and she delivered a stark warning to her.
"A word of advice; I tried to live in two worlds and I lost my place in both! Don't let the same happen to you Em. You don't belong here, you don't belong with her. Just remember that." Allison hissed cruelly. She smirked as Emily pulled back from her, just as Paige drew her sword and rounded on her.
Toby stepped in between them, ignoring Allison altogether as he snapped at his oldest friend. "Don't! She's not worth it, besides we might need her later." Paige looked straight past him, sneering at Allison. She returned her sword to its holster though and took a step back, tugging Emily along with her. Her arms wrapped protectively around the other girl's waist as Emily relaxed back against her.
"Okay people! We've got the plants and herbs we need, the tears of a healer, the hairs of a fairy, and I can provide us with dragon's breath to bind it all together. Now we just need the blood of an elf and a weapon bathed in the blood of Mona and one of her victims." Spencer had failed to mention that part earlier, hoping to get the easier ingredients out of the way before bringing up the harder part of the spell.
"We've got that." Paige announced as she pulled her sword again. "This was my father's blade. A ran him through with it, and I used it to draw blood from her."
"That'll work." Spencer agreed with a nod. "So now we just need the elf blood; anyone know any elves?"