008 — save the date

season two —
episode eight

WARNING:
MENTIONS OF
BEING POISONED
& LOSS

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DESPITE FEELING LIKE hell, Aspen rushes out of her apartment being picked up by Spencer who's panicked and shaking from her encounter with Garrett earlier in the night.

"It was just the two of you, sitting in Garrett's car?" Hanna asks, "I didn't know where else to meet him, it wasn't like I could ask him that stuff down at the precinct" Spencer exclaims.

"How did you get away from him?" Aria asks, "When you sent me that text, I told him it was from my mom, she wanted me home asap, am I still shaking? I'm still shaking" Spencer states freaked out.

"Yeah, we're all shaking, can you turn on the heat? You could make a slushy back here" Hanna mutters.

Aspen closes her eyes feeling a throbbing sensation run through her stomach once more.

"Guys, why would Jenna give him that lantern?" Aria frowns, "You don't know that she gave it to him" Hanna suggests.

"What do you think, he bought it at the blind artists' crafts fair? Of course she gave it to him" Spencer shrugs looking at the others inside her car.

"The question is, when did they become buddies? And why?" Spencer adds confused.

"Spencer, they grew up across the street from each other, his parents still live in that house, maybe he's just bringing raw meat to Jenna's cat" Hanna replies.

"Toby lives there, too, and they don't have a cat" Spencer explains, seeing the looks coming from both Aria and Aspen.

"Then maybe he was bringing over raw meat for Jenna" Aspen shrugs before grimacing at the thought.

"Here comes Em" Aria states seeing Emily leaving her house, "Who's living in her house now?" Spencer wonders.

"Some losers who can't figure out the alarm system, they've tripped it like three times, the security company keeps calling Aunt Pam in Texas" Aspen explains.

"Everything okay?" Spencer asks as Emily gets in the backseat alongside Aria and Hanna.

"Yeah, it's fine, it's just so weird to walk in there and see other people's stuff" Emily states.

"Hey, why don't you tell 'em to lay off the alarm for a couple of days?" Hanna suggests, "I'm guessing they don't feel safe" Emily shrugs.

"Well, they will now, I'm sure Aria's parents are gonna have Mike on lockdown till he turns 18" Hanna mumbles.

"You did not just say that, Han" Aria replies, "What? I'm not judging, I'm just guessing that your little brother will find another hobby besides breaking and entering and injuring people" Hanna shrugs.

"Still talking" Aspen snarls looking at the other blonde, "Guys, look, I don't know what's going on with my brother, if I knew, you would know" Aria explains receiving a look of sympathy off Aspen in the passenger seat.

"Emily?" Spencer voices, "Isn't that Garrett's car?" Spencer asks as headlines shine ahead of them, "I think it is" Emily whispers.

"Where's he going?" Aria asks, "To his parents, I guess" Aspen shrugs holding her stomach that's still throbbing with pain, "Oh, my god, he's going into Jenna's house" Aria exclaims.

"Is Toby home?" Hanna asks, "No, he went to go get his parents from the airport, and I thought he said Jenna went with him" Spencer explains.

"He's going inside, he just walked in" Emily narrates seeing what the man is doing ahead of them, all of them get out of the vehicle walking towards the Cavanaugh house.

"Can you walk any softer?" Spencer mutters as Hanna and Aspen's heel cluck on the concrete below their feet, "Sorry" Aspen whispers taking her shoes off and walking barefoot.

"Please, Jenna can't hear us, she's blind" Hanna shrugs receiving weird looks from the others, "You—" Spencer starts to say, "You know what I mean" Hanna mumbles.

The five walk outside the window of Jenna's bedroom seeing the darkness light up revealing Jenna in a black gown.

Aspen and the others gasp shocked seeing Garrett appear behind the brunette and begin to make out with the woman.

Aspen flinches as she gets back into the vehicle belonging to Spencer, gasping as pain radiates from her torso into her chest and head.

"Spen, you all good?" Spencer asks worriedly seeing the blonde's face screwed up with pain.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay, just need sleep" Aspen replies as Spencer begins driving to drop everyone home for the night.

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ASPEN RETCHES OVER THE TOILET waking up Jason who's asleep in her bed.

"Asp, you okay?" Jason calls out entering the bathroom seeing the pale, sweaty and messy haired blonde.

Aspen hums not feeling enough energy to talk verbally to her boyfriend.

"Baby, you've got worse since last night" Jason states nervously looking around the bathroom.

Running a face cloth under the bathroom sink Jason crouches down beside Aspen wiping the sweat from her forehead and gently patting her mouth before rinsing the cloth once more.

Aspen winces holding onto her stomach tighter earning a frown of confusion from the male.

Jason sighs picking up his phone and other belongings, "Are you gonna be okay today while I'm out running a few errands for my father?" Jason questions seeing Aspen walk out of the bathroom towards him holding onto her side in agony.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna try and sleep some more" Aspen explains rolling into her bed.

"Okay well, call me if you need anything, please?" Jason demands seeing Aspen nod gently as he walks out of the bathroom with a worried look on his face.

After a while of sitting in her bed wide awake, Aspen manages to fall asleep exhausted from being so unwell.

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JASON RETURNS BACK TO ASPEN'S apartment confused by the lack of noise in the bedroom.

Said male enters the bedroom seeing Aspen asleep in their shared bed.

Walking towards his sick girlfriend, Jason frowns not hearing the usual soft snores coming from Aspen's nose and mouth.

"Asp?" Jason voices sitting on the bed trying to wake the blonde girl up.

"Baby?" Jason calls loudly growing more alarmed at the lack of response from Aspen, usually the girl is a light sleeper and wakes up to any noise.

"Aspen, wake up" Jason demands placing his hand on Aspen's cheek before feeling how cold and damp she is.

"Baby? Asp" Jason states beginning to shake the blonde before placing two fingers against her neck feeling no pulse.

"No, no, no, Asp" Jason mutters to himself quickly dialling nine-one-one and waiting for the paramedics to show up.

Unaware of Emily screaming before falling to the floor clutching her side in agony and Garrett requesting an ambulance for the brunette girl.

"Please help, my girlfriend hasn't been well recently, and now she's not breathing" Jason states panicked alerting the paramedics when they enter the apartment rushing towards the unconscious girl in the bedroom.

"She has a weak pulse, we need to move her to hospital immediately" the paramedics alerts taking the blonde off the bed and placing her on the gurney and leading her towards the ambulance.

Aspen groggily opens her eyes seeing flashing lights, people murmuring around her.

And the panicked and tear filled face of her boyfriend sitting in the ambulance beside the paramedic putting fluids into her IV machine before fading into the darkness again.

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SITTING IN THE HOSPITAL ALONGSIDE Emily's bedside after Wayne—Emily's father and Aspen's uncle requested for the two girls to be together in one room.

Emily looks beside her bedside seeing Aspen asleep with multiple chords connected to her, an IV machine and a blood transfusion pumping blood in and out of the blonde.

Aspen wakes up feeling nauseous and tired seeing her biological uncle sitting in-between Emily and her bed, "Uncle Wayne?" Aspen frowns confused.

"Surprise, sunshine" Wayne whispers not wanting to alarm the blonde.

Aspen gasps coming to and hugging her uncle tightly before noticing Emily looking at her scared as well.

"Sunshine, the reason you're in hospital right now is because you have poison laced in your system, that's the cause of the pain and suffering you've been going through the past couple days, Emmy—filled me in" Wayne explains seeing Aspen's wide eyed look.

She was poisoned and had no idea about it, this is some type of A attack, "Are you okay?" Aspen asks looking at Emily who's looking at her bed sadly.

"Ulcer, that's what been causing my pain" Emily quickly responds, "I'm sorry Em" Aspen mumbles feeling sleepy once again as the pain medication and other stuff is working itself into making her better.

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SPENCER AND HANNA RUSH TO THE hospital with the news of Aspen and Emily's arrival there.

"Poisoned? What the hell, and aren't ulcers something old people get?" Hanna frowns, "Get that look off your face, you're gonna freak them out" Spencer replies.

"Her? What about me? I'm having deja vu, I spent a week in this place, and if I see another bowl of green jello, I'm gonna puke on your shoes" Hanna explains screwing her face in disgust, "Oh, god, I'm gonna walk behind you" Spencer states.

Hanna's phone rings, "Is that Aria?" Spencer wonders noticing the hesitation on Hanna's face, "Caleb, I'll just call him back later" Hanna explains.

"What's going on?" Spencer asks as the elevator dings, "Han, are you and Caleb" Spencer suggests, "We're fine, there's just stuff going on" Hanna shrugs.

"Like what?" Spencer frowns, "Like an undercover cop in a car following him" Hanna states, "Why?" Spencer questions.

"I don't wanna talk about it" Hanna mumbles sighing, "You have to, you're in an elevator, where else are you gonna go? Does he know about the cop?" Spencer wonders.

"No, I haven't told him" Hanna responds, "Why not?" Spencer asks, "Because I'm still thinking things through" Hanna says, "What is there to think through?" Spencer frowns.

"If I tell him, he might run, okay? I'm not ready to lose him again" Hanna explains softly.

"Han, if the cops are really after him, you're gonna lose him anyway" Spencer replies as the both of them step out of the elevator on the floor Emily and Aspen are.

Walking into the hospital room where Aspen and Emily currently are, Emily smiles softly seeing their best friends enter the room.

"She's okay, she's asleep" Emily explains noticing them both looking over at Aspen's sleeping figure.

"I can't believe she's been poisoned and you have an ulcer" Spencer states shocked.

"I've never seen Jason so scared in his life, when he came in with Aspen, he looked like a mess" Emily explains while looking at her cousin.

"Where is he now?" Spencer asks, "He went home, he had to do a few things and since she had to get surgery, they removed her appendix as well due it getting inflamed, they still haven't figured out the drug that was poisoning her though" Emily whispers sadly.

Aspen wakes up and sits up seeing Spencer and Hanna in the room and quickly returning both of their hugs.

"So all those muscle spasms and the pain, that's all coming from your stomach?" Hanna wonders, "Yeah, but ulcers can heal, it's not forever, Em" Spencer states.

"Yeah, but she's got like a hole" Hanna winces, "Yes, there's a hole in her stomach, moving on, where'd uncle Wayne and Jason go?" Aspen states before looking at Emily.

"Jason had to get back to work but he'll be back later, and my dad went to the house to talk to the new tenants" Emily explains seeing Aspen sigh knowing she scared Jason today.

"Guys, I have to deal with this, I can't keep lying to him" Emily suggests, "I guess not, not if it's eating holes in your stomach" Hanna mumbles.

"Moving on" Spencer mutters as Aria rushes into the room, "Hey, I'm sorry, I got here as soon as I could, I had to escape family court in my living room" Aria explains walking around and sitting on Aspen's hospital bed.

"Mike on trial?" Hanna asks, "Yeah, but the defendant didn't even show up" Aria states, "I got you both your favs" Aria smiles handing Aspen her favourite mineral water brand and Emily a cup of coffee.

"Oh, she can't drink coffee" Spencer explains, "Yeah, she's got a hole in her stomach" Hanna whispers receiving a look from Aspen.

"I'll trade it in for an herbal tea, unless you want us all here when your dad gets back" Spencer suggests getting off the hospital bed.

"She's not telling her dad, if he finds out that the letter is fake, he's gonna move her to Texas" Hanna states.

"If she doesn't tell him, she's not gonna get any better" Spencer adds not noticing the uncomfortable look Emily is giving.

"But she doesn't have to make up her mind right this second, okay?" Aria explains, "She already has, I'm telling him the truth" Emily reveals.

Aspen settles down in her hospital bed once more sipping on her mineral water thankfully keeping the liquid down after days of throwing everything up.

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ASPEN SITS UP ONCE MORE seeing her boyfriend entering the room with a bouquet of her favourite flowers, "Hi" Aspen whispers seeing Emily asleep beside her.

"Hi, you scared me today Asp" Jason mumbles, "I'm sorry, I am so sorry" Aspen whispers gently taking the males hand and running her fingers over his bruised and busted knuckles.

Aspen frowns before looking up at the dirty blonde male, "I punched a wall" Jason reveals seeing the look on Aspen's face that now has colour back in it.

"Thank you for the flowers, they're beautiful" Aspen smiles tilting her head towards the male who sits beside her bed gazing into the brown eyes he loves so much.

"I love you, you're beautiful" Jason replies before noticing the time receiving a groan of annoyance from the blonde in the hospital bed, "Will I see you later?" Aspen pouts.

"Of course, my love" Jason whispers pecking the girls lips before departing from the room allowing Wren to step into the room to speak to the two girls with some news.

"Aspen? Emily?" Wren politely says stepping into the room awakening Emily from her nap, "Oh, hi" Emily replies, "I thought Spencer was up here" Wren says confused.

"She just went down to the cafeteria to get some soup" Aspen explains, "What, our food? Willingly?" Wren asks shocked closing the door.

"How're you both feeling?" Wren asks, "Hungry, weak, scared" Emily responds, "Tired, sore, nauseous and hungry" Aspen replies, "Are you our doctor now?" Emily asks.

"No, just checking in, so the good news is, the meds are working and your stomach's on the road to recovery, and you Aspen—are also on the road to recovery, nausea is common in your situation" Wren explains.

"Although I probably wouldn't celebrate this weekend with take-out curry or any sort of physical sport of any kind Aspen" Wren states.

"Is there bad news?" Emily asks noticing Wren walking towards the middle for the two hospital beds.

"There is bad news" Aspen sighs knowing that look anywhere, "Look, Emily, I know you swim competitively and I know the pressure every athlete's under to perform at their best, to constantly break their own records" Wren explains.

"Wait, I thought swimming didn't cause the ulcer" Emily replies confused, "It didn't, but your panels came back with high levels of HGH in your bloodstream" Wren reveals shocking Emily and Aspen.

"Human growth hormone? I've never taken that" Emily exclaims, "Emily, if you're using a performance: enhancing drug or any kind of steroid, it's going to show up in your tests and you need to know the perils of what you're doing" Wren responds.

"I'm not doing anything, this is insane, your test is wrong" Emily states.

"Emily, these tests don't lie and I did check twice, I'm here as a friend, I asked your attending if I could speak to you first" Wren explains before looking at Aspen who is already looking at him with answers for herself.

He nods silently telling her he'll explain it in a second, "Have you told my dad about this?" Emily questions shakily, "I haven't, but you're a minor so he will have to know" Wren replies.

"No, you can't, please, don't tell him this, I could get kicked off the team, it'd ruin any chance of a scholarship" Emily says panicked, "Slow down" Wren demands softly.

"Please, I'll take the test again, just don't tell my parents" Emily pleads, "I'll speak to your attending, see what I can do, now for you Aspen" Wren states turning towards Aspen who looks at him seriously.

"We figured out the poison that caused your heart to stop beating for a moment, the poisonous substance was called cyanide and it caused a lot of issues in your body almost taking your life, although, unfortunately the baby didn't make it and the drug we found laced in your system caused a miscarriage, I'm very very sorry for your loss" Wren states shocking Aspen who looks around the room tearfully.

"Cyanide poisoning? I was pregnant?" Aspen whimpers wiping away a tear from her cheek, Wren nods.

"I'm so very sorry, but now that we know what the drug was and the correct way to get you on the mend of getting back to normal, we'll start that treatment immediately" Wren reveals seeing Aspen nod biting her lip stopping herself from breaking down as he leaves the shared room between cousins.

"Spen?" Emily whispers knowing being a mother was something the blonde girl always wanted.

"Don't tell anyone, not Jason, not the girls, I'll do it in my own time" Aspen states receiving a nod from Emily.

"Of course, Spen, I'm so sorry" Emily whispers seeing Aspen nod to herself knowing her body was trying to tell her the other day about the early pregnancy.

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HEARING PANICKING COMING from Emily's bed, Aspen opens her eyes seeing Emily pushing away the food tray from her bed staring at the pain cream she's been using for the ulcer the past week.

Emily quickly texts the others stating to come to the room immediately.

Aspen sits up avoiding waking up her sleeping boyfriend on the side of her hospital bed.

After the news of Aspen's miscarriage Emily called the male to tell him that Aspen knows what was poisoning her and to hurry back to the hospital in which the male did almost immediately from receiving that phone call.

The girls soon come into the hospital room, both Aspen and Emily making a shush motion and pointing towards Jason's sleeping figure.

"Your pain cream? A is in our medicine cabinets too? This has to be a new record" Aria states, "How long has this been in your system?" Spencer wonders.

"Did it damage any organs?" Aria asks, "Forget my organs, it's on my medical chart, it's ruined my life, I can never swim again, A poisoned Aspen too" Emily exclaims.

"Emily, medical records are private" Spencer states, "Not from your parents" Emily responds, "What're you gonna tell your dad?" Aria questions.

"I'm gonna tell him to get me out of here, take me to Texas, I'm done, it can't get worse than this" Emily states motioning to herself and Aspen who's running her fingernails along Jason's hairline.

"Emily, remember, A tried to plow down Hanna with a car" Spencer shrugs, "Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Emily responds.

"I'm just saying that A tried to take one of us down and it didn't work" Spencer states.

"Spencer, A is taking us down, one at a time, just this time it's both Aspen and I, Aria's probably next" Emily suggests.

"Can we all go to Texas?" Aria mumbles, "No, stop it, we're not giving in to this freak, look, we are this close to finding out what happened to Alison and if A is the one that killed her" Spencer exclaims.

"And Ian" Aria adds, as Aspen motions for them to be quiet, "Yeah, and then A is gonna be the one to leave Rosewood, not us" Spencer states determined as a knock on the door is heard.

"Hi, sorry to interrupt" Wayne says entering the girls hospital room, "No worries, uh, we actually just have to get back to work" Spencer explains.

"When did you two start volunteering for the hospital?" Wayne curiously wonders, "Today's actually our first day, we're still on hour one; we'll take this for you" Aria explains.

"See you later" Spencer smiles waving at Aspen who's looking at her boyfriend beside her as Spencer and Aria leave the room.

Aspen doesn't bother listening to the conversation between Emily and Wayne due to it not being about her.

She snuggles into Jason's side once more letting the pain medication and the treatment for the poison to work its magic.

Aspen softly smiles when she hears Jason groan in his sleep from being moved a little too much, "Bye uncle Wayne" Aspen whispers seeing the man leaving to return to the hotel until morning.

"Night Em" Aspen says, "Night Spen" Emily responds letting the sleep overtake the blonde girl who's tucked into her boyfriend's arms.

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ASPEN SLEEPS DEEPLY UNWARE of the discussion happening to the side of her and Spencer once again accusing Jason of killing Alison with the hockey stick Toby found buried.

And the stares of concern watching her sleep, before looking at the male with his arms wrapped tightly around the sleeping mourning and recovering blonde girl.

Spencer and Emily soon discover that page five of the autopsy report has gone missing with the details of the cause of death of Alison.

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TO BE CONTINUED...