Chapter 9

Aria woke up to see Ezra smiling at her. She gave his lips a gentle kiss as he swept her hair off her face. She smiled back at him; he didn't look like he was in much pain anymore.

"Feeling better this morning?" Aria asked, brushing his hair to the side. He nodded in response and Aria smiled. Her phone rang and she jumped, she'd forgotten to tell her parents Ezra was awake. She excused herself outside with one last kiss. She answered the call; it was Hanna.

"Oh hey Hanna, what's up?" Aria hushed.

"Hey, why are you talking so quietly and I was wondering if you wanted to come shopping with me and Emily today?" Hanna asked.

"Oh Hanna, I wish I could but I'm kind of at the hospital," Aria mumbled and Hanna began to freak out, "No it's okay I'm fine, Ezra got hit by a car but he's okay now, I was going to call you guys this morning and tell you about it. He's broken a few ribs and the bottom of his leg. He's going to be fine in a few weeks but for now I think he's stuck in here a few more days." Aria explained and Hanna calmed down.

"Oh okay, tell him I send my best and I'll call the others and tell them?" Hanna asked, she'd always had a bit of a big mouth.

"Yeah okay thanks and I will, you can come up this afternoon if you want now he's awake he can have visitors?" Aria replied and Hanna agreed and said she had to go. Aria said goodbye and then called her parents, they would bring Mike up soon after breakfast. After the call, Aria walked back into the room and told Ezra about the phone calls.

"Good, it'll probably be really boring in here, so visitors sounds good to me, and you're here so I'm happy," Ezra said and pulled her to the bed and smiled. She kissed him and smiled back at him. They talked for a while and then Mike knocked on the door with coffee in his hand. Both Aria and Ezra grinned at him.

"Hey Fitz, I brought you a coffee, I found out last night the hospital coffee tastes like crap," Mike said and they all laughed, Ezra smiled as he stopped laughing and held a hand to his side again, forgetting his broken ribs. Mike and Aria's faces dropped when they saw him in pain and Mike shifted uncomfortably. He handed Aria a coffee and put Ezra's on his tray of untouched food. Byron and Ella entered with breakfast in their hands. Aria and Ezra's stomach's growled in unison at the sight of the food, neither one wanted the hospital food. Aria eagerly grabbed the bag of food and thanked her family before setting some food out for Ezra and then herself. Mike laughed as he watched Aria wolf down the food, and Aria became aware at how hungry she was. Ezra was tearing bits of food off and eating slowly. Aria finished her food at looked at Ezra who wasn't even half done.

"Hard to eat?" Aria asked, realising it was the first time Ezra had eaten since his accident. He nodded his head painfully and Aria brushed his hair to the side and frowned. There was a knock on the door and Hanna, Caleb, Emily, Mona, Spencer and Toby shuffled in, and Ezra's room was full. Ezra smiled at them all and thanked them for coming. Toby gave Ezra the local newspaper.

"I don't know if you like reading the paper, but you read so I guess this is kinda a book, plus, you're front page," Toby grinned uncomfortably. He didn't know if Ezra would like to read about last night but he left the paper on the bedside table.

"Thanks Toby, I don't usually read the paper but something tells me I will later." Ezra grinned to him. After a while everyone started leaving. There weren't enough chairs in the room and it was kind of full of people and started to get stuffy. Once all of their friends left, Byron and Ella said they had to leave for a while, but Mike said he was staying.

"But Aria, you stink and I'll keep Ezra company for a while, go home and shower and change." Mike teased, and after debate Aria agreed, but she would be back in an hour.

"Ezra, do you want anything from your apartment?" Aria asked before she left.

"Maybe another shirt or two," Ezra replied and shrugged. Aria kissed him on the forehead and then left with her parents. Mike and Ezra went through all the TV channels looking for something decent on, but found nothing. Mike called Aria.

"Hey, are you still at home?" Mike asked Aria.

"Yeah, I'm just about to leave for Ezra's and then come back, why what's up?" Aria replied, Mike could hear her rushing around.

"Can you go into my room and grab the books and papers on my desk and bring them?" Mike asked.

"Uh yeah sure. I gotta go, I'll see you in a bit, bye," Aria said and quickly hung up. She grabbed the things from Mike's desk and put them in a bag. She grabbed her bag and went to the car after calling a goodbye to her parents.

She got to Ezra's house and found his spare key under the mat. She went in and grabbed a few of Ezra's favourite shirts. She saw his bookshelf and decided to pick a few books for him. She grabbed his laptop and gathered everything up and left. When she returned to the hospital Mike was laughing and Ezra was trying his best not to laugh. Aria walked in cautiously. Ezra's face was engulfed by a massive grin when he saw her and she felt her face the same, she couldn't stop worrying about him the whole time she was away from him. She gave him a kiss and handed the bag to Mike, full of his papers and put hers and Ezra's on the floor near the bed.

"I brought you a few shirts, books and your laptop, I thought you might get bored," Aria smiled.

"Oh thanks," Ezra replied with a smile.

"I bought you my English paper, if you get really bored and want to tell me all about this book again," Mike grinned and Ezra and Aria laughed and shook their heads. Ezra launched into a massive spiel on the book and soon Mike was regretting asking him to explain the book, he was having trouble keeping up. Aria saw him looking confused and laughed. Ezra stopped and looked at her in confusion, giving Mike enough time to catch up. Ezra took a breath and continued, and Aria gave Mike a wink and grin when he mouthed 'Thank you' to her.

After Ezra had helped Mike with his paper and Mike thanked him, they sat around and talked for a while. A nurse came in with Ezra's dinner and as soon as she left Ezra screwed up his face in disgust at the food. They all laughed and Aria went down and brought all three of them food and took it back up to Ezra's room. Both the boys' faces lit up at the selection of food and soon it was all gone, except Ezra's share, which he was eating as fast as he could, but it was still really slow. Around 8pm Byron called Mike telling him that he was on the way to pick him up and Mike groaned. He didn't have anything to do and it was pretty fun sitting with Aria and Ezra all day. Aria gave him a hug and Ezra fist-bumped him and then he trudged out the door and down to the car park. Aria moved onto Ezra's bed and laid there with him in silence for a while.

"Today was fun, besides the fact we're still in here," Aria mumbled to Ezra who nodded and agreed. "Do you want your laptop or a book or something?" Aria asked, and Ezra asked for a book and Aria grabbed it and was quite happy to lie next to Ezra and watch him read. Aria fell asleep on Ezra's shoulder sometime around 11pm and soon Ezra's head fell onto hers as he slept.