Mona had been in a coma for a month now and Emily wasn't the only one that was tired of traveling back and forth to visit her. Every weekend Emily, Spencer, Hanna, and Aria boarded a train to Philadelphia and sat in Mona's room for at least an hour, filling her in on the general gossip and happenings around town or simply chatting about nothing in particular. Sometimes Ezra, Toby, and Paige would join them, although usually not all at once. Caleb never went. Although he did worry about her and the effect the situation was having on Hanna and the others, he still wasn't on the best of terms with Mona.
Today, a Saturday, everyone had decided to go. Emily sat on a bench at the train station between Paige and Jason, who seemed to feel the same way about Mona that Caleb did. Spencer and Toby were across from them, and Aria and Ezra were off in a corner still trying to figure out their relationship status. The only one missing was Hanna and everyone was surprised when she arrived with Caleb.
"What are you doing here?" Emily asked, hoping she didn't sound rude.
"Everyone else is making an effort to forgive her, but me." Caleb replied. "I figure I should at least try. She out you girls through way worse than any of the rest of us, and if you can put that behind you then I should be able to too."
Hanna wrapped her arms around him, obviously proud of his decision.
The train arrived and they all managed to find seats together. As usual most of the trip went by silently, but as they neared their destination Jason broke the silence.
"Have you decided what you want to do about college, Emily?" he asked out of the blue.
His random question threw her off for a moment, but she nodded, flashing Ezra, who had been a huge help with her decision, a quick smile. "Yeah. I'm taking a year off. It's not really what I want to do, but I think it's the best choice at the moment."
She had already discussed this with her friends and family, but apparently Spencer hadn't passed the information along. Emily wondered if that meant she was finally easing up a little. She understood that she was worried about Jason after what had happened to Melissa, but she couldn't help thinking that he probably felt a little smothered by her at times.
Jason seemed to approve of her choice, as everyone else had, and for some reason this sparked a conversation in the group that got them through the last few minutes of their journey.
When they arrived at the station in Philadelphia they walked the distance from the station to the hospital in a mostly double file line, with Emily and Hanna at the front and Spencer sandwiched between Toby and Jason bringing up the rear. They all chattered and somehow found things to laugh and smile about on the way, but as soon as they stepped through the hospital doors their mood turned more somber. It was as if they had suddenly remembered the reason for their little field trip. They made their way to Mona's room and found her parents in the waiting room outside.
Mr. and Mrs. Vanderwaal's presence wasn't unusual since Mona was their daughter, but the news they shared shocked everyone. Apparently, after a month of waiting for Mona to recover, they had decided to give up hope. They were talking to a doctor about signing a Do Not Resuscitate form and unhooking Mona's feeding tubes and monitors.
"What?" Aria and Spencer demanded.
Hanna let out a small cry and sank into a nearby chair. Caleb rushed to her side. Ezra, Toby, Paige, and Jason all stood there staring at the Vanderwaals, none of them sure how to react.
"You can't do that!" Emily cried.
Mrs. Vanderwaal gave Emily a sympathetic look. "Emily, we appreciate your concern, but we certainly can. She's our daughter."
"But she's eighteen." Spencer said weakly.
"She can't make any decisions for herself." Mr. Vanderwaal said. "We're her legal guardians, so the choice is up to us."
"But she's your daughter." Emily argued. "How can you do this? She'll starve."
"We don't think she's going to get any better." Mrs. Vanderwaal said, obviously trying not to upset anyone further, but failing miserably. "We know you all care for her, and we really do appreciate that, but we simply can't stand to see her like this anymore."
"We are only considering the option." Mr. Vanderwaal added. "We haven't actually decided yet."
Emily took one look at his wife and could see that she had most definitely made up her mind. She wanted to do this. No matter what her reasons or logic, Emily couldn't get past the fact that Mrs. Vanderwaal was essentially deciding to kill her daughter. Her only child. How could she even consider that with such a calm attitude?
"We can't let them do this." Emily said to her friends once Mona's parents had left. "She will get better. We can't let them kill her. If they do this…"
She trailed off, unable to speak the words. She looked at Aria and Spencer and then at Hanna, who was still recovering from the shock in her chair. None of them spoke a word, but Emily knew they were thinking the same thing she was. If Mona was taken off her life support, she would certainly die. If she died, A had won this round. No matter what they had agreed on a month ago, none of them was ready to let A have quite that much power over them.
Emily's choice was going to be about college, but I just watched a Law & Order episode about a man in a coma and the fight to save Mona suddenly seemed a little more appealing than debating how to handle Emily's college problem.