The night is lit up by the flashing lights of emergency vehicles. Garrett's dead body had been wheeled out on a gurney and loaded up by the corner. Jenna is being put in the back of a squad car by two police officers. Caleb did get shot in the chest but since he was wearing a bulletproof vest, it didn't tear through him. Although the medics think he may have a cracked rib from being shot at such close range.
Spencer is on a gurney being taken care of by a paramedic with Toby standing close by. Hanna plans to go with Caleb if they allow her to ride along. As for Mona, the police aren't quite sure what to do with her. Should they take her to jail? She did just attempt to kill an officer and had Spencer kidnapped and tried to dope her up. But Mona is also sick. She isn't thinking clearly. The cops could take her to be admitted to a special hospital where she can get some help for whatever illness she's struggling with.
"We're ready to get you to the hospital," said a paramedic to Spencer.
"Wait, what's going to happen to Mona?" asked Spencer.
The paramedic sighed, "I'm afraid that's not really up to us."
She looked to Toby, "make sure she doesn't go to jail."
"Spencer I don't know if they'll listen to me, not after all she's done."
A second paramedic joined the group to tell them they need to get going and if Toby plans to ride along with them, he better get in now. Toby hops into the back of the ambulance and sits beside Spencer on the bench, holding her hand. He was not leaving her side.
A few hours later at the hospital: A doctor had been in to see Spencer. Dr. Joseph told Spencer that she was lucky that Toby got there when he did because if Mona had injected Spencer with the drug she was planning to use on her, the side effects would have been way worse. And since Spencer is still a recovering drug addict, a dose like that would have sent her to OD.
It was after three o'clock in the morning when Spencer and Toby were finally given some time alone. Spencer lies up in her hospital bed with Toby sitting close by stroking his fingers through her hair. Both of them are tired.
"I knew you would find me," Spencer finally says. "Despite how scared I was I knew you would come and for a brief second, I didn't want you to."
"Why?" He asks.
"It's what I've been telling you all my life. I knew that when you would come to save me they would try something to hurt you." Spencer pauses and takes a breath. "I just never thought Mona would be the one I would need to be afraid of. I guess I shouldn't really be surprised though. It's like every person I meet lets me down."
"Not everyone," says Toby.
"No," Spencer smiles. "Throughout all my life you have always been there for me. You have always been the one person in my life that I can count on."
Spencer lifts up her hand and sets it warmly on Toby's cheek. He leans into her touch and closes his eyes for a moment. He takes a moment to reflect on how close he came to losing her again. A stray tear streams down his face.
"Hey," Spencer whispers and wipes the tear away with her thumb. "Don't do that."
He sniffles and presses his temple against her hand. Spencer moves over inside her bed and lifts up the hospital blanket.
"Come here. I need to cuddle with my best friend."
Toby smiles softly as he slides into the bed beside her. Spencer lowers the blanket over both of them and snuggles up close to him. This bed is already too small for her so there wasn't exactly much room to spread out. Not that they don't mind being this close. They never do. Spencer closes her eyes as she feels Toby's lips press against her temple.
"I love you so much," he whispers into her hair.
She reaches up to plant a kiss on his cheek. "I love you too."
The next morning, they got the news that Caleb had been discharged from the hospital early morning. He said it was good he got out before they served breakfast because, after last night's dinner, there was no way he would be staying. They all gathered together in Spencer's room to visit. None of them had been given a real chance to talk to her since her rescue. Toby is still in bed with her, but they're both sitting up and fully awake.
"Your mom called me last night," Emily says to Toby. "She wants to know what the hell's been going on."
"Wait, Mrs. Cavanaugh actually used the H-word?" said Hanna.
"Oh crap," says Toby. "I forgot to give her a call to give her an update. I haven't talked to her since I told her Spencer was missing."
"You should probably call your mother then, Toby," said Spencer.
Toby nods then slips out of bed to get his phone off the counter. "I'll be right back," he says before slipping out into the hall. Emily took Toby's place by sitting on the edge of Spencer's bed. Aria took the chair by the window, Alison sits in the chair by the bed, and Hanna stands towards the front.
"How are you feeling?" Emily asks.
"Better," said Spencer. Spencer started to say something when she remembered something from last night. She turns her attention on Hanna and says, "How do you know Mona?"
All eyes in the room are on her now. Hanna opens her mouth a couple of times before getting words out.
"It's not what you all think. Mona and I were next-door neighbors for a while when we were kids. Kind of like you and Toby," Hanna says. "But you know, without all the making out."
"So you knew Mona as a kid?" Spencer asked.
"She lived a couple houses down the street from me for a while," Hanna said. "Her father wasn't around very much and her mom had a lot of problems. Then suddenly, at the age of ten I didn't see her anymore. It was like she disappeared."
"Now we know why," said Aria. "She's been living in the foster system."
"Mona's mother was a drug addict," Spencer said, coming to a realization.
"Yeah," Hanna nods. "It got pretty bad. It wasn't until my mom told me that the state came and took Mona away from her mom."
"I remember something from when Mona and I roomed together," says Spencer. "She used to talk about how she wouldn't be there long because her mother was coming for her. She was convinced that one day her mom would show up to take her home and be the good mom she deserved. Mona was living in that foster home for four years waiting."
"Maybe that was what triggered her episode," says Hanna. "She didn't have her mom so she clings to the best next thing she had to look up to."
Spencer's face fell, "me."
"Poor Mona," said Emily.
"Are you kidding?" says Alison. "I understand she had a rough life but that doesn't excuse all the shit she's done."
"You didn't know her," Spencer snapped at Alison, then, repeats the words in a softer tone, "you didn't know her."
Alison nods and looks down to the floor. The room fell silent again. Toby returns to the room with a paper cup in his hand. Spencer was quick to identify the aroma of coffee coming from the cup. She perks up.
"Is that for me?" She asks.
"It is," Toby passes the cup to her.
"Thanks," Spencer smiles and takes a giant gulp.
"Is she okay to have that after nearly being overdosed?" Emily asked.
"The Doctor said it's completely fine," said Toby. "And they're even thinking about letting Spencer go home today."
Spencer sighs in relief, "thank god, and Toby thank you for the concept of coffee, but this hospital crap is terrible."
Everyone in the room chuckled.
"Don't worry, Spence," says Aria. "Soon you'll be out and we will get you a real cup of coffee."
"And frozen yogurt," Alison adds.
That made Spencer smile, "I can't wait."
"Toby I'm okay to walk," Spencer said.
That afternoon, Spencer was discharged from the hospital. Everyone was there to see her off, except for Mrs. Cavanaugh. Toby did agree to bring Spencer by for a visit if she was feeling up to it. Toby insisted on pushing Spencer out in a wheelchair. The nurses did say Spencer was okay to walk, but its hospital policy for patients to be wheeled to the door.
"It is a policy," Toby said as they made their way through the halls.
"The nurse told you I was okay to walk if I wanted to."
"Alright fine," Toby sighs as they came to a stop just outside the door to the outdoors.
Toby sets the brakes on the wheelchair. Two nurses stood down the hall watching them in case anything should happen. Toby took the bag the nurses gave Spencer of her belongings and helps her stand up. She did not shake at all as she stood upright and took her first steps toward the door. From here, they could see Aria and Emily standing outside by Toby's truck.
"Can I at least hold your hand?" Toby asked.
"Fine," Spencer playfully rolls her eyes. Toby smiles as he slips his fingers through hers and together, they make their way through the automatic doors to the outside.
"There she is!" The girls clap causing Spencer's cheeks to go red, but she smiles anyway. She's still not used to all the attention she gets from Toby's friends. She grew up only having one friend so it was a little overwhelming to have this mob of people here. Just like the night before, each of the girls took a turn giving her a light, but friendly hug. Spencer notices a familiar face out of the corner of her eye.
"Maya," Spencer grins.
Maya stood behind the other girls with another red-haired girl Spencer hadn't seen before. The two girls were holding hands so Spencer was able to put two and two together.
"Hey, girl." Maya gives Spencer a big hug and a pat on the back.
"What are you doing here?" Spencer asked.
"Well, I heard about you and Mona, and I wanted to make sure you girls were okay," said Maya. "I can't believe she tricked us all."
"There's a lot more to the story," said Spencer. "I know it's hard to understand or even emphasize with her."
"She made me leave Brooke," said Maya. "I can't believe I was so stupid to be fooled by her."
"She had us all fooled."
Maya turns her attention to Toby and reaches her hand out to offer a friendly handshake. "You must be the famous Toby. I've heard a lot about you."
Toby smiles and accepts the handshake, "yes, I am."
"Do you still sleep in dinosaur pajama pants?" asked Maya.
Everyone laughs. Toby chuckles and looks at Spencer who's wearing a cheeky smile.
Mrs. Cavanaugh was restless. She couldn't sleep at all last night so she got out of bed and started to clean the whole house. She started by dusting everything in her room, and then cleaned the master bathroom. Before she knew it she was vacuuming every inch of the house and cleaning every dish in sight. She needed to keep busy to prevent herself from thinking the worst. She called her son almost a dozen times and when that didn't work, she called Emily. Finally, she was able to get some answers from Emily but she wanted to speak to Toby. It wasn't until 10 o'clock in the morning when Toby finally returned her phone call.
Now, Mrs. Cavanaugh is sitting at the kitchen table with her third cup of coffee of the day. Toby promised to stop by the house with Spencer in the afternoon if she felt up to it. At half-past 3, Toby's truck pulled into the driveway.
Marion leaps out of her seat and rushes to look out the kitchen window. She sees Toby get out of the truck and watches him circle to the passenger's side to open the door for Spencer. As soon as she saw Spencer, Marion was able to finally breathe.
"Hey, Mrs. Cavanaugh," Spencer greets her as soon as they walk through the door. Marion had met them there and was quick to pull Spencer in for a hug.
"Oh my, dead, I'm so glad you're alright."
Spencer pinches Toby's arm and says, "thanks to my forever knight in shining armor."
Marion grins for the first time in days, "would you like to come in, dear? I made cookies, unless you're tired and would rather go home with Toby to rest. I would completely understand."
"No, of course, I want to visit, and you had me at cookies."
The three of them conjugated in the kitchen over a plate of cookies and coffee for close to three hours. They spared Marion the gory details about what all happened, but made sure to tell her the main truth. Mona was the one who convinced Spencer a long time ago to leave Rosewood. It was Mona that set up a scene in the woods to make everyone think she was dead. It was Mona that had instructed Garrett Reynolds to kidnap Spencer to get her back for Mona. It turns out that when Spencer shown up in that detention facility in Maine, Mona had sent Garrett in to watch her since he was a cop. Mona didn't expect Toby to also start working at that facility. When Mona found out that Spencer and Toby were getting close again, that is what caused Mona to stress out even more.
After 7 o'clock, Spencer and Toby start making their way to the door. They agreed to come back on Sunday to have dinner with Mrs. Cavanaugh. Right now, Spencer needs some rest. They were just about to walk out the front door when Mrs. Cavanaugh thought of something.
"Oh, Toby, hold on." She touches his arm. "Could I talk to you in the living room for a second?"
"Sure," Toby gestures for Spencer to wait by the door and then follows his mother into the living room.
"I have something I've wanted to give you for some time," said Mrs. Cavanaugh. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a blue velvet box. She hands it to Toby and says, "Your father proposed to me with this ring when I was your age."
Toby opened the box to reveal a 1950s diamond ring. He had seen this ring on his mother's finger every day growing up as a child, but he had never looked closely at it. The ring is quite large, simple, but large, and the band is pure gold with small diamond clusters on the side.
"Mom," Toby looks at her. "Dad gave you this ring. You love this ring."
"I know he would agree with me when I say I want you to have it. You can give it to Spencer," she says. "I always planned on giving you this ring before I die, so take it, please."
"Spencer's only eighteen," Toby said.
"I mean give it to her when you're both ready. She won't be eighteen forever. One of these days you're going to realize that you want to spend the rest of your life with her and when you do, this ring will be there to help you ask her."
Toby stares at the ring, "it does look like her, doesn't it?"
Marion smiled, "Yeah, it does."
"Thanks, mom." He hugs her.
She pats him lovingly on the back and says, "you're welcome, and don't wait too long. I want to be around for the wedding."
Toby playfully rolls his eyes and says, "goodbye, mom."
Toby hides the ring in his coat pocket and then goes back to Spencer who's waiting patiently by the door. The two say their last goodbye to Mrs. Cavanaugh and then walk out the door.
After dinner that night, Spencer and Toby are together halfway undressed, rolling around together on Toby's bed in a passionate make out. Spencer rolls herself over to be on top of him. Her hands run down Toby's bare chest to the button on his pants.
"I thought we were supposed to be getting some rest," said Toby, in between hot kisses.
"We are," said Spencer. "We're just working up to that rest." She smirks then goes in for another kiss.
Toby moans as his hands moved down the curve of Spencer's hips. The rest of their clothes were discarded and the sheets were used to shield the world from the mess they're about to make inside of them.
Afterward: Spencer is half asleep with her head resting on Toby's bare chest. Toby's sheet and arm are wrapped around her to keep her feeling safe and warm. Every couple of minutes Toby felt Spencer's lips kiss a spot on his chest. It was arousing, but they had already gone plenty of rounds for the night.
All of a sudden, Toby felt something wet touching his chest. He tilts his head down to see tears leaking from Spencer's eyes. He rubs her back and kisses her head.
"I'm here," he whispers. He already knew that she was having some kind of nightmare, most likely about him. He tightens his arm around her small frame, "I'll always be here."
If you like what you've read so far tell me in a review. There maybe an epilogue that I will post in a few days to really wrap this story up.
