EMBERLY'S POV

I ride the elevator up to the top floor, excited to see Andy again. He's waiting for me on the sofa.

      "Are you ok?" He jumps up.

      "I'm sorry it took so long to get home. CC and I had coffee and talked. Then I made a stop before coming back here." I'm smiling.

       "What stop did you make?" He eyes me carefully.

       "I stopped at the Tarper University enrollment office." I say. A smile grows on his face.

     "You're going back to school?" He asks, pulling me into a hug.

     "Yeah! I haven't declared a major but I'm taking mostly basics anyways. And, um, theatre." I mumble the last sentence into his shoulder. He pulls me away and stares into my eyes, his smile growing.

     "Em this is amazing! Congrats my love!" He spins me around. "When do you start?"

     "I start classes on January 23." I tell him.

     "Three weeks. That gives you some time to get what you need." He grins. Shit. I hadn't thought about supplies. I was going to need a new laptop. And a car. Ugh. My face must be stressed because Andy kisses my forehead. "Don't worry. I'll help you get the things you need. And don't argue. I'm going to do it either way." I snap my mouth shut, knowing that he's not bluffing.

       "I need a new laptop, a backpack, a couple notebooks, and some pens." I say. I choose to leave out the car part because there's no way in hell I'm about to let him buy me a car.

       "Won't you need a car, too?" He asks innocently. Ugh.

       "I think I have enough in my savings to buy a beater. It'll be enough to get me from point a to point b." I inform him. He rolls his eyes but doesn't say anything else about it.

       "Well, this calls for a celebration." He cheers. "I'll make us steak and veggies for dinner. How does that sound?" I smile and nod excitedly. He goes to the kitchen and I settle into the couch. I'm relaxing when my phone starts vibrating. The screen reads a number I don't recognize. The area code is 205. Shit. That's Birmingham's area code. Against all better judgement, I answer the call.

       "Hello?" I say. Andy looks up from what he's doing in the kitchen. I shake my head to let him know it's nothing important. He returns his focus to the food he's preparing. I make my way into the bedroom.

       "Emberly Josephine Vace." Fuck. "I just got a call from a woman who claimed to be your doctor. She said you were just released from the psych ward."

       "How did you get this number, mother?" I ask, my voice is venomous.

       "It wasn't hard to track down a friend of yours. He gave me the number." She sounds bitchy as ever.

      "What was his name? And what was the doctors name?" I'm shaking.

      "He was a delightful young man and you are not to approach him about this."

     "His. Name." My voice quivers with anger.

     "Pearce. Pearce Anderson. And the doctor say her name was Dr. Riley." My blood goes cold.

      "If you ever try to contact me or any of my friends again, I will call the police." I snap. I hang up the phone, dropping it on the bed. It doesn't ring again. I feel like the breath has been sucked out of my body. My head is pounding and the room is starting to spin. He knows where I am. How did Dr. Riley get ahold of my info. I can't breathe.

       "Andy!" I manage to scream before blacking out.

ANDY'S POV

Emberly disappeared into our room to take a phone call. I'm plating our food when I hear her scream my name. I sprint to her, finding her convulsing on the ground. I stabilize her, whip out my phone, and call 911. I sit with her head in my lap until her seizure calms. I roll her onto her side into what's called the recovery position. I stay with her unconscious form until the paramedics arrive.

They get her onto a stretcher and take her down to the waiting ambulance. I follow in my car, making sure to shut off the stove before I leave. When I get to the ER she's already been taken back. A nurse points me in the right direction. I find her room and burst in. A doctor is already tending to her.

      "Dr. Purdy?" I gasp. He looks back and smiles briefly.

      "She's going to be ok. Her seizure was caused by an overload of emotion and stress. Her body couldn't take it, so it shut down. Lucky I picked up this shift." He says. I nod.

     "Is she going to be ok?" I want to know, fear overwhelming all rational thought.

      "Yes. We'll keep her overnight for observation. After that she should be ok to leave. Right now I'm waiting for a room to open up. She may have to stay here for a while." He explains. Emberly starts to stir. Her eyes dart open and she looks around confused.

      "Dr. Purdy?" She groans.

      "Hey Em." He smiles. "You're in the ER."

      "You must be lost, then." She says. He and I laugh. She hears me and finds me immediately. I realize I'm still standing at the edge of her room. "Andy?" She asks.

       "In the flesh. You want to tell me what happened?" I ask. Ashely excuses himself to tend to his other patients. I sit on the edge of her bed.

        "The phone call. It was my mother. Dr. Riley contacted her and told her about my psych ward stay." She mutters. Anger flares in me.

        "How did she get your number?" I ask. Her face hardens.

        "The guy who raped me at a college party gave it to her. He told her I was his friend." She's shaking. I pull her into me and hold her.

        "He won't hurt you again. I promise you that." She nods into my chest. A nurse comes in and tells us it's time to go up to the room. I sleep on the sofa all night, waking up whenever a nurse comes in. In the morning, a doctor I've never seen comes in.

       "Miss Vace, I've got your discharge papers ready. Just sign these and you can be on your way." She scribbles her name and he leaves. I help her change into her clothes from last night. We leave, and I stop by Chick-fil-A on the way home to get her breakfast.

We get up to our apartment and Emberly collapses on the couch. I set her drink on the coffee table and spread a blanket over her. She's fast asleep. I go into the kitchen and begin cleaning up the now bad food that was supposed to be our dinner. I sigh. Why can't she catch a break? A knock on the door startles me.

I make my way over to it, making sure Emberly is still asleep. She is. I open the door and see a delivery man with a large bouquet of red roses.

      "Delivery for Emberly Vace." He says. I sign for the flowers and shut the door behind me. I set them on the counter, deciding to let her tell me who they're from when she wakes up. I go back to cleaning the kitchen. I'm wiping down the last counter when I hear her get up.

       "Em, there's a surprise for you in here." I call. She sleepily trudges in, her hair a hot mess. I point to the flowers. Suddenly she perks up, fully awake. "I didn't read the card. I am curious who they're from though." I tell her. Her fingers are shaking as they retrieve the card. She gasps as she reads it. Without me asking her to, she reads it aloud.

       "Saw the ambulances. Hope you're ok. Especially after that call from your mother. See you soon." Her voice breaks at the end.

        "Emberly, who sent you those flowers?" I'm shaking myself.

        "It says P.J.A. The guy who raped me at that party. His name is Pearce Anderson. I think he sent them." She says. The card falls from her hands. "He said he'd see me soon." My stomach drops at her words. We stay silent, each in our own thoughts.

One thing is clear:
Emberly is in danger.