Constellations

| 7 | Please Do Talk About Me When I'm Gone

Valerie woke up to a white room and the sound of monitors beeping, her stomach was throbbing and her eyes were dry. She blinked repeatedly, trying to understand where she was. She freaked out, she didn't remember what happened with Kane besides him tying her up and his phone call with Lucas.

"Ms. Montgomery, you are a very lucky girl." A British accent called out. Valerie turned her head to see Wren, Melissa's ex fiancé standing by her hospital with a clipboard and a pen.

"Yeah, cause getting kidnapped is every girl's dream." She muttered. She definitely didn't feel lucky.

"My apologies, what I meant was you're lucky to be alive. Your lung collapsed and you almost died on the operating table, but you pulled through. Not many people can survive getting stabbed." He explained. Valerie's mouth fell ajar. Kane almost killed her.

"Where is he?" Valerie asked, the fear evident in her voice.

"One of the officers who saved you shot him, he didn't make it." Wren told her, she couldn't help but feel relieved.

Suddenly, Aria, Hanna, and Spencer came rushing through the door. They all looked at her like she was a porcelain doll.

"I'll give you girls a moment." He said, excusing himself from the room.

"Hey Val, how are you feeling?' Spencer asked sympathetically.

"Is it wrong to say I'm glad he's dead?" She asked, tears pricking the corners of her eyes.

"No, of course not. We all are, we've been so worried about you. The doctors said you probably weren't gonna make it when you were in surgery." Aria told her, placing her hand on Valerie's.

"Where's mom and dad?" Valerie asked.

"With Mike in the waiting room. He's kind of a mess right now." Aria reported.

"What about Em?" Valerie wondered.

"Emily fell and hit her head running from Toby, the cops have been at her house all morning and her mom wont let her leave the house." Hanna explained.

"Why was she running from Toby?" She asked.

"He was threatening her." Hanna answered. Valerie didn't look surprised, they all knew Toby was a bad guy.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Valerie questioned, worried about her friend.

"Yeah, I think she just has to come to terms with it all. You know?" Spencer said. Valerie nodded her head in understanding.

— — — — — — — —

After Valerie got out of the hospital, she found out her mom was moving out. Which was a major kick in the ass. Hanna had gotten a file from Jenna's therapist which told the girls how Toby had forced himself on her, making Valerie feel sicker than she already did. Spencer ended up throwing it into the river after the girls got into a predicament. Mike ended up getting into a fight at school, which worried Valerie. She didn't want Mike to fall down this path. A few weeks after she got out, it was finally time for the memorial, Valerie was happy to finally have something good to focus on. Though, she could still barely get up without almost crippling over.

Valerie sat on the couch in the living room of the Hasting's Manor, watching Aria and Spencer pushing a big wooden box into the living room, "I was scared she wouldn't get it done in time for the memorial.

"This was someone from your mom's gallery?" Hanna asked.

"Right." Aria confirmed.

"Where is your mom?" Emily wondered.

"There's an apartment above the gallery. She's staying there for now." Valerie told her, sipping on hot chocolate.

"Kind of weird isn't it? Your mom moving out." Hanna asked, observing a blueprint of the bench that was gonna be put in at the park.