Chapter Three
"Ezra!" Hanna waves her beige trench coat, bare legs and high heels giving off the impression of a lady of the night.
"Aria. How's Aria?" Ezra begs.
"I don't know. How's Nicole?" Hanna snarls, the entire drive to the airport stoked the flames of anger she felt.
"Hanna..."
"I was with Caleb watching the TV when Nicole was doing her interview about how much she loves you and focusing on you helped her. Aria was there too, I watched her die inside seeing that. She could be really dying right now." Hanna glared not caring about Ezra's feelings. Caleb has been poisoned, Toby and Yvonne nearly died, Aria right now is fighting for her life and she's at the airport picking up Ezra when she should be at the hospital with her loved ones.
"Nicole has run off, we were trying to find her when Emily called me." Ezra tries to explain hauling his bag over his shoulder.
"And you came straight back, how nice."
"I know I've fucked up Hanna, you don't need to twist the knife." He growls as they reach the car. Before Hanna can respond her phone rings, it's connected to the car so Ezra can hear as well.
"Hanna, have you got Ezra with you?" Spencer mutters through tears.
"I'm here Spencer."
"She's still in surgery, if she survives the surgery there's a fifty percent chance she'll survive the night."
"Only fifty?"
"Yeah. She has a lot going on. She... sh.."
"Spencer take a deep breath." Hanna commands.
"Sorry. I.." Spencer continues crying.
"Hey, Spence calm down I've got you." Caleb's voice comes through the speakers.
"What's happening with Aria?" Ezra pants through his tears.
"She needs a metal rod in one of her legs, the other one is just broken normally it's in a cast, five ribs are broken, one punctured her lung they're trying to repair it and the ribs, her head has a fracture, her brain is swollen, she's pregnant, one of her arms is broken, another is fractured, her spleen was ruptured so they're removing it. With all the trauma they're worried about the blood loss and stress. If she survives it's going to be a long road."
"She's so tiny." Spencer cries in the background squeezing Caleb tightly.
"How's Emily?" Ezra asks.
"Knocked out."
"Was she hit too?"
"No she was hysterical, even more than Spencer is now, so they gave her a sedative to keep her calm. She's asleep."
"Okay. Look after them, and call us if."
"I will. Love you, drive safe." Caleb says ending the call.
"Are you okay to drive?"
"You're not any better."
"I was thinking taxi or Uber."
"No, we need to go. I know my driving history but it'll take too long."
"Thank you Hanna." Ezra whispers.
The pair fall into bland silence while Hanna navigates her way out of the airport. Once the car glides onto the highway she breaks it remembering her fury from before.
"Did you know a couple of days before her photography exhibit, you know the one you brought Nicole to, Aria got an acceptance letter from Hollis?"
"No."
"Well she did. After the .. dollhouse she felt like life was too short, and even though there may be regrets later she wanted to be with you no matter what. That night I got a phone call, she'd seen you and Nicole in the brew and she thought you looked happier that you had in so long that, she decided she'd rather have you happy without her than miserable with her."
"I never would have been miserable with her, the only reason we broke up was because we knew she should be single in college, to not be tied down to me. To not end up resenting me."
"You don't know that would have happened, and neither did she. You guys fought so hard and gave up so easily. Then you brought Nicole as a date to her photography exhibit."
"That wasn't a date." Ezra weakly attempted to defend.
"It still hurt Aria."
"Then you get back together years later and she feels like the consolation prize."
"She was never a consolation prize."
"That doesn't stop her feeling that way."
"I'm a terrible person."
"I'm not done yet."
"Carry on."
"Aria thought Nicole hadn't been found, she thought you were going to be home. You didn't contact her, left her completely in the dark. That hurt her. She expected you to be home, she called the airline to find out if you made your flight, she thought something had happened to you on the way to the airport. She thought your plane might have crashed. She was watching the news to see if anything was reported about your flight, or you.
She was sick with worry. You never messaged her when you didn't get on the plane. She finds out you're completely fine by seeing you kissing another woman on national television. That hurt her. When you ran to Nicole yesterday, you ran out on your fiancé planning your wedding. That hurt her. When she saw Nicole talking about how much she loves you on tv, that hurt her once again. Don't make this even more of a pattern Ezra, you either want to be with Aria or you don't. But we both heard what Caleb said and I saw the amount of Aria's blood Emily is covered in, her heart has stopped beating multiple times, I'm terrified she won't survive, but I'm even more terrified that she'll not survive if you run out on her for Nicole again. Before we get to the hospital you need to figure out what you want. Aria has a long road to recovery, if she survives, I know she won't be able to handle you changing your mind constantly."
"I'm the worst person."
"No you're not, you're just a stupid one. I'm not telling you this to hurt you."
"It feels like it."
"My intention isn't to hurt you, it's to give you all the information before we get to the hospital, you've been so one track minded you haven't realised what you're doing to Aria. After she saw Nicole on tv talking about you today, she was devastated but told me and Caleb to stop giving her sad eyes." Hanna pauses to wipe away tears. "She looked at me and Caleb and said that we have found our way back to each other and you both will too. Was that blind hope or is there really a chance you genuinely want to be with Aria?"
"Aria is the love of my life. I've never loved anyone like I love her."
"Then, why? Physically she could be dying right now, but inside she already has."
"When I left Columbia, before Nicole was taken. We'd had an argument, I'd stormed off and didn't look back. I bought a ticket to Boston I realised that I couldn't keep trying to replace Aria with Nicole that wasn't fair, Nicole deserved better than that. I knew what I was going to say to break up with her, I already had my stuff packed. Then when I got back I found out she had been kidnapped. I broke." Hanna takes his hand remembering how he looked at CeCe's trial.
"Aria turned me from a grief stricken alcoholic to a functional man, able to write and run my business who's engaged to the love of his life. She's made me happy. Now Nicole has returned and she's gone through so much, I just want to make sure she's okay. I thought she was dead, never to find someone who truly loves her like I love Aria, never to see the light of day. I love Nicole in a 'we had a wonderful time the years we were together' way but I don't want to be with her. I still feel guilty for the hell she went through, I'll always wonder if I hadn't left when I had would I have been able to save her." A weight feels like it's been lifted from Ezra's shoulders.
"That does make sense, but you do realise the way you're acting and your reasons behind it. You're sacrificing your fiancé. If you spend so much time trying to amend what happened in the past you'll lose your future."
"You're right."
"I love it when people say that." Hanna giggles.
"Thank you, Hanna."
"If I wasn't driving I'd have gotten angrier but with my driving track record I don't want to bury another body." They laugh together, it's much needed the tension in the car eases.
"We're all rooting for you and Aria to have a happy ending. We've rooted for you since you first got together." Hanna says smiling.
"All along?" Ezra teases.
"Maybe there were gaps, but you and aria have always made sense together. This is your chance. But seriously don't fuck it up again or we will kill you. We've never planned to kill someone, but I'm sure we could pull it off." She laughs.
"I don't know if I could survive if I lost her. Not like this. She needs to know she's the most important thing in the world to me." Hanna reaches and takes one of his hands in hers.
"You are one of my best friends, like it or not, whatever happens we'll all get through it together. We're a team. All of us. We'll get through it." Ezra leans back thinking to Caleb's words, all of Aria's injuries.
"Did Caleb say she was pregnant." Ezra says leaning forward.
"Yeah." Hanna grins.
"I'm gonna be a father." He whispers.
"That baby is going to be so beautiful, and well read." She laughs.
"How I met her was a lie, but when I first saw her I thought she was breathtaking. I still do. Whenever I come home now and see her whatever she's doing I love it. I finally have what I've always dreamt of: Aria loves me and we have a future." Ezra's grin fades. "Hanna, what if our baby doesn't survive?" Even more tears fall down his face.
"Then you'll do what you and Aria do, love and support each other through hard times." She takes his hand.
"Thank you, Hanna"
"We're family. You've messed her up the last couple of weeks, but it doesn't mean we don't love you." Hanna grins. "Two people who love each other that much, should be together." Ezra grins, thankful it's Hanna with him.
"Why was she in town today? What was she doing?" Ezra asks a while later.
"Putting a tracking device in Sidney Driscoll's bag. We think she's connected with AD."
"What's happened with them?"
"A board game..."
"Spencer only had to meet a friend, and you nearly lost your future. Seems like AD is making it uneven on purpose, to pit you against one another. What happened at the meeting?"
"I didn't go. Caleb was at Spencer's trying to decipher the game when he was gassed, it was boobytrapped. He's at the hospital on oxygen."
"Is he okay?"
"Yeah, he's in the waiting room. The doctors thought considering what's happening with Aria that they can make an exception and have him in the waiting room, they don't want to stress him out by having him alone wondering what's happening."
"This is all too much."
"That's why we have to stick together." Hanna replies.
"Could AD have something to do with what happened to Aria?"
"It's crossed our minds, but Aria hasn't had a turn for the game yet."
"Exactly. It's already uneven so why not do something to throw you all of."
"CeCe said we're her dolls, and that's why she never actually killed us." Hanna points out.
"But this person is avenging AD and thinks you killed CeCe and Elliot so maybe they want to hurt you as much as possible." Ezra finishes, they've finally reached the car park.
"We'll talk when we get upstairs, I'll find a parking spot you go up. Do you know where to go?"
"Yeah." Ezra shouts already out the door.