Disclaimer: I don't own anything having to do with Criminal Minds…
Summary: Emily is having a crappy morning and an accident at home results with her in the ER…
Author's Note: This story reminded me of one of my crappy mornings, except I didn't have to go to the ER. Anyway, enjoy this fic!
"Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom."- Hannah Arendt
*~OoO~*
Embarrassing Catastrophe
Emily groaned loudly and shut her alarm clock with a sigh. She glanced at the numbers on the digital clock and hopped out of bed.
"Oh god, I'm going to be late" she muttered to herself. Yep, she could tell that today was going to be one of those days. She ran out of her bedroom door and made a beeline to the bathroom. Sergio picked his head up from his cat bed and watched Emily running to the bathroom.
"Sorry, buddy. I'll feed you later" she called to the cat. "I don't have time today".
Emily turned the faucet in the shower to turn on the water. She was confused when she turned it to the warm water and it still was cold. What was going on? Hearing her house phone ring, she shut off the shower for a second to listen to the message.
It was the landlord of her apartment complex, telling her that her hot water was out. "Oh shit" she muttered. Now what was she supposed to do? It was too late to call one of her friends at the BAU.
'I'll just tough it out with the cold water' she thought. 'I'm an agent. I've been through worse'. Turning the water back on, she showered with the freezing cold water. By the time she was done, Emily was shaking from the icy feeling of the water.
"Okay, only one good thing resulted from that. I feel more awake" she said to herself. Emily pulled a comb through her hair and ran out of the shower. Once she had reached her room, she blow dried her hair as quickly as possible and tugged it into a ponytail. Throwing on her clothes and pulling on her boots, she ran out of her bedroom.
"Goodbye, Surge" Emily called to the black cat. Running to the stairway, she failed to notice Sergio's cat toy on the floor. She tripped and fell forward, falling down the entire flight of stairs.
"Oww" she moaned when she collapsed at the bottom of the twelve stairs. The pain in her arm hurt like hell and her head was killing her. She could barely move her right leg, which had bent backwards and her ankle was numb. All Emily could see were stars before she blacked out from slamming her head on the hard floor.
*~OoO~*
"Has anyone seen Emily?" JJ asked while heading into the break room for a cup of coffee. The brunette hadn't arrived at work this morning and JJ couldn't find her.
"What did you say, blonde one?" Garcia asked. "Gumdrop isn't here?"
"I haven't seen nor heard from her. I tried her cell phone, her home phone, left her four voice mails and sent her six text messages".
"Oh no" Garcia said. She began to think about what had happened the last time one of the team members hadn't arrived at work. It had been when Hotch had been taken by Foyet.
"JJ" Hotch called while entering the bullpen. "Have you seen or heard from Prentiss this morning? She's already four and a half hours late".
"No, sir. And I tried contacting her, but she never answered her phone" JJ answered. "It's already 11:30. Our lunch break is in twelve minutes. I could go to her apartment".
"That would be good, JJ" Hotch responded. "If you can't, I can go, you know".
"That's okay, Hotch. I'm all right with going" the blonde replied. "I'm worried about her because she's never this late for work".
Hotch nodded. "Well, if you need me to do anything to help, I can".
"Thanks" she answered. JJ headed up to her office and after twelve minutes, she tried Emily's phone one more time before heading on her way to her friend's apartment.
*~OoO~*
"Emily?" JJ called. She banged again on the door of the brunette's apartment. No answer came from inside. Sighing, she reached inside of her bag and found the copy of Emily's apartment key that she had given her in case of an emergency. JJ twisted the key in the lock and the door popped open.
Taking her gun out of its holster and raising it in front of her, she turned the corner of Emily's apartment to enter her living room. Suddenly, JJ saw Emily on the floor at the foot of the large stairway.
"Emily!" she cried when she saw her friend unconscious. "What happened?" The blonde took Emily's hand in her own. She put her gun away and grabbed her cell phone.
Dialing Hotch's number, JJ told him what had happened.
"JJ, don't move, I'll be right over." He explained. The unit chief grabbed his gun and cell phone and headed to the bullpen to tell the team the situation.
"Emily's hurt?" Morgan almost shouted. "What happened to her?"
"Prentiss supposedly fell down the stairs and banged her head. She is unconscious at the moment. I am going over there right now".
"I'm going too" Morgan answered, Dave, Reid, and Garcia nodding in agreement.
"Oh, I hope Gumdrop's okay" Garcia said nervously as they hopped into the SUV and headed to Emily's apartment.
"I called the ambulance already. They're on their way" JJ announced once the team had arrived. "She's still out cold".
Hotch leaned down next to the comatose brunette and gently stroked her hair. Reid had gotten a rag with cool water and was gently touching it to her head.
"It looks like she tripped over this" Dave remarked. He held up a squeaky cat toy that was on the ground next to Emily. When he squeezed it, Sergio, who had been sleeping in his cat bed, raised his head and upstretched his ears.
There was a knock at the door and when Garcia opened it, five ER workers ran in with a stretcher.
"This is her?" one man asked, pointing to Emily.
"Yes, that's her. She took a hard fall down a stairway and bashed her head on the way down" JJ answered.
After Emily had been ushered to an ambulance, the team headed to the SUV to head to the hospital.
"I want to go with her" JJ said to one of the ambulance men.
"Sure, just hop in the back" he replied. JJ nodded and then told the team where she was going to be.
*~OoO~*
"Where am I?" Emily asked groggily an hour later, when she had finally woken up. Her right arm was bandaged, her ankle was bound and she had ice on her head.
"You fell down the stairs and nearly died. You're at the hospital" Morgan said to the brunette. Hotch, JJ, Garcia, Dave, and Reid were sitting in chairs in the room where Emily was in.
"Really?" she asked.
"Yeah. Your ankle is sprained, you have a slight concussion and your arm is badly bruised" JJ remarked.
"Are you alright, Prentiss?" Hotch asked nervously.
"Sergio and his toys" Emily began. "I tripped and fell down the stairs this morning because I woke up late and was running around. I must have not seen it. My hot water was out too".
"Emily. That must have been horrible" Reid mentioned. "It is actually a proven fact that hot water can raise your blood pressure and statistically, cold water stimulates the-"
"Enough, kid" Morgan said, shushing Reid up right away.
"Actually, something like this happened to me once" JJ began while deep in thought. "Except, I tripped on a bar of soap instead of a cat toy".
Emily tried not to laugh at the thought of JJ tripping on a bar of soap. "Did you hurt yourself?" she asked as seriously as she could.
"Well, I broke my leg" JJ started.
"Oh my gosh, really?" Garcia interrupted. "I'm sorry, Jay".
"Nah, I was in the high school at the time. I'm not broken anymore".
"Miss Prentiss?" the nurse interrupted. "You're clear to go whenever you please".
"Okay, thanks" Emily answered. With the help of Dave, she hobbled out of the hospital bed and grabbed the set of crutches by the side of it.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay for a little longer?" Morgan asked. "Ya know, to recuperate?"
"I'm okay" Emily replied. "Thanks so much, guys for running around for me. I'm sorry".
"Don't you be sorry" JJ answered. "We didn't mind a bit. We're just happy that you're all better".
"It's going to be pretty embarrassing to explain to people why I have crutches and bruises" Emily said while walking to the SUV with the rest of the team. "Falling down the stairs from tripping over a cat toy sounds so stupid".
Hotch smirked at her remark before helping her into the back of the SUV. He was glad that the team had rescued a member of their family who was now on her way to recovery.
*~OoO~*
Jane Austen once wrote "To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment."
*~OoO~*
Thanks so much for reading and please leave a review.
