Troian stirred in a blurry sleep, her head aching, and body shaking. She felt paper like sheets that were far too thin, and goose bumps crawled along her skin. She smelled the nauseating scent of rubber gloves, hand sanitizer, paper, and medication.
She opened her eyes, looking for Keegan. Her vision was blurry. She saw a tall figure standing next to her.
"Keegan…?" She whispers to the figure wearing gray.
"Uh…no"
Troian instantly knew the voice of the man, but it wasn't Keegan.
"Patrick?"
There Patrick was, standing next to Troian. His eyes went from worry to... somehow, suspicious.
"Yeah, it's me… Why… why did you say Keegan's name?"
Troian felt herself cringe. She shouldn't have said anything, she should've said Patrick's name, right? She knew she was engaged to him, not Keegan, she should've felt guilty about saying his name… But his name felt right. It felt… whole.
Troian watched as Patrick sat next to Troian, laying his hand on her stomach, stroking gently.
"I… before I blacked out, Keegan was there, so I just suspected he'd be… here…" Troian felt like her words were stuck on her tongue. With each word, she felt more and more disappointment that Keegan wasn't there. She sighed.
"Well, I'm here now. I'm so sorry this happened to you Troian…"
"I know. I'm lucky Keegan came running out, he got me out of that car before anything could've gone worse"
Patrick pinched the top of his nose with his fingers, shutting his eyes.
"What, what's wrong?" Troian asked, touching his hand with her right one.
"I'm just… Why were you with Keegan?"
Troian almost felt offended. He was her best friend; Patrick was treating it like a CSI: New York investigation.
"He's my friend, Patrick, I went to see him"-
"At 12 in the morning?"
Troian felt the pressure in his voice.
"What… what are you saying?"
"Troian, we're engaged! I need to know I can trust you"-
"Trust me? Are you implying that I was 'cheating' on you?!"
Patrick got quiet, and he stood up.
"I wasn't implying that, Troian"-
"Yes you were!" Troian snapped.
She had never really yelled at Patrick. The only sound in the room was her heart monitor, which was now racing fast with tension.
"I'll… I'll come back later…." Patrick says, and turns to leave.
"No, Patrick, wait"
But he was already out of the room, closing the door a bit too roughly behind him.
Troian lied in the bed, alone, cold, and without Keegan.
Keegan was running through the hall, toward room 214. Of course it had to be 214, the same number used in Pretty Little Liars when Toby and Spencer were at the motel. Keegan pumped his legs toward her room, just as he saw Patrick barge past him.
"Hey, Patrick"-
But Patrick pushed past him, his shoulder hitting Keegan's roughly. Keegan tried not to take any notice of it, but he couldn't help but notice the rage in Patrick's eyes.
Keegan pushed Troian's door open gently, the door swinging open with an annoying creak. His hair was still wet from the rain, and his shoes were filthy, but he didn't care as long as Troian was okay. He didn't know if she would be mad at him, or still tired, but he went in anyways.
Keegan looked over to the left, where Troian was in her bed. She had her arm lying over her face, and her heart monitor was beeping quickly, her small whimpers echoing off the hospital room walls.
"Troian…" Keegan said gently.
She pulled her arm off her face quickly, her eyes ringed with red from tears.
Keegan instantly felt his body react, and move towards her. He sat on her bed, near her calf, and hugged her, pulling her close. He breathed in her scent, Stella perfume slightly; her warmth against his chest; body shaking with sadness in her heart. She nestled her head into his neck, even though his hair was still dripping. Keegan continued holding her, rubbing her back with his thumbs gently. Her breathing came out in rigid gasps, and he leaned his head on top of hers, her eyes shutting in a deep relaxation. She clung to him, her arms locked behind Keegan's back, keeping her to him. She calmed down, her heart going to a steady rhythm of an indie song.
She pulled back, wiping away her tears.
"What happened Troian? With Patrick?"
"He… He thinks I was cheating on him, with you, and, I, I tried to tell him it wasn't true but he got up and"-
Keegan pulled her back to him.
"Shhh, it's okay… it's okay" He said soothingly, and Troian breathed out into his chest.
"I'm sorry Troian… This is my fault"
"No, Keegan, no"-
"If I had kept my mouth shut, you wouldn't be in here"
"If you had kept your mouth shut, I wouldn't be able to do this"-
Before Keegan could even protest, she pulls her lips to his.
Keegan widens his eyes at her touch, but then he feels himself fall into her, grabbing her waist, pulling it to his, then running his hands through her hair, pushing her head closer. He doesn't know what's going on, but he sure-as-hell wasn't going to let this moment slip by. Troian let out a shaky breath, her lips still on his.
Keegan loves the feel of her warm soft lips on his, and even though they had kissed a million times before, this felt like a moments within a love story, one that he would keep forever in his heart. He was sure she would pull away and feel guilty, but she kept kissing him. She even touched his abdomen, her hands sliding down his shirt, over his abs.
"Troian… your heart monitor"
"Oh… right…"
There was an odd pause.
"I'm sorry, I… I don't know why I just did that…"
"Uh, it's okay…"
Troian sat in front of Keegan awkwardly, fiddling with the paper like bed sheets around her.
Keegan pushed away from her, sitting still next to her.
"Can we… forget about the kiss?"
Keegan sighs, Troian still looking at him. Keegan wasn't ready to let go of that moment.
"But I don't want to forget" Keegan says, surely knowing he sounded insane.
Troian looks at him, blankly.
"I just… I can't ruin things with Patrick… we're engaged Keegan"-
"That doesn't change the way I feel about you" Keegan whispers, sadness draining out his voice. Troian then touches Keegan's hands, smiling.
"I know… just… Don't leave me, please; can you just stay with me?"
Keegan looks at Troian's big brown eyes, and whispers,
"Always"