Hold Me Close: An Ezria Story

Stay Calm

Ezra's POV:

I was still being questioned by some police officers when they got the call. Someone had found Aria! One of the officers let me ride in the passenger seat of his cop car while they drove to the spot Aria had been found. I couldn't wait to see her beautiful face and hug her and kiss her and tell her I was sorry. But then a thought crossed my mind. What if she was hurt? What if I wouldn't get to see her beautiful face?

No. I pushed the thought to the back of my head as the cop pulled up to an old street on the outskirts of town. I hadn't seen a single house for miles. The cop parked behind an ambulance. Oh no. I got out of the car and immediately saw Spencer. I ran up to her. Her eyes were red and puffy and her face was streaked with tears.

"Spencer... Wh-What's wrong..?" I asked looking over her shoulder to see Hanna and Emily holding each other. "Where is she? Where's Aria?" I asked, panic rising in my voice.

Then I saw a couple paramedics bringing someone in a stretcher over to the ambulance. I saw her dark hair plastered around her face. No... I shoved my way past Spencer and ran up to the paramedics loading Aria into the ambulance.

"Aria..." I whispered as they lifted her into the truck. I tried to get to her but one of the men stopped me.

"Sorry sir, but we can't allow anyone else on." He said as they shut the doors and drove off.

All I could do was stand there. Speechless. Someone came up behind me as the police started to put yellow tape around us. It was Hanna.

"What. Happened..?" I said between heavy breaths. Hanna looked down at her shoes and I saw a tear roll down her face. "Hanna... What happened!?" I sort of yelled at her although I didn't mean to. Emily walked up behind Hanna.

"Aria was stabbed. In the stomach. We found her unconscious behind that dumpster." Emily said. She didn't sound scared or nervous, she just sounded tired. Spencer came up to the rest of us when she was done talking to a police officer.

"I can drive you to the hospital. The police already called her parents, but they're out of town so they probably won't get there for a while." Spencer said as she motioned us towards her car.

I got in the front seat in a daze, still too stunned to say anything. Aria had been stabbed, and it was my fault. Spencer drove to the hospital as fast as she could. She pulled into the hospital parking lot and I had jumped out of the car and started running for the door before Spencer had even stopped the car.

I burst through the hospital doors looking for Aria. I ran up to the front desk.

"Hi I'm looking for my girlfriend... She was just admitted... Aria Montgomery?" I said panicking. I looked behind me to see the other three girls walking in.

"She's currently in surgery sir, she may not be out for a few hours." The woman at the desk said in a way to cheery tone. At that moment, I hated her. How could she sit there and act so cheerful when Aria was in so much pain. This person doesn't know her. I reminded myself. She's just doing her job. I walked away from the desk and over to the girls standing in the waiting room.

"Sh-she's in surgery. She said it could take a c-couple hours." I said to them.

I sat down in one of the chairs in the waiting room. The three girls must've seen how upset I was, because they walked away and sat in a different area. I couldn't stay sitting for long though. I got back up and started pacing back and forth. All I could think was This is all my fault... It's all my fault. Aria's hurt and it's all my fault.

Aria's parents arrived a few hours later and Aria was still in surgery. Aria's friends had all fallen asleep in the chairs a little ways from me. I stood up when I saw her parents and slowly walked over to them, not sure what kind of reaction I would receive. Ella just looked at me with sad eyes.

"Ezra, what happened..?" She said with a sigh. Byron just stared at me.

I explained everything from when Aria came over and she was having panic attacks to the noise I heard from the other room to when her friends found her in that alley. I left out the part about the weird text message. By the end I was practically in tears and I was shaking uncontrollably.

"I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. I should've stayed with her. I'm sorry." I said as I sat down and covered my face with my hands.

"It's not your fault Ezra. I wish Aria hadn't been with you tonight, but it's not your fault." Ella said sitting down next to me. I looked at her and up to Byron. He didn't say anything, he just stared down at me. I was a wreck.

"We're gonna go talk to the girls." Ella said standing back up. I watched her and Byron walk over to the other side of the waiting room.

Then, a tall bald man came from a hallway and into the waiting room.

"Is Aria Montgomery's family here?" He said in a low, quiet voice. I stood up and walked immediately over to him while Aria's parents and the three girls did the same.

"Aria has just come out of surgery," said the doctor. We all waited with anxious expressions. "She's going to be alright."