Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/1280086.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
  Category:
      F/M
  Fandom:
      Pretty_Little_Liars
  Character:
      Emily_Fields, Spencer_Hastings, Hanna_Marin, Ben_Coogan, Pam_Fields, Anne
      Sullivan, Darren_Wilden, Wayne_Fields, Melissa_Hastings
  Additional Tags:
      Rape, Drug_Abuse, Post-Traumatic_Stress_Disorder_-_PTSD, Rape_Aftermath
  Stats:
      Published: 2014-03-07 Updated: 2014-06-02 Chapters: 5/? Words: 5777
****** Dark Wounds in Dark Times ******
by Barelywriting
***** Losing My A-Game *****
 
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BE--- click.
Her eyes were still closed tight when her slender arm slowly slung over her
head and her sweaty palm hit the SNOOZE button. Curious to what time it was,
she opened her eyes slightly, just enough to read the time. It was five o'clock
in the early morning. She closed her eyes and thought, today was a Thursday.
Class doesn't start until nine o' clock, but Emily Fields, MVP swimmer of the
Rosewood swimming team wakes up hours early for her daily intense morning runs.
Even on the weekends, she goes on a run through the woods behind her house. It
was a way for her to clear her mind; however, today was different. She didn’t
feel like running, not even a walk or to get out of bed. How could she? She
couldn’t even move. Her head was already throbbing and parts of her body ached,
and on top of that, she was drained of all fortitude and dignity as she barely
slept through the hours she had left last night. Her eyes closed and remained
shut tight, but her mind was racing. Racing from the tiny bursts of images in
her head from the incident that occurred last night, her body shook as she
remembers his cold finger tips gliding its way up the bed sheets, creeping up
to her thighs and harshly groping and marking her olive skin. She can still
smell his breath, clouds of air breathing heavily on her face and his sticky
wet tongue slithering forcefully inside her mouth.
Tears fell down at the tiny corners of her eyes, and she let out short, quiet
whimpers. Finally, she pulled the edges of her covers and cocooned herself for
some empty sense of safety.
***
Hanna Marin, one of the A-list girls of Rosewood High walks toward the table
that she and her best friends would usual sit and have lunch. From afar she
sees the girls, Aria Montgomery and Spencer Hastings already eating their
lunch. When she arrived, she quickly sat down, accidentally slamming the bottom
of her food tray on the cafeteria table.
THUMP!
"Uh, something the matter Han?" Aria said in a surprised tone.
"Ms. Montgomery doesn’t want to give me an extension on that English paper",
Hanna replied matter-of-factly. Hanna with her blonde hair styled in wavy
lengths was intentionally looking at Aria, eyeing her with a sarcastic but
harmless glare.
"Don't give me that look! Even I don't get extensions - even if SHE IS my Mom."
Aria beamed in a defensive tone.
Spencer let out a quiet laugh, enjoying the stare down between Hanna and Aria,
knowing full well that this quarrel will end before everyone knows it.
"Where's Emily?" Spencer asked, realizing that Emily didn't come with Hanna
from their English class together.
"Beats me." Hanna replied, while she shrugged her shoulders upwards. "She
wasn't in class today."
"Yeah, I didn't see her in Algebra either, and we just had a huge test. I
texted her right before the class started, but I didn’t get any text back from
her." Aria pointed out with a slight worry.
"She's probably sick or something," Spencer said as she played with her peas
and carrots with a fork on her plate. "Let's check up on her after school."
The girls quickly changed the topic and shrugged it off, not knowing then what
really happened and what they were going to witness after. If only they knew,
what was going on with Emily right then.
***
Emily’s house seemed stagnant and deserted from the outside. With Emily’s mom
out of town for a few days to visit Emily’s dad in Texas, it was the perfect
privacy for Emily’s boyfriend, Ben to have some quality time even when it was
just a study date. Ben, a tall, lean and muscular guy also swam for the
Rosewood Sharks. Clean cut and polite, he was every parent’s dream to be the
perfect boyfriend for their daughter. But lately, Ben was acting a little
strange for Emily; Ben seemed to be more aggressive and demanding of Emily,
especially with having sex, something that Emily was still uncomfortable with.
Some days he would push her to the limits, even saying rude and brass things,
then apologizing after. Emily, had the tendency to be passive about certain
things, and these were the things that she just shrugged off, but this night
was something different. Emily and Ben were in her room, Emily sitting next to
the window seat, and Ben laying down on her bed with a book in front of him.
There was an upcoming Algebra test in the next few days and she was intent on
passing it with flying colors. Ben on the other hand kept glancing to Emily’s
direction having a slight smirk outline his face. Slowly he sat up and walked
towards her, his head leaning in slowly next to the side of her cheek, making
her jump in surprise as she felt his tongue lick her neck.
Emily
On the second attempt, I quickly pulled away and dodged his second attempt,
"Ben! We have to study! The test is tomorrow!" I said in a stern and frustrated
voice. He would always do something like this when we're in closed quarters.
It's not because I didn't like it, but usually when things begin to get heated,
he becomes physically aggressive. He never hit me, he was just…rough. It scares
me that he shows how much physically stronger he is than to me, usually pushing
me down with his heavy torso while he grips my wrists over my head with his
hands, then eventually letting me go.
But he kept going, although he was gentle this time, caressing the skin on my
neck with his tongue. My body shook as I felt a slight tingle in my spine, and
I slowly turned myself towards him and touched his lips. It was soft and wet
and I lost myself in that moment.
I didn't even realize that I was standing up, locking my body with his. My
palms softly brushed through the back of his head and his arms embraced my
waist. Suddenly, he began touching me in places where I felt uncomfortable; my
eyes flew wide open and pushed him away from me. "Um okay, uh, we need to study
for the tests…remember?" I turn around, walking towards my study space next to
the window.
"Ugh, you’re such a tease, Em." Ben said in an angry and frustrated voice.
"Excuse me?!!" I said befuddled; uncertain if I heard him right.
"I said, YOU'RE SUCH A TEASE!!! What?! I'll never be good enough for you?! How
long do you have to keep me waiting?!" Ben began inching his way towards me,
taking a couple of steps where his hands could reach me then tightly gripping
onto my shoulders. I could feel his nails clawing through my skin.
"Ben!!! Let go of me!! You're hurting me…" I cry out a whimper and I could feel
my heart racing. In a quick second, I felt gravity pushing me towards the wall,
my back slamming so hard behind me that I recoiled toward the floor. As I feel
my body fall limp, my head catches the edge of the table, and in an instant
everything was dark.
I woke up on top of my bed, my wrists bound by the opposite polls of my
bedpost. My ankles felt the same rough ligature wrapped around my skin, pulling
my legs on opposite sides. I lift my head up, trying to get a look onto my
body’s stinging sensations, but I only see my covers on top of me. Then I
gasped. I realized I was naked in my room, and could feel the texture of the
covers onto my cold and sensitive skin. In the dark, I can see Ben's masculine
figure standing up next to me with eyes wide, filled with hunger. I began to
panic, as my vision became clearer and focused on the dark silhouette in front
of me.
 
***** Unravel Me *****
Emily 
 
"Ben!!! What are you doing? Let me go!" He didn't respond and his eyes darted
where my stomach was under the covers. Slowly, he swung his left leg over my
bottom half and pushed himself up with his right leg to the bed. He was sitting
just right over my thighs, his knees folded onto the side of my legs. I felt
vulnerable and scared. Gently, he took the edges of the thin covers and began
pulling it slowly just barely exposing me. My eyes grew in horror as I started
to realize what he was intending to do. Before I could scream, he covered my
mouth with the palm of his hand. Slowly, he leaned in next to my head and
whispered in my ear, "You can't say no to me anymore, Em."
 
Tears began to crawl on my face and I began to jerk myself off of him. I was
fighting so hard and moving so violently that my knee managed to hit him in
between his legs. I saw the agony in his face, and he fell off my ankles and
landed on the side of the bed.
 
"FUCKING BITCH!" I heard it in a low tone through his teeth. Before I knew it,
his dark figure rose on top of me and backhanded my right cheek.
 
"How do you like being kicked in the crotch, BITCH?!" At the same moment those
words left his mouth, he kneed me, jabbing extreme pressure and pain in between
me.
 
I never saw anybody this violent, maybe only in television. I didn't believe
that things like this happen in real life, and everything going on at that very
moment seemed so surreal.
 
When he decided that he was done with me, I began to make sense of what time it
was. But all I could feel, see, smell, taste and hear was his sweat and heavy
body over me. His head was lying on top of my breasts and I could feel his
heart beat slowing down on my abdomen. It was a cold night, but I felt flushed,
tired and hot. I felt the agonizing pain and wetness in between my thighs. I
felt my skin was torn wide open in between me and my body ached all over. I
could feel stingy bite marks on my breasts and nipples and I could taste the
blood in my mouth and at the corner of my cheek as it crept down my lip. My
left eye was swollen and I could barely make out his figure as he slowly untied
me.
 
I felt so disgusted, empty, cold and torn. I felt that I had died but I was
being forced to live this life.
 
I didn't move, not even an inch. He rolled me onto my side and I pulled my arms
and knees inwards and curled up to a fetal position. I wanted to envelope
myself from everything. I wanted to disappear. He placed his chin onto the bed
as he kneeled in front of my face.
 
“I swear, you better not tell anybody about this, or else-" he hissed.
 
I felt like I was about to pass out from the intense pain that I felt all over
my body, and right when my vision was clouding, I felt him yank my hair to lift
my head. "Hey! Can you hear me----?!"
 
Then everything was dark.
 
It was 1:13 in the afternoon already when I finally came to. The sun was
shamefully blaring through my curtains and little light filled the room.
Slowly, with my left arm, I pushed myself upwards but my arm gave way of my
weight. I felt an intense pain on my left arm, and I could see it swollen. Then
I began to feel the rest of the pain that is itching its way to display their
marks on me.
 
***
 
Spencer
 
Aria drove us to Emily's house and parked at the empty driveway. I saw Emily's
car parked on the sidewalk since her mother usually takes the driveway. I guess
Mrs. Fields is still not home from visiting Emily's Dad in Texas yet. I wonder
if Emily is feeling okay...
 
"Hmmm, did Em tell us what time her Mom was coming home today?" Hanna casually
asked.
 
"I think it should be in a few hours. Not entirely sure." Aria responded.
 
We all got out of the car and we walked ourselves towards the front door. Hanna
was the first one to reach the doorsteps and without hesitation she rang the
doorbell. We waited for a few seconds until Hanna rang the doorbell again. Aria
began to go around the house to check if anybody was home through the windows.
 
"Nothing, she's probably sleeping soundly in her room." Aria stated.
 
Without speaking, she walked past behind me where a potted plant stood tall.
Clearing the thin surface of the dirt inside the pot, unraveled a pair of house
keys that the Fields had stashed away.
 
"Here, Em showed me where her spare keys were when we sneaked back to her house
late last Halloween." Hanna said non-challantly.
 
"Okay, good. Let's use it; I'm kind of getting a weird feeling from all this.
She's still not picking up her phone." I heard my voice slightly crack. I
didn't know why exactly, but I can feel my heart beat faster and faster, as if
something was wrong.
 
***
 
Aria
 
Hanna unlocked the key latch and twisted the doorknob slowly. The door pushed
wide open and Hanna yelled out her name.
 
"Emily? It's us, Aria, Spence and Hanna….silence….Emily? More silence.
 
We all looked at each other and all thought of the same thing. We could feel it
in our bones, and it was screaming at us at our faces. Something is wrong.
Hanna was the first one to go, then Spencer, then me. We skipped through the
staircases in two's and dashed towards Emily's door. By the time I got to the
top of the stairs, I see Hanna's back blocking Emily's doorway entrance, just
showing Emily’s head at the edge of her bed through the cracks. Hanna was
frozen still and I heard her begin to whimper. Panic struck me; I felt a shock
and a tremendous and continuous jab pounding on my chest. I ran towards the
door as if it was the only thing that I can do; and there I froze. Like Hanna.
Both feeling shock, pain, disbelief, agony, and despair. And yet I felt the
void of nothingness.
 
***
 
Emily
 
I am somewhere shrouded in gray emptiness. My insides were crumbling and I feel
the gravity of the pain forcing my chest to pump- pushing and pulling my
muscles out of my heart. Darkness begins to alter the musty surroundings,
beginning to where I lay, until it swallows me whole. And in the black inch of
darkness, I heard a sweet voice...calling my name.
 
"Emily, Em! Em, wake up! There's a pulse but…but, she's barely breathing." I
vaguely hear Spencer's muffled voice, and myself coming to. I felt a light tap
on my right cheek, holding it upwards and a slight nudge on my left shoulder.
 
Slowly, I begin to open my eyes, but my left eye only opened halfway. I can
feel the swollen socket weighing over my eyes. Cringing through the sudden icy
cold atmosphere of where I lay, my eyes darted straight up and saw my blue
painted ceiling. I was in my room; on my bed. Suddenly, from my blurred vision,
Spencer and Aria appeared in my view.
***
 
Hanna
 
I paced back and forth in the room, grinding my teeth and biting my lip. I
didn't know what to do.
 
"I'm calling the police!" I suddenly hear myself yell out. Before I could grab
my phone, I hear a moan in her voice, desperately trying to talk.
 
"No…. Please...don't." Emily begged. She was sitting up now with her back
leaning on the head board. She looked drained, bloody and swollen and I
couldn’t even imagine where she gets the energy to speak. Just looking at her
makes my knees shake, barely holding myself together in front of her. Her left
eye was swollen and she can barely open the other. She was wearing her pajama
bottoms and I could see that it was torn and wasn't pulled all the way up to
her waist. The blankets covered around her torso, right above her breast. It
covered everything but her arms as her hair dropped wrangled across her face.
She was black and blue from what was vulnerable to all of us and that’s when I
felt my eyes well up as I strain myself with anticipation from what was lying
underneath.
 
Spencer
 
"What do you mean don't call the police?!" Hanna screamed.
“Hanna!” I said in a stern voice as I glared at her for yelling at Emily's
fragile state.
 
My attention returned back to Emily and I clasped both hands slowly onto her
face, moving it towards my eyes making contact. "Sweetie, it's going to be
okay. Okay? Can you tell me what happened?" I tried my best to say those words
in the calmest way I can possible.
 
Hold yourself together Spence. Hold yourself together. I kept telling myself.
 
The sight and feeling of her skin sent goose bumps and repulsive images in my
mind to whom and what could have done this. Just touching her face leaves blood
stains onto my fingertips.
It was clear however to what else had happened to Emily at a state like this.
She was raped.
 
“Han, go ahead. Call the police; we need to get her to a hospital as soon as
possible.” Keeping a calm decorum, I didn’t give myself even a slight chance of
failure of leaving Emily’s eyes. Even in her broken stature, she kept her
flinching eyes looking up at me.
 
"I……I-" Emily murmured while her eyes were trying to open themselves. "I-I'm
fine… r-really, I am." Emily pushes herself up from her sitting position, but
as soon as her torso was using its own weight, I saw the horrid look in her
face as she blared out a cry of pain. Aria and I caught her before she throbbed
anymore forward. We guided her back to lay on the head rest while Hanna ran
towards the other side of the bed.
 
“The police are on their way” Hanna said abruptly. However, panic was still
seeping down my body, as my mind raced to what else I can I do to ease her
pain. Suddenly, it just became clear. There was so much blood. So much that
something is very, very wrong.
 
"Em, I need to see where the blood is coming from okay? I'm going to take off
the cover around you." Emily's half-opened eyes blared at mines and I can hear
her voice in my mind screaming, no.
 
I turn my eyes to Hanna and nodded as she stood up and pulled the covers behind
Emily. I felt my heart stop and drop.
 
“We need a towel or something.” I grabbed one of her pillows and slipped the
pillow case from it. I placed it right under Emily’s rib, putting pressure on
the blood oozing out of her skin.
 
"It’s not working. I’m grabbing a towel.” Aria screamed in panic as she ran out
of the room.
 
What seemed like a million hours only went on for only a few minutes. I can
hear the ambulance sirens across town, wailing through the streets to Emily’s
window. Thank goodness, they’re almost here.Emily sat in silence but with her
face and how she clasped onto her wound told us something else. Her sides were
in blotches of black and blue while the dark smeared blood stains grew dry from
the lashes of her ripped skin. She was stabbed right under the side of her ribs
and I could the clean line of dripping blood. Her breasts had bruises and bite
marks, some bleeding, some encrusted with dried blood. It seemed that the agony
she had gone through lasted at an immensely long time.
Hanna, quickly taking off her jacket placed it over Emily’s. Hanna’s hands were
shaking as she watched a pool of blood was forming on the side of Emily’s body
and her pajama bottoms were becoming drenched. I looked at Emily's pale and
bruised face as she was falling out of consciousness.
 
"Hold on Em! You're going to be okay! You're going to be okay!!"
 
As I gave more pressure onto her wound, everything began to happen in slow
motion. I could hear the sirens outside Emily's house. I couldn't even hear my
voice anymore as I kept telling Emily that everything will be okay. Hanna
grabbed Emily's face with both of her hands and Hanna's lips began to move. She
was telling her something, and she had her face set stern and serious. Then the
paramedics came with Aria pulling me out of the way.
***** Hysteria *****
Aria
 
We all sat in the lobby in a blank daze. We were in complete shock and
disbelief but at the same time an incomprehensible sense of fear, worry, agony
and emotional pain. Hanna had stopped crying and she was leaning on my shoulder
with her eyes closed. My arm was wrapped around her as we were both trying to
comfort each other. Spencer walked through the doors with four cups of coffee
at hand all in a tray. It was almost 8 o’ clock in the evening and Mrs. Fields
made it just less than an hour ago- almost over four hours after Emily was
admitted to the hospital. They wouldn't tell us what was going on, only that
she is in surgery and they needed a family member to explain the ongoing
diagnosis.
 
Spencer all gave us our cup of coffee and one was left in the middle of the
lobby table for Mrs. Fields. All of us looked down or up, around us but never
towards each other. We didn't know how to react to a situation like this. I
mean, we just saw our best friend, Emily laying in her room where she was
beaten, stabbed, and raped. We all saw her vulnerable and torn. She was broken
and we honestly thought we were going to lose her earlier.
 
The steel lobby doors flung wide open and all of our heads turned towards that
direction. Our anticipation was bittersweet; Mrs. Fields had come back from
speaking to the doctors, but burdened with the truth of what was happening. Is
Emily going to be okay? Will she ever recover? What happened… who could have
done such a thing…..?
 
Spencer handed Mrs. Fields her cup of coffee. Mrs. Fields twisted the foam cup
around her fingers before taking a sip.
 
"You girls better sit down." Mrs. Fields sounded surprisingly calm or at least
her voice was. She is usually tense with an overprotective connotation to what
Emily had to do for anything and everything. It must be killing her that she
wasn’t around when Emily needed her the most. I stared at her while rubbing
Hanna’s shoulder and an awkward silence circulated the room.
 
"Mrs. Fields---?" Hanna interrupted.
 
"Oh, yes sorry girls. Emily… well, the doctors said that Emily just finished
surgery. She, is going to be okay.” I can hear her voice cracking. “She lost a
lot of blood, and she is on fluids right now. There were severe bruising.
Broken bones, a strained wrist, six cracked ribs and a dislocated jaw.” My eyes
gaped open; I didn’t know it was that bad.“Her vision in her left eye will heal
after the bruising dissipates… But she was stabbed in her chest that slightly
punctured her lung in a few centimeters,”
“almost like drowning in her own blood" I quietly blurted out. Mrs. Fields
finally paused for a second, gathering her composure "But she's strong, she
pulled through the surgery and is in ECG now. I'm sure of it…"
  
"Also, I know you girls probably know this already but she was---"
 
"She was raped." Spencer decided to just blurt it out. It was a four letter
word that I could not make myself to say out loud after today. It was painful,
and all I could think of was Emily and what she had gone through. She didn't
deserve this…
 
Each of our parents eventually came, stayed for a while until Mr. Fields
arrived. He was tall, taller than Emily or her mother, and he was strong, brave
and modest. The Fields only have Emily as their only child, and they could not
cherish anyone else. Soon, we all left, telling each other to try to get some
rest, and just to come back to the hospital the next day.
 
***
Hanna
 
It has been over a week now and Emily is slowing getting progress. A week ago
she was on life support, hooked in a variety of tubes and machines, fighting
for her life, fighting so hard to just wake up and be with us again. The
doctors said it was just any day now, just any day. I was seating on the
hospital chair, leaning my head on Emily's arm. My fingers twirled around hers
so I can immediately feel any sign of movement. Spencer was across the bed,
telling Emily the events of our days, usually it was the same thing but it was
comforting knowing that she can hear us, or at least that’s what the doctors
believe. Aria was next to me, rubbing my back while she and Spencer told Emily
about our day…. And that's when I felt it…
 
Emily
It was quiet, cool and soothing. I can hear someone breathing next to me. Alive
and well. All of a sudden, voices and noises began to spur. Where am I? I tried
  to speak, but no sound came out. And in a moment, the whiteness changed its
contrast; giving color to my surroundings. Then it was blank white again, then
     dark. Then cool, but not the same quiet, soothing feeling ever again.
My eyelids were like concrete; I could barely open them, and even then- I
couldn’t see very well. The entirety of the room was still bright white and I
can smell the sharp and strong scent of bleach.
“Hey Em.” My eyes slowly traveled towards the familiar voice. It was Hanna, and
next to her was Aria. Where am I? I tried to say out loud. However, no sound
came out, only a thin cloud of breath fogged the plastic that I could see
hovering over my nose and mouth. Where am I?!This time keeping the wonder to
myself. I managed to find the strength to move my head around, despite the pain
aching at the corner of my head. I began to grip the blanket closest to my
fingertips when I felt the wave of uneasiness and panic come over my chest,
arms and legs. I felt numb and falling.
Spencer
“Emily? Emily?!”, screamed Mrs. Fields when we entered the room. Emily was
crying now, and shook weakly on her hospital bed. What the hell happened? I
thought to myself. I was gone for a few minutes-
I watched Aria cover both the palms of her hand onto her mouth. I was standing
in between the door frames when the nurse pushed through and told everybody to
leave. Doctors began rushing in, trying to sedate Emily from her frantic state.
Huddled outside her room, we were only able to see the brief scene of Emily’s
sedation through the glass window. Mrs. Fields was crying, resting her face
onto Mr. Fields’ chest, and walked towards the waiting room once again. It was
just Hanna, Aria and I now, watching Emily struggle with her inner demons
through the glass window.
“What happened to you, Em?” Hanna softly asked for us to hear. But nobody
answered, and we all wanted to know why.
***** Breathe Me *****
Emily
Stop!!! Please, don’t! Don’t-don’t…don’t!!! But he wouldn’t stop, he wouldn’t.
He wouldn’t let me go. His grip was tightening around my arms and flaming pain
drove up my thighs. His chest pounded heavily on mines and I gasped for air to
stay alive. He collapsed on me right before I thought it would never end, and I
could hear his heart thump profusely on top of my breasts.
“Emily! Wake up honey! Wake up.” I felt my entire body shake gently when I
flung my eyes open. I couldn’t sit up from the stab wound on my left side, so
she gently leaned in and enveloped me in her arms. I was crying hysterically
and screaming for air as my lungs were about to give out. The dreams kept
coming and coming, it won’t stop. He won’t stop.
“Honey, Em- breathe. Breathe in, and out. You can do it. In and out.” Mom
carefully pulled me up and began rubbing my back. She placed her left palm onto
my back, carefully timing in and out the circulation of air in my lungs. “You
can do it…”
“I-ha-c-can-hau-c-can’t”, “Yes you can, come on Em, shh…” But I couldn’t, even
though she was pleading for me to breathe through the tedious paces that my
lungs felt. I kept gasping for air.
“Yes you can, honey. Breathe… I know you can.” My fingers gripped the fabric of
the back of her shirt, my forehead leaning onto her shoulder. Short breathes
began to wheeze out of my mouth and I could feel the gravity of my chest
stumping me.
“M--om…hau-“, my strained wrist began to ache as I gripped tighter onto her
shirt.
“Okay-oh, okay. I’ll stop it…here.” I felt the linings of my mouth and nose
being covered by a plastic mask. The clear tube displayed the white fumes
racing through the opening. As the ventilator calmed my lungs and my mind, I
felt my body being gently laid down as my mind drifted off to sleep.
***** Chapter 5 *****
The girls all sat in their usual round table during lunch. It was a beautiful
day out, but they were oblivious to their surroundings. It was the fifth time
Spencer looked at her watch, and she wasn’t alone. Hanna, Spencer and Aria felt
the day couldn’t have dragged itself any longer. They all wished it was 3 o’
clock, where they can hastily leave school and head to Emily’s house right
after.
“I wonder what Emily is doing now.” Aria thought out loud.
“Probably watching reruns of The OC.” Hanna said while smiling. The girls all
laughed; although half-heartedly. They all knew that wasn’t the case since the
attack. Emily hadn’t been herself since then, she barely ate, spoke or smiled;
and the night terrors weren’t getting any better either. Emily’s mom had to
spend nights by her bedside when she was in the hospital since she couldn’t
bear to leave Emily alone. It was a silver lining when the doctors finally let
Emily home, but since she was still hooked up in all sorts of machines, they
had to replace her regular bed with the hospital one. A nurse was dispatched to
care for her during the mornings every other day, while Emily’s mom was given
training for any drastic changes for Emily during the other days and nights.
Aria
“I thought she hated The OC?” Spencer asked plainly as she chewed on a carrot,
“Yeah, I thought so too”, I seconded the fact; “Hmmm, possibly, but we did
spend an entire night watching the seasons.” Hanna replied, while twirling her
fingers around her blonde hair. “I always thought Adam Brody was cute”.
Even with all the layers of make-up and concealer, I can still see the enormous
worry that has been plastering itself on Hanna’s face over the past week. She
tried to hide it from the simple jokes she would make, knowing that we would
begin worrying about her.
RIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Ugh, finally!” Hanna excitedly said, as she grabbed her belongings and rushed
out of the cafeteria room. The two girls followed, side by side, still eyeing
the clocks and Hanna in the hallway.
***
Pam
“She had another one Wayne”, I began telling my husband over the wireless
phone.
“It’ll pass hon. Just give it time, these things take time.”
“I-I don’t know. I don’t know if she can take anymore-“
“Shh, she will. Our Em is a tough one, she’ll get through this.”
“Her attacks are getting worst; today we had to use the ventilator again.”
“I see. What did the doctors say?”
“Well, she begins her therapy sessions in two weeks. With that, and the
medication, they said we should expect even a little bit of progress with her
physical health. But-“
“Listen, It’s just going to take some time Pam. Now-“
Knock Knock Knock
“Okay, I have to go. The girls are here for Emily, I’ll talk to you later. I
love you.” I said hastily as I steadily walked towards the door.
“Okay. Bye. Love you too.” I turned the wireless phone call off cutting what
Wayne had anything else to say. At the door, I carefully turned the knob
towards the left.
“Hi Mrs. F!”, Hanna said brightly with Aria and Spencer behind.
“Hi girls. Come in, come in.” I led them inside the house and ushered them
towards the stairs leading to Emily’s room.
“She’s right upstairs, and um, inside voices. Keep your voice soft; she’s very
sensitive at everything right now. Let me know if Emily or you guys need
anything.” Just before I could walk towards the kitchen room, I felt a hand
slightly pull me back.
“Sorry Mrs. Fields, but, is she-, is Emily-? I stared at Aria as she nervously
said those words. The girl’s eyes displayed anticipation and worry, “She’ll be
fine. Her ribs are healing and the cut is looking better too. She can walk, but
barely. The brace on her leg won’t be taken off until another two weeks, and
the doctor recommended light walks, but a lot of rest still.”
“Has she talked to you…Mrs. Fields?”, I hear Spencer’s voice surprisingly
crack, voiding the confidence that used to radiate from her.
I looked down to my shoes, I can’t look at these girls anymore, especially
being in this conversation. “No. She hasn’t.” I sighed and stared at the girls’
worried faces, “but, maybe she’ll talk to you girls. She, she needs to.” With
that, I placed my hand over Aria’s shoulder and turned and walked away.
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