Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

"Aria, you have to get out of bed. It's not good for you to just lay there all day."

Aria lay motionless in her bed; the sound of Spencer's voice a distant and incessant buzzing. She watched as the rain poured down the sides of the windows and sliding glass doors.

Aria felt the cold air rush around her as Spencer yanked the duvet off the king sized bed. Aria's body curled into a small ball in an effort to keep warm after the unwelcome intrusion of the biting and unforgiving air.

It was the most she had moved in days, other than slowly and painfully making her way to the bathroom less than one hundred feet away.

"Aria, Ezra wouldn't want this," Spencer murmured softly as she brushed a piece of black hair out of Aria's face.

"I don't care what he would have wanted," Aria hissed, "he left me all alone."

Her body began to convulse as her fingers clutched the wrinkled and folded picture even more tightly. She unclamped her eyes that were brimming with tears only to see his face, and to see her and Ezra together and happy.

His arm was around her, pressing her body tightly against his, and both of their faces displayed pure joy of being in one another's company. They were in love, and they had given up so much to be with each other. However, as Aria now heartily believed, none of it had mattered. In the end he had left her like everyone always said he would.

"He didn't choose this Aria," Spencer said softly, breaking the thick silence in the cool and breezy room.

"Shut the window. Please," Aria stated evenly, her eyes not leaving the old and worn photograph.

"I love that picture of you two," Spencer said with a smile as she slowly walked over towards the large and open window, which was letting in gusts of crisp wind, along with sprits of water from the downpour outside.

Spencer glanced over at Aria, who was ignoring her completely.

"Maybe you should go visit him today," Spencer suggested, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

Aria blinked rapidly as she slowly shook her head no.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Aria mumbled to herself, running her fingers along the tattered edges of the photo.

"Why not? He would love to see you," Spencer said optimistically, lightly placing her hand on Aria's knee.

Aria's eyes drifted over to Spencer's engagement ring, and she felt her heart drop into her stomach.

"Aria," Spencer said suddenly, realizing her mistake.

"No, it's fine. We had our engagement and our wedding. It-"

"It's just a reminder. I know. I really think if you went to go see him-"

"Spencer," Aria snapped, "I really don't think it would matter. Nothing is going to change by me going to sit by his bedside. He's not going to wake up, the doctor's said so weeks ago."

"Aria, people wake up from comas all the time!" Spencer protested.

"He's not going to wake up," Aria insisted, moving her eyes to meet Spencer's, "so stop trying to give me false hope. I think you should go."

Spencer smiled weakly as she walked over to the giant leather chair in the corner and picked up her purse. As she turned to walk towards the door, she looked back over her shoulder at Aria. She lay motionlessly in bed, her knuckles white from holding the photograph so tightly.

"That really is a beautiful picture of you two," Spencer stated, closing Aria's bedroom door behind her.

Once Aria heard the door click shut, signaling Spencer's departure, she slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her entire body ached as she dragged her feet all the way into her large closet. She stifled a cry as her eyes immediately wandered over to Ezra's side of the closet. All of his clothing was exactly as he had left it, and she had yet to pick up his Hollis t-shirt off the floor.

She dropped to her knees as her fingers gripped at the familiar fabric. Aria slowly raised the shirt up to her face, inhaling the lingering scent that belonged to Ezra. She sat on the floor, clutching the old and ratty college t-shirt against her face. For the first time in weeks, something other than the photograph brought her comfort and solace. But at the back of her mind, there was a nagging thought that eventually his scent would fade, as would her memories of him. At the mere age of twenty-three years old, she would be a widow, and she would grow old by herself while Hanna, Spencer, Emily and Mike all got married and had children.

Aria's eyes drifted towards the small Rolex that Ezra had gotten her last Christmas, only months ago, and knew that visiting hours at the hospital would be over in a few hours. She quickly stood up, letting the Hollis shirt fall back into its disheveled state on the closet floor. She pulled on a pair of black jeans, a thermal shirt, a giant cardigan, scarf, and knee-high boots.

However, no matter how many layers she put on, she still felt a chill that she couldn't shake.

Aria grabbed her purse, her giant quilted jacket that Ezra always made fun of, and her car keys.

The drive to the hospital went by more quickly than Aria had hoped, and before she knew it, she was sitting in the parking lot. Aria knew that Ezra had daily visitors, and that gave her some comfort in not coming to see him since the doctors informed her that he would never wake up.

Aria stared at herself in the review mirror of her car, noticing that her makeup less and childish looking face made it hard to believe that she was a married woman. She instinctively reached into her purse to apply lip-gloss.

As she brought the wand to her lips, she realized how ridiculous it was to apply makeup for someone that would never see it.

"Oh, God," Aria murmured to herself as she took a deep breath to steady her nerves. Her hands crept towards the handle of the door, and she slowly stepped out of her black car. She hadn't had it in her to drive Ezra's car; it didn't feel right. She didn't know what to do with it. She couldn't sell it – the car was Ezra's, and it was the same silver car that he had when they first met. The time he picked her up in the pouring rain. She couldn't give that away. She couldn't give those memories away. They were all she had left of them, and they were slipping away as fast as he was.

"Mrs. Fitz," the woman at the counter of the ICU said warmly, "I'm so glad you're here."

Aria mustered the best smile she could, and wiped her face with clammy hands as the walked into Ezra's room – patient room 109.

"Aria, I'm so glad you came. This is what he would want," Wesley said as he launched himself at Aria.

He held her in a tight embrace, and Aria's arms wrapped around him in turn.

Wesley could feel her unsteady and shaky breathing as he kept her captive in his arms.

"He loved you so much, Aria. I want you to remember that, and I love you. You will always be a part of our family, whether you want to be or not."

Aria's eyes stung with tears as Wesley finally let her go, holding her at arms length.

"I'll let you two have some alone time," Wesley said gently, walking out of the room to take a seat in the lobby.

"I finally came," Aria said quietly as she walked over to Ezra's bed.

His chest rose and fell at an automated rate due to the chest tube, and his body seemed chock full of wires that were connected to various machines.

"I wish you were here – for real. I miss you so much, Ezra. Everything hurts. I would give anything to have one more day with you, but we both know that wouldn't be enough. I want a lifetime. I want forever."

Aria wiped the tears that had trailed down her pale cheeks.

"It's your birthday soon, and I don't know what to do. Am I supposed to bring you balloons? Will you know if I don't? God, I don't know how to do this."

She took a deep breath and laced her fingers through his.

"You know, I found out something the other day. I'm pregnant. You're going to be a father, and I know that you would be so excited. Maybe you can hear me, and you are. I don't know..."

Aria's thumb slowly rubbed over Ezra's.

"I'm glad we talked about baby names back when I was in high school," Aria said with a chuckle, "because I know what you would want. For a girl you liked Daisy or Olivia, and for a boy you wanted Ezra Junior, but I told you no. I told you that was ridiculous, and you said you were serious, but you also liked Michael after your father and after my brother."

Ezra's fingers twitched against Aria's, causing her to jump off her perch on the edge of the hospital bed.

She turned on her heel, running towards the front desk.

"Mrs. Fitz, is everything ok?" the head nurse asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He moved his hand!" Aria shouted.

The head nurse stared back at Aria without a change in her expression.

"Doesn't that mean he's going to wake up?" Aria asked with a wild expression on her face.

"It's possible," the nurse stated slowly, "but that happens quite often in comatose patients. I'm sorry. I will call the doctor to come and take a look."

Wesley rushed over to Aria, "What happened?"

"I…I thought he was waking up. His fingers twitched…" Aria said sheepishly.

"And what does that mean?" Wesley asked, turning away from Aria and towards the nurse.

"Honestly? Probably nothing, but I did alert the doctor."

Wesley sighed as he grabbed Aria's hand and held it in his.

"I'm pregnant," Aria said suddenly, causing both the nurse and Wesley to turn their attention back towards her.

"Aria," Wesley said as a huge smile spread across his face, "that's great! That's amazing!"

Aria nodded slowly, a numb feeling creeping over her body, along with the familiar chill.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the doctor walking towards them, and unreadable expression on his worn and exhausted face.

"Mrs. Fitz, nice to see you again. Mr. Fitz…," Aria and Wesley exchanged awkward glances, "I examined Ezra, and it became clear within minutes that the hand twitch is not indicative of any brain activity. I'm so sorry."

"I want to take him off the machines," Aria said flatly, staring Dr. Wilson in the eyes.

"Mrs. Fitz, I don't think you are in the best frame of mind to make this decision," Dr. Wilson warned.

"Can you tell me that he is never going to wake up? Can you tell me that with certainty?" Aria demanded, clutching Wesley's hand more tightly.

"Well, I can't tell you that for certain, but…it is extremely unlikely that he will ever wake up. If he were to wake up, his quality of life would be severely, severely, impaired."

"Then I want to take him off the machines. I think his quality of life is already severely impaired," Aria said fiercely.

"Mr. Fitz?" Dr. Wilson asked, the name making Aria wince and her heart ache.

"I agree with Aria," Wesley said firmly, squeezing her hand.

"I will give you time to say goodbye then," Dr. Wilson said as he bowed his head and walked down the hallway.

Aria and Wesley walked into room 109 with interlocked fingers.

"I love you so, so, so, much, Ezra Fitzgerald. You are everything to me. I love you. I love you," Aria whispered in Ezra's ear before lightly kissing his lips. It haunted her not to feel his tongue gently slip into her mouth. It wasn't their kiss.

Aria turned to Wesley, and he uncertainly walked towards Ezra's bed.

"Ezra, I know our relationship hasn't always been…easy, but I love you. You're the only brother I have, and I…I love you," Wesley choked out; tears streaming down his unshaven face.

Dr. Wilson walked in with his fleet of interns, and Aria held Ezra's hand as they removed tubes and turned off machines, leaving an eerie silence in the room.

"It could take a while for his body to shut down. I'll leave you alone."

Aria held onto Ezra's hand until his body turned cold and Dr. Wilson pronounced him dead. Aria took Ezra's wedding ring off his left hand and slipped it onto her thumb, the only finger it would fit on.

Aria and Wesley walked out of the hospital hand in hand, and when Aria collapsed onto ground, Wesley picked her back up again.

A/N:

Let me know what you think. I know, I know, I'm terrible for killing off Ezra. Leave a comment and/or PM me regarding suggestions for new stories. Xoxo!