Alex was running in a sort of white room that seemed infinite, never ending. Every turn she took made her more lost than she already was. The white was starting to hurt her eyes. Then, huge red "A" letters started falling from out of the blue, engulfing her. She was sinking deeper and deeper as she was trying to free herself from the "A" quick sands. Then it all went dark.
Alex suddenly sat up straight in her hospital bed, just waking up from her nightmare. Aria was sitting in a chair next to her, as the girls had agreed to stay by her side, alternating shifts, until she woke up. Aria was surprised to see Alex wake up this panicked. She quickly missed called Emily, letting the girls know that their friend had awoken. She then gave Alex a concerned look, to which the girl relaxed and lain down on her bed. It took her a while to recall what had happened: the meeting, the shooting, and then … nothing, a blank space in her memory. Aria started telling her about the ambulance, her being unconscious for days, and the doctors' speculations about her not getting round. Meanwhile, Spencer, Hanna and Emily quietly got in the room trying not to disturb the patient.
Alex looked up at them: "And now what?"
The three girls glanced at Spencer. "No! It's not possible!" she exclaimed.
"At least show her the text", told her Emily.
"Fine!" Spencer took out her iPhone, scrolled through her special file containing all the messages from 'A' and showed Alex the last one.
Alex read it out loud: " 'Toby or not Toby, that is the question. –A', what is that supposed to mean, and who is Toby?"
"Toby's her boyfriend", said Hanna pointing at Spencer.
"I think 'A' is threatening him", continued Spencer.
"Or…", started Aria.
"No, I already told you guys it's not true", interrupted Spencer.
Alex was confused. "Wait, what's not true? Can we stop the private conversations please?"
"Okay it's possible, and I repeat Spence, POSSIBLE, that Toby is in some kind of trouble or … cheating on Spencer –at that last sentence, Hanna lowered her voice, afraid of Spencer's reaction- and that 'A' is exposing that to us for some reason."
"If it's true, this exposure is for a very specific reason, Hanna, and that's to destroy Spencer" said Emily. She then turned to look at Spencer: "You're A's favorite target because you are the most challenging one. Remember Mona asking you to join the 'A' team? Don't you think that destroying us one by one, from the strongest link to the weakest, is the best revenge? And emotional damage is worse than the physical one."
Nobody replied. Nobody could. How could they reply at what Emily had just said? She had spoken what everybody was afraid to admit, even to themselves. The silence between them wasn't awkward, it was a way to confirm the fact that they were all thinking about the same thing and the same torturer. Then a nurse came in to check on Alex's morphine dose. She was astonished to find her awake, so she left to find the doctor. Alex told the Liars: "I think you should follow Toby. I know you don't like that Spencer but if he's in danger or if he's endangering you, you need to know."
Spencer nodded. She wasn't quite sure what to do. Following her boyfriend around meant that she didn't trust him. However, she did, with her life. But if something is really going on, she had to know. The nurse had interrupted her thoughts – like always someone had to interrupt her thoughts- and she needed more time to think. "I'll chew on it."